Most Americans View Death as a Negative Thing
Many Americans do not like to think about or talk about death. Most view death in a negative light. When someone that we care about dies, we view it as a loss and we grieve. We even say to the bereft, “I am sorry for your loss.”
At wakes and at funerals, we feel very sad and we cry. As Nicole Kerr writes on her website, “death itself is cloaked in a veil of gloom and doom. Death has a cloud of depression and negativity around it throughout our culture.”
But . . . what if death is the total oppositive? What if death is positive?
She Was Dead
When the red, convertible crashed at a high speed, Nicole Kerr, my special guest on the Grass Roots Health Podcast, Episode 16, (https://1795group.com/podcast/) was violently thrown from the passenger seat and landed with a thud in the median. Bystanders stopped and rushed to help her. However, they did not help because she was dead. They even told the EMTs when they arrived, that she was already dead.
But She Came Back
Nicole was gone from this earthly life. She was out of her body. However, she was very much alive in another realm. Technically, Nicole had a Near Death Experience (NDE). What she discovered on the “other side” was amazing! She and thousands of others who have had such experiences now view death as a positive gain, as beauty, love, light, and loving-kindness. After she came back, she was changed!
It All Started with Dr. Raymond A. Moody Jr.
While Raymond was an undergraduate at the University of Virginia in 1965, he met psychiatrist, Dr. George Ritchie. George Ritchie told Moody a story about the afterlife that was truly remarkable! That story led Moody to a life of research and documenting similar accounts by others who had experienced clinical death. Dr. Moody was the first professional to invent the term Near Death Experience (NDE) and the first researcher to investigate this phenomenon.
Dr. Moody says this about what he has learned:
“I don’t mind saying that after talking with over a thousand people who have had these experiences and having experienced many times some of the really baffling and unusual features of these experiences, it has given me great confidence that there is a life after death. As a matter of fact, I must confess to you in all honesty, I have absolutely no doubt, on the basis of what my patients have told me, that they did get a glimpse of the beyond.”
Watch his very famous film here, “Life after Life.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z56u4wMxNlg
Common Elements of NDE’s Reported by Most
There are six commonalities reported by most people who have an NDE. He/she …
- Hears the news of his/her death
- Realizes that he/she is separated from his/her physical body.
- Departs from the body (usually upward) and is able to see the scene below.
- Reports intense positive emotions (immersed in “love.”)
- Encounters a bright light or a being of light.
- Encounters deceased relatives or other beings.
In addition to these six things, Dr. Moody says that he discovered additional common elements:
- Peace & Painlessness: While people are dying, they may be in intense pain. However, as soon as they leave their body, all pain vanishes.
- The Tunnel Experience: They are drawn into darkness through a tunnel toward a radiant, golden-white light. Some feel scared but do not sense that the darkness is hell.
- Rising Rapidly into the Heavens: Instead of a tunnel, some people report rising suddenly into the heavens and seeing planet earth like an astronaut in outer space.
- People of Light: Once on the other side of the tunnel, or after rising into the heavens, the dying meet people who glow with an inner light. Often, they are greeted by relatives or friends who have already died.
- The Being of Light: After meeting the people of light, they meet a powerful being whom some have identified as God, Jesus, Mohammed, or some religious figure.
- Life Review: The Being of Light presents the dying with a panoramic, holographic view of everything that they have ever done. The dying re-live every act they have ever done to other people and come away feeling that love is the most important thing in life.
- Reluctance to Return: The Being of Light sometimes tells the dying that they must return to earth. Other times, they are giving a choice of staying or returning. In either case, people are reluctant to return to earth. They really do NOT want to come back to this life. Those who return, do so because of loved ones that they do not wish to leave behind.
Most Interesting
What I find most interesting is that those who return to this earthly life are profoundly changed. They are more loving, compassionate, and forgiving. Often they have trouble fitting back into everyday life. Some even embark on radical career changes or leave their spouses. Something happened to them that makes them very different.
Evidence for Life After Life
As a college professor who has taught Death and Dying for 23 years, I think that there is strong evidence to support that there is life after life and that we never die:
- Children experience NDE’s and they are too young to read, know, copy, or grasp concepts shared by others. Yet many of them say the same things.
- People who have such experiences often see and hear things that they would not have been able to see/hear unless they were truly out of their bodies.
- NDE’s are experienced by and have common elements among people in all cultures, all religions, and even among those who are agnostic or atheist.
- Humans have been experiencing NDE’s for many hundreds of years. There is written/artistic accounts of NDE’s that date at least back to the middle ages.
- People come back profoundly changed. Something happened to them!
Now I Believe
Until I really studied Dr. Moody’s research and until physicians, like Bruce Greyson, M.D. (who are trained not to believe) started talking about their own NDE’s, I was a skeptic. I have read everything I could get my hands on and listened to many tell their stories. Now I believe that that humans never die and that death should be viewed positively.
There is much we do not know about the human brain and human consciousness! What is consciousness? How do we measure it? When we die, where does our energy, our consciousness go? As Albert Einstein said, “Energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be changed from one form to another.” I agree.
Two people have been very influential for me: 1) Lauren Bellg, M.D. and, 2) Robert Lanza, M.D. Dr. Bellg is a pulmonologist, well-trained, skeptical, and analytical physician who did not want to believe. However, through various circumstances, she now believes and recommends that we ask patients about their experiences. Dr. Lanza is a physician scientist who posits that death is but an illusion and that life continues for all of us in another realm. If you are interested in learning more, I recommend that you start with Dr. Belg’s book: “Near Death in the ICU.”
The 1795 Group Can Help
We care a lot about the world that we will leave for those who follow in our footsteps. Our goal is to leave this little blue planet better than when we lived on it.
That’s why we do what we do. We believe in being part of solutions. Let’s work together!
Perhaps you would like a guest speaker or a presentation on this topic. Perhaps you would like to have your students, learners, or employees enjoy an in-person or virtual professional development workshop in this topical area. Perhaps you need a course to be written for your learners. Whatever your need, the 1795 Group can help. Call us and let’s brainstorm ways to work together.
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