The Near-Death Experience
What We Can Learn About Life After Death

By Sharon Smith Kane

Among all the possible topics of human conversation, there are some that we have been culturally indoctrinated to avoid, presumably because they would too easily incur animosity.  One is politics, another is religion, and a third is death.  The last is taboo because it is, like the others, an emotionally charged subject. Death is most often assumed to be the total end to our consciousness, to our very existence. The churches teach us that it is the day of judgment; the time when we'll be held accountable for our sins, and perhaps be sent to hell. Because it is so avidly avoided as a topic of conversation, we fear to even consider it, speak of it or contemplate it. It is the silent fear haunting all our lives, the greatest of all fears, thought to be the most painful tragedy to befall anyone. Death. Some even consider it to be a punishment from God. 

Some of us will seek death as an end to the pain and suffering of life, while others will risk and even give their life for a cause they believe in.  But most of us will live our lives day by day, trying our best to preserve what we have of life and avoid death. It is an uneasy truce because the fear is always lurking in the back of our minds; a fear for ourselves, a fear for our loved ones, against "The Grim Reaper." 

However, if our curiosity can for a moment overcome our fear, we can listen to the stories of those who have actually died --- and then returned --- to describe their experience.  There is nothing more believable than a first-hand account. 

I did just this and began reading the reports of near-death experiences by thousands of people from all over the world which have been carefully documented by Jeffrey P. Long MD and Jody A. Long JD  of the Near Death Experience Research Foundation. 

I was most interested in the spiritual aspects of the experiences rather than the details of the causes of death or the recovery process. It was the other worldly reality that captured my attention, the spiritual entities encountered and the wisdom and advice they imparted that I wanted most to know.  Perhaps they could tell us how best to live. 

Don't Be Afraid To Die  

We're all going to get there at some point, so wouldn't it be good to know what to expect?  Yes, you can know, or at least have a good idea, because there are those who have died a clinical death and have come back to describe the experience. 

One of the first astonishing revelations they share is that it's actually not at all painful to die.  The trauma that precedes death may indeed be painful, but actual death is a quick transition --- Zip!  You're there. 

Most people report first seeing themselves floating above their body, viewing the scene of their death from above.  Surprisingly, they find themselves fully conscious, aware of everything going on. They can see, hear and think with full mental faculties. Strangely, however, their emotional reaction is one of detachment. They have no concern for the body left behind and no longer even identify with it.  Their sense of self is now with the spiritual body, the conscious awareness which is their essence apart from a physical body. 

A whole new experience now unfolds. As they turn their attention away from the scene of their death, they become aware of another dimension.  They move as if floating and find themselves rising through what appears to be a tunnel or funnel-shaped passageway, either velvety black or lit with colored lights. Next, a white light becomes visible, sometimes at a distance, and this light seems to draw them to it. 

They describe this White Light as having a brilliance beyond anything seen on Earth, yet with a quality that does not hurt their eyes to observe.

Indeed it becomes a Being Of Light that they may interpret to be a religious figure or a God-like Being that enfolds them in unconditional love. 

Let's look now at people's reports as they describe the experience in their own words: 

Spiritual Aspects of Near-Death Experiences 

2409   The feeling of lightness was truly incredible.  It was such a relief to be outside my body.....A place of pure love, glowing, ethereal beauty.  Things were vividly alive with energy. There is no religion there-- no separation based on religion.  I was to go back --- to help others understand and reclaim their spiritual selves.  "It's not your time. You have things to do. You have to go back."  

2401   I was encased in a warm glow, an ambiance that was so peaceful, with a wonderful feeling of bliss and euphoria --- connected to a whole, I was home again.  It was magnificent and beautiful. I felt serene, peaceful and detached.   

2386  Amy:    God was "the mind", or "the order" in all things.  The Supreme Highest Vibration and Frequency, an essence --- around and in everything --- all that is beautiful and peaceful and One, and all that is good. 

2380  Deb:   I was enveloped in love, complete and unconditional love and compassion, as if I was the most precious of children.  A very powerful but totally loving Being. 

2377  Eric:  There was no judgement.  Heaven --- was simply existing within a love beyond mortal understanding.                                                            

2332  Guy:   I had a feeling of calm and warmth and pure peace. It was the most beautiful experience, I was so at peace, it was like I was enveloped in pure love. 

2331  Shari:   The emotional feeling was one of complete freedom, contentment, happiness. 

2330   MHT:   Suddenly I felt a serene tranquility, everything is peaceful and calm. I have a feeling of intense happiness. 

2326   Gail:   I felt as if I could stay there forever and need nothing--- that I could just be, and need nothing else.  Such calm.  Such peacefulness. I wanted to stay. 

2320   Ron:   I experienced a grand soothing luminous energy --- a love-light shining. 

2319   Steven:   What I felt was "the peace that surpasses all human understanding." 

2318   Dave:   I felt wonderful, so light and free of everything physical.   

2310   Sara:   I felt peace, tranquility, happiness, joy --- I felt safe, sure, in unity with everything, a part of something immense. 

2309   Alberta:   It was so calming and filled with love.  It was a thousand times better than the love you experience on earth. 

2308   Experiencing incredible peace, the absolute absence of any kind of fear. 

2304   The feeling of love and peace was enormous..... Feeling the overwhelming love flood over me. 

2302   Crystal:   I had this overwhelming understanding that EVERYTHING was exactly as it was supposed to be --- everything that was or is ---- was just perfect. 

2260   Helen:   Our purpose in life is to love. 

2261   Norbeto:   The overall feeling was of being part of a Great Whole, where what existed was the Universe without stars, but where everything was light, joy, and love. 

2239   Alex (boy of 11):   I just kept floating up towards a blinding white light.  The feeling was so amazing.  Like I did not have a care in the world.  I felt like I was made out of energy and air. 

2206   Kathy:   As I approached the light I felt myself unfold like a flower, although I had no body.  The love I felt was like nothing I have ever experienced before.  I was enveloped by this light and felt one with everything, all seeing, all knowing.  "God is love" -- the love was like an energy that connected every molecule in the universe. 

2196   Jacque:   I feel an intense well-being, a sense of wonder in an immaterial world, exalting and serene, that seems to function according to superior values, entirely unknown in the Earth world.  I can melt into it, I already belong. 

2194   Gayle:   Surrounding me was the presence of warm radiant light; it was holding me, comforting me, loving me, enclosing me in perfect rapture, an area of pure soothing brilliant golden white light. I was totally at peace. 

2159   Mark:   One with the music.  There was more ecstasy with the music than any one single human could tolerate. I felt more "awake" than I had ever felt, as if this earthly life was but a dream and true consciousness happens after death. 

2158   Robert:   "Every act of kindness matters."   

2100   Bobby:   I was free of the body --- free of the daily stress of a physical existence.  I no longer felt fear or loneliness, or emotional pain.  There are no human words available to describe this.  It was a total emersion in God's love, in his light, in the presence of Christ himself --- immersed in the Holy Spirit.  It was the most beautiful thing that I have ever experienced in my life.  It was not physical.  It was 100% spiritual.  As this was going on I had no sadness or did I miss anyone or anything I was leaving behind.  It was as if I was also immersed in total understanding and knowledge of all things ---- there was no concept of time or space --- only pure love and infinite wisdom, untold forgiveness and acceptance. 

2081   Debbie:   I thought at the Light, "Oh no, not yet, I'm not ready yet!"  At the same time I felt as though I knew everything I had ever wanted to know and more at that young age (5).  I knew that whatever happened in this life, it was all okay.  It was all just experiences, good or bad.  The feeling of complete unconditional love was so very strong.  I knew I belonged with it and I would be back with it, so I chose to go back to my body. 

2076   Dan:   I began reliving my life --- and experiencing every action as everyone affected by my actions --- I affect John, John affects Ray, Ray affects Sam--- etc. Every thought, every action, every word are connected, like a vast web of stars that existed in many dimensions. 

2068   Sandra:   I was very calm and began to move very slowly upwards and it was more and more beautiful into an infinity of light and peace, happiness.  I knew I was going to heaven or somewhere very beautiful.  I did not want to come back at this point as it was the most happy I had ever been in my life.  I felt so loved. 

2759   Gina:   Life is a school, nothing more.                                                            

2064   Lynne:   When you are out of your body you are pure love and only make decisions with the purest intentions.   You are totally unselfish.  

2029   Robert:   As I felt the light engulf me I could feel all the problems, anger, fear and any other negative emotion just lift out of my body.  I instantly knew the light was pure goodness and love, like nothing I had ever felt before or since.  It was such a feeling of peace and love.  

2010   Shirley:   The feeling of happiness and complete understanding of everything of Earth was known in a flash.  I was home, really home, nothing of Earth was present, just me and information entering my mind.  A great feeling of "I made it home at last." 

1986   Bart:   There was an overwhelming feeling of joy and peace.  Time didn't exist.  

1983   Scott:   All of a sudden all of the pain and agony ended.  My spiritual body felt no pain, but only relief and peace.  I felt free and liberated. 

1982   Elisa:   I drifted in the light with God ---- He reminded me of my home and the reality that really exists and the beauty behind all of it is so indescribable and amazing --- Heaven truly is my home --- this Earth is very temporary and time is simply an illusion to further understand being human. 

1948   Geralyn:   During this, I began rising, and all at once it seemed as though I knew everything there was to know.  It seemed as if all the mysteries of the world were being revealed.  I understood science, math, life!  

1936   Bobbie:   The greatest emphasis of this experience is LOVE.  You are so totally engulfed with a love that does not exist in our physical world. No matter how deep a love you feel for your children, it does not compare with this love.  This love is the purist, truest, deepest, totally unconditional love that you could EVER imagine.  It knocks your socks off. When you receive this love, it is not comprehended with your mind.  It is FELT by your soul.  And that immense feeling of this perfect love shoots straight into your heart, as a feeling that you experience. It can bring your soul to its knees. It is totally overwhelming in the best way imaginable.  

1913   Paul:   Time really didn't exist there --- there was no sound ---  I remember I could see --- I could look in all directions.  I was missing my earthly body.  I remembered nothing of my earthly self, or even that I had ever existed before now. 

1892   Jody:   I remember seeing this bright beautiful light --- there is nothing on Earth I can compare it to... It was the most welcoming and beautiful feeling I ever had.  I felt so incredibly free and I was intensely happy and felt no need of anything.  There was no sense of time.  I just knew I never wanted to leave this sense of peace and wellbeing.  One thing is for sure, I was NOT dead!  I was more alive than I had ever been before. 

1890   Thomas:   I knew that this presence was all powerful and knew everything and that everything would always be alright no matter what happened ever....  I asked, "Why is there so much pain down there (on Earth)?"  The answer was laughter ---  "Don't you know I have the power to take away all the pain?  The pain is left behind on Earth.  It does not travel with us but the lessons we learn from it are eternal." 

1873   Christopher:   I felt complete peace, no worries about anything, and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. 

1862   Adaline:   I was in this beautiful glowing place.  I wanted to stay. This Other Side was unexplainable in words.  Too peaceful, too overwhelming, I was overpowered with so much love.  I felt enamored, whole and complete, nothing to do with this world.  It was my best experience in my whole life. The moment I step in the Other Side I felt the immense love all around me, also I knew I belonged there. 

1861   Catherine:   I heard God's voice ---- His voice was an ACTING energy power --- My consciousness was clear, kind of acute, this is a hyperconsciousness, ultra clear --- understanding and perceiving the TRUTH. This consciousness ENCOMPASSES ALL, just all.  This is INSTANT consciousness. Communication is by telepathy --- God placing TRUTHS in our mind --- in our spirit.  

1860   Cora:   I saw a glowing point light up, growing bigger.  It came through the closed window into my room and embraced me completely.  Then all went quiet inside me and all I felt was a warm love, peace and happiness. For a long time I have longed for that feeling of love. 

1845   Vickey:   I felt perfectly normal.  I was floating above my own body and the sensation was euphoric, it was a feeling of perfection in the highest form.  I was completely weightless, and hovering over my body in complete bliss.  At the same time it was as though all questions of the universe had been answered in that one moment. 

1839   John:   I just felt, from that wonderful face, that I was both welcome and expected; exactly as if I had seen that face before, and much more --- As if everything was so well-known, so familiar and so self-evident.  Nearly as if I had been away in a long, long journey in a foreign country, and after a time I finally had come back again!  Home, where everything was so well-known and safe.  I felt the exuberant joy of returning home, of being able to come back. 

1828   Chen:   He was bright, warm and gentle.  He could answer every question.  He surrounded me and guided me.  He revealed everything of the universe.  I felt complete relief from pain and suffering.  I felt the existence of everlasting harmony and happiness.  He said, "Everything is moving, there is no death, there is no birth, everything is just cycling eternally --- this is the truth of the universe."  

1817   Linda:   My Savior ----  I shall never forget his eyes.  They were dark and so full of love.  I know he knew everything about me --- every thought, every act I had ever done, everything, totally everything about me. I felt no fear at all.  Just the strongest love I have ever felt from anyone anywhere in my entire existence.  That love was real and sort of wrapped me up and cuddled me. 

1806   Suzy:   A formless presence from inside the light told me that I needed to live.  They expressed that I had an important purpose to fulfill for the Earth that was vital to the Divine plan for our world.  They instructed me on how to bring myself back --- I was to pull the light into myself and use its power to re-manifest and strengthen my physical being. 

1797   Carl:  I was standing before Christ.  He showed me my whole life, the good and the bad and all the rest.  He said, "That is all right, life is a learning experience."  To tell all:  "You must learn to love all that is around you." 

1785   Nancy:   I was told that God would be available to me back on Earth if I asked.  "I am there too, it is you who closed the door between us." 

1757   Carry:   The being of light said, "Carry, I love you just the way you are."  I felt like the most loved human being of all time, the most favorite of all human beings in the universe ---  yet I knew at the same time this being loved everyone equally and just as infinitely as I felt right then. The being delighted in me and was completely focused on me, I was the center of its attention and yet somehow I knew everyone was at the center of its attention.  It saw me as I was, faults and all, and at all the moments of my life.  It was so liberating to be known so perfectly, to be so wonderfully accepted, yet at the same time, not judged or condemned in the slightest way. 

2433   Cara:   Death came as a surprise.  Outside the physical world entirely, outside of time and space.  Enveloped in the Light.  I felt unconditional love, peace and joy to an extent beyond anything that can be experienced here.  I was one with the Light.  I was whole.  I was home. 

No bad or evil exists there.  There is no pain, no hunger, no thirst, no suffering, no struggle, no baggage, no illness.   We were all one with each other and with the Light in perfect holy communion with the Light. 

1547   Teri:  There is life after this body dies, and it goes on forever as there is no time.   All life on Earth is connected mentally.  We are in a cocoon-like state here in these bodies, and when the body dies, the cocoon opens and we are free.  We become our beautiful butterfly selves as we were intended.  There is a plan, it is all extremely organized, like a very complex mathematical equation.  I knew everything but I can't remember anything else. 

All of these excerpts were taken from personal accounts of near-death experiences found at www.nderf.org/site_index.htm of the NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE RESEARCH FOUNDATION, Jeffrey P. Long MD and Jody A. Long JD. 

And here are some more extensive accounts, taken from the same archives: 

Near Death Experiences - Meaningful Excerpts:  

Christopher J NDE. (A young boy) 7/28/08  A guy's voice asked me if I'm okay, and I slowly lowered my arms and looked up. I was standing in the middle of a meadow, rolling hills and beautiful flowers dotted the area. I could see cottages in the distance. A song more beautiful than any I have ever heard was playing in the background, with no visible source. The very air emanated love and warmth, a love that goes deep into the soul and can withstand anything. The guy called me by name and I turned around. The man was barely out of his twenties, blond, longish hair, blue eyes, dressed in the whitest clothing I have ever seen. (Later, I learned that angels were clothed in light, which explains his clothes.) He towered over me; I only rose to his navel area. He told me that I wasn't supposed to be here, looking down on me with love and concern. I asked him why, and he said I had a LONG time to go before I could enter heaven to stay. I wondered how long silently, and he answered me as if he heard what I was thinking.  "You are supposed to be 83 years old before you get here."  I heard someone say that I had arrived at a parallel universe at a HIGHER LEVEL OF CONSCIOUSNESS where it was possible to see other people living normally upon the earth.  That was a great revelation.  The secret to the universe was being presented to me.  The secret is: there is another world where things really are real, where truth, goodness and harmony exist.  Life is not limited to the earth experience.  Earth life is only a small part of the whole.  Those who earn the right are shown eternal life.  That was the essence.   

Cara:     Yes, I had a sense of all knowing...a knowledge of the past, present and future...the big picture...universal order and purpose.  I know that everything is very well choreographed. Nothing is by chance.  There are no coincidences. Although everything is well planned, we have a choice as to how we use the information. Everyone whose path we cross, for example, crosses our path for a reason. We have the choice to disregard the individual and the experience, and we have the choice to be open to the possibilities offered with the interaction. We have the choice to live every moment being aware and totally in the moment, or we can choose not to be totally in the moment, which a lot of folks do in our society. 

1744    Kristy C NDE.    I remember being pulled backwards and when I turned I was in an earthy tunnel and a door was before me that opened into a spectacular light. The light was brilliant, but it did not hurt! As I passed into it, it glowed with warmth, love, knowledge, & understanding. Not just my own knowledge but knowledge of everything complete understanding, collective but separate. Everything made sense. Everything was more vivid the colors were brighter & deeper, everything was tranquil and at peace the moment I crossed into the light. I was now standing in a lush rolling meadow, covered with blooms & trees. I felt a presence strong and even more wonderful; I knew my family was with me. The presence had a deep resonating voice that touched the core of your soul. I don't remember what the voice told me, but the peace & calm seemed to magnify. I remember sitting in the meadow, I was cradling something in my arms, asking to cross a small free flowing stream, and not being allowed, I asked to stay. I did not want to go back.

I came to understand that we all choose to come to earth to fulfill a plan of some sort or even learn about a particular interest. We choose our bodies and parents and life plan. May I also add that some people come here for the most simplest of reasons to learn how to play tennis for example or simply for the cake and food, as silly as this sounds our life plans aren't so high and lofty as one might think. I DIDN'T MEET ANY SAVE THE WORLDERS OR ANYONE WISHING TO BE A PRESIDENT. MOST HAD SIMPLE WISHES. I was also told we could exist on different planes for another lives but our life here on earth is a life purely to experience physical pleasure or pain but to have a physical experience because all other planes we don't need a body as a vessel. I also learnt that this life here is just a drop of water in the bucket of lives in which we all experience, many here on Earth & many in other realms of existence. All to progress and grow in some way. The main purpose here is to LOVE. I was also told that this would be my last life here on Earth as there will be nothing left for me to learn by coming here again. I had the feeling though that I'd be off to some other magical place! 

3737  Shirley R NDE.   Standing at the light, that is not really a light like we know on earth, I felt I finally was home after a long long journey. Every question I ever wanted to know about the universe and life was answered at that moment and not a word was spoken, but I could feel the information enter my soul. There were silhouettes of women and men and children floating up at an angle through a fog like light. All were looking up at an angle and I was watching them and waiting for what seemed like my turn, I was filled with happiness and safety and love, everything we the people look for and seek out here on earth. I still cry to go home into the light, I do not want to be here on earth anymore, but know that I have no choice not even suicide.  

 1734   Cathleen:   I knew that He had the answers to all questions so I began to ask Him things I had wondered about the most. Why is there evil? His reply, because there is good. I asked how anyone, being what they are, be permitted to exist in this home of God. He made me understand that He knew everything about me, that I was who I was because He Himself had designed me to be exactly, precisely who I was and that whatever I was I was still His creation, His child and He loved me so very much. 

1523   Jean:   I began having ... with total awareness .... a life review.  It was as if living the actual life of other people and feeling the consequences of my actions on them.  Everything I had done in my life had consequences, and these were felt and lived by me, causing me to feel profound sadness, repentance and pain which I will never forget.  It was a fearful and unpleasant experience.  I also realize for the first how beautiful and fragile Earth really is. I could sense the earth breathing like it was alive. I could see a light around everything that was alive, trees, flowers, grass, animals, volcanoes and humans.  I sense that humans was in control over other living things, I have the word (aura) stamped in mind ever since. Don't no why but the angel told me not tell anyone and that time will reveled itself. 

Curtis K NDE.   As I was losing hold on my life, I felt sorry for myself as I began to let go. I felt was dying poorly. A kind of darkness, came over me and I experienced a grayish dark void of infinite nothingness. I had no fear at this point. I had no concept of time or relationships to time or of moments passing. It was a very unusual feeling to say the least, not what we normally experience in the everyday reality of our lives. I felt myself becoming more and more aware, self-aware. I had feelings of expanding awareness, becoming everything known experiencing everything yet to be known. As this was happening, everything I had been taught, everything I believed in, everything I ever learned or thought throughout the course of my lifetime, fell away from me as if they never held meaning in the first place. This felt ok to me, I had no fear. 

 Alan M NDE.  There is a beautiful balance to existence, while the dark void is awful, the domain of the light is so peaceful, loving, glorious even blissful that I can not really find adequate words in the English language to describe it. Therefore we all have varying degrees of light in us that will allow us into the glorious light of almighty.  We meet an essence of God in the light end of the tunnel, at the end of our earthly life. God can work with the light in us, make us pure and allow us to progress up the various levels of heaven into his eternal blissful presence of everlasting peace and joy! It is a progress of eternal learning. Then we become one with God, but retain our unique. Self awareness or our unique personalities are retained forever. 

1511   Murray:    Then I was inside the light ..... I had the feeling of an intense love and acceptance and that everything would be alright.  Next I heard a very deep, majestic male voice ask, "What have you done with your life?"  I saw my life as a panorama, while being able to see it in its entirety simultaneously.  I didn't feel too good with what I saw.  The voice, once again asked, "What have you done with your life?"  This time it sounded more stern and angry.  All I could say was, "Nothing." 

Sharon B's message from God:     I remember seeing beautiful pink and golden clouds with crystal blue sky beneath them.  It was like the rays of the sun were coming out from them and I was wrapped within them.  I felt so safe and so secure and such incredible peace like I have never felt before.  Below me there was a beautiful garden with flowers of every color and a stream running through it.  I heard gorgeous music that was so soothing. It was like being rocked and cared for like I was a little child again.  God was with me, I felt Him so deeply ... He was holding me in his arms.  I felt this very clearly and His love was within every fiber of my being and every cell of my body.  He was in front of me, in back of me, beside me, all around me.  All I felt was His total acceptance of me with absolutely no judgement at all.  He is all love, completely love, and he showered that love totally on me and through me.  I felt so complete and whole for the first time in my entire existence.  I had a life review which just seemed to happen all on its own.  This lasted but a blink of an eye and the lesson in the reviewing process is that we judge ourselves, God does not judge us. 

The messages were very clear...What you put into this universe, you will get back. Be very careful what words, thoughts and actions you put out into the universe because they  most definitely will come back to you in some form at some point in your life. This He told me to bring back and share. 

Common Elements and Wisdom Gathered 

Most people, upon encountering death, have an initial sensation of entering a tunnel or funnel which can be totally black, or have shades of grey, or be colored with multicolor lights. They become aware of a light in the distance which draws them to it. As they approach it, it becomes larger and more luminous, a brilliant white or golden white light, more incredible than anything seen on Earth, and ultimately it encompasses them entirely and engulfs them in love. This light is  interpreted as a spiritual being, god-like or Christ-like, and with the meeting comes an overwhelming experience of peace, comfort, freedom, joy, bliss and unconditional love. 

In short order, the next experience is "The Life Review", in which we see in quick succession, scenes as on a movie or TV screen, every event of our entire life. We see how we behaved or reacted to every experience, and how our behavior affected those around us. We not only observe it, we experience it.  Not only from our own perspective, but from the perspective of the other people around us. This is where we sit in judgment on our own behavior. 

In being born into a material world we give up our consciousness of where we came from and only fully recover it when we depart.  Meanwhile our own spirit and conscience guide us through life with the help of the spirit of those around us: our parents, families, teachers, friends and even enemies.

Although we may be completely unaware of it, in addition to the earthly helpers we have those in the spirit world assisting when asked:  guides, guardian angels, deceased friends and relatives, standing by, watching over us.  Even so, our own free will holds precedence.

Our purpose: we come into this world to gather EXPERIENCE, which makes us each UNIQUE.  Life is about having experience, good, bad or whatever.  Life is a school, a matter of learning lessons. The more we learn, the easier it becomes.  We are learning lessons as individuals and also as part of a group.  The group can be racial or national or religious or cultural or anything relating to the era in which we live. 

Our life is a gift and we must value it as such.  Suicide is not an option. 

We agree, before being born, to perform certain deeds in the forthcoming life. It's a contract that we are bound to honor. If we fail to do so, we come back again in another life to try again. 

We are meant to contribute love to the world in one way or another. We may be asked, "What have you done to help your fellow man?" A voice may be masculine or feminine, resounding or gentle, heard in our head or heard just intuitively, but the message is clear. 

Each one of us is loved deeply and unconditionally by a totally loving God.

GOD IS LOVE becomes profoundly understood in the depths of our being. 

We are eternal. As a part of God we are forever. Love is eternal. We can never lose someone we love. We may be separated for a time but will always reunite eventually. Sometimes the separation is part of the lessons we have chosen for a lifetime, a need to strengthen ourselves through learning independence. 

The reason for evil in the world is that otherwise we would not know good.

We are in a world of opposites because it serves as a learning tool.  We know one thing because we have experienced its opposite, or its absence.  We have chosen to enter a material world and learn lessons because ultimately it strengthens and enriches and develops our soul. 

Every person, animal, bird, beast and plant is a part of God.  We are all one and what each one does affects the whole. 

Every thought, word, deed, action or inaction of ours has an effect on others.  We must be careful that all our words and actions have a positive and loving intent. "Do no harm." 

Never miss an opportunity to help someone along the way, and take no thought of reward. 

There is no judgment in heaven. There is no punishment, no reward.  We judge ourselves. In the life review we must feel the effects of our actions on all others we have  encountered.  Their feelings become our own. 

Our life has meaning and purpose.  Our death comes when we have fulfilled a purpose or commitment, a task, a goal. It may be as simple as raising a child, perfecting a relationship with someone, overcoming a handicap. Or again it may be a life that affects huge numbers of people, or animals, or the Earth itself. 

If we meet an untimely death, or come close to death before our time, we can only proceed so far on the other side before we meet a barrier: a gate, a wall, a bridge, a stream to be crossed. Perhaps a  spiritual entity or deceased relative will lovingly block our way and tell us:  "It's not your time." "You must go back."  "You have more to do." "There are people who need you." or ""You haven't done what you were intended to do with your life." Or it may be our own conscience that calls us back. We have children or family members who would suffer if we died. 

Sometimes we are given a choice: to pass over or to return: "If you come any closer you will not be able to return."  "It's your choice." 

In most cases the choice is difficult because once entering the next world we are immediately swept up into the most exquisite peace, bliss, comfort and love we have ever known.  All physical and emotional pain are left behind, all worries, cares and fears vanish completely. We are safe, secure and joyfully happy. We are in a world of wondrous beauty, free to go where ever we like.  Other spiritual beings greet us warmly, welcoming us like long lost friends and beloved family.  Our consciousness expands to include all knowledge and understanding.  All questions are answered. We are held in total acceptance by the most incredible loving presence we could ever imagine.  It is perfection beyond our loftiest dreams.  All this must be given up to return to a physical body. 

Is it any wonder that those who do return declare that they no longer have any fear of death.  In fact they are assured that there is no death, and that we will only be truly alive when we enter the next world.  It is, as many state, "like coming home." 

So, in conclusion, if we think this life is all there is, we're sadly (or happily) mistaken. This life isn't even our real life. It's a a little dream, a fantasy, a made-up story, a side-trip taken to enrich our soul. After this we return to our real life. Of course we have to believe that this life is all there is for us to take it seriously. Otherwise it wouldn't work to change us, to add to the evolvement of our soul. We couldn't be allowed to see that this life is only a game, while our real life, the one we never could believe existed while we were encased in a physical body and immersed in a material world, was awaiting our return.  That life would seem too good to be true to the "realistic" human mind and the "down-to-earth" human psyche.  Strange that everything we take to be solid and real is actually artifice, and the things that we think are pure fantasy and imagination and wishful dreaming are closer to the reality.  "Too good to be true" is, after all, true. In the next world that is, not in this one.