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The Map of Heaven: How Science, Religion, and Ordinary People Are Proving the Afterlife
The author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Proof of Heaven teams up with the sages of times past, modern scientists, and with ordinary people who have had profound spiritual experiences to show the reality of heaven and our true identities as spiritual beings. The Map of Heaven takes the broad view to reveal how modern science is on the verge of the most profound revolution in recorded history—all around the phenomenon of consciousness itself!
When Dr. Eben Alexander told the story of his near-death experience and his vivid journey to the other side, many readers wrote to say it resonated with them profoundly. Thanks to them, Dr. Alexander realized that sharing his story allowed people to rediscover what so many in ancient times there is more to life, and the to the universe, than this single earthly life.
Dr. Alexander and his co-author Ptolemy Tompkins were surprised to see how often his readers’ visions of the afterlife synced up with each other and with those of the world’s spiritual leaders, as well as its philosophers and scientists. In The Map of Heaven , he shares the stories people have told him and shows how they are echoed both in the world’s faiths and in its latest scientific insights. It turns out there is much agreement, across time and terrain, about the journey of the soul and its survival beyond death.
In this book, Dr. Alexander makes the case for heaven as a genuine place, showing how we have forgotten, but are now at last remembering, who we really are and what our destiny truly is.
When Dr. Eben Alexander told the story of his near-death experience and his vivid journey to the other side, many readers wrote to say it resonated with them profoundly. Thanks to them, Dr. Alexander realized that sharing his story allowed people to rediscover what so many in ancient times there is more to life, and the to the universe, than this single earthly life.
Dr. Alexander and his co-author Ptolemy Tompkins were surprised to see how often his readers’ visions of the afterlife synced up with each other and with those of the world’s spiritual leaders, as well as its philosophers and scientists. In The Map of Heaven , he shares the stories people have told him and shows how they are echoed both in the world’s faiths and in its latest scientific insights. It turns out there is much agreement, across time and terrain, about the journey of the soul and its survival beyond death.
In this book, Dr. Alexander makes the case for heaven as a genuine place, showing how we have forgotten, but are now at last remembering, who we really are and what our destiny truly is.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published October 7, 2014
379 people are currently reading
2369 people want to read
About the author
Eben Alexander
37 books370 followersEben Alexander III (born December 11, 1953) is an American neurosurgeon and the author of the book Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife, in which he describes his 2008 near-death experience and asserts that science can and will determine that the brain does not create consciousness and that consciousness survives bodily death.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 197 reviews
July 16, 2015
If you are looking for a book on the dry, dull philosophy and history regarding death, this book is for you! If you are looking for stories regarding life after death, as I was, this book is not for you. While I enjoyed the author’s earlier book, Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife, this one is the complete opposite—one that I could not finish. The vastness in difference between the two books is astounding. What a disappointment.
April 25, 2016
The Map of Heaven was awesome, here's why: Dr. Alexander takes the ancient Eleusinian mysteries (classicists aren't even sure what these entailed, I've always found them fascinating) and combines them with Plato's mysticism to make a stunning examination of the afterlife and how modern society needs to remember that there is more than just this material world. The soul is not something that can be either cataloged or classified, but it can be studied by each person through meditation, prayer, introspection, however you connect to the divine within yourself. He encourages everyone to make their own 'map of heaven'. I loved it.
"Swedenborg was a believer in the ancient idea of the microcosm- that each of us is a kind of universe in miniature. If we look inside ourselves the right way, he said, we will not only find a map of heaven, we will find heaven itself. " pg 55-56 I believe that too.
"There are infinitely more ways to feel and experience and communicate in the worlds beyond this one, and when I came back with the memory of that vastly greater catalogue of perceptions and feelings, it was like trying to describe something in three dimensions to a person who lives in two... But no matter how hard it is to bring news of these realms down, it is absolutely key that those who have had these experiences try to do so anyway. These descriptions are the food we need today." pg 98 Yes! You can read some of the 'maps' that I have made of my own inner worlds in story form on my blog: https://thelightcongress.wordpress.com/
"I learned from my journey that a true seeker must go deep into his or her own consciousness to come closer to realizing the truth of our existence. Simply reading and hearing about other people's experiences and ideas is not enough." From the appendix. I agree 100%.
If you enjoyed The Map of Heaven, please read (if you haven't already) Alexander's book Proof of Heaven, Moorjani's Dying to Be Me, Journey of Souls by Michael Newton, or The Boy Who Died and Came Back: Adventures of a Dream Archaeologist in the Multiverse by Robert Moss.
"Swedenborg was a believer in the ancient idea of the microcosm- that each of us is a kind of universe in miniature. If we look inside ourselves the right way, he said, we will not only find a map of heaven, we will find heaven itself. " pg 55-56 I believe that too.
"There are infinitely more ways to feel and experience and communicate in the worlds beyond this one, and when I came back with the memory of that vastly greater catalogue of perceptions and feelings, it was like trying to describe something in three dimensions to a person who lives in two... But no matter how hard it is to bring news of these realms down, it is absolutely key that those who have had these experiences try to do so anyway. These descriptions are the food we need today." pg 98 Yes! You can read some of the 'maps' that I have made of my own inner worlds in story form on my blog: https://thelightcongress.wordpress.com/
"I learned from my journey that a true seeker must go deep into his or her own consciousness to come closer to realizing the truth of our existence. Simply reading and hearing about other people's experiences and ideas is not enough." From the appendix. I agree 100%.
If you enjoyed The Map of Heaven, please read (if you haven't already) Alexander's book Proof of Heaven, Moorjani's Dying to Be Me, Journey of Souls by Michael Newton, or The Boy Who Died and Came Back: Adventures of a Dream Archaeologist in the Multiverse by Robert Moss.
October 2, 2014
I have to admit that I didn't know much about Eben Alexander before i cam across this book (that I got in the form of an ARC from the publisher). But I was interested in his point of view and what he had to say. Irregardless of his experiences during his comatose state. I do recall all of the fanfare of his 2012 title Proof of Heaven. In Map of Heaven it looks like he is trying to respond to his critics within the scientific community, while giving a voice to the masses who received him so well; for being brave enough to recount NDE accounts. his prose is two pronged, and built like the wedding cake he is trying to build in that he is marrying his knowledge of science and philosophy with that of his new vocabulary that has been acquired from his NDE.
If you are looking for an intelligent discussion on the subject of NDEs, and the existence of consciousness beyond the physical body I highly suggest you scoop this title up when it hits bookstores on October 7th.
to read more of this review go on over to my blog over at kopavikommunique.wordpress.com
If you are looking for an intelligent discussion on the subject of NDEs, and the existence of consciousness beyond the physical body I highly suggest you scoop this title up when it hits bookstores on October 7th.
to read more of this review go on over to my blog over at kopavikommunique.wordpress.com
October 14, 2014
I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review.
This book is interesting. Not necessarily in the good way. I agree with most of what the author is saying, but the way he says it... He tends to take quotes or scientific facts, tells us about them, and then come up with a therefore that has little to do with the source. One example would be in his introduction when he basically says that gold was important to alchemists for its physical properties, therefore, we are both part of heaven and earth. I have nothing against either statement, I just can't see how he makes the jump in logic.
Likewise, he promises an appendix on how to reach these upper planes of understanding through meditation, but only writes about the importance of sound, without any specifics as to what sound works best.
I love the subject and the book has some very interesting examples and imagery, but it just doesn't mesh.
This book is interesting. Not necessarily in the good way. I agree with most of what the author is saying, but the way he says it... He tends to take quotes or scientific facts, tells us about them, and then come up with a therefore that has little to do with the source. One example would be in his introduction when he basically says that gold was important to alchemists for its physical properties, therefore, we are both part of heaven and earth. I have nothing against either statement, I just can't see how he makes the jump in logic.
Likewise, he promises an appendix on how to reach these upper planes of understanding through meditation, but only writes about the importance of sound, without any specifics as to what sound works best.
I love the subject and the book has some very interesting examples and imagery, but it just doesn't mesh.
November 14, 2014
I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Alexander speak in Baltimore earlier this week and was so glad I did. His incredible experience gave me hope and inspired me to do a little soul journeying of my own, since "a true seeker must go deep into his or her consciousness to come closer to realizing the truth of our existence. Simply reading and hearing about other people's experiences and ideas are not enough." I highly recommend this book if you are doubting what this whole human experience is about or if you are struggling with the loss of someone you love. He also provides a great bibliography in the back that will take you even further into the concepts he explores in the book. LOVE is all that matters!
February 27, 2016
I love this book. At the moment anyway it's one of half-a-dozen or so books that I keep on a table beside me in the living room and pick up now and again on an ongoing basis. The author blends his own experiences of 'Heaven' or the eternal with the stories of others who have written in to him along with very interesting accounts and reflections from people who lived on this planet long ago. The barrier between 'science' and 'spirituality' really is beginning to crumble.
October 6, 2022
Interesting and thought provoking. I do believe there is something out there after we leave our earthly bodies. Religion, oral histories, Near Death Experiences (NDEs), and even science have proven we are more than just atoms and elements. Our consciousness does in fact live on and the afterlife is wonderful... so says this audiobook. As I watered our trees and garden or chopped firewood for the coming winter, I listened as the author expounded on his NDE and read letters from others about theirs and also letters of family members who shared their vivid experiences when loved ones had passed.
I myself had something happen that proved TO ME PERSONALLY that heaven is real. My father had passed away and several days later he came to me in a dream. Not as the 81 year old who died- but as a vibrant 20 something man in a white t-shirt and jeans, a pack of cigs rolled in his sleeve and sporting a full head of dark hair in a Johnny Unitas crew cut. I'd seen pictures of him when younger with the same hairstyle of the 1950s. He was beaming from ear to ear. I asked him, "where are you now? You died." He walked up to me and replied, "In heaven- it's a beautiful place." I woke in a start and he was gone- but it didn't seem like a dream. It seemed real and I remember it vividly even now, 11 years later. A week later my brother called and said he had a similar experience. He fell asleep on his couch and that dad came to him and was sitting on the end of the couch watching him. My brother said, "what are you doing here... you're dead." With that he said my dad just smiled at him and vanished.
I have a quest to ferret out books and articles on heaven and NDEs... more to reaffirm to myself that the experience I had with my father was real and true. I want to believe that this evil broken world of hate, violence, chaos, and strife is not "all there is" and that the heaven we have been told exists REALLY DOES EXIST.
I myself had something happen that proved TO ME PERSONALLY that heaven is real. My father had passed away and several days later he came to me in a dream. Not as the 81 year old who died- but as a vibrant 20 something man in a white t-shirt and jeans, a pack of cigs rolled in his sleeve and sporting a full head of dark hair in a Johnny Unitas crew cut. I'd seen pictures of him when younger with the same hairstyle of the 1950s. He was beaming from ear to ear. I asked him, "where are you now? You died." He walked up to me and replied, "In heaven- it's a beautiful place." I woke in a start and he was gone- but it didn't seem like a dream. It seemed real and I remember it vividly even now, 11 years later. A week later my brother called and said he had a similar experience. He fell asleep on his couch and that dad came to him and was sitting on the end of the couch watching him. My brother said, "what are you doing here... you're dead." With that he said my dad just smiled at him and vanished.
I have a quest to ferret out books and articles on heaven and NDEs... more to reaffirm to myself that the experience I had with my father was real and true. I want to believe that this evil broken world of hate, violence, chaos, and strife is not "all there is" and that the heaven we have been told exists REALLY DOES EXIST.
January 21, 2018
First of all, I wouldn't attempt this book without having first read the author's initial book, which is an account of his own near-death experience. You need to have a good idea of where this author is personally coming from before you can put this book into context. Second of all, as much as I appreciated reading this, I don't think anyone has "proved" the afterlife and nothing I read here convinced me that they have. Having said that, I believe in the Divine, I believe that we are all a part of that essential energy which is Love, and I think that we continue to exist after our physical death. So I was not a hard sell when it came to the author's premise.
Here is what I liked: I liked learning about the viewpoints of ancient philosophers, some of whom I had heard of and some I had not, I liked learning about ancient spiritual traditions in cultures that I hadn't thought of as particularly "religious", and I liked hearing the very personal stories of those who had experienced in the presence of death phenomena that cannot be explained by current scientific knowledge. (I would note here that the author is a neurosurgeon, so he knows something about what can and cannot be explained by brain chemistry.) However, I think only those who are already fascinated by the esoteric and the metaphysical will really enjoy and appreciate this book.
Here is what I liked: I liked learning about the viewpoints of ancient philosophers, some of whom I had heard of and some I had not, I liked learning about ancient spiritual traditions in cultures that I hadn't thought of as particularly "religious", and I liked hearing the very personal stories of those who had experienced in the presence of death phenomena that cannot be explained by current scientific knowledge. (I would note here that the author is a neurosurgeon, so he knows something about what can and cannot be explained by brain chemistry.) However, I think only those who are already fascinated by the esoteric and the metaphysical will really enjoy and appreciate this book.
October 13, 2014
This book is a collection of stories, ideas, and research that support Dr. Alexander's journey to heaven and also shares the knowledge he gained about how we can become more connected to the spiritual world. Through an Introduction and 7 chapters, through scientific research, stories of NDEs, and ideas that extend across the planet from ancient times Dr. Alexander gives us a guide of how to become closer to the spiritual world.
As for opinion, sometimes the book seems jumbled, but after reading the book & browsing back through each chapter and rereading the ending of each chapter, the cohesion of the "map" is more apparent. If you are looking for a direct "map" or an outline of heaven, this is not the book for you... instead, this book is more a guide of how we can go about our earthly lives while being more connected with the spiritual world. This book also presents a strong argument for us to take a look around and see the evidence for Heaven in our daily lives. If you are looking for a purely Christian account, you will be quite surprised for this book somewhat challenges the singular vision presented by Christians and asks you to look at a broader world view of what is "good," "spiritual," "God or Om," "death," "Love," and "Heaven."
As for opinion, sometimes the book seems jumbled, but after reading the book & browsing back through each chapter and rereading the ending of each chapter, the cohesion of the "map" is more apparent. If you are looking for a direct "map" or an outline of heaven, this is not the book for you... instead, this book is more a guide of how we can go about our earthly lives while being more connected with the spiritual world. This book also presents a strong argument for us to take a look around and see the evidence for Heaven in our daily lives. If you are looking for a purely Christian account, you will be quite surprised for this book somewhat challenges the singular vision presented by Christians and asks you to look at a broader world view of what is "good," "spiritual," "God or Om," "death," "Love," and "Heaven."
October 22, 2014
*Won in the Goodreads Giveaway*
I received my copy and gave it right to my Grandmother. We recently lost my Grandfather and I felt like this book would put her mind at ease. She loved it. She always hoped there was an afterlife but never had proof. She said this book helped her realize that my Grandfather is still around and is in better health in the afterlife.
I received my copy and gave it right to my Grandmother. We recently lost my Grandfather and I felt like this book would put her mind at ease. She loved it. She always hoped there was an afterlife but never had proof. She said this book helped her realize that my Grandfather is still around and is in better health in the afterlife.
April 2, 2016
Teorija, Platon, Aristotel, dosadno.. Vjerujem da mu je prva knjiga bolja!
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December 1, 2021Интересно ми беше да прочета личните истории на хората.
" Мисля, че още от дете имам усещането, че истинската реалност не може да се открие в света, поне не така, както го вижда обикновеният човек. Изглежда, някаква постоянна сила напира да си проправи път отвътре към повърхността на съзнанието. Умът непрестанно се опитва да създаде символ, достатъчно многостранен, за да го побере, но това винаги приключва с неуспех. Съществуват моменти на чиста радост, придружена с повишена осъзнатост за заобикалящия ни свят, сякаш ни е предадена някаква велика истина... Понякога си мисля, че физическият мозък не е достатъчен, за да я обхване."
" Мисля, че още от дете имам усещането, че истинската реалност не може да се открие в света, поне не така, както го вижда обикновеният човек. Изглежда, някаква постоянна сила напира да си проправи път отвътре към повърхността на съзнанието. Умът непрестанно се опитва да създаде символ, достатъчно многостранен, за да го побере, но това винаги приключва с неуспех. Съществуват моменти на чиста радост, придружена с повишена осъзнатост за заобикалящия ни свят, сякаш ни е предадена някаква велика истина... Понякога си мисля, че физическият мозък не е достатъчен, за да я обхване."
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August 8, 2024Not sure how to rate this book. Though I did not wholly disagree with his premise, I skimmed most of the author's commentary, and most enjoyed the many letters and stories he had received from readers of his first book.
These first-person accounts gave the book a power and scope which it would not otherwise have had. I mean, who can really map heaven, or desire to? Yet learning to recognize its print in our own land--that is both valuable and pertinent.
These first-person accounts gave the book a power and scope which it would not otherwise have had. I mean, who can really map heaven, or desire to? Yet learning to recognize its print in our own land--that is both valuable and pertinent.
September 17, 2021
My first thought when I was reading this book is that he may have a new editor, or maybe no editor at all. This book feels so different compared to his first book (which I gave a 5 stars), it's almost as if this book was written by a different person! I finished his first book in one evening, but this one was much slower, felt more dry and dense.
I was hoping to read more about his experience, insights so to speak, because he wrote so much down it was impossible to put it all in one book. But this book is more about mythological snippets and letters he received from fans, most of them probably not even validated. A lot of them are from a while ago, like 20 years or 40 years back. And if you know anything about psychology, you know memories change over the years, to fit a certain story or experience. I bet not many of those emails were based on journal pages or recent happenings, just memories. So are they proving the afterlife? Not really, there was nobody to track their experiences, they were not included in research.... basically anyone who wrote an amazing letter could have been published in this book. Even if it was a lie.
So for me this book felt like marketing; because towards the end he starts to advertise an audio business, nothing ground breaking can be read in this book because other books go way more in depth about other peoples experiences. This is more like a fan letter book in which he shares his thoughts about the letters. Sometimes he refers to his own experience, to his previous book, but everything he says has been said before (in the first book) or in interviews, he started to sound like a broken record. So what happened with those 20 000 words he wrote down after he woke up?
Such a pity really, the first book was so amazing and he got so much media attention, he could sure do great things with his fame... instead things start to unravel in the direction of marketing, business and selling products.
I was hoping to read more about his experience, insights so to speak, because he wrote so much down it was impossible to put it all in one book. But this book is more about mythological snippets and letters he received from fans, most of them probably not even validated. A lot of them are from a while ago, like 20 years or 40 years back. And if you know anything about psychology, you know memories change over the years, to fit a certain story or experience. I bet not many of those emails were based on journal pages or recent happenings, just memories. So are they proving the afterlife? Not really, there was nobody to track their experiences, they were not included in research.... basically anyone who wrote an amazing letter could have been published in this book. Even if it was a lie.
So for me this book felt like marketing; because towards the end he starts to advertise an audio business, nothing ground breaking can be read in this book because other books go way more in depth about other peoples experiences. This is more like a fan letter book in which he shares his thoughts about the letters. Sometimes he refers to his own experience, to his previous book, but everything he says has been said before (in the first book) or in interviews, he started to sound like a broken record. So what happened with those 20 000 words he wrote down after he woke up?
Such a pity really, the first book was so amazing and he got so much media attention, he could sure do great things with his fame... instead things start to unravel in the direction of marketing, business and selling products.
November 30, 2014
This is a following book to Proof of Heaven where Dr. Eben Alexander tells of his near death experience. This second book is about many stories of NDE's and other experiences.
An example of a story in the second book is about a mother watching her son die and having an experience where she felt she was with God momentarily, and left knowing that her son would be alright, safe in the heavenly realm. We have all read similar stories. Many people say they have experienced peace at a time of tremendous pain.
Another experience was a son sitting by his ailing father, who was a former Korean War POW. The son placed his hand on his father's carotid artery (to monitor his passing) and experienced a dream of sorts with his father. His father was struggling to hold onto some rocks on the side of a moving stream and his father was exhausted and terrified. Suddenly a white glow came down and his father turned into a healthy man. He was in his 20s or 30s and jumped on a canoe and paddled away. Folks were standing on the bank, welcoming him and cheering. It was a very vivid dream and the son believes the father wanted him to see it.
Eben Alexander also adds many quotes about spirituality in his book, quotes from Plato, Aristotle and Buddhists and many others. I loved Carl Jung's the most. When asked if he believed in God, He said, I don't believe, I know without a doubt.
An example of a story in the second book is about a mother watching her son die and having an experience where she felt she was with God momentarily, and left knowing that her son would be alright, safe in the heavenly realm. We have all read similar stories. Many people say they have experienced peace at a time of tremendous pain.
Another experience was a son sitting by his ailing father, who was a former Korean War POW. The son placed his hand on his father's carotid artery (to monitor his passing) and experienced a dream of sorts with his father. His father was struggling to hold onto some rocks on the side of a moving stream and his father was exhausted and terrified. Suddenly a white glow came down and his father turned into a healthy man. He was in his 20s or 30s and jumped on a canoe and paddled away. Folks were standing on the bank, welcoming him and cheering. It was a very vivid dream and the son believes the father wanted him to see it.
Eben Alexander also adds many quotes about spirituality in his book, quotes from Plato, Aristotle and Buddhists and many others. I loved Carl Jung's the most. When asked if he believed in God, He said, I don't believe, I know without a doubt.
August 11, 2016
Не е книга, която да прочетеш системно и наведнъж.... има вдъхновяващи моменти в нея обаче. Такива, които напомнят, че човек често трябва да търси това - да се вдига над сивотата и прахоляка.... нито залита във философия, нито дава някакви дразнещи отговори или се опитва да убеждава. Не липсват асоциациите с последните кванови открития - то май е някаква мода, който пише за духовното напоследък, да бута и от квантовата физика....
January 15, 2020
I love books like this .
When a scientist , and in particular , a neurosurgeon tells you something amazing and profound , it is best to pay attention. This book gives me hope. Life is so fascinating . Hope springs from its pages.
When a scientist , and in particular , a neurosurgeon tells you something amazing and profound , it is best to pay attention. This book gives me hope. Life is so fascinating . Hope springs from its pages.
December 22, 2014
Great book that brings together science, philosophy and religion to the death discussion. I think this would be good for non believers.
April 3, 2015
This book covers a fascinating topic. The author writes from a scientific perspective, so the delivery could be considered dry. It is a very worthy read. I would highly recommend it.
August 23, 2023
Tja, over ervaringen van mensen die de hemel geraakt hebben.
Wat moet je er van denken?
Wat moet je er mee?
Wat moet je er van denken?
Wat moet je er mee?
April 1, 2024
DNF. A medical doctor discovering what most spiritual folks already know, for me this book illustrates the huge divide between science and "superstition." Welcome to the world, Doc.
June 23, 2019
Fascinating. Regardless of your spiritual beliefs or what you think happens in the afterlife, Eben Alexander's follow-up to Proof of Heaven is highly satisfying. It's a quick read that includes testimonials he received from people who read his first book and wanted to share their own NDE or that of their loved ones. Definitely makes you think. He also examines the soul, and the connection between science and religion. He predicts that we'll all the see truth if we just look for it.
April 3, 2025
Ik heb eerst dit boek geluisterd voordat ik zijn verhaal had beluisterd. Voor verhaallijn eerst naar zijn verhaal luisteren. De verhalen van de mensen zijn interessant en telkens weer bevestigend maar ik vind het weinig onderzoekend. Kan aanbevelen om dit te luisteren in combinatie met boeken van Hans Stolp over leven na de dood en hoezeer deze overeenkomen.
November 25, 2016
I have mixed feelings about this book. It certainly wasn’t as good as her book “Proof of Heaven.” In this book the author claims or tries to convince us that science, religion, and personal incidents of near-death experiences prove that there’s a heaven.
She tries to support her claim with quotes from some of history's best philosophers, and I especially liked how she related the differences between Plato’s point of view compared to Aristotle’s view on religion and the afterlife.
Even though the author is a scientist and M.D., I felt she did a poor job explaining how today’s science supports an afterlife or heaven. She didn’t cite any of her findings, and that’s very sloppy from someone who is lettered in the subject.
I’m giving this book 2 stars and it would be hard for me to recommend it. I’m not giving up on the author, but this book wasn’t her best.
She tries to support her claim with quotes from some of history's best philosophers, and I especially liked how she related the differences between Plato’s point of view compared to Aristotle’s view on religion and the afterlife.
Even though the author is a scientist and M.D., I felt she did a poor job explaining how today’s science supports an afterlife or heaven. She didn’t cite any of her findings, and that’s very sloppy from someone who is lettered in the subject.
I’m giving this book 2 stars and it would be hard for me to recommend it. I’m not giving up on the author, but this book wasn’t her best.
October 20, 2014
My interest in NDE is important to me and I read The Proof of Heaven some time ago. So when I saw Alexander's new book I quickly snatched it up at Barnes & Noble. In this book he writes of many folk's stories of their NDE. Then Alexander writes of the similarities in these stories and the journey of the soul and its survival beyond death. It's amazing to me how many authors from science and religious and regular people are writing of agreement of these memories and experiences. As a child I always resonated with hymns/stories about heaven and have had numerous times the last 70+ years when that reality was made real. How exciting to be living in a time when ideas beyond the proof of science are being written about and made real.
November 19, 2014
I couldn't get into this book. I picked it up hoping for a merging of science and religion with a researched perspective and only found tid bits of fact followed by opinion of interpretation. I admit to only making it through part of the second chapter but I could make myself continue reading it. I am strong in my faith and look for material that could help me in defence of it to more logic and science oriented people, but this appeared to be attempting to merge all faith and religion into one belief of a perfect faith. Though the author at times may use Christian ideas he doesn't seem to lock in on a single faith or dogma but seems to try and remain politically correct and insult no one yet all at the same time. The book was just feeling too loose and more like an op-ed to me.
May 6, 2017
I read and enjoyed Proof of Heaven by this author. This book is a little deeper and presents thoughts from older cultures, science and people who shared their experiences with the world beyond this one. I found the stories from people who'd written and shared their experiences interesting. I sometimes questioned some of Dr. Alexander's ideas and realized they didn't jive with some of Christianity's main themes such as the only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ. It does open a person's mind about the afterlife.
June 17, 2024
THE FOLLOW-UP TO HIS “PROOF OF HEAVEN” BOOK
Neurosurgeon and author Eben Alexander wrote in the Introduction to this 2014 book, “As an M.D. with a long career at esteemed medical institutions like Duke and Harvard, I was the perfect understanding skeptic. I was the guy who, if you told me about your NDE… would have looked at you and said, sympathetically, but definitively, that it was a fantasy. Countless people are having experiences like these… I have become, through the reach that ‘Proof of Heaven’ achieved, someone whom people feel they can talk to about this kind of thing… I am always astonished at the remarkable unity and coherence of what they have to say… Heaven makes us human… Without knowledge of the larger geography of where we came from and where we are going again when our physical bodies die, we are lost…
“My story is a piece of the puzzle---a further hint from the universe and the loving God at work in it that the time of bossy science and bossy religion is over, and that a new marriage of the better, deeper parts of the scientific and spiritual sensibilities is going to occur at last. In this book, I share what I have learned from others… about what I call the Gifts of Heaven. These gifts are the benefits that come when we open ourselves to the single greatest truth that those before us knew: there is a larger world behind the one we see around us every day. That larger world loves us more than we can possibly imagine, and it is watching us at every moment, hoping that we will see hints in the world around us that it is there… Each of us carries a memory of heaven, buried deep within us. Bringing that memory to the surface… is the purpose of this book.” (Pg. xxxiii, xxxv)
He states, “three questions have been immensely important to us: Who are we? Where did we come from? Where are we going? … Many scientists today think we are right on the verge of knowing just about everything there is to know about the universe. There is much talk… of a ‘Theory of Everything. A theory that will account for every last bit of data about the universe… But there’s something rather curious about this theory… The Theory of Everything makes no mention of heaven… There is another group out there today… that also believes we might indeed be on the verge of discovering a Theory of Everything. But the Theory… that this group is talking about is quite different from the one that materialist science thinks it’s on the verge of discovering. This other theory will be different … in two major ways. The first is that it still posits that we can’t ever really HAVE a Theory of Everything, if by that we mean an aggressive, materialist, data-oriented one. The second difference is that, in this other Theory of Everything, all three of those original, all-important primordial questions about the human condition will be addressed. Heaven will be included in it.” (Pg. xviii-xix)
He observes, “In the twentieth century… science… got a surprise… Matter turned out to be a dazzlingly intricate matrix of super-powerful but nonmaterial forces. It got even weirder… space wasn’t really ‘there,’ either… It bent. It stretched… It was anything but simple. Then… another factor entered into the picture… This new factor was consciousness---that simple… fact of being aware… in the 1920s, quantum mechanical experiments revealed not only that you COUND detect consciousness, but… the consciousness of the observer actually bound the observer to all he or she observed. It was an irremovable part of any scientific experiment… consciousness is so tied up with reality that there is no way of conceiving reality without it. Consciousness is the true bedrock of existence.” (Pg. xx-xxii)
He outlines, “The new theory---the new ‘Map of Everything’ that I am so in favor of---will include all the revolutionary discoveries that science has made in the last century… This new Map of Everything will also include the vast quantities of data that are coming in from a whole other area of research… Near-death experiences. Deathbed visions. Moments of apparent contact with departed loved ones. The whole world of strange but totally real encounters with the spiritual world that people experience all the time, but that neither dogmatic science nor dogmatic religion has allowed us to talk about.” (Pg. xxiv-xxv)
He suggests, “I believe the coming era will contain dire challenges … but it may also be one in which heaven and all it contains can be taken seriously again. If this happens---if enough people come forward and start talking about the kinds of experiences described in this book---the tide of belief will truly change… to study the things of heaven (the nonmaterial realms), you have to knock humbly and hopefully at the door, as Jesus suggested… it will have to submit to the evidence that the universe presents about itself… The problem [is] that so many scientists are too stubborn to look at it.” (Pg. 17-18)
He notes, “I’ve come to feel that the journey I narrated in ‘Proof of Heaven’ was kind of like a modern mystery initiation: one in which… I died to my old view of the world and was born into a new one. So many people are going through versions of what I went through… It’s almost as if we, as a culture, are undergoing a mass initiation together… A new reality is slowly but surely building… People… who are searching, like me, for a new vocabulary and worldview to fit it into.” (Pg. 21)
He states, “We know---physically speaking---that as a planet we are in deep trouble. But not everyone knows that the solution to this problem will have to be spiritual as well as material---that we have to change … what we think about the three big questions… Why? Because the only way to live happily on the earth is in the light of heaven.” (Pg. 48)
He asserts, “Heaven isn’t an abstraction; it isn’t a dreamscape cooked up from empty, wishful thinking. It is a place as real as the room … where you are right now. It has objects in it. Trees, fields, people, animals… But the rules of how things work there… are different from ours. The one rule we need to remember from here, however, is that we end up, in the end, where we belong, as we are led by the amount of love we have in us, for love is the essence of heaven.” (Pg. 57)
He acknowledges, “[There is] one reason why so many readers with a scientific background were so taken aback by the title of ‘Proof of Heaven.’ ‘You simply can’t PROVE that kind of thing,’ they said. Interestingly, many readers who came to the book from a religious point of reference agreed. Faith, they argued, and the subjects of faith (heaven, a loving God) are not experimental subjects to be proved… I agree. Spiritual matters can never be proved or disproved using the old-fashioned, aggressive style of science… But what if we approach these matters using a different kind of scientific approach? An approach that a scientist like Pascal, Fechner, Goethe, or Swedenborg might have approved of?” (Pg. 62)
He continues, “The fact is, we CAN prove heaven exists. The spiritual world is real, and people encounter it every day… But you have been told that what you experienced as real isn’t really real at all…. At the heard of all spiritual belief lies the intuition that we are not who we think we are… It’s this intuition… that the world’s spiritual traditions … tirelessly seek to wake us up to… But in order to become that larger being, you will have to die to the simple earthly person you are now. You must become a heavenly one as well… Are you ready?” (Pg. 64-66)
He asserts, “everything is a vibration. Our sensory systems … process information through the frequencies of vibrating waves… Neuroscience would say everything you have ever experienced is nothing more than those electrochemical vibrations in the brain---a MODEL of reality, not reality itself… Much of my current research … involves the use of sound … to produce deep transcendental states of consciousness.” (Pg. 140-141)
He concludes, “On a deep level, all of us know exactly what we’re doing at every moment. But that knowledge pops up and sinks… That’s why we have to work so hard… to remember. But the trip out is ending, and the trip back is beginning… I think of that three-word question… that so many other initiates have been asked over history, and long before. Three words that our entire culture is being asked, right now… as we prepare to enter what will be the most challenging and most wonderful chapter in our history. ARE YOU READY?” (Pg. 131-132)
While not as interesting as Dr. Alexander’s ‘Proof of Heaven’ book, this book will nevertheless be of interest to those studying Near-Death Experiences, but also contemporary metaphysical spirituality (what we used to call “New Age”).
Neurosurgeon and author Eben Alexander wrote in the Introduction to this 2014 book, “As an M.D. with a long career at esteemed medical institutions like Duke and Harvard, I was the perfect understanding skeptic. I was the guy who, if you told me about your NDE… would have looked at you and said, sympathetically, but definitively, that it was a fantasy. Countless people are having experiences like these… I have become, through the reach that ‘Proof of Heaven’ achieved, someone whom people feel they can talk to about this kind of thing… I am always astonished at the remarkable unity and coherence of what they have to say… Heaven makes us human… Without knowledge of the larger geography of where we came from and where we are going again when our physical bodies die, we are lost…
“My story is a piece of the puzzle---a further hint from the universe and the loving God at work in it that the time of bossy science and bossy religion is over, and that a new marriage of the better, deeper parts of the scientific and spiritual sensibilities is going to occur at last. In this book, I share what I have learned from others… about what I call the Gifts of Heaven. These gifts are the benefits that come when we open ourselves to the single greatest truth that those before us knew: there is a larger world behind the one we see around us every day. That larger world loves us more than we can possibly imagine, and it is watching us at every moment, hoping that we will see hints in the world around us that it is there… Each of us carries a memory of heaven, buried deep within us. Bringing that memory to the surface… is the purpose of this book.” (Pg. xxxiii, xxxv)
He states, “three questions have been immensely important to us: Who are we? Where did we come from? Where are we going? … Many scientists today think we are right on the verge of knowing just about everything there is to know about the universe. There is much talk… of a ‘Theory of Everything. A theory that will account for every last bit of data about the universe… But there’s something rather curious about this theory… The Theory of Everything makes no mention of heaven… There is another group out there today… that also believes we might indeed be on the verge of discovering a Theory of Everything. But the Theory… that this group is talking about is quite different from the one that materialist science thinks it’s on the verge of discovering. This other theory will be different … in two major ways. The first is that it still posits that we can’t ever really HAVE a Theory of Everything, if by that we mean an aggressive, materialist, data-oriented one. The second difference is that, in this other Theory of Everything, all three of those original, all-important primordial questions about the human condition will be addressed. Heaven will be included in it.” (Pg. xviii-xix)
He observes, “In the twentieth century… science… got a surprise… Matter turned out to be a dazzlingly intricate matrix of super-powerful but nonmaterial forces. It got even weirder… space wasn’t really ‘there,’ either… It bent. It stretched… It was anything but simple. Then… another factor entered into the picture… This new factor was consciousness---that simple… fact of being aware… in the 1920s, quantum mechanical experiments revealed not only that you COUND detect consciousness, but… the consciousness of the observer actually bound the observer to all he or she observed. It was an irremovable part of any scientific experiment… consciousness is so tied up with reality that there is no way of conceiving reality without it. Consciousness is the true bedrock of existence.” (Pg. xx-xxii)
He outlines, “The new theory---the new ‘Map of Everything’ that I am so in favor of---will include all the revolutionary discoveries that science has made in the last century… This new Map of Everything will also include the vast quantities of data that are coming in from a whole other area of research… Near-death experiences. Deathbed visions. Moments of apparent contact with departed loved ones. The whole world of strange but totally real encounters with the spiritual world that people experience all the time, but that neither dogmatic science nor dogmatic religion has allowed us to talk about.” (Pg. xxiv-xxv)
He suggests, “I believe the coming era will contain dire challenges … but it may also be one in which heaven and all it contains can be taken seriously again. If this happens---if enough people come forward and start talking about the kinds of experiences described in this book---the tide of belief will truly change… to study the things of heaven (the nonmaterial realms), you have to knock humbly and hopefully at the door, as Jesus suggested… it will have to submit to the evidence that the universe presents about itself… The problem [is] that so many scientists are too stubborn to look at it.” (Pg. 17-18)
He notes, “I’ve come to feel that the journey I narrated in ‘Proof of Heaven’ was kind of like a modern mystery initiation: one in which… I died to my old view of the world and was born into a new one. So many people are going through versions of what I went through… It’s almost as if we, as a culture, are undergoing a mass initiation together… A new reality is slowly but surely building… People… who are searching, like me, for a new vocabulary and worldview to fit it into.” (Pg. 21)
He states, “We know---physically speaking---that as a planet we are in deep trouble. But not everyone knows that the solution to this problem will have to be spiritual as well as material---that we have to change … what we think about the three big questions… Why? Because the only way to live happily on the earth is in the light of heaven.” (Pg. 48)
He asserts, “Heaven isn’t an abstraction; it isn’t a dreamscape cooked up from empty, wishful thinking. It is a place as real as the room … where you are right now. It has objects in it. Trees, fields, people, animals… But the rules of how things work there… are different from ours. The one rule we need to remember from here, however, is that we end up, in the end, where we belong, as we are led by the amount of love we have in us, for love is the essence of heaven.” (Pg. 57)
He acknowledges, “[There is] one reason why so many readers with a scientific background were so taken aback by the title of ‘Proof of Heaven.’ ‘You simply can’t PROVE that kind of thing,’ they said. Interestingly, many readers who came to the book from a religious point of reference agreed. Faith, they argued, and the subjects of faith (heaven, a loving God) are not experimental subjects to be proved… I agree. Spiritual matters can never be proved or disproved using the old-fashioned, aggressive style of science… But what if we approach these matters using a different kind of scientific approach? An approach that a scientist like Pascal, Fechner, Goethe, or Swedenborg might have approved of?” (Pg. 62)
He continues, “The fact is, we CAN prove heaven exists. The spiritual world is real, and people encounter it every day… But you have been told that what you experienced as real isn’t really real at all…. At the heard of all spiritual belief lies the intuition that we are not who we think we are… It’s this intuition… that the world’s spiritual traditions … tirelessly seek to wake us up to… But in order to become that larger being, you will have to die to the simple earthly person you are now. You must become a heavenly one as well… Are you ready?” (Pg. 64-66)
He asserts, “everything is a vibration. Our sensory systems … process information through the frequencies of vibrating waves… Neuroscience would say everything you have ever experienced is nothing more than those electrochemical vibrations in the brain---a MODEL of reality, not reality itself… Much of my current research … involves the use of sound … to produce deep transcendental states of consciousness.” (Pg. 140-141)
He concludes, “On a deep level, all of us know exactly what we’re doing at every moment. But that knowledge pops up and sinks… That’s why we have to work so hard… to remember. But the trip out is ending, and the trip back is beginning… I think of that three-word question… that so many other initiates have been asked over history, and long before. Three words that our entire culture is being asked, right now… as we prepare to enter what will be the most challenging and most wonderful chapter in our history. ARE YOU READY?” (Pg. 131-132)
While not as interesting as Dr. Alexander’s ‘Proof of Heaven’ book, this book will nevertheless be of interest to those studying Near-Death Experiences, but also contemporary metaphysical spirituality (what we used to call “New Age”).
January 4, 2016
I guess I was expecting a more personal narrative about his near-death experience. This was a sequel of sorts, so I probably needed to read his first book instead. His scientific approach was a little too academic.
The author had a near-death experience. A neurosurgeon, he gives a lengthy scientific explanation of how heaven is possible, right down to talking about atoms. He speaks about his experience, and gives some stories that were related to him by others.
The author had a near-death experience. A neurosurgeon, he gives a lengthy scientific explanation of how heaven is possible, right down to talking about atoms. He speaks about his experience, and gives some stories that were related to him by others.
March 6, 2017
I'm not sure what I expected, but I was really disappointed with this. It felt like it should have been the last chapters of Proof of Heaven, rather than its own book (especially given the number of times he references the former book's content).
I appreciate the work, and the NDEs and other stories are fascinating, but it still just felt like an opinion piece.
That said... I still plan to read Proof of Heaven. I want to hear more detail about his own NDE.
I appreciate the work, and the NDEs and other stories are fascinating, but it still just felt like an opinion piece.
That said... I still plan to read Proof of Heaven. I want to hear more detail about his own NDE.
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