A New Worldview after a Near-Death Experience
A New Worldview after a Near-Death Experience
by David Bennett
All Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) are unique and personal to each experiencer. They are not like a dream. To many experiencers they are more real and powerful than this physical reality; some call it a hyper reality. By defining Near-Death Experiences, we limit them and I do not wish for that here. I will attempt to give you an idea of what they are and how they affect people.
Experiences can happen at any time, to anyone, under any circumstance. The way you know someone has experienced one of these moments is by the aftereffects. Experiences are seeds for permanent and dramatic life changes. Some of the early and most common changes are losing the fear of death and developing a richer more fulfilling spiritual life. That alone is transformative allowing a person to live life to the fullest.
I’ve had two Near-Death Experiences and they turned my life upside down and inside out. I believe the most transformative element from my experiences was being exposed to the most incredible and profound Love and peace. The Love supports you and lifts you up all the while it permeates into your Being. You can’t be exposed to this universal Love without it changing how you live life day to day. Experiencers become excited about the potential and wonder of each person and event. Many of us desire to be a conduit of universal love and live a life filled with wonder that unfolds as we move through life. This can sometimes create a challenge because many in our communities and family do not fully understand the sudden shift we have gone through.
There are many other elements to Near-Death Experiences that leave an experiencer speechless and unable to describe something that is not from our world of knowing. My first experience started in darkness and quickly moved toward an indescribable light that contained a consciousness of unity. That unity was so expansive it contained all the souls that ever were and all the souls that ever will be. How do you describe something so vast and interconnected to everything? Many experiencers feel there are no words to describe the Divine Light and often have difficulty finding someone they trust to tell about the event. When we do share sometimes we have to face negative reactions and disbelief, this can cause a sense of isolation that is the polar opposite of the love and support we felt in the light.
This paradox is very similar to Plato’s Republic, the “Allegory of the Cave,” where a prisoner who spends his entire life in a darkened cave is then released and experiences a world of light and color. He experiences a new reality beyond description and when he runs back and tries to tell his friends in the cave they cannot understand him. His words make no sense because they only know the cave. People who have not had an Near-Death Experience or spiritually transformative experience are still in the cave and cannot understand or imagine such a thing as Divine Light, so they choose to think it is something beyond knowing.
I met my soul family in that Divine Light and together we all relived my entire life and some of my future. Not only did we perceive it from my perspective but also from the perspectives of every being I ever interacted with. To say it was intense would be an understatement. With my supporting soul family, I faced the joy and love as well as the pain and sorrow of my earthly dealings. After returning to my physical existence, the life review haunted me and I wanted to change my way of living to being more understanding, less competitive and more charitable. Toward the end of my experience I was told I must return and that I had a Purpose. Being connected to the consciousness in the light, I understood the meaning to my purpose and accepted my return to life. Once in my body, I immediately started searching, trying to remember my purpose, but it was just past my mental grasping. This led me on a lifelong journey of searching to understand my purpose and this profound experience. I believe everyone is searching in some way for their purpose.
Many experiencers become veracious students looking for understanding. As I began to listen to my new found spirit communication, purpose began to show its elusive self and when following my intuitive guidance, inspiration would lay open my future path. It took some time to recognize it as purpose.
Many experiencers say that once they have their experience they are never the same. It creates a divide of life before the experience and life after. They begin to live with the Near-Death Experience every day, using it as a gauge to determine the best course to follow. That’s usually steers them toward attempting to live in a more conscious manner, aware of their actions and interactions. They still fall down just like we all do, yet, being conscious of our actions makes us more responsible for those actions. The way we treat each other becomes more important. Imagine if we all could be more conscious in our lives. Maybe we wouldn’t lash out against others when we ourselves are frustrated. Taking more responsibility would mean spreading less blame and judgments. Instead, we’d look to create cures for the injustices around us.
Integrating new spiritual values and messages causes three quarters of experiencers to feel an overwhelming need to be of service. This leads many to change careers and relationships. The Near-Death Experience show us how important it is to live in truth to who we really are! That means moving forward in a positive manner throughout life, whether professionally or personally. Experiencers tend to have a more heightened awareness of the present moment and the importance of being in each moment.
The first time you hear a firsthand account of someone’s transformative experience you find it compelling. They are irresistible and after listening you find yourself thinking about the experience for days or weeks. Even critics who argue what an experience is, have to respect the experience and how it transforms a person. These ideas are not easy to instill in our lives. Although witnessing the courage and faith of near-death experiencers imbues the world with inspiration to apply the principles experiencers live with every day. It is a type of benign virus that is highly infectious and could help remind the world to not be so distracted with desires and wants and instead focus on what is really important, Peace, Love and Compassion. If only the world were not stuck in the cave and could see beyond the walls and into the Light.
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About the Author
David Bennett is a public speaker, an author, and a teacher. His website, www.dharmatalks.com is a respected resource for those looking for information on near-death experiences (NDE). He has appeared on and consulted for numerous radio and television programs, including Oprah and Dr. Oz, as an Near-Death Experience resource. His new book, Voyage of Purpose, is now available at: findhornpress.com
Very well said David, We NDErs can only keep moving forward with what we
have learned, No we NDErs don’t have all the answers to – life, the universe,
and everything, but we do have the KNOWING of how much more is beyond
what is here. That knowing is something that cannot be taken away, and
by allowing that light we have experienced to shine now through us, I think we also know
that little by little people will be drawn to more wanting or knowing of
what that light we are all a part of has to offer. The increased world wide interest in the NDE effect shows us that.
For some like you say sit in silence for years trying so hard to understand, trying to live between two worlds of knowing, while some are thrust into the immediate desire to bring it all out, merge and grow with the newness of what has been shown. Such was my case and over the last five years each day now is a balance with this world while righting my soul for the next.
But beyond all I grew to learn that an NDE does not have to bring one close to death, I think the term now used for that is STE (Spiritualy Transformative Experience) for I have found that without a doubt each and every second of life talks to us, gives us such great treasures, treasures of such I never saw before I came out of my “cave.” Some of these are very bit as strong as vivid and real as any NDE might offer. And that is one of the most important things I think I could ever say to anyone….you do not have to have an NDE to come out of the cave…….if looking with true hearts desire, and a soul willing to let go of what it thinks it knows…..so much more will come to show you how much light can truly be seen.
Blessings dear friend, yours were good words to read.
We only hear of NDE in the West. The stories often share only Christian images. Does that mean that people in the far East and other places who have a different or no religious story to guide them do NOT experience NDEs? Have any studes been done around foreign NDEs?