We are thrilled today to announce the release of the book that picks right up where Proof of Heaven (2012) left off. As tempting as it was after awakening from coma to simply accept my extraordinary healing and current well-being as an inexplicable miracle, I couldn’t do that. Instead, I was driven to find an explanation for the incredible journey I took during that coma—a sensory experience that completely defies our conventional neuro-scientific concepts of the role of the neocortex in detailed conscious awareness.
In Living in a Mindful Universe: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Heart of Consciousness, co-authored with Karen Newell, we take the reader through my personal journey of discovery, including interactions with other scientists, spiritual teachers and fellow journeyers in the quest to answer some of the deepest questions humans can ask. Does mind over matter really work? Do our loved ones hear our prayers? Can I really communicate with my departed grandmother? Are our souls eternal? Why are we here? What is our purpose?
There is a rapidly growing realization in the fields of the neuroscience of consciousness and philosophy of mind that our conventional view of the brain and consciousness is fatally and irrevocably flawed – the deeper relationships emerging are of life-shifting relevance to us all. The stunning awakening now underway is hinged directly in the mysterious depths of quantum physics, which not only allow for the reality of the spiritual realm – they demand it, with very powerful implications for the reality of primordial consciousness, or God.
This discussion is fascinating, one to which the whole world should be privy – yet most people have no inkling of the profound shifts in understanding coming to the scientific community even now. The picture emerging from the most advanced reaches of scientific investigation in the mind-body debate is quite contrary to our conventional viewpoint.
Many of our foundational assumptions about the nature of reality hinge on the directions in which that debate flows. Any notion of meaning and purpose of our existence, of connection with others and the universe, of our very sense of free will, and even of such concepts as an afterlife and reincarnation—all of these deep issues depend directly on the outcome of the mind-body debate. The relationship between mind and brain is thus one of the most profound and important mysteries in all of human thought – and a revolution in understanding appears imminent.
As a seeker of truth, you clearly don’t have to wait for the world’s scientific community to awaken to all of this – you can start taking advantage of this revolutionary shift in understanding towards deeper understanding and wholeness. It is all about developing a richer interaction with the consciousness within you, that actually originates from the creative source of all that is.
Our new book, Living in a Mindful Universe (Rodale Books, published 17 October 2017), explains this world-changing shift in scientific understanding around the mind-body problem, and outlines numerous ways in which the individual seeker can take their journey to a higher level, by comprehending the deep message concerning the power of our free will to manifest the world of our dreams. The most straightforward benefit is achieving wholeness, of the body, mind, spirit – and soul. As we become more of who we are meant to be, finding the creativity, refreshing perspective and broadened awareness of the interrelationships in our existence, this allows us to live our lives as richly as possible to grow to our highest potential.
Join us on this journey of human awakening – no soul left behind!
A really interesting book that confirms all my previous thoughts
Mr.Alexander I would like to ask you a question that is a little bit unrelated to the subject. Do you have any knowledge on energies and projection. I have heard people talk about about negative and positive energy and whatever your perception is about yourself is how people will see you meaning whatever you project the universe will give back to you.
Good Morning Sebastian, having a lazy morning in front of me, I began to browse through the blogs. Speaking from experience at now a fairly great age! I will offer my perspective on this, if I may. Everything is energy, Earth, Air, Fire and Water, surely these elements, we know are included in our make up?! They play a vital roll within so many levels of our existence. I am not a scientist, just little old me, but I can tell when energies are for or against as it were. I am a people watcher, not nosy, a watcher, people are fascinating, whatever age group they may be residing in. One gets to either feel comfortable in the company of some others, or not. Or, lets say waiting in the bus station, I sit and take it all in, humanity, various nationalities, various levels of living standards, some will respond to a smile, others are away with the fairies, via their mobile phones. Others, lost in their thoughts, mothers trying to pacify restless children, the other day a mother with an over- active screaming, raging child. How she did not break, I do not know. He is always like this, she tells me, I may have been classed as being a busy body, and even a offering a banana would not cease his temper. Being a retired Bach Flower practitioner, I tried to briefly advise her. They got on the bus and she stared at me out of the window. I expect I gave her concern, as to “Who does she think she is!?” All I could do, though, was on resting later at home, was to visualise that child and hold him in the Light. So, simply out of compassion I introduced love, and I like to think that my concentration/energy on him and his Mum later that day found its way to embrace them and trigger some alternative route at a point the Universe can work with. So the energy of the three of us inter-mingled, briefly, but definitely so. Another example, I can give you re energy, (I always find that personal experience is the best pointer) This one, was not what I was going to say, but here it is anyway. A dear Quaker friend of mine, was in hospital for three weeks, home to finish recuperating. I visited her three times, but most of my contribution to her healing was through thought, prayer, holding her in the Light. She told me she felt it, on and off throughout the day’s. The first example I was going to tell you was this. I have a neighbour, with whom I get on with, but it is fairly surface, you might say. But she does believe in an after life and has been to see mediums and had strong evidence. Her upbringing was something not to be desired and this has affected her life. She cannot forgive a member of her family and whatever went on, I can see it would be difficult for her to do that. But the one who caused her such pain, keeps nearby, trying to attract her attention. To the point of audibly begging me to tell her of the regrets that keep such a tight hold. Over a period of a decade, I have relayed this to her about three times, but she will not, can not forgive. So when she follows her relatives into the etheric world, she will have to deal with it, or the pair of them will admonish each other ad infinite. Loving energies are trying now to assist healing, but it looks as though resolve will not be reached until later. We do have a choice, you see, if only we could understand. There is a Cockney saying, not used much here now, but it goes like this – “The easy way ain’t easy and the ‘ard way’s ruddy ard!” I am blessed with perception, women usually are, I am able to tell people what they are thinking in regards to a situation, which they may not have even mentioned before. I know when I walk past a large group of trees, that I am being observed. So I always offer a greeting. That’s energy, all energy.
I have prattled on too long, I am not clever, just consciously a reciever and a giver. Sincere thoughts to you, Sebastian. Margaret.
Did Mr Alexander ever provide any response to the suggestion that his extraordinary experiences in coma didn’t happen while his brain was disabled but shortly before he awakened when his brain was coming back online? From the materialistic viewpoint this is the most natural and plausible explanation, so it seems weird that Mr Alexander seems to have nothing to say about it. I would really appreciate his thoughts on this possibility.
As documented in Proof of Heaven, the events in my memories of the deep coma spiritual journey provided time anchors (especially the 6 faces that appeared at the very end, 5 of whom were people present in the ICU room the last 24 hours of my coma) that suggest the vast majority of the deep coma experience had to happen between days one and five of my seven day coma. A recent medical review by 3 independent physicians (not involved in my care) states that my Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) during those days was 6-7 on a scale of 3-15 (anything below 9 is categorized as comatose, so my rankings of 6-7 clearly place me in coma during that entire time; a corpse scores 3, a fully alert human scores 15). I went into coma before any sedation, and came out of coma while still under sedation, so the medical conclusion is that this coma was due to meningitis with its global disruption of the human part of the brain (my neocortex, which is preferentially attacked during such cases of severe meningoencephalitis-encephalitis) — I was not simply in a “medically-induced coma.” As I came out of coma, my memories are of a distinctive 36-hour period of being in and out of a psychotic nightmare which was nowhere remotely comparable to the ultra-reality witnessed in the deep coma experience.
El tema es sensible y complejo, con limitaciones de lenguaje de por medio. Lo importante es comenzar a desenredar el ovillo para alcanzar la Luz y La Verdad. No es “lógico” que un SER tan maravilloso como el HUMANO se desvanezca tras un corto tiempo en este planeta y que esa IMAGINACIÓN sin limite termine en la NADA.
Hay que trabajar para superar los prejuicios, la vanidad, la soberbia, la arrogancia y la INMENSA IGNORANCIA para encontrar el CAMINO, LA VERDAD Y LA VIDA.
Gracias Dr. Eben Alexander por desbrozar SENDEROS para continuar la Búsqueda. (Bogotá D.C. Colombia, 13/11/17).
I met you Saturday in Ottawa and then went to visit my wife in Montreal who is recovering from cancer surgery and gave her your booked you had signed to her. She was very thankful and pointed out to me Proof of Heaven is on our bookshelf, which I am now reading. I have been studying what you are teaching or the last 15 years with Inner Journey and Michael Schiesser. Blessing and Thank you
I attended yours and Karen’s talk and meditation this evening in Ottawa. I am deeply grateful to both of you for the crucial work you are doing. You are beautiful Beings and the evening was profoundly moving. Thank you, so much. 💖
Dear Even
Heard your talk dated 2014 at theo.. society.Brillinat experience gives hope and helps to embrace death and after experience. When I heard you did not find your father ,I pondered over it,I realised you mentioned he was a believer ,also you had faced the sting of rejection and over the period of 8 years you stopped beleiving and going to church, so I conclude for me your father is in heaven with Jesus and the believers and no reincarnation required there as by grace of God through Jesus they are saved.Overall a great hope for people.God bless and great help.
Dear Dr Eben Alexander, thank you for your book “Proof of Heaven.” And for sharing your experience with the world. I can’t wait to read “Living in a Mindful Universe”. What the scientific world is just scraping the surface about consciousness and a life after death and a life before birth the Spiritual World has known for millennia. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has been teaching that concept for over 150 years through prophetic revelation. Please see mormon.org and lds.org for a better explanation. Thank you once again for your effort to bring some light into this divine truth.
Dear Eben, I was thrilled to observe how your understanding grew over the years. We are all here together on a journey of the self discovery, learning from our environment, from our own actions and ignorance. We each are all a unique expression of the One fundamental thing co creating this shared dream, an Awareness that is infinite in its imagination.
I’m glad you eventually found courage to expose both religious and materialist dogmas for what they are and go beyond them. This is the age of the true spirituality and mysticism, the age of self love and the discovery of the infinite creative power within we all possess.
Shankara, a great ancient mystic once said:” I am One without a second, reality without end… I dwell within all beings as pure consciousness, the ground of all phenomena…I am both the enjoyer and that which is enjoyed. In the days of my ignorance, I used to think of these as being separate from myself. Now I know that I am All. ”
And Christ who said:”you’re all gods”
We are all destined to realize this sooner or later, and see this world of duality for what it is and why we have created it.
When Love becomes more important than “God”, then there will be no further need for religion. If “God” is Love, then let’s universaly call “God”, Love… and use this name universally. Right now we can’t, since religion’s and the “gods” they worship are devisive, putting one tribe of humans, above and more loved than the others.
Love is all inclusive… and therefore “God” is not Love in our current experience.
The God of the bible is too small to encompass all that we are … the God of the bible was created by us; we do not come from this God or from the universe – in truth they come from us. I am happy to have come to the same conclusions as you have, through your experience Eben… there is a lot to add regarding dimensions folding in – then unfolding as well. Thanks to you both for sharing (even though money is involved 🙂 ).
‘God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.’ (1 John, 4:16).
I appreciate your statement, “The most straightforward benefit is achieving wholeness, of the body, mind, spirit – and soul.” God’s desire for us is wholeness as seen throughout Scripture. “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23) “God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24) Jesus’s words direct us to follow Him. “I am the Light of the world, he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life. (John 8:12) “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)