[rushiddink]

Hello Element,

Thank you very much for your detailed answers to my questions. There are plenty for me to learn from you and other members on this fourm.

in very deep meditation (jhana), which occurs after the mental stress or sensations within the physical body are completely tranquilised, the mind merges within itself and becomes and is aware of itself as exceptionally radiant

those who near death are probably the same. the body is shutting down, awareness ceases to be pre-occuppied with the body and is only aware of the radiance or white light in the mind as the mind neurologically blisses out due to not feeling the stresses of the body

thus, when the doctors revive these people & they return to ordinary consciousness, all they can remember the radiance & white light that occurred to the mind as it somehow disconnected itself from awareness of the body due to the shutting down of the body Please excuse my ignorance, but is there any objective way to verify that what you and other practicing Buddhists experience in "Jhana" is the mind, not the soul?? How can you be sure that its not the opposite? is it possible that "the radiance" or "the white light" is the soul and because of your Buddhist beliefs you mistakenly thought of as the mind?!

Peace