Careful examination of the various features of the Near Death Experience (NDE) – that is, the experience of those who clinically die for a short time - helps us understand the fact of reincarnation. They also help us perceive the deeper purpose of life on this planet. This brings in unqualified compassion in us towards all living beings.

People who go through NDE come back to tell us what happens in that brief period. Their enigmatic messages are usually filled with unconventional representations that the conventional human minds cannot relate to. Further, there is the intellectual interference that can thwart the esoteric content of the messages. Fortunately, there are amongst us many who can steer clear of that interference. The researchers in this field have collected a fund of information from their investigation on NDE. Those of us who have not had the NDE can be greatly benefited from the outcome of their research.

One of the elements of a standard NDE is the Life Review. Some people have said that it is like a movie and while others talk about a three dimensional display of all events – past, present and future – simultaneously. This review makes the entity go through the events of the life just finished and experience the effect of his or her actions on others. During this panorama, oneself is put in the other’s position. The review spells out the sad or happy state of mind of those who received the action from the entity. While going through the review, some stops are made to point out compassionate alternative behavior. It seems like an education directed towards more wholesome behavior in future lives. All the while, the entity is never made to feel guilty but understand the value of holistic responses. No idea of punishment is ever indicated or implied. This underlines the simple fact that in the Divine field of compassion there can be no room for any punishment or ‘Get it back now’ kind of scenario.

The implicit pointer from the element of Life Review is that the entity is given a sort of lesson. Of what value is this review if everything is finished with the life just lived? Simple common sense would tell us that such a review has meaning only if the entity has another life or more lives to live.

The next element that points to the fact of reincarnation is an explicit one. The episode given by Jean Ritchie in her book “Death’s Door” is a direct pointer to reincarnation. In that episode, Ms Jean Allen had her NDE as a result of a horrific accident with a chain saw that she used to cut logs of wood for her fire place. Jean was rushed to the hospital and a medical team spent three hours working on her, inserting many stitches. Before the medical work started, Jean had a two hour wait and it was during this time that she had her NDE. She said that the NDE took away the fear of death and that it gave her a lot of faith in life. The author of the book goes on to say that many people who experience NDE report a much greater sensitivity to the supernatural. Jean felt that she had become receptive to them since her NDE. Further, after the NDE, she was convinced that she had lived several previous lives. While she had quite clear memories of the recent two, her memories of the earlier ones were vague.

Vital Signs is a newsletter type periodical published by the International Association for Near Death Studies (IANDS). Amazing accounts of NDE are published in it frequently. In its Volume 25, Number 1, there is an article with the title “Death before Dying. . . A Love Experience” contributed by Andy Petro. One would like to present the whole article here for the shear beauty of its contents. Unfortunately, space does not permit it. However, an extract of it is given below.

“In my Life Review, I was completely surrounded by my countless lives. I could feel, taste, smell, hear and view each experience and relive each and every event exactly as I remembered it in ‘real life’. Everywhere I looked, there was another ‘life experience’ connected to another ‘life experience’, seamlessly presented through an invisible, undetectable connection. I knew that I was in what I now call the ‘Eternal Now’”.

It is good to reflect on the above elements of NDE that urge us on to perceive the long journey we are on. Awareness of an actuality is always a great help in understanding what lies beyond the apparent. To investigate further along these lines, the reader is referred to the website http://spirituality.yolasite.com .

Author's Bio: 

The Author: Gopalakrishnan TC was born in Madras (now Chennai), India, in 1941. He received his doctoral degree in Coastal Engineering from the North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA in 1978. He served on the research and teaching faculty of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India, the North Carolina State University and the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait. Aside from his professional involvements, he was interested in the philosophic issues of life for the last forty years or so. This led him to the messages of Ramana Maharishi, Lao Tzu, J Krishnamurthy, UG Krishnamurthy, Nisargadatta Maharaj, Eckhart Tolle, Marcus Aurelius and similar Masters. His book entitled “In Quest of the Deeper Self” is the outcome of his reflections on those and his wish to share the outcome with others.
Gopalakrishnan is a member of the International Association for Near Death Studies, Durham, NC, USA. He presented a paper at the 2011 conference of the Association on the theme "The Spiritual Content of Near Death Experiences". Functions as a freelance counselor for mental relaxation. Lives in Kodaikanal, a hill town in south India, with his family. Now he and his wife are both retired and currently involved in developing a fruit farm at a village 20 km from their residence.
Blog: http://nde-thedeeperself.blogspot.com