Proof of Heaven: a
Neurosurgeon’s Journey Into the Afterlife, by Eben Alexander.
Dr. Eben Alexander is a neurosurgeon. A near death
experience changed his life. This is a fascinating book, not just for the
science (it’s mostly not about science), not for the biographical descriptions,
not for the hard-to-explain experience, but for the totality, the wholeness
that glows through it.
Dr. Alexander had a nearly fatal illness and found
himself in the realm and wonder of God. Not the God of Christians or Muslims or
any other faith, but the God behind everything.
As a scientist, he said he had believed, and had been taught, that the
brain determined everything. His journey into the afterlife changed that. He
returned to our world and said that the summary of all he saw and felt while in
what he called “the core” was love. He
learned that thinking “outside the brain” brings us closer to our genuine
spiritual selves, showing love and compassion. He learned that our world has
more good than evil. He learned that everyone is part of a great wholeness.
I found this short book to be a page turner. Not preachy.
It didn’t make him into an evangelist. He wrote it because he was filled with
the wonderful experience that he needed to share. I thought his attempts in a few pages to
reconcile the science he knew well with his new knowledge of the spiritual
realm less easy to read; I believe that it was difficult for him to express it.
After reading this book, I was more able to understand
things like post-death appearances of loved ones, as well as the post-death, post-Easter
appearances of Jesus which were put into our New Testament. However, Dr. Alexander doesn’t connect his
experience with any organized religion or dogma.
Read it. It’s short. It’s worth taking the time. It was
published in 2012.
