I’ve never been interested in the idea of life after death. The idea seemed to be the wishful or needy thinking of fundamentalist Christians. No interest had I in living forever in some disembodied world. But this past weekend I felt not only the presence of an other energetic world, but that for me the membrane between me in this physical world and that other world was tissue thin.
I attended the “Wisdom of the Near Death Experience” symposium in the lazy hill country town of Wimberley, Texas. Sixteen men and women shared their experiences of dying and their encounters with the phenomena they experienced in a world beyond the physical. Two things were common to the experiences of all the speakers: bright white light, interlaced with the most brilliant colors they had ever seen - far more dazzlingly than anything they had seen on earth - and the experience of being unconditionally and accepted.
Although many lessons were brought back to the physical world by the experiencers, a common theme was that our purpose in this incarnation is to remove the obstacles to loving others so as to act upon the love within our hearts. As one speaker put it, “True love is an action. It ‘takes form’ when it is shared, such as being present for or listening to another; speaking words of kindness or encouragement; putting an arm around another or just touching them gently on the hand or arm; or smiling at someone in a way that lets them know they are seen.” This reminded me of words spoken by the Dalai Lama in January 2017: “We don't need to be talking about God or the Creator; no, we simply be need to be talking about being a warm–hearted person. That's the target. Whether we achieve it or not, it is worthwhile and it is worthy of making the attempt.”
Self-forgiveness is the most significant step in removing the obstacles to expressing our love for others. Forgiving ourselves opens the door to our authenticity in the world and empowers us to share the uniqueness of our own wisdom gained from our life’s lessons.
“We don’t need to look for a ‘life purpose’ – there's no score card being kept", said one of the speakers. "We simply need more opportunities to express love, and they are around us all the time, if we only look for them.”
One speaker said that in her encounter with angels or beings she saw as tall pillars or columns of light, she realized that, “Although my attitudes and judgments are informed by 'my story', I'm not my story. I gained a new perspective - one of detachment and compassionate neutrality.”
These near-death experiences demonstrated to all of the speakers what they had been making of their lives and what they could be making of them, which lead all of them, without exception, to embrace a deeper commitment to express love for others in the work they do. As one speaker said, “I came to understand that life was happening for me, not to me.”
What touched me the most was that so many the speakers were told by the angelic beings that they could choose to remain there in that world of boundless love and brilliant light, and given that choice they nonetheless chose to return into their bodies, painful as those bodies were, because of their love for those who were left behind in grief and sorrow.
My life is different today because of how deeply I connected with the hearts and souls of those speakers and how I resonate with the wisdom they brought back to share with us.