A near death experience (not mine)

Every now and then I read about someone’s near death experience. I think they’re interesting. Those who have experienced such a thing seem to have a number of things in common: the sensation of floating over their bodies and viewing the scene around them; spending time in a beautiful, otherworldly realm; meeting spiritual beings and/or long-lost relatives and friends; recalling scenes from their lives; feeling a sense of connectedness to all creation as well as a sense of overwhelming, transcendent love; and finally being called, reluctantly, away from the magical realm and back into their own bodies. Most people are profoundly changed afterward and may have trouble fitting back into everyday life. 

I watched a TED talk given by Anita Moorjani, whose near death experience struck me as particularly interesting, mostly because of her recovery from her illness. She’d had lymphoma, which is cancer of the lymph system, and had tumors all over her body. Her organs were shutting down and she was hours away from death. She was in a coma. Her family was gathered around waiting for the end. On the verge of death, she had otherworldly experiences similar to those described above. She returned to life. Within five days, her tumors had shrunk 70%; after five weeks she went home, completely cured. She believes her cure was because of what she learned in the clutches of her near death experience:

• Love yourself; value yourself; don’t allow others to control you and don’t control others.
• Live life fearlessly.
• Incorporate plenty of humor in your life (see last week’s post!)
• Be aware that life is a gift and not a chore.
• Be yourself and embrace your uniqueness.

That advice isn’t particularly novel or earth shaking, but perhaps if you don’t value yourself, are afraid all the time, and so forth, such revelations can truly turn things around for you.

Scientists have tried investigating near death experiences—looking into the idea that a conscious mind can exist apart from a living body. While they’ve come up with a number of theories, such experiences remain a mystery as well as controversial, although many scientists, including Erwin Schrödinger, one of the fathers of quantum physics, believed such a thing. In the words of one scientist, “It’s a catalyst for growth on many different levels—psychologically, emotionally, maybe even physiologically.” Too bad that you have to be near death to reap such benefits. Maybe something to look forward to?

For an introduction to this blog, see I Just Say No; for a list of blog topics, click the Topics tab.