Perhaps the reason the heavenly hierarchy is so adamant about the Afterlife threshold is because crossing the barrier cuts a cord connecting the physical body to their spiritual body—a cord some call the “silver cord.” It has been described by many Dead Saints as being “smooth, very long, very bright” like an elastic cable made of Light, about an inch wide, sparkling like a tinsel on a Christmas tree, and attached to one of several possible locations on the physical body.
The silver cord is our spiritual body’s lifeline to our physical body in the same way our umbilical cord is our lifeline to our mother’s body during the birth process. During the dying process, as the spirit body leaves the physical body and travels light years into the universe, the silver cord becomes thinner as it is stretched to its limit. If the silver cord is severed, the spirit body is released from being attached to the physical body. It then becomes impossible for the spirit body to ever return to the physical body, making death “irreversible.”
In the last moments of life, the dying person may see the Angel of Death, or spectral being with a brilliant face personified in ancient and modern myth as the Grim Reaper (See Grim Reaper ch.15). Often depicted carrying a scythe, their mission is to cut the silver cord and take the soul out of the body at the instant of death.
The existence of this silver cord, its severance, and its connection to death is even mentioned in the Bible:
Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, or the wheel broken at the well, and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. (Ecclesiastes 12:6-7)
The two metaphors speak of death. The golden bowl refers to a bowl likely used as an oil light, suspended by a chord. Dying is compared to the breaking of this chord and the crashing of the bowl down to the ground, whereupon it shatters and its light extinguished. Second, death is compared to the breaking of a pitcher and pulley used to draw water at a well. When death ensues, no more water can be drawn.
In my own dreams, the barrier to crossing over into Heaven is symbolized by a deep gorge, separated by a river, or a bridge crossing a river. For you, when you dream about death, it will be different. Each symbol of death is personal to the Dead Saint. I believe the form of the barrier indicates the depth of religious and cultural fear you may feel about crossing over death’s door. The decision to turn back from crossing the river separating Heaven and Earth, whether by choice or by heavenly edict, is a decision to return back to the physical body and to life on Earth.
Death Element #18: Coming back to Your Physical Body
A NDERF survey asked, “Were you involved in or aware of a decision regarding your return to the body?” Of NDERs surveyed, 58.5 percent answered “Yes.”68
Most Dead Saints return to the physical body because they have a mission in life to complete. Some have a choice to return, but many are ordered back into their bodies:
Rick R’s NDE: I heard the voice speak again, ‘You must return!’ I did not want to return though. I was content to stay and longed to stay even after the things I had seen and heard.69
Shalom G’s NDE: He then went on to indicate I could either stay with HIM or return to Earth. However, if I did not return, many people would miss their connections, in order to complete their missions and purposes in life. Reluctantly, but with a deeper understanding of my mission, I chose to return to help ALL of my assigned brothers & sisters, on our planet.70
Death Element #19: Ineffability—Inability to Put into Words
Information brought back by the Dead Saints comes through telepathic images, which have to be translated by the Saint and put into words. It is a common problem often described throughout the Chronicles.
Terri R’s NDE: These are the concepts that are difficult to explain because it wasn’t conveyed to me in words. It was an understanding that spoke to me in a way I could relate.71
Death Element #20: Change of Life
Discussed in great detail in chapter 14, this Death Element is the hallmark of a dramatic near-death experience. This Dead Saint describes the joyful, life-changing transformation caused by their NDE:
When I awoke and tried to understand where I was: I asked myself where I was. I recalled being in a dream state while under. [During Heart Surgery], I recall being on a large promontory in the dark. Way out in front of me was a Light, not bright and not dim.
I then said, ‘Hello?’ (no answer)
‘Hello, anybody out there?’ (no answer)
I then asked, ‘Can anybody tell me the meaning of life?’
Then, I received this EXACT ANSWER telepathically: ‘Man has not even scratched the surface to know what life is all about.’
This answer has changed my life and how I live to this day.72
Death Element #21: Elimination of the Fear of Death
Discussed in detail in chapter 3, this Death Element describes the loss of fear in 85-90% of those who leave the physical body during an NDE.
Death Element #22: Corroboration of Events
This Death Element is the Holy Grail of near-death research. Termed “veridical” by researchers, it describes perceptions seen by the dying Saint while out-of-body which can be later proven to coincide with reality. It represents intriguing evidence, which, I believe, will soon validate what religion and the Dead Saints have been saying for thousands of years—the consciousness continues after the death of the physical body in a spiritual body and mind called the soul.
In 1997, researchers Kenneth Ring and Sharon Cooper published results from a three-year study of NDE cases of blind people. They reasoned if a blind person was able to report on verifiable events that took place when they were clinically dead, that would mean something real was occurring. In their study, out of 31 individuals they interviewed, 14 were legally blind from birth. Twenty-one had a NDE, the rest had OOBEs only. Their study discovered their experiences conformed to the classic NDE pattern, whether they were born blind or had lost their sight in later life. Ring and Cooper concluded their out-of-body perception of reality does not depend on the senses of the physical body.
There are many such “veridical” cases coming to light in recent years. Maria told her social worker, Kimberly Clark, that during her cardiac arrest, she found herself outside the hospital and spotted a tennis shoe on the ledge of the north side of the third floor of the building. According to Kimberly, “She was able to provide several details regarding its appearance, including the observations one of its laces was stuck underneath the heel and the little toe area was worn. She begged Kimberly to go out on the ledge and try to locate what she had seen while out-of-body.” 73
From the hospital room window, Kimberly could not see the tennis shoe, but investigating Maria’s description of the location, she soon found it exactly as Maria had observed it during her NDE. Kimberly later commented, “The only way she could have had such a perspective was if she had been floating right outside and at very close range to the tennis shoe. I retrieved the shoe and brought it back to Maria; it was very concrete evidence for me.”74
Death Element #23: Supernatural Rescues & Events
Sometimes supernatural rescues and events accompany an NDE. Much like entering Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone, these phenomena appear to transcend all known laws of time and space. We call them supernatural because we don’t understand the science or universal laws under which these events occur. In chapter 7, I described 12-year-old Marilyn’s NDE vision of Jesus and Heaven caused by suffocation from a rope tangled around her neck, but her encounter with the Lord didn’t end there. The rest of her story defies modern physics and the known laws of science. As Marilyn started to climb the basement stairs to have her mom help her untie a knotted rope, she felt herself fall down and slip into total darkness:
I felt someone pick me up in their arms and I was surrounded by Light and I looked
in the smiling face of a man who said His name was Jesus. He told me not to be frightened. He was here to take me back.
He kissed my forehead, put His hand on the basement door, and said, ‘You go back now child it’s not your time.’ The door opened and he stood me on the floor. I was not able to breath and was gulping in air. My mother and aunt came running and cut the rope off my neck.
My neck was all red and sore and my voice was all hoarse. My mother said how did you get up the stairs like that?
I said, ‘I didn’t. The man carried me up.’
And my mom and aunt said together, ‘What man?’
My aunt yelled down stairs, ‘Girls, is there a man down there?’
They all said, ‘No. There was no man.’
I said, ‘There was a man and he did carry me.’
They did not believe me. I went back down in the basement and asked my cousins and sister about the man which they did not see. My sister said she saw me fall and started to come help me, but she said I disappeared when she got to the stairs. No one saw me being carried. I had a big cut on my chin where I hit the bottom step when I went into complete blackness. Everyone saw me fall and disappear. No one saw me going up the stairs. 75
Another supernatural event happened to Valerie, who relocated 8000 miles to Vietnam during a spontaneous OBE/NDE (See #6 of the Seven Near-Death Triggers Table 1, chapter 2):
It was January or February 1968. I was just at the doorway of my apartment, when suddenly I found myself walking in a thickly forested area. Looking around me I realized I was in a jungle following a small group of American soldiers. The two soldiers at the end of the line stopped and turned when I stumbled over a vine and helped me through a thickly wooded area. They did not seem surprised to see me (a civilian) there although they acknowledged my presence.
After walking a short distance with them, I realized I was in Vietnam. I talked with the soldiers quietly as we walked along. Then, I realized a very close friend of mine was the soldier in the lead. (He was the only soldier there I knew.) I excused myself from the companionship of the two soldiers walking with me and started to walk to the front of the line to talk to my friend. (This friend and I were very close in high school and I was glad to see him again.) As I neared the front of the line, another soldier grabbed my arm and restrained me just before I reached him. Just then we heard the click. My friend had stepped on a land mine. The force of the explosion threw me backward against a tree. I screamed as blood splattered my body.
The next instant found me again in the doorway of my apartment. I heard the sound of feet running as my friend and the two boys waiting for me came to see what had happened. They found me standing in the doorway with my hands braced against the door jam on each side. I had blood and dirt splattered on my clothes and face and my right shoulder was painfully swollen and turning black.
…I was wide-awake when it occurred. I was not taking any medication or on any kind of drugs and was not attempting to have any such experience.76
Marilyn’s disappearance and reappearance as well as Valerie’s spontaneous OBE/NDE thousands of miles distant in Vietnam and her return to her apartment with physical traces of blood and dirt on her clothes, reveal laws of teleportation that transcend known laws of time and space. There are many other amazing stories like this scattered in near-death research, and if one looks carefully, these accounts are also found in the New Testament and other religions and myths throughout history.
—
Endnotes
1Cheryl L. Broyles 2012. Life’s Mountains. Published with Create Space. Originally published with Xlibris in 2008
2R.A. Moody Jr., M.D. 1977. Life after Life, Covington GA: Mockingbird Books.
3R.A. Moody and P. Perry 1991. Coming Back: A Psychiatrist Explores Past-Life Journeys. New York: Bantam. p. 11. See also, R.A. Moody and P. Perry 1988. The Light Beyond. New York: Bantam Books. p. 62.
4Death Element comparison. See Table 2.
5Tom M NDE, #3929, 04.17.15, NDERF.org
6Priscilla O’s NDE, #301, 07.16.03, NDERF.org
7Kathleen’s NDE, #213, 03.02.03, NDERF.org
8Kenneth F NDE, #4046, 11.7.15, NDERF.org
9Sheba M NDE, #2382, 09.27.10, NDERF.org
10Richard L’s NDE, #578, .03.05.05, NDERF.org
11Jeffrey Long, M.D. 2010. Jeffrey Long, M.D. with Paul Perry 2010. Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of the Near-Death Experience. New York: HarperCollins. p. 8.
12Michael F NDE, #3949, 06.04.15, NDERF.org
13Walter C NDE, #3199, 03.12.12, NDERF.org
14Jeffrey Long, M.D. 2010. Jeffrey Long, M.D. with Paul Perry 2010. Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of the Near-Death Experience. New York: HarperCollins. p. 17.
15Ibid, p. 9.
16Linda Stewart NDE, God is Only Love, #34, aleroy.com/boardh1.htm
17Jeffrey Long, M.D. 2010. Jeffrey Long, M.D. with Paul Perry 2010. Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of the Near-Death Experience. New York: HarperCollins. p. 13.
18Gillian NDE, #3553, 01.05.14, NDERF.org
19Janet S’ NDE, #194, 12.23.02, NDERF.org
20Walter C NDE, #3199, 03.12.12, NDERF.org
21Sylvia W’s NDE, #152, 07.30.02, NDERF.org
22Thomas M NDE, #1890, 04.25.09, NDERF.org
23Walter C NDE, #3199, 03.12.12, NDERF.org
24Jeffrey Long, M.D. 2010. Jeffrey Long, M.D. with Paul Perry 2010. Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of the Near-Death Experience. New York: HarperCollins. p. 8.
25Sue D NDE, #2766, 07.10.11, NDERF.org
26Gillian NDE, #3553, 01.05.14, NDERF.org
27Marta G NDE, #2037, 12.06.09, NDERF.org
28Jeff probable NDE, #2410, 10.10.10, NDERF.org
29Barbara E NDE, # 2821, 09.10.11, NDERF.org
30Carmel B NDE’s, #1920, 05.30.09, NDERF.org
31Alan M NDE, #1754, 11.28.08, NDERF.org
32Gillian NDE, #3553, 01.05.14, NDERF.org
33Henry Vaughan (1621-1695). Poem, The Night. John 2.3.
34Eben Alexander 2012, Proof of Heaven, A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife. New York: Simon and Schuster Paperbacks. p. 47.
35Shiela EP’s NDE, # 3027, 04.22.12, NDERF.org
36Priscilla O’s NDE, #301, 07.16.03, NDERF.org
37Richard Sigmund 2004 & 2010. My Time in Heaven: A True Story of Dying…And Coming Back. New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House. p. 19.
38Raina Ji NDE, #1967, 08.30.09, NDERF.org
39Terry D NDE, #1256, 10.14.07, NDERF.org
40Barbara W NDE, #2855, 10.05.11, NDERF.org
41Jeffrey Long, M.D. 2010. Jeffrey Long, M.D. with Paul Perry 2010. Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of the Near-Death Experience. New York: HarperCollins. p. 9.
42Alan M NDE, #1754, 11.28.08, NDERF.org
43Isabel R NDE, #2965, 02.25.12, NDERF.org
44Malla’s possible NDE, #3933, 04.27.15, NDEF.org
45Terri’s NDE. Unknown NDERF.org reference.
46Rhea D probable NDE, #1254, 10.14.07, NDERF.org
47George G. Ritchie, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., 1991. My Life After Dying, Becoming Alive to Universal Love. Hampton Roads Publishing. p. 24.
48Jill D NDE, #2922, 12.31.11, NDERF.org
49Eugene W NDE, #2383, 09.27.10, NDERF.org
50http://www.ecology.com/birth-death-rates/
51Joseph S NDE, #3289, 03.14.13, NDERF.org
52Raina Ji NDE, #1967, 08.30.09, NDERF.org
53Jeffrey Long, M.D. 2010. Jeffrey Long, M.D. with Paul Perry 2010. Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of the Near-Death Experience. New York: HarperCollins. p. 15.
54Analia R probable NDE, #3920, 04.01.15, NDERF.org
55Jeffrey Long, M.D. 2010. Jeffrey Long, M.D. with Paul Perry 2010. Evidence o
f the Afterlife: The Science of the Near-Death Experience. New York: HarperCollins. p. 11.
56Tom A NDE, #3929, 04.18.15, NDERF.org
57Jeffrey Long, M.D. 2010. Jeffrey Long, M.D. with Paul Perry 2010. Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of the Near-Death Experience. New York: HarperCollins. p. 10.
58Scott W NDE, #3885, 02.15.15, NDERF.org
59Samantha H NDE, #3329, 04.20.13, NDERF.org
60Robert N NDE’s, #3337, 01.05.16 & 05.05.13, NDERF.org
61Jeffrey Long, M.D. 2010. Jeffrey Long, M.D. with Paul Perry 2010. Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of the Near-Death Experience. New York: HarperCollins. pp. 15-16.
62Scott H NDE, #2698, 05.02.11, NDERF.org
63Jeffrey Long, M.D. 2010. Jeffrey Long, M.D. with Paul Perry 2010. Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of the Near-Death Experience. New York: HarperCollins. p. 16.
64Gary D’s NDE, #742, 01.01.06, NDERF.org
65John S NDE, # 1739, 11.01.08, NDERF.org
66Cherie J probable NDE, #2686, 04.25.11, NDERF.org
67Riki E NDE, #2955, 02.13.12, NDERF.org
68Jeffrey Long, M.D. 2010. Jeffrey Long, M.D. with Paul Perry 2010. Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of the Near-Death Experience. New York: HarperCollins. p. 17.
69Rick R NDE, #1506, 01.13.08, NDERF.org
70Shalom G NDE, #448, 08.09.04, NDERF.org
71Teri R NDE, #2301, 08.10.10, NDERF.org
72Guisippi C NDE, #2862, 10.16.11, NDERF.org
73Based on an article by Mario Beauregard 2012. Near death, Explained. http://www.salon.com/2012/04/21/near_death_explained/MARIO BEAUREGARD
74Based on an article by Mario Beauregard 2012. Near death, Explained. http://www.salon.com/2012/04/21/near_death_explained/MARIO BEAUREGARD
75Marilyn R NDE, #2925, 01.08.12, NDERF.org
76Valerie K Experience, #1230, 10.14.07, NDERF.org
— 14 —
Transformations
~On December 9 2015, Delynn met, by chance, a stranger named “Jimmy” at a nearby restaurant. She struck up a conversation with him, talked about my book, and our need for a professional head shot for the back cover. Jimmy told her he was a photographer and so they quickly arranged a photo session for 10:00 am the next day at our home. When Jimmy arrived the following morning, he sat opposite from me and asked a few questions about what photos I would like best. During the short conversation, he revealed details about his mother’s death six weeks earlier. He noticed I had a small collection of butterflies in our home and a Christmas butterfly ornament near the top of our Christmas tree. Both he and his mother loved butterflies.
The Dead Saints Chronicles: A Zen Journey Through the Christian Afterlife Page 22