Go the Distance
According to the Dead Saints, your decision to attend Earth University comes with an agreement. It is truly a handshake between you and God. It’s not that you can’t choose to exit the Mission. Of course you can. God chose you and your participation matters. Only you can do it. The famous line ‘Go the Distance’ from the movie, Field of Dreams, expresses the common sentiment among the Dead Saints. It is our duty and commitment to God that we battle to stay here on Earth as long as we are able.
So when will death come? The Dead Saints indicate death comes to you when you are finished with your Mission. Stacy was 36 years old when he blacked out and went into a coma for a full day. Doctors checked him out, releasing him within three hours after he awoke. He remembers an EMT medical staff commenting:
We have a white middle aged male in arrest. Direct us to the nearest emergency room. Stat. I think to myself, ‘Hmm, looks like I might be dying. I wonder if I will make it.’ Then I am back in my body, open my eyes briefly and ask one EMT, ‘Am I going to die?’
He looks at his partner, they exchange a glance and then he says to me, ‘Don’t worry. You are fine and are not going to die.’ I leave my body and return to floating above the ambulance. I think to myself: ‘It is not his decision whether I leave or not.’
The scene below me is bright and vivid with lots of activity. It is as if I am looking through a transparent and translucent membrane [author’s note: the veil] at live theater, but I am not emotionally connected to it other than I am curious and interested. All around and above me is a black void. I look over to my right and see a long dark tunnel leading off into infinity. In the farthest reaches of this tunnel, I see a small, singular bright Light. In the front of the tunnel are two figures, my grandparents, both have been dead for many years. A Voice asks me a question. The Voice comes from everywhere, inside me, around me, back in time, forward in time, everywhere.
It says: ‘ARE YOU FINISHED?’ I instantly comprehend what’s being asked. I felt I had all the time there ever was and ever would be to answer. After a while, or a long time, I remembered my wife was back waiting for my return and that we were not finished with our time together.17
No matter how you feel in this moment, you are a hero for being here. Mel, a teenager who died in 2007 was told:
I communicated I wanted to stay and could never return to the horrible life on Earth. I was told I had a great Mission to fulfill and if I didn’t return, nobody else could fulfill it. Whether I was shown, what this was or not, I can’t recall. What I do recall, and what I can never forget, is what happened next. I made the decision to return. Angelic beings rose all around me and began to sing a song I couldn’t recognize. It sounded spontaneous and improvised and the closest sound I can imagine would be hundreds of the world’s best choirs singing perfectly together at the same time. It was the most beautiful and majestic sound I had ever heard. They were praising and honoring me. ME! A teenager from the projects who had dropped out of high school. A kid abandoned by his father and drifting aimlessly. These great Beings were paying tribute to me. I was virtually lifted up and displayed to these wonderful Beings as a hero.18
How do you know your Mission is finished? If you are breathing right now, your Mission from God is not over. In the words of Richard Bach, “If we are still here, we have something to do, someone to love, something to smile about, somebody to forgive, that our lives still have meaning and purpose.”
~July 27, 2015. I had passed my 26th month of my GBM fight. A visiting Vedic (Hindu) teacher revealed to me there was a high probability of my death occurring sometime between January 23, 2016 and Easter, March 27, 2016. When he made this “prediction,” he did not know about the rapid growth of my brain tumor or my prayer to see my daughter Angela graduate high school on June 18, 2016—Chronicle 1103. I didn’t tell him, but this “death window” was at least 84 days short of my goal. I suddenly felt like astronaut, Mark Watney, who in the movie the Martian, will die if he is not rescued before he runs out of food. Having consumed his last meal, he is rescued by NASA on Sol 549, before dying of starvation. My rescue—if indeed it is a “rescue”— will not likely come by clinical trial, chemo, or natural medicine, or by NASA, but through God’s Mercy. If my Mission is finished, and I die before then, I will accept it. However, if I can reach Angela’s graduation, it will be a miracle glorifying HIM. ~Chronicle 775
DREAM: On a vessel navigating in tropical waters bordered by mountains with glaciers down to the shore. (A common Heaven theme: snow covering high mountains down to the shores of tropical waters—a scenario not possible on Earth.) Dream switches to a garden island taken over by terrorists. I advise the terrorists they had better work things out with the islanders soon, because if they did not, the island would be overtaken within six months and everyone would be killed. This dream occurred on September 16, 2015. A premonition, warning of my death window in six months? ~Chronicle 826
[Publication Update: February 13, 2016. Growth shown by MRI’s taken from July 29 through January 25 2016, show David’s brain tumor has grown from 8mm to 22mm in six months. Tumor growth between December 1, 2015 and January 25, 2016 stabilized @ 10% every four weeks]. ~Chronicle 976
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Endnotes
1“Surely the day of decision is (a day) appointed.” (Qur’an 22:7)
2Earl NDE, NDERF.org, unknown numerical reference
3Tina R NDE, #1745, 11.16.08, NDERF.org
4Andrew J NDE, #2758, 07.04.11, NDERF.org
5Justin M NDE, #3605, 02.23.04, NDERF.org
6Dot’s NDE, #372, 12.26.04, NDERF.org
7Charlene P’s NDE, #1416, 12.28.07, NDERF.org
8Isabel R NDE, #2965, 02.25.12., NDERF.org
9Suzy B NDE, #1806, 12.17.08, NDERF.org
10Tim’s NDE #56, 9.23.00, NDERF.org
11Cameron M possible NDE, #3962, 06.20.15, NDERF.org
12Martin Luther King, Jr. April 3, 1968. Excerpt from I’ve Been to the Mountaintop speech at the World Headquarters for the Church of God in Christ. Wikipedia.
13Mel W NDE, #990, 01.04.07, NDERF.org
14Johanna S NDE, #3137, 09.09.12, NDERF.org
15Larry B NDE, #1055, 03.22.07, NDERF.org
16Denny B’s NDE, #87. 3, 05.13.06, NDERF.org
17Stacy S NDE, #2411, 10.10.10, NDERF.org
18Mel W NDE, #990, 01.04.07, NDERF.org
— 13 —
Death Step by Step
~I emailed 15-year survivor of GBM, Cheryl Broyles. Delynn had been keeping tabs with her on Facebook. I sent her a chapter from Book II of the Chronicles, Training Wires of the Soul, for her approval. She and her husband loved it! She suggested I read her own book, Life’s Mountains. 1 I read it in one day. Amazing. Keep going Cheryl. Someone should make a bronze statue to honor your determination, stamina and persistence, but your humility won’t allow it. ~Chronicle 780
Raymond Moody M.D. Ph.D., a psychiatrist who pioneered work on life after death in 1975 in Life after Life,2 classified 12-18 major elements of the dying process in Coming Back: A Psychiatrist Explores Past-Life Journeys, which typically occur during a near-death experience.3 Moody’s division of the different aspects of the NDE, became a reference point for nearly all near-death researchers. After my own intensive investigation, I added several defining Death Elements, expanding them to 23.4
Many other near-death researchers have based their own studies on Dr. Moody’s work, including Jeffrey Long, M.D., Melvin Morse, M.D, Bruce Greyson, M.D, Michael Sabom, M.D., Pim van Lommel, M.D., and P.M.H. Atwater.
No two Dead Saint experiences are identical. The 23 Death Elements cannot isolate NDEs as one continuous dying event beginning with Death Element number 1 and ending with number 23. Most often, only a few Death Elements are represented by the NDE, and while most occur generally in order, the experience can start anywhere on the list.
While many Death Elements have already been touched upon already in earlier chapters, this section serves as an overview for all 23 Death Elements and highlights some, which are not dedicated with their own chapter. In most cases, I cite only the first name of the Dead Saint or the title related to their experience. In some instances, where I devote an entire chapter to the Death Element (or Elements), only a summary is written. When available, I cite statistical studies of Death Elements done by NDERF defining the percentage of Dead Saints, described by Jeffrey Long, M.D. as NDErs, who experience them.
Death Element #1: Knowledge of Impending Death (Doom)
ER doctors hear this all the time from patients who predict, “I am going to die.” And then they simply do just that:
Tom A’s NDE: I was standing in the hospital hallway when I saw four medical staff working on me. I said aloud, ‘I’m dead.’ As soon as I said that, I felt a warm feeling wash over me. At no time was I scared, worried or concerned. I felt so much peace and calmness.5
Priscilla O’s NDE: I was in anaphylactic shock. I knew I was dying; I was in great pain, went blind and then deaf. Then I died.6
Death Element #2: Realization Physical Body is Dead
Kathleen’s NDE: Then I heard the doctors say, ‘Oh Lord, we’re losing her!’ I then felt a pulling whoosh up and then was at the ceiling watching it all! I felt no pain at all. I did, however, feel the fainting sick feeling you get before passing out and I felt light and heard a buzzing noise. I then watched the doctors working on me. He (the doctor) was swearing terribly. I remember thinking, good Lord, He (God) can hear him! I was embarrassed for them all in the ER.7
Kenneth’s NDE: I really couldn’t understand why I was in a state of disembodied consciousness whilst my physical body was clearly dead. It had already become a bluish/grey color.8
Death Element #3: Hearing a Sound or Buzzing
Though not commonly experienced, hearing a sound is often one of the first dying stages heard. Sheba heard a ‘whooshy sound’ during her NDE: I immediately went into the tunnel... not walking... just floating upright and I could hear a ‘whooshy sound’. I again told myself, ‘oh, this is the tunnel. I must be dying.’ I went further in and then in the far distance I saw the Light. Again, I told myself ‘I’m really dying, this is the Light. If I go through there, then I will be in Heaven.9
Richard heard a buzzing sound: I started to hear a buzzing sound that quickly became very loud. As the sound increased, the hole above me got bigger, the Light got brighter, and I felt myself being pulled up towards it. I felt as if I was being squeezed through an opening that was too small for me. The buzzing sound became a whooshing roar as I entered the hole, with a Doppler-like effect as I passed through it. The sensation was like speeding down a tunnel at light speed, not unlike the “warp” effect you see in movies. I wasn’t alone in there, either. I felt the presence of others, but I couldn’t see them.10
Death Element #4: Out-of-Body Experiences
The next Death Element, usually the first and most common, is the out-of-body experience (OOBE)—a separation of consciousness from the physical body. Regarding this dying stage, an NDERF survey of 613 NDErs asked, “Did you experience a separation of your consciousness from your body?” 75.4 percent answered “Yes.”11
A typical OOBE transpires something like the following Dead Saint experience of Michael triggered by substance overdose and seizure:
I floated over the exam table and I saw one doctor and three nurses. I saw a heart monitor, another table, and an oxygen tank. I saw my body with all kinds of tubes coming out of me. I was naked, but the clothes are still there, just underneath my body. I don’t know what’s going on. I feel a little scared or uncertain about what is going on. Then I floated through the wall and looked down to see my mother and Aunt Barbara. My mom didn’t have access to a car and it was close to 1:00 am in the morning, so they were hysterically crying and trying to look through the triangular window in the door to the room I’m in. Now, I float back into the room where they are working on me. All of a sudden, I was sucked back into my body. During those two seconds I heard a warm, kind, and soothing voice say, ‘Go back, not now.’ Then swoosh, I was back in my body.12
Many OOBE Dead Saint reports describe floating some thirty feet above the body while they often watch dispassionately as the dying process unfolds. Sometimes a “silver cord” is seen connected to the body, which thins as they move farther away. At times, the Earth and other planets in the solar system can be seen from outer space. There is a sense of timelessness and occasionally heavenly music is heard.
Twelve Common Phenomena Associated with an OOBE
There are generally twelve common phenomena affecting consciousness during an OOBE that can be divided into two groups: “effects” and “abilities.” When a Dead Saint leaves the physical body, they no longer “think” with a human brain. They are thinking and observing their experience with a mind and a consciousness from an ‘outside perspective.’ One question you may want to ponder as you read through the OOBE phenomena: If the Dead Saints are observing events without a human brain, with what kind of spiritual mind are they observing and thinking?
OOBE EFFECTS
#1: No Pain
Walter C’s NDE: I could see my physical self was suffering immensely, but my conscious self was experiencing no pain. I felt empathy and overwhelming compassion for my physical self, but the pain evident within that body was not felt by this part of me.13
#2: Profound Feelings of Peace, Quiet, & Incredible Joy
A NDERF survey asked, “Did you have a feeling of peace or pleasantness?” Of the NDErs surveyed, 76.2 percent answered “Yes.”14 The NDERF survey asked another question about the specific emotion of “joy” during an NDE: “Did you have a feeling of joy?” NDErs responded with 52.5 percent selecting, “incredible joy.”15
Profound peace, quiet, and joy are some of the most common elements of a Dead Saint experience:
Linda Stewart’s NDE: I became aware of a deep sense of peace and warmth that permeated my senses. Confused, because the energy that had enveloped me had a definite presence, I tried to see what was happening and who was carrying me. Who or what cared so deeply for me? I felt peaceful and loved immeasurably. I knew I was in the arms of a Being who cherished me with perfect love and carried me from the dark void into a new reality.16
#3: Perceived Alteration of Time and Space
A NDERF survey asked, “Did you have any sense of altered time and space?” Of the NDErs surveyed 60.5 percent answered “Yes.”17
Gillian’s NDE: I spent what seemed like a long time—certainly not minutes, hours, or days. More like weeks, months, eons. Time was meaningless.18
Janet’s NDE: Suddenly, my heart started to do what I can only describe as a “shudder.” I started to call out to my daughter when my heart stopped. I suddenly realized EVERYTHING had stopped. There was no sound, no movement, nothing. I was standing there taking in this fact, when I looked down & saw my body on the bed, I thought, ‘Oh, I’m dead,’ like it was a completely ordinary thing. Then I remember thinking, ‘I wonder if the rain stopped too,’ so I went through the wall & looked around outside…The rain had not just stopped, the raindrops were suspended in mid-air. It was the most awesome sight I’d ever seen. I remember moving around looking at different drops and I found one that was quite large, so I was looking at it closely and was about to touch it when it started to fall. At that same instant I was back on the bed. My heart was beating again and I felt so happy, & realized I was grinning from ear to ear.19
#4: Realization Spiritual-Self is Separate from the Physical Body
Walter C’s NDE: Great understanding came over me, for I knew the “self” existed apart from the physical.20
Sylvia W’s NDE: I was sitting on a kitchen swivel bar stool. I turned to get up and leave and felt myself starting to fall. The next thing I knew I was above th
e roof of the house. I could see through the roof and lying crumpled on the floor was a female body—about the size of a Barbie doll. My “vision” and “hearing” were very acute. I could see without eyes, hear without ears, and communicate without mouth or other body parts. I knew everything past and present. I felt I was in my natural state and the body was the temporary unnatural state. I was HOME where I belonged, where I wanted to be.21
#5: A Remarkable Detached Point of View
Thomas M’s NDE: Right after the accident when I realized I was floating above a car wreck, I had an altered type of vision because, even though I was above the car, I could “see” inside the car with a sort of “super vision.” I saw my body and I saw the body of my friend at the wheel. I had no real emotion to what I was witnessing. There was a calm sense of detachment, and I remember looking at my body as if it were a sweater or a suit I had worn and now had cast off. I remember thinking, ‘That was cool being Thomas like it was some fun excursion, this human life.’ 22
OOBE ABILITIES
#6: External Observer of Events
Walter C’s NDE: Floating above my moving vehicle was an empowering sensation. Moving was effortless; I simply thought myself to be where I wished to be, and there I was. I felt no motion or touch sensations of any kind. As I followed the vehicle, I could see objects on both sides of the road, as though I were in a low-flying plane. My van appeared to be about the size of a quarter, so you can imagine what my peripheral vision was like. The odd thing was I saw objects I had never seen before, set way back from the side roads. The view was complete and accurate to the most, minute detail, even though I never had been down those roads. (After the experience, I drove down those side roads to confirm what I had seen).23
#7: Heightened Awareness / Hyper-Alertness
A NDERF survey asked, “How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal, everyday consciousness and alertness?” Of the NDErs surveyed, 74.4 percent indicated they had “More consciousness than normal.”24
The Dead Saints Chronicles: A Zen Journey Through the Christian Afterlife Page 19