What I Have Come to Believe About Life, Love, and Death

The past few days I have been reading up on near death experiences. These experiences that these individuals have had have been so similar, it is uncanny. It can not be mere coincidence (in my own opinion anyway) that all of these different people during different time periods share such similar accounts of what they experienced when "dying" briefly.

- Mellen-Thomas Benedict's NDE

- David Oakford's NDE

- Juliet Nightingale's NDE

Those are only three of many near death experiences that I read which all share many similarities. They are all almost the same story, just told from different points of view. I find this fascinating...

Now, I am not a religious person, but I would consider myself spiritual. What I found interesting was how in Mellen-Thomas Benedict's experience, religion does not matter. Individuals' beliefs seem to be taken into account in that spiritual side of the universe, but there is no supremely RIGHT one. His experience kind of clicked with me, because I remember an instance as a child when I would be dragged along to church with my parents. I remember telling a very religious woman who is like a second mother to me now still, that I believed that heaven was whatever we believed and whatever we chose for it to be. I must have been about 6 or 7 years old, so saying such a thing at such an impressionable age while growing up in a moderately relgious home is somewhat out of the norm... Most children around that age growing up in that environment would say that heaven is where Jesus is - where the angels are and where only good people who follow Jesus go after they die to be with God and yaddah yaddah, all the stuff they learn in Sunday school. The woman was quite taken aback and said something along the lines of, "Why would you say something like that? The Bible clearly describes what Heaven will be like!" as though I was spewing blasphemy.

Anyway, all of these experiences seem to denote that our spirits are here on this Earth to learn and to grow. After we leave this earth, we review our entire life and reccount every choice we have made and every way we have impacted others. The Bible says something similar about our lives being played out before us and we are judged by the lord...however, these accounts differ in that these individuals all say that THEY judged THEMSELVES, and felt no judgement from the "god" light.

There is a strong message of love emphasized through all of these near death experiences. We take no material objects or progressions with us when we leave this Earth - Only the love we obtained and shared.

Sorry if this all seems poorly organized, but I'm sitting outside in the heat typing this. Just something that I have been reading into lately and found very interesting and wanted to share with you all.

Spread the message of love. Be kind to your fellow man. Don't worry about things that don't matter.


share your thoughts/beliefs on the matter, or any experiences that may be relevant.

-Dean

dean, i agree with you on the importance of sharing, giving and receiving love always.

i do disagree with you though, that you won't take progression with you, since the quality of love you are capable of depends on your progress.

once you progressed to a certain level of understanding, you don't even need a near-death experience to know the most important value of love.

Originally posted by bestintentions
dean, i agree with you on the importance of sharing, giving and receiving love always.

i do disagree with you though, that you won't take progression with you, since the quality of love you are capable of depends on your progress.

once you progressed to a certain level of understanding, you don't even need a near-death experience to know the most important value of love.

I agree with you there. We do take our progression in that sense with us. Our spiritual progression if you will. I guess that was not the word I should have used, since I meant like materialist progression - job promotion etc...

Poor word choice on my part lol

Originally posted by deanGI5

These experiences that these individuals have had have been so similar, it is uncanny. It can not be mere coincidence (in my own opinion anyway) that all of these different people during different time periods share such similar accounts of what they experienced when "dying" briefly.

Dear deanG15,

Yes, people who have had NDEs have a lot of commonality. Why, because we all went to the same place is my answer. That is also why I cannot accept the belief that we create our heaven. I think we experience the totality of it in a manner that is easiest and best for us. At least that is how it appears to me.

Anyway, all of these experiences seem to denote that our spirits are here on this Earth to learn and to grow. After we leave this earth, we review our entire life and reccount every choice we have made and every way we have impacted others. The Bible says something similar about our lives being played out before us and we are judged by the lord...however, these accounts differ in that these individuals all say that THEY judged THEMSELVES, and felt no judgement from the "god" light.

I have to tell you that it is amazing to me that you noticed that, that we judge ourselves. I don't know if it is true for everyone; but, doesn't that sound like the hardest part? The bible says that we are judged by the Lord and that is the one who sent his son here to free us from the harsh judgement. I am not looking to push religion on you; but, to discuss what these people experienced so that you can understand it more personally.

Imagine that for whatever reason you are in touch with the divine (I will call him God for convenience). Well, the first thing most of us would do is be in shock and overwhelmed. The bible says that the first knowledge of God is fear, it doesn't say we should continue to be fearful. A natural reaction would be to think about whether or not we had lived good lives and we would hyperfocus on our mistakes out of fear of punishment and rejection. That is why one would judge oneself.

There is a strong message of love emphasized through all of these near death experiences. We take no material objects or progressions with us when we leave this Earth - Only the love we obtained and shared.

What did the Beatles sing, "And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make". Actually, I think we get more than we created because we get to continue sharing it. Be well.


-Dean

edit on 7-8-2011 by deanGI5 because: (no reason given)

There is no evidence you take love with you.

You are just guessing.

Sorry

Originally posted by AQuestion

Originally posted by deanGI5

These experiences that these individuals have had have been so similar, it is uncanny. It can not be mere coincidence (in my own opinion anyway) that all of these different people during different time periods share such similar accounts of what they experienced when "dying" briefly.

Dear deanG15,

Yes, people who have had NDEs have a lot of commonality. Why, because we all went to the same place is my answer. That is also why I cannot accept the belief that we create our heaven. I think we experience the totality of it in a manner that is easiest and best for us. At least that is how it appears to me.

Anyway, all of these experiences seem to denote that our spirits are here on this Earth to learn and to grow. After we leave this earth, we review our entire life and reccount every choice we have made and every way we have impacted others. The Bible says something similar about our lives being played out before us and we are judged by the lord...however, these accounts differ in that these individuals all say that THEY judged THEMSELVES, and felt no judgement from the "god" light.

I have to tell you that it is amazing to me that you noticed that, that we judge ourselves. I don't know if it is true for everyone; but, doesn't that sound like the hardest part? The bible says that we are judged by the Lord and that is the one who sent his son here to free us from the harsh judgement. I am not looking to push religion on you; but, to discuss what these people experienced so that you can understand it more personally.

Imagine that for whatever reason you are in touch with the divine (I will call him God for convenience). Well, the first thing most of us would do is be in shock and overwhelmed. The bible says that the first knowledge of God is fear, it doesn't say we should continue to be fearful. A natural reaction would be to think about whether or not we had lived good lives and we would hyperfocus on our mistakes out of fear of punishment and rejection. That is why one would judge oneself.

There is a strong message of love emphasized through all of these near death experiences. We take no material objects or progressions with us when we leave this Earth - Only the love we obtained and shared.

What did the Beatles sing, "And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make". Actually, I think we get more than we created because we get to continue sharing it. Be well.


-Dean

edit on 7-8-2011 by deanGI5 because: (no reason given)

Yes I also believe we all go/are from the same place. And yes, you described that a bit better than my attempt at conveying it - that we experience that part of "afterlife" or whatever you want to call it, in the best suited way for us as an individual. Perhaps for coping reasons?

Yeah, I find it extremely significant that we are the judges of our own lives, but we fail to realize it until after it is all over. I think that only emphasizes the fact that we are on Earth to learn something; to grow from it. And perhaps we are sent back until we really learn.

Thanks for the response AQuestion

Originally posted by kro32
There is no evidence you take love with you.

You are just guessing.

Sorry

Well done kro, you are right. I am just guessing.

But my guess is based off of those NDEs posted above, which is in fact a form of evidence for me.

Love you Kro

reply to post by deanGI5


Well fair enough.

I don't think we take anything with us. No memories or feelings, it's like a fresh start. It would not be good to take bad things and I don't see how just the good would be remembered and no one in the world just has good memories.

Either that or it just goes black.

reply to post by kro32


Maybe you are right. Perhaps we do not take anything with us. I mean, that could make sense considering I have no memory, knowledge or evidence of existing previous to this life I have been living currently.

Are you saying that you believe that we are reincarnated without any memory of our previous life? Just curious about what you believe about the subject

I have absolutely no idea and nobody else does until it actually happens so my belief is that I will wait and be surprised like everyone else. You can try and guess that what's happened to others during near death experiences is correct but those examples vary so widely it can't be trusted as anything but an individuals own experience.

reply to post by deanGI5


Dear deanG15,

Truthfully, I was shocked when I read what you said, I didn't know it had been discussed as I try not to read about other peoples NDEs too much.

Yeah, I find it extremely significant that we are the judges of our own lives, but we fail to realize it until after it is all over. I think that only emphasizes the fact that we are on Earth to learn something; to grow from it. And perhaps we are sent back until we really learn.

Think about the beauty of it, if people did know that they would judge themselves it might get in the way of their free will for some. As for life on earth I see it a couple of ways, one is to learn; but, more importantly is to decide who we are, to define ourselves. How can you truly learn and decide who you want to be if you only do what you are told?

People want answers from God and he only gives an outline, we have to fill in the blanks. If we fill in the blanks with love we provide him with common ground to share with us. We cannot share with one another if there is no love in our hearts, instead we turn inward and become bitter missing out on the chance to truly love one another. By the way, I thought you expressed yourself just fine in your OP.

I've been studying NDE's for years and I've came to some of the same conclusions as yourself. Although NDE's share common denominators, each one seems tailor-made for the individual and done so in a way to make the transistion as easy as possible.

Not only am I a very spiritual person, but I also consider Jesus my Lord, so when I draw my conclusions, I have to factor him into everything - including my studies. With that being said, there are still a few things that leave me scratching my head. I've also noticed during the life review, that everyone seems to judge themself but according to the "Word of God" once we are forgiven of our sins, they are supposed to be blotted out and never remembered - so my question would be why are we remembering all that muck and yuck we aren't so proud of? My whole life I've been very observant and have spent so much time contemplating everything under the sun, to the point of over-dwelling, that the lfie review part bums me out.

There are even quite a few NDE's where a person suddenly finds themself in front of Jesus/God and they are asked very similar questions:

What have you done with your life?
What have you done with the life I gave you?
How do you like your life so far?
How have you helped your fellow man?
What have you done for your fellow man?
(many report waves and waves of love being poured into their spirit to the point they feel as if they are about to explode)
Have you ever loved anyone life this?

Again, from my knowledge of Jesus/God - he knows Everything we have or will do, he knows how often we each contemplate Him and he's aware of everytime I said "I love u" out of the blue to him and how many times he has said it back..... I guess it's possible the life review is to remind me of things I may have overlooked on my spiritual path or it may just be part of the whole package of transistion. I'm sure there are some who are more aware of certain things than I have been and some who are quite far behind in knowing certain things. Maybe I need to look at it from a stand point that it just is.

Another thing that I find puzzling is how most every single person wants to stay there and not return. Though they are told it is their choice to stay or go back, and most choose to stay - they get sent back anyhow, often slamming back into their broken bodies and very upset. Most people are told straight up, 'you have more to do. you have to return' but there are still quite a few who are told it is their choice, choose, to stay and end up back here.

My conslucsion so far is that we are here to gain knowledge, by learning about love through life lessons.

I lost my daughter (only 18) in January of 2010 and even though he gave me a clear revelation of her death a few weeks before it happened and has since showed me where she is right now - I still struggle with why she couldn't have been one of the lucky ones to bring back powerful testimony from the other realm. But I am at peace with the concept, that whatever her tasks and life lessons were here on earth, she completed them with flying colors and I am 110% certain I will be with her again.

Jesus did say he is the "light" and that he goes to prepare a place for us and if he goes he will come again to receive us unto himself." For myself it is just another thing that prooves he is the Messiah.

reply to post by Myrtales Instinct


Dear Myrtales Instinct,

I guess it's possible the life review is to remind me of things I may have overlooked on my spiritual path or it may just be part of the whole package of transistion.

Let me mention a different possibility, we need to let go of our guilt. When confronted with the divine we see how we made mistakes and many of them we knew we were wrong when we did it but justified it. When one of my aunts passed away from cancer she stayed her last week with me. I remember her saying that God could never forgive her for all the bad things she did, I told her he already had. The closer we get to the end the more we question what we did, it is our nature.

Another thing that I find puzzling is how most every single person wants to stay there and not return. Though they are told it is their choice to stay or go back, and most choose to stay - they get sent back anyhow, often slamming back into their broken bodies and very upset. Most people are told straight up, 'you have more to do. you have to return' but there are still quite a few who are told it is their choice, choose, to stay and end up back here.

Not all come back consider Enoch who God raptured. He walked and talked with God and then he was not for God took him up. He could no longer stand to be apart and here. Now here is where your two quotes above may intersect, what if you go back because you were not able to forgive yourself quite yet and it was a chance to make up for it to yourself? Just some thoughts. Be well.

Interesting topic. I have never had a NDE, I have read a few accounts of it so I'm no expert on the subject. I do believe that we have a life review where we place judgement upon ourselves for all the negative and positive events that have taken place in our lives. During this time we are filled with the holy spirit or positive energy that helps us to better understand the choices we have made and to also help us to take responsibility for our actions. During this time we also come to understand why we should or shouldn't come back to our physical existence. I feel some choices are made during NDE's that are not disclosed as it may make the person telling the story seem a little unbalanced.
I feel that NDE's show us that maybe we shouldn't be waiting for death or near death to judge whether we are a good person, it's something we need to do asap in our lives. Clear the past so to speak, doing so would create a lightness and freedom that we haven't felt since we were children, the feeling of innocence.

Mathew 7:13 Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. Mathew 7:14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

reply to post by deanGI5


First of all, I don't believe someone could be dead for 1.5 hours in the state of rigor mortis and come back to life. Second, he may have had some kind of a NDE but I am suspicious of many of his descriptions which I have been writing on the usenet before he was even published in 1996. I guess that is Irony, I have been telling others the memory I was born with since 1978 after it came back to me at the age of 16. Everyone thought I was full of it, I just find it funny. But if it makes others feel good then that is all that matters. I have never heard of anyone else entering a black hole at the center of the galaxy and some of the other things he writes that have many of the same buzz words I used all along. However, his descriptions of the details are not the same.