Heaven is Real, Heaven Exists; Proof of Life-after Death; Real stories of Near-death experiences.

By Tessy Rawlins

Table of Contents

Introduction*Research into Near-Death Experiences* Doctor’s own Near-Death Experiences* Early NDE’s in History *Ordinary people’s accounts of their NDE’s* Children’s visits to Heaven* Soldier’s accounts of Heaven* Pastors and Chaplain’s experiences*Healing abilities of Near-death experiencers*Conclusion

All right reserved circ 2013.

Introduction

“Words cannot describe the beauty of Heaven. There we find so much peace and happiness.”

“All is indescribable beauty.”

“There was the most wonderful feeling of bliss. I can only describe it as ecstasy.”

Heaven is Real, Heaven exists; Proof of life after death, with real stories of Near-death experiences, true stories of what happens after death.

Is Heaven real? This book provides real evidence, from expert research studies of Near-death experiences; true accounts from Doctors of their own Near-death experiences; and the many true stories of real people’s experiences of going to Heaven. Here is the documented proof that Heaven is real and Heaven exists.

With remarkable similarity in accounts, the book describes the many true after-death experiences of ordinary people; from Pastors to atheists, children to adults, soldiers to housewives, we find out just what Heaven is like.

Says researcher Dr Penny Sartori, many people described ‘travelling through a tunnel, towards a bright light where they saw relatives beckoning them, finding themselves in a beautiful landscape with lush green grass and beautiful flowers. ‘ She says, “Nearly all those who have had NDE’s tell me they no longer fear death, in fact, because of what happened, they are happy to go.”

Dr Heidi Horsley writes, after her own NDE, “As I moved toward the light, I had the most euphoric feeling of love and inner peace that I’d ever experienced. It was a place I never wanted to leave.”

Gillian MacKenzie, a housewife, describes, “I felt no fear as I went into the tunnel and emerged into the brilliance. There was the most wonderful feeling of bliss. I can only describe it as ecstasy.”

Rose Marie Richter, describes, “It was all in a golden, warm loving light..it was full of leaves , flowers, birds, and everything was so colourful...I’ve never been that peaceful and that content and felt so loved.

Daniel Ekechukwu writes, “Everything seems to be golden and transparently shining, even the most beautiful flowers. All is indescribable beauty.

Crystal McVea, says of her experience, “I had angels, I had God, I fell to my knees in front of him.”

Research into Near-Death Experiences.

Dr Penny Sartori worked as a nurse in Intensive Care for seventeen years, obtaining her doctorate for her research into Near Death Experiences. She says, “When I came across accounts of NDE’s, I became quite curious. Surely these were not real experiences, just hallucinations. How can people whose hearts have stopped and by current definition are clinically dead, report clear, lucid, well structured experiences when their brains are not functional?” However, after talking to hundreds of patients who had technically ‘died’ she found that many of them had very similar experiences; Many described floating towards a calming bright light where they saw relatives beckoning them, ‘travelling through a tunnel, towards a bright light, finding themselves in a beautiful landscape with lush green grass and beautiful flowers.’ And there “they often meet deceased relatives and sometimes beings of light or a religious figure.”

Dr Sartori says, “What I found is incredible. One man described seeing a Jesus-like bearded figure standing next to hiS dead father. He said the figure touched him on the hand and told him to return as it was not his time. Nearly all those who have had NDE’s tell me they no longer fear death. In fact because of what happened to them, they are happy to go.” She said many of the patients she asked about near death experiences said they would not have volunteered the information if they had not been asked, suggesting the phenomenon is actually far more widespread than recorded.

Doctor’s own Near-Death Experiences.

Incredibly, some stories about NDE’s come from doctors themselves! Often the most sceptical towards anything spiritual or supernatural, and with significant reputation to lose if they do choose to speak out, many doctors have risked their entire professional reputations to speak out. Perhaps the most well-known of those is Dr Eben Alexander, whose book became a bestseller. He writes, “There is no scientific explanation for the fact that while my body lay in a coma, my brain-free consciousness journeyed to another, larger dimension of the universe: a dimension I’d never dreamed existed.” He says that before he underwent his own transformative experience, “it was very clear in neuroscience, that the brain gives us consciousness and when the brain dies there goes consciousness, soul, mind..it’s all gone. Now, having been through my coma, I can tell you that’s exactly wrong and that in fact the mind and consciousness are independent of the brain.”

Another doctor, Mary Neal, also wrote of her visit to heaven. An orthopaedic surgeon, she thought NDE’s could be fully explained by science; until her own. She drowned whilst kayaking in South America, and reported that she was transported to a heavenly realm, met with angels and Jesus, and experienced the unconditional love of God. She says she was told to return to look after her family because her oldest son would die and because she must tell her story. Ten years later her son did die, and she went on to then publish her book about what had happened to her.

The Huffington Post carried the story of Dr Heidi Horsley, a psychologist specialising in grief counselling, who was on her way home one night after working with a family who had lost a Fire-fighter in the World Trade Centre on 9/11. She had a head-on collision with another car going 75mph towards her, passing out on contact, and becoming immediately enveloped by a warm bright light. “As I moved toward the light I had the most euphoric feeling of love and inner peace that I had ever experienced. It was a place I never wanted to leave... I felt that I would soon be reunited with my (deceased) brother again. I have no idea how much time elapse...when I was jarred awake by an EMT pounding on my door.”

Early NDE’s in History.

Visits to Heaven have been reported since ancient times. Way back in the 18th Century, a famous English monk, the Venerable Bede, wrote about the heavenly experience told to him by a man who was thought to be dead. The man told him, “I was guided by a handsome man in a shining robe. When we reached the top of a wall, there was a wide and pleasant meadow, with light flooding in that seemed brighter than daylight or the midday sun. I was very reluctant to leave, for I was enraptured by the place’s pleasantness and beauty.”

Archives tell of the case of Albert Helm, writing in 1892, who made a special study of after-death experiences, because he himself had undergone one such truly extraordinary experience.  A keen climber, he fell one day whilst out in the mountains. He described how he heard clearly the blows to his head as he struck the mountainside. He said that he then saw his whole life pass before him, in many images, as though on a stage at some distance from him. Everything was transfigured as though by a heavenly light and everything was beautiful, without grief, without anxiety, and without pain. “I felt no conflict or strife; conflict had been transmuted into love. Elevated and harmonious thoughts dominated and united the individual images, and like magnificent music, a divine calm swept through my soul. I became ever more surrounded by splendid blue heaven.”

The philosopher Plato, also described an event in one of his many book, whereby a Greek soldier by the name of Er, awoke on his own funeral pyre and described a journey into the afterlife, seeing the light, and a vision of a celestial being.

Carl Jung wrote of his experience, following a heart attack, and of his disappointment at having to live again. “In reality, a good three weeks were still to pass before I could truly make up my mind to live again.” He wrote of feeling that he was high up in space, bathed in a glorious blue light.

Ordinary people’s accounts of their NDE’s.

Researchers at Southampton University have over the last few years been conducting research into experiences across hospitals in the UK. When this was mentioned on the BBC news website, ordinary readers sent in their own stories.

Gary Williams, from London, wrote, ‘I had an operation during which I was pumped with antibiotics I was allergic to. I recall my soul slowly rising to the ceiling in the hospital and out of my body...the following day I explained this to the doctor and he confirmed I had a near-death experience.’

The British newspaper The Daily Mail, in 2011, carried an article by Steve Boggan about ordinary people’s accounts of going to heaven. One such person was Gillian MacKenzie, who found herself being drawn to a brilliant light, through a tunnel, after losing consciousness during childbirth. “I felt no fear as I went into the tunnel and emerged into the brilliance. There was the most wonderful feeling of bliss. I can only describe it as ecstasy. Suddenly I heard a man’s voice saying, ‘Gillian,’ It was a very nice voice and I thought; ‘Oh no, I’ve come before God, and I don’t even believe in Him!’ He asked if I knew who he was and I said, ‘Yes, but I’m afraid I can’t say your name.’ He obviously had a sense of humour because he chuckled at that.”

In February 2012, The Sun newspaper interviewed Julie Di Mascio, who described loosing consciousness and leaving her body one day when she was being physically attacked. “It was in 1997, and as I lay choking on the floor I could feel my life slipping away. After twenty minutes of fighting, I gave up and felt instantly detached from my body. I had been in pain just moments before, but the hurt and fear left me. Instead it seemed like I was a floating, non-physical entity, separate from the woman on the floor. Then I realised there was a hooded figure behind my right shoulder, a man who didn’t speak out loud but who somehow communicated with me. This person showed me a life review of my existence. Everything I had done was included, good and bad, as well as the influence my actions had on other people.” She goes on to say, “the near-death experience left me a much kinder, wiser person. Even now, I’m painfully aware of the consequences of what I do. I don’t tell any people about my strange story because usually they react as if I’ve gone mad. But I know that what I saw was real and I am constantly examining my life to make sure I don’t waste my second chance.”

An Oklahoma woman, Crystal McVea, claims to have met God in Heaven. On Fox news she told of her vivid experience. In 2009 she died for a few minutes after a bad reaction to medication. “The moment I closed my eyes in that hospital room, I immediately opened them again and was standing in heaven. I saw an immense brightness, a brightness I could feel, touch, taste, hear, and smell that infused me. Not like I had five senses but more like I had five hundred. I fail to find human words to describe what I experienced while I was standing there. I had angels, I had God, I fell to my knees in front of him.” While many will be sceptical, McVea has no doubt that her experience has truly changed her life. “All my life I was a doubter,” she said. “To close my eyes, open them and be standing in front of the creator of not only the universe but of me, I never wanted to leave.”

On CBN, the Christian Broadcasting Network, Julie Papievis talked about a terrible car accident that happened as she was driving away from a shopping mall. A young driver ploughed into her at 50 miles an hour, severely injuring her head and neck. Her body instantly began dying. Within minutes the fire department arrived but were unable to detect a pulse or blood pressure. At the hospital, scans showed no brain function. After several weeks in a coma, she woke up, but with terrible permanent injuries. “My body was not able to do anything.”  She was unable to move or feed herself. She did not give up hope, however. “I never felt as if I was alone. I always felt the Lord’s presence in my whole walk through recovery, and from the minute I woke up, he was there for me. I felt that because of the experience I had.” While in the coma, Julie had been taken to heaven. “It was just perfect peace. I knew I was there in that place because I was dead. I knew that, and I was not afraid to be there. I was happy. It was like home, and I wanted to stay there.” She remembers her deceased Grandmother standing with her. “My grandmother said, ‘No, you can’t come with us. You have to go back...go back and be happy.’

So many experiencers of visiting Heaven report incredibly similar sights and sound and emotions. On KLTV 7 station in America, a lady called Rose Marie Richter was interviewed in June 2012, about her own experience. The journalist Morgan Palmer related her story, that as she was driving home one day, she started to have breathing difficulties. Making it into a furniture store to seek help, the staff called 911, but whilst waiting for the paramedics, her heart stopped. Mrs Richter said, “I went up, it was very dark, there were no stars...but before I became frightened, there was a tunnel there.. I went through the tunnel like ‘swoosh’ and at the end of the tunnel was a light. I followed it. I had no choice. I came out by the light. There was no sun. It was all in a golden, warm, loving light...it was full of leaves, flowers, birds, and everything was so colourful...I’ve never been that peaceful and that content, and have felt so loved in my entire life, and about that same time I heard that voice softly in my head, ‘Rose, it’s time to go back.’ I cried for about two days. I didn’t want to come back.’’

Zandra Sharp, an Australian journalist, wrote about an incident experienced by a man called Doug Harris, which prompted him to write a book about it. As Doctors battled to save his life after suffering a cardiac arrest, he found himself watching the doctors from above. “I was just a thought form, a spirit form if you like, watching what they were doing to my physical body.” The next thing he knew, he was travelling at great speed toward what appeared to be a City in the far distance, “bathed in silver gold light. When I saw it I was eager to be in it. I was anticipating something beautiful.” His conclusion, “There is obviously some place for us beyond this earth, and it is so peaceful there’s nothing to fear.”

Daniel Ekechukwu, a Nigerian man, came back to life on December 2nd 2001 after having been pronounced dead for more than forty eight hours. Mr Ekechukwu tells of his journey into the other world; that he was taken by two angels and handed over to another angel. He said that if he felt confused about something during his experience, if he had a question in his mind, this angel immediately gave him the answer. The angel first told him that they were going to Paradise. There was no time delay getting there; as soon as the angel said they were going there, they were there. He describes seeing a huge crowd of people in white dresses. The angel told him these were the saints. Daniel says he felt a strong desire to stay there but the angel told him there was much more to see, and he was shown marvellous golden transparent residences. “They are so beautiful that I cannot explain it. Everything seems to be golden and transparently shining, even the most beautiful flowers. All is indescribable beauty.”

Jennifer Perez has spoken on many shows of how, when she was a teenager, she sneaked out of her home one night to go out with her friend. The friend had met up with some boys and they all went to a motel to spend some time away from their parents. Jennifer did not drink alcohol, and so was handed a soft drink in the motel room. After only taking a few sips, she suddenly fell unconscious. Paramedics arrived and she was taken to hospital.  She could see the doctors desperately trying to save her. “When I looked to see where I was, it was heaven...on my left side there was a paradise; there were trees, a crystal clear waterfall and grass. It was such a beautiful place but there was nobody there. I looked and I saw the Father in front of me; I couldn’t see his face, it was so big, so bright, it shined and lit up all of Heaven.”

Wayne Wilson, has also written of his profound experience. “I was a young, tough guy years ago. Another life, it seems... I was in Northern Ontario, looking for work in the mines when I happened to get into a ‘scuffle’ with another young tough guy. I fell and hit my head on the corner of a waste container on my way to the floor. I looked up and saw that I was no longer in the room I had been in, but I was outside in a beautiful setting... rolling hills, trees, birds singing in the sky. I was surrounded by a large group of beings. They were in a circle around me, observing me as I kneeled before them... all of them wore white robes.. they were communicating with each other with their minds and I could ‘hear’ their thoughts in my mind, very very clearly. The younger ones were asking of the older ones, ‘Is he ready? Is he coming? Should we help him? Is he ready?’ The older ones simply stated, ‘Wait, be patient, wait...’He adds, “Keep in mind, at this time in my life I was not spiritually involved or religious in any way. I was a tough guy and I felt-and was proud-that I walked alone. I shook my head and found myself back in the room, bleeding profusely.” He says, “This vision was a profound and powerful event in my life, as you can imagine. It was some time ago (over 30 years) and there was not much talk those days about near death experience, so I kept quiet about it, pondered it, absorbed it, and eventually found myself renewed by it.”

Another man, Rudi Rudenski, has appeared on many radio talk shows telling the story of his own experience in 1982. On his way to a military base, he was involved in a car accident during a flash-flood. He says that his car rolled over and over, he left his body, and had a life review flashing before his eyes, seeing every event in his life from outside of his body, “like a 3D movie of my life, as if I was an observer of each event...different events had different levels of importance..” He continues, “most important were moments when some person shared their joy in some natural setting with me..any event that was not related to love.. kindness..joy...was not important.” He says, “When I first saw the light at the end of the tunnel I recognised my first thought..The light is love.” He describes hearing the most beautiful music. “I could hear the voices of millions of singers...the sounds of a million instruments..all playing their own strange beautiful song..but somehow..this most wonderful of sounds..this orchestra and choir..created a harmonious wonderful sound..this music surpasses any music ever imagined..it is second in beauty only to the glorious light.”

Today, Rudi teaches blind and visually impaired adults and children to live independently and helps them return to work. “I consider serving others with laughter and loving kindness to be the prime directive. Those moments when we love others and when we are loved by others are timeless pieces of The Light... Even when we die... those moments go on and on... All of our less than love dies and is forgotten but our kindnesses are a part of timelessness so we should do our best to be loving, kind and not sweat the small stuff. I understood how The Light loved a bully like me and if The Light could love someone who thought G-d hated everyone not like me, then think how much The Light could love someone who made their life about love. His message is, “try to experience as much joy, love, kindness in this life...because that is what you get that you can call yours in the next life.”

Irving Karchmar has recorded details of his experience. In 1986, the writer and poet, aged 41, was rushed to the Emergency Room with a misdiagnosed illness. His heart stopped and doctors attempted to resuscitate him. He was unconscious for three days, and for weeks doctors were unsure as to whether he would pull through. At one point, he felt himself die. “I was flying upward, faster than thought, I still had a body but it was ethereal, light as a feather. In front of me was a long luminous table and seated there were beings bathed in light but human in form. They had heads, bodies, and were robed in white. Were they angels? Judges? I don’t know. And I began to weep. I must be dead I thought, and began, without any prompting or question being asked, to recount the sins of my life, and they were many. Lying, cheating, and stealing. Through my tears I begged forgiveness. The being in the middle spoke easily in a calm, male sounding voice that I heard in my head. ‘You are forgiven. It is not your time yet.’ Instantly I was flying back. In a heartbeat I was back in my hospital bed. I was so happy to be alive that love poured out of me in poems. My state was one of infinite gratitude for the gift of my life, and for God’s infinite love and mercy and forgiveness. I knew how precious a gift is this short life we are given, and the chance in it to give love and experience love.”

The International Association for Near Death Studies, which hosts many expert researchers in this field, lists a very interesting story told to them by May Eulitt, about a group experience she had with her two close friends one day when they were struck by a bolt of lightning out on her farm, in 1971. May herself saw ‘golden, embracing warmth’, which ‘gave off a feeling of peace and contentment more intense than anything we had ever felt.’ They were drawn toward it, and ‘entered a beautiful valley; there were meadows and tree-lined hills that led to tall mountains in the distance. Everything glistened with golden sparks of light...slowly out of the mist, a pure white being began to materialize.’ She described her interaction with beings, saying that the guides taught them that humanity should treat all people as if they were a part of their own soul because they were; that they should learn acceptance and tolerance, and that the only rule that mattered was– do unto others as you would have them do unto you. May and her friend James were told they would be allowed to return, but Rashid would only be allowed to return for a short time to settle his affairs. When they returned to their bodies, Rashid was the far more seriously injured, having borne the brunt of the electrical charge. He did indeed sadly die shortly after.

Dannion Brinkley was also struck by lightning, in 1975 in South Carolina, and as result of his transformative visit to Heaven, became a world-wide speaker on spirituality. One evening, whilst talking on the telephone to a friend, lightining travelled down the telephone line and struck him. After he died, he described travelling at fast speed up through many levels surrounded by glowing mists. He saw energy fields, flowing like rivers or looking like lakes or streams. Through the mist he could see deep blue velvet mountains, that were not jagged but round and smooth. On the mountainsides he could see lights that looked like dwellings that turn on their lights at dusk. He said that he and his angelic companion were flying. “As wingless birds we shot into a City of Cathedrals. These Cathedrals were entirely made of crystal-like substance that glowed with a bright light from within. I was filled with awe. This placed had a power that seemed to vibrate through the air.”

As a result of what he saw, Dannion went on to form a group called ‘The Twilight Brigade’ a non-profit organization that supports bedside volunteers who provide companionship to those who are dying, especially veterans, during the last months of life. Brinkley himself has been at the bedside of many patients, including dying veterans and AIDS patients.

Lynn Claire Dennis’s near death experience had the resulting effect of inspiring physicists. She ‘died’ in a hot air balloon over the Swiss Alps. During her experience she came into contact with what she describes as ‘the pattern’ – a ‘sacred mandala and geometric structure she describes as being the ‘essence of all being, representing all time and space, and the energy of all matter, which emanates from the source of light and absolute love.’ Her unique experience has led physicists to work with her to develop a new theory for the scientific framework of Systems. Lynn Claire wrote about her experience as being “Immersed in the warmth of the light. Suddenly I was safe, warm and basking on the luminous sunlight...in a place filled with vivid and joyous childhood memories.” She asked herself, ‘Was this heaven? ... never before had I considered that there might be such things as co-existent realities. Never had I imagined that there might be concurrent realities...I realised that in life, death is merely the other side of a threshold over which I could not normally see, so too in death, life and the land of the living were on the other side of a very thin veil.’ She continues, ‘I heard music. It was a tone so subliminally perfect that remembering it still brings me to tears. I knew then, and know now, that I was hearing the symphony of angels...I bathed in its melody as utter joy filled my being.’

Donna Gatti has established a life long interest in sharing the messages of angels after having her own NDE. She now writes and gives lectures on the subject. Whilst having an operation in 1974, she found herself flying. “Gravity had no effect on me, flying was natural and effortless,” she continues, “slowly, I went higher and higher until I was caught up in a brilliant white light. It was whiter and brighter than the rays of the sun, but not at all glaring or hard on the eyes. I could have stayed there forever, basking in the warmth and comfort of its mysterious glow. The sound of a masculine and utterly magnificent voice captured my attention. Veiled from sight, he addressed me as if I had just awakened from a coma. He told me who I was, where I had been, and where I was from. He answered every question that had ever crossed my mind, as if my smallest concern was of utmost importance. I felt respected and loved. It was a solemn moment. But when he told me why Aunt Bettie married Uncle Fred, which had always baffled me, I broke into laughter.’OK,’ I said, smiling at the man in the light. ‘I remember now. You don’t have to say anything else.’ It was blissful in the spiritual realm, floating in an ocean of white light. I was content, until one of the nurses screamed, ‘We’re losing her!’ and the sound of distress hit my spirit like a cannonball shot to the belly. I came to a halt about three inches away from the ceiling. I looked down at my spiritual body to make sure it was still intact, and what I saw surprised me. There were two cherubs, stark naked except for tiny loincloths, and every bit as cute as those in Raphael’s paintings. ‘We are Escort Angels,’ said one of the twins, with the noble pride of a royal servant. ‘We have come to take you home.’

Since that incident, Donna says that she has been able to contact the spiritual realm, and has seen angels ‘as big as skyscrapers and others as small as a pinpoint of light.’

Children’s visits to Heaven.

Children, it seems, have often reported their own NDE’s. Skeptics are quick to suggest that adults have imagined their experiences based on their accumulated knowledge of religion, but published studies, particularly by the esteemed expert in this field, Dr Melvin Morse, dispute that this could be the case for children, who are often too young to have detailed opinions on heaven. Dr Morse, an American paediatrician, has discovered that many critically ill children have undergone the same types of experiences described by adults, but described in children’s vocabulary. In one of his many published studies, a five year old girl whose heart had stopped, told him, “I rose up in the air and saw a man like Jesus because he was nice and he was talking to me. I saw dead people, grandmas, and grandpas, and babies waiting to be born. I saw a light like a rainbow which told me who I was and where I should go. Jesus told me it wasn’t my time to die.”

Paul Eicke was just three years old when he drowned in his grandfather’s pond in Germany, 2010. He was in the pond for several minutes before he was found. His father tried to resuscitate him to no avail, and he was rushed to hospital where doctors tried for hours to save him. After three hours, his heart started to beat again. During this time, Paul has said that he saw his great grandmother who turned him back from a gate, urging him to go back to his parents. Paul said, “There was a lot of light and I was floating. I came to a gate and I saw grandma Emmi on the other side. She said to me, ‘What are you doing here Paul? You must go back to mummy and daddy. I will wait for you here.’ He said, “I knew I was in Heaven. But grandma said I had to come back home. She said that I should go back very quickly. Heaven looked nice.”

The Tribune, a local newspaper in Alabama, USA, carried the story of a little girl, Ari Hallmark, aged 6, who suffered the tragic loss of five of her family members in 2011, when a force 4 tornado struck, sending trucks flying, and smashing up houses. As the tornado approached, Abi and her family took refuge in one of the bathroom in her grandparent’s house. She describes how the door of the bathroom started creaking as the wind tried to break it off. She did what she had been taught to do at school and wrapped her arms around her legs with her head tucked in. She could feel trucks hitting the side of the house and she describes feeling the house going sideways. “The house turned over and the sink fell out. It was that fast..then something knocked me out...” After she was knocked out, Ari remembers going to heaven. She describes a staircase and an angel; they started walking up the stairs. She describes seeing big doors with diamond handles and angels opened them.  Ari says she heard her dad ask Jesus if there was anything he needed to do and Jesus told him that he could build houses in heaven. Then her angel told her it was time to go back down. “I saw the streets were gold..I saw some deer and I remember seeing a robin. I saw some fruit trees. Then my angel said, ‘Let’s go Ari, we’re going back down...’ I don’t know how she knew my name because I didn’t tell her anything.” She says she wasn’t scared or worried about her family, “I knew what they were doing..I knew.”

David L Jones, of Texas, wrote a book about his own experiences, quoting that having had his own, he went on to look into this spiritual field and found that there were reportedly literally thousands of people who had been through the same experience. He says to the reader, “It’s up to you what you believe..I was not brought back by human endeavour, rather I was sent back with a task to perform.” He describes how when he was twelve he was helping his father who was the maintenance man at the local cemetery, to lay irrigation piping. A squirrel ran into one of the pipes he was just about to use, and so picking it up he tried to shake the squirrel out. Lifting the pipe up, hoping it would run down it, he suddenly realised the 20 foot pipe was touching the overhead highline wire, and the electricity started to flow through his body. He couldn’t move. “Everything just like faded out on me. I was never a religious person. I know you would say, ‘What twelve years old is?’ but honestly, God and the bible was mostly an abstraction to me. Even I if had been devout, I would not have been prepared for what was happening to me. I believed in things I could see, touch, hear.” Then he describes what happened. “I seemed to be floating, bodiless..I didn’t breathe and my heartbeat was gone. This is impossible. How could I be conscious without a body?... I had no arms or legs so I couldn’t move anything...the really weird thing though was that I felt normal...” In heaven, he says, you communicate by thought. He stood on the threshold of a gate. “I could see the flights of countless groups of angels across my range of view. Honestly it would be worth the price of dying, just to be able to glimpse this. As one called out to him, his first thought was, ‘Are you God?’ He answered me! Well, actually, he laughed. But, that was an answer; it showed he heard me. He had a good laugh. It made me feel good. I loved that laugh. His laugh was like it started within and built up until he was full, and then it spilled out as he overflowed with laughter. When he was through laughing he explained carefully and slowly. “No, and they don’t like to be called that. They are the Shepherds. That is what they do. They guide and protect. He hypothesises now, looking back, that “we are made in God’s image, and not the other way around. God was not made in our image..He can certainly manifest himself any way he wants to. This would include a burning bush, a man, a woman, a thundercloud, take your pick, but God is a spiritual being. That is the image we are made of.” As for our purpose in life, “you are learning how to be. This is but one step of many.”

Soldier’s accounts of Heaven.

According to the New York Times, at least fifteen million Americans say they have had an NDE. Talking to the president of the International Association for Near Death Studies, Diane Corcoran, in 2010, they reported that she had heard accounts from many wounded soldiers after the Vietnam War as she was nursing them. The Herald Sun takes up her story. Corcoran didn’t know what a soldier was trying to tell her in 1969 about his near-death experience on the battlefield. The term was unknown then, but she could see that what he had gone through was life-changing. “I recognised that it was profound, extremely emotional for him, and he was so worried that I wouldn’t believe him.” Since that day she has made it her mission to learn more about those who report near-death experiences, especially war veterans. She has since spent forty years teaching fellow medical professionals about them. Veterans in particular, she said, often feel frustrated and alone because medical professionals often don’t listen to their accounts and take them seriously. “There are so many near-death experiencers out there who don’t know we exist and think they’re crazy, and feel very isolated. We want to get the word out to people and help them to know about our organization. Corcoran believes the number of veterans with near-death stories will grow now that the war in Iraq has ended.

On ABC TV News station in America, their own presenter, Bob Woodruff, probed the mysteries of life after death, revealing that he himself had experienced such a thing. Whilst reporting during the war in Iraq, he and the group he was travelling with, were hit by an IED. “The steering wheel impaled me in the chest and then the roof collapsed on my head. So there’s just no way you could survive this accident.” It was not until thirty six days later that he awoke from a coma. The experience he had before coming back to life, he says, “could not be explained as anything other than life after death.” He recalls seeing his body floating below him. He says he remembers hearing music, “that was beyond spectacular,” and smelling aromas he had never smelled before. His grandfather greeted him, and other family members. They all stood in front of a “magnificent gate with lights that were pulsing with life.” He went onto discuss his experience with other people who had had similar. “Everyone said it was comfort; there was no pain,” and he said that almost everybody not only thought about staying but generally wanted to.

Pastors and Chaplain’s experiences.

Pastor and hospital Chaplain in Houston, Reverend John W Price, has been a long-time researcher of NDE’s. He recalls the account of one person he spoke with, Reverend Dirk Wilner, who told him, “I’ve seen what I believe, which changes how you believe; it’s no longer a theory, it’s my reality! Heaven is not just waiting for us at the end of our days, but is eagerly waiting to impact our daily lives.”

Rev. Price, being interviewed on Texan news channel KHOU, said he believes that each episode is a revelation. “People generally have doubts, puzzled over whether these things are real, whether there is a God or life after death, well, this settles it for them.” He has never had his own NDE; however, over a period of thirty years, he has interviewed 232 people who have. He collated the stories into a book. Khou news also interviewed a man called Scott Corran, who at the age of 44, whilst out cycling in the park with friends, suddenly felt nauseous and collapsed, his heart stopping and in effect dying. “I knew something was wrong, and I left my friends to find a restroom. About a quarter a mile from the tennis centre, my heart stopped and I hit the street and was dead.” But what happened over the next twenty four hours was astonishing. Scott said he had what thousands describe as a near death experience. “What that was is really a period of leaving my body and returning.” During that time, he said he remembers a meeting with his dad in a playground. “My dad joined me at the playground, and we sat and talked...my dad had died five years before me, I think it was my dad came to comfort me and to help me understand that I was to come back.” Steven was resuscitated several times by paramedics and doctors, and ultimately after twenty four hours, came back to life. What happened to him in Memorial park led to a spiritual awakening. “Dying and coming back brings you closer to God, but more than anything, it brings you closer to man.”

Another Pastor, Friar Jose Maniyangat, is currently the pastor of St Mary’s Church in Maclenn, Florida. On April 14 in 1985, he was riding his motorcycle when he was hit head-on by a drunken driver in a Jeep. Rushed to hospital thirty five miles away, on the way there he felt himself leaving his body. At the hospital, the Dr pronounced him dead, and his family were notified. Later, as they were taking him to the morgue, he awoke. On his Church website he says an angel told him, “I am going to take you to Heaven, the Lord wants to meet you and talk with you...My angel escorted me to Heaven, passing through a big dazzling white tunnel. I never experienced this much peace and joy in my life. Then immediately Heaven opened up and I heard the most delightful music ...the angels were singing...words cannot describe the beauty of Heaven. There we find so much peace and happiness.”

Healing abilities of Near-death experiencers.

Very interestingly, quite often, the ‘side-effects’ of having an NDE results in the person coming back with wide-ranging new spiritual abilities. These range from telepathy, clairaudience, clairvoyance, precognition, remote viewing, and often healing abilities. Sometimes, not only do experiencers return in a better physical state, but so too can they heal others.

In 1982 Mellen-Thomas Benedict was dying of terminal cancer. His condition was inoperable, and he had been given just months to live. Before his near-death experience, he had sought out all alternative therapies in an attempt to get better. Unfortunately none had helped. As his death approached, he had turned to reading about various religions and philosophies, in order to find some kind of comfort and hope before dying. He had come to feeling that man was destroying its environment and he worried for the planet’s future. One day he ‘died’ and for an hour and a half, as he was monitored, he showed no vital signs. He has described what happened to him. “A light shone, I turned toward it..it was magnificent and tangible, alluring. I wanted to go towards that light like I might want to go into my ideal mother’s or father’s arms.” The Light spoke to him, telling him that what all people seek and what sustains them is Love. What distorts people is lack of love. It said that we all have the power to save, redeem and heal ourselves.

When he returned to his body, astonishingly, the cancer had gone. Since his experience, he claims to have been able to maintain direct access to the ‘Universal Intelligence’, and says he is able to return to the light at will, being a bridge between science and spirit.

Tiffany Snow, was an ordinary mother and songwriter, living near Nashville, who in her own words, was struggling to contend with the demands of a busy life, with four children, horses, and her own business to run. One evening in 1999, she noticed the stormy looking sky and went out to tend to one of her horses. “Strong winds were blowing, rain was beginning to pelt the garden. That’s when I ran out of time, and I would never look at time and many other things the same way again. My old life would soon be over.”  Out in the field, a bolt of lightning struck her. “There was an instance of terrible pain, and then I felt no pain, and actually gained clarity of thought...I found myself standing on nothing, way up in the Universe, and there were distant colourful planets all around me. Floating a few feet from me, I saw a man with a spirit body just like mine. He spoke with a voice I heard inside my own head, saying, ‘Don’t be afraid, it’s ok.’ The bright light was still far from me. I wanted to go on. I felt like a magnet, irresistibly drawn. I knew this place was the heavenly throne of God himself. A glowing luminousness appeared in front of me... A divine presence. The spirit then told me something I didn’t understand; ‘Welcome to the world of healers.’ This was a shock to me. I had no idea what that meant. I had never believed in such a thing.”

However, after Tiffany returned to her life on earth, she was about to find out.  Tending to her horse the next day, rubbing cream into the sores on his body, she noticed her hands becoming very hot. The next day, all the sores had healed. Confused and amazed, Tiffany tried to see if she could perhaps heal herself, as she had a number of medical issues which needed surgery. Putting her hands on herself, she was skeptical. However, on her next visit to the hospital, she was stunned to be told that the fibroid cyst she had been told would need to be operated, had in fact disappeared. Since then, Tiffany has dedicated herself to the healing of others. Astonishingly, she now regularly has stigmata appear on her body, which can be seen on her website, tiffanysnow.com

Cami Elizabeth Renfrow is another lady who has found herself able to heal others. When she was 22, she had a terrible car accident, becoming crushed when her car went airborne and landed on top of her, fracturing her skull and the base of her spine, as well as much else in between the two. Subsequently, Cami experienced many episodes of out of body experiences and a near death experience. She was bedridden for a very long time and in immense pain throughout. In the days after her return to her body though, while still in the hospital, she worked hard focussing on her breathing to address her pain, and began experiencing prolonged states of expanded consciousness.  She has written “between breaths, I simply slipped from one form of consciousness into a much more spacious and connected and powerful one. From this state I felt honoured to keep the body breathing and endure this particular blazing burden. It wasn’t suffering, it was fuel. I was filled with the sheer joy and gratitude of experiencing this particular delicious incarnation, this body and personality….I experienced ongoing mystical states of consciousness to the point of greatly disrupting my life. I begun sensing other people’s emotions and physical states,” and in time, it seemed, “I discovered I could heal with my hands, and we ALL have that ability..Without any professional training, I seemed to know about healing from the inside out.”

Incredibly, she says, “I got stopped on the street more than once to be asked what the light was around my head.”

Many years prior to this, back in the early 1900’s, there was another famous healer, who had thousands of NDE’s voluntarily, putting himself into a trance state. Edgar Cayce, was just a simple man living an ordinary life, when he suddenly lost his voice. In frustration and desperation, he turned to a hypnotist to try to get his voice back. The hypnotist, Layne, suggested that Cayce describe the nature of his condition, and the cure it needed, while in a hypnotic trance. Cayce duly did describe his own ailment from a first person plural point of view, using "we" instead of the singular "I".

He said that his voice loss was due to psychological paralysis and could be corrected by increasing the blood flow to the voice box. Layne then suggested that the blood flow be increased and on awakening Cayce from the hypnosis, his voice seemed to have returned to normal. It transpired that from then on, by going into a trance, Edgar was able to diagnose and suggest cures for people’s ailments. He began to offer free treatments to people in the Town. Reports of his work appeared in the Newspapers, which led to thousands of letters asking for help. Cayce was able to work just as effectively using a letter from the individual as with the person present. Simply being given the person's name and location, he was able to diagnose the person’s physical and psychological illnesses and provide a remedy. Cayce soon became famous and people from around the world sought his advice. What is most relevant is that during many of the times he entered the hypnotic state, he was able to describe his visits to the heavenly realm. He did not experience clinical brain death, and yet was still somehow able to access ‘the hall of records’ in heaven, with it’s infinite an unlimited information about everyone who has ever lived.

Mathew D Dovel wrote a book about his own newly discovered abilities, commenting that often these things are rarely discussed because coming forward people don’t want to be signalled out as being ‘different’ or ‘special’. He says, “I have published this information for others that have these side effects as a result of an NDE, to comfort...At the age of twelve I drowned in a neighbour’s pool, went into the light, met God Almighty himself, was told that I had work to do, and I was sent back. Angry at God for sending me back to what I now believed to be Hell, I turned to alcohol and drugs...I attempted suicide in order to escape this existence and return to the white light. As a result, I had another near-death experience, but this time I did not go into the white light! Upon my return, God spoke to me and said that I still had work to do and that I couldn’t do it if I was drinking or drugging. I haven’t put a drug or had a drink of alcohol since. It has been many years since my ‘deaths’ and I know that these gifts are meant to help others.”

He believes that he can now remove traumas from people, healing them; and get rid of long term pain conditions. Interestingly, he says of his life, “I feel now, most of the time that I’m half here, and still half on the other side.”

Conclusion

Perhaps the most fundamental thing to come out of all of these experiences, is not just that there is unconditional love waiting for us there, but that we should also try to do our best to give out as much love as possible whilst we are still on earth.

Nanci Danison was a high powered Lawyer, with real success and achievements in her career to be proud of, although she worked a six day week and rarely saw her husband, resulting in a divorce. When she was diagnosed with cancer, like many others who had had near-death experiences, she held no fear. In fact, she has said, “It was like; ‘Oh my gosh. I’m going home! I was probably the only cancer patient who was ever excited they were going to die.” In 1994 she had experienced the most intense happiness and feeling of love in the afterlife. Whilst there, Nanci realised just how shallow and materialistic some of her earthly existence really had been..

As a teenager, Renee Paraslow lost consciousness after an allergic reaction to food. She stopped breathing and her mother laid her on the pavement awaiting the paramedics. She has spoken openly of her experience in many interviews. “I became aware that there was a light calling me from somewhere else, and I entered what people speak of as the tunnel. It was a transition place...what moved me through this place was love..the love of all things sacred and all things beautiful. And it was a welcoming to me, and I dove into this ocean with each moment, with each movement, feeling more rapture and more joy and more just absolutely unspeakable love.” She talks about her encounter with a being of light, who reviewed parts of her life with her. The time she had shown kindness to a boy who was not that nice at her summer camp, because she had wanted to make him feel liked. Little acts of kindness that she had shown were far more important in the eyes of Heaven than the other things we usually give so much importance to.

Table of Contents

Copyright

Introduction

Research into Near-Death Experiences.

Doctor’s own Near-Death Experiences.

Early NDE’s in History.

Ordinary people’s accounts of their NDE’s.

Children’s visits to Heaven.

Soldier’s accounts of Heaven.

Pastors and Chaplain’s experiences.

Healing abilities of Near-death experiencers.

Conclusion

Table of Contents

Copyright

Introduction

Research into Near-Death Experiences.

Doctor’s own Near-Death Experiences.

Early NDE’s in History.

Ordinary people’s accounts of their NDE’s.

Children’s visits to Heaven.

Soldier’s accounts of Heaven.

Pastors and Chaplain’s experiences.

Healing abilities of Near-death experiencers.

Conclusion