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spirituality Death tried to pull me out


Hello
I came across your website whilst trying to find some information about an experience I had a few years ago.

I was on an intense workshop, one night whilst relaxing in bed - I was awake and just lying next to my husband who was reading, the bed side light was on. When suddenly I experienced only what I can describe as ‘death’ trying to pull me out, it was intensely frightening and real, I just very calmly said to myself I am not going, I have to be here with my husband and child, and with that the feeling pasted. However I was so scared that I couldn’t speak until the next day.

I have not managed to find anything about this experience, I have no religious up bringing and have nothing to relate this experience too.

Can anyone shed some light on it?  (My teacher at the workshop said it was someone testing me out but I never felt that this was it)

Warm regards
Laura

 

Dear Laura,
Your experience sounds like a message from your soul, more of a jolt I suppose. Our soul continues to try to get our attention, it wants to be recognized and integrated into our life. Our ego tries to deny it and dismiss it because it doesn't want to lose control and fears annihilation by the soul. But the soul just wants to be part of our life and get us on our spiritual path. It tries in gentle ways to get our attention, to wake us up to our spiritual nature. If we don't get the message, it moves to minor inconveniences yet we stay in denial. Each lesson is a bit stronger until finally something jolts us awake. If it takes a scare like you experienced, it's worth it if it starts you on your spiritual quest to understand your Self and God. Finding my web site was a clue to where to get started. You'll find a lot of links and books to start you on your journey to higher consciousness. Bless you on your journey.
Peace & Joy!
Diane

Dear Diane
Thank you so much for your reply. It is the BEST explanation I have had (people have suggested it was a ‘test’ or an entity that has attached but I never felt this to be the right thing)
Your reply has helped me very much.
Thank you again.
Much love
Laura

 

 

existential angst My life changed profoundly


I thought I'd share some of what I've learned with you in return. This gets rather lengthy, but I won't be upset if you don't read it all. I'll also point out that I know how busy your schedule is so don't feel as if you owe me any sort of response to this.

Let me start of by saying that I had an experience much like yours when I was 16 (I'm 33 now). I was goofing off down by the Mississippi and fell in between a couple barges and was immediately pulled under by an undertow. The only thing I remember about the oob portion of it was someone asking me who I was looking for and, when I apparently didn't respond fast enough, telling me to get back to work - at which point I broke through the surface back in my body. I remember thinking "how rude!".

I never saw the city, though I knew it was there. The moment I found myself over the river, I felt I had complete knowledge of everything (including the fact that I shouldn't have been there). My life changed profoundly from that moment over the course of the next year or so. I went from punk rocker (mohawk, chains, spikes, the works) dead set against any form of authority who had dropped out of school (my issues with authority) to clean cut, hard working. I actually got a job (something unheard of for me then) and, once I turned 17, went into the Air Force - despite having dropped out of school. I had done so well on their pre-assessment test that they gave me a GED and a huge book from which I was told I could pick any job I wanted.

Perhaps that really isn't the beginning of the story though. My brother died when I was 7 and that night came to see me before he "left". So I guess from that point I've always known there was more to the story than just what you can see. You wouldn't believe the number of psychologists who tried to tell me that there was no way he could have been there. To this day I know better - he was there just as plainly as... well, just as plainly as anything else in my room.

The story doesn't stop there either. Even now, every time I go to sleep, I leave this body. It's just a fact. I believe everyone does this and the only reason you don't remember it is because those memories don't exist in your physical brain - which is the majority of what people rely on for knowledge. When you're not in your body, you have to "write" those experiences to your brain in order for you to remember them when you are in your body. I should also point out that every time I do leave this body, all of that knowledge instantly returns to me. I've actually learned 3 different scripting languages within a few days each, each culminating in a dream that's centered around the given language, and I suspect (though can't prove) that this has something to do with that. Further, the code that I write is far more efficient and cleanly written than 95% of all of the code I look at and I've actually had clients come to me because of this. All that said, the most important thing is to remember to remember.

I should point out that I'm a RedHat Certified Engineer and Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer as well as an IBM Domino developer - a combination that very few people on the planet can claim. I tend to think of this body in these terms - wherein a user (your true self) is simply operating a piece of equipment (a body - which I refer to as threads [more on this later]). Amazingly, the human brain, from what I can tell, operates very like a very advanced computer system, which I believe is why I do so well in my work. That in mind, this may get get technical at points, but I'll try to keep all of that to a minimum.

I've also quite often woken up and started going about my daily business only to find some minutes later that I wasn't... myself. As in, I've actually possessed others (not on purpose!). When I say "woken up", I mean come to lucidity - the person may or may not have been actually sleeping when I come to. Sometimes I gain lucidity in the middle of a sentence. These are the hard experiences to forget - and most of them would be better forgotten as there's usually some sort of crisis that needs to be dealt with. Through this, I can't begin to count how many times I've experienced death (which instantly puts me back in my own body).

I can also feel others around me, here in this plain of existence. For example, I generally work in the basement of a 3 story office building overnight with my radio blaring and I can tell you (usually) when someone else is in the building. I also always know exactly where my finance is as well as usually what she's doing whenever I think of her. When she goes to sleep, I swear she's right here with me. Sometimes I can even hear her voice as if she were standing right next to me. I believe we truly are one, as you'll see further down.

Let me say that when all this first started happening, I knew for a fact that I was just pure nuts. Now, I'm comfortable with that - we can't all be sane, after all. Whether or not this is actually the case doesn't even matter to me because this is the world I live in, and so the one I must negotiate - whether it's all "in my head" or not. Reality is simply a series of thoughts anyway.

In all of this, I've learned that we, as souls, are timeless. Not just that we don't die, or that time stops when we're not in our bodies. Rather that we can move through time just as easily as moving left or right. Of course, when not in this body, I apparently have a completely different agenda though as there are some places and times I'd really like to see that I haven't yet (that I can remember). But I do know for a fact that I've been in both earlier and later times than now ö and know for a fact that I was really there. Deja-vu's are very common for me, so common that I actually play little mental games when experiencing them ö they don't even surprise me any more. It's my belief that when you experience a deja-vu, it's because you didn't do it right the first time, unless it's one of those cases where you're just goofing off or trying to prove something to yourself.

I've come to the conclusion that each of us is here more than once at any given time, which is why I call these bodies ãthreadsä. A good example of this outlook would be to look at how a web server operates (this is where it gets sort of technical ö I'll be nice): A web server starts by starting up a listener (called a daemon) which listens for incoming requests. When a request comes in, the daemon process starts another listener to take its place and handles the request. Each of these handlers becomes it's own process and is called a thread because it's only a piece of the whole program. If you kill the web server, all of the threads die, but you can kill a thread without affecting the program itself ö which is what is meant when someone says that Apache (apache.org) is a multi-threaded server ö because it can handle more than one request at a time.

This is what I see when I look at people. It's as if I already know everyone and it's just a question of when they are rather than who they are when meeting new people as when they are dictates what they're doing here ö and their entire personality, if that makes sense.

We are indeed all here for a single overall purpose ö that of being company for the creator of everything (yes, there is indeed one). Though these may simply be my own beliefs, they are based on my experiences. The whole story goes like this:

In the beginning, there was God and nothing else. Call Him what you want: God, The Creator, The Supreme Being, whatever ö we get the idea and God is only 3 letters. God existed for eons before any of us ever came into the picture spending his time creating this, that and the other thing. All of this quickly became quite boring and, to make a long story short, God decided to create some company for himself. After all, what fun is it to make stuff if there's nobody to share it with? The reality of it is that He was completely alone for eons. If you can imagine that, you'll quickly realize what a horror that would be. The worst punishment we could ever endure is that of being left in a void for a few millenia (ãgo to your roomä on a more serious level). But then, you knew all this already, didn't you. Moving on...

We were indeed created in His image. However, most people seem to think that God has two arms and two legs, breaths oxygen and requires food to survive. The truth is that God's image is that of the soul. In order for us to be proper company for Him, we have to not only know what he knows, but understand it. We are imbued with his knowledge to begin with, but without the experiences to enable us to relate that knowledge properly, the knowledge itself does us little good. It's sort of like the difference between reading how to set the fuel rack on a 6-71 Detroit Diesel engine and actually picking up a wrench and doing it. The book will leave out little things like watch that you don't bash your knuckles against the head bolts when they break free suddenly and the like, but after you scrape your hands up a couple times, you get the idea (I was actually an Aerospace Ground Equipment Mechanic (AGE) in the USAF ö very little to do with computers if you can believe that).

There is not one, single, universal consciousness (don't get mad, remember - I'm crazy). Rather, there are a few of us, each with our own super-consciousness. Granted though, this is enough to make you think it's comprised of everything indeed. Also, God does not make these bodies, we do (usually).

On the whole question of religion: All of them are wrong, but most people need to believe that there's a Hell in order to behave. Some of us will behave anyway and so don't need the fear of eternal damnation in order to function properly. I'm not certain why we aren't simply told the truth of everything from the outset ö perhaps we're not ready for that either.

For all I've seen and learned, there's nothing I could possibly say to prove any of this to you or anyone else. You'll either know it to be the truth or you won't. At any rate, I feel I've done my part here and can now move on to the next thing (which is always what it's about ö getting to the next thing).

All of this is what I know to be true. Each of us know different things to be true and, quite obviously we can't all be correct. Take it as it is and do what you will with it. If you got this far (yeah, I'm not sure how all this is going to help you, but there you have it.

Peace,
yzxix

 

 

Thanks for sharing that... enjoyed reading it. Talk about crazy, read my book at your leisure... Sitting in the Lotus Blossom.
Peace & Joy!
Diane

 

 

 

Why we always think we're right
Essay by Paul Von Ward (11/11/05)

On Veterans' Day, as a Vietnam-era vet, I always ponder why Johnson and Nixon believed they were right to issue orders that killed and maimed so many of my brothers and sisters, and the sons and daughters of other nations. Today, why does George Bush think he's right, while most everyone thinks he's wrong? Why do Benedict, Sistani, and Robertson believe they speak for the same God?

And, why do I believe I have a right to challenge their interpretation of reality?

Humans appear to have a psychological need to deceive themselves. We pretend to have answers about the most fundamental issues - the nature of reality - where there are only unanswered questions. We depend on delusions.
*****
David Brooks, in his August 11, 2005 New York Times op-ed piece, wrote "while global economies are converging, cultures are diverging, and widening cultural differences are leading us into [an unprecedented] period of conflict, inequality and segmentation". In my writing, I have called this deteriorating situation an "increasing fragmentation of species consciousness", where self-segregating cultures become even more isolated and use modern media technologies to further circumscribe their own members' minds.

Obvious examples are the virulent religious antagonisms fueling 21st century terrorism and the equally powerful, although presently less violent, divergences in America and other societies. Wealthy elites and sectarian cults have gone beyond traditional class barriers to separate themselves from the "unwashed" and "unsaved". They build fortress neighborhoods and use divisive social policies to insure they aren't "contaminated" by those who are different. In an ironic twist of the democratic principles of free enterprise and private property, Domino Pizza's founder is constructing an entire city in Florida where university, businesses, and homes are reserved only for conservative Catholics.

Some psychologists are on the forefront of research into the existential basis of this phenomenon. Something more than superficial lifestyle choices are at work here. The human species appears to be engaged in a profound "re-tribalization" process, at a time when the weapons for defending one's culture and territory far exceed the destructive power of rocks and clubs. The inability of such a fragmented species to reach consensus may threaten its very survival.

At a recent meeting of psychologists in California, several presenters gave talks that either explicitly or implicitly dealt with the role of worldviews with regard to individual development or societal trends. While no one attempted to give a "one-serves-all" definition of worldview, a number of participants talked about the need for a better understanding of the role of personal worldviews in shaping human emotional and behavioral responses to issues or events.

The notion of something that might be studied and/or used in education, therapy, and even broader social interventions under the rubric worldview is sort of like the U.S. Supreme Court's definition of pornography: "You know it when you see it". A still nebulous definition notwithstanding, attempting to look at worldviews may be crucial in confronting the profound breakdown of comity now threatening modern society. In their most fundamental form, different worldviews explain why we must answer "No" to the second question below:

Aren't you curious why we don't agree on certain issues? If two people have the same facts about an issue, then - if they both are logical - would they not draw the same conclusions?

These questions were raised by a doctrinaire writer with whom I had an e-mail exchange on the causes and possible remedies for terrorism. Despite an external reality that a Martian observer might see, when two humans discuss an issue, they are likely to do so through two different - even mutually exclusive - a priori sets of assumptions or beliefs about the nature of reality and the human place in it. For all perceptual, emotional, and behavioral purposes, they live in two different realities. With such species dissociation, different groups are psychologically unable to draw compatible conclusions from the same fact.

The worldview is an element of consciousness, and imposes a personal order on the data perceived by physical and subtle senses. Such a mechanism is essential to human functioning. Without this core set of assumptions, the psyche would break up from the centrifugal forces of conflicting beliefs.

Worldviews deal with the most basic questions in life. What is the design and purpose of nature? Why do things work as they do? One's worldview serves as his or her “lens” for interpreting self, others, and external events. It asserts answers like the following to the most fundamental of questions:

Yahweh created me. Mind rules. God/Allah decides all. Nature is neutral. Allah/God is just. The universe is an accident.

Because worldview assumptions derive from history and cultural practices, they are mutable through experience or new learning. We can change these worldviews through a rational transformation of specific beliefs. Sometimes such transformations can also be stimulated by powerful subjective experiences. In either case the person considers and tests alternatives (based on new inner or external evidence) to his or her ingrained worldview. However, such change is not easy and requires several steps of conscious reevaluation and change, (See relevant articles in AHP Perspective).

The first step is the most simple, yet the most difficult: Recognition that my perception of reality is based on assumptions that may be true or may not be true. If this first step does not stir up strong emotional reactions in the individual, it is likely that one is not yet dealing with worldviews as defined in this article. An intellectual discussion of worldviews that does not touch on the deeper and most strongly held beliefs remains a superficial exercise.

When I cannot find evidence that one who does not share my worldview will agree that it tends to support my assumption, I must conclude that I am taking it on faith. It is this “taking on faith of one’s own or one’s group’s assumptions” as the absolute truth that leads to fragmentation of societal consciousness.

In the context of religious and spiritual worldviews, the United States of America is in effect a "polytheistic" society. Let me explain. An individual is not usually polytheistic, i.e., "worships more than one god". Any social unit can call itself polytheistic and provide for the worship of different gods. However, the American society does not do that. Most people assume everyone worships the same god, just under different guises. However, a comprehensive analysis of worldviews would, I believe, reveal that this nation is actually "polytheistic". All people do not believe in or worship the same ineffable origins of our universe. They worship their own worldview's assumptions about it.

Thus, where the definitions of their god are mutually incompatible, groups actually believe and behave in a "polytheistic" way. Although they may use the same word - God, their definitions are so widely different that they, for all practical purposes, live under and worship different gods. To the extent groups believe their concept of “god,” by whatever name, and their “god’s word" (as interpreted by them) is The Truth, they set themselves apart from all others with no less certainty than Babylonians who worshipped Ba'al and Hebrews who worshipped Yahweh 3,000 years ago. No wonder the Quran, from the newest of the large supernatural religions, describes polytheism as a path to Hell.

Because each group's assumptions are taken on faith, based on a priest/rabbi/imam’s inspirations (likely to be infinite in number), over time the diverging worldviews result in deeper fragmentation of human consciousness. Resulting divergent religions (caused by worldviews that shape the way people actually experience life) always increase the potential for political and physical conflicts.

However, to understand the depth and complexity, and the threat to human survival, of the current maelstrom of worldviews that socially and politically rend today's world, we must look deeper than the traditional labels (the names groups use for their alleged divine beings and give to their unique religions). Such an analysis is necessary to understand how to cope with members of any group that would impose their theocratic views on the policies of governments.
Given their deist perspective (belief in an unnamed creator or supreme power, but not in the anthropomorphic god of 18th-century religions) and actions, it appears that America's Founders Fathers had an intuitive understanding of the competition for power that could arise among competing religious worldviews. They recognized that some groups in a "polytheistic society" (my term) with fundamentally different concepts of reality would attempt to impose their assumptions on others through the political process. They foresaw a struggle to impose laws that would regulate what should be private matters in each religion. Thus, they established secular U. S. institutions with constitutional barriers to prevent one religion imposing its worldview on the rest.

This problem is not limited to religious worldviews. Scientific theories and philosophical schools are also based on assumptions and beliefs founded on partial evidence, always subject to revision based on experience. When groups holding them also consider their worldviews as The Truth, and dismiss other ways of knowing, they are in effect worshipping their own divergent “realities.” Until we find a way to transcend the hardened worldviews that now divide the species, we will not be able to "put Humpty Dumpty (the fragmentation of human consciousness) back together again". To help pierce the defensive shields of superficial labels and symbols described here, we must look honestly at the non-self-evident assumptions that underly conflicting worldviews. The first and essential step requires each of us to admit to which of our own worldview assumptions are based on faith, a faith that we cannot expect some one else to accept just because we believe it. The second step requires a recognition that when it comes to blind faith, anyone's sight is as good as another's.

[Paul Von Ward, a psychologist and interdisciplinary cosomologist, is the author of Gods, Genes, & Consciousness and Our Solarian Legacy: Multidimensional Humans in a Self-Learning Universe. He may be contacted via email at paul@vonward.com. His website is www.vonward.com.]

 

Looking for a sign of God's plan for me

Dear Diane,

I found your site today, somehow. I've just finished reading My Descent into Death, by Howard Storm, and have been reading about NDE's on the web. Howard's book has changed my life. I began praying yesterday that God would reveal to me what His will for me in this life is, if I am not already doing it! I have a feeling that I am supposed to be working with children, in some way and have thought that for years, but have found no real insight as to how. Well, I prayed that I would be shown, either a book, or by some means, that I would know for sure that it was a sign to me of God's plan for me.  

Then, today I came to your site after searching for forums tha deal with NDE's. I saw Paul's email to you about exactly the same thing! He too said he asked for a sign. And I too am an IT professional, just as Paul is. It was just too coincidental, I think.

So now I am wondering if something to do with counseling, psychology and children is what I am supposed to be doing. I thought for a while I was supposed to go into early childhood ed, but somehow that just didn't seem to fit.

I think part of it may be working with children in the church, but maybe not all of it.

I will say, one day, I woke up with this thought "I want to be a spirit that comes and guides children who have just died." This feeling is SO STRONG, that I KNOW that is something I want to do on the other side, but what do I do in the meantime? I am waiting to find out and asking God to lead me.

Judy

Dear Judy,
I'd say the next step would be to go to my Spiritual Lesson and read the information there. You may want to read my book, Through the Tunnel: A Traveler's Guide to Spiritual Rebirth. In the meantime, you could become a guide on this side to help children who are making their transition. Let me know your thoughts.
Peace & Joy!
Diane

Thank you Diane, for responding. I've read some of the information on the site already... but will go back and read more.  I am scared that I would not be strong enough to deal with the emotional issues, espcially with children, yet, I know that I would not be asked by God to do anything that he is not willing to give me the strength for.

I read your NDE account; that is remarkable. I have been reading so many, and thinking, surely all of these people can't be LYING. It has to be real. Of course, the skeptic part of our brains, the logical part that only knows how to take in and categorize what we know of our existence on the earth, rebels against this information.

So forgive me, but I have to just ask. Is it true? I just want to hear someone who has experienced it tell me straight out, that it is true. You are 100% sure that you did not just imagine it all while you were under the water? You really 100% believe that this all happened to you and you aren't making any of it up. (why would you... I know...)

Have you read Howard Storm's book My Descent Into Death? It is powerful too and as I said, it changed my whole perspective on life and death.  

I am now more comfortable with the fact that two of my children are not sure they are Christians, although they are spiritual... and are studying other religions. I can now say to them, LOVE is what is important. Love God, love others, love yourself, and that is what is important. I realize that Jesus really IS our best friend, our savior, and is there for ALL people, not just Christians. He is there for everyone... and comes to everyone whether they call themselves Christian or not.

I realize that my vision of God, as an all-powerful, awesome, creative, loving, forgiving, just, eternal spirit is true... words just don't adequately describe God.  

Thank you again for replying to me. I will read more of the information.. and if I have questions, I hope I can send you a quick email and you can answer as you have time.

Judy

Dear Judy,
Before you could begin to work with any dying person, I'd recommend you become a proficient meditator (could take years of regular practice). You'll gain the strength you need to work with strong emotional issues, you'll learn the art of detachment (empathy not sympathy), you'll learn to allow God, the Spirit, energy, what ever you want to call it, work through you... it's not you but that energy flowing through you that helps/heals/comforts others... it's a learning process but you have to prepare yourself (mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually) before you can be of any help to others. While you're working on yourself, you can start by volunteering at a hospital or assisted living facility, gradually work up to being with children, first sick children then dying children... if it's not for you, you'll discover that... you'll gravitate toward your calling... get out of your own way and let you spirit guide you through mediation... asking simply what will you have me do?

Did it really happen like I wrote? Straight out, it's true. I was always a water person... swimming (high school state champion), boating, water skiing, SCUBA diving, fishing, kayaking, canoing, surfing... no fear at all of the water... and I had a number of serious incidents where I might have died. In each case, what I remember during the incidents was fighting to get back to the surface, my lungs about to burst, sure I was going to die. In this particular incident, I have no conscious memory of what happened to my body under the water after I brreathed in the water... only of suddenly being above the river looking down then visiting another strange but similar dimension then suddenly popping out of the water down river. I'm extremely skeptical too, which may be why is was easy for me to bury it after people made me feel like a nut case for talking about it at the time. It was only when I heard other people, 15 years later, talk about their strange experiences that I decided to tell mine... and since then I've been trying to figure it out. I don't claim to have all the answers... what I write is what I've come to believe through all of my life experiences and offer it as grist for the mill for others seeking answers to life's deeper questions. I think people need to come to their own conclusions rather than be told what to believe.

Yes, I've read Howard Storm's book, My Descent into Death (read my review) and thought it gave a wonderful message of hope to people who are afraid of death. There are many good books out there and I hope you'll keep reading. There is also serious research going on trying to find answers to age old questions. The International Association of Near Death Studies has a wonderful newsletter filled with stories from NDErs, research projects, book reviews. etc. that you may find helpful.

I'm happy you've opened your mind to a greater understanding of God and realize that love is all that matters. Know too that our children are on their own personal journeys and will find their own answers in their own time. Bless you on your spiritual journey, do keep me posted.
Peace & Joy!
Diane

Diane,

Bless you. What a nice surprise to find that you had actually taken the time to write me back, I know you are a busy person and you don't even know me! Thank you.

I just had a wonderful conversation with my ex-husband today (the father of two of my children), and realized that he and I are now really not far apart at all on our spiritual paths. It was very rewarding to have this conversation with him. I realize now that I can love his soul (and probably have many many lifetimes!) while not being romantically linked to him in this life anymore. We have a very deep history, very full of love, synchronicity, pain, and heartbreak, and now, a sense of deep peace between us at finding ourselves friends on a very deep level, watching our children grow (those we have together and those we have with our current spouses). I don't think I could have come to this level of healing and love without the awakening I've had recently... and reading your account of what happened to you was a small part of my awakening, so I am very grateful to you and all the others I've read about.

Speaking of awakenings, I'm reading Sidhartha (Herman Hess) right now and it is a wonderful book!

One more thing. You said this .... "I think people need to come to their own conclusions rather than be told what to believe."

I believe that I just made that same statement, almost verbatim, about 2 hours ago to my ex-husband, and then came home to find your email message.... 

Blessings to you,

Judy

Judy,
These coincidences, actually synchronicities, are messages from Spirit to show you that you're on the right path. Do read The Celestine Prophesy/The Tenth Insight series and Conversations with God series.
Peace & Joy!
Diane

Diane,

I had the Celestine Prophesy books a couple of years ago and read them, a lot of synchronicities were happening to me then. But for some reason, I got off the path and thought that I could not be a Christian and believe in these things also, so I threw all of my "new age" books out, and put myself into Christian fundamentalism. I spent a couple of years learning about being a Christian again. Now, recently, I have found that my awakening does not mean that I cannot believe in the Divinity of Christ, or that I cannot call myself a Christian and try to follow the path of Jesus Christ. I have the vision of myself being a pendulum, swinging way to one side, then way to the other, then back, then back, and now, finding my own place in the middle.

Dear Judy,
It's good you've been able to keep an open mind. The pendulum is a good metaphor. New information may shake our foundation, but if it does, it means the foundation was shaky to begin with and we should examine that but not throw the baby out with the bath water.

Something interesting I learned recently is that it depends on which of the 4 Gospels you believe as to which kind of Christian you are. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John gave us slightly different versions of Jesus' life and death, John being the only one to proclaim accepting Jesus as Savior is the only way to Heaven. Another interesting one, which makes a lot of sense to me, is that Mary Magdalene was, if not Jesus' wife, his most beloved apostle. He told her things he didn't tell the other apostles (revealed to them by Mary after his death) and they were jealous, especially because she was a woman, so they dismissed her teachings and went off to teach their own (incomplete) versions. Then Pope Gregory, 6th Century-ish, decided Mary Magdalene was too popular with people so he declared she was the prostitute Mary mentioned previously in the text, but that's twisting the story. He also took out most references to reincarnation, wanted people to focus on being good in this life. How about... Jesus didn't die on the cross... he had a near death experience? After he revived, rolled back the stone, and appeared to the disciples (he appeared to Mary Magdalene first) and displayed his physical wounds for them to touch, he went off with Mary to live a quiet life and let the legend of his resurrection live on.

Just because someone calls themself a Christian doesn't mean they believe the exact same thing as another Christian. There's a wide range of beliefs within Christianity, including Mystic Christianity, which says that we are all capable to becoming like Jesus. We all have the abilities he demonstrated and more, and should strive to develop them but first one must develop Christ-Consciousness (to prevent abuse of power... the fear of early Christian leaders). Mainstream Christianity sees that as the work of the devil and insist on the literal translation of the Bible. Islam is even stricter requiring memorization and constant repetition of the Koran to keep all other thoughts out of peoples' heads and maintain strict adherence to dogma. It's more about keeping people in line than saving their souls. The problem is that we are spiritual beings having human being experiences and they can't keep that from us any longer.

I see one's belief system as an evolving process and encourage people to step outside the box to examine whether their experience matches what they've been taught. Beyond that I see Humanity's consciousness evolving (one person at a time) toward a greater understanding of the Universe, God, All That Is. Religion has kept us in a box for too long and now people are breaking out and exploring consciousness on their own. Very interesting times!
Peace & Joy!
Diane

 

How do I stay positive?

Greetings,

Thank you for taking the time to read this email; I know you‚re busy with this site, so I‚ll keep it short and get right into it.

I,m a relatively recent student to this type of thought (2 years, perhaps?), and am becoming aware of the power of thought and how each person essentially creates their own reality.

The reason I write is that I do not know what to do when I am unsuccessful in this endeavor of having positive thoughts create positive changes.

I am relatively young and have almost completed an advanced degree. This degree will be my career and profession, and it is something that I have wanted since I was very young. In the past few years, however, I have had surprisingly negative reactions from many people that I interact with. For example, when interviewing for jobs, I find a surprising level of dislike from those I meet. In academic/professional contests (real world simulations, I suppose you could say), I find myself judged much more harshly than others when it comes to criticism and scorecards. I ask people I trust about this, asking what I might be doing wrong, but I am always told that I perform very well. In almost every other area of my life I would consider myself fortunate, but because this is my future, I am starting to get seriously worried.

I originally thought this could be selective memory, a biased perception, or maybe the old me‚ would have labeled it bad luck‚. But the incidents are piling up so rapidly that any sort of statistical coincidence would be impossible. It‚s not that people don‚t like me, either. I just see a sort of unsettled feeling in those I interact with where something is at stake. 

So I suppose my question is twofold: First, what am I doing here that is causing this undesirable energy to come from me? Second, when things start going very poorly, how does one keep their spirits high and maintain that positive outlook?

I suppose I just don‚t know where to start looking for these answers, and for this I appeal to your wisdom.

Thanks again for listening,

Jason

 

Dear Jason,
I admire you for wanting to improve yourself. If we don't acknowledge there's a problem, how can we fix it? You can think of this as a control issue you need to deal with (and accept that we can't control other people with our thoughts). Go to my Spiritual Lessons, read the description (withholding judgment) and try working the exercise. If you have trouble understanding how to apply it to your situation, let me know and I'll walk you through it.

In answer to your first question, when you apply the above mentioned exercise, you will see in the other person what it is you are doing that you need to change to get the positive reactions you desire. It appears to me to have to do with you being judgmental of others which may be expressed subconsciously through body language, innuendos, attitudes, tone of voice, use of language. You can change this by being more open and interested in others than in what's at stake.

To your second question... we learn by making mistakes so every moment, good or bad, is teaching you something you need to learn along your way. When things aren't going so well, you need to switch your focus, problem-solve, try new things, communicate with people who have answers. It's all in your attitude. If it's fun, challenging, exciting, has ups and downs, it's all part of it. If you have a vision for your future, you have goals, you have a plan, you work the plan. You run into a dead end, you find another road. You ruin into an obstacle, you figure out another way over it, around it, through it, under it. Allow it all to evolve. Persistance, perseverence and patience are important. Getting angry, depressed, pessimistic are a huge waste of imagination. It helps to have a core group to bounce ideas off when things aren't good to get the creative juices flowing and generate new ideas. You're on a journey and have no idea where you'll end up or what you'll go through to get there... so why not enjoy it?

Peace & Joy!
Diane


Head falls while meditating


Hi:
My name is Michael and I have been meditating for over 6 months now. I have noticed with time, that my head will drop from what seems to be a spiritual frozeness. When my head fall, it is like I am frozen and have to raise my head again and my teeth or bottom jaw begin to chew or grind. It is really uncomfortable, while hearing buzzing or chirping sounds. I noticed that my dreams have become more clear, vivid and sharp. The spiritual weight is to heaving and it is like pressure or the weight or God consciousness is holding my head down or making it heavy, although I am not sleep but have to force to raise my head to come out of the sleep like trance. What could this be?

Thank You
Michael

Dear Michael,
It sounds like you're falling asleep when your head drops which then wakes you up. Just go right back to meditating. Your mind-body is adjusting to the meditative state, seeking balance. You may need some chakra balancing work (Go to Spiritual Lessons: Meditation). There is a fine line between meditating and sleeping, and what comes with practice is the ability to maintain a certain level of consciousness between alpha and theta waves. The chewing and grinding, the buzzing
and chirping sounds, twitches, tics and other bodily movements, are all part of the process... just observe, don't dwell or give your power away to anything that arises in your experience, don't pay attention long enough to question what or why, just let it all drift by like leaves on a flowing river. You can analyze later if you want to, not while you are meditating.
Peace & Joy!
Diane

 

 

The twists and turns of one's spiritual path

Hi Diane,
I discovered your website today! 

As a young child and into my early twenties I contemplated suicide. As a child, it was very much on a back burner, never to be talked about with anyone. But as a 19 year old, it grew into a full blown suicidal depression and I sought help. After years of crying and talking about it with everyone I knew, I finally came to a place where I swallowed pills.

While I was in the hospital emergency ward and waiting possible medical intervention, I had a spiritual awakening. I never believed much in God, but here in the hospital I was told from an "inner" place that there was no death...that we are spiritual beings in bodies here to learn something. If I took my life now, I would have a much more difficult recovery than if I stayed to work out my problem.

From that time forth I never considered suicide, yet 30 years later I am still trying to work out my problem. I am thinking you may have something worthwhile for me to integrate.

The problem is thus:

Whether it is a genetic or environmental cause, I am one who blocks my feelings. Essentially my mother wasn't there for me emotionally. She was a "good" mother according to her, but to me she didn't understand the full responsibility of the job. She fed me and clothed me and praised my good grades, but I couldn't communicate to her that something very deep was wrong with me. I couldn't tell her that I didn't feel connected, that I was alone in the world and deeply saddened and fearful. On the outside I acted happy all the time. I didn't know children were supposed to feel love ( only adults were supposed to) until I was a teenager. I have 3 children and while I behave much more responsibly than my mother ever did, I express my love mostly in my actions and hardly feel it in my heart.

I was in psychotherapy straight from age 19 until the late nineties. I tried every alternative approach as well. I meditated for 3 years religiously and after a point with nothing having changed, I called it a waste of time.

Nowadays, I am working a job that is enabling me to make a decent amount of money. With my daughter in graduate school and my son about to start college, my time and energy is best spent putting my nose to the grindstone helping them through. This lifestyle is also providing a perfect opportunity to run away from myself. I have no time or energy left in the day when the evening meal is completed to do any spiritual exercises.

I know in my heart, one day, that I will be provided with an opportunity to go to work again on my spiritual development even though in the 30 years that I WAS trying I could not effect my emotional block. But for now, don't suggest I do any spiritual or therapeutic work....I won't.

In therapy I learned there was a strong "resistance" within myself and that I am my own worst enemy. I am the one who is blocking my feelings and it is I who ultimately will need to release the old grief of not having a mother there for me. I can't seem to accomplish that and continue to hold on to my pain deep down while refocusing my conscious mind on my work. Even though I know in my intellect that I am a spark of the divine, deep down I feel like a worthless soul. 

Dear B,
I got past it myself by accepting that my parents did the best they knew at the time and started accepting responsibility for my self as an adult. They didn't understand me... but then I was beyond their understanding. Poor things didn't know what hit them when I came along, how could I continue to blame them? Besides blaming them only kept me from being all I could be and I wouldn't let that happen.

Part of the spiritual process is to know thy self... uncover your shadow side and discover who you really are, become your authentic self, live your life authentically. What they did or didn't do doesn't matter anymore. What matters is what you're doing right now. The strength your mother gave you is to be able to overcome adversity. Look at you... you've got a good job, you're putting your children through college... a single parent? (been there, know how hard that is)... what a role model for your children... Yahoo for you! So much is positive in your life, you need to pay more attention to that. Your spiritual exercise at this point is simply to thank God at the end of the day that you made it through. The joy is in the journey, this just happens to be where you are right now.
Peace & Joy!
Diane

 

 

What makes people think that they are somehow exempt?


While the topic of whether or not there is an 'afterlife' is all very interesting, I cannot help but wonder if this is nothing more than a case of wishful thinking on the part of those who cannot accept the inevitability of life's end. It also raises the question of whether such an outcome ('life' after death) is even desirable. Maybe it's just me, but I find the notion of 'eternal life' to be an abhorrent one, and by the way, what is the ultimate objective to all of this endless evolution of 'the soul' (whatever that is)? 'Perfection'? 'Oneness'? Does anyone know, and if not why not? Nothing in nature is half-eternal, and by this I mean that there is nothing in nature that has a beginning but no ending, so my question is this: what makes people think that they are somehow exempt from this rule?

Dear Peter,
It's certainly a question pondered by many.

Personally I was quite comfortable not believing in an after life. My younger sister was killed when I was 10. I was convinced dead was dead. I wasn't religious, didn't go to church, and was at least agnostic. But then this strange experience happened to me and it was so real, so amazing, so wondrous, so unexplainable, so loving that it profoundly changed me. I tried unsuccessfully to explain what happened but I couldn't find the words. Everyone acted like I was crazy, babbling nonsense. So I denied it and repressed it for years. Had it been a dream or wishful thinking, it never would have come back and demanded expression. Why would I put myself out there if it hadn't happened? I returned to life with a mission to open others to the light that there is more to life than we've been led to believe... this was not where my life was going before this happened to me. I'm not trying to force my perspective on anyone, just share what happened to me and let them draw their own conclusions... but I gotta tell you, I see a lot of miserable people out there in the world who think they have all the answers while I love my life. I live this calm, peaceful, serene, happy, joyful life filled with love and beauty, fully aware that while I may die at any moment, my life continues to evolve in other dimensions of a Universe that is so vast that eternity is not long enough. What we "do" as spiritual beings is beyond human understanding but I promise you, it's not boring (Possibility: As spiritual beings, we are creators of the physical universe). We are so far removed from anything resembling the physical dimension at this point that "life" as a human being is inconceivable just as "a being filled with the Love of God" is beyond human comprehension. We are energy, we are light, we only exist as human beings when we pass through the physical dimension... for a moment. We are not human beings... we are spiritual beings having human being experiences... we are in the world but not of it. "People" aren't exempt, only spiritual beings are eternal.

Bless you on your spiritual path.
Peace & Joy!
Diane

 

Dear Diane,
When I wrote my little letter in your guestbook I didn't really expect that I would receive a response from anyone to what I had discussed within it, but this is really a pleasant surprise - thank you :). You may perhaps have deduced from my comments that I am far too cynical, and a little too demanding in the level of proof I require before accepting something as a reality. The truth of the matter is that I am not really as closed-minded as that letter may suggest, and
after having looked over it again I'm kind of embarrassed by it. Of all the phenomena which could be, for want of a better term, classed as 'New Age' (I hope that term does not offend you - I myself can't stand it), the research results and/or evidence that has been gathered thus far regarding NDE's actually indicates that there is, in fact, much more to life than merely this present physical existence of ours.This is a topic which should be discussed openly, without any fear of ridicule or derision on the part of self-proclaimed sceptics, who have their own ulterior motives for silencing debate on this, and many other, issues. I hope that my letter has had more of a positive impact than a negative one to this overall debate.


Once again, thank you for responding to my message and, of course, for telling me, a complete stranger, about the life-altering experience you had.

God bless, all the best, and bye....
Peter

 

 

I'm so lost

I just discovered your website today, and I want to thank you for what you are doing. I am 3 years into my true spritual path, and I have more questions everyday. I am in a very foggy period right now with my direction. I feel as if I am in limbo. I can't seem to budge, and things have been this way for 6 months. I have sought the assistance of others, but no one has been able to help. Unfortunately, there are few truly spiritually advanced people with which I can find. I have been having an experience much like yours with the Catholic Church. I have found that I have not been drawn to organized religion so much as to the library and every self help, spritual guidance, NDE, or meditation book that I can get my hands on. I think my husband thinks I'm going crazy or in some mid-life crisis. I prefer mid-life awakening. I do pay attention to synchronicities in my life. The only thing that I am having trouble with now is that the current synchronicity is that I have not been able to sucessfully get help from others. There is an acquaintance of mine that is psychic, but she has been unavailable due to personal problems. I sought another. She just wants me to pay her lots of money to burn candles and take her word for that. I have taken weekend sabbaticals to find myself thrown into helping others instead of myself. How emotionally vampirical! I'm so lost. I'm losing faith in my ability to find my own answers. I feel paralyzed. Can you help?

Randi

 

Dear Randi,
Oh, dear... you probably think I confirmed what you are saying because it's taken me some time to respond and you assumed I'm just another who won't help you. I apologize, I don't get to answer email as often as I might like. And that also points out one of the lessons you are learning... patience. If you are expecting instant gratification, you haven't learned anything the past 3 years. You only have what is happening in this moment which is where you attention should be. If someone doesn't respond, that's a message from your soul telling you not to go in that direction... move on, don't dwell in negative energy. There are many teachers out there, you need to find the ones who respond to you and dismiss the rest as not your path. It's part of your learning to discern using your own intuition. You get a feeling... bad feeling, don't go there... good or neutral, check it out. Everything is energy, including you.

A spiritual path is a personal quest for the Holy Grail. No one else can really help you, other than to give you information to consider, but it is you who makes the journey, slays the dragons, finds the treasure, and returns a hero. What all this rejection by others in the physical world is teaching you is that the answers are to be found within yourself. You can read all the books, listen to all the teachers, practice all the practices, but in the end the answers will be found in the Silence of your mind when you expand your consciousness and touch the face of God. Try my Lotus Meditation, read it yourself into a tape recorder and listen to it in meditation, imagine that you are the lotus blossom.

Also note that a spiritual path is a evolving process that goes on for the rest of your life, but it has it's stops and starts, ups and downs. One may read voraciously for months or years then stop reading altogether. This is a time of assimilation. Your subconscious needs time to process all the information that has been ingested. During this time not much progress takes place and after a time you will feel stuck, paralyzed as you say, and want to press on. It's time to put into practice what you have learned, do something with the information, allow your creativity to awaken. Something will happen to spur you on to a new quest for understanding and take you in another direction where you will want to learn everything you can, then again will come a time of assimilation, then stagnation, and so on and so on. People often get off their path during stressful times or stagnant times, stay off for years, then come back. Whatever your path is is what your path will be. Wherever you are is where you're supposed to be at this moment... what you have to do is be aware and seek the meaning. You'd benefit from reading Sitting in the Lotus Blossom, my book which is available online as an eBook. I've just added some Self-Help tools on my Counseling page that you might find enlightening.

Keep in mind that whatever aggravates you the most, is a teacher for you to learn more about yourself. You can't change what you don't acknowledge, so be very honest with yourself and you'll make more progress.
Peace & Joy!
Diane

 

Active Kundalini

Greetings,

Firstly, heartfelt THANK YOU for your sharing of wisdom, your site is very inspirational, motivational & enlightening!

Personally, I agree with you, awakening, appears to be all about an infinitely unfolding process.

A process that does not necessarily mean, peace forever more within the illusionary earthly reality! it appears that awakening enlightens one to Be-come authentic expressions of who they really are, through self awareness & reflect that in the world rather than necessarily be-coming a conditioned robotic part of it!

I also have a query, in regard to a influx of what appears to be energy/universal consciousness that I sense is pouring into my crown charka, down my face. It is almost like a fire hose is held above my head. This happens always when meditating, often when sharing when another who may be discovering more about what makes them tick & usually when retiring to bed of an evening, as I lay down to go to sleep the same feeling floods the top of my head.

Maybe you could shed some light on this for me.

I have had several (what is perceived) as "spiritual" experiences over the past 15 years, however over the past two to three years I feel I have been stagnant, as though I am at an impasse, or I am just not getting it! I could go as far as to feel I may be in a process of surrendering! if I would allow myself to pass through it!

Anyway, please accept A Heartfelt Thank you for your inspirational site! it is encouraging to connect with one who is walking their talk as a living example of truth/god in action! expressing it-self in physical form!

namaste
Diane

 

Dear Diane,
I'm grateful you visited my site and benefited from the information you found.

Because of what you wrote, I did a reading on you which confirmed my first thoughts that your kundalini energy is active. Go to my Spiritual Lessons and read over all the information on that page. Chose whatever methods you find peaceful and harmonious and start practicing. I suggest you record and listen to my Lotus Meditation several times a week. You need to get that energy under control using meditation and your creativity (find a new, exciting way to express yourself in the world).

The reading says what's going on in your life is about a healing of your spirit over a frustration carried over from past lives. It concerns judgement, you were unfairly judged. What you are going through is a self-imposed initiation, no one else can help you, but you do have the ability to rise above it... even though the odds are against your beliefs (don't let their judgements hold you down in this life). What you need are courage and harmony in your life, and to expand your creativity. It means you have to overcome your shadow side and fears, and to become more organized. You will do this by believing your spiritual strength comes from contact with the God force within you and eventually you'll act this out in the world. As a result you will come to an understanding of "as it is above, so it is below," and you will have peace of mind. You are a deeply spiritual person with strong psychic gifts oriented to the light.

Let go... allow yourself to pass through it.
Peace & Joy!
Diane

Heartfelt "Thankyou" Diane., much appreciated!
Love & Light!
namaste
Diane

 


Who are the Lightworkers?

Hi Dianne. I found your site last night, and have been persuing articles, and testimonials as i can. Like many, i am in a spiritual search. I started, with some night classes in a local college, and have had two physic readings, and a past life regression with a practioner, and in traing shaman in Arizona I was told, that i am a way shower, bringer of light, and am trying to find out more about this. I haven't found much yet in print. I don't know if this is rare, or i just haven't found the right source. I saw mention of it, in a book, about the reincarnation of Edward Casey, but that is the only thing i've seen so far. Any help you could give, would be appreciated. I thank you, for your time, in helping people like myself, and for your very informative site. I will be here, for quite sometime, and will persue your books, as i can. Again many thanks.

Warm regards, and God bless you. ..... Doug

Dear Doug,
There are many words for the same concept. I know of many Lightworkers through the internet... it can mean anyone working to open others to the idea that we come from light and return to the light, that "God" loves us all and wants us to succeed. What your path should be is to find out how you can best express that in the world. How can you serve God and the Planet by becoming the best version of yourself you can be? What are your interests, talents, abilities, resources that would help you be of service to others. If you don't know, you need to find out who you are and what your purpose is in this life as part of your spiritual journey. You'll find some tools to help you with self-discovery on my counseling page under "Self-Help."
Peace & Joy!
Diane

 

 

I'm one of those pretentious, cut-throat, social climbers and it's leaving me empty

Diane
Thank you for responding. It was an unanticipated, yet appreciated surprise. I can only imagine the number of emails you receive, so when I received your acknowledgement of my email, it only confirmed my faith in you and your committment to your message. That said, let me forewarn you that you may regret your "simple thank you email" as I have many questions that I need to unload and few people I trust that can shed light on, yet alone take time out of the pretentious, cut-throat, social climbing environment I come from. You see I'm one of those pretentious, cut-throat, social climbers and it's leaving me empty. I know in my heart of hearts that we are here for a purpose and growth. I know my soul is trying to graduate me to the next level, but I'm not always very cooperative. I know you understand what I'm unloading, any non bullshit advice you can pass on? Thinking about past regression hypnosis therapy... yes? I'm a little nervous to embark on the journey. I'm trying to be truly cognizant of signs. Is that a good start? 
Could use your wisdom and advice if you can afford the time to give it.

Dear Diane,
You've already learned how to look in the mirror to learn what you need to learn about yourself. Go to my Spiritual Lesson Know ThySelf and continue using that technique to grow. Personal development comes first... if you don't have a solid foundation to build on, the building will collapse. Just follow your nose and you'll know what to do next. Envision your goal, and keep it and God in the forefront of your thoughts. Remember that thoughts are things... you're excited to embark on this journey, not nervous... same feeling, different thought, different attitude. Noticing synchronicities increases one's awareness... it's a good place to start, but it eventually becomes second nature. Just get out of your own way and open yourself to the guidance of your soul. God wants you to succeed.

I've recently added some self-help tools on my counseling page. You might want to check them out.
Peace & Joy!
Diane

 

An Ecstatic Compulsion to Transform the World

In my own development, what has replaced the excitement of experiencing new insights and ideas is the powerful urge to actually create a new context—a new cultural context, an enlightened culture. It's the creative component in relationship to awakening itself that is so compelling, so interesting, and so fascinating. Most significantly, it's the nondifference between the enlightened perspective, directly seen, known, and felt, and the arising of a spontaneous compulsion to create, to make manifest that which is being seen. Ultimately one becomes more compelled by what actually happens as a result of awakening than by the awakening itself. The ecstatic compulsion to transform the world becomes the focus of one's attention instead of merely one's own personal development or personal liberation.

Andrew Cohen
What Is Enlightenment? magazine

Dear Andrew,

I'm so glad to hear you say that. We get to a point on the path beyond awakening where we think, so now what? If we've realized, when we just let go, our creativity flows... we begin to realize that we are manifesting what we've been thinking (duh... thoughts are things!). Sometimes I feel I'm manifesting the reality of the world as my consciousness expands and, you're right, there is an ecstatic compulsion to it... seems about 10 years after I come up with a way to transform the world, it's hitting the mainstream consciousness (stress management, mind-body-spirit concepts, personal development, spiritual growth, transformation of consciousness, conscious dying, bridging the gap between Science and Religion, the evolution of consciousness...

I feel I've been moving toward an even greater transformation of consciousness over the last couple of years as I've been letting go of my need to help so many on an individual basis and freeing myself of the details of maintaining a web site. My creativity is moving me in another direction to awaken the unconscious masses. Not sure how it's going to play out but I always enjoy the journey.

Bless you for your work. I always look forward to reading your quotes.
Peace & Joy!
Diane

Why is it so difficult?

Diane
why do you feel it is so difficult to get in touch with our eternal soul and even more difficult to get in touch with our infinite spirit? I am a seeker but still attached to my physical body and physical life. I believe that I have lived many lives before and find it frustrating that I am so serious about this life. also you have a wonderful website and your words are most comforting for those of us that fear disease and death.
bill

Dear Bill,
In the grand scheme of things, there is a reason things are the way they are. As we grow and experience life, we come to understand what was previously incomprehensible to us. We have aha! moments of instant clarity about concepts that have eluded us (for lifetimes). We begin to see the bigger picture, the whole, as our perspective broadens. We couldn't see the picture when we were in the frame. The more our mind dwells in the higher realms of thought, listening to the Silence, the closer we come to God-Consciousness... the less we are concerned with the physical world and its attractions. Unless one becomes a monk in a far off monastery and spends most of their time in meditation, it becomes a more gradual process of letting go of physical concerns and increasing time spent in the spiritual realms. Your life will follow what your mind dwells on so plan your future with your present thoughts.

The present life is the important life, we should be serious about it. Live it well and the rest will take care of itself.
Peace & Joy!
Diane

 

Material vs. Spiritual

Daine,
I have been on a spiritual path for about 10 years now. I am constantly thinking of God and how to serve him in a loving, compassionate way. I got married in 1998 and have a wonderful 2 year old son. My wife, unfortunately, has no spiritual inclination whatsoever and is interested only in materialistic pursuits. She also wants to have another child. She is originally from India. She has stated that she will take my child and move to India unless I become more worldly, materialistic, and agree to have another child. I don't see the purpose of having another child when 2 individuals cannot get along. Also, should I give up all spiritual pursuits in an attempt to save the marriage? Please advise.
Thank You

Dear Rajukar,
It depends on what your spiritual path is, perhaps you need to define that first. I don't think you have to give up one thing to have the other unless you are thinking of becoming a monk. It sounds like you need some marriage counseling, but I realize everyone isn't open to that. Did you and your wife talk about these things before you got married? Of course not, no one ever talks about the important things. Have you married into another culture, another religion? Did you do some research into what that might mean to your relationship? Or did you think that love is all we need? If she was raised to find a husband who will give her children and support her while she shops, you're in big trouble. Tell her to get a job if she wants to buy more things than you can afford. Is it even possible for her to take your child to India or is that an empty threat? Are you away in the Navy and don't really know what's going on back home, like who's influencing her thinking? Is your spiritual path adding to or taking away from your marriage? If it is your true path, it should give you the answers you need to save your marriage. There are many, many questions to ask and I don't know enough to give you any advice other than that you two really need to sit down and get to know each other's deepest thoughts and desires.

Peace & Joy!
Diane

 

Evolving Consciousness

I was raised in the Roman Catholic tradition, educated in Catholic schools including two years in a monastic environment exploring whether the religious life was my calling. When it was determined for me that this was not the path I was to take, I was left with an empty feeling that success and happiness would forever be denied me because I had denied God a priest. Eventually, I moved beyond that (even though it remained in the back of my mind into my later adult years) and married and raised a family. Always the devout Catholic, I attended Mass, regularly - confession, regularly and suffered all of the guilt complexes, regularly, that is expected of a good Catholic except for the fact that I eventually divorced.

About 15 years ago, while attending Mass during the Easter season, I was listening to the reading about the betrayal of Jesus in the Garden by Judas and a thought began to run through my mind asking: "why would a loving God send a soul into the world, knowing in advance that he was going to hell"? Soon, I heard a voice asking the question: "do you really think I did that"? - my answer was "no" - next, the voice said to me: "well, I didn't and you need to discover why".

Thus began a journey that took me into just about everything I could find that dealt with alternative understandings of our relationship with God. First I read "Conversations with God" by Neale Donald Walsch - then, I listened to all of the tapes and CD's which he put out. Then, I began studying the history of Christianity and books on NDE's, Past Life Regression, Reiki, meditation and Hypnotherapy - it reached a point where books were literally flying off shelves into my hands as I walked through bookstores in search of more knowledge.

Finally, I have come to the understanding that what we believe in and call "god" is nothing more than a title we have given to a concept that we cannot grasp within our limited reality. I know that we are pure energy and it is to energy that we will return at the end of this incarnation. I know that there is no "heaven" and there is no "hell" outside of that which we create in our own minds. I know that people are "good" or "evil" only so long as that serves them, not because of some mythical "satan".

What this has brought me to is the understanding that the Christian foundation on which our Western society is built is based on a mistaken belief that those who follow that belief system are the chosen ones of "god" and we have the right, if not the obligation, to enforce that belief there is no public forum for those of us whose desire it is to stand up and say "our's is not a better way, our's is just another way".

Namaste,

Frank

Dear Frank,
I was with you until the last paragraph then got a little confused. I think you are saying that among Christians, some believe their way is the only way, while others believe theirs is one of many ways? In which case, it's not that there isn't a forum, those folks just aren't as outspoken as the former. They're too busy doing their work in more subtle ways by being loving towards everyone, by quietly doing good works. There is an evolving consciousness raising more people above the exclusivity and self-righteous judgements of previous belief systems... it sounds like you are part of the paradigm shift.
Bless you on your spiritual journey.
Peace & Joy!
Diane

What does the Lord think?

Do you believe in Jesus? I see no mention of Him. I see articles about the "paranormal", "reincarnation", etc. Where does Jesus fit in? It's His eternal kingdom. If you do not believe in Him, where did you really go when you had your near death experience? All of this Karma stuff is "new age". Do you know what the Lord thinks of all of it?

Dear JoAnn,
Thank you for visiting my web site and expressing your opinion. If your beliefs sustain you then you are on the right path for you. Bless you on your spiritual journey.
Peace & Joy!
Diane

 

Things that puzzle me

Hi Diane,

How often do you recommend meditation. I have read what you have to say on your site. In my case do you have any personalized tips?

What do you think about Jesus Christ? I understand from your writings, I think, that you believe there is some truth in all of the World's religions. In the case of Christianity, do you believe Jesus did walk the Earth and was the Son of God? I'm just interested to hear your ideas.

In the case of mentally retarded people, is the soul teaching them something by being born with this defect. Or maybe this question illustrates more about what I'm looking for. In the case of a person with alzheimer's disease. Where is the soul at this point? Is it totally detached from the body. These are things that puzzle me.

People who enjoy being violent against people. For example, I recently watched a show about a person who would kidnap children and break their bones because he liked to see people in pain. What are they teaching themselves and what are the victims learning? Things like this really bother me and it's hard for me to just accept it and make sense of it.

Thank you for all you do.

Brandon

 


Dear Brandon,
I recommend meditating twice a day for about 40 minutes, especially in the beginning, for the most benefit... however, I realize most people can't do that so all I can say is as often as you can. If you want it to become second nature, so to speak, doing it over and over will accomplish that. If you think about Buddhist monks, they start at an early age but don't become enlightened masters until old age so it depends on what you want to accomplish by meditating. In your case, I suggest you do it more often until you get to the point that you're able to slip into a meditative space just by closing your eyes and taking a deep breath. You'll have conditioned your behavior by this point and you can do it less frequently and still get the benefits. You'll notice fear coming up sooner and be able to immediately evoke the meditative state before it manifests in anxiety. If you want to work on fear issues, you may want to meditate more so you can go deeper into your psyche but if it works to control your fear, you may find once or twice a week sufficient. If you're going through a particularly stressful time, you may want to increase frequency. Just adjust to what's comfortable for you.

Ah, Jesus.... who was he? It's just speculation on my part but I tend to believe that he was a real historical person... but the Son of God? I don't believe the biblical version because I don't believe God works that way... that God interacts with human beings in that way. One thing I have noticed is that everyone on a spiritual path goes through a phase where they think they are Jesus Christ, reincarnated. And there is at least one Jesus Christ in every mental institution. So either through the realization of the greater self or delusion, human beings sometimes think they are sent by God to save the world. We are capable of having visions, NDE's or other types of spiritual experiences that open up a connection to a higher reality but how the individual interprets that and what they do with that, is a personal thing. In the case of Jesus, and given the time frame (human life during that time), the whole scenario is believable... people needed hope and he offered it. But I think the real story became the source of an exaggerated myth that was eventually written down and became a dogma to lead people to higher consciousness. People seem to need rules and order and threats to be good. I had a client tell me that if he didn't have the threat of eternal damnation hanging over his head, he'd feel free to rape and pillage... so maybe there is a need to perpetuate the myth to maintain control. I just don't feel we're born evil and have to be whipped into shape. I think Christ-Consciousness is an achievable state and that Jesus is a good role model but that belief in Christianity, the Bible or Jesus as the Son of God or being "born-again," is not a necessity. We all get to go to Heaven... it's a natural next step in our spiritual growth.

I'd say any disability is a learning experience for the soul... having to do with giving/receiving love. It's also a lesson for the parents and caregivers. The same with diseases of old age. The soul only detaches from the body at death so something is going on at the soul level when the physical/mental body is surpressed. You could say with Alzheimer's that all the work is going on at the soul level but there is a need for it to be done while still attached to it's physical body... could be the person has been in denial all their life and is facing their demons in a more acceptable way than meeting them when the person crosses over. Death is a purification process, an expansion of consciousness, an opportunity for a soul to make a quantum leap in consciousness so the better prepared we are, the more karma we're released before death, the higher we go after leaving the physical body.

Violence against others... simply it's a learning process. The horror we experience or perpetrate is a way of teaching us right from wrong. If you think about the things early man did to others (human sacrifices, head hunting, canabalism) and how far we're come in understanding compassion and love in the modern world, it begins to make some sense. Everyone is somewhere on their spiritual path and when you realize that, it's hard to judge others because we don't know where they are or what their soul is working on with this lifetime. We may be a victim in one life, a perpetrator in another, then a judge or a jailer or a doctor in other lives... giving us the experiences from every angle so that eventually we come to appreciate the value of human life and unconditional love. It's a difficult concept, certainly something to meditate on and ask for understanding. The lesson for you may be how to love and forgive people who do horrible things. Jesus was able to forgive the lowest of humanity, how can we not also?
Peace & Joy!
Diane

 

Fear of eternal punishment

Diane ... Thanks for responding ... I there was a bit of a lag time between my message and your response, so I had forgotten all about your NDE site: I went back and briefly re-read ... may I say that I admire your post NDE "spirit" ... having survived drowning, gone through a divorce and on to complete degrees and hold a career --- great job.

I also noticed a policy about visitors to your site --- to not force their spiritual/religous dogma on others: thats a good idea. Being a Westerner and now in my fifties, I find that the old "Fundamentalist" dogma of my youth is still around (externally and internally) --- on a Veterans board recently, a virtual friend and apparently fundamentalist Chrisitian raised the old burn in hell for eternity if you don't accept and profess Jesus as .... you know. I got scared because I'm a little more open to things like Buddhism and Reincarnation ... etc ... but oh the fear when cornered with "eternal punishment for not believing and proclaiming Christ" .... Some "stuff" is hard to shake ... I could not possibly be open up and communicate at a real level ... could not share ... admit to ... how can I say, experimentations, or .... gut level feelings.

Rob

Dear Rob,
Think about the times... 2,000 years ago people were wandering around the desert, living in caves or mud huts... life was pretty miserable without much hope, what kind of future did they have to look forward to?... there was no law, people were running amuck, murdering, raping, pillaging, etc. What better way to get these people under control than to threaten them with eternal damnation if they didn't behave? You tell them they are sinners and if they don't do this and that, they are condemned. That's pretty powerful. Given the mentality of the people of the time, they were easily coerced by giving them hope that if they do behave and believe what they are told, they will be saved from this terrible punishment.

When I get email from Muslims, they tell me I'm condemned for not believing in the Koran... my, my, my, all these angry gods!!

You feel it in your heart that this can't be so. Christianity is all about love... and then they come up with eternal damnation? Your beliefs are between you and your God and don't have to be discussed or argued with anyone else... listening to others is good, considering other ideas is reasonable but keep your own counsel. I'm not talking about wishful thinking, but well thought out concepts that make sense to you, that comfort you, that give you strength and sustain you in times of trouble, that make you feel closer to God. Keep seeking and you will find your truth... wish others only love and that they find their highest good in their own time and their own way.
Peace & Joy!
Diane

 

Were you born again?

Had you experienced being born again (of the Christian faith) prior to your experience?? Was there any reference to God or Jesus during your experience?

Dexter

Dear Dexter,
No to both questions.

Does that mean I've judged being a born again Christian or believing in God or Jesus to be wrong. No, It means there's more to it than people have been led to believe. We are all somewhere along the path of understanding God, the Universe, All That Is. What one believes is simply where they are along their spiritual path but there is always more... God is infinite. The human mind may never fathom All That Is so whatever your mind can conceive, is what you believe and that's where you are on your path. There is however a danger that we become self-righteous about our beliefs and insist others believe as we do or there's something wrong with them or they're going to hell if they're not born again or they don't believe the Bible or the Koran or whatever book their religion promotes as their gospel. God is unlimited love, that's what I experienced during my NDE, and all God asks of us is to love each other unconditionally. What religion we practice while here is irrelevant as long as we express love in everything we do and say.

Bless you on your spiritual path.
Peace & Joy!
Diane

 

Are you a Christian?

Hi Diane

I am curious about you becoming an ordained minister. I am suprized that you don't seem to hold any loyalty to the teachings of the bible or the purpose of Jesus death and resurrection, and of course what he said about no one comes to God but through him.

I have read many many NDEs and it just seem to me that too many simply discount or dismiss Jesus. You can just live any kind of life and it will all be good in the end? I am sure you can tell I am a Christian. I also know Jesus said with God all things are possible and I think that way to this extent, that I wouldn't put myself in Gods position and say who will or will not go to heaven.

However, I sure won't take a chance and say there is any other way to get to God but through Jesus. If that makes sence?

I have several friends that I would be overjoyed if they became Christians but they refuse to look past their own intelligence. They just seem bent on not going along with any conformity to one or any religion.

I just keep praying that Jesus will draw them to him. Are you a Christian? I do see that you are doing wonderful things for the sick and dying and that is great.

Thank you for your time.

Ed

Dear Ed,
You are surprised because you are stuck in a belief system that doesn't allow you to question what you have been told is the truth... just like Muslims are stuck in their Koran and the Jews in the Torah. What was revealed to me was the same as what was revealed to those in Biblical times who had near death and other spiritual experiences, we just interpret it according to what we know and the times in which we live. I understand the Bible, the Koran, etc. from a different perspective than people who just read the books and try to glean an understanding of that which is nearly impossible to comprehend. Now when I read the Bible, I don't see it through a glass darkly, I have full understanding and I'm no longer bound by mere words. The Bible isn't wrong, it describes everything perfectly, it's the human mind that distorts the truth.

The "way" that Jesus showed us is that there is no death. That we survive death and our life goes on in other dimensions. We will be together again with our loved ones as we journey through eternity. The way is through love because God is love and only love. God doesn't judge us, we are the judge of ourselves (during our life review) and we know when we've acted without love. Without love we have to continue living human incarnations until we learn how to express God's unconditional love in all things we do and say, no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in. Once we learn this, and this is what Jesus taught, we go home to our Father... we don't have to come back here, we continue our spiritual journey in higher dimensions as our soul continues to learn about expressing love throughout the universe. By following Jesus's example, we evolve into higher consciousness on this plane and more so when we cross over. One doesn't have to become a born again Christian to accomplish this... the truth is it doesn't matter what religion one practices or whether one believes in any particular religion... it's all about love and how we live our lives. A person who hates, harms others, takes from others, and so on is still a soul somewhere along his spiritual path and will have many incarnations to work things through until he finally gets that love is the answer. It usually takes a spiritual awakening to turn this person around any sooner (and a good many NDErs were bad people who were turned around completely by their experience which accelerates their spiritual growth).

Your friends who don't conform to any religion are on their own spiritual path and will find the light in their own time, in their own way. The best you can do is pray for them in your own way, but without the expectation they find it the way you did, and set an example for them by the way you live your life. If they are to get the lesson in this life, their soul will make sure they get a wake up call if they're procrastinating (often an illness, a financial loss, a divorce, the death of a loved one or a NDE is sufficient to make someone question everything they ever believed and start them seeking in other directions). Something I do whenever I'm in a crowd of people, whether in line at the grocery store or driving on the highway, is to say (to myself so people don't think I'm a crazy old lady) God Bless You to every one I pass. I can't fix everyone's problems but I can bring a little light into their lives whether they're aware or not... I know God is... and pray they find their highest good in their lives.

I'm not a Christian, I don't belong to any religion or go to any church or accept any dogma. Jesus is my role model, I love God and am here to serve as I am called to do. I do volunteer work, I help people deal with death and dying, I share my knowledge to help people who are lost, confused, afraid, filled with angst and anger, on the verge of suicide. I do everything with love, that is my purpose for being. I am at peace and I give my peace to others. This is my ministry.

As long as you're comfortable in your beliefs and they serve you well, you are where you're supposed to be... just don't think everyone needs to believe what you believe. Humanity is evolving in consciousness and as this happens everything else will change. Christ Consciousness is coming into being, God Consciousness is moving up fast. Peace will come to the planet.

Bless you on your spiritual path.
Peace & Joy!
Diane

Hi Diane,


Thank you for your reply, it is pretty informative and honest. I have noticed almost all the NDEs I have read seem to be thoughts and things the people having the NDEs have thought and believed while they were alive. That seems to be a common theme. I also wondered what you thought about the White Throne Judgment as told in the book of Revelation?

It just seems Jesus death and resurrection wasn't worth much if everyone gets to have another try at life until they get it right. As I said before I would never say who goes to heaven or hell but I think Jesus died and rose for more of a reason than to let us know when we die there is another place to live forever, another plain of existence.

I can tell from your thorough and honest reply that you are well educated and you really believe in what you say. Love also is a common thread among NDEs. I admit I struggle with the thought that the traditional Jewish believers may not be in heaven because they refuse to believe in Jesus and the things he did and said. I have known some "good" people of the Jewish faith. "That" is why I would not go around making accusations.

Good is quite a controversial term though, since Jesus said if we break one of the commandments we might as well have broke them all. And no human is sinless. It's also weird that even though king David sinned the many ways he did, he was still a man after God's own heart. I do question the teachings of my faith, and I know that the times in which we live and also the time in which the bible was put together dictates questionable ideas.

One of my friends said the bible in infallible and I told him about the KJV of the bible, That it took more than 100 men more than 7 years to put it together under the reign of a Christian king. So that is something that could be argued about in my opinion. Arguing in not good so I try not to do it. Have you read any books like "the case for Christ" and the case for Faith" and if so what do you think about them?

I have the books but have not been in the mood for reading since I bought them. I have a bit of a bi-polar problem. I do think what you do for people with your time is wonderful. There are many good people in this world and that is a conflict because of the things Jesus said, like "if you're not for me, you are against me". I do know no man of any religion ever did the works to prove who he was like Jesus. All other guru's and teachers and men/women of vision and inspiration cannot come close to the one that died for all humanity.

To wrap it up I wonder what you think, is there a heaven and hell and a judge who will decide where we go after death. I thought you believe in reincarnation by the way you explained about getting chance after chance till we get it right. Is that correct?  Were you a Christian before you had that incredible experience? 

I am only trying to grow too. I just have a solid believe of the words and works of Jesus as you can tell :) So please don't think me arrogant or close minded. If this world were full of more people like you it would definitely be a better world. You also said this world will come to know or find peace. Do you think this will happen before Jesus returns to this planet, by the awakening of mankind's minds and consciousness. Do you think Jesus will return like the book of revelations tells us?

I thank you for your insight and patients and thoughts, and your love for your fellow man/woman :)
God Bless You Diane!

Ed

Dear Ed,
In a sense it's true that we get what we believe during the first stages of crossing over and that may be a softening effect to make the complete transition easier... and NDErs can only report about the first stages. In my case, at the time of my NDE, I had given up on religion years before and didn't believe any of it so I had no expectations and what I experienced was beyond anything I might have imagined possible.

What Jesus' death and resurrection was worth depends on how you interpret the story. Consider for a moment, just hypothetically, that Jesus didn't die, but had a near death experience, came back and showed his disciples that he was still alive then went off to live out his life in solitude and prayer because even he didn't know how to explain what happened to him. Those left created the story as we see it written in the Bible today to give hope to the people of the time who were desperate for a light at the end of the tunnel.

Whatever actually happened, I believe that Jesus was trying to demonstrate that no matter how much suffering we experience on Earth, we don't cease to exist after death... that we are spiritual beings having human being experiences as part of our spiritual path and most of us need to live many lifetimes as human beings (some more than others) in order to understand fully the meaning of unconditional love and to become unconditional love. It has nothing to do with what religion we believe in. Each lifetime we need to strive to become the best version of ourselves we can be... we learn through our experiences, our relationships, what we do with our lives... but there is more. We are not static beings, we are evolving... evolving in consciousness... becoming aware that we are spiritual beings having human experiences... no longer living our lives for ourselves but to honor God. This is what Jesus tried to teach us 2,000 years ago and most people still don't get it. When we get that and live that, we are done with reincarnating on Earth and move on to higher spiritual development... there's more, much more... that's what we do eternally... that's how vast God is. To me, Jesus tried to explain all this but the message has become distorted to fit church dogma.

It's a good thing to question your faith, it doesn't mean you have to give up your faith; in fact, it might make your faith stronger. Believe what makes sense to you, what comforts you, what gives you strength. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater, but don't just believe something because someone says it must be this or that. You are the judge of yourself, in this life and the next, and it will be your intentions and whether you lived up to your beliefs that you will scrutinize. Whatever wrong beliefs you had will become immediately apparent once you cross over and it will be more like "oh, that's what that meant or how that works" not "off to Hell for Eternity, you wretched sinner!" No, I don't believe in any kind of Judgement Day or some review board that passes a sentence. I don't believe the good sit around praising God and the bad are admonished to hellfire for eternity. In fact, I believe the whole book of Revelation is utter nonsense. Makes me wonder what those guys were s