The
Self-Conscious Mind (updated
09/04/24 --»What's new)
Recent
interviews, news articles, papers
and presentations
When Does Human
Life Begin? (Part 2)
Continuing from Part 1,
we present evidence of the etheric
body, the factors involved in
embodiment in a physical body, and
the "etheric extract" that is
carried from one incarnation to the
next. Embodiment can occur only when
brain development begins at 24
weeks, so the soul cannot be
considered an incarnated human being
until then. Communication with the
soul during pregnancy is critical to
prevent or lessen trauma to the
soul, especially in cases of in
vitro fertilization (IVF). (2024 IANDS
Conference, Sept 2024; video 56 min,
Q&A 5 min)
When Does Human
Life Begin? (Part 1)
Evidence from NDEs,
children's prebirth memories, and
other sources shows that the
individual nonmaterial soul
generally does not unite with the
developing fetus until later in
gestation. We discuss the factors
involved with the question of when
human life begins. (2023 IANDS
Conference, Sept 2023; video 52 min,
Q&A 5 min)
NDE Evidence and
Mind-Brain Research: The
concept of an autonomous mind entity
can serve as a new conceptual
framework for explaining
consciousness. What is needed now is
a research program to validate this
model of mind-brain interaction
(2022 IANDS Conference, Sept 2022;
video 50 min, Q&A 10 min).
Afterlife
Evidence Panel: Future Research
Directions: Results of
Bigelow essay contest and future
directionsin afterlife
research. Featuring BICS essay
winners Jeffrey Mishlove and Robert
& Suzanne Mays; Jan Holden is
moderator (2022 IANDS
Conference, Sept 2022; summaries,
discussion 72 min, Q&A 10 min)
NDE Evidence of
the Localized, Individuated Mind
Entity: We argue that
the mind entity is individuated
and localized, rather than
"non-local", and that the notion of
the universal, collective One Mind
refers to the all-pervasive
transcendent realm (2022 IANDS
Symposium, February 2022; video 35
min, Q&A 10 min).
Debate on
mind-brain interaction with
Kenneth Arnette, PhD:
A friendly debate with our friend
Kenny Arnette on the mechanism of
mind-brain interaction, moderated by
Darren McEnaney of Seeking-I.com.
(April
20, 2022, video:
initial statements to 25:00;
discussion to 1:25:00; Q&A
to 2:10:00).
How NDEs
Deepen Our Understanding of
Anthroposophy: NDErs
frequently report meeting a
Being of Light in their NDE and
many NDErs, notably George
Ritchie, identify this Being as
Christ. In 1910, Rudolf Steiner
predicted that -- beginning in
the 1930s -- more and more
people would encounter Christ in
a spiritual or "etheric" form in
a kind of Damascus event. NDEs
appear to be the fulfillment of
Steiner's prediction. (January
21, 2022, presentation 30
minutes, Q&A 30 minutes).
Tribute to Tibor
Putnoki: 2021 ISGO
presentation to honor the memory of
Hungarian NDEr Tibor Putnoki's life
and the Light of Love Foundation he
founded (video, 63 min; Q&A 60
min).
Interview
on P.E.E.P. Podcast with Nicolle
Morock about our
research: our mind-entity theory,
shared-death experiences, life
reviews and previews, prophetic
visions, Tom Sawyer's vision of
L-1011 crash, the purpose of life on
earth (audio, 84 min).
NDE
Evidence that there is No Death:
the
main evidence from NDEs, shared
death experiences (SDEs), and
after-death communications (ADCs)
that There is No Death. 2021 IANDS
Conference presentation, September
2021 (video, 50 min).
NDEs,
Consciousness and Reality:
the main results of the past
15 years of our research -- the
mind-entity hypothesis and the
transcendent realm hypothesis, Sept.
2020 (video, 80 min).
The
Mission & Message of NDErs:
interviews of NDErs who have
received visions of future world
events -- their insights into the
deeper meaning of the current
challenges facing humanity, Sept.
2020 (video series).
When Does Human
Life Begin? (Part 1) We
present the evidence from NDEs and
children's prebirth memories to
address the question of when human
life begins. 2023 IANDS Conference.
When Does Human
Life Begin? (Part 2)The soul cannot be
considered an incarnated human
being until after brain
development begins at 24
weeks, supporting physical
embodiment. 2024 IANDS
Conference.
NDE Evidence and
Mind-Brain Research: The
concept of an autonomous mind entity can
serve as a new conceptual framework for
explaining
consciousness. 2022 IANDS Conference.
Tribute
to Tibor Putnoki: 2021 ISGO presentation
to honor the memory of Hungarian NDEr
Tibor Putnoki's life and the Light of
Love Foundation he founded.
NDE
Evidence that there is No Death: the main
evidence from NDEs, shared death
experiences (SDEs), and after-death
communications (ADCs) that There is No
Death.
Insights about the
pandemic--There is No
Death: An
interview with Rabbi Stephen Robbins.
Those who are grieving lost loved ones,
those who have survived the pandemic all
need to know that There is No Death
NDEs,
Consciousness and Reality: the main
results of the past 15 years of our
research -- the mind-entity hypothesis
and the transcendent realm hypothesis.
The
Mission & Message of NDErs: interviews
of
NDErs who have received visions of
future world events -- their insights
into the meaning of current challenges.
This
book presents 104 reliable, often firsthand
accounts of perceptions during NDEs
that were later verified as accurate by
independent sources. These near-death
experiencers were everyday people from
all over the world—many of whom were
clinically dead, unable to see or hear,
and yet able to perceive new vistas of a
world beyond the senses and even beyond
death.
This English edition was translated from
Dutch. Robert and Suzanne suggested a
number of the new cases, helped with the
editing of the book and wrote the
foreword to this edition.
Now available
on Amazon in paperback
and Kindle versions.
2019 study "NDE
Visions of the World's Future" -- We
are seeking NDEr participants in a study:
Study
objectives: (1) identify and, if
possible, verify cases of significant world
events that were accurately predicted by
near-death experiencers (NDErs); (2)
identify similarities in future world events
received by different NDErs; and (3)
identify what significance the visions of
future world events have for NDErs.
World events
are occurrences that involve or impact a
large number of people, such as tragic
accidents, terrorist attacks, large-scale
social disruptions or conflicts, large-scale
natural or environmental disasters, and so
on.
Criteria
to participate: (1) have had an NDE
or NDE-like experience; (2) during the
experience or at some other time, received
information about a future world event.
The
mind-entity hypothesis: IANDS NDE
Radio interview (Lee Witting) on the
mind-entity hypothesis and the neural
correlates of consciousness, 10/23/17 (30
min).
Presentation at the 2016 Academy for
Spiritual and Consciousness Studies
Conference: NDEs and the Mystery of Memory,
June 2016 (slides and audio, 61 min).
The Epoch
Times mentions our research: in part 3 and part 4 of the 5-part
article by Stephanie Lam (September -
October 2011).
Welcome! This web site is
dedicated to explaining and discussing our ideas
on the self-conscious
mind. Briefly, we propose
that:
The human being consists of (1) an energetic,
spatially extended, non-material “mind”
that is united
with (2) a material brain
and body.
The mind is a “field of
consciousness”, that is, a
structured, energetic region of space.
The mind is non-material
(does not consist of material atoms or
particles) but has extension and location in
space..
The field of the mind can interact
with physical processes.
The mind is united and co-extensive
with the brain and body and
interacts directly with brain neurons.
The basic
evidence
for this proposal derives from near-death
experience (NDE) phenomena and
various neurological phenomena especially phantom limbs.
NDE
phenomena
The human being is the integration or union of
a self-conscious
mind with a physical body
Phantom
limb phenomena
Forearm amputation without sensations of the
missing limb
Phantom "mind limb" extending beyond the body,
with sensations
Phantom limbs are exposed “mind limbs”
extending beyond the physical body which exhibit
subtle interactions
with objects and other persons
For more information, please
read our Introduction. We
invite you to read through our
ideas and would be pleased to hear any comments you
may have about them.
Robert and Suzanne Mays
Web site
contents
The Introduction
consists of a short introduction to the ideas
we have developed about the self-conscious
mind through our research
The Research Papers
page lists the abstracts of our research papers
and includes links to the full text of the
papers
The Other
Writings page lists our additional
writings with links to the full
text
Our different
research
projects include:
Verification
of
George Ritchie's report
of the out-of-body experience (OBE)
portion of his near-death experience
(NDE), including locating the all-night
cafe in Vicksburg and the hospital ward
building at Camp Barkeley near Abilene
Research on phantom
limbs which explores the idea that
a phantom limb could have the same
properties as the self-conscious mind:
an objective spatial reality, that has a
subtle interaction with physical objects
and a subtle interaction with another
person's body
Collecting
cases
of apparent physical interaction
during NDE OBE: reports of
interactions with physical processes and
objects, including interactions with
another person's body and "merging" with
another person
Verification
of other reports of veridical
perceptions during NDE OBE
Research requests:
we are seeking two types of cases that
will assist our research. If you have had
any of these sorts of experiences or
sensations, please contact us!
NDE
cases
that involve physical interactions
during the OBE phase of the NDE.
Interactions might include
(1) light (like seeing a light
bulb or readout from a medical monitor),
(2) sound (like hearing lights
humming, monitors beeping),
(3) smells or tastes,
(4) touch (like sensations
when passing through a physical object),
(5) the body of another person (like
sensations in touching or passing
through a person), (6) the body of
another person where your touch appeared
to be "felt" (when touching the person,
the person “felt” it in some way), (7)
"merging" with another
person (where you could see and
hear with their eyes and ears), or (8)
anything resembling these kinds of
interactions
Phantom
limb cases involving (1)
sensing the touch of another person,
including massage over your phantom
limb, (2) being able to feel an object
when you touch it with your phantom, (3)
touching another person with your
phantom which they can feel, (4) relief
of phantom limb pain due to Therapeutic
Touch or other type of energetic work on
your phantom, or (5) seeing your phantom
limb as a faint glow.
