Hello everyone, I was a member of this forum several years back, partly due to a strange, somewhat depressing emotional cocktail of despair and curiosity. At the time I was 15, naive and the reality of human mortality had suddenly dawned upon me. As far as I can remember, the members of this board came across as a benevolent, close-knit community who seemed willing to help, guide and discuss (and all in far more civilised manner than the rest of the internet, I might add!).

However, 3 years have passed and since, I have (excuse the self-pity) had my heart broken, battled with alcoholism, and now have begun to think about, on a daily basis, until I am consumed by morbid contemplation, death.

For a long period of time I have been a staunch supporter of secularism and incredibly hostile to the world's major religions, and consequently it is, I suppose, natural to despair and to doubt the survival of human conciousness, but having flirted with the idea of an afterlife in the past, I could not dismiss what appears to be strong circumstantial evidence in favour of survival, and as a human being, regardless of the reality of what we hope for, cannot help but yearn for the promise of something being beyond death.

And so I have returned to this forum in search of ways of gaining verification that we survive physical death, or, more specifically, help with experiencing it myself, as I believe no amount of reading (which, believe me, I have done) can bring true knowledge without direct experience.

I have tried (though not in its entirity) Hemi-sync, Brainwave Generator, lucid dreaming and various other methods in order to seek this verification, yet have obtained few results, and the closest I have come to afterlife experience or even an half-decent OBE is when using Salvia Divinorum, LSD or Ketamine...

So, if you can spare the time, could any of you please advise me on how to put my mind at rest, short of going to TMI (which I cannot afford but sure as hell would like to do  )...

Thankyou for your time,

Luke

Hi Luke, I'm going to be perfectly honest with you and state clearly that the confrontation with my own mortality over the past 3-4 years (while you have been absent here) has been surprisingly rewarding for me.

I'm sorry I missed meeting you earlier, but it's nice to meet you now.

I truly hope you have the experiences that you desire, which will give you a more satisfying understanding of who you are and where you are going.

I have to say that my experiences with board members here and in private meditation have completely changed my attitude toward death and the afterlife, in a very positive way. I actually enjoy thinking about my own death and afterlife, and that world seems only a breath away from this world.

In fact, that world seems without separation from me, not now, not ever. Becoming friends with my own mortality is the best thing I ever did.

There are those who love to spin tall tales, frightening tales of the hereafter....and I listen to these tall tales now with loving concern....but I feel completely different about the whole thing.

I have to say, it's a good place to be.

welcome, blink

Hi Luke,

Simply put and jmho,




Life
Death
Consciousness

Only one of the above is truly Infinite, Eternal, and Immortal,
and when positively approached gives full access to the other two, without the need for drugs or machines.

Meditate on that one.

Be patient and perservering.

Transformation does happen.

Everyone is with you in this search.

- u

Hello Luke:

I've had so many experiences it would be hard for me to doubt the existence of the afterlife. One thing that enabled me to have experiences is becoming energetically clear enough so I can have them.  Drinking alcohol and taking drugs won't help one reach the energetic state one needs to reach in order to have experiences. My guess is that your friends from the spirit World would like to help you have experiences, but they can't help you if you consume subtances that effect your energetic system in a negative way. Poor diet can also have an effect.

A better measure of progress than experiences, is how much love, peace and happiness you feel within your life. If you become free of whatever psychological issues that bog you down, not only will you experience more peace, happiness and love, you'll also be cleansed energetically.

It isn't always obvious, but when we tune into love, we make an energetic connection to other beings who live according to love.  This is probably the best way to make initial contact.

As Betson suggests, you might check out Bruce's "Exploring the Afterlife." You might also google "near death experience" and read some of the experiences people have had. If you really think about, there are many experiences that people have had that couldn't be the result of the activity of their biological brains.

Albert

Regarding NDEs, I haven't had one, but I had what I refer to as a night in heaven experience, and it was pretty much the same thing as an NDE. Perhaps I should call it an OBE.

Whatever the case, during this experience, it was absolutely clear that what I was experiencing was real.  I understood that things work out so we end up in a realm where there are no problems and the happiness level is wonderful. This is a way of being we can all look forward to. Until we get there, we just have to do our best to realize that for the most part we go through what we go through in this World in order to learn whatever it is we need to learn. The more we can incorporate this principle into our life, the more our anxiety will drop away and the better we will feel.

If you really feel stuck, sometimes a good initial thing to do is to find simple ways of making yourself feel better. Perhaps you can listen to music that makes you feel good. Or you can watch a situation comedy that makes you laugh. It is hard to laugh without feeling happy at the same time.  If you have enough success making yourself feel better in such ways, perhaps you'll gain faith that you can make yourself better, and then you'll be able to do so without relying on external means. Not that the external means have to go away.

Another thing that can help is to imagine yourself sharing unconditional love with people in various ways. One thing I've done while meditating is reflect upon how much I love each person I work with, without their having to do something special to make it seem as if they deserve love. Meditating in this way will help you open up your heart chakra.

Another thing to meditate upon is that despite the differences us humans experience today, a day will come where we will all exist in a way where we love each other completely. Our differences will be seen as nothing but lessons we had to learn.

Quote AboveTheWeepingWorld:
"And also, is there anything specific that I could do in order to improve what is a rather cynical outlook on life, humanity, and the general nature of things?"

I know that. What I do is, I let the people and the world be as silly as they may appear at this moment, and be myself.
   Build a distance between what bothers you and yourself. Once you've left the position of being confronted, and being now in the position of an observer without being emotionally involved, you can discover a new freedom for yourself. You then can avoid what you can't stand. When some people driving you nuts, avoid them; if news in the media are making you upset, don't watch them. Focus on what you are interested in, no matter what people say you have to do. Don't let become other people's business your own business; where the border is, that's what you have to decide from case to case.

Spooky

good thoughts R: Quote: is hard to laugh without feeling happy at the same time
___
heard about this business tycoon, and he generated some cancer for himself because the business world is stressful. so making the rounds of doctors for a cure, none were offered. he decided to hole up in motel room and die there, instead of in a gloomy hospital where his prognosis of recovery was so poor.
He rented a bunch of comedies and waited to die. lol. instead of dying he completely put his cancer in remission as he sat there laughing so hard, he laughed away his cancer.
doctors could not find a trace of it in his body. (those of you afraid of cancer, it has been shown we all have dormant cancer cells inside of us. what triggers them to multiply was conjectured, I think appropriately, our stressful lives and mental/emotional states.
________
welcome back Luke. like Bets, I was picking up a much older soul vibration on you than your stated age; although, age is a state of mind too. I highly recommend Bruce's books. then there are a Resource page at the top, if you really get ambitious to read more.
I'm a firm believer that your own guidance will lead you to what to read and nudge you in the right direction.
then comes a point books are not enough. As we say here, a personal experience is what totally sets your mind and heart at ease.
Hawkeye mentions setting the intention. the intention setting cannot be over-emphasized because it's a decision-maker function of the observer (thanks Spooky!) and a powerful tool, that the moment you employ it, it begins to actualize.

Bruce and TMI explain the intention setting so much better than me.
I've noticed, whenever I use it, a few days later I can observe it's working. Intention setting can be related to a desire, which is related to emotion. it all works together. for instance, affirmation are something we look at, and we don't fully believe them.
so we set an intention to understand what we don't believe.

simmer awhile in time and understanding comes, or the desired experience produces the beyond all doubt, that Bruce titled in one of his books.

another thought; it's like we can't focus in all directions at once, as humans, it's where we focus is what we manifest. so I find it best to focus all my attention on one book at a time, rather than the entire pile I would like to read. it gets too stressful if I think, oh god, look at my pile!  (u got a pun there sweetie!)

Alfred, Induced After Death Communication book reminds me of something I read about a group of people, don't know if it's fiction or what, that stopped their hearts beating, experienced something other worldly, then started up their hearts again.

frankly, I think I would not like this very much!  However, I am all for the intention behind the experiment, to fix the grief.

I find a far better method than an ADC, to fix grief, is to deal with conflicting belief systems in the mind.
by tracing their beginning point, even to childhood, or beyond.
once the beginning of a thought system is glimpsed, the healing can proceed from that point.

this is all in Bruce's books. and please! never give your books away..it's been so helpful to return after a year or so, give a 2nd read through, and then you see how much you've grown.

love, alysia

Well met, Above. I too am a doubter, a cynical. I'm 27 years now, and I do wonder sometimes when, if ever, I will experience anything profound. I still haven't ordered Moen's books. Now, part of me thinks that this is because I'm afraid the books won't help me, and since I see them books as the final opportunity to verify the afterlife, I dare not take the leap. For what if I fail? Then all hope is lost, isn't it. Then again, it might be because I'm worried about the taxes my country will claim when they see the price tag. It's probably a mix. Anyhoo, I hope you will find your answers someday, Above. Good luck.