Scientific

"I don't know what I may seem to the world, but as to myself, I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea shore and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me".
Sir Isaac Newton

The questions we need to ask but cannot answer are ones such as: What was before the Big Bang? Why did it occur? What is beyond our universe or is it infinite? Are there more dimensions than the 3 we see plus time? Are there parallel universes? Is our universe but a speck of dust in another much bigger universe and so on? How was matter and energy created or where did it come from? When did time start? Was it an infinite time ago - it never started and has always been 'ticking'?
These questions can probably be never answered by science as we know it and require an intelligence much greater than us to answer these for us. Possibly, this greater being is the Creator of the universe (and maybe all universes)?
∙ Maybe time as we understand it does not exist beyond our universe. Beyond it, perhaps one could go backwards or forwards in time? This could possibly mean that matter and life (and God) have always existed and there is no beginning to it all.

∙ It should be noted that previously, the Big Bang was not the prevailing theory for the origin of our universe as it is now. This Big Bang origin made many people who were against a religious explanation to the origins of the universe, uncomfortable as it does add credence to an act of creation as the start of the universe. In fact, every question posed above indirectly infers a Creator.
Recently, physicists have practically come to the conclusion that the universe will continue to expand indefinitely. There will be no contraction and a never ending cycle of big bangs and contractions - our universe is a one time occurrence and this is indirect evidence for a special creation.

After Death

"I was lying in a room in the intensive care unit of a Seattle children's hospital," recalls Dean, a sixteen year-old boy, whose kidneys had stopped working. "Suddenly, I was standing upright and moving very quickly through dark space. I could not see any walls, but I thought that I was in a kind of tunnel. Although there was no wind, I felt that I was travelling with great speed. I did not understand where I was flying to or why, but I could feel that at the end of my flight something very important was waiting for me and I wanted to arrive at my destination as quickly as possible.
At last I arrived at a place filled with light. It was here that I noticed someone next to me. He was tall with long golden hair dressed in white vestments girded with a belt in the middle. Even though He did not say anything, I was not afraid, because of the feelings of love and peace flowing from him. If it was not Christ, then it must have been one of His angels." After this, Dean felt himself return to his body and then he awoke. This brief and yet, very intense experience left a deep impression in Dean's soul. He became a very religious young man, which had a positive effect on his whole family.
This is one of the typical accounts collected by an American doctor-pediatrician Melvin Morse, published in his book Closer to the Light [7]. His first encounter with such an event of transitory death was in 1982 when he revived nine year-old Katherine who had drowned in a public pool. Katherine told him how, during the time she was dead, she met with a nice lady who called herself Elizabeth; this was probably her Guardian Angel. Elizabeth greeted Katherine's soul lovingly and talked with her. Knowing that Katherine was not ready to come into the spiritual world, Elizabeth allowed her to return to her body. At the time of this event, Dr. Morris' medical career had him working in a hospital in Pocatello, Idaho. The child's account had such a profound effect on a man who, until then, was skeptical of anything spiritual, that he decided to explore deeper what happens to a person immediately after death. In Katherine's case, Dr. Morse was especially astounded at the details with which she was able to describe what she had observed, both at the hospital and at her home, during the time she was clinically dead. Dr. Morse checked into and confirmed the accuracy of her "out of body" observations. It was as if she had been an eyewitness to the events that had transpired during the time that she was dead.
After his transfer to Seattle's Orthopedic Children's Hospital and later to Seattle's Medical Center, Dr. Morse began to systematically examine the question of dying. He questioned many children, who had experienced clinical death, comparing and documenting their accounts. Additionally, he remained in contact with his young patients through adulthood observing their mental and spiritual maturity. In his book Closer to the Light, Dr. Morse insists that all the children whom he studied grew up to be more serious, moral, and spiritual than the average adult. All of them accepted their experiences as a manifestation of God's mercy and a sign from above that they should live in uprightness.
Until most recently, such accounts of the afterlife could only be found in the realm of religious literature. Worldly magazines and medical journals, as a rule, avoided publishing such material. An overwhelming majority of physicians and psychiatrists reacted very disapprovingly to any spiritual accounts and did not acknowledge the existence of the human soul. It is only within the last twenty years, at the very, so-called triumph of materialism, that some doctors and psychiatrists have begun to seriously examine the existence of the human soul. A catalyst for this movement was Dr. Raymond Moody's well-received book Life after Life [1], published in 1975. In it, Dr. Moody collected a series of first-hand accounts of near death experiences. Initially, Dr. Moody's interest in the subject was sparked by stories related to him by some of his friends. As he began to collect these stories, he realized that there were large numbers of people who had out-of-body experiences during the time they were clinically dead. This shocked him. However, many of these people, did not relate their stories to anyone to avoid embarrassment or worse, the questioning of their sanity.
Soon after the appearance of Dr. Moody's book, the sensation-hungry press and television media widely publicized the contents of his book. A firestorm of discussions and public debates on life after death issues followed. This caused a flood of doctors, psychiatrists and spiritual leaders, some of whom felt their field of expertise had been infringed upon by an incompetent source, to launch independent investigations to review the data and results published by Dr. Moody. Many of them were very surprised when the accuracy of Dr. Moody's observations were verified. Specifically, that upon a person's death, their existence does not cease, but on the contrary their soul continues to hear, think and feel.
Among serious and systematic studies on dying, Dr. Michael Sabom's book "Recollections of Death" should be mentioned. Dr. Sabom is a professor of medicine at Emory University and a staff doctor at the Atlanta Veteran's Hospital. In his book one can find detailed histories and a penetrating analysis of the subject matter.
Also of value is the systematic documentation of Psychiatrist Dr. Kenneth Ring, published in his book "Life at Death." Dr. Ring compiled a list of standardized questions for people who had experienced clinical death. The names of other doctors who studied this topic are mentioned in the bibliography. Many of them started their observations as skeptics, but having seen an increasing number of incidents supporting the existence of the soul changed their perspective.
In this brochure we will exemplify several stories of people who survived clinical death and we will compare these with the traditional Christian teachings of the afterlife and make comparative conclusions. In the addendum we will examine the Theosophical teaching on reincarnation.

SS Watertown Ghosts

The case of the SS Watertown is a classic example of what many believe to be an authentic ghost photograph. The story, as recounted by the eminent and long-time director of the American Psychical Institute, Dr. Hereward Carrington, and as detailed in the house magazine of the shipping company, told of the tanker, SS Watertown making its way through the Pacific Ocean in December 1924. Seaman James Courtney and Michael Meehan were assigned to clean out a cargo tank. While doing this task they were overcome by gas fumes and died before help could reach them. Following the tradition of the sea, their bodies were committed to the ocean on December 4th. The following day, just before dusk, the entire ship was in uproar when the heads of the two dead seamen were clearly seen on board ship and, later, in the sea. Thereafter the ghost faces were frequently seen. A snapshot was taken and the camera, with film intact and untouched inside, was handed to Captain Keith Tracy for safekeeping. On reaching port in New Orleans the Captain handed the camera over to officials of the Cities Services Company and they sent it directly to their New York office, where the film was developed and printed by a commercial photographer, and there were the heads of Courtney and Meehan, exactly as they had been seen on board ship!

Friendly Ghost

Not much is known about the circumstances behind this strange picture. However it was taken by a total stranger through a Nokia 7250 picture-phone at Eastwood City in Manilla when a strange ghostly figure was seen apparently grabbing the arm of one of the women in the picture. Nothing was seen or felt at the time the picture was taken but it seems to be quite a friendly spirit.

Girl on the gravestone

This photograph appeared in both the Chicago Sun-Times and the National Examiner. It was taken during an investigation in Bachelor's Grove Cemetery on August 10, 1991 with a group of GRS members. The picture is an enlarged black and white infrared shot taken of an area where many of the group noticed something unusual with some of the equipment they used. It shows a young woman sitting on a tombstone with parts of her lower and upper body being somewhat semi-transparent. The dress she is wearing is also out-of-date. It was taken by member, Jude Huff-Felz.

JAYMIE

I have always been a skeptic of all things paranormal and am an Atheist. But I can tell you that I believed in spirits after my brother's murder... there have been many occurrences starting from seeing his dark outline one night 2 weeks after his funeral, then a strange one-off occurrence of my bathroom and kitchen sink tap rushing with hot water, an electric shortage in the middle of when I was telling someone for the first time what happened to my brother... the last strange incident that happened was on the night of his birthday - his close friends came over to take my family to dinner as an sign of respect - but I didn't feel like going. I was alone playing guitar in my room when I heard the floorboards creaking at my doorway... it was just as though someone heavy was standing right there watching me when there was nobody else home. If only I could show you how hard my heart pounded, how fast my mind raced and how much sweat formed on my forehead...

I constantly question myself for experiencing these things in search for a logical explanation. I have no reason to make up these things, and I really do wish that my mind and eyes have played tricks on me, but I can tell you now, that I believe.

Source(s):

I understand if the majority of people don't share my own belief. I hope my personal story gave you something to think about.

DO YOU THINK THIS IS A GHOST?

I believe in ghosts. I do not want to hear from people who don't think they exist. I was taking pictures of this house we were looking to move in so I could show my mom. This was yesterday. I didn't notice until now there was something kind of abnormal in the picture. I took a picture of the kitchen, and there are sliding glass doors in the back. To me, it looks like a mans upper half, the torso, the arms, the head, and it looks like he has his hands on/near his head. It looks like its reflecting off the glass or is on the other side of the glass. Let me know what you think.

A Scientist who had a near death experience

Joyce Hawkes, a cell biologist with a PhD, had an accident that forever changed her life — and her view of science. She suffered a concussion from a falling window. "I think that part of me — that my spirit, my soul — left my body and went to another reality," she said. She was surprised at the experience.

"It just was not part of the paradigm in which I lived as a scientist," Hawkes recalled. "it was a big surprise to me to have this sense of something different than the body — a consciousness different than the body — and to be in this wonderfully healing, peaceful, nurturing place."

"I think what I learned was that there truly is no death, that there is a change in state from a physical form to a spirit form, and that there's nothing to fear about that passage," she said.

Blog reader

I live in a new house. I did not think ghost could live in one. I've seen a man with a handle bar moustache several times. He's always in my son's room. My dog won't even come u

pstairs. The two cats always stay away from that room also. He's only shown himself to me. When I'm home alone I hear someone walking around.I was reading at a beach house one night when I couldn't sleep. My attention was suddenly drawn to a filmy, cloudy rectangular-shaped object that seemed to be floating about 6 feet off the floor. I watched it for about 30 seconds, as soon as I decided that it must be a spirit of some kind, it just floated into a mirror on the wall. I gave it no more thought (I even totally forgot about it), until the next day when another person in our family said that she had seen a ghost in her bedroom the night before I had my sighting. She said she covered her head with the blanket 3 times and finally after the third time, it had "danced" out the window. Now we were staying directly across the street from a lighthouse that was supposedly haunted. I didn't feel that I "knew" this spirit, so maybe it was an old sailor...I don't know!

Our family has been living in this house for close to twenty years. Growing up, we've gotten use to the strange occurrances that happen every so often. Here goes! When I was little, my mom recalls a time when she was going around checking up on us in the middle of the night. As she passed the bathroom on the way to my brother's and my rooms, she happened to see that her vase of flowers in the bathroom were knocked over onto the sink area. She figured that we had probably knocked it over while we were brushing our teeth earlier. So, she just put the flowers back in the vase and placed them next to the sink, again. After checking up on us, she was on her way back to my parents' bedroom and crossing the bathroom again, she saw that the vase was knocked over once more. This time, the flowers were all over the floor with petals and leaves strewn everywhere. There were even flower petals and leaves behind the toilet(which is about 3-4 feet away from the sink) and insid e the bathtub. It took my mom quite a while to clean it all up. Since then, she never leaves vases or flowers on the sink.This was just one instance. When I was little, I always remember hearing my mom calling me, but she wouldn't be home. Like, I'd hear her calling my name and I'd come running out to the kitchen or whatever, and she wouldn't even be home. It would only be my dad at home. Or, I'd hear her calling me and come running out, and she'd say that she didn't call me at all. My siblings recall similar experiences of my mom calling them, too. Just recently, we've been having more things happening... Or, I'm just getting too old to remember all the strange stuff that's happened to me. In any case... In 1994, two weeks before Christmas, my youngest sister died in my mom's arms in our house. She was only 16 months old. Ever since then, things have taken on a new twist. Around Christmas-time after the baby's death, we had some family over for dinner. My mom put lights up around our fireplace mantle (around my sister's picture) as a kind of memorial to her. After dinner, everyone was sitting around talking in the family room. The kids (that includes me) were in the living room, where the fireplace is. We were just playing, when all of a sudden, we all noticed that the lights around the mantle were blinking. THEY WERE NOT BLINKING LIGHTS... And the blinking wasn't a steady one. It was varying. Slow and fast. One of our relatives thought that maybe there was something wrong with the connection, so he unplugged the lights. They were still blinking, even though they were unplugged. He decided to replug it back in. Still blinking. By now, all the adults had heard the commotion and gone to the livingroom to see what was going on. My mom, instantly went to the mantle. As she got closer to the fireplace, the lights blinked faster. Then, she said my sister's name and they just stopped blinking. A year later, I was walking past the kitchen when all of a sudden, I heard a loud bang, like a gun had gone off or something. Being startled, I ran into the family room to where my parents were. They were asking me what I was doing in the kitchen to make the loud noise. My mom and I went back into the kitchen and found shattered glass all over the kitchen floor and in the sink. It seems that a glass that was sitting next to the sink had spontaneously shattered into a million pieces. To this day, we still don't know how that happened. And, within the past year, my mom has had a few eerie occurrances. Over the summer of 1999, my mom wanted to remodel the kitchen herself. So, she spent all of her time sanding the cabinets and such. Well, she was home by herself and working, when out of the corner of her eye, she saw a little girl bobbing her head back and forth from behind the kitchen door. The little girl looked to be about 5 with dark hair and fair complexion (much like how my sister would have looked if she were still alive). At first, she thought that it was my other sister, who is 15, playing a trick with her, but my mom then realized that my sister was not home. This type of hide-and-go-seek sightings has been happening a lot lately. I've seen the little girl a couple of times myself. Bobbing her head up and down around where our bar area is. My uncle, who knew nothing of the incidents said that he saw a little girl bobbing her head up and down from behind the couch in our family room. I try not to say that I believe in ghosts, but I definitely believe in spirits who are somehow on this earth for some reason. I don't mind if they're living in our house, I just wish they wouldn't scare me so much. I've had too many personal experiences that I have not mentioned and they've all scared the living daylights out of me. Almost everybody in our family has had some experience. There have been a great deal more occurrances of more normal spirit activities that I hadn't mentioned... TV turning on by itself, Volume on the TV going up without anyone touching or even near the remote control, faucets turning on by themselves, lights turning on/off by themselves, a baby's crying in the middle of the night, our dogs barking at certain parts of certain rooms where nothing is there, etc. Even though all these things happen, my parents still don't want to move. 

Nique

 I'm from PA. i just happen to live next door to a medical building (lucky me!). my friends and i used to make jokes

 that it was haunted and the ghost would walk the roads at night. on new year's eve of 2000, my two best friends, jordan and willow, wanted to know if some one was really haunting the medical building. i have just bought a ouija board and thought it might help us.so we went up to my bedroom where it was quiet, so we could "play" it.we didn't believe that ouija boards worked. so we didn't think that this would work. we asked some personal questions about ourselves first. then we asked the ouija board "was any one killed in the medical building?". it didn't move, so we lost interest and started talking about other stuff. i dunno what happened or what we said but the message "sender" started to move VERY quickly across the board to the word YES. we jumped and i had flipped the board over because we were really scared. we ran out of my bedroom as fast as we could. we didn't have any more dealings w/ the ouija board that night. A couple months later, me and my friend kara, wanted to try the ouija board again. the 1st question we asked was "was any one killed in the medical building". its answer was "yes". we asked "who?" it had spelled out "william". then we decided to ask "how many people were killed there?". it responded by saying "4". at this point you could probally guess that we were really scared! we decided to ask one more question before we all flipped out, it was "who killed these people?". it spelled ou the letters P-A-T-R-I-C-K. we were REALLY scared now. On Feb. 4,2001, my friend jordan (from our first encounter), came over to check out the medical building and see if this is all true or we just made it up. when she came over, we imediately went up to the med. building w/ the ouija board. on our drive up there, we began to get scared and we started to hear things. when we got in front of the med. building, we didn't know if we should go up to it yet, so we drove on past it. when we got well enought past it so that we were able to stop and think of what we were to do, we pulled the ouija board out of my backpack. at this time we started to see something red running through the woods. at first we thought we were imagining things, then we believed that what we were seeing was real. so we asked the ouija board "what is william's favorite color?". it moved across the board VERY quickly to the letter M. at first we didn't know what color started w/ the letter M. then i said "murder", but that wasn't a color. then jordan said "maroon". we supposed that was what it meant. so we drove down to the med. building again. we had stopped right in the driveway to the med. building. jordan said she saw a tree that looked like it was bleeding. at first i didn't see it, then i saw it. the tree looked like it was cut or something and it was bleeding just like a person. i was so totally freaked out. i stepped on the gas pedal and got out of there as fast as we could. i drove right past my house and up the road a little ways. i had stopped to look out across the fields and talk bout what we saw. then we began hearing these noises, almost as if some one had a bell and was ringing it. we had gotten out of there and back to my house. i don't know what this is, or why i am the one that communicates w/ this person or people. i would like to help these spirits w/ what ever their problem is so that they can rest in peace soon.....

Manda

 About 2 years ago i moved into this house i am currently living in. When we first moved in we heard noises and saw hazes. I guess what i abou to tell you is the first major thing that happend. It was the first week we had moved in. I was asleep in my bed, when suddenly a cold chill woke me up. my fan turned on it was on high. it was alreadly cold in there.I slowly looked over to the left side of my bed. I saw this man standing there, not really a man more like th shadowy outline of a man. He standing by my bed just standing there. I knew iut wasn't my dad he would have said something. The man leaned closer to my bed. i could hear him breathing. He leaned even closer. I could feel his weight against myt knee, as if he were a real man. I wanted to scream but i was frozen in terror. I just prayed my mom or dad would wake up and come check on me or have to use the bathroom. THe man lean closer. i could feel his icy breath on my cheek. Just then a light came on. it was the bathroom light. The man vanished into thin air. My dad was getting ready to walk into the bathroom when he looked over to me. he asked: whats wrong? Why do you look so scared? My moms house is definitely haunted. My mom owns a 2 family house. She rents out the first floor. Her bedroom is on the second floor mine is on the third. You could hear foots steps walking up the stairs.(not creak...but walking). Once upstairs you can hear him pacing back and forth from room to room. I always hide under my covers. When my friends would slept over they would feel it touch their hair. Once I wasn't sleeping under the covers. I felt it touch my hair. It felt like fingers only a very weird sensation. I put the covers over my head not realizing my feet were sticking out and it touched my foot. It felt cold like fingers only very weird . I remember it was in the summer and I was up stairs playing on the computer. I got a weird feeling that some body was in the room with me. The hairs on my arm stood up. The bathroom door where you could see clearly from where I was playing on the computer just slammed. I thought maybe it was the wind but because I felt so uncomfortably I looked in the room......It was a hot day, no wind and the window was shut.This was a heavy wooded door. I ran down stairs. I use to hear my mom calling me all the time. When I'd go down stairs she said she never called me. One day my friend was at the house. We were upstairs and they said your moms calling you...I said no she's not. We heard it again. I said I bet she's not calling me. I went down stairs with them asked my mom if she was calling me and she said "No". I would hear knocks on my door ( 3 slow knocks ) right before I went to bed. I'd look and know one was there. Lights would flicker contentiously for no reason at all. At night he'd walk around pacing ..Some times I'd hear him moving my tapes around on my entertainment center. I call my ghost a man for 3 reasons. Once I my mom thought she saw a man with a hat go down our basement.There was no man. Another time my mom's friend said she was down the basement and bumped into some thing ......human while getting the wash. She ran upstairs. Years latter. I was doing wash down the basement. Nothing was behind me. I was putting my clothiers into the dryer and when I put my arm back a little to get the clothes out .....it was like he was standing right behind me because I hit him in the stern area . It felt human and it felt like a mans built and firmness. I ran. My mom still lives there. I don't any more. To this day I will not go tho the 3rd floor or basement by myself in her house....

Kim

 me and others have witnessed her our ghost she is a young woman with dark hair. I have seen her body and face but not her feet I just typed a letter 2 you but do not think it got there not very good at this putor thing yet. Our youngest has seen her pjs move the same night she was in our room, my 18 yr old witnessed an old lamp flickering as I asked it questions so I know she can conmunicate Yes we did check the lamp twice, fuses box and plug in. She seems harmless but has been

into 3 homes so I have many questions PLEASE reply thank you Kim

A TRUE GHOST STORY (Tara)

 Hi, my 

name is Tara. One day I was at home alone because my mom and 

dad were both at work, and my brother was sleeping. I went downstairs to watch some TV. Then, my dad called and said to wake up my brother. When i was heading for the stairs, i saw a young boy in a soldier's outfit on and a gun strapped to his back. After that, he vanished. Later, written sloppily on a piece of paper was "Danny, 1851.".