Through the Looking Glass and Beyond
with Dr Raymond Moody Interview by Sherry Henderson
I recently had the pleasure of attending a workshop
entitled “On Matters of Life and Death” presented by
Dr. Raymond Moody. It was an intimate group and the discussions
were riveting to say the least.
Dr. Moody is best known for his work on the near death experience.
In his 1975 best seller LIFE AFTER LIFE, he coined the phrase “the
near-death experience” (NDE), which has become almost synonymous
his name. Dr. Moody’s first book has sold over thirteen million
copies worldwide. His research has given the world a new perspective
on matters of life and death.
The following questions were asked during the class. I am publishing
them in interview format.
Q. How do you know if you are having a NDE or if what you’re
experiencing is a delusion?
A. Sane people seldom have delusions. The medical definition of
a delusion is a false belief that a person cannot be persuaded
out of. When a person is having a NDE, they are having a very real
experience.
Q. Many skeptics hold that the NDE is nothing more than the brain’s
reaction to the death process and that there is nothing to the
tunnel of light. How would you answer that?
A. One of the most unique human experiences is that of a sympathetic
NDE. Sometimes, although not often, medical personnel or family
members have the same experience, at the same time as the person
who is crossing over. These people obviously aren’t having
a medical condition or a reaction to drugs. They are experiencing
the opening of the portal, the same portal that the dying person
is experiencing. I have talked to many sane, professional, care-givers
who have had the same type of experience. These people aren’t
making it up.
Q. What might one expect to happen in a typical NDE?
A. A strange sound: A buzzing, or ringing noise, while having
a sense of being dead.
Peace and painlessness: While people are dying, they may be
in intense pain, but as soon as they leave the body the pain vanishes
and they experience peace.
Out-of-body experience: The dying often have the sensation
of floating above their own body while it is surrounded by a medical
team, and watching it down below, while feeling comfortable. They
experience the feeling of being in a spiritual body that appears
to be a sort of living energy field.
The tunnel experience: The experience of being drawn into
darkness through a tunnel, at an extremely high speed, until reaching
a realm of radiant golden-white light. Other people report rising
suddenly into the heavens and seeing the earth and the celestial
sphere as they would be seen by astronauts. People of light: Once
on the other side, the dying meet people who glow with an inner
light. Often friends and relatives who have already died are there
to greet them.
The Being of Light: The dying often meet a powerful spiritual
being whom some have identified as God, Jesus, or some religious
figure.
The life review: The Being of
Light presents the dying with a panoramic life review. They relive
every act they have ever done to other people and come away feeling
that love is the most important thing in life.
Reluctance to return: The Being of Light sometimes tells the dying that
they must return to life. Other times, they are given a choice of staying. In
either case, they are reluctant to return. The people who choose to return do
so only because of loved ones they do not wish to leave behind.Q. In your book, Reunions, you describe the experience
of reuniting the bereaved with departed loved ones. Please give
us more information on that process.
A. In the Greek classics, there are many tales of visitations to
oracles and psychomanteums (a chamber where the spirits of the
dead are summoned). The ruins of these places can still be found
today. Stories of hero’s adventures piqued my interest when
I was an undergraduate philosophy major, so I began to research
those stories. I surmised that it would have impossible for the
Greeks to “fake” the experience, and so I based my
own psychomanteum on their model. This involves using a clear depth,
in my experiments a mirror, to summon the departed. The person
who wants to make contact sits in a darkened room, facing a mirror,
in a positioned so that they see no reflection in the mirror. The
walls of the room are draped with a non-reflective black cloth
and there is a small light placed behind the chair where the individual
sits. I give full details for replicating the experience in my
book, Reunions. I recommend that you not try this alone, although
I have never known any harm to come to anyone from this experience.
It can be an emotionally charged experience, although almost always
very healing.
Q. Could you conjure up demons or negative entities with this process.
A. I suppose that anything is possible. I have never had that kind
of experience.
Q. Is this a 100% successful experience?
A. The experience is not always predictable. In my own experience,
I wanted to contact my maternal grandmother and instead, my paternal
grandmother appeared. I was taken by surprise when I saw her. I
was never very close to that grandmother. She was the kind of person
who was always complaining. At holiday gatherings she would say
something like “Well I guess this is the last holiday you’ll
have me with you” and things like that. I must say that the
experience was extremely healing for me. I feel differently toward
her and see her in a new light. In one case the spirit of a young
man visited his grandmother, who lived miles away, rather than
his mother when it was his mother who was attempting to make contact.
My success rate is around 80%, but some psychologist and other
professionals that I have trained are having upwards of a 95% success
rate.
