These 7 Things Happen To You When You Die by Chad Stambaugh

These 7 Things Happen To You When You Die

     What happens to us when we die? Where does our soul go? Chances are, if you were brought up in a religious background you believe that there are only 2 places you can go: Heaven and Hell. If you are a good person and believe the right things, you spend eternity in Heaven. If you are a sinful person, you spend an eternity in hell. Thankfully, this is a false dichotomy.

     On top of the fact that it doesn't even make sense to think about only 2 options (both of which are eternal), there has been a lot of scientific investigation into what happens when people leave their bodies when it dies and then return after experiencing time in the spirit world. Thousands of near-death experiences have given us the information we need to form a more accurate picture of what awaits us on the other side. Some do report hellish realms, and almost all report heavenly realms, but there is another side of the coin here that needs to be addressed.

     Dr. Michael Newton is a psychologist who specialized in hypnotherapy, where he would put people into hypnosis to bring out any past traumas they experienced in their lives and walk them through the memories into healing. He soon discovered that he was able to bring people back so far into their memories that they were remembering things that weren't even taking place in this life anymore. They were taking place in between lives!

     In his books “Journey of Souls and Destiny of Souls” (which together have sold over half a million copies) he shares case studies that he has gathered over the course of four decades of bringing people back into the memories of their souls journey. Surprisingly, they all said the exact same things, and coincided very nicely with a lot of the NDE accounts that have occurred. Here are 7 things which these two fields of study have strongly suggested happen to us when we die:

1) Life Flash

     An extremely common phenomenon within people who are dying is that they see their entire life flash before their eyes. The brain snaps into hyper-speed mode and starts’ revisiting your memory databank before your soul separates from your body.

2) You Can See Your Body

     Many people will see their physical body right as they exit it at the moment that consciousness disconnects from the physical body. You will be able to see your surroundings and the things that are happening around your dead body. This will not scare you however, because it will feel as natural as anything. Some people report feeling frustrated or angry over the way they died and wishing that they could go back into their body to seek revenge, but this feeling passes with time as you begin to fall into the Light.

3) The Light

     People always report seeing a light when they die. The light appears off in the distance, and you will slowly be pulled towards it, almost as if you are being pulled by a magnet. The light is always accompanied by a sense of love and peace. This is your transition phase back to your home in the spirit world.

4) Seeing Dead Relatives

     Right when you enter into the spirit world after being pulled through the light, you are greeted by loved ones who are there to embrace you and comfort you. It’s sort of like a reunion. These are not necessarily your relatives from your current earth life. They may be family members of yours from previous lives who have been with you throughout your whole souls evolution. Essentially, you have family members you don’t currently know about from a totally different bloodline who will greet you as you enter the spirit world. You will, of course, remember their names and recognize their faces upon return.

     It’s important to note here that the souls will take on the image they had in physical form to create a sense of home and familiarity for you. Souls don’t look like they did on earth necessary. The body is just a body. The soul is formless, but can take various shapes to serve different purposes. It is said that advanced souls who have lived many lives don’t necessarily have relatives that greet them, because they understand what the spirit world is about and have been through many times before. It is said in the books that advanced souls sometimes skip this step because it is not needed for them.

5) Guardian Angels/Spirit Guides

     You have your own assigned guardian angel, or ‘spirit guide’ depending on which term you like to use better. Whatever you wish to call them, you will encounter your guide in the spirit world and they will comfort you and make you feel at home. But, this is also the time where the fun and games are over. After you experience some of the heavenly realms, duty begins to call. Your guide has been with you and watching you throughout your life, and wants to go over some things with you. It’s time to take out your report card from the life you just lived.

6) Life Review

     You meet with your angels/guides and go over everything that happened in your life. People report seeing their entire life as a; sort of movie film, in front of their eyes, or on the pages of a book. You may have to see some things that make you feel ashamed and like you failed, but this is not a time of judgment. This is a time of review, and discussion about what needs to be improved upon as a soul. After you see your whole life, you may come to an agreement with your guides to come back to Earth to work on things after a certain period of time in the spirit world.

7) You Don’t Want To Return

     You feel such an overwhelming amount of peace and love that you don’t want to return. You don’t have to worry about illness or earthly tasks. You are boundless, safe, and free. No stress, no pain, and no suffering.

     But remember, reincarnation may await you. You may either volunteer to come back to help other souls on earth, you may NEED to come back to alleviate Karma, or you may choose to come back to evolve more as a soul and experience the richness of life.

     Keep in mind, these are what thousands of people have been saying about their memories/experiences of the afterlife, and these conclusions are being drawn from forty years of professional work. I personally confidently believe in the reality of such a process, as I think it makes the most sense and is well supported by evidence.

     That being said, there are people who report going to realms which resemble Hell where they see demons and other nasty things. We can’t turn a blind eye to the reality of dark realms just because they may scare us. Although Dr. Newton did not report any such findings, many people who have had NDEs have had very frightening experiences which had deterred them away from bad behavior and inspired them to live better lives.

     The main thing to take away from this is that you are taken care of. You are infinitely loved and will be looked after. There is no death, only transition. You WILL get to reunite with the souls of loved ones, and you will experience magical realms. Peace, love, and serenity waits. But so does accountability. The destiny of your soul is related to your behavior as a human being in this life. That will be good news to some, and for others may inspire the desire to improve themselves. Either way, we should be asking ourselves the following questions:

     How am I treating other souls in this world? What am I doing to help myself and the people around evolve?

The Paranormal Guide Presents: General Paranormal - Near Death Experiences

 

Near Death Experiences
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Many people who have been on the brink of death, and more importantly, those who have been clinically dead, have reported various strange experiences.

Reports range from out of body experiences (some people having seen their own dead bodies), to a tunnel of light, a sense of well-being and relief from pain to visions of loved ones who have already passed. These experiences, along with many others, are collectively referred to as 'near death experiences' or NDE's.

Although there have been many historical reports of similar experiences, it is with the advent of medical technologies ability to resuscitate people after much longer periods of ceased bodily function, that NDE's have become more common.

NDE's have become so common that Kenneth Ring, Professor of Psychology at the University of Connecticut, has subdivided people’s experiences into five separate stages: peace, body separation, entering darkness, seeing the light and finally entering the light.

More people experience the first stages of NDE, than the later stages.

There have been many theories of what is taking place during an NDE. Common amongst more spiritual people is that it is the transition from life to the afterlife. Many cite it as proof positive that the human consciousness can survive the death of the physical body.

Skeptics of the spiritual outlook claim that the symptoms of the NDE are caused by the brain releasing large amounts of DMT (Dimethyltryptamine, a naturally occurring psychedelic) into the system in order to prevent its host and itself suffering further trauma and shock.

It is also noted that many of the NDE 'symptoms' are felt by those that have not suffered life threatening events, or people in deep meditation and those lucidly dreaming. These facts are also said to prove that NDE experiences have no link to an existence, or proof of the afterlife.

However, it should be understood that many people utilise meditation, lucid dreaming and the use of DMT for spiritual practices. These practices have been used for many, many years by those seeking to better experience and commune with the spirit realms.

Even if the brain itself is causing these events, could it be priming the experiences consciousness for the afterlife?

Ashley Hall 2012

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Near Death Experience: It's All a Dream, Say Researchers by Chad Stambaugh

Near Death Experience: It's All a Dream, Say Researchers

     Since the mid-1970s researchers from the medical, psychological and scientific fields have rigorously investigated the near-death-experience (NDE) phenomenon.  While most researchers accept that NDEs are a real phenomenon, there's a lack of consensus on what causes this sensation, whether it be biological, psychological  or even spiritual.

     Recent research by the Out-of-Body Experience (OOBE) Research Center in Los Angeles, USA, managed to replicate the events that people encounter in a near-death-experience during the rapid eye movement (REM) stage of sleep.  According to the center leader Michael Raduga, the study suggests that NDEs “may be just the result of spontaneous and hyper-realistic lucid dreams, induced by narcosis or brain damage during dying.”

What is a Near-Death Experience?

     Near-death experiences involve a person's consciousness seemingly leaving their body and entering what appears to be a spiritual realm. Common experiences involve a person moving down a tunnel towards a great light, where a spiritual figure or deceased loved ones help them to evaluate their lives and conclude that it's not yet their time to die and that they should return to their body.  Many people have also reported an out-of-body experience where they have viewed their own body from above as others try to resuscitate them or even visited their living relatives.  A feeling of peace and happiness is also commonly reported during NDEs
    Not all near-death-experiences are associated with peace, comfort and happiness.  A number of NDE accounts involve people traversing barren and ugly expanses, nightmarish landscapes and hellish environments. In this scenery people have  reported encountering twisted and grotesque human and animals figures, zombie-like beings and lifeless or threatening apparitions, which instead of engaging in conversation threaten the person, scream or remain dead silent.

     The International Association for Near Death Studies (IANDS) currently manages a  database with around 800 reported NDEs. 75 percent of these near-death experiences occurred at the moment of real or anticipated death. The remaining  25 percent of NDEs were reported by people who did not perceive themselves to be  near death, but instead where in emotionally intense situations, praying or meditating, sleeping, or in ordinary states of consciousness when this phenomenon occurred. NDEs have been reported by people from all demographics, regardless of age, marital status, occupation, personality and education.

NDE and REM-Sleep

     In the US around 8 million people have reported experiencing NDEs and in most cases they've occurred during anesthesia-induced sleep. The OOBE Research Center recruited several dozen NDE practitioners as well as three groups of 10-20  participants from the US and Russia, who used a method of “cycling indirect techniques” to reproduce the NDE experience quickly and effectively.

     These techniques involved sleeping for 6 hours, getting up and reading through researcher's instructions and then going back to bed for another 2–4  hours. Upon awakening participants would try not to move or open their eyes, and instead attempt to separate from their body. Different techniques to help in the separation included participants imagining that they were rotating along their head-to-toe axis; swimming; or visualizing wriggling their hands and feet without physically doing so.

     The researchers aimed to reproduce the tunnel experience due to it being a  commonly reported element in the NDE sensation. Around 20 volunteers were  partially or fully successful in reproducing flight through a tunnel and the  sensation of being out of their body during the REM stage of sleep, which takes  place 90-100 minutes after falling asleep and when the majority of dreaming  occurs.

     Researchers found that NDEs were influenced by lucid dreaming – where the  dreamer, realizing that they're asleep, can manipulate and control certain  elements of the dream. Participants were instructed that if they successfully separated from their body they should try to find a tunnel. As they moved down the tunnel they concentrated on what awaited them at the end, whether it is a deceased family member, a friend, an angel, or even God. Many of these 20 volunteers reported an encounter with individuals at the end of the tunnel, including interactions with their deceased grandparents, husband, pet cat, female angels and even Roman legionaries.

      The researchers, assuming that NDEs take place during REM-sleep, suggest that  near-death-experiences may be manipulated by peoples' expectations of what they believe or often heard they will encounter at the moment of death. In regards to people experiencing NDEs at death, only to be revived later, researchers have stated that there's a possibility that REM-sleep may continue on after the first  few seconds of death, as brain activity does not stop the very moment breathing  has ceased.

     This isn't the first study that's suggested that REM-sleep maybe associated with near-death experiences. Neurologist Kevin Nelson from the University of Kentucky has argued that consciousness cannot exist outside of the body and that the NDE sensation is all in the head. Nelson suggests that NDEs occur when the dorsolateral prefrontal region – a part of our brain that is usually only active when awake - becomes active during REM-sleep, resulting in vivid realistic dreams.

     Nelson also suggests that other common elements in NDE accounts, such as the feeling of bliss and lack of pain, can be explained by a drop in blood pressure during a near-death event. The experience of moving down a tunnel towards a bright light is similar to retinal ischemia, a 5-to-8 second phenomenon that is commonly experienced in fainting.

Previous suggestions on causes of near-death experiences include:

·         endorphins (a hormone that suppresses pain and causes feelings of elation);

·         anoxia (where oxygen is deprived to a certain part of the body);

·         stimulation of the brain's temporal lobe;

·         hallucinations created by a dying brain;

·         drug induced-hallucinations;

·         higher-than-average blood levels of carbon dioxide and potassium

·         REM intrusions, where characteristics from REM-sleep stage - such as rapid  eye movement, low muscle tone and dreaming - occur when someone is awake and  conscious.

·         memories of birth, such as moving through what appears to be a dark tunnel  towards a great light;

·         And even proof of life-after-death.

History of Near-Death Experiences

     The earliest record of near-death experiences was in Plato's “Myth of Er” which was written around 420BCE and was included in Book X of The Republic. The story involved a man named Er who died in battle with his follow soldiers and returned to life 12 days later, while his non-decomposed body lay on a funeral pyre. Er retold his experience of travelling to a spiritual realm where souls of the departed were judged on their actions on Earth, met and conversed with souls from heaven and even had the option of  reincarnation.

     Personal experiences of NDEs were first described in 1892 by geologist Albert von St. Gallan Heim who published a collection of observations of mountain climbers who had fallen in the Alps, soldiers wounded in battle, workers who had  fallen from scaffolds and other people who had nearly died in accidents and drowning’s.

     The term 'Near-Death Experiences' was first used in 1975 by Raymond Moody in his book Life After Life which sparked new interest and research on the topic. Moody also listed elements that tend to appear in NDE experiences, which include:

·         ineffability

·         hearing oneself pronounced dead

·         feelings of peace and quiet

·         hearing unusual noises from an unknown source (e.g. reported noises include  buzzing, ringing, clicking and even “majestic” music)

·         seeing and being pulled through a dark tunnel

·         being out of the body

·         meeting with spiritual beings

·         encountering a bright light or a being made of light

·         a panoramic life-review

·         a border of limit, which from NDE accounts have taken the form of a body of  water, a gray mist, a door, a fence or even just a line

·         returning to ones' body

Near-Death Experiences across Cultures

     Surveys conducted in the US, Australia and Germany suggest that 4-15 percent of people have had a near-death experience. One estimate suggests that NDEs occur in up to 50 percent of near-death situations.

     So far most studies investigating NDEs have focused on white Anglo-European  populations where common events include the sensation of travelling through a tunnel towards a great light and life-review where events from a person's life flash before their eyes. These occurrences maybe culture specific as they are less commonly reported, and in some cases not reported at all, in NDEs from  non-western cultures e.g. Chinese, Indian, Thai, Native American, Chamorro (native people of Guam), Mapuche (indigenous people of Chile), Tibetan and Australian Aborigines.

     Religion has also influenced some of the contents of NDE accounts. In Western NDEs a commonly reported occurrence is that a person is sent back into their body by a spiritual figure, sometimes reported as being an angel, Jesus or God. NDEs reported in China, India, Tibet and Thailand have a more Buddhist and Hindu influence, with some reports involving Yamadoots, who are Hindu Messengers of Death, escorting the person to Yamaraj, the Hindu God of Death.

     In India the event is often recalled as being far more bureaucratic than the Western experience, where the spiritual figure simply tell the person that it's not yet their time to die. In a review of 64 Indian NDEs, a common element to their near-death-experience was that they were often escorted to an office, where a clerk, would consult some records and inform that them that there had been a mistake, that it was not yet their time to die and that they should return to their body. In some accounts the role of the clerk is replaced by the God of Death himself, Yamaraj.