http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qy_qT6iKC0

One of the most interesting NDE I've encountered.

Hi Kathy-

A very compelling story (although the interviewer could have been a bit better!).

I went to amazon intending to order one or more of her books.  As usual before I order anything I checked out the 1 star reviews, ignoring the 5 stars.

I know some folks have their own axes to grind but nonetheless there were some interesting reviews that made (at least to me) some good points and cause me to hesitate before placing an order.

Take a look, see what you think.

R

Hi Kathy-

I'll be curious to get your assessment of the book.  I'm just a bit skeptical at this time but, as always, will keep an open mind. 

As you read it, see what you think about her references to ACIM and Conversations With God.  If what she says is really true, I think I'm in for a major belief system crash!

R

Hi Roger,

I've never read ACIM or CWG so can't help you there.  I will be happy to share my thoughts about the book and how what she has to say either corresponds or differs with my own experience and understanding.

In regards to what Albert is saying my current understanding is:

Points 1 & 2 - Both are true as Albert indicates and I actually thought in her videos that she explained this fairly well in her own words.  I didn't detect a lot of "new age" lingo.  There was some, but most of the language is fairly commonplace among most everyone these days.  Many scientists are theorizing that our universe is a virtual reality in which we all are game players.  She mentions this in one of her videos.  And this is where the idea of this world being an illusion comes in as it has since ancient times.  This makes perfect sense to me.  I honestly don't see how it can be any other way at this point in time. 

Whatever, reality we are incarnated in / focused in / has our full attention, etc., is what is real to us... we laugh, cry, suffer... etc. and it all is real because of the laws that govern this reality dictate our experience of it through sensory perception.  This is true not only for ELS, but for the realities she went into as well.  Once we leave the body, we are in a different reality and that reality is just as real as ELS was, including the things our mind manifests.

As I mentioned in Don's assumption thread, the reality we find ourselves in after we leave the body is conducive to the type of experience that Nanci calls "manifesting" or basically a reality where one manifests whatever their thought is.  She was aware enough to know that she was the one doing the manifesting of whatever she saw.  The disgusting tunnel, the beautiful meadow, the hospital scene.  She knew that even though it seemed very real, it was an illusion of her own mind and it was her mind that conjured up the images/reality.  I can't tell you how many times I've visited that reality and had the same experience of manifesting whatever I choose.  However, many people are not aware when they die that they are the ones doing this manifesting.  They're so use to the ways of ELS that they think what they experience is external, but it's not.  What you get is symbols or images that are representations of your thought.

On Don's assumptions thread we discussed Howard Storm's experience.  I know Don may disagree with me, but I'm fairly convinced that Storm, as a result of his fearful thoughts, unknowingly manifested his hellish experience.  That was possible because of the initial realm of consciousness we find ourselves in is a realm of consciousness that is conducive to our own thought manifesting our personal reality.  Once we recognize the light or we are open to it, then either we are instantly within it or we "go to" it depending on what our belief or our intent is.  At any rate, it seems some sort of shift takes place and we are in another reality with other beings that love us.

Our memories of our life in the ELS begins to fade and our ELS life seems more like a dream we had.  Perhaps this is one of the reasons why there isn't more ADC as Don has mentioned.  Another may be that as Nanci mentioned, we don't care about our body or the relationships we had in ELS were only important to us while we were in the ELS.  Perhaps we realize that it's only a portion of the greater "me" consciousness incarnated and that the "real" or "total self" or as I call it the "soul" consciousness had never left its non-physical existence, but is experiencing the ELS by projecting a portion of its consciousness as an incarnation of a physical body in the ELS.

For lack of a better description, life here from the perspective of our soul is similar to a simulation or a video game where we are characters playing a game of life to learn to be more organized consciousness, caring and loving, but it is being done vicariously so to speak.  Sorry if I sound a bit loony tunes!  This is difficult to put into understandable metaphors that actually make sense.  And as Albert mentions, we all have different ways to explain and understand something based on our personal experience.  A lot of times, it's just a matter of semantics.  Especially when we have experiences that are new to us or what we call paranormal.  It's hard to explain something to not only our self, but also someone else when we or they have no reference point because we or they have never had the experience previously.

Kathy

Kathy-

A great post!  I'm adding it to "keepers" collection.

Just to add, in the many years I've researched afterlife material, there seems to be two main and somewhat opposing themes:

1.  We are here to learn.  Life is a school.  We come back many times until we get it right.  Integral to this theme is the life review, a powerful learning tool of the highest order because we not only experience the things we did and said during our lifetime, but we also experience how our actions and words affected others, both positive and negative.  Many people shy away from this but in the end we must all go through it.

2.  We are here to "experience."  Learning doesn't seem to be a priority or purpose. As Bruce wrote, we are probes and we send information back to our disk.  Some of the channeled material supports this, primarily Elias.  And in her video, Danison refers to this by saying (as I recall) that we are all part of the Source and we were created in order for the Source to gather all kinds and types of experiences, presumably no distinction between good and bad at least as we would interpret it.  A rough parallel to Bruce's probes and disks.

I remember Danison saying that her life review was done, but she was kind of "off to the side" during the review and not directly involved, as virtually all other NDE reports indicate.  That is definitely the first time I heard that kind of description.

Anxious to get your reactions to her book!

R

Albert-

Yes we learn from experience.  I should have clarified that the "experience" theme does not make a distinction between so-called good vs bad.

It follows the ACIM philosophy, which claims there is no such thing as sin or sinful behavior.  It's all an illusion.  We're not here necessarily to do good but instead to experience life in all its aspects.

In that regard, no distinction is made between doing good or bad because supposedly those things don't really exist. 

To use an extreme example, there's no real difference between Hitler and Mother Teresa.  It's not a question of good vs bad, it's just a difference in experiences.

I personally object to that kind of thought but I can see where it appeals to certain people!  No consequences or accountability?  Wow.

R

Hi Roger,

I agree with Albert in that we learn from experience, but it does sound like some sources you mentioned could be misleading to a certain extent.  Or at least not explaining themselves well enough, which likely is a common problem with most of us.  Personally, I think it's a matter of perspective.  Clearly from a human perspective there is a world of difference between the intent that led to Mother Teresa's actions and the intent behind Hitler's actions.  Now, from the perspective of an evolving consciousness system exploring all possibilities to see which ones are beneficial to its evolution, then perhaps to experience any and all directions would be the only way to be able to choose the most beneficial way to evolve.  What changes its being in the most productive ways lives on.  What is not beneficial simply falls away or dies off eventually.

I think a lot people project our human morality onto their idea of what God is.  I don't think human morality has all that much to do with God because human morality evolved and is still evolving through human activities.  That's not to say that we don't have help to evolve in the right direction.  Also when people say things like there is no sin or no good or bad and that there's only unconditional love, I see that as all of us being loved simply because we are a spiritual being and a part of the whole.  Similar to how we as parents love our children simply because they are a part of us.  They don't have to do anything either good or bad in order for us to love them.  We try to guide them in the right direction, but when they fail, we still love them in spite of their failures.

If Hitler felt the same feelings as the people he'd caused harm to and interacted with during his life review, can you imagine the pain he would have felt?  I wonder if his experiencing that much pain would have been enough for him to learn from and change?

I got my shipping notice for the book and realized that I mistakenly ordered her third book instead of her first book.  I'll probably go ahead and read it before I decide if I want to order the first one she wrote.  Amazon takes returns but with shipping costs, I may as well keep it.

K

Albert-

If you do re-read CWG, you'll see many similarities to ACIM.  As a matter of fact, I personally am convinced the author cribbed liberally from ACIM as did Gary Renarb in his Disappearance of the Universe book.

Again, I know experience and learning go hand in hand.  That really wasn't my point.  I meant that in the context of ACIM, experience has no moral value.  It simply is what it is.  If experience involves doing "bad" things, so be it.  Doesn't matter since good and bad acts are not real. 

R