What I Learned from Almost Dying (That I Couldn't Say Before)
AKA: What people don't tell you happens AFTER an NDE
The disappointing part up front: the details of what actually happened to me during my NDE will remain private.
It was extremely personal, and I’m not trying to sell the sordid details of my pain for clicks.
Besides, life is meant to be lived and is no less valid if left partially documented.
Please trust & believe that I do not wish it on anyone else, and in many ways, would rather have learned the lessons I did some other way.
Alright, so near death experiences (NDEs).
GO ahead and search for “NDE” online.
SPOILER: A few thousand people will tell you the same things:
Losing fear of death.
Traveling through a tunnel of light.
A profound revelation about the afterlife.
(“Heaven/Hell/Life/Death are not what you think they are.”)
Calmness surrounding the experience.
…Unless it wasn’t calm (“I had the sensation of literally burning in hellfire!”)
Life review (“I saw my entire life as an inventory, and remembered every bad thing I had ever done with shame.”)
Meeting a familiar guide
(“Sometimes a loved one, but often a religious icon like Jesus, Buddha, Shiva/Shakti, etc.”)
An emotional and spiritual reset point in life
(“It changed me/my faith/my entire outlook on life.”)
But do you know what people tend NOT to discuss?
The impulse to abandon familiar institutions can be strong
A lot of people leave their church, join a different one, or renounce organized religion altogether.
Many people leave their career- they can’t imagine staying in something that feels like it belongs to the “old” them.
It can go as far as expatriating or learning a new language just to get away from the stuff that reminds you of the old life.
Like losing a lot of weight & needing a whole new wardrobe:
It just doesn’t fit anymore- and you would feel silly trying to force yourself to wear it.
Alienation from certain people
On your part, first off, you simply stop seeing some relationships the same way.
Externally, some people think you are just broken somehow, mentally, rather than changed/changing in your heart.
Others will quietly discard you because of how hard that cognitive dissonance hits.
It’s like you aren’t even a person to them anymore… and in other cases, vice-versa.
Lack of reciprocity & Emotional guarding
Some people will become more socially/emotionally closed off if you open up & are vulnerable with them,
as though they feel threatened by the depth of your new experience & it makes them appear more shallow somehow for not being able to match or one-up it.
Some people will just emotionally ghost you-
like the weight on their heart of maybe losing you in the future is statistically more certain now because they already almost lost you… (good luck making that make sense).
Other people might just plain look at you funny, like,
“OK weirdo, good job almost dying- maybe try harder next time!”
In short, when shit goes this far sideways, it’s a solid reminder that many people grow older, but very few actually grow up.
Urgency can lead to almost immediate burnout
Remember that life review?
In human space, you still have to put your pants on one leg at a time.
In human time, a day here on Earth, in a human body, is still made of only 24 hours, even if you have witnessed the dualistic interconnectedness & flatness of temporal causality as a metaphysical concept & know for sure that you are an infinite being, etc, etc.
You still only have one life to live as this avatar/incarnation of yourself, and limited space you can occupy & manipulate to get the shit done that you want to do.
You will probably do a little skid-bounce once or twice while you get back on your feet & establish your regular operating pace. Just try to roll with it.
You might reacquire some fears- for good reason
You’ve re-integrated, and it feels nice to be back in your body!
It would be a shame to lose that all over again, needlessly. It really would. We need you here, if you can stay with us for a while longer. Believe that.
So you’re basically unafraid of death now huh? Cool.
Suddenly passing on to the afterlife while driving down the freeway with your spouse & kids in the car is NOT the same as you passing peacefully in your sleep. There would be innocent casualties.
The fog of war might creep in
Was that actually Jesus/Shiva you saw, or was it your hippy neighbor with the really long hair & beard?
And did He say “stop moving forward in your current career” or “don’t quit your day job, your rent’s in arrears”..?
Move deliberately, but weigh things adequately with both your heart AND your head.
There are forces of light acting on you, but also forces happy to deceive/use you at this time.
Your resolve to change/commit to that new reset will be tested.
Who are you, spiritually, when you think no one’s watching?
How do you show up/move in a world that has a moving sidewalk of meaning & purpose?
Are you ready for the rug to potentially be pulled out from under you all over again?
How long will it take to get ready?
Will you keep trying, even if your new experience makes certain things even harder to reconcile?
And here’s the part where I tell you that I personally have no deep, life altering answers to those questions.
None.
Only more questions.
But I will say that you probably should not try to induce an NDE, or mess around with out-of-body-experiences (OBE’s) or astral projection unless you’re willing to fully commit to the bit.
You know, the part in the experience where you learn something very new/unsettling, and think to yourself,
“Could there be some strings attached to this new knowledge?”
“Do I need to actually live differently, or can I just write about it in a blog?”
“What if other people are seeking the answers I received and DON’T want to learn them the hard way?”
“Am I now obligated to find those seekers & help them- even if there’s no money/career path in it for me?”
Not easy questions to answer, if we are being honest with ourselves.
Have you had a deep experience, (perhaps like an NDE or OBE) and want to help other people learn from it?
That’s why I created the MIND of GODCAST.
Not to preach at anyone.
To find & gather a new breed of seekers.
And to find a cadre of qualified teachers to help orient us.
Not gurus.
Not spiritual influencers.
Real experts.
Please join us… In this lifetime/space.
MIND of GODCAST provides free tools & education at GODCAST.ing