Evidences of the Afterlife

Image RonBennett 2011

Jeffrey Long's book  Evidence of the Afterlife, the Science of Near Death Experiences is the latest attempt to quantify in a scientific way proof of an afterlife.  Jeffrey Long, MD is a radiation oncologist who collected over 1300 Near Death Experiences (NDE) on his Near Death Experience Research Foundation's website at www.nderf.org.  

Now I never had a NDE.  I did have a close encounter  with death once about 25 years ago when I was in a car accident.  I was waiting at a stoplight at about 10 pm in Dallas, Texas.  I was in my VW van when all of a sudden a drunk driver in a  pickup truck ran a red light.  Another car arrived at the intersection about the same time, hit the pick-up truck and sent it  flying mid air directly at me. The pickup hit my van head on and bounced over the top.  The crash pinned me in the van with a broken leg.  If you know a VW van - the engine is in the back and there is little protection in the front.  I remember thinking 'God this really happened'.  Until then I figured I was quite immune to such things.  Well the paramedics came, cut me out and took me to the hospital.  Later that evening around 3am, after surgery, the nurse woke me and told me I was turning blue and took me the the Intensive Care Unit.  My lungs were filling with fluid. I found out later that the doctor hadn't expected me to make it though the night.  Well obviously I made it.  At no time did I actually die. I suppose you could call this a near near death experience.

In Jeffrey's book he outline 9 proofs of 'Life after Death'.  For example, one point of evidence is the Out of Body Experience (OBE). So what is this Out of Body thing or OBE as it is known?  Well from firsthand experience it is a knowing that you are outside of your physical body.  I've had a few OBEs and they really are quite remarkable.  Over 75.4 % of the NDE survey reported 'Yes' to the question of "Did you experience a separation of consciousness from your body?"   One NDEer from Jeffrey Long's book reported:

Suddenly my consciousness rose above my bed in the ICU.  I remember having told myself that I had not had an out-of-body experience so this could not be happening.  As I rose, I told myself, "Well, here it is."


I could have used an OBE in my accident.  Unfortunately I was having a painful  in-the-body experience.  My leg was broken and throbbing.  Ouch!


Other proofs besides the OBE experience reported by responders to  Long's questionnaire are: 


Lucid Death-  a heightened sense of consciousness as compared to normal waking consciousness
Blight Sight-   Normal or super normal vision while in the NDE and even the blind can see!
Impossibly Conscious-   even under general anesthesia the NDEers maintain consciousness
Perfect Playback-   of events long forgotten and in perfect detail.
Family Reunions-   the NDE reunites one with those that have died before, usually their family members
From the Mouth of Babes-   even the NDEs of children, young children are consistent with older adults 
Worldwide Consistency-  the NDE event is remarkably consistent throughout the world
Changed lives-   the NDE often changes one's life, usually for the better.


So if you doubt the existence of an afterlife or would like just a bit more proof you might want to consider Jeffrey's Long's book.

www.nedrf.org

Hafiz - An Astronomical Question

Pannonicum II (God's kiss)

By: Damir Rajle 

Along with Rumi, Hafiz is one of my favorite mystical poets. 

"Hafiz was born in Shiraz in south-east Persia (modern Iran) in approximately 1320 A.D., twenty two years before the birth of Chaucer and a year before the death of Dante. He was named Shams-ud-din, which means 'Sun of Faith,' Mohammed. Later when he began to write poetry he selected Hafiz for his pen-name or 'takhallus'. 'Hafiz' is the title given to one who has learnt the whole of the Koran by heart and Hafiz claimed to have done this is fourteen different ways.

"Physically Hafiz was small and ugly but even as a young boy he began to show the great gifts that would finally take him to the height of artistic and spiritual achievements. He was loving and helpful to his parents, brothers and friends, and he had a wonderfully ironic sense of humor that caused him to continually see the humorous side of everyday life. Even at this early age he was fascinated by the poetry and prose of Persia's great poets and writers and stories about the spiritually advanced souls and Perfect Masters. He loved the Koran, which his father read to him and he began to memorize it. He discovered he was blessed with a remarkable memory, and before he was a man he had memorized the Koran and many of the poems of the great poets....more....

Imagine this:

What

Would

Happen if God leaned down

And gave you a full wet

Kiss?

Hafiz

Doesn't mind answering astronomical questions

Like that:

You would surely start

Reciting all day, inebriated,

Rogue-poems

Like

This.

The Gift by Hafiz and Daniel Ladinskyhttp://www.poetseers.org/the_poetseers/hafiz/biography/

Mediums #2 - Forget about Elephants - Is there a Bear in the room?

"Bear, bear..anyone?  Bear-...there's something about a bear", said the medium to the group of fourteen attendees.  No one responded.  He must be mistaken.  No bears here.

Jane and I were there that day, listening to Jonathan Louis, psychic/medium.  This was our 2nd visit to see him.  Jane was hoping to make contact with her sister, Pam, who had died the year before.  We arrived  at the Denver hotel where the meeting was to take place.  It was scheduled to start at 2:30 pm.  The session was to last for 2 hours.  At the appointed time we convened in the small conference room, but no Jonathan Louis.  We all waited for an hour, tried to find him, but he was not in the hotel.  Jane and I went outside to the street and immediately saw a car with the license plate 'PAM'.  This comforted Jane; she felt her sister was with her.  We went back in, but still no Jonathan.  We were a bit miffed by now.   After all, Jane and I had just driven 5 hours to get here from Santa Fe.  We were tired, but looking forward to the session with Jonathan.  We would not be happy campers if he did not show.

Finally around 4 pm someone located Jonathan.  He had the time wrong - he thought the meeting was at 7 pm.  Evidently his amazing psychic powers did not cue him to be on time. To Jonathan's credit, he apologized profusely and proceeded to be with us for the next 3 1/2 hours. 

Anyway getting no takers for his bear hit, Jonathan gave up and continued to give readings to the audience.  About 2 or so hours into the session, Jonathan opened the floor to questions.  Jane was posing a question when suddenly Jonathan interrupts and says to us, "Do you have a Madonna in your house?"  We think about it.  "Maybe," we say.  After all we live in New Mexico and it's hard not to have a Madonna image hanging around somewhere.. like on a postcard or magazine.  But nothing blaring jumped out.  It didn't click with us.  He repeats  "a Madonna", then he says "Did it break?"  Still no connection, then I remembered.....

Our dog, Paako becomes rather excitable when someone rings our doorbell.  He's an amazing dog, half golden retriever and half border collie.  We tend relate to him as a border collie since he is so intelligent, well behaved and has that collie nose.  He loves to lie on our bed, and when I deem it's time for him to get down I just have to flick my finger and he's off.  However, with visitors to our home, Paako can be quite naughty.  He becomes uncontrollable as if every guest has come from a far away land just to see him.  Every inch of his body writhes and squirms like a little piglet trying to free itself.  Actually, he's a 'love dog' and thrives on giving and receiving affection.  Embarrassingly so at times, especially when he spears his pointy nose like a heat seeking missile directly into an unsuspecting guest's groin area. Ouch! We've had to apologize many a time.   Well one day, the doorbell rings and Paako runs to the door, wagging that big tail of his and knocks our American Indian bear fetish onto the floor. It breaks in half.  Indian fetishes are hand-carved objects, which represent the spirits of animals or the forces of nature.  It saddened me that it broke as it was a gift from my son.  I also felt fear, like breaking a mirror or something.  Was it an omen?  I quickly quelled  that feeling - didn't want to let any bad juju in.

 

So, I told Jonathan that a fetish had broken.  He says, "What's a fetish?"  He had no clue, yet on some level he knew some spiritual object had broken.  I found this fascinating as it gave me insight into how psychic/mediums work, at least how this one works.  Jonathan receives images and often they are symbolic much like a dream.  Having no clue what a fetish was, he received a spiritual symbol he could relate to - Madonna.  Maybe he's Catholic.  I don't know.  Spirituality has many faces- Madonna,  Allah, Great Spirit, Jehovah and also Bear.  Having a spiritual object break, along with the impact it made on my psyche no doubt sent ripples through the psychic airwaves.

So I went on to tell Jonathan how my dog's wagging tail broke the fetish.  He says to me "Border Collie?" Yes!  Jonathan is known for his ability to 'tune-in'  to dogs.  It's a joke amongst his fellow psychic medium friends.  Someday I will tell you our John Edwards/Jonathan Louis, Snoopy story.

Later, after the session, Jane and I were talking when it dawned on me.  Jonathan started the session off with "Bear, bear..anyone?  Bear-...there's something about a bear,"  We, of course, were thinking about real live bears and bear encounters and not about bear fetishes.  Yet, bear was still in middle of the room for those 2 hours, patiently waiting for recognition.

 I still have the fetish.  It's still broken.  I could glue it back together, it was a clean break, but I won't- it is more meaningful to me now - as a broken bear.

Precognitive Dreams #3 - I can see a thousand miles

photograph by Dennis Fratef

I can see a thousand miles.  I can see a thousand miles... over and over I sing.  The chant continues as I gaze at the sun filtering down through the canopy of trees overhead.  A sense of great joy engulfs me.  I am asleep, dreaming and lucid, consciously aware of the dream.  I marvel at the beauty of the tall trees in this lush dreamscape.  I see the green leaves and white bark, like tall aspens or birches, but thicker like pines, trees all around, sun shining through.  I continue to chant 'I can see a thousand miles'. 

Then I awake, get out of bed and start my day.  I take the hour drive to Albuquerque for business with the 'I can see a thousand miles' melodiously playing in my head. The joy stays with me.

On the way home I stop for dinner.  I have a book with me called Lucid Dreaming - Gateway to the Inner Self by Robert Waggoner.  I thought I might read it while waiting for my dinner.  I settle into my chair and wonder if my morning dream might show up as I read this book.  Often, following a powerful dream, the words I read mimic my dream experience.  I start reading on page 176 of the book where I had left off a few days before.  When I get to page 179 I read about a contest the IASD (International Association for the Study of Dreams) did during one of their yearly conferences.  The game involved dream telepathy and the players were the attendees at the conference.  One person  is designated as a  'sender' and the rest of the attendees are the 'receivers'.  The 'sender ' stays up all night concentrating on an object or scene while everyone else sleeps and dreams.  The object is to see if the attendees can telepathically sense what the sender is 'sending'.  The exact details are in the link below.

I read on and to my amazement, the 'sender' was thinking of trees.  She saw herself in a park surrounded by huge trees.  She mentally shouts the word  'trees' over and over throughout the night.  Trees - there it was, my dream!  I too was amongst the trees.  I couldn't believe what I was reading.  I finish my dinner and leave.  I am high as a kite.   

Some Notes:

Lucid Dreaming is the ability to become consciously aware while still in the dream state. The afore mentioned dream contest took place in Copenhagen in June of 2004.  On August 7, 2010, in Santa Fe, NM, I experienced lucidity while dreaming.  Questions: What am I to make of my chant, 'I can see a thousand miles'?  Does it represent looking off to a distant land like Copenhagen or perhaps it signifies an inner vista beyond space and time?  Did I see my future self reading page 179 of Waggoner's book that afternoon, or perhaps I 'traveled back' in time to participate in a 2004 dream contest.  I do not know, maybe a thousand miles is simply my symbolic representation of 'telepathic communication'.  But, really what do I know?  The lucid soup of dreams is multidimensional and I confess I have much to learn. 

Waggoner's book on lucid dreaming is wonderful although a bit technical at times.  Robert Waggoner is the current president of the International Association for the Study of Dreams (IASD) and is well versed in lucid dreams having logged more than a thousand lucid dreams.  I've had about 20-25 in my lifetime.  Clare Johnson won the contest that day.  Click here and scroll down to the last article: Dream Telepathy and Tree Shouting 20/06/04  for her story.

As a footnote Jane found the above picture in a file by 'accident' after I was experiencing difficulty finding the right image for the post.  The picture was perfect for me and confirms to me that sychronicity is alive and well.

Crickets, Dragonflies and Synchronicities

When I really stop and contemplate the implications of synchronicities, I open to love. I suppose the luminous nature of Being  takes residence in my heart. Maybe on some level, synchronicities remind me that I'm not alone, but connected to everything.

I'm a meditator and I time my meditation sessions with my IPhone timer. With the IPhone there are a variety of tones you can use when the time is up. There are bells, whistles, nature sounds and numerous other tones.  I use the sound of a harp to end my sessions as it is a soothing way to come out of my meditations. Three days ago I finished meditating, heard the harp, turned off the timer - within seconds I heard a cricket chirping away. I looked down at my IPhone and somehow, I had inadvertently hit the cricket sound on my timer. I noted this and told Jane about the incident because Jane associates crickets with her deceased sister Pam.  Shortly after Pam's death, Jane heard a cricket outside her bedroom window making the loudest cricket sound she had ever heard. Actually Jane was not all that familiar with crickets, so it was all a novelty to her.  But on that day, she felt the presence of her sister and from then on crickets figured into the 'signs'  she associates with Pam.  The next winter a cricket moved in with us and merrily chirped away throughout the rest of the season.

Jane keeps a blog about her sister called  Before I Go to Bed. It's a memorial to Pam and a way to share  memories, stories and pictures about her sister, Pam as well as the rest of Jane's  family. The day after I heard the cricket on my IPhone, Jane posted a picture of her sister's B&B, the Dragonfly Inn in Newport, Rhode Island in the sidebar of her blog. Along with the picture she also posted her sister's Dragonfly business card.

Besides the blog, Jane dialogues with Pam each day in her personal journal.  It is one of many ways she keeps connected to her sister. She tells Pam what's going on with her, asks her questions and writes 'as if' Pam were talking back to her. This day after she had posted the Dragonfly B&B pictures and business card on her blog, Jane was doubting herself. She asked Pam if the blog was just silly and of no consequence. Jane wanted to know if she was wasting her time with it, after all Pam was in the heavenly realms and Jane figured she had no concern for Jane's writings or things of this world. Pam 'responded' by telling Jane, it does matter.  The blog is about love, death, and the grief of loss, topics most of us avoid at all cost. She told Jane that the only thing that matters in life is love and encouraged her to continue with the blog.

That same morning as Jane was writing to Pam about her doubts, I was meditating by her side. I completed my meditations as usual. The alarm went off (the harp). I glanced down at my phone and somehow I had once again, inadvertently, hit something for now I saw on my screen, a display that said "DragonFly TV". I had never seen this before. I have these TV apps called ITV, TV.Com and one called TV lite. They provide a variety of TV and internet shows. I never watch them as it takes forever for a show to download. Just recently I thought I might get rid of them. Somehow I must have hit one of these and the title of a show called DragonFly TV appeared. Frankly, I'm not certain where it came from because later that day when I searched for it again in my apps, I could not find it, even though I'm certain it must be there somewhere. I did 'google' DragonFly TV on my computer, found it, it's a PBS science show for kids. News to me. Yet there it was on my IPhone. I told Jane. Again a rather interesting synchronicity considering her posting of the dragonfly pictures the night before.

Perhaps it would be easy to dismiss such things as mere coincidence, but I choose to believe this was a sign from Pam telling Jane to keep up with her blog- that it has value. I also believe the incident of the dragonfly, along with the cricket and other 'signs' are all ways of affirming the continuity and connectivity of life here and beyond.  The body may depart, but the soul lives on and can still interact with us. Maybe I'm suppose to change my timer tone from a harp to the crickets.

High in your chest - a Star

Millions of love-tents bloom on the plain.
A star in your chest says,
None of this is outside you - Rumi

from Ron to Jane-

Medums #1 -Superman meets Supernatural

John Edwards is a medium. A while back he demonstrated his skills and recorded 24 episodes of his now famous, "Crossing Over" episodes for the WE channel. Since the death of Jane's sister (see previous posts), we were watching John Edwards, trying to make sense of this tragedy. I never took much stock in mediums or psychics. I did not think I would ever come face to face with a real one. Actually, I was quite skeptical and chalked most 'readings' up to parlor tricks. Yet when faced with Jane's overwhelming grief, I began to investigate the possibility of an afterlife and if there is an afterlife, can one communicate with those who  'cross- over'? So off we went to see John Edwards. There's nothing like a first-hand experience with a bona fide psychic to change your perception of the world.

We ended up in San Jose, California along with 35 other grieving souls. John Edwards and a colleague,  Jonathan Louis were doing an all day program. We were split into 2 groups, one in the morning with one medium and one in the afternoon with the other. I must say that John Edwards proved to be a major disappointment. I don't know what was going on with him, but most of his attention went to those in the front row. These people seemed to be repeat customers at his gatherings and who knows- maybe repeat business deserves loyalty and attention. One lady complained to the staff, but the staff said John Edwards has no control over which 'spirits' will come to him. Maybe it's true, but  his 'gatherings' are not  cheap and that combined with the pain of losing a loved one- well, you get a bit angry.  

  

Fortunately, the other medium, Jonathan Louis was remarkable. We actually liked him so much we went to see him again in Colorado. There are many stories to tell about these two meetings and over the course of  the Ronnie Coyote blog I will tell my stories and perhaps Jane will tell you her stories as well. But for now, let me tell you about Superman.

Jonathan Louis begins by opening to the 'other side' and relaying his impressions from 'them' to us, the audience. Often, he is drawn to a certain area of the audience or to a person and may say something like "Did you lose a son? I'm getting a younger energy." Most times, he's right on. At one point, he said to the group, "Superman,  for some reason I'm getting  the image of Superman." I did not respond.  Meanwhile Jane is nudging me to speak up. But, I'm kind of a shy guy and didn't say anything. So the moment passed.

In our 2nd meeting with Jonathan some 4 months later in Colorado, Superman came up again.  This time Jonathan came over to me and said, "I'm getting Superman." Well this time, I said, "Yes, Superman was important  to me."

   

Now most men of my generation  remember listening to or watching Superman.   I suspect most of us boys had a secret desire for super powers, but I doubt few took it to the extreme I did.

  

Here's my story: 

When I was four years old, Superman was my hero. I lived with my mom and sister. Mom and Dad were never married so that made me a bastard, a rather derogatory designation in those days. Dad was not around and I remember envying the other kids with their 'normal families'. Sister mostly took care of me as mom was always at work. However, sis was in her teens and often distracted, so I entertained myself a lot. I loved comic books and the huge grasshoppers in the back yard. I had a favorite record I played over and over.  I remember the day it broke and how upset I was.  I can't believe I found this song - the last time I heard it, I was a little guy. It's Jimmy Rodgers' Bim Bom Bay

 We didn't have a TV, but I did listen to an old-fashioned  radio and on the radio I listened to Superman -

Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! 

Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound! 

 "Look up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!" 

 "Yes, it's Superman, strange visitor from another galaxy..

For those wanting the Superman TV intro hit- here you go:

I loved hearing those words. Still do. To my young mind, Superman was everything I wanted to be- strong, impervious to pain, a savior and he could fly! And the Superman comic books, oh what great adventures I had with them. The stories were magical and fun. At night I dreamt of flying-  over the treetops, over the town.  Sometimes I'd fly so high I'd get scared and wake up. 

At four years of age, I was a wee tiny guy -one day while walking down the street with my jean jacket draped over my shoulder, a strong wind caught hold of my jacket and sent it flying up into the sky. I jumped to grab it and the wind caught hold of my tiny body and moved me through the air. "I'm flying - I'm flying - I'm Superman!", I thought. What a thrill. From that day on I believed I could fly.

When mom was at work, I went to the day nursery. The nursery building was huge and austere.  Made of massive rock-like bricks, it felt like a World War II bunker. In back was the playground with swings, teeter totters and merry go-rounds. I spent many a day trying to balance myself on that teeter totter, standing on the wooden plank with one leg on each side of the fulcrum, trying to find that right spot... where ' teeter' meets' totter '. The merry go-round made me sick so I didn't like it. I did love the swings however. I could swing and swing and then jump ...and for that brief moment I was airborne. I was flying.

One day there was a surprise at the nursery school. Someone donated an old car for us kids to play with. It was an old 1940'ish black Chevy, stripped of seats, windows and wheels. I remember wishing it still had the seats. It didn't feel right having to stand-up and steer that car. But, here it was, right in the middle of the play yard. Many 'make-believe' miles registered on that old odometer with imagined speed chases, runaway gangster and the like. It was not long before a plan began to form in my fertile mind. What if I jumped off the top of that car, just like Superman and flew? This fantasy took hold of  me..."Today, today I will fly", I thought. Then I would chicken out.  Over and over, I repeated the mantra ..." Today, today, I will fly." Only to chicken out again and again. "What if it doesn't work", I thought? I might get hurt - "I don't like pain!"

But one day I found the courage. I climbed on the top of the car, I had a cape on (don't ask me where I got it, I don't know). I looked around, shy, not wanting anyone to see me. I jumped.. straight out like...well,  like Superman and I flew....    for about one second ....then gravity grabbed me and I did a  belly flop in the not so soft sand below-it hurt! I began to cry. I walked away from the car towards the fence. Some older girls saw me crying and began to console me. They asked me why was I crying.. too embarrassed to reveal the truth- I said an older kid hit me. The girls comforted me and I curled up in their inviting arms. To this day I don't know if my tears were tears of pain or tears of a dream unfulfilled. 

I do know Jonathan Louis picked up on my Superman connection. How? I don't know. No one else there knew my story. Why this incident, why Superman? I don't know that either. I can only speculate. Maybe my guides wanted me to know they are with me- always, even then, protecting an adventurous four-year old Superman wannabe. Perhaps on some deep level I must fly, not in the physical sense, rather spiritually. Or maybe I was just meant to have this experience with Jonathan remembering there are mysteries afoot in the world. Like I said who knows?  Jonathan told me many other remarkable things at those gatherings, but I can't tell you everything at once can I?