Dannion Brinkley: The Secrets of the Light
Interview with Dannion Brinkley: The Secrets of the Light
by Shelly Wilson
Dannion Brinkley is a New York Times bestselling author, along with being a most popular lecturer, worldwide, in the fields of spirituality, prophecy, and self-development. He is also a highly respected, sought after expert in Complementary and Alternative Medicine, as well as hospice in conjunction with palliative and end-of-life care. With co-author, Paul Perry, Dannion Brinkley wrote the international spiritual classics Saved by the Light and At Peace in the Light. No stranger to pain, Dannion’s deep understanding of, and compassion for, those who are suffering or in transition, is anchored in his own personal experiences of enduring unimaginable pain and multiple near-death experiences. After being struck by lightning in 1975, Dannion Brinkley was clinically dead for 28 minutes and had one of the most complete Near Death Experiences (NDEs) ever recorded.
His near death experiences were the result of two lightning strikes, open-heart surgery, ruptured subdural hematomas, resulting in brain surgery and a massive grand mal seizure. Drawing from these experiences, Dannion Brinkley delivers his uniquely inspirational and insightful messages to diverse audiences worldwide on topics including Near-Death Experience Palliative and Hospice Care, and Complementary and Alternative Healing Practices.
Dannion Brinkley’s near death experiences, and subsequent Panoramic Life Reviews, ingrained in him a deep sense of service and compassion. That is why he has been a hospice volunteer for 34 years; has spent more than 30,000 hours at the bedside of dying veterans; and has been with 375 people as they drew their final breath. In 1997, Dannion Brinkley co-founded The Twilight Brigade, Compassion in Action, in Los Angeles, California, with a small but dedicated team of experienced hospice volunteers and trainers. Through the years, nearly 6,000 people have taken Dannion Brinkley’s volunteer training.
His ultimate vision is to expand the Twilight Brigade Chapters so they are active in every VA VISN, with trained volunteers serving in every VA hospice unit in the country. In this way, the dying, their loved ones and VA providers will have greater access to the Twilight Brigade services. And at the end of life, not a single veteran will be alone.
OMTimes has the pleasure to share an exclusive interview with Dannion Brinkley by Shelly Wilson
I had the recent pleasure of sharing a conversation with one of my favorite people, Dannion Brinkley. Having first met him in June 2010 at the Ozark Mountain Publishing Transformation Conference in Rogers, Arkansas, I was enamored and listened intently to every word he spoke that evening. I remembered watching the 1995 television movie, Saved by the Light. This movie was based on Dannion Brinkley’s book of the same name and detailed his near-death experience when he was struck by lightning in 1975 and declared dead for 28 minutes. The term, near-death experience or NDE, refers to the experience of when a spirit leaves a person’s body and travels towards the Light to cross over to the Other Side. Before doing so, the spirit returns to the physical body to resume living. (SEE Movie inspired By the Life of Dannion Brinkley at the end of this Article).
Dannion Brinkley has the ability to understand and help you achieve empowerment in these wondrous times. Dannion Brinkley is considered a “walking miracle,” having survived insurmountable odds, including two lightning strikes, open-heart surgery, brain surgery and a massive grand mal seizure. He is also the author of At Peace in the Light and The Secrets of the Light, and is presently writing his new book, Ten Things To Know Before You Go. Ultimately, Dannion Brinkley’s three near-death experiences have left him with an extraordinary sense of perception. With that being said, I’ve noticed that a conversation with Dannion Brinkley tends to provide a solution to a challenge without a question being asked. He opens the conversation by stating, “It’s about how people see themselves in this world. This [show] is about recapturing people’s confidence, power and belief in themselves in a world that seems to be going crazy, but it’s just in transition.”
Dannion Brinkley continues by reminding us, “We are creating our reality with our belief systems. One thing you learn once you’ve been dead is that everything that you think is real is not and what you feel about it manifests the reality of it.” Furthermore, “The only authentic part about us is that we are a great, mighty and powerful spiritual being with dignity, direction and purpose. Period. That’s who we are before we got here. That’s who we are while we are here. That’s who we will be again once we leave here.” Taking note of current situations in the world, Dannion Brinkley relays his thoughts by sharing a humorous depiction of having a conversation with God. He shares, “People see themselves in their identities and appreciate who they are and know they are part of a Divine universe. In this life, you get a chance to be everything you hope that God is. So anything that you can imagine that God is, this is that opportunity to be that. We [individuals] are not fear-based. We are spiritually-based. What happens in fear is that it creates a way that you will never be able to open your heart because you are always trying to protect or defend your own self. That’s manufactured. We have to perpetuate war and terror to keep people fear-based. The fact that you are here [incarnated at this time] means that you were chosen. The Divine believes that you are one of those beings that are capable of acting in a God-like nature and to be caring and protective.”
Dannion Brinkley communicates that his abilities were not something he asked for. He says, “I didn’t ask to become me. I wasn’t gifted at birth. I didn’t develop these skills. One day, I never believed any of this. I thought it was hogwash. The next day I was dead. The day after that I became everything I never believed, so I went from ‘there is no such thing as any of this’ to ‘how in the world does it work?’ I’m luckier in some ways than most people because I didn’t have to wonder if it was. I had to wonder how it worked. Think about this, I had a near-death experience when it didn’t have a name. Nobody had even heard about that stuff. I didn’t have a choice. I had to deal with it.”
On the topic of life after death of the physical body, Dannion Brinkley offers his perspective. He conveys, “We are all afraid of being some place for “eternity” where love is. We are all afraid of this so-called thing we call death, which is just that the body we quit using stops functioning, and our spiritual self moves into another dimension that we have denoted as Heaven.” Mentioning my own work as an Intuitive Medium, I verbalize that some people need substantial proof that I am indeed connecting to their loved one who has passed, which is understandable. Focusing on that specific topic and discussing people who may be skeptical of Afterlife communication, Dannion Brinkley acknowledges, “The Other Side is not a place far away to me; it’s not abstract to me because I’ve made that journey 20 times. Probably more than 20 times, but authentically 3 times I’ve gone there.
I have more “dead friends” than living friends. If they [the skeptics or people needing proof during a reading], are questioning you, you have to question them. What are they trying to prove to themselves? If they are searching you for authenticity about connection to a loved one or a reading that is benefiting them about where their life is, then rejection of the information is usually their inability to change once they receive it.
Once they have that information, they begin to try to disavow it because it’s forcing them to have to change the paradigm that they are living in.” Dannion Brinkley notes that he’s used to it [skepticism or disbelievers] because he’s been alive for 64 years.
For 37 years, he’s been a hospice volunteer with more than 32,000 hours at the bedside. He’s been with 2,009 people making their transition. He states, “When I listen to people, I have a deep heritage of information to draw from based on not what people do, but why they do it.” Our conversation then transitions into discussing the importance of expressing gratitude. He believes that opening up each day and closing it with gratitude changes the world. He chooses to begin each session by inviting his client to take a deep breath and exhaling, and then asking them, “Tell me what you are the most grateful for thus far today?” He says, “Once you count your blessings and look at everything no matter how good or how bad it is, when [you express] what you are thankful for, gratitude and forgiveness are the greatest powers that we possess.
[This is] the ability to be thankful and the ability to create the art of being grateful and the ability to forgive yourself more than anything else. Based on that, [it’s] creating a system that doesn’t allow you to make that same kind of mistake again. Gratitude guides you. Being thankful guides you. Being afraid only stagnates you and keeps you afraid and makes you dependent on other people to save you from something that you’ve allowed to be created.”
He expresses that he always leaves people with this, “At the end of each day, how many times have you created a way to say you are welcome? If you have 10 you-are-welcomes, then you’ve had a good day. The more times you can say thank you is power, but the more times you have created a reality that you can say ‘you are welcome,’ then you have begun to be who you truly are. It’s not what you do, but why you do it.”
By his own admittance, Dannion Brinkley’s journey into consciousness was not necessarily one he was prepared for. Consciously choosing to live his life fully, he assists others on their own journey into consciousness. Expressing my own gratitude for his life experiences and that he chose to write about them in his books, I recognize the significance of our paths crossing and appreciate the pivotal role he has played on my spiritual journey. As always, this conversation with Dannion Brinkley was an enlightening one.
To learn more about Dannion Brinkley, please visit his website at: http://www.dannion.com
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About the Author
Intuitive Medium, Reiki Master and Spiritual Teacher Shelly Wilson would love to assist you on your spiritual journey. With respect, truth, integrity and love, Shelly honors your free will and recognizes that you are co-creating your reality with the Universe. She offers private readings, intuitive coaching, Reiki sessions, and teaches workshops. Shelly’s books, 28 Days to a New YOU, Connect to the YOU Within and Journey into Consciousness, are available in paperback and eBook.
