Rondele,

I often remind posters of a striking finding in a study of ADC contact.  50% of Americans and 48% of the British report convincing contact with their deceased loved ones, generally within the first year after their passing.   After a year, such contacts become less frequent--a fact that demands explanation.  But, Rondele,  I'm confident that very few of these contacts rise to the evidential level of the inspiring account you've just shared with us.  Still, I think such breath-taking contacts are made more often than you might think.  So I propose to answer your question in two separate threads. First, I will post in one place some of the most impressive postmortem contacts that I have encountered.  Second, in my next post, I will try to give my most thorough response yet to your question of why our deceased loved ones don't contact us more often in the spectacular manner of the Bauerle case.

(1) On "Coast to Coast" last Tuesday, George Noory interviewed Catherine Lanigan, the author of "The Jewel on the Nile" and "Romancing the Stone."  Catherine has had NDEs herself and recently authored a book entitled "Divine Nudges" which records wonderful verifications of an afterlife.  She documents cases of hospital and hospice workers who themselves witness angelic visitations to patients facing imminent death.  

For me, her most striking example illustrates a high-grade  "physical" verification that rivals your Bauerle story.  Dr. Lerna shared this amazing account of his female patient's passing in a Houston hospital.  Shortly before her passing, Lerna witnessed a glow on her face as she was conversing with an unseen angel.   Afterwards, she cradled a 3 1/2 inch feather in the palm of her hand that the angel had given her.  She told Dr. Lerna that the angel had come on a take-away mission and that she would shortly pass over.  But the angel wanted her to give Dr. Lerna the feather that the angel had created and placed in her palm.  Lerna kept it in a plastic bag in his office.  Within a month, the feather began to shrink, and within a few days, it detematerialized altogether to demonstrate its etheric origin!

(2) Dr. Lerna's experience is strikingly similar to one of my own during my United Methodist pastorate in the Finger Lakes region of New York.  I had just preached a sermon on Jesus' Transfiguration.  In this story Peter, James, and John witness the return of Moses and Elijah from the afterlife to converse with Jesus on a mountain about His pending atoning death.  I concluded the sermon by blurting out something I never intended to say and immediately regretted saying.  I assured the congregation that some of them would have their own "mountaintop" experience in the coming week.  Later I thought to myself, "Great!  Now when nothing happens, what are your people going to think?  Why did you make that rash claim?"

Here is what happened that week.  John, a retired Kodak executive, went mountain climbing with his wife in Colorado.  On a tiny ledge, he found a nice ring that fit him perfectly.  I didn't share his excitement at this discovery--until Bob called.  Bob had lived in his new home for only 3 years.  He had just discovered his late mother's lost ring on his made bed---a ring he hadn't seen in 40 years!  He excitedly called his friend to share the news.  His friend was absolutely astounded because he too had just discovered his Mom's lost ring on his bedroom dresser!  

God had arranged for John's discovery of the ring on the mountain ledge to get me to associate rings with a "mountaintop experience."  The  mothers' rings from heaven echoed the return of Moses and Elijah from the afterlife to be with Jesus and His disciples on the mountain.  Not long before, I had preached a sermon on the Parable of the Prodigal Son in which I stressed the role of the Father's ring as a symbol of God's love for those who return to God after going astray.

I left that church and moved to Buffalo.  A few years later, Bob called me and I remarked that his Mom's ring must now be a real treasure---a reminder of her survival.  Bob confessed that both his Mom's ring and the ring of his friend's Mom had mysteriously vanished within a couple of days!  Apparently, these etheric rings suffered a similar fate to that of Dr. Lerna's feather!  I was sorry Bob hadn't told me about this sooner because I had lost touch with John and wanted to know if his mountaintop ring had also vanished.

(3) These verifications with materializing objects are paralleled by the family encounter with Mother Nellie by a Presbyerian minister (Howell Vincent) and his family:

"On at least two occasions this radiant mother had come to Rea in visible, tangible form and  talked with her. In 1933, I was privileged to be present at one of thse heavenly visits by [the late] Mother Nellie.  toghether with Rea I talked with Nellie, fully recognizing her face and form and voice.  I saw he place her hand on Rea's head in blessing, and I SAW HER GIVE REA A FLOWER, A CALENDULA, WHICH WE PRESSED AND KEPT.  At that time 3 other members of our famiy were present, including Rea's second mother, Agnes, and they all saw Nellie and talked with her, as Rea and I did.  We were all wide awake and walked about the room with Nellie (Howell Vincent, "Lighted Passage," 25)."

(4) Leonard was a man of unimpeachable integrity and kindness--a dear friend whom I had often visited.  I had supported him in his agony over his health problems and those of his wife, brother, and cousin.  So I was surprised that he seemed so little affected by the tragic deaths of his son Jeff and his family in a private plane crash.  Curious, I finally asked his wife Helen about this when Leonard wasn't around.  She glowed and said, "Oh, Leonard received confirmation that his son's family was OK after the crash."  More curious now, I wondered why Leonard had never shared this story with me.  So I gingerly waited for the right time to ask him.  He grew misty-eyed and shared his incredible story with me.

A day or so after the funeral, Leonard got into his son's pickup to do some errands.  As he approached the end of his driveway, hs noticed someone ernerging from the deep ditch and approaching the truck.  It was his son Jeff!  Leonard was paralyzed with shock.  Jeff walked up and asked, "Dad, do you mind if I take the truck for one last spin for old time's sake?"  A numb Leonard quickly moved over and let Jeff drive.  Jeff reassured him that his wife Karen and their 2 kids were OK on the other side.  Jeff then clarified his investment and overall financial situation to help his Dad tie up loose ends.  Finally, Jeff turned left on a deserted country road, drove about 2 miles, and stopped the truck.  He mused, "Dad, I love you, but I'm not permitted to go any further."  He got out of his truck, walked towards a nearby clump of trees, and vanished just like the deceased baseball players in the movie "Field of Dreams."  Leonard drove home, still in a state of shock.  

The next day he was still overwhelmed with grief and decided to go for a long walk in the woods behind his house.  Overwhelmed by sadness, he sat down on a log and wept profusely.  Then he heard footsteps.  It was Jeff's deceased wife Karen.   She approached him and asked firmly, "Didn't we tell you we were all OK?  You get back in the house and comfort Mom!"  This second incident broke the back of Leonard's grief.

Leonard now gazed into my incredulous eyes with a pained expression on his face.  He sensed my skepticism and confessed that he had kept this experience a secret out of fear of ridicule.  i could not help my skeptical facial expression.   This account is so disanalogous to my life experience.  But it is perfectly analogous to Jesus' resurrection appearances in which He allowed his wounds to be touched and cooked and ate fish with his disciples.  I felt ashamed at my reaction because I had badgered Leonard to share his story and because he is an absolutely credible witness.  Rationally, this experience is the most compelling evidence for postmortem survival I've ever encountered.

(5) I met Phyllis at a wedding reception.  She was a very stoic but attractive doctor with a PhD in medical research.  Her mnther had recently died and Phyllis couldn't deal with this; so she didn't.  Phyllis was then so badly injured in a car crash that she had her first NDE.  She ascended to a "mall that wasn't really a mall" in Paradise.  It was "a mall of white light."  A mall band played beautiful music in the background.  At a table in front of her sat her mother.  Her mother scolded her: "You haven't come to terms with me death yet!  Get on with your grieving process!  Your stoic attitude is holding back my progess over here!"  A sulking Phyllis returned to her body, still unable to grieve.

A year later, she contracted a life-threatening illness (some type of cancer, I think).  In the hospital, her illness took a turn for the worse and she had a second NDE.  Back she was in the same mall in Paradise and there again sat her angry mother at a table.  Her mother again scolded her: "Why won't you listen to me?   You need to come to terms with my loss!"   Then her Mom did something interesting.  She pointed to the table and said: "You have to make this table vanish!"  Evidently, the table was a symbol of the unresolved baggage between Mon and daughter.  
A depressed Phyllis found no consolation in the unearthly music that was being played in the background.  Finally, defeated, Phyllis moaned: "Well, I guess I'll just return to my body now."  Her mother snapped: "No, you're not ready yet to go back.  You go with these young men."  Immediately two men in white medical attire appeared to escort her to "an elevator that wasn't really an elevator.  It was an elevator of white light."  She was taken to some sort of Healing Center in Paradise where some sort of procedure was performed on her which she couldn't understand.  But when she returned to her body, she was completely healed and didn't need the surgery that was supposed to be performed on her.  I lost touch with Phyllis and don't know if she was ever able to release her emotions and grieve the loss of her mother.

I have shared some of these incidents before, but decided to repost them because of their potential accumulative impact.  I could multiple such examples.  Spectacular verifications of survival are  admittedly uncommon, but are not as rare as one might imagine.

Don

   

Hi Roger,

One reason is, while the deceased in question seem rather 'normal' perhaps the were more spiritually advanced than the average and so have greater control of the M-band radiation (remember a certain percentage of people have experiences they never talk about too)?

If you believe those like Cayce or Monroe, then some people, and perhaps many people in the far past and future, had such a control of energy as to even recreate a body-vehicle, or a piece of real corn, etc.

  Cayce had the experirence of having a coin manifest for him, which he connected to his mother who had passed. 

  I would say such control of energy to move and manifest physical objects is still fairly rare.  And not every Soul who can do such, actually does it. 

  Btw-- I agree with you about some places acting as amplifying areas for nonphysical experiences.   The ancients connected these to a concept called Ley lines, and the places where some meet are particularly 'thin' areas of physical and nonphysical.  These areas are similar to the Chakras in the human body, the central energy vortex where many meridians interconnect.

  The similarity between both Earth ley lines, and human Chakras is that these are connected to Planetary and Star energies, supposedly.

  Or, do you remember Bruce's account of the Bermuda Triangle, where during certain alignments with Uranus, there is a dimensional portal of sorts opened up in the Triangle area because there is a large remnant piece of crystal core there?

  According to the C.W. he talked to, everything that disappears in the B. Triangle, during these certain alignments, actually ends up on Uranus.

  Personally, i don't want to test out this theory!

  How bout it Don, wanna try it out?

Don-

Since our physical brain is the repository of all of our earthly experiences, and therefore our memories, it seems logical that the death of the body/brain would also mean the end of the spirit's earthly memories. 

Maybe what survives is not so much the specific memories but instead the psychic imprints of the more significant earthly experiences.  A person who was a celebrity and used to lots of adulation and praise might result in his/her spirit having attributes of importance or arrogance.  A person who was beaten down in life, emotionally and/or physically, might have a defeatist or fearful attribute after death.  And so on.

But the spirit might have only a fleeting memory of the specific circumstances that were faced while alive.

I seem to recall it was Ginny who had OBEs in very low levels while attempting retrievals, but maybe I'm wrong.  If even an adept has problems as Beard reports, you have to wonder about the fate of those trapped.

I look forward to your next post.

Don,

It is plain for all to see that you are disturbed by the notion that we lose our interest in our earthly loved ones as Robert Bruce believes.  I believe that we just don't have sufficient information to make that determination.

The process of ascencion to different planes of existence may make standard communication more difficult.  That does not mean that we necessarily lose memory as we ascend in our consciousness.

In a channeled work from the 1800s, a "sinner," describes his death, and slow rise from the earth plane/focus 23 level through higher planes by learning to serve others and experience PUL.

http://www.angelfire.com/ne/newviews/wsltoc.html

He does not see his father or mother in the lower, hellish realms; not until he has ascended or progressed and repented/helped others is he aware of their existence.  His deceased father first makes himself known to his son through a still living beloved woman:

'And as I turned away I beheld his spirit standing by us, just as I had seen him last in life, only with a glory of the spirit world upon him such as no mortal eyes have ever seen. My father--so long parted from me, and to meet again thus! We had no words to greet each other with but "My father" and "My son," but we clasped each other to the heart in a joy that required no words.

When our feelings had calmed down again we began to speak of many things, and not least of her whose love had led me so far upon my upward path, and then I learned that this beloved father had helped, watched over, and protected us both; that he had followed me during all my wanderings both on earth and in the spirit land, and had protected and comforted me in my struggles. Unseen himself he had yet been near, and unceasing in his efforts and his love. All this time when I had so shrunk from the thought of meeting him he had been there, only waiting an opportunity to make himself known, and he had come at last through her who had so much of my love, in order that he might thereby link us all three more closely together in the joy of this reunion. '

The sinner in this channeled work, later only meets his mother when he has ascended a little more with good charitable work and understanding.

Thus, depending on your sources, you may believe that either the deceased "lose interest" / lose memory, as Robert Bruce would have us believe or that they are constantly still loving and interested but due to our lower vibrations/energy, we may not see or feel the communication until we have progressed ourselves.

There is ample evidence that those on higher focus levels may look down on lower ones, but not vice versa.  It therefore makes perfect sense to me, that rather than a lack of desire to communicate, or a loss of memory, the ability to communicate in a common conventional way may be made more difficult.

Call me an optimist, but I prefer the notion that as we ascend, our love for our loved ones and all of humanity increases exponentially.  While we may not appear to them in human form then, we may be assisting and shining our spirit down in other ways for their benefits.  These events may take time for people to finally see.

Matthew

This is an interesting topic, to be sure; however,
I believe that in ES's visits to the afterlife he discovers that married couples live on in that state i.e. married. How does that square with the "forgetfulness" view?  Or is it because, in some
spiritual sense more than just physical, that they
are truly one; thus, how can one forget one's self?

Furthermore, as I related in an earlier posting, I received an ADC from my husband 20+ years after
his death.  There may be truth to the idea that perhaps an affinity or awareness of some sort  is
essential.   When we first met we experienced, he
more than I, both a physical and mental manifestation.

It was a grey, overcast day when we met.  I had just stepped out on the doorstep of the place where I had spent the night.  Suddenly, a brilliant ray of light engulfed me.  My future husband was at the foot of the stairs that led from the doorstep where I was standing.  The sudden, intense light
drew his attention to me.   He later told me that he
clearly heard a voice say, "She is the one."   He was
not a religious person so, as you may imagine, it was really a memorable moment for him.

Not so very much later in our relationship, but before he told me what he had heard, I, too, heard
a voice.  This is what it said, "Yes, right, perfect."  I
never did share this with my husband although now
I can't imagine why I didn't.   As far as a description
of the voice, it sounded masculine. 

Before re-establishing connections with remnants
of my husband's family rather recently, I had for
some time been receiving "junk mailings" addressed to a person with an odd, but very mas-
culine name.   Imagine how I felt when I discovered
that the name was the same as a a nephew of my  deceased husband.

Another interesting anomaly occurred with my
then future husband and 3 very elderly aunts of
mine.  I was really very happy about how much they adored him.  Doted on him would really be
apt.   After his dreadful death, one of them came to
me with an old family picture of my grandmother's
brother.   She said they all thought I should see
the picture.  Except for the fact that this relative
had what is in common parlance called a "wall
eye,"  my great uncle and my deceased husband
looked like twins. 

All I know is that this resemblance probably was what made his relationship with my family almost instantaneously a close one.  As his life was to end
in heart beat of time, he had not a moment to spare.

Recently, I did attempt to communicate with my
husband through the use of a medium.  Much of
it, I believe, was "fluff" or filler, but the medium did
tell me it was a difficult connection because of the
high vibration needed.  He claimed that he heard
but that it was though listening through water.

He did, though, describe my husband's personality
to a "t"--cool, and extremely level. I asked him if the
time I thought I had seen my husband was actual or not.   He said that he heard my husband laughingly say that it was.  Also, he suddenly told me where the apparation of my husband had been seated when I saw him.  He also had previously correctly stated that my husband had a double name. As with many of nordic extraction, his last
name was a double one.



 

Matthew-

I had read the Wanderer material sometime back, thanks for the link.

I really think, as I've said before, that all of our efforts to figure out the afterlife, attempts to build an EVP device, trips to mediums, all of it...it's all background noise and static.  It all adds up to nothing much more than a diversion from what we should be doing while on earth.

Isn't that the main message from the Wanderer?  The importance of showing compassion to others?  What is the point of all of this exhaustive research and ponderings about the afterlife if it diverts us from focusing on helping others?

We can discuss and debate the afterlife until we're all blue in the face, and not be one iota ahead of the game.  If computers and the internet had been around 50 years ago, I doubt someone like Mother Teresa would have spent much time typing posts speculating about what it's like on the other side.

She was too busy doing far more important and worthwhile things on this side.  Life is too short and too unpredictable to essentially waste it in these dead-end pursuits.

I want to reflect further on the apparent contradiction between postmortem memory dormancy and ADC with the living.  To understand this post, readers are encouraged to review posts #34 and #36 on this thread.  As already noted, Emanuel Swedenborg discovers:  “We have two memories, an inner and an outer, or a natural one and a spiritual one...Absolutely everything we have thought, said, done, seen, and haard are inscribed on our inner memory (#463, note b).”

Surely the permanent and perfect retention of our earthly memories implies that these memories will ultimately be restored to us.   Otherwise, what point would there be to their unconscious retenton?   True, our full memory will be restored for our ultimate in depth past life review.  But after this review, do these memories again become dormant?   ES never addresses this question.  If earth memory does again become dormant, it remains intact in our inner memory.   To what purpose?   Surely it will ultimately be restored to consciousness as we evolve.   It is very frustrating that ES fails to confirm this truth.      

ES also muddies the waters on this issue by observing that our natural memories "can be reproduced when it so pleases the Lord (HH #461).”  Apart from our ultimate past life review, under what circumstances does "it so please the Lord" to restore our earth memories?   ES doesn't tell us, but perhaps God restores our memories for the task of greeting our loved ones as they pass over.  If so, this might explain how soul mates can find each other and remain together.  And it seemed to "please the Lord" to restore the earth memory of Father Gemelli's Dad to the point where his Dad left that inspiring message on his son's tape of Gregorian chants. 

Our deceased loved ones do not necessarily need to reactivate their full earth memories to contact us.  They can fill in their memory gaps by tapping our memories of our life with them:

“No angel or spirit [= discarnate humans] is allowed to talk with one of us from the angel’s or spirit’s own memory, only from that of the individual in question (HH #256).” 

But without their earth memories, why would our loved ones take the initiative to contact us in the first place?  Two replies come to mind: (1) Perhaps, these contacts are sometimes triggered by our strong desire for contact with them.  George Meek's ADC device only worked in conjunction with Willian O'Neil's role as a spirit channel.   O'Neil's gift of focused intent may have empowered the late George Mueller to imprint his voice on the Spiritcom machine.  (2) In his visit to an astral hospital, Robert Bruce creates the impression that discarnates vary considerably in what they recall.   Some seem to recall nothing, while others retain vague memories  much like how a half-forgotten dream is remembered by a living person."

Don

p.s. NOTE TO RONDELE
Many people are so heavenly-minded they seem to be of no earthly use.   Still, compassionate living might not be realistic apart from a well-nurtured spirituality and this spirituality might depend on a greater confidence in the reality of the afterlife and a discovery the principles that govern postmortem wellbeing.   In this respect, I am haunted with Jesus' comment to atheist Howard Storm during his NDE.  Jesus explains: "The love of God, the love of neighbor, and the love of self are inseparable parts of a whole that cannot be divided.  Without the love of God, there cannot be true love of another."