Is This Possible?

[kunash]

this morning my wife was watching the channel 3 news, and there was a story, where an elderly lady had died. but amazingly, 20 hours later, she came to life, and is now alive, and back to ''noramal''.

from a western point of view, and medically, this is impossible. though i seem to remember seeing some strange stuff on UK tv, where the doctor pronounced the person dead only for them to wake up later.

But from a buddhist point of view, is this phenomenan more likely to happen, and explained through religious belief? My wife seemed to think so

[mrtoad]

Better get your wife to find out where the women is and ask for next weeks lottery numbers.

[Sheryl]

Actually dead, no, not possible. but "clinically dead" as in no detectable vital signs, yes.

In other words there would have been no pulse that one could feel or visible breathing. But had an EKG or EEG been done it would have revealed continued heart and brain function.

In the old days when such technology did not exist, this sort of thing was more common, in fact it is the origin of the term "wake" for gatherings held prior to a funeral, the idea being to allow sufficient time for the person to wake up if they were going to do so.

I don't see any linkage to Buddhism or other religion, unless one assumes the person to have genuinely been dead (as in no heart or brain function, cellular death occurring) and then returning to life, which is biologically impossible and would thus constitute a "miracle".

[Spoonman]

My missus sleeps like a corpse for 20hrs per day so I reckon it's possible.

[kunash]

Actually dead, no, not possible. but "clinically dead" as in no detectable vital signs, yes.

In other words there would have been no pulse that one could feel or visible breathing. But had an EKG or EEG been done it would have revealed continued heart and brain function.

In the old days when such technology did not exist, this sort of thing was more common, in fact it is the origin of the term "wake" for gatherings held prior to a funeral, the idea being to allow sufficient time for the person to wake up if they were going to do so.

I don't see any linkage to Buddhism or other religion, unless one assumes the person to have genuinely been dead (as in no heart or brain function, cellular death occurring) and then returning to life, which is biologically impossible and would thus constitute a "miracle".

thanks, yes i explained that the woman probably had a pulse but it was so weak it was undetectable. but my wife would not believe me