Dr. Eben Alexander was at the height of his career as a neurosurgeon. With a doctorate in medicine from Duke University and a residency at Harvard, he believed that he understood consciousness and the brain. However, on Nov. 10, 2008, a rare and severe bacterial infection attacked his brain, challenging everything he thought he knew.
He fell into a coma and, seven days later, awakened with a complete physical recovery. Yet, while he was asleep, his mind was not idle. He recalls that his consciousness had gone to another dimension—a place furnished with clouds, shimmering beings, and ethereal sceneries.
“I was in a place of clouds,” Alexander wrote in his book “A Proof of Heaven.” “Big, puffy, pink-white ones that showed up sharply against the deep blue-black sky. Higher than the clouds—immeasurably higher—flocks of transparent orbs, shimmering beings arced across the sky, leaving long, streamer-like lines behind them.”
“I witnessed all of that realm in all of its majesty,” Alexander recounted during an interview with The Epoch Times. “Though I didn’t know where I was or even what I was, I was absolutely sure of one thing: This place I’d suddenly found myself in was completely real.”
Similarly, Dr. Sam Parnia, a medical doctor and research scientist, observed that 7 percent of resuscitated patients recounted visits to an unearthly dimension during their near-death experiences (NDEs)—an experience that people sometimes have on the precipice of death and may remember after recovery. Further, Dr. Pim van Lommel, a cardiologist from the Netherlands, reported that 29 percent of people with NDEs describe entering a vast, beautiful realm beyond our physical reality.
These shared elements have prompted experts to discuss the origin of consciousness. Can our consciousness be linked and travel to a dimension imperceptible to human eyes? While people of faith say they’ve had answers all along, medical doctors are still probing, and physicists claim that they are close to finding the answer.
Multiple Dimensions
Physicists recognize that there may be numerous dimensions. Modern physics embraces the concept of multidimensional space and parallel universes as a serious scientific idea.
Leading theories include string theory and M-theory. String theory posits that the fundamental building blocks of the universe are not just particles but tiny, vibrating filaments, or “strings.”
Imagine analyzing an apple. As you magnify it, you discover layers of structure down to cells, molecules, and atoms. Conventional theories usually stop at subatomic particles. String theory posits that the infinitesimally small subatomic particles are actually strands of energy vibrating in different patterns, much like the strings of a violin. Each distinct vibration produces unique particles, creating a cosmic symphony that constitutes all matter.
Such theories are given credence because they provide a framework to unify the fundamental forces of nature—gravity, electromagnetic force, and nuclear force—into one consistent theory. However, string theory posits a universe with at least 10 dimensions, which is integral to its formulation and mathematical consistency.
On a related note, M-theory is a concept in physics that combines different theories about tiny strings thought to make up the fabric of the universe. It suggests 11 dimensions instead of the four we experience (three spatial dimensions of space—width, height, and depth—and one of time). M-theory aims to explain how the forces of nature, including gravity, work together in a single framework, making it a potential “theory of everything.”
Although the string and M-theories are mathematically rich and elegant frameworks that help explain certain aspects of particle physics and gravity, they do not have empirically verifiable predictions.
Nevertheless, other dimensions, although invisible, may exist simultaneously among us.
Out of the Painting
John Burke, who has a degree in engineering and has written multiple books on NDEs, offered an analogy: Imagine that we lived inside a flat, two-dimensional black-and-white painting. In such a scenario, we would experience only length and width—up and down and side to side—but not depth.
“We couldn’t even conceive of it,” he told The Epoch Times in an interview.
Burke suggested that NDEs might be like our two-dimensional consciousness peeling away from that flat painting and entering a three-dimensional world—a realm that has always existed beyond our perception. From this new viewpoint, we could look back at our flat world and understand it as part of a greater dimensional reality.
When our consciousness leaves the body, it’s likely to enter these wider, multi-dimensional spaces, Michael Pravica, who holds a doctorate in condensed matter physics from Harvard University and is a professor at the University of Nevada–Las Vegas, told The Epoch Times.
The Tunnel
Individuals who have NDEs often describe passing through a tunnel-like expanse with a light at the end before entering the other dimension.
Ned Dougherty, a former director of the International Association for Near-Death Studies, wrote about his personal tunnel experience in his book “Fast Lane to Heaven.” In it, he explains that after losing physical consciousness, he was drawn to an immense tunnel. At the distant opening of the tunnel, he saw another universe.
“I pondered the purpose of the tunnel,” Dougherty wrote. “It seemed to stretch from Earth into the universe for a distance measured in light-years.”
Interestingly, the tunnels described by people who have had NDEs bear a striking resemblance to a concept explored in string theory, in which wormholes connect different dimensions.
Additionally, as discussed in Part 1 of this series, physicist Roger Penrose and anesthesiologist Stuart Hameroff proposed that microtubules in the brain may serve as quantum receivers of consciousness. These microtubules also have a unique structure akin to tunnel-like objects.
In a 2022 study published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Parnia and a team of medical experts from prominent universities provided the first comprehensive medical consensus documenting the existence of NDEs.
Notably, the team identified tunnel experiences as one of the main characteristics of NDEs.
The tunnel, according to the study, appears to be a connection to another dimension, where people report seeing magnificent, luminous beings and relive their entire lives in a way unconstrained by time—a phenomenon called the “life review.”
Timeless ‘Whole Life’
In a 2014 study published by the Near-Death Experience Research Foundation that examined 617 near-death experiences, 14 percent of the people who had NDEs experienced a life review. This experience felt like watching stereoscopic movies of their lives.
Overall, 50 percent of near-death experience survivors in the 1976 Tangshan earthquake were reported to have experienced life reviews.
According to Bernard Carr, emeritus professor of mathematics and astronomy at Queen Mary University of London, many elements of NDEs, such as the tunnel phenomenon, intense light, and life reviews, align with the idea of transitioning through or interacting with higher dimensions. He interprets these experiences not as hallucinations or brain-generated phenomena but as glimpses into the true multidimensional nature of reality.
In his book “Evidence of the Afterlife,” Dr. Jeffrey Long, a practicing radiation oncologist and researcher who has studied NDEs for more than 25 years, recorded the case of a man named Roger who was returning from Quebec City when he had an out-of-body experience during a car crash.
“I then began to see my whole life unfolding before me like a film projected on a screen, from babyhood to adult life. It was so real!” Roger recalled.
He said the experience was more realistic than a 3D movie, as he could sense the feelings of the people he interacted with over the years and the good or bad emotions he made them feel.
Those who experience a life review during a near-death experience often recount it with a deep sense of realism. This includes reexperiencing long-forgotten events often confirmed to have occurred, as well as a deep understanding of the thoughts and feelings of others during past interactions.
According to a study published in Missouri Medicine, these life reviews are consistently accurate.
Life reviews appear to access a dimension in which all events are recorded in their entirety and time flows differently, allowing one to review one’s entire life instantly.
The book “Lessons From the Light,” coauthored by Kenneth Ring, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Connecticut, who has published nearly 100 papers on NDEs, recorded the case of a man who reported reexperiencing every event in 22 years of his life.
“The brightness showed me every second of all those years, in exquisite detail, in what seemed only an instant of time,” he said.
Alexander said, “It’s a reliving of events, not just a remembering of events.”
He said that during the life review, if you had acted selfishly toward others during your lifetime, you would experience those events again, but now from the viewpoint of the people who experienced the suffering.
Alexander said he believes that this is where the concept of “hell” originates—those who inflicted pain and suffering during their lives would have to confront and experience that same pain during the life review.
This should nudge people to realize that “we’re really all in this together and need to take care of each other and get along,” he said.
Memories Before Birth
As near-death experiences suggest evidence of other dimensions, studies on prebirth memories have also yielded intriguing insights.
Dr. Akira Ikegawa is an obstetrician-gynecologist in Japan. Between 2002 and 2003, Ikegawa surveyed 3,061 parent–child pairs in Nagano, Japan. His research into prenatal memories aimed to provide guidelines for prenatal care and education. During his investigations, he interviewed many children and parents across Japan, collecting reports of memories from before birth. He discovered that 33 percent of the children interviewed remembered being in the womb before their birth, while 20.7 percent recalled their birth experience. Most children with memories were 2 to 3 years old, and the memories seemed to fade over time; virtually none were reported after 6 years old.
To his surprise, a recurring theme in the recollections was that the children described coming from a place “above the colorful clouds,” where there were angels and fairies.
Ikegawa recorded these findings in his research books, such as “When I See My Mom on the Clouds.”
Children recalled being on a cloud in a higher dimension and coexisting with angels and fairies. When they found their mothers, they left the clouds and flew into their mothers’ wombs.
For example, a boy named Yuichi was 3 years old when he stared at a wedding picture of his parents and told his mom, “I was watching it from the sky.”
The boy said that he saw his mom and dad spending time at the beach at that time. Her mother confirmed that after the wedding ceremony, they had gone to the beach.
A girl named Natsumi recounted that before birth, she was one of the angel-like cherubs flying above clouds and searching for their future mothers.
“There were six of them, including me,” she said. “The mom I saw at the time was walking down the sidewalk wearing a dress with a navy blue background and a white water droplet pattern.”
Natsumi’s mom confirmed that she did have a maternity dress with that pattern and color.
Higher Dimensions
Dr. Peter T. Walling, from Baylor University Medical Center, told The Epoch Times that to really understand human consciousness, “We shall consider higher dimensions.”
Similarly, Pravica endorses the idea that considering higher dimensions is a reasonable way to understand consciousness.
“I can explain just about everything in this universe with one exception, and that’s consciousness,” he said.
Pravica said that although physical principles can describe much of our reality, they fail to explain our simultaneous awareness of the past, present, and future.
According to him, we can also understand multidimensionality through another approach.
“The mind is the playground of the infinities,” Pravica told The Epoch Times. “Our ability to conceptualize higher dimensions—beyond the four we experience—suggests their existence. If we can think about these dimensions, they likely have a basis in reality, even if we cannot directly perceive them.”
He said that we can think outside the box about multidimensionality through cross-discipline approaches, including mathematics, philosophy, and contemplation.
Although the discussion may sound purely philosophical, a particular type of empirical brain measurement suggests a link between consciousness and higher dimensions.
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Gamma Waves
The human brain electroencephalogram (EEG) has five common types of waves, of which gamma waves have the fastest frequency (32 Hertz to 100 Hertz) and the smallest amplitude.
Gamma waves are associated with higher-level cognitive functions, including perception, problem-solving, and consciousness. They often emerge when a person is in a highly concentrated state of profound mental peace and tranquility.
A study published in PNAS by Jimo Borjigin, an associate professor in the Department of Neurology at the University of Michigan School of Medicine, reported an unexpected surge of gamma waves in the dying brains of two patients—an event that followed the withdrawal of their ventilatory support.
Notably, both patients showed bursts of brain activity in different frequency ranges in a specific area at the back of the brain, which is thought to be essential for our conscious awareness.
However, the origin of these gamma waves cannot be explained by brain activity, as the patients’ bodies were dying, and their brains were deprived of oxygen.
In Alexander’s view, the brain “is serving as a transceiver,” receiving signals from another dimension to which the consciousness is connected. It is plausible that the spurt of gamma waves seen when people are dying indicates a change in the dimension that consciousness is linked to.
Gamma waves are common in talented musicians, top athletes, and other high achievers. Studies have also shown that long-term meditators exhibit significantly more dominant gamma waves in their brain EEG readings.
According to Hameroff’s microtubules theory, however, consciousness-related information is transduced from a quantum realm at frequencies much higher than gamma rays. (Article 1 in this series)
Heavenly ‘Home’
In the previous three articles in this series, we have provided large volumes of modern biomedical research on people living with minimal brain matter, near-death experiences, and past life memories, suggesting that the brain is not a prerequisite of consciousness and that consciousness is nonlocal, non-physical, and continuous.
All these reports and studies offer valuable insights into the origin of consciousness, which appears to be intricately linked to a higher destination.
In the 2022 study published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, in addition to the tunnel and life review, many people with NDEs reported returning “home”—a place often described as having heavenly-like entities and celestial landscapes.
“[I was going] back to my origin and the origin of everything,” a participant in the study reported.
Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled the name of Dr. Jeffrey Long. The Epoch Times regrets the error.
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