Hi All

The first question I think we should all ask when someone tells us of something supernatural is to get them to prove that it really happened before we try to explain it. I have no idea how the Buddhist monks could do what is claimed for them but then I have no idea if they actually did do it. There is much hype on TV, ghost stories that are faked but made to look real, amazing feat stories which appear to border on the impossible but in fact owe more to TV magic than any real amazing or supernatural abilities on the parts of those involved. Just because the reporter tells you he’s freezing his toes off in a -30 rated thermal suite while the Monk is steaming in wet blankets in a sub zero wind doesn’t mean that’s what’s really going on.

Near Death Experiences (NDEs) are a fascinating area, they can be induced artificially chemically or by GLoading the body when there is no danger of death so being near death is optional in them and what is seen by the experiences comes form their own minds, Hindu’s commonly see Hindu gods, Christians see Christian figures, sceptics have even been know to see famous historical sceptics. One reasonably common thread is meeting your dead relatives except in children when the people they meet are generally living friends as most don’t know any dead people. There’s no clear evidence here that NDEs are anything but the misfiring of an anoxic brain I would suggest though again I stand to be corrected. That being said I fully believe that these are real experiences, that many at least of these people really experienced what they claim to have I just suspect that it comes from within their own misfiring mind with no external source.

In Reason

Russell