The Riddle of Consciousness

Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife. Eben Alexander, M.D. (Simon & Schuster, 2012) 196 pages

The Map of Heaven: How Science, Religion, and Ordinary People Are Proving the Afterlife. Eben Alexander, M.D. (Simon & Schuster, 2014) 208 pages

Review by Serguei Krissiouk

If the story does not contain a question, but instead is filled with definitions and explanations, it is usually not an interesting story. Similarly, if the story of a human life does not contain vitally important, even burning questions—Who am I? Why am I here? or What is my purpose?—no descriptions or explanations can satisfy the mind and soul of a seeker. We innately search for the truth until the answers are received from the depth of our being.

Surprisingly, when the longing for immediate experience of reality begins, questions are more valuable than easy-to-get answers. It is always refreshing and encouraging to find a story filled with meaningful queries and honestly earned solutions, especially in our modern culture of information at our fingertips.

Consider the story of Dr. Eben Alexander, a highly trained neurosurgeon, whose near-death experience (NDE) in a seven-day coma opened unexpected, yet profoundly awe-inspiring realms of experience and knowledge.

Dr. Alexander’s books, "Proof of Heaven" (2012), and "The Map of Heaven" (2014), both published by Simon and Schuster, contain detailed accounts of the author’s personal NDE experience, induced by severe bacterial meningitis, along with his consequent discoveries of consciousness independent of body and brain.

"Proof of Heaven" is more descriptive and autobiographical than his second book, "The Map of Heaven". The former paints a visceral, emotionally-charged, and sometimes dramatic picture of the author’s out-of-body experiences. The latter illustrates a more contemplative picture, by integrating his experiential knowledge and visions of the afterlife with those of the world’s spiritual leaders, philosophers, and scientists.

Both books contain a single clear message—that human consciousness holds the key to the doors of perception and understanding. Dr. Alexander explores his NDE as an indispensable tool for gaining insights into both the meaning of human life and the structure of reality. His intent is not simply to prove intellectually the independence of brain and body consciousness, but to take the reader with him through his personal NDE.

In "Proof of Heaven", the reader senses the power of Dr. Alexander’s personal experience during this seven-day coma, which resulted in completely erasing his “healthy sense of scientific self-preservation.” As a respected surgeon, Dr. Alexander understands acutely the potential risks involved in sharing such a heretofore “non-scientific phenomenon,” but the directness and sincerity of his message challenges the reader to think beyond what can be mathematically calculated and verified according to accepted scientific models.

He recalls the effect on his small and limited “self,” which became, during the experience, so overwhelmed by the magnificence and grandeur of creation that the “facade” of a good doctor and secular scientist indeed died. This death was so complete and final that an emptiness was created for a new life-giving and limitless essence to enter and transform his awareness and energies. He explains that this was, for him, a death and resurrection, or a second birth to the great and “more real than real” reality.

Dr. Alexander’s characterization of himself flying on the wing of a butterfly in his out-of-body experience may lead the reader to wonder about the significance of this image.

In Christianity, the butterfly has long been a symbol of the resurrection of Christ as well as the resurrection of believers. The caterpillar disappears into a cocoon, which is like the tomb Christ lay in after the crucifixion, appearing dead. Later, it emerges from ‘death,’ having transformed into something more beautiful and powerful than it was. The butterfly symbol is seen especially around Easter; the Christian holiday that celebrates the resurrection of Christ. But the butterfly is also a symbol of every Christian’s hope of resurrection from the dead, so it is sometimes displayed at the memorials and funerals of believers as well. (1)

We may also consider the biblical reference of Dr. Alexander’s butterfly metaphor:

So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. —1 Corinthians 15:42-44

Dr. Alexander’s central message, that human consciousness is the most important essence and expression of being—both individual and cosmic—reveals itself as well to be the most precise and indispensable tool for any scientific investigation. Does this not align completely with one of the principal functions of anthroposophy as a study centered on human consciousness?

In the chapter of "Proof of Heaven" titled “The Enigma of Consciousness,” the author gives a very clear and convincing account of his experience of consciousness as “more real than the rest of physical existence.” He states:

In fact, I feel confident in saying that, while I didn’t even know the term at the time, while in the Gateway and in the Core (2) , I was actually “doing science.” Science that relied on the truest and most sophisticated tool for scientific research that we possess: Consciousness itself. The further I dug, the more convinced I became that my discovery wasn’t just interesting or dramatic. It was scientific… But what made my experience unusual was the jolting immediacy with which I experienced the basic role of Consciousness, or spirit. It wasn’t theory when I learned this up there, but a fact, overwhelming and immediate as a blast of arctic air in the face.

What can be more inspiring and heart-warming than this realization that we are beings living in the world of reality with a real purpose right now and right here? What can threaten, discourage, or belittle us, if we win this knowledge back—this deep and most mysterious knowledge of our true origin, destination, and being? Nothing! Nothing can destroy this eternal life that we are. But we must strive with utmost intensity to remember and regain our innate glory, which is indeed the gift of the Divine! Thus we solve the mystery of The Riddle of Consciousness, because this sacred knowledge is not foreign or external to us. This knowing is concealed in the depth of our being, dormant, waiting to be awakened and brought into the brilliant bright light of human consciousness.

In "Proof of Heaven", Dr. Alexander examines a moment from his experience. “Here, to see was to know. There was no distinction between my experiencing and understanding it.” If we try to align our awareness with the meaning concealed in these words, we inevitably arrive at the key quality of reality: in the world of reality, “being” means “complete knowing” that our perception and consciousness is right here and right now. “The Kingdom of God does not come with observation; Nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17, 20-21) Though we have heard this many times, do we truly know?

What stands in our way? What prevents us from attaining to the world of reality? There are indeed serious barriers on the way, including the condition of near total automatism in the functions of the brain and nervous system—cold, mechanical, abstract thinking; automatic, reflex-like re-actions to external stimuli and internal urges; habitual, conditioned, and predictable perceptual and behavioral patterns.

Here is what Dr. Alexander says about the brain. “Our brains, in a very real sense do much of our thinking for us. Some of that thinking ... reaches our consciousness a fraction of a second after the thinking has actually occurred.” This observation is based on the study by Benjamin Libet and others, published in the journal Brain in 1983. Further on he notes,

There is strong evidence that the brain is a quantum computer: that it receives information from the morethan-physical worlds and transmits information back to those worlds via means that science has yet to understand. We may be materialists, but our minds aren’t. The physical brain simply can’t afford to be out of contact with super-physical world. But in the course of working to keep us alive on planet earth, our brains can encourage us to think materialistically by blocking our knowledge not only of the spiritual world but of our deep unity with it ... During my coma, my cortex was essentially erased. As a result, that higher world, which I ordinarily kept repressed, flooded into my awareness with a clarity and brilliance that blew me away. That brilliance and clarity is the core reality of the universe. It’s what really is. But we have allowed ourselves to be tricked by the survival-oriented parts of our brain to lose sight of that “glory” and that “freshness.”

Dr. Alexander’s thoughts concerning perception and the brain and its functions correspond in significant degree to numerous esoteric sources’ views on the subject. In the Bible it is stated very clearly, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18, 2-3). In Buddhism, the realm governed by habitual survival-oriented perception is called Maya—the world of illusion. Maya is the mode of perception, not really the world in its own right. The entire process of liberation, according to the Buddhist tradition, is wholly dependent on a very meticulous and demanding process of self-observation and self-transformation. The result of the work on oneself is heightened awareness, deep knowledge, understanding, wisdom, inner peace, tranquility and, in fact, spiritual rebirth.

According to another Eastern esoteric source, the ordinary mode of perception, thinking, and action is considered to be in its entirety “under the spell” of formatory apparatus—the automatic function of centers for thinking, feeling, instinct, and movement. One can argue with this statement and attempt to protect one’s sense of independence and free will, but if one observes and studies oneself meticulously, objectively, and without self-pity, it does not take too long to discover that ordinary, unrefined perception is indeed entirely mechanical. Taken in this context, ordinary life is slavery, not a life filled with dignity and grace.

What we habitually experience as the world around us is the description of the world. In this connection it is necessary and useful to carefully examine the ordinary cognitive process. In fact, this cognitive process is automatic to the degree that we usually don’t even consciously participate in it—we are, in so far as active conscious attention is concerned, almost absent from this process. The cognitive function is so involuntary that it can be compared to a magic spell which we often find in fairy tales. Many fairy tales’ central themes reflect a long and challenging path of transformation of the enchanted character by means of which the magic spell is broken and freedom is regained. This process involves struggle, often intensified to the degree of self-sacrifice. It is death and resurrection—the Phoenix burnt to a crisp and arising from the ashes, the alchemical crucible and the enigma of transmutation, the Great Work of alchemists, the death and resurrection of Christ. It is indeed the only way—the old must die for the new life to enter. The whole process of turning base impure substances into the pure refined essence signifies a qualitative shift, a total transformation, and a birth into the new realm. This is the secret of the Philosopher’s Stone, the Great Work’s essence, and the deep mystery of the Christian impulse.

Dr. Alexander’s later book, "The Map of Heaven", is a detailed account of what he has learned from others— mystics, philosophers, scientists, and many ordinary people—about the afterlife and the worlds beyond this earthly realm. The titles of all seven chapters of the book begin with the words, “The Gift of…” and continue with definitions of these gifts: Knowledge, Meaning, Vision, Strength, Belonging, Joy, and Hope. The author tells us about his enriching experience in the worlds beyond this realm. Yet his intent in writing his second book is not only to provide for us the means of orientation in these higher worlds, but also to attempt to create the bridge between this earthly world and the spiritual world, between science and religion, empiricism and mysticism. It seeks to reconcile the paradox of human situation—the limited with the unlimited, the mortal with the deathless, the confined with the eternal. The reconciliation of this paradox is the work which, if considered from the perspective of an impending death, is indeed the only real work during our stay in this earthly realm. It is no accident that the work on oneself was called the ‘Great Work’ by true adepts of alchemy, since the greatest and most important transformation was, and of course still is, the transformation of a human soul.

This deeply personal story of the author’s NDE rings true for both his contemporaries and those who have lived here on earth and passed away long ago. This personal story becomes a universal one, uniting us into a community of beings whose lives and destinies are deeply related and tightly interwoven. We all are partakers of this unfolding spectacle, the precise meaning of which is yet to be discovered by every single one of us. Something is stirred deep inside when one reads these words of the author:

…these higher realities strike you in a deeper place, because the higher in the worlds you go, the deeper the part of yourself that is being called out. At the very center, deep beneath the surface character we have built up in the course of this lifetime there is a part of us so central, so timeless, and so fundamental that mystics have been politely disagreeing for centuries as to whether it is the place where we intersect with God, or whether it is God itself.

As seen by the author, the path of ascension into the higher worlds offers the most important gift, the gift of consciousness, but it does not mean that it is an easy path. He further explains:

The place we are going is one where terrors and confusions of this life will be resolved. But that resolution does not mean that evil, and what Christianity traditionally calls sin, do not exist. Of course they do. But they are not able to touch, or triumph over, the goodness and love that are the heart and soul of the Universe.

There is in the book a quality that transmits deeply felt truth and a sincere intent to share. One cannot accuse the author of superficiality or wishful thinking when reading his words:

You are loved—that was the most important message of my journey... The universal truth of unconditional love from the source is the most powerful message of my odyssey. It starts with loving yourself, which empowers you and connects you to oneness... The mystical traditions of all great faiths offer the same nonexclusive message—it is all about connecting to the divine through the heart.

It is difficult to express the message of the author more accurately. We are indeed loved by our Father and by the creative powers and beings which have created us. There can be no other attitude or feeling toward us, creatures, sons and daughters of these creative powers, because nothing can be created without love. Love is not a feeling or attitude only. Love is the creative, life-giving and sustaining force of the universe.

Can one think of a better or simpler way to finish the work? Honestly, I cannot. Thank you, Dr. Alexander, for your closing words …

All is well. We are living in a new world.

Serguei Krissiouk describes himself as a student of life and seeker of knowledge. He is an anthroposophically trained physician, holistic counselor, and homeopath, and has certificates from Emerson College (UK) Foundation Study and the Seminar for anthroposophical doctors at Filderklinik, Germany.