5 Lessons Near-Death Experiences Can Teach Us

They say nothing in life is absolute other then death and taxes.

Over 11 million people have come forward to share their experience with death in what is referred to as near-death experiences; giving us a glimpse of what happens afterward we die.

Many write off these near-death experiences as delusions; simply dismissed as no more than the last twitches of a dying brain. But if you review the research that has been done (and ongoing) regarding consciousness after death it is extremely difficult to refute it. Specifically, published work which involves very strict and rigorous medical criteria for assessing near-death experiences to rule out the possibility that these experiences are due to hallucinations after the brain has collapsed through lack of oxygen or unusual combinations of drugs.   

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How unpredictable death can be; forcing us to face our own insecurities, emotional issues, and relationships.

Some people see the pain and suffering of dying and equate that with death – but they are not the same. Death has the potential to be seen as a progression of life.

During a lifetime many lessons are learned, many about death – here are my thoughts on the lessons that can be learned from these near-death experiences.

I also added excerpts from individuals recounting their near death experience (you can click on the name and read their story in its entirety).

5. There is Purpose

There is a very real purpose for us living this life – it is not random. What is that exactly? Easy - we are here to be loving; do what brings unconditional love.

           

Humans are actually different aspects of the same being. This being consists of love - the kind of love that cures, heals and regenerates. This is the core of our being. We are all beautiful in our essence, our core. We are very beautiful creations. (Mellen-Thomas Benedict)

Within every human being is perfect love. That is our core - this love, this perfection, this God-ness. (Jayne Smith)

The only thing we take with us at death is the love we have given away while on Earth. (Laurelynn Martin)

           

4. We Never ‘Leave’ Our Loved Ones

Who doesn’t imagine about how their children or loved ones will fend after they are gone?

Reading testaments from individuals who’ve experienced death, leaving loved ones is not seen as a dilemma because time and space are constructs of the human mind. 

It does not matter that we leave family and friends behind because time becomes irrelevant. It is certain that once we enter the spirit realm, it will be just a blink of the eye before they join us. (Mac Wright)

Time did not make any sense. Time did not seem to apply. It seemed irrelevant. It was unattached to anything, the way I was. Time is only relevant when it is relative to the normal orderly sequential aspects of life. So I was there for a moment or for eternity. I cannot say but it felt like a very long time to me. (Grace Bubulka)

Earthly time has no meaning in the spirit realm. There is no concept of before or after. Everything - past, present, future - exists simultaneously. (Kimberly Clark Sharp)

And then I was Home and I knew it was Home and I wasn't afraid. I saw lots of people I knew, some of whom I've since met, and a lot of whom I knew were "related" but that wasn't what mattered. What mattered was that I KNEW them and they KNEW me and we hadn't said a word. Or, well, we had, sort of, only not SAID. But I have never since been involved in such a joyful welcome, being loved, totally loved. (Michelle Dillon)

3. Don’t Be Afraid to Die
I’m unsure what benefit fear brings when thinking of death, it is something that no one can escape from. Should we not talk about it more openly, learn from others, ultimately embrace it for ourselves?

The fear of dieing is said to be the second biggest fear in North America (second only to public speaking). A lesson that should resonate with us all from NDEs is that we have nothing to fear from death.

Death is like falling asleep or like waking up. We leave one state of consciousness and enter another. (Joni Maggi)

There is nothing worth worrying about - not even death. (Joni Maggi)

If only others could see what I've seen. The world would get on its knees ... The world would be at peace. (Don Brubaker)

If I lived a billion years more, in my body or yours, there's not a single experience on Earth that could ever be as good as being dead. Nothing. (Dr. Dianne Morrissey)

2. Unconditional Love is the Highest Religion

There are about 20 main religions in the world, subdivided into over 270 large religious groups. Religion helps many people to develop their spiritual path. Criticizing religion is not beneficial, they are all precious-each church fulfills spiritual needs of that particular person. However, unconditional love is what is most meaningful.   

There are only two true religions - the religion of love and the religion of fear. (Sandra Rogers)

Doctrine and creed and race mean nothing. No matter what we believe we were all children joined under one God. The only rule is God's true law: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. (May Eulitt)

Near-death accounts suggest that unconditional love is the highest form of religion there is. (Kevin Williams)

1. The Golden Rule – Life Review

One of the most common aspects found in near-death experiences is the life review. It can be described as a re-living of your life events, but not just a simple review – the re-living is done from the point-of-view of the other person. This has been expressed as instantly becoming everyone you have come in contact with during your entire life (feeling their emotions, thinking their thoughts, living their experiences).

What better way to truly learn that what we have done to others – or we have done to ourselves? The Golden Rule.

Another way of looking at it would be to say that the life review we experience after we die demonstrates that there is really only one person in the universe – since every act, every thought, every feeling, every emotion directed at another - - whether a stranger or a friend - - will later be experienced fully by you. Everything we send out, returns.

The life review has been described not as a punishment, but instead of a way to impart understanding to ourselves.  

His life review began by witnessing the initial circumstances that occurred before being born that resulted in him being the person he was. The spirit beings asked David how and why he picked these particular parents. David didn't know where it came from but he told them what they wanted to know. They agreed with him. David picked his parents to help them on their path as well as to achieve his own learning…

David re-experienced his own birth and how he left heaven to become a helpless infant. He experienced his parent's love and their anger. He saw all the good and bad episodes of his life. He felt all of his emotions and the emotions of others he had hurt as well as loved. From all of this he learned that it matters deeply what choices we make on Earth. (David Oakfield) 

I stepped to my left to watch the review. It occurred in the place where I had been standing. My life appeared before me in the form of what we might consider extremely well defined holograms, but at tremendous speed. I was astonished that I could understand so much information at such a speed. My comprehension included much more than what I remember happening during each event of my life. I not only re-experienced my own emotions at each moment, but also what others around me had felt. I experienced their thoughts and feelings about me. There were times when things became clear to me in a new way. 'Yes,' I would say to myself. 'Oh, yes. Now I see. Well, who would have guessed? But, of course, it makes sense.' Then I saw the disappointment that I had caused others, and I cringed as their feelings of disappointment filled me, compounded by my own guilt. I understood all the suffering I had caused, and I felt it. I began to tremble. I saw how much grief my bad temper had cased, and I suffered this grief. I saw my selfishness, and my heart cried for relief. How had I been so uncaring? …

Then in the midst of my pain, I felt the love of the council come over me. They watched my life with understanding and mercy. Everything about me was taken into consideration, how I was raised, the things I had been taught, the pain given to me by others, the opportunities I had received or not received. And I realized that the council was not judging me. I was judging myself. (Betty Eadie)

 

Conclusion

These are the lessons I’ve taken from reading these experiences. Even if the skeptic thinks these are only stories brought to us from people who’ve endured physical trama resulting in a common delusion – could it hurt to live more lovingly? Could it hurt to look into the mirror and remind yourself that you are perfectly made?

To love is to receive a glimpse of heaven. (Karen Sunde)

Wan to learn more?

About the Published Study Regarding NDE - The Lancet

Penny Sartori, PhD: A Prospective Study

The Greyson NDE Scale

I would like to share with you a near death experience that resonates with me- I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

Jayne Smith: (click here for source)  

Thirty-five years ago, Jayne Smith was in the hospital in labor with her second baby. In the process, she experienced clinical death and had a near-death experience. The following is taken from her video entitled A Moment of Truth where she describes her near-death experience. 

      “I was totally aware. I was in blackness. I couldn't see anything. I was thinking to myself, "This isn't the way it is supposed to be. I'm not supposed to know anything and I do. What on Earth has happened?"

At that point I felt something leave my body. It went up through the top of my head. I could feel it and I could hear it. Just a gentle whoosh. At that point I found myself standing in a kind of gray mist. Then I knew I had died.

The memory of this experience is seared into my very soul. When I found myself standing in this gray mist with the realization that I had died I remembered feeling so overjoyed, so thrilled, because I knew that even though I was what we call "dead", I was still very much alive. Very much alive. I was totally aware. I began to pour out these feelings of thanksgiving. I wasn't doing it verbally, but it seemed that the very essence of me was saying "Thank you, thank you, God for setting it up this way, that I really am immortal. I was not annihilated."

I was involved in this tremendous pouring forth of gratitude and joy and as that was going inside me, this white light began to infiltrate my consciousness. It came into me. It seemed I went out into it. I expanded into it as it came into my field of consciousness. There was nothing I was aware of except this brilliant white light. The light brought with it the most incredible feeling of total love, total safety, total protection. I was just enveloped in it. I remember feeling almost cradled by it. It was so dynamic it was almost palpable.

As I existed in this white light, in this incredible love, I began to be rapturous. The rapture built. The bliss built. My consciousness began to expand with the bliss of it all. Suddenly there came into my field of consciousness an entire field of knowledge It was like a whole block of knowledge that just simply came in and settled itself on me. I knew, what takes several sentences to tell, but it didn't come in several sentences - it came all in one piece. What I knew was that I was immortal, that I was eternal, that I was indestructible, that I always had been, that I always will be, and that there was no way in this world I could ever be lost.It was impossible for me to fall into a crack in the universe somewhere and never be heard from again. I just knew that I was utterly safe and I always had been forever and ever.

When that block of knowledge was digested by me, as it were, another block of knowledge came in. A whole field of knowledge came in to my being and what I knew then was that the universe runs according to a perfect plan. I knew that the plan was perfect. Everything that we think about as being hard to understand or unfair or cruel or whatever, that was really all without meaning. I know that is very difficult, but I knew this. I understood it. I comprehended it in a way that when I came back from the experience I really couldn't comprehend anymore. I understood that all of the things that we worry about and concern us, we really don't have to worry about at all. There is a perfect plan and the plan is working itself out in its perfection.

Then I simply remember I became more blissful, more rapturous, more ecstatic. I was just filling and filling with this light and love that was in the light. The dynamics of this light are not static at all. They are so dynamic and so much going on in there of love and joy and knowledge. As you take it into yourself, or as it goes into you and you receive it, your ecstasy level just becomes tremendous.

I knew that I had lost all sense of having a body. It was just my consciousness, sort of pure and free floating, and I did not think at all during this part of the experience. I had no thoughts. I was a receiving station. I merely felt and absorbed and took in and did not think at all. I reached the point in the rapture of it all where I thought to myself suddenly, the first thought.

"I wonder how much more of this I can stand before I shatter?"

With that thought, the light began to recede. So, the universe will not let us shatter. We cannot take in more of this bliss and joy than we are able to handle at a time.


As the light began to recede, the rapture that I had built up also began to dissipate. For a couple of seconds, I could not remember what was going on. I remember thinking to myself, "I don't know how I got here. I can't remember what's going on." I didn't know if I had been in that light for a minute of a day or a hundred years. I think the force of all that energy just produced a condition in me of amnesia for a couple of seconds. But that was not allowed to last very long either.

Within a second or two, I found myself standing in an absolutely beautiful green meadow. I knew then what was going on. I knew once again who I was, that I had died. My amnesia period was over with.

I stood there in this gorgeous meadow and I remember that the light there was different from the light here on Earth. Though it was not that brilliant white light in which I was involved, it was a more beautiful light. There was a goldenness to this light. I remember the sky was very blue. I don't recall seeing the sun. The colors were extraordinary. The green of the meadow was fantastic. The flowers were blooming all around and they had colors that I had never seen before. I was very aware that I had never seen these colors before and I was very excited about it.

I thought I had seen all colors. I was thrilled to death of the beauty that was incredible. In addition to the beautiful colors, I could see a soft light glowing within every living thing. It was not a light that was reflected from the outside from a source, but it was coming from the center of this flower. Just this beautiful, soft light. I think I was seeing the life inside of everything.

When I finished looking at this exquisite beauty, I started to walk. I had only taken a few steps before I saw that there was in front of me a hill, a low hill. There were perhaps 18 to 20 people standing on the hill. They were dressed in robes, very simple, I suppose Grecian type robes. They were also in all these beautiful colors. There were men and women - more men than women I don't know why. I thought about this a little bit, but there were both men and women there. There was no one that I knew, but then I had no close emotional ties on the other side so it is not surprising that there was no one there that I knew.

I felt to myself, "Oh, I want to talk with them." It seemed that immediately I was there on the top of the hill. I don't know whether I was able to just glide there effortlessly or whether I only had to think I wanted to be there and I was there. What I do remember was that I did not have to climb the hill. There was no effort involved in this.

I said to them, "I know what has happened. I realize that I am dead. I know what's going on."

One man in the group did all the talking to me. He was quite tall, taller than the rest. I remember the robe he was wearing was purple. He had a white fringe of hair that went around his head. The top of his head was bald. He had an absolute marvelous face. It was very noble, very kind, what we would think of as a very spiritual face. He also had about him a great deal of authority, so that I felt I was talking to someone that I could trust completely.

When I said to him, "I know what's going on. I know that I have died," he said, "Yes, that's true, but you are not going to be staying here. It isn't time for you to be here yet."

I must tell you that when we talked, we did not move our mouths. I can remember that I only had to have the impulse that contained the things that I wanted to say and he would immediately be able to get that and answer me. Even though he was not moving his mouth when he talked with me, I could hear the sound of his voice in my inner ear. I know what he sounded like. It was a mental transmission, yet I could hear what he sounded like. For a long, long time, I could remember the sound of his voice.

I said to him again, "Everything that has happened to me since I crossed over is so beautiful. Everything is so perfect. What about my sins?"

He said, "There are no sins, not the way you think of them on Earth. The only thing that has any meaning here is what you think."

Then he asked me a question. "What is in your heart?"

Then in some incredible way that I don't understand at all, I was able to look deeply inside myself, really into the very core of me to my essence. I saw that what was there was love, nothing else. My core was perfect love, loving perfection. I had complete love and acceptance for everything. I saw my own gentleness, tenderness, harmlessness. I simply was perfect and loving.

I said to him, "Of course!" I felt I was connecting with knowledge that I had known before. I wondered how on Earth had I forgotten anything that important. I have known that.

I said, "Can you tell me what everything is all about - the whole world - everything?"

He said, "Yes."

He told me in only three sentences at the most. It was so simple. I understood that immediately. I had total comprehension of what he was saying to me. I remember again saying to him, "Of course!" Then there was that feeling again of connecting with knowledge I had once had. I wondered how on Earth did I forget that.

I said to him, "Since I am not going to be able to stay, there are so many people I want to take this back to. May I take this all back with me?"

He said, "You may take the answer to the first question back, the one about sins. But the answer to the second one, you are not going to be able to remember."

The next thing I knew, there was a tremendous banging in my head. It was loud, it was fast, and it was extremely irritating. It went on for just a few seconds - a loud bang, bang, bang, bang. Then that was over and there was a sort of electronic click in my ear. I will never forget the sound of that click because I remember thinking that it sounded almost like a tape recorder. When the click clicked, that was it, I was back and I opened my eyes. My doctor was standing over me and he was doing something that was extremely uncomfortable.

After the experience, I have never been able to remember the specific two or three sentences I was told. I have tried and I have tried for years after this experience to make a concerted effort to try, especially after I went to bed at night, when I would be lying there in that not quite asleep state. And I never could. Finally, I just stopped trying to do that.

But, I do think I know what he was telling me even though I cannot recall the actual two or three sentences. I know that it has to do with love. I believe it has to do with what I was enabled to see when he said, "What is in your heart?" I looked inside myself and saw that I was perfect love.

Now this does not apply to just me. It applies to all human beings. That is what we are. That is our core. This love, this perfection, this God-ness. I believe that what it is all about is that the world will keep turning and we will have all these experiences and it will go on forever and ever and ever.”