NDE (Near-Death-Experiences)and The Purpose Of Life - Part 2

A hub I read a few days ago dealt (amongst other topics) with the intense pain suffered by the individual who looses a loved one and while I was thinking about that and some losses I had in my life, I started again to look after reports of Near Death Experiences (NDE’s).

I had studied some of the available material when I had to deal with death in my nearer family, but then over the years, it receded a bit into the background. So when I started to google NDE, I was astonished to find huge archives of NDE’s in the internet, with hundreds of accounts, stories and articles.

On one of the sites, the authors even evaluated the similarities in the stories they have heard, showing a impressive number of parallels and in this way trying to make the experiences more palpable for us.

So in the days that followed, I read many wonderful stories from people who had very intense NDE’s and what was most striking for me was that almost all of them mentioned in their accounts the fact that they not only were free of all pain they might have suffered in this earthly experience, but also that they felt surrounded and embraced by the most palpable love and peace that they ever experienced.

One, Reverend Juliet Nightingale, describes the transitioning process as follows: “The best way I can describe the transition from being "alive" on the physical plane and the passage to the Other Side is like passing from one "room" to another.” Mostof them talk about gaining some kind of super-awareness, a super alertness, which made them perceive way more as they would have perceived in the same “time span” in their earthly existence.

Many report that they have seen more intense and more beautiful colors than ever before, with a far wider range of perception as we have in our physical bodies, with lights being more brilliant than anything they ever saw, even more brilliant as the sun, but without a painful component. Instead, the light had a warm, loving, soothing quality.

Many talk about Beings of Light, emanating light or subtle energies from their bodies, like consisting of light and shining all over assisting them in their journey through the “other dimension”, being there for them to comfort them or to guide them lovingly to their destination.

There seems to be no judgement in this other realm, just compassion and love. Many describe the telepathic communication between them and these Beings of Light, in a way that in the moment they entertained a thought, they knew that the other being fully understood and answered the thought without any sound exchanged between them.

Knowledge and consciousness seems to be unlimited in this realm, not hindered by attention spans or understanding capacity, just streaming into the awareness at incredible speed.

Many of the NDE’s talk about a life review, where they saw, like on a movie screen, but in full color 3-D, every aspect and incident of their physical life, but at the same time they felt the effects that their life had on those they interacted with, they could feel their feelings, their hurt and pain, they saw the consequences of their doings. And in all cases I read about, it was them who did the judging, there was no external instance telling them what was right or wrong, they knew it and often their guides, the Beings of Light, would try to soothe their harsh judgements.

In one report (Rev. Howard Storm) the life review is described in the following way: “My life was shown in a way that I had never thought of before. All of the things that I had worked to achieve, the recognition that I had worked for, in elementary school, in high school, in college, and in my career, they meant nothing in this setting.”

Something similar is said by many others, that their life review was not about what they had achieved in their life, but about how they had impacted the life of others, how much love they gave, how they uplifted those in need of upliftment and how much they contributed to the lives of others.

Many people who have encountered a NDE come back from it with a severely changed worldview, with a dramatically changed perception of what life is all about and their place in it.

Jody A. Long, J.D. did a retrospective review of 319 NDE responses to a questionnaire about their NDE’s and the life review, and with regard to the question if the NDE has changed the attitudes or beliefs of the affected individuals, she writes:

“When asked, "Did you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience?," 255 (80.19%) of NDErs responded. There were 241 NDErs (75.79%) who answered "yes," 33 (10.38%) "no," 12 (3.78%) "uncertain," and 32 (10.06%) "no response."”

Many of the people I read reports from, changed their life completely, often they would give up the profession they had pursued so far and instead start to spread the word about their experiences and the insights that they have gained during their visits of the “other side”.

So far, what I read has left me inspired and uplifted, with an absolute knowledge that there really is no death, that it is just a change of perspective and focus and that our true purpose is not limited to this small earthly existence.

We have no need to call for revenge, since everyone will come to the point where he/she will be in the same situation we are in at the moment of hurt, he/she will see the fatal flaw of a unloving act, there is no injustice anywhere, no debt remains unpaid.

The true purpose of life really seems to be love and joy, not only the love and joy that we experience, but also the love and joy we cause in others. No matter how much money we amass, no matter how huge the treasures are that we acquire here, in the end, we will look back on our life and wish we’d had loved more, smiled more and uplifted more.

So, I think we should start today. Random acts of kindness, a smile for people passing by, a helping hand when we see that someone’s struggling to carry a load, a genuine expression of gratitude for things others do for us, every little piece of it might add to our life’s success more than we can evaluate from our human perspective.

Our feelings show us this way, it just feels GOOD to help others, to appreciate them, to uplift them, so every gift we make is always also a gift for ourselves.

Years ago, I heard an interview with the wife of a CEO of a huge Fortune 500 Company, who was praised for her selfless engagement for young women in India, who are infected with AIDS and rejected by their families. This woman had left the luxury and comfort of her high prestige life, in order to go to the slums and work there for and with these women.

At the end of the interview, she said that what she did, happened entirely out of selfishness, since this work with the poorest gave her so much joy, satisfaction and fulfilment that nothing in her former life could come up to it. She was sorry that she had to leave her family so often, but she knew that what she did was what she was supposed to do.

It’s not the money and the luxury that make our life a success.

It’s the love we give and the joy we share.

© Dorothee Geray 2010