There is an extensive volume of literature describing the experiences of a significant number of people that have had diverse sets of experiences often referred to as "Near Death Experiences" or sometimes simply "Out Of Body Experiences" since they do not always occur near death. There are organizations such as The International Association for Near-Death Studies, Inc. (IANDS) and so on.

Another even more broad set of documentation of experiences includes things like 'Phantom Limb Pain' which is the case where someone has an appendage amputated, yet someone's knowledge of such remains, in a kind of 'phantom' or 'spiritual' way. There is also clear scientific documentation of male shaped 'spirits' being born in female bodies and vice versa such as is described in V. S. Ramachandran's work "Phantom penises in transsexuals" published in the peer reviewed scientific Journal of Consciousness Studies Volume 15, No 1 (2008).

The purpose of this topic is to survey how everyone interprets all this kind of data. What do you make of all this, and what are your most compelling reasons, rational, hopes, and evidence for such?