IS THERE LIFE AFTER LIFE is a short text from the book «One-page stories to Enjoy». It is for English learners who have the intermediate level of knowing English.
Text «Is There Life after Life?»
(from the book “One-page story for intermediate)
Vocabulary:
- phenomenon — явление
- consciousness — сознание, разум
- coma — кома
- surgery — хирургия
- overwhelming — неодолимый, непреодолимый, безграничный
- acute — острый, сильный
- detached -— отдельный, обособленный; беспристрастный, безразличный
- detachment — независимость (суждений), безразличие, отчужденность
- detachment from the world — отрешенность от мира
- compassion — сострадание
- boundary — граница
- unconditional — безоговорочный, беззаветный
- breakdown — зд. распад
- renewal -— обновление
The study of the Near Death Experience was conducted by a lot of doctors and scientists, including Dr. Raymond Moody, whose book Life after Life was not just a best-seller but encouraged lots of people to study this phenomenon. He studied people who experienced continuation of consciousness while being close to death. The author described over hundred cases when a physical body was in coma after an accident, surgery or other life-threatening trauma and then brought to life. First, these people had an overwhelming sense of peace, calm and well-being, as well as freedom from bodily pain, which may have been acute. Then they felt detached from the physical body, which was often seen below and in a slightly different light.
The detachment is emotional as well as physical. There is a sensation of weightlessness, hearing seems to be telepathic. People are often able to describe in some details events which actually took place while they were «unconscious». Sometimes these people find themselves moving rapidly down a dark tunnel towards a light.
There is a feeling of love, joy, beauty and peace; the light brings about compassion and understanding. There may be meetings with dead relatives and loved ones who usually make it clear that the person’s time is not yet up and that he must return to earth. Sometimes the return is symbolically predicted by a door, a boundary or a river which they are not allowed to cross. People who had had such experience lost their fear of death and are convinced of existence of an afterlife, whatever the researchers think. After this experience the change in religious or spiritual orientation can also be significant. Typically, there is an emphasis on spiritual life and unconditional love, with less stress on formal aspects of religion.
So the Near Death Experience is not a phenomenon of private interest. It points to a living universe and spiritual view of humankind, to breakdown and renewal of our civilisation.