"Proof of Heaven" by Eben Alexander

Eben Alexander's new book, “Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife,” contains an account of his near-death experience during an attack of e. coli meningitis, and his reflections upon that experience.

It became an immediate best-seller; many words have been written about it; the author is with Oprah this weekend; and Raymond Moody says that “Dr. Eben Alexander's near-death experience is the most astounding I have heard in more than four decades of studying this phenomenon.”

The book is well-written and the bibliography at the end of the book is only six pages long but lists all the really good, current, most significant, books on the subject.

My main thought after reading it is about whether or not it will make any difference. I appreciate the old Russian proverb that says that one word of truth can change the world, but it seems to me that often when truth is told, it doesn't have the slightest effect on the world except to destroy the earthly life of the person who tells it. “You'll never work in this town [or profession] again.” “We know where your children go to school.”

I can barely begin to imagine what might happen if, for instance, all the intellectual power in the scientific establishment and the academy came to see that love is the most important scientific fact, as Alexander says it is:

Not much of a scientific insight? Well, I beg to differ. I'm back from that place, and nothing could convince me that this is not only the single most important emotional truth in the universe, but also the single most scientific truth as well.

So the book's great popularity does give me some pause. But my best sense of it is that it is a source of light and comfort and joy.

A later addendum: Oprah's interview with Eben Alexander is actually well worth watching. It's broken into segments but you can access all of them from this link.