w 10 wThe NDE is an intense personal experience, uniquely presented for the benefit of the experiencer. A teaching/learning communication between two consciousnesses. Man and his Creator.There are thousands of "Near Death Experience" web pages on the Internet. No course of study, classroom, or book could hold even a fraction of the information available. One can find scientific sites; positive Christian sites; negative Christian sites; personal sites with one NDE; personal sites with multiple NDEs; spiritual sites with varied explanations; and many sites that defy cataloguing.
The diversity of sites reflects the diversity of belief systems. Scientists shape the NDE information into their beliefs, as the Christians shape it to fit the doctrine of Christianity. Each webmaster brings their own bias to the task of explaining and understanding this phenomenon. No one is completely free of bias; formed by the education, environment, and acculturation processes in which they have been trained.
This is all very good. It's possible for the serious student to study this material and achieve a broader understanding of NDEs than any of the webmasters who wrote it.
The greater the diversity of thought, the quicker truth becomes apparent to its seeker.
w 11 wGeorge Lucas, creator of Star Wars, explained in a television interview the concept of "The Force." It was modeled from the common thread of truth that runs through all religions. A universal energy permeating all things; guiding all things; a God consciousness of compassion, truth, integrity, and love. These were some of the thoughts mentioned in its description. When I think of The Force, I think of the brilliant light seen in Near Death Experiences; the presence of the Creator, and the awesome power of Love.The Jedi Knight must be without fear; because fear leads to hate; hate leads to anger; and anger leads to suffering.
"Trust the Force, Luke."
This famous quote from the Star Wars series might be restated as "Trust the Creator, let Him guide your thoughts and motions, let His love cast fear from your heart, let His knowledge fill your mind with peace." In God we are eternal; even in death are we made greater.
w 12 wIn corresponding with a Christian missionary, I learned that unconditional love was not taught in his church. He explained that the kind of love Jesus taught was just not practical in today's society. "No one can love like that," he said.But I remember when I was young the "Golden Rule" and "love one another" were frequent topics at church. Has the teaching changed that much over the years? Has the basics of "forgiving others", "not judging them", and "loving all, including your enemies", been abandoned? It's true that I have not heard such teachings in a while.
I sincerely hope that God's unconditional love is still taught in most places of worship. However, not to worry, if His love isn't taught within the walls of religious establishments; then it will be taught out side of them, by heretics, as it was 2000 years ago, by a man called Jesus.
w 13 wIs it unrealistic to focus on the positive side all the time? Some think so. They say this site ignores the reality of the dark side. No mention of the dangers of devils, demons and such, and they are right, of course. Not much here about the dark side.The Bible, and life itself, chronicles many nasty things. War, murder, theft, incest, treachery, torture, slavery, cheating, and violence of all kinds can be encountered. Nearly all our media presentations: news, magazines, newspapers, portray the baneful side of physical existence. We even terrify our children, and threaten adults, by teaching demonology in some religious institutions. Is all this negative thinking, and acting really necessary? Of course not. We have a choice.
"No man can serve two masters." God granted us the freedom to choose. We may walk in the light of His love -- fearlessly, or we may trod the fearful path of darkness. That is our choice. If we choose love then: "love casts out fear, and perfect love casts out all fear." When one focuses on the light of God's love, there is neither, dark side, demons, devils, nor fear of death. Within the love is the knowledge of our eternal existence and safety. Within the love is the Greater Reality of Life.
This site is dedicated to the path of God's unconditional love. There will be no teachings of fear. Think for just a moment what the world would be like if everyone focused on love. Would anyone think it unrealistic then. Love is the solution, love is always realistic.
w 14 w"...everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of
the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set
of circumstances, to choose one's own way."Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search For Meaning
Years ago, during my studies of Psychoanalysis, Psychology and related disciplines, I was priviledged to meet Dr. Frankl. He was on a speaking tour of the United States and came to my home town. It was extremely difficult to get tickets, but I managed to obtain one through a minister friend of mine. After the lecture, Dr. Frankl stayed in the hall to meet people on a personal basis. I talked to him for only five minutes, but will never forget the feel of his handshake; the experience of his presence.
Dr. Frankl was a survivor of the Holocaust. He had spent over three years in a Nazi death camp and lived to tell about it. Having seen the most inhuman conditions possible, he did not lose faith that life had meaning and was worthy of living. It was this faith that guided him through the horrendous ordeal.
This man's life is a testimony to the power of faith. If you have lost faith, look for it within yourself, as Dr. Frankl did.
w 15 wSuppose that a planet, far out in our solar system, supported intelligent life. Similar to ours, but further advanced. Their senses were similar also, except for the eyes. They were near-sighted; able to see only what was close to them; like looking through a heavy fog. One day they discovered earth with a space probe, and decide to investigate. Three space ships were launched for the venture, to find out what earth was like, and what (if anything) lived there.The first ship landed in the Sahara desert. The pilot got out and looked around. He reported in his ship's log: this planet is barren; nothing but sand; too hot for life; it has nothing to offer us. Recommend we forget it.
The second ship landed in the Amazon Jungle. The pilot got out, and was immediately stung by bees; bit by a snake; and chased back to his ship by a lion. He reported in his ship's log: this planet has lush vegetation; dangerous animals; stinging insects and a nasty attitude. I barely escaped with my life. Recommend we forget it.
The third ship landed in a small farming community. The pilot got out, and was met by some of the local farmers. They invited him to dinner. After dinner they showed him the fields and farms. He reported in his ship's log: this planet has friendly, intelligent life, not unlike our own. Recommend we establish diplomatic relations at once.
When all the ships returned, the leaders were baffled over the conflicting reports. Long discussions between the pilots revealed nothing new. Information gathered by the space ships wasn't helpful in determining the value of the newly discovered planet. The leaders decided to take a "hands off" position to planet earth.
The spirit realms are far more diversified, and contain many more things than planet earth. Visitors (NDEers, OBEers, Lucid Dreamers, Deep Meditators, etc.) report many different things. The diversity of the observations does not negate the reality of them, it only reveals the vastness of spirit.
w 16 wWhat are the odds that the universe (and man) were created by chance?One person said he had figured it out to be:
64,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 to 1.
He didn't say how he arrived at that figure, but it seems accurate to me. :-)Speaking of the "Big Bang" theory, another said the odds of the universe
being created by chance were about the same as if:
you would take a New York Sunday newspaper,
put a few really big firecrackers under it and light them.
When they went off, the letters and words on the newspaper would be blown apart,
they would float up in the air then come down in such a way as to form a perfect
and complete Lincoln's Gettysbury address.Albert Einstein said: "God does not roll dice."
We are just now beginning to understand how the plants, animals, and minerals cooperate to form this great and beautiful planet. There exists a pattern of life renewing itself daily. That this life-creating, life-sustaining, ecosystem came about without the direction of a higher/greater intelligence is illogical.
When I visited a science exhibit, the "Big Bang" theory was displayed as if it were truth instead of theory. I would like to see the truth taught in our schools. Teach both the "Creation" theory and the "Big Bang" theory. Teach them as theories, telling the students the truth, that we don't know for sure. With the truth we might begin to raise better informed children.
w 17 wClear Thinking about the Bible. People, who feel they know a lot about the Christian Bible, frequently say:
"The Bible says . . . ," or "in the Bible, God says . . . ."
The Bible is not a book. It is a collection of books. There are 66 books, written by 44 different authors, more or less, depending on which version of the Bible one is talking about. The books were written, or passed down by memory, over a period of thousands of years. The Bible has been edited and changed many times to suit established religious authorities. Clear thinking understands that the Bible itself, says nothing, and not one of the books were authored by someone named God.
Is the Bible the inspired word of God? Of course it is, God lives within all of us, and anything we say or write, is inspired by God. Without God there would be no world, no us, no anything.
"In Corinthians, Paul said . . .," or "in the Bible, Moses said . . .," or "Jesus, according to
Mark, said . . .," or "God, according to Jesus, in the book of John said . . .," are more
correct ways of stating Biblical material.Not a Bible student, but I have read the Bible all the way through a couple of times. Reading the Bible should be done the same as any other reading material. Ignore the little numbers on each sentence, they were put there later by those who wished to quote or interpret certain passages. Bible interpretation has resulted in thousands of different Christian denominations. No one seems to agree on what some of the material means. Try to read without interpretation, as if you were reading it for the first time. If you do this, you will immediately see a great difference between what you have been taught is there, and what is really there.
Those who use the Bible as a tool to manipulate, exploit, or control others should be ignored. You are intelligent enough to read and understand the Bible without someone telling you what it says.
w 18 wBrain Button Technology. Some researchers in the field of Near Death Experiences believe that the NDE is triggered by some traumatic life event and contained completely within the brain. That the consciousness of man is the result of having a brain and when the brain dies so does the consciousness. A "what you see is what you get" philosophy. They further believe that someday brain triggers will be discovered that will duplicate the NDE.
On television, I heard a scientist say that the NDE was caused by mis-firing brain cells at the time of death. How can such a general statement be considered important? Another pointed out that if an electrode is used to stimulate a certain part of the brain, then the person will feel there is a "presence" with him. This was supposed to explain OBEs. A medical doctor wrote me saying he had perfected a brain model showing exactly how the NDE happened. I was to send him $10 for a copy of it. I replied with a copy of A Near Death Experience, what is it?, telling him I would be happy to pay the $10 if he had indeed explained this. He never wrote me back.
Any scientific brain model, brain trigger, brain whatever, reported to duplicate the NDE would have to produce, and explain all the elements listed below:
1. a radical change in personality, NDEs produce a kinder and more compassionate experiencer.
2. conversations concerning death between a loving light being and the experiencer.
3. the bright light, the feeling of being "home" surrounded by love, and knowledge of all things.
4. conversations with relatives and friends who had previously died.
5. enhanced psychic ability, reading minds, fortelling the future.
6. knowledge of what doctors were doing to the body (in detail) while the body was clinically dead.
7. knowledge of what was happening in a wide area around the body, lobby, next room, sometimes
miles from the body while clinically dead.
8. seeing, feeling intense energy; and unusual spiritual events like healing others with a touch.If science could just duplicate the first item on the list, it would be a true miracle. Within a few months the whole world could be transformed into a kinder, more compassionate place to live.
When I was in my 20's, (40 years ago) I read a Psychiatric Journal containing articles predicting cures for all mental illnesses. The authors claimed chemicals in the form of pills, or injections would soon cure depression like the Salk vaccine had cured Polio. There was also talk of "learning" injections. Take a shot for algebra instead of taking the class. None of this has happened. Neither has the Near Death Experience been duplicated.
Man is far greater than a handful of chemicals. We are spiritual beings enjoying a physical existence for the purpose of growth. The Near Death Experience has proved this. Anyone making a serious study of NDEs agrees. Dr. Raymond Moody, Dr. Elizabeth Keubler-Ross, and others, who began scientific studies of Death and/or NDEs, ended those studies with a deep spiritual understanding of themselves and mankind.
w 19 wSpiritual Growth. Spiritual growth is the responsibility of each individual. No one can grow for you. As you learn, consciousness is expanded, and life becomes more understandable, and enjoyable. It is not for moral reasons that you grow, but for self improvement, spiritual growth will confer many advantages. As you grew physically, you received more and more freedom; so it is the same with growing spiritually.
Spiritual growth has nothing to do with intelligence or knowledge. A highly intelligent individual with several academic degrees could be a spiritual infant. While, on the other hand, an illiterate, low intelligence individual could be far advanced spiritually.
The three main attitudes of spiritual growth are:
1. forgiving attitude
2. non-judgemental, non-condemning attitude
3. loving attitude1. Forgiveness releases the negative emotions of anger, guilt, envy, etc., and provides closure on past events where mistakes were made. It clears the path of emotional rubbish, freeing the mind and heart to continue the journey of life. Forgive yourself as well as others.
2. Non-judgement, non-condemnation keeps the negative emotions away. If you don't condemn, then it is not necessary to forgive. The world is large enough for all the things it contains. It is not necessary to have an opinion on everything.
3. Love overcomes the fear of life, and the fear of death. It replaces negative emotions. It brings understanding. You learn to love by practicing it. First with yourself and then with others. The page on Love, the healing force will further explain.
The duality of our physical world makes it an ideal environment to grow spiritually. Each day brings its challenges, problems, and achievements. There are no circumstances, or conditions that inhibit growth. It matters not, how rich or poor, how young or old, how ill or healthy, an individual becomes -- spiritual growth can always be practiced. The rewards are so great, why are so many waiting?
