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Last
week while I was surfing on the internet, I came across a very
interesting text. It was about death.
The
original is as follows:
Near
death experiences:
These
people were having experiences when we wouldn’t expect them to
happen, when the brain shouldn’t be able to sustain lucid
processes or allow them to form memories." He thinks the
results could indicate that while the brain gives access to the
mental realm, it doesn’t create it. Religious leaders have
responded positively to the study.
The Bishop of Basingstoke said: “These near death experiences
counter the materialist view that we are nothing more than
computers made of meat." Scientists have been more
sceptical. One psychologist said the experiences “could just
be the brain trying to make sense of what is a very unusual
event."
The
Sunday Telegraph
I
asked my friend Professor Kerem Doksat to give his opinions on
the subject, here is his answer:
Dear
Ahmet Fevzi Yuksel,
Almost all the
people who have returned back to life from death have common
experiences. A
feeling of extreme serenity and unity (joining God, becoming a
whole with the existence), seeing a very bright light,
feeling oneself refined
and cleaned as if having
a rebirth (like an initiation or reincarnation),
leaving the physical body and watching from above what is
going on below…
In lots of extreme
mystical and artistic cases there are the similar experiences. I
have been researching on this subject since four years and I
have given a series of lectures
in national pscychiatry congresses:
1)
The historical development of the
spirit concept and its place in the contemporary
pyschology and psychiatry;
2)
The evolution of the Central Nervous System from the
point of ontogenetics and phylogenetics.
3)
The psychological and psychiatric examination of
transandance (the mystical and artistic experiences) .
The
whole question is :
1)
I do not know to whom the statement ‘’We are
computers made up of meat’’ belongs; even this statement
brings along the idea that there is a programmer (whatever it is
named as Allah, as Christ, or as the inherent power of matter)
and it goes beyond its original purpose. From the causality it
turns towards finality even to teleology which
is obviously metaphysics.
2)
The experiences that have been told above are a result of
the brain’s activities and the parts of the brain that
cause these activities are known and valuable scientific publications on this subject are
available (for example Life After Death Experiences : The Neural
Mechanisms written by Joseph). I have them all.
In
my opinion we should not fall into the following dilemma :
Everything in this universe has a natural mechanism which can be
explained by the laws of this universe.
We may not know this yet. However, this is another
subject. If, for
the time being when we cannot explain something we try to put it
into mystical terms and
diverge from the positive science, then we immediately fall into
the trap of superstition.
Thinking according to the laws of this universe is not
contradictory with believing in Allah!
There is a difference between the nature of
scientific and religious thinking which is a necessity.
The scientific thought does not have an ideology,
but a methodology which is empiricism (the system of
working by empirical methods, observing and experimenting).
The scientists have the right to believe whatever they like as
long as they do not confuse their belief with the science.
From the point of social psychology the religions too are an
ideology and none of them
should be mixed up with science.
When the scientist comes across a phenomenon which he
cannot explain, his reflex should be in the form of
‘’what is the explanation for this?’’.
Whereas, the
reflex of the man of the religion is to say ‘’Oh! Look at
what Allah has done’’ and pray.
Both of them
should exist, but if
the person can make a synthesis it is much more better. We can give a concrete well known example for this:-
Like everything else the earthquake is also the work of
Allah; let us pray in order not to have one. However,
while doing the prayers we should do everything we can in the
light of the positive sciences and take our precautions.
With love and
respect
M.Kerem Doksat
Afterwards
I have asked to Professor Ismail Hakkı Aydın, here is his
answer:
‘’ The moment of death could not be understood as it is very complicated
medically and cannot be put into objective terms.
This is because
the functions of the brain are a result of
billions, trillions of biochemical reactions,
coordination and interactions. Mind, intelligence, judgement,
reasoning, memory and other qualities are all a function of the
brain. It is assumed that there are some anatomical
localizations pertaining to these functions. However, we never
accept these functions as only a piece of tissue. Perhaps, they
are functions which are a result of
countless neurophysiological, psychophysiological plays
and neurochemical reactions.
We cannot think of them working as separate and
independent from each other.
With my deep respects…
Prof.Dr. Ismail Hakkı Aydın, MD, FCNS; FYCA
So,
these are what the experts are thinking on this subject…
I
hope that we could have been
useful for you…
Istanbul-
November
02th 2000
http://afyuksel.com
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