To Heaven and Back - A Doctor's Extraordinary Account of Her Death, Heaven, Angels, and Life Again

* That's the title of the book by Mary C. Neal M.D.

I like to read Near Death Experience books and stories. No, I don't buy into them all. In fact, some of the more popular ones I tend to disregard**. However, I found this one to be credible. (at least to me). This lady doctor with four children goes kayaking and drowns. She has a near death experience and then is sent back to earth. She didnt' want to come back. But she had to.

While she was drowning she said she 'got bored' .. because she knew she was about to die but wanted it to hurry up. (I can relate .. I'm not patient either). When she popped out of her body she rose up through the water and was greeted by a group of souls. She says she knew them .. even though she didn't 'know' them on earth. She felt she knew them. Everyone was VERY HAPPY to be reunited. She felt like she was going home. She arrived at a long well lit hall and there were other souls there happy to see her. But then everyone suddenly knew it wasn't her time and that she had to go back so the mood switched to one of having to let her go back. So she went back to her body.

She was pretty banged up from her near drowning. Broken bones and tissue damage as well as lung damage. She got through it all but for the first year afterwards she was angry and sad. (normal response to a major illness) She also found herself missing heaven even though she had a good family situation here on earth. Eventually, after a year or so, she stopped feeling angry and sad (worked through her five stages of grief ... IMHO) and was able to get on with her life.

WHAT I GOT FROM IT - About suffering - We are here to learn. Sometimes we are the ones that the suffering is teaching something to. Sometimes others are the ones that our suffering is teaching something to. (sometimes you are the windshield, sometimes you are the bug ) Earth isn't heaven. Suffering isn't wasted.

I've been told that before .. suffering isn't wasted ... but I only sometimes believe it. When I'm having a more difficult day than others I wonder why. I still wonder why ...even after hearing what the Buddhists and Catholics and New Agers and everyone else have to say about it.

But anyways ... we are here to learn and grow and many times suffering helps us or helps other to do so. Also that the afterlife seems to be rather ... um .... socialist for a lack of a better term. Everyone all together and kind of Kumbaya and working together. That's what I got from reading the book.

** the book supposedly by the kid called 'heaven is for real', I don't buy it at all. The father is a minister and I have no doubt that the child is saying what he thinks that the father wants to hear. And the parents wrote their own book on the subject as well. These, and other reasons, make the cynical me not believe it.

** And other NDE books I've read tell of people going to each others houses and going to 'sermons' given by Martin Luther and that Jesus comes knocking on their door and goes with them ... etc etc. I'm not believing those either.

I've read some stories/books on NDEs that have people who have seen or gone to hell. I don't doubt those. No one would want to come back and admit that they were soooooo bad that they were going to hell. So when people come up with those for themselves, I tend to believe it.


For those interested .... A site I found that has peoples NDE's that they can add ..
www.nderf.org...

I wish they did more scientific experiments with Dimethyltryptamine now a days, what you described is pretty much the experience people go through when they are on it, and considering she knew she was going to die when the brain released it her hallucination might have been catered to it. Apparently the brain gets flushed with Dimethyltryptamine when you are about to die which causes hallucinations that are very stereotypical with heaven/angels/oness/beings/love. This leaves the question that is Dimethyltryptamine a numbing agent for your last seconds of life or a process of gradual introduction to a new coming experience.

reply to post by CesarO


Ah, the Spirit Molecule. Definitely a possibility.

Originally posted by CesarO
I wish they did more scientific experiments with Dimethyltryptamine now a days, what you described is pretty much the experience people go through when they are on it, and considering she knew she was going to die when the brain released it her hallucination might have been catered to it. Apparently the brain gets flushed with Dimethyltryptamine when you are about to die which causes hallucinations that are very stereotypical with heaven/angels/oness/beings/love. This leaves the question that is Dimethyltryptamine a numbing agent for your last seconds of life or a process of gradual introduction to a new coming experience.

edit on 9-7-2013 by CesarO because: (no reason given)

edit on 9-7-2013 by CesarO because: (no reason given)

I like to think that it's more than just numbing. I've ridden the Dead Mantis Train a number of times, and it is such a transcendental thing, not just a hallucination or numbing. It's very real, almost more real than normal reality at times.
I think it's more of a catalyst for your consciousness to connect to inner and outer realms, a sacred geometrical molecular pattern that allows for consciousness to travel amongst a medium in which it doesn't normally exist.

reply to post by Kody27


Sadly, much like dreams, you tend to forget a good portion of the experience when you "come back". If you go the traditional Aya route you certainly come back feeling clean though. Nothing like the next morning or right afterwards. More along the lines of NDE and the book, one of these Aya visions went something like this. Imagine a whirlpool of lives/memories, swirling about with beings sitting at the edge, constantly diving in to relive an experience or attempt some sort of challenge as if each life were a game. Forgetting who you are and becoming immersed in that particular life each time you take the plunge, sometimes remembering or catching a glimpse of your true self while enjoying that specific run at life only to come back and play the game again. If I was an artist I would draw what I saw, it was amazing and gave a sense of extreme power and unity at the same time. --- Sorry, almost deleted this, but I typed this out so I decided to let it fly.

The link I provided gives stories people have about their own Near Death Experiences.
Not books for sale. But regular people with nothing to gain from telling their stories.
I found a lot of them very interesting.

reply to post by FlyersFan


This story is like a year old, you just found it now?

Originally posted by CesarO
I wish they did more scientific experiments with Dimethyltryptamine now a days, what you described is pretty much the experience people go through when they are on it, and considering she knew she was going to die when the brain released it her hallucination might have been catered to it. Apparently the brain gets flushed with Dimethyltryptamine when you are about to die which causes hallucinations that are very stereotypical with heaven/angels/oness/beings/love.

Can you provide a link to where there is proof of Dimethyltryptamine being produced by the brain? I've read that this theory became a sort-of skeptic's myth that has no evidence backing it up.

I'm skeptical of afterlife evidence myself, but the "brain produces Dimethyltryptamine" theory seems to still be unproven.

reply to post by LastStarfighter
Lighten up, my man! Just because you saw it last year, doesn't mean the rest of us did. I want to know more,MUCH more. You see,2013 hasn't been good to me. IF God is out there, watching over the universe, or just me, I want to know. I know that many posters don't believe in God, heaven or an afterlife. That's fine. If you comfortable you're beliefs, I will accept that. I just ask that you accept my beliefs. By the way, for those of you who think believers are idiots, my IQ is 155. I put my critical thinking skills into practice in a great many areas.

reply to post by FlyersFan


I agree,suffering isn't wasted. Suffering(grieving) is God's way of slowing you down, and allowing you think, to cherish the memories of the person you've lost. Suffering makes us stronger emotionally, and frequently physicaly.

socialism may work in that situation if all the spirits are egalitarian. But maybe a better word is "cooperative".

Did you get the idea that it was top down organizational structure, or bottom up?

Originally posted by Frith

Originally posted by CesarO
I wish they did more scientific experiments with Dimethyltryptamine now a days, what you described is pretty much the experience people go through when they are on it, and considering she knew she was going to die when the brain released it her hallucination might have been catered to it. Apparently the brain gets flushed with Dimethyltryptamine when you are about to die which causes hallucinations that are very stereotypical with heaven/angels/oness/beings/love.

Can you provide a link to where there is proof of Dimethyltryptamine being produced by the brain? I've read that this theory became a sort-of skeptic's myth that has no evidence backing it up.

I'm skeptical of afterlife evidence myself, but the "brain produces Dimethyltryptamine" theory seems to still be unproven.

edit on 10-7-2013 by Frith because: (no reason given)

look into the book, "the spirit molecule"

it's supposed to be an unproven theory as far as I know, but based in some decent evidence.

Arriving at a well lit hall?

Reminds me of Vahalla which is my favorite version of Heaven!

Originally posted by ninepointfive

Originally posted by Frith

Originally posted by CesarO
I wish they did more scientific experiments with Dimethyltryptamine now a days, what you described is pretty much the experience people go through when they are on it, and considering she knew she was going to die when the brain released it her hallucination might have been catered to it. Apparently the brain gets flushed with Dimethyltryptamine when you are about to die which causes hallucinations that are very stereotypical with heaven/angels/oness/beings/love.

Can you provide a link to where there is proof of Dimethyltryptamine being produced by the brain? I've read that this theory became a sort-of skeptic's myth that has no evidence backing it up.

I'm skeptical of afterlife evidence myself, but the "brain produces Dimethyltryptamine" theory seems to still be unproven.

edit on 10-7-2013 by Frith because: (no reason given)

look into the book, "the spirit molecule"

it's supposed to be an unproven theory as far as I know, but based in some decent evidence.

edit on 10-7-2013 by ninepointfive because: edit

I wouldn't say "decent". I hate it when people quote his theory like it's a well-known fact. And to answer Frith's question- there is no conclusive evidence that the human pineal does indeed produce dimethyltryptamine. However, a fairly recent study showed that dimethyltryptamine is produced in the pineal of live rats (the study was accepted for publishing but for now it's unpublished, unreviewed etc, as far as I know)

You can click here (takes you to a short film on CNN) and hear Dr. Mary Neal tell her story.
newsroom.blogs.cnn.com...

Mary Neal knew about her son's death, before he died from an accident.

Mary Neal spoke to Randi Kaye about her book "To Heaven and back." She discusses her near-death experience and conversations with God.

A real head Scratcher. I don't know myself if these are "real" or just the brain. But, that's me. I do like to hear them though if the folks are sincere and believe it really happened.

also FOX

Just because we all hallucinate similarly during NDEs or drug-induced experiences doesn't necessarily mean that our hallucinations are in fact real. Or that they should be taken literally. As for the argument that they "feel so real" - there are many instances in which very vivid dreams feel real; moreover, during the actual experience there's no doubt that the dream is very much real.

reply to post by FlyersFan


Just wanted to reply to your comments on suffering.
I agree with your outlook. The reason I agree with you is because I, as most of us will, have had a fair bit of suffering. What the suffering has taught me is empathy and understanding. It has given me the ability to put myself in other peoples shoes and see things from their perspective. It has greatly improved my ability at critical thinking, being able to view a situation from more angles than just one for example.

I am also very interested in the afterlife, if there is one and what is the purpose of life. I have watched documentaries and read about NDES(the good and the bad ones), OBES, past lives and reincarnation, I have personally experienced spirits(from a very early age, not at all now). These experiences and studies have lead me to believe in the soul and afterlife. Im not 100%(who can be) but the evidence has certainly pointed in that direction for me.
Thank you for your post, it gives me more material to add to my studies on the meaning of life the universe and everything. And anything coming from an MD holds more scientific weight than a laymans(non scientific)
perspective.

Originally posted by Frith

Originally posted by CesarO
I wish they did more scientific experiments with Dimethyltryptamine now a days, what you described is pretty much the experience people go through when they are on it, and considering she knew she was going to die when the brain released it her hallucination might have been catered to it. Apparently the brain gets flushed with Dimethyltryptamine when you are about to die which causes hallucinations that are very stereotypical with heaven/angels/oness/beings/love.

Can you provide a link to where there is proof of Dimethyltryptamine being produced by the brain? I've read that this theory became a sort-of skeptic's myth that has no evidence backing it up.

I'm skeptical of afterlife evidence myself, but the "brain produces Dimethyltryptamine" theory seems to still be unproven.

edit on 10-7-2013 by Frith because: (no reason given)

This has peaked my interest. The dimethyltriptamine excuse always gets rolled out, like swamp gas or chinese lanterns gets rolled out for ufos.
Just because something is a possibility, it doesnt make it THE answer.
This is something Ive never understood about 'professional' skeptics.
They can be very closed minded and quick to discredit something because one thing could be a possible it must be THE ANSWER.
There seem to be few of these types on here at ats.

Dont get me wrong, being skeptical is something we all should be of most things, we should always be curious and ask questions, and not take things for granted. But the closed minded arguments of some of the so called skeptics makes them just as backwards as the crazy tin hat brigade who believe every wild tale of fantasy that they come across without looking into the facts.

I question the agenda of these types of skeptics.