In Search of the Dead II: Visions and Voices

The second in a series of three programmes made by BBC Wales in 1992 called In Search of the Dead mainly examines two subjects: near-death experiences and mediums.

When it comes to near death experiences there are consistent reports of what happens: people see their whole life flash back to them with every detail in utter clarity, they enter a tunnel and at the end of a tunnel is a loving light.

These phenomena are sometimes also accompanied by out of the body experiences,either they are floating above themselves and watching themselves die, or they are able to see and report on what happened at a distance.

The subject of mediums, who conmmunicate with the dead, and then give information based on that has always been surrounded by controversy as the possibility of faking it is nearly always present.

There has been much research done on psychical phenomena from the 19th century to the present, but even those who believe in it admit that sometimes it has been faked, and in some cases poorly faked. Still there are other phenomena which are hard to account for by any normal means.

In the Buddhist texts the divine ear (dibbasota) is another of the abhiñña, or deep knowledges. The text for it runs like this:

Dibbaya sotadhatuya visuddhaya

With the divine ear-element which is purified

atikkantamanusikaya ubho sadde su?ati:

and surpasses than of (normal) men he listens to both (kinds of) sounds:

dibbe ca manuse ca, ye dure santike ca.

of the divinities and of men, whether far or near.

The divine eye (dibbacakkhu) however, adds another dimension, being concerned with people’s fate after death according to their deeds:

Dibbena cakkhuna visuddhena atikkantamanusakena

With the divine eye which is purified and surpasses than of (normal) men

satte passati cavamane upapajjamane,

he sees the passing away and arising of beings,

hine pa?ite suva??e dubba??e sugate duggate,

inferior, superior, beautiful, ugly, in a good destiny, in a bad destiny,

yathakammupage satte pajanati.

and he knows beings arise according to their (good and bad) actions.