Peeking Into The Afterlife

Ascent Of The Blessed
Photo Source: Public Domain

Just about everyone on the planet is curious about what happens to us after we die. We hear different things, depending on what a person's beliefs are. Those that do not believe in God say that once you are dead that is the end, others such as Christians say that when you die you will be judged on how you lived and treated accordingly. Some religions believe that we are reincarnated and can come back as any living creature. Personally I don't fancy being an ameba or monkey, I don't know how the rest of you feel? There have been times when people have reported seeing the deceased walking on the earth. Some have been called religious miracles, while others have been called hauntings. Some people try and summon the dead so that they can talk to them, others try for different reasons. We all seem to be interested in death, in one way or another.

When it comes to NDEs (Near-Death Experiences), the medical community usually stays away from the subject. A few researchers have started the field of Near-Death Studies and introduced this to the medical field. These were researchers such as Bruce Greyson, Michael Saborn and Kenneth Ring, along with a few others. There were pioneers that brought the subject up, such as Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, George Ritchie, and Raymond Moody and Moody wrote a book entitled, "Life After Life". An international organization was formed soon after the book was published in 1975. It is called the International Association for Near-Death Studies, also referred to as IANDS. The organization publishes the Journal of Near-Death Studies and the quarterly newsletter Vital Signs.

Paradiso Canto
Photo Source: Public Domain

There are those people that claim that they have what is known as Near Death Experiences. This is when you die for seconds, minutes, or even longer and while you are dead, you experience what many say is "The Light". Some people have said that they were drawn to the light, but at the last minute were sent back to earth. Other people have said that they met deceased relatives and friends that told them that it was not their time yet and that they had to return to earth. One story that I would like to repeat again is very interesting. A man died while in a hospital room. He heard voices outside his door and left his body and went outside only to find fierce flesh eating demons who pounced upon him and began ripping him up and eating him. He cried out "Jesus help me" and he said that a light came down and saved him and he woke in his hospital bed where he was told that he had been dead for a few minutes. This man became a man of the cloth and repented for all the wrong he had done.

The famous actor Larry Hagman, the man that played J.R. Ewing in the long running series Dallas, believes that he had a NDE. In the 1960s he had experimented with the drug LSD. A friend of his had been telling him he should take LSD. Some friend this was. Hagman took the drug in his home, with his friend at his side. He began to get visions of octopus-like creatures and feathery lions. During all of this he saw his grandmother who smiled at him. She had been long dead. Then he was sucked down a tunnel toward a light and met by someone who told him that he had seen enough for now and he had to return. Today Hagman believes that he had experienced a near death experience and didn't realize it at the time, because he just thought that he was under the influence of the LSD. Could he have died for a few minutes and been returned to his body? He thinks so. After that experience Hagman said, "Death was just another stage of our development and that we go on to different levels of existence."

A young woman had decided that life was not worth living. She took a drug overdose and waited to die. She did not die and the next day she decided to take even more positive action to ensure that her life would be ended. She took a hand gun, put it to her chest over her heart and pulled the trigger. For most of us this would have been the end of the story, but it wasn't for this lady. After she pulled the trigger, she found herself standing in front of a bright light. She was allowed to see what life after death was like. She then was returned to earth. She stated that this made a profound change in her life. She stated that her entire life was reviewed. She could feel the emotions of those around her who's lives she has touched. She could feel how much she hated her life of the last few years with bad marriages, miscarriages and suicide attempts. She said that the love that she felt from the light was overwhelming. She was given a choice to relive her life. or return at the point that she left. She said that she had an angel guide. She opted to return at the point where she left and died later in the year from complications from her last suicide attempt.

A woman said that she had been in labor for some time. The labor was very hard and was not going correctly. She was in terrible pain. She began to drift out of consciousness and was getting very scared. Suddenly there was panic in the hospital. Personnel were running all over the room and wheeling in all sorts of devices and then, she was not in the room anymore. She was moving through a portal and there was color all around her. She could see beautiful rolling hills and the sky was a beautiful blue. She could see shadowy figures and a group appeared in front of her. One of the group showed herself and it was the woman's deceased aunt. Finally her dad appeared before her. She had not treated him very well as a teenager and he had died right after she said that she hated him and she always regretted that. Now he stood before her. He talked to her and forgave her. Her dog was there also. At that point she could feel herself being drawn back, but she didn't want to go, but her father told her that she must and he would be there again for her when her time comes. She returned to the delivery room and had a healthy baby.

There are some people that believe that humans are not the only ones with souls and that animals also have them. One of their arguments is that evolution proves that man came from animals and they reason that this means that if man has a soul, than an animal has to have one also. As I also said, some religions believe that because of reincarnation, humans can come back as animals, thus having a soul. There have also been reports from people that say that they saw animals in their near death experience.

Near death experiences are something that many people have had. Some medical people try and explain them away by saying that they are just the last gasp of our brains trying to cope with dying. Others say that they are true experiences designed to show us that life does not end, but continues on in other realms. I prefer to think that the latter are correct and life does continue.