Observations placeholder
The story of the neuroscientist's dying father
Identifier
007910
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
Proof of heaven – Dr Eben Alexander
A little over two years after returning from coma, I visited a close friend and colleague who chairs one of the foremost academic neuroscience departments in the world. I've known John (not his real name) for decades and consider him a wonderful human being and a first-rate scientist.
I told John some of the story of my spiritual journey deep in coma, and he looked quite amazed. Not amazed at how crazy I now was, but as if he was finally making sense of something that had mystified him for a long time.
It turned out that about a year earlier, John's father was nearing the end of a five-year illness. He was incapacitated, demented, in pain, and wanted to die.
"Please," his father had begged John from his deathbed. "Give me some pills, or something. I can’t go on like this."
Then suddenly his father became more cogent than he had been in two years, as he discussed some deep observations about his life and about their family. He then shifted his gaze and began talking to the air at the foot of his bed. Listening, John realized that his father was talking to his deceased mother, who had died sixty-five years before, when John's father was just a teenager. He had barely mentioned her during John's life but now was having a joyous and animated discussion with her.
John could not see her but was absolutely convinced that her spirit was there, welcoming his father's spirit home. After a few minutes of this, John’s father turned back to him, a completely different look in his eye. He was smiling, and clearly very much at peace, more than John could ever remember seeing in him before.
"Go to sleep, Dad," John found himself saying. "Just let go. It’s okay."
His father did just that. Closing his eyes, he drifted off with a look of complete peace on his face. Shortly thereafter, he died.