Lots of friends have been sending me this link to Dr. Eben Alexander's book "Proof of Heaven." It's a wonderful story if you haven't read it - a neuro surgeon has a near death experience during which he experiences a number of things that don't fit easily into the science paradigm that consciousness ends when the brain stops. He was clinically dead - or just dead as it's easier to say - really, what's the point of saying "clinically dead?" - people argue that if you're not dead, then you're not dead - that he was somehow still alive even though by all reports he was dead.
Here's a link to the story "Heaven is Real": http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/10/07/proof-of-heaven-a-doctor-s-experience-with-the-afterlife.html
Here's a link to his book "Proof of Heaven": http://www.lifebeyonddeath.net/author
But in case you didn't catch the irony in Newsweek's title, there's a best selling book with a similar theme, albeit written by the father of a boy who had a nearly identical experience, it's called "Heaven is For Real" -
What's the diff?
Well basically one's a kid (Todd Burpo) who came back and said he saw Jesus. The other is a Harvard neurosurgeon who says he experienced God. Are we supposed to assume one account is more accurate than the other because one is told by a Doctor? Is it that the child who is younger has a less detailed story? I just want to point out the incongruity of this information - and I want to point out the neither is WRONG and neither is RIGHT.
Please. Let me explain.
The problem with this research into the Afterlife is that we have no words or dialog with which to discuss it. Mainly because in the history of the planet, people had these experiences all the time - they usually came back and told people about it - and the people either formed a religion based on their "vision" - there are quite a few that come to mind that began with the their religious founder having a "vision of God."
And then there's those who had a similar experience or vision and suffered for it - burned at the stake for example, or thrown into prison, or pronounced heretics.
Because we have the internet, we can all share these stories, but they remain the same problem each time they are reported. "Was there anyone else there who can report this same information? Did you have any eyewitnesses who saw you there? Can you please direct whoever your guardian angel is to return and show us exactly what it is you're talking about?"
We can't begin to have a dialog because the language just hasn't gotten to the point where we can discuss these things in a rational way. One one side we have Bill Maher who chastises Newsweek for claiming that "Heaven is Real" and on the other hand we have people who are complaining that Dr. Alexander didn't see the religious icon they expect to find in the Afterlife. How can this be? Why is this a problem?
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| ‘You have nothing to fear.’ ‘There is nothing you can do wrong.’ The message flooded me with a vast and crazy sensation of relief. (Photo illustration by Newsweek; Source: Buena Vista Images-Getty Images) |
It's fairly simple. We need to find a way to reproduce these events without dying. Without having a near death experience. If we could actually artificially induce a near death experience safely, wouldn't it make sense to do so and examine what was being said?
That's what I've been doing for the past five years and is the subject of "Flipside." I found the work of Dr. Michael Newton who had reported that he and the therapists he's trained have examined over 7000 cases of people describing the Afterlife in great detail, over 30 years. In the case of Dr. Newton, he didn't publish his work until he'd done a huge amount of research, and his first book came out in 1994 ("Journey of Souls") He has written three since then.
And what his clients describe is IDENTICAL to what Dr. Alexander describes. Not in the exact order, not even in the exact visual, but clearly, Dr. Alexander was traveling with some kind of a guide (referred to in Newton's work as a spirit guide or wise elder, in Dr. Alexander's case a young woman.) This is not a random event - the exact same event has been described thousands of times. And in the case of my own research, I decided that if Dr. Newton was accurate, then I could take anyone off the street so to speak, put them under the same series of questions and get the same results.
My point is also about the cult of university degrees that prevents us from examining research for what it is. It either is corroborated, or it is not. If Todd Burpo saw the same things that Eben Alexander saw, then we could have a consensus of opinion. But because we are caught up with the degrees that one person might have - when there are NO DEGREES OUT THERE FOR STUDYING THE AFTERLIFE. Science can't tell us what consciousness is - can't tell us how consciousness can exist outside the body - and in the cases of these thousands of reports, exists prior to our coming here, exists in a higher fashion while we are here, and exists after we die. Not a dang degree on the planet to account for that research. People either become a guru, a devotee, or a teacher - but what we need is COMMON EXPERIENCE. We need to examine identical reports from the Afterlife - so we can examine what has been reported, and what has not.
That's what I've been doing. And have continued to do and film since publishing "Flipside: A Tourist's Guide on How to Navigate the Afterlife." I've filmed a half dozen other between live sessions, and when I get to a number I think makes sense, I'll publish the next version of "Flipside."
So my point is; I appreciate Dr. Alexander reporting this information. But I'd like to let him and everyone else know - "You want to go back to the same location and see the same event again? You can do that - and all it requires is the help of a trained Newton therapist to do so." There's a list of therapists at the NewtonInstitute.org website, and I recommend doing a search and finding the best that's near you. Also talking to the therapist to make sure it's the right fit - you just never know what the experience is going to be like, but those who have trained with Newton at least understand the pathway that's required. It's not enough to have the experience on your own, and then write a book about it and somehow make it so they think they need to have a near death experience to learn the same information that you've learned. You must go further - and examine how everyone can experience this kind of information. It's really about sharing who we are at our essential core. And why wouldn't everyone do that, to at least learn from the common experience?
So, the good news is; we don't die. The second great news is; we all (eventually) return to this realm that can only be described in human language as a kind of heaven. There's equality among all souls, there's a sense of connectedness to the source that is reported as Godlike or blissful, our loved ones and departed friends are all there waiting to see us, and there's an unusual detail that two thirds of our spirit energy is always back there - always observing the one third that is here, inhabiting who we are, and watching what we do.
So don't be in such a hurry to get there. It's not going anywhere. You chose to be yourself for a reason. You chose this path for a reason. Examine it. See that those around you, even the ones who seem like stones in your path, are truly making your life better. And then examine how you can make their lives better, through a kindness, a laugh, a gesture, a gift.
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| Religion is replete with people having an apotheosis and either starting their own religion or being burned at the stake |
The other day I read about someone who in their 20's was sitting on a hillside with a yoga group and he heard someone whisper in his ear "God is love." He looked around and saw the nearest person was 10 yards away and couldn't have said it. He's been wondering about that sentence ever since. But as simple as it is, it's the key to our existence. God or the source, or whatever you want to call the vast consciousness of the Universe that permeates us and everything, can only be described as "love" because for lack of a better word, we just don't have the language to describe being connected to everyone and all things.
And I might add, as a meditation, try "Love is God" on for size. It's refers to what the essence of the Universe is, the essence of who we are, and is a more apt definition for God than any I've heard. It comes from a session I was filming where the subject asked "What, or who is God?" And her spirit guide said "God is beyond the capacity of the human brain to comprehend. It's just not physically possible. However you can experience God. The way to do that is to open your heart to everyone and to all things. In that way you can feel God."
What other way is there to describe what love is? Love is... God. And.. vice versa. (And no, I'm not referring to any God that I'm aware of that has been written about in any book - in any dogma - or in any religious text.) Except perhaps the ancient Jewish tradition of not even writing a word for God because it's too sacred and too beyond our comprehension to understand - Yahweh - But by claiming that you can't even pronounce it is to say that it's not allowed, when it's not that it's not allowed - it's just that it's beyond human language to comprehend. Not that we shouldn't say God - or that somehow there's an individual that is wrathful, a punisher, etc - that just does not exist in any of the research. But what does exist is the concept that God or the source, of the Gods or the sources - that the only word we have in the language to describe the essence of that feeling or experience is.. love.