Glimpses of Heaven
by Dr Raymond Moody Jr. M.D., Ph.D.
Dying people glimpsing heavenly realms of light just
prior to passing away. Medical personnel seeing patients’ spirits
leave their bodies at the moment of death. There are reports of electric
lights or household appliances switching on and off all by themselves
in homes where someone has recently died. Birds appearing in some
astonishing way that bystander intuitively link with the recent death
of a loved one. These signs from the departed sound like incidents from fantasy novels.
Yet, these real-life occurrences are very familiar to certain helping
professional. Those of us who work with the terminally ill and their
families witness incomprehensible, seemingly miraculous happenings
on a regular basis. Still, we are often understandly reluctant to
discuss such events with a public that is ill prepared to accept
them, and maybe harshly judgmental.
That is a sad situation. After all, the profound, spiritual experiences of the
dying bring great comfort to those who are afraid of death. They also ease the
misery of those who are grieving over the loss of loved ones. The phenomena may
well seem incredible to anyone who is reading about them for the first time.
However, I can personally attest to many, virtually identical cases from my own
practice. I am a medical doctor-psychiatrist and philosophy professor who has
been actively studding the extraordinary experiences of the dying since 1963.
During that time, I have been privileged to interview thousands of individuals
form all over the world that returned to life after teetering on the brink of
death. Planet-wide, people in that situation return to tell the same story
of getting out of their physical bodies They say they rise upward
through a passageway or tunnel and emerge into a brilliant, comforting
light of love and peace. There, they encounter and converse with
the spirits of their departed friends and family members. They see
their entire lives reviewed instantly in a full-color, three- dimensional,
panoramic vision. They meet a loving being of light that helps them
relieve every single action of their lives and teaches them that
the purpose of life is to learn to love.
And when they return
to this world, they are never again afraid of death. For their experiences
convince them that what we know as death is simply a transition into
another dimension—a supernatural world beyond this one.
By now, almost everyone has heard of these endlessly fascinating,
inspiring near-death experiences. Medical doctors on every continent
except Antarctica have studied and reported on cases of the phenomenon.
In their own societies and the near-death experience has been the
subject of innumerable books, medical journal articles, television
documentaries, talk show programs, and popular, Hollywood movies.
There is a lot more to the story that the public does not yet know,
however. There are many other kinds of extraordinary experiences
that take place on death’s doorstep that rare equally astonishing,
equally inspiring, equally uplifting. These experiences have not
yet fully entered public awareness—and they surely ought to!
For example, it is not widely known that bystanders attending at
the bedsides of the dying often have their own experiences practically
identical to near-death experiences. As the person in the bed passes
away, the bystanders themselves sometimes leave their own bodies!
They rise upward toward a light with the spirits of their now-deceased
relatives or friends. They say their goodbyes and return to their
own bodies having accompanied the dying part way to the other side.
Those who report these empathic death experiences feel that they
actually co-lived the deaths of their loved ones. Not infrequently,
medical personnel taking care of the dying experience this phenomenon,
too.
Over the years, dozens upon dozens of doctors and nurses have told me that they
sometimes see patients leave their bodies at the moment of death. Occasionally,
they even see the spirits of patients’ deceased loved ones come to escort
the dying to the world beyond. Can the Question of Life after Death ever fully
be answered? It is too important a question for us all, not to try.
Author, researcher, teacher and world renowned expert on
Near Death Experiences. He has over 25 years of experience working with the bereaved.
The phrase “Life
after Life” has become synomous with Dr. Moody’s work www.lifeafterlife.com
These signs from the departed sound like incidents from fantasy novels.
Yet, these real-life occurrences are very familiar to certain helping
professional. Those of us who work with the terminally ill and their
families witness incomprehensible, seemingly miraculous happenings
on a regular basis. Still, we are often understandly reluctant to
discuss such events with a public that is ill prepared to accept
them, and maybe harshly judgmental.
