"Communication was non-verbal and instantious."

I had been ill with chest pain, fever, headache, night sweats for about a week, but had not missed work, and I was on-call. I finished rounds and went to the Urgent Care clinic. The chest x-ray showed suspicious nodule in my lungs. A CT scan of my chest resulted in my being flown to a cardio-vascular intensive care unit after being diagnosed with a dissecting aortic aneurysm. After arrival at the tertiary care center, a regular echocardiogram did not support the diagnosis of an aortic aneurysm.

The CT also showed hilar lymph nodes and a peripheral pulmonary nodule, but this was not the primary concern at the time. [Editor’s Notes: Hilar lymph nodes are located in the region of the junction of each lung and its bronchi. Peripheral pulmonary nodule is a common disease of the lung, which can be benign or malignant.]

I was sedated due to erratic Blood Pressure and went to the operating room with plans for cardiothoracic surgery and was prepped for a heart bypass and intubated. They then did a trans-esophageal echocardiogram, which also did not confirm an aneurysm, so the surgery was, thankfully, cancelled. The next morning, I woke up with a very sore throat and an arterial line in my left wrist. There was still some doubt as to whether the aneurysm was present, so they ordered another heart test.

It was on the way to this procedure that the NDE occurred. I was chatting with my nurse, who was pushing me down a long underground empty tunnel in a wheelchair. As we approached an elevator, I realized that I was losing my vision. It worsened and I mentioned it to my nurse. She asked if we needed to return to the intensive care unit. I told her, ‘I think so,’ as I could no longer see and was losing my hearing. I tried to put my head down, but was about to fall out of the wheelchair when she yanked me upright. That is the last thing that I recall.

At this point, I had been off the blood pressure-lowering drip for at least an hour, and the last morphine injection. I had a bad headache that morning with the injection about 2 hours prior. I don't recall feeling sedated and did not have a fever at the time.

My next recollection is being in a vast, seemingly endless, space filled with brilliant white light. I recall no limits on perception, no binocular vision, but panoramic/ spherical/360 degrees: hard to describe. I spent what seemed like a long time, certainly not minutes, hours, or days; more like weeks, months, or eons. Time was meaningless. I was with a group of beings that I felt I had known for a very long time. It seemed like more than 12 minutes and less than 25 minutes.

I have a vague recollection of having my Earthly experiences ‘downloaded’, and having a great reunion with these beings, with a great period of relaxation and recuperation. Communication was non-verbal and instantaneous. It involved relaying entire occurrences, concepts, and events with associated emotions, not just words and sentences. Eventually a consensus was reached that I should return to the life I had left, as it was unfinished.

I don't recall how I appeared, but I do recall how the other beings appeared as I departed from them. They were like brilliant jewel bright points of scintillating light. Only two colors, though: emerald green and deep purple. I thought, 'this is weird, why not all colors?' I recall them receding into the distance.

The next memory is being a point of consciousness hovering. I don't recall any sound. I was back to having binocular vision; my entire field of vision was taken up by, what I eventually realized, was a ‘face’. I recall pondering the significance of this ‘thing’, and eventually realized it was a being. I recall feeling pity for ‘it’ and perceiving it as child-like. I watched a little longer and suddenly had the realization that the eyes of the thing were ‘green’ and they looked familiar. I then felt a sense of compassion as I recognized it was suffering. I recall the eyes staring and mouth being open. (I seem to recall an oxygen mask, but not real certain about that).

With the feeling of compassion, came an instantaneous sense of connection and I was suddenly wrenched back into the body and the memory of who ‘I’ was and the circumstances of where I was returned. It was a very rapid transition. I could hear again, and could hear the medical staff yelling orders. I was drenched in sweat and felt awful and very weak and hurt all over. Later, I learned that I had had seizure activity.

I recall a bald-headed man leaning over me. Someone else to my right yelled ‘do you have epilepsy’ and I turned my head and told them ‘no’. Someone on my left was fumbling under my gown trying to put on defibrillator pads, and then asked ‘should I take them off’. Someone else said ‘No, we may lose her again’. At some point, I recall starting to cry and asking them ‘why did you bring me back to this place. It was so nice there. Everyone was so nice and loved each other. It was so beautiful. Why did you have to bring me back here?’ Those nearby seemed to hear me and seemed shocked, but remained professional, as I recall. I was quiet for a while processing what I remembered of the experience while they worked. I recall eventually asking them not to tell my husband that I didn't want to come back. I'm quite sure they thought I was an ungrateful lunatic, but they were relieved I was alive.

The rest I pieced together by asking a lot of questions and my nurse confirmed that my heart had stopped briefly (cardiac arrest) after developing hypotension (systolic to 30) and bradycardia. She also told me about the seizure. Another nurse told me that ‘my’ nurse was one of the most experienced CVICU nurses there. She went home early and I never saw her again to thank her. I was told that she was pretty shaken up. Mostly, no one wanted to talk about it. They eventually chalked it up to the effects of prolonged ‘vasovagal response’ resulting in bradycardia (decreased heart rate) and eventual brief cardiac arrest. [Editor’s Note: Vasovagal response is a rapid drop in the heart rate and blood pressure resulting in loss of consciousness.]

Apparently, when the nurse ran back to the intensive care unit, she had her chin holding me into the wheelchair while I was having a seizure. Folks came out of the unit to meet her when the telemetry showed the blood pressure and heart rate drop. Several doctors and nurses picked me up and ‘threw’ me onto a bed. This resulted in a return of spontaneous circulation, apparently. I remained in the intensive care unit for several more days, had the heart test, and was told my heart and cardiovascular system was in perfect shape. I was still having erratic heart rate and blood pressure issues, so I was sent to a cardiac step-down unit for about four more days. I underwent a pulmonary work-up for bronchoscopy and CT guided biopsy of the chest for the other lung related issues. There were some arrhythmias, but no further major issues. Presumptive diagnosis of Sarcoidosis, but not fully confirmed. [Editor’s note: Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory disease that can affect multiple organs, but mostly the lymph nodes and lungs.] Sarcoidosis can also affect the heart conduction system. 

NDERF.org, # 7054

"I recall hearing gently softly-spoken words."

I cannot recall getting sick with pneumonia, the 911 response, emergency room visit, seven days in the Medical Intensive Care Unit at a major University, nor nine days of that time not being in the 'physical world'.

The 'journey' seemed to last for days, but perhaps it was only minutes or hours. I found myself going through a tunnel, almost floating or swimming through this tunnel. I found myself in a dark space, yet there were bright primary colors seeming to form letters that I cannot recall. This space felt 'hard,' like work. I felt tired. It seemed chaotic and loud. The space was unpleasant and I remember disliking it. I then slipped through what seemed like the same tunnel and I arrived in a tunnel-like space with a soft white and somewhat golden or shimmering light. As I was moved toward the light, I was not aware of my physical body. I recall a tremendous feeling of peace, calm, quiet, beauty, and a simply 'letting go' of 'tension' for lack of a better word. I remember thinking that I preferred this space over the chaotic space. I was happy. I was moving, without any effort on my part, toward the soft glow. I continued feeling the most incredible peace, accompanied by a gentleness and softness. I recall feeling eager to reach the light. yet did not feel rushed. I was getting closer.

I then noticed a very soft, yet worn-looking, flow and fold of a light blue and gold robe. I could only see the legs of the person wearing the robe. I knew He was God. I wanted to see His face as I moved closer, but I did not. During my travel toward the light, I recall hearing gently softly-spoken words. I somehow knew that I needed to remember the words. I recall feeling slight frustration that I was having difficulty remembering the words, but after a while, I had 'memorized' them and recall feeling relieved. The words I was told to memorize were: 'Seek not to understand so that you may believe, but seek to believe so that you may understand.' I then felt myself being pulled back and away from the light. I did not want to go and recall feeling sad. I tried to fight being pulling back. Yet, I continued moving backward.

I somehow found myself turned away from the light and knew that I had to quickly take one last look back; it felt so important, and I knew there was not much time. I quickly turned my head over my shoulder and saw the soft glow and flowing 'robe' one last time. And there, walking into the light was my beloved soulmate; my precious little teacup poodle Coco. He had passed about a year before this experience, and I have missed him terribly. I only saw his back end as he entered the soft light. I remember smiling to myself, feeling tremendous relief that I saw him and that he was o.k.

I was and am still happy that I remembered the words, yet I am confused. I did some research later and learned that these words were from the poet Pablo. I had NEVER heard these words NOR did I know anything about Pablo. Truly. I have gone over and over in my mind to try to remember hearing these words prior to this experience, but I believe they were new to me. Yet, as I think about it now, I was learning about so many different faiths before this experience, trying to understand, and trying to believe. The words simply told me to BELIEVE. I find that comforting.

I heard another message when I was close to the soft light, 'There is something important you must do.' It seems I heard this over and over. I have no idea what the 'important' thing is at present but am trying to BELIEVE that it will be shown to me. I feel transformed. Things just don't seem to be that important here on Earth. I'm calmer. I'm not trying to 'figure it all out'. I'm just taking one day at a time. I miss that 'oh so comforting' peace I felt on my journey; and, frankly, I am sad about being pulled back. However, I now believe there is a place to which I'll return one day, and that brings a smile to my face. 

NDERF.org, #7839

LOVE is the POWER of the universe

My near-death experience was actually two experiences in 1965. The second followed the first by perhaps 3 months.

The first was caused by falling several meters headfirst down a cliff and landing on sandstone rock. A small tree I was levering myself up on came away in my hands. I found myself traveling rapidly upwards into the sky. I had an immensely joyous feeling of lightness. I remember looking back at my crumpled body on the rock below and observing that ‘I’ was not my body. I could see everything below me very clearly. Below was the Hawkesbury River, with the beautiful bush surrounding it. I was heading towards some very beautiful cumulus shaped clouds. I had no fear, only joy. I looked back again and saw my boyfriend, who I was very much in love with, standing beside my body. In real time, this would have been several minutes after I fell, as he was quite a ways behind me and it would have taken some time to get down the steep cliff. I was a long way away by now and still traveling upwards, but I could feel exactly what he was feeling. He was very distressed. My heart filled with compassion for him, which I guess was what brought me back.

I am joining these two experiences together as I have always believed they are related. My (same) boyfriend and I were visiting a friend’s New Year's Eve party. The party was in the main room of a small house, and was packed with people. It was before midnight. I remember feeling vaguely discontent, as if I wasn't where I really wanted to be. I was standing about one meter from the only door into the room, looking across the room at my boyfriend. Suddenly I was no longer in this room, but facing an enormously tall angel. Surrounding both of us was radiant light. I knew this angel, and he knew me. I felt no fear, only joy and immense happiness. We communicated non-verbally. The angel was 'reminding' me of the power of LOVE that was actually THE power of the universe. It seemed that I already knew this, but 'he' was just reminding me. We communicated for what I would have estimated to be about 20 minutes, then with no warning I was abruptly back on earth, in the same place I had been standing when the experience first happened. The astonishing thing was that it was obviously hours later as there was no one in the room other than a sleeping body crashed on the couch. My boyfriend was not there, and when I eventually found him by calling out through the darkened house, he had been asleep upstairs as he had searched everywhere and not been able to find me. I had been physically removed during this experience.

The effect of these experiences on my life was profound. Overnight, I had become intensely empathetic. I could feel any pain or suffering and sense of isolation of people passing me in the street. I had an overwhelming sense of needing to DO something: my search for what this something is, has dominated the rest of my entire life. The sense of the reality of these experiences has far eclipsed anything else in my life. By this, I mean everything in comparison has been far less real. I could not use the words 'God' or 'Love' for many years as the reality of these words are so much greater than our 'normal' usage. 

NDERF.org, #7446

 

Conversation during his near-death experience

I must have been three or four years old when I underwent an eye surgery to correct the vision in one of my eyes. Before the surgery, I met with a priest who prayed with me because I was frightened of the surgery. During the surgery I underwent anesthesia and all was well until I felt my chest hurting. I thought to myself, 'Won’t the pain end? Won’t someone please help me? God, help me, when will this end?'

I was then suddenly rocketed out of my body and I could see myself on the surgery table. The doctors were all scrambling and I thought to myself, 'Why are they acting like that? I feel great.' I was then pulled upwards from my body. I thought, 'Well I guess this is it, good-bye body.' I was then taken into a tunnel by an individual made of light. I had seen the individual before the anesthesia was given to me. When I first saw this being, I thought, 'Who are you?' No answer came at that time. Nor did an answer come while I was led through the tube of light. Then, I was inside a void with the mysterious being. I asked this being, 'Who are you?' And the being said, 'Who do you want me to be?' The being then took on my mother’s voice and said, 'I can use this voice if it makes you comfortable.' When I declined, the being switched voices again and talked in my deceased grandfather’s voice.

I felt more at ease then. I was given a life review while inside the void. During this review, I told the being to pause. I wanted to better examine the parts of my life. I was then able to view these events from overhead. The life review did not last long because I asked the being something that surprised it. 'Can I plan my next reincarnation?' I asked. The being said, 'Usually people wait until their actual death to choose their reincarnation.'

I was persistent, because I already knew where I wanted to go: Japan. I was then taken to Japan via an overhead view. The being and I looked at various cities until we reached Numero in Hokkaido. I told the being that I wanted to be reincarnated here. Then, I was given a temporary glimpse into my next life. All I remember about this part was that I was Male and was wearing a dark colored coat that was accented by stylish autumn scarf while I stood in front of the train station. Then, I returned to the void.

I was suddenly dragged back into my body as the doctors restarted my heart. The revival soon failed and I was pushed back into the void. I was back with the being. The being asked me multiple questions during the reincarnation conversation and will allow me to be autistic during my next life as well. Near the end of the conversation I asked, 'Wait, can I see my grandfather?' And the being said, 'Not yet.' For the sake of my mother, I returned permanently to my body.

After the surgery I thought to myself, 'I saw an angel!' But did not speak about it to my parents. I strongly believe that I will be reincarnated in Hokkaido during my next life. I believe our souls get some choice during the death process.

Some additional things about the experience:

I was informed that I would develop mental illness during my twenties. So far this has been correct. I am typing this out during my most logical moments because I fully believe that this event will occur and that I will be reincarnated after I die.

 

NDERF.org #9193

Iranian's near-death experience

I was not feeling well and I wasn’t paying attention to my driving. I reached an intersection and looked to both sides of the street without much care. I did not see any cars coming, so I continued along my way. Suddenly, I heard a loud car horn followed by a loud crashing sound. At that moment, I found myself floating in a dark space. I was outside my body, floating in the air and just looking around.

I saw a body lying in the middle of the street next to a car. I was looking at it from several feet away. It took me a little while to recognize that it was my own body that I am looking at. I had no feelings for it; I was just an indifferent observer. I thought to myself that I must have died, but I was not sad at all. I didn't know where I was supposed to go from there. My thoughts and mind were the same as when I was in of my physical life, but I could not imagine the earthly thoughts.

After a short while, I gave up the worry of where I need to go from here, because I was enjoying the peace and silence. I was immersed in that moment. I was just watching from several feet up in the air as people were rushing towards my body from every direction. I couldn't hear their voices clearly, yet I was able to comprehend what they were saying. When I looked at these people, I knew their thoughts and what they were going to say.

Since there was a hospital on the same street where the accident occurred, it didn't take long for the ambulance to arrive. The medics put my body on a stretcher and transferred me to the ambulance. The driver turned on the sirens and sped towards the hospital. In the ambulance, the emergency medical team injected something into my body but it was no use. My body did not respond. Although I was detached from my body, I still felt like I was also somehow inside of my body too. Nevertheless, I was not feeling discomfort or pain. At the same time, I was feeling that I was going higher and higher each second.

I was floating like on a wave and felt so light. At the beginning and end of the accident, everything was moving so fast. When I exited my body, it was in another form, that was transparent and non-physical, yet it was similar to a human form. Although I saw the new form, I wasn’t giving it any thought. I was feeling pleasantly warm, could not smell or taste and did not have any bodily physical senses. I could not feel physical things, but my eyesight was greatly enhanced. I felt like I had turned into energy.

I was flying and entered into a gray-colored environment. I tried to reach a gray and dusty light that was moving in front of me. As I got closer to this light, it became brighter. The light looked like a vapor or smoke that is lit up under a street light. It was formless and had colors of blue, orange, yellow, and gold. I didn't know what it was. The light didn't bother my eyes and wasn’t blinding. I was pulled towards the light with great force. The closer I got to it, the more joy and peace I felt. After a while, I noticed Beings similar to me but they were more brilliantly colored and were moving slower than me. Then I was surrounded by my deceased relatives. I was feeling so much joy and lightness from seeing them. I felt they were there to help me. Their body was transparent and luminous. It never occurred to me to ask them questions like where am I, where am I going, what will happen to me, am I dead? They didn't talk to me either.

A halo of light surrounded me into itself. My life and all of its events started to play in my mind, but it was very clear, real, and alive. It was like a slideshow, but I experienced all the feelings in these events again. Everything was shown in chronological order. Although this whole life review only took minutes, it was pleasant and interesting to me. Once my life review stopped, my mind started to analyze my life and my actions. I felt that overall, I was relatively kind to people.

After that, I felt freedom. The halo of light left me and I felt like I have to return to the physical life. I was trying to avoid this from happening because I was experiencing new and pleasant things. But I automatically left that environment and moved into a grayish-blue environment and was put into a supine position and slowly, with no effort, returned back into the ambulance. The ambulance entered the hospital and they transferred my body into the intensive care unit. My floating Being could easily pass through the walls. It was like as I got close to a wall, it would go away. I could not feel any physical thing or barrier. I knew I was moving, yet I could not feel the motion. I entered the operating room, positioned somewhere close to the ceiling. Doctors and nurses were surrounding my body, but no one noticed me up by the ceiling. They were massaging my chest area. A nurse inserted a tube into my throat and used that to give me breathing. Another doctor injected something in my body. But my body was not responding. I heard a doctor shout, ‘code pink!’

Right then, as I was floating in the air, I passed through something fixed and light, which I felt from my side. An immense feeling of loneliness, depression, and fear engulfed me. I knew that my communication with others was cut off and I could not speak to people. I felt if I don't enter my body again, I would die forever. I was sad for my family and friends and how they would feel after my death. I could imagine and feel their feelings. On the other hand, there were important works I needed to finish and I thought I am too young to die. Nevertheless, I wanted to stay in this pleasant non-physical environment. I felt I need to decide quickly whether to stay in my body or outside of it. I felt that I cannot stay outside for too long or I would die permanently. So I decided to return.

During all this time the medical staff were trying hard to save me. Several times, they gave me an electric shock, but I didn't feel anything. However, I felt I am getting heavier and being pulled down towards my body. It was like their effort was working. When they shocked me again after several times, my body jumped up. I felt I entered my body like a solid object, with a jerk. I felt I am inside my body and heard the nurse shout, "Wow, it worked!"

When I was entering my body, I heard a whistle and felt I am in an open and dark space that is like a funnel and am entering my body from the head. After I entered my body, I felt lots of intense pain. I think I was out for 15 to 20 minutes. For several days, I was not in the natural state. When I healed a little bit, my doctor told me, "You passed a critical state." I said that I know and told him my entire experience from the beginning to the end. He was amazed and speechless.

Since that experience, my mind and soul is more important for me than my body. Some say that I have a healing effect on them. Now I feel I get along better with people and have more tolerance for them. I can better understand their feelings and what is going on inside them. This experience has changed my life and my thinking. I am no longer afraid of dying, as I have experienced it once.


From Gonbade Kavoos, Iran -Winter of 1996, NDE #16074

I hope Gabriel's trumpet might blow me home

 

“Slave Songs of the United States” by Charles Pickard Ware, Lucy McKim Garrison,
and William Francis Allen, 1867.

Agnostic scientist, Nancy Rynes, visits Heaven

In January of 2014, I experienced some things that promised to change my life forever. These experiences went from horribly terrifying and painful, to profoundly beautiful and soul-stirring; all within the space of a few days. On the morning of January 3, 2014, while riding my bicycle here in town, I was struck broadside by a truck. My injuries were so severe that I am still in recovery from some of them. By all accounts of the doctors who treated me, I shouldn't have lived. 'Most people die from injuries like yours,' my surgeon and primary care physician insist. They were right. I shouldn't have lived. In fact, I came very close to death twice during those first few days. During those brushes with death, I had two Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) that promised to change the way I look at life, the way I experience life, and the way I feel about the concepts of God and Spirit.

My first near-death experience happened when the truck initially struck me. In human time, this NDE lasted just a few minutes. As I was struck, I realized that my consciousness was in two places simultaneously. One part, very scared and animal-like, was firmly inside of my broken body that was stuck on the vehicle's axle and being dragged under the truck. The other part, a very calm, dispassionate observer, hovered out in front of the truck and off to the south, watching the whole scene unfold from a distance. This dual consciousness seemed quite normal to the observer part of me. The observer was calm about the whole thing, and I remember the feeling that this was all happening for a reason, that there was nothing to fear. The observer: me, watched as witnesses stopped, called for help, and as the paramedics arrived. When the paramedics started working on me, my two selves came back together. Once I was stabilized enough to move, they transported me to the nearest trauma hospital. It turned out that my head and spinal injuries were so severe that I'd need surgery. My lower spine would need reconstruction, but only after the bleeding in my brain stabilized. In the meantime, the trauma team admitted me to the intensive care unit (ICU). I pondered that initial split-consciousness experience for a few days in ICU while I awaited surgery. I had no explanation for being in two places at the same time, or for experiencing the accident from two different vantage points at once. In my scientific mind, I didn't know how consciousness could split apart with one part of me traveling outside of the body. Finally, I dismissed it as just an oddity of the crash and almost dying. It wasn't important, and it most certainly wasn't 'real.' Or so I thought.

Perhaps because the first experience wasn't enough to get me thinking about spiritual matters, three days later during surgery, I was pulled right into the thick of things. I had another NDE but this one was different. Instead of simply experiencing events unfold from outside of my body, my consciousness was ultimately brought to a place unlike anything I have ever experienced. The beauty and utter peace of the Place defies human words. I felt totally calm, loved, and whole. I also felt a deep, profound sense of LOVE permeating everything there. It was big love, as if the structure of this place was somehow made of love. Love was everywhere because there was nowhere that wasn't love. I can't explain it any further than that. I, already, never wanted to leave this Place. One woman greeted me. Although she said it was a form that 'she' took at that time to make it easy for me to relate to her. She was a stranger to me, although I was somehow not a stranger to her. She moved with me throughout the landscape, telling me things that I and the rest of the world needed to remember; things we'd forgotten or perhaps never learned. These things were reminders that would help us live a beautiful life on Earth. She said she was a spokesperson for everyone in Heaven.

Somehow, she was a conduit for the information I was being given because if I met and communicated with everyone who wanted to speak with me, I would be overwhelmed. It felt as though we were together for days, even weeks. The amount of information she passed on to me was staggering. I am still processing it. But eventually she insisted it was time for me to go back to my life. The thought of that made me weep like a child. I didn't want to go back: Not now, not ever. This Place was too beautiful and loving for me to want to leave. But she insisted that I had a life to live. It wasn't time for me to be here for good. I argued up and down and even yelled a few times. Can you imagine, arguing with a Being such as this? But I did. I argued and cried. I insisted I didn't want to go back to a broken body and all of the repercussions from this experience that awaited me. She watched me with what I felt was sadness, but she insisted that it was my time to go back. As I opened my mouth to argue again, I was back in the surgical recovery room. I was confused, weeping, and already missing that Place and the Being who I'd met there. No: I am no longer an atheist or agnostic, (although, at this point I don't want to put a label on what I am). I did have the good fortune to be shown Spirit in a way that made me realize that I can no longer deny It for myself. These experiences have opened my heart to all peoples, all faiths, and all beliefs in a way that I would not have thought possible. I will share a small bit of the first thing she taught me. We are primarily here to Love: to practice Love, to show Love, to experience Love. Hate is not the language of Spirit, nor is fear. Love is. It is a Love that has no conditions or strings attached. It is simply Love in all of its forms.

I was asked to share this with as many people as possible, so that is what I intend to do. That's what I promised, after all. I am not sure yet how I will get out the information. I think telling on a blog is a good start, but I expect that some larger form of publication will be in the works too. Yes, this is all real. No, I didn't make up or embellish any of it. I understand that some of you will think I'm crazy or hallucinating. Some of you may find any explanation to deny my experiences because they feel uncomfortable to you. Some people I have known for years may choose to distance themselves from me. This could cost me much. I was an agnostic scientist until just a couple of months ago, after all. But this is me and my life now. I trust that telling my story and all that follows will help more than it hurts; that it gives people hope, and that it brings people together. It may be that telling the story brings new people or opportunities into my life as well. All is as it should be. While my time on the Other Side (aka, 'Heaven') was brief in human terms, when I was there it felt as if weeks or months were passing. I observed an amazing amount in, at most, a couple of human hours.

The first wonderful thing that I experienced was the beauty of Heaven, both visually and in a feeling-sense. When I was there, a landscape of gently rolling hills surrounded me. Flower-filled grassy meadows spread out on the hills around me. There were huge, deciduous trees in full leaf. The trees were larger and grander than any here on Earth and surrounded the meadows. There was the barest sense of a light mist, as if it were a humid summer morning clung to the tops of the trees. The sky showed a very light blue, similar to what you might see at the ocean's shore, with wispy clouds and a very bright but somewhat diffuse golden light. That was the visual. But there is more to Heaven than what we can see with our eyes. Below the surface visuals was a well of feeling fueled by love, peace, and an abiding Presence that I will call Spirit or God. Through the landscape around me I sensed a profound feeling of peace, brightness, goodness, and love. The Beauty I felt really does deserve a capital B. It wasn't just pleasing to the eye: there was something deeper to it, more harmonious, more blessed, and more powerful.

Everything felt tied together by love and peace, and the beauty of the scenes around me was the product of this unconditional love. While the beauty of Heaven took my breath away, the sense of love completely ensnared me and made me want to stay there forever. I felt a deep sense of that love flowing through all things around me: the air, the ground below my feet, the trees, the clouds, and me. I felt the love flowing around me, flowing through me, and eventually capturing me by the heart. I felt supported by a loving Presence so powerful, yet so gentle, that I cried again. I had never experienced such unconditional love and acceptance in all of my years on the planet. It felt as though this place were built from love and peace on a very grand, cosmic scale. What I realized, and was later told by my Guide, was that love formed the structure or underpinnings of Heaven.

Each soul might see the 'landscape' differently, but all sensed and 'saw' the love that formed the basis for everything in the same way. That love and peace seemed to shimmer as glimmers of light beneath the surface, winking in and out of visual sight. It had colors and sparkle and texture. It seemed to take the form of what I saw, like trees, a meadow, but at the same time it was also separate from the forms themselves. The closest I can come to explaining what Heaven 'looked' like to my feeling-senses is to point you to the work of artist Ken Elliott. His paintings come closest to capturing what I felt underlying the landscape Over There. I'll share two pieces with you here with his permission, but please check out his website (www.KenElliott.com) for more examples. 'Soft Blue Progression,' comes closest to showing you what the visuals looked like for me as well. 'Yellow Wall,' as well as Ken's other paintings, gives a sense of the energy or vibration of LOVE and PEACE that build everything There.

NDERF.org, #7674 

Nancy Rynes, author of Awakenings from the Light: 12 Life Lessons from a Near Death Experience