The Maltese Fisherman Who Visited Heaven

The fisherman who says he has been to Heaven, next to the $93 million boat

The universe sometimes works in mysterious ways. While in Malta I started to read a book called Proof of Heaven by Dr Eben Alexander. I only got through a few pages but remembered some of the Near Death Experiences I have mentioned on this blog and seen elsewhere.

The next morning Karin and I went for a walk around the big harbour in Sliema. In the middle there is an island, Manoel, now joined to the shore by a road. Along one side there are some enormous private boats moored - some costing millions.

We walked to the far end of the island looking at - and envying - the boats, many registered in the British Cayman Islands for the benefits that brings.

Sitting at the far quayside was a man fishing. Karin asked if she could look at what he had caught. I joined her and the fisherman told us they were parrot fish which he would be taking home to his wife. We chatted about the big boats. He was a bit of a philosopher as he went on to say that the owners still had all the problems that the rest of us have.

It was then that he looked at me and said, "I have been to Heaven."

No idea why he said this, as it was way different to what we had been talking about. I, of course, wanted some more information on what he had said. So I asked him how and why he'd been to Heaven.

I never got his name, just his photo above, but he told us of how he had had a severe heart attack. His wife rang for an ambulance and he remembers being very scared and saying over and over, "Please God, help me, please God help me."

He was rushed to hospital and it was then that he 'went to Heaven.' What he described was a little different from many other stories.

He found himself on a beach with very fine sand and all of his fears had diminished. He felt at peace but what he remembers most was the colour blue. As he looked upwards there was a blue, the like of which he had never seen before or seen since.

I asked him if it was anything like the blue sky above us in Malta but, no, it wasn't. He couldn't put the colour into words.

He then saw a group of people standing nearby. He didn't know any of them but they told him he had to go back, this wasn't his time.

The next instant he was back on his hospital bed again and in great pain again moaning, "Please God help me."

He remained in hospital for surgery and his wife told him that the doctors had explained to her that he had died - at the time he had found himself in Heaven.

Maybe this isn't as detailed as other Near Death Experiences but I found it convincing and what amazed me was why he even mentioned it to me - synchronicity?

The boat that cost $93 million

As for the boats the one next to the fisherman in the photo is something special. It belongs to a billionaire and I've found out since on Google that is was bought by the owner for $93 million!

The fisherman told us he had heard that the boat was leaving for Monte Carlo at 3 pm that day. So Karin and I returned and took some photos as the boat left the quayside. Just us there to wave it goodbye! More on this another day.

Photos: © Mike Perry

Other Malta Posts:
The Cannon Went Off And Malta Turned Magical
The Billionaire And The Indian Empress In Malta Coincidences
A Pilgrimage To St Paul's Grotto In Rabat, Malta
Valletta: The City Built By The Knights of the Order of St John

Remembering Our Life Prior To Us Being Born

I have had some response to my recent post Where We Were Before Birth: Our Before Birth Experience. This included reports of people who could remember something of the time prior to them being born.

Before I enlarge a little on the subject here are two further experiences. The first is from 'seagreen' who left the following comment.

"My son told me that when he was 3 or 4 years old he vividly remembered having a dream about being a fish under the water looking up to the surface. He said he saw me as a little girl and a man on the bank. He immediately knew I was going to be his mother.

He was about 12 when he told me this. He was very serious when he related the dream to me. He asked me how would he know I was going to be his mother. I don't remember the context of what triggered his memory of this dream but he did say he never forgot it because it seemed so real."

~ seagreen

The second Before Birth Experience is from someone who wishes to remain anonymous.

"I was glad to read your blog as I have thought about my own experience of an awareness before birth. I have mentioned it briefly to others but they just write it off as imagination or a dream, but to me it was and is real.

What I remember is being with who I now know to be my great grandfather. I have seen photos of him and recognise him from these. We were together in a silver room along with a few other people, none of whom I knew. My great grandfather told me how he would stay with me as I was reborn.

I knew who my parents would be and that they were waiting for me. I felt apprehensive about a new life as I had been very happy where I was, but I cannot describe or remember any details of this. My only memory is of the silver room and the love of my great grandfather.

He told me it was now the time and I felt like I was surrounded by light.

It was when I was about six or seven that I remembered all of this following seeing a photo of my great grandfather. This somehow triggered the memories.

I know it all sounds unbelievable but I know I was somewhere prior to being born.

Thank you for writing about this."

Another comment left on my original post mentioned the Bible and how it indicates that our souls were there before we were born.

In Jer. 1:5, God says, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you." This is a biblical implication that we existed in some form before we were born. There are numerous non-scriptural references to the pre-existence of our souls.

Reading experiences such as these sort of makes sense. If, as many believe, there is a Heaven or an afterlife then it makes logical sense that there must also have been an existence before we started our stint on Earth. If we are indeed immortal then we must have also been around in the past - as we will be in the future. There is no beginning or end.

My own personal belief is that our 'souls' arrive with our first breath and leave with our last. As for our parents I've always been under the impression that we choose who we wish these to be. I can't say why I think this way or where these ideas came from.

Further Reading:
Where We Were Before Birth: Our Before Birth Experience
10 Stories About Reincarnation
The Over Powering Love Of Near Death Experiences

Ohio Man Claims He Visited Heaven During Near-Death Experience -

This recent video tells the story of Brian Miller and his Near Death Experience (NDE). It's not one of the best but it's another case of where a person is told that he still has 'things' to do before he can move on.

Other NDE Story Posts:
The Over Powering Love Of Near Death Experiences
NDE: Returned From Death As She Had Three Things To Complete On Earth Before She Could Leave
Author's Experiences Led Her To Believe In Life After Death

Dead Brother Rung His Sister's Doorbell

The Daily Mail newspaper has been publishing stories about Near Death Experiences taken from a new book The Wisdom Of Near Death Experiences by Dr Penny Sartori. This led to some of their readers sending in associated stories about their own experiences - though not necessarily about true NDEs. Here's one example of the stories published, which is more to do with precognition or contact with a deceased loved one.

I picked out this particular story because of the writers age! It's by Carol Kingston, age 67, from Milton Keynes in England. This is her story:

"It was one o'clock in the morning in May 1982 when the ring of the doorbell woke us up. My husband John went downstairs to answer the door then returned to the bedroom looking miffed, saying nobody was there.

For some unknown reason I had a strong sense it was my 25-year-old younger brother Steve. He was in the SAS and based nearby. A few seconds later it rang again and John traipsed back down the stairs. Again, there was nobody there. It buzzed a few more times after that, but we decided to ignore it.

At 10am the next morning my father phoned with devastating news. Some officers had arrived to inform him that Steve had been killed in a helicopter crash in the Falklands.

At that stage we knew very few details of how he had died but that night my oldest son, Robin, who was then eight, had a dream that his Uncle Steve had risen up out of the water with his arms up and said: 'Don’t worry about me. I'm OK now.' Incredibly, I too had experienced the exact same dream.

We later learnt that the helicopter had crashed into the South Atlantic Ocean and Steve had drowned."

You can read more of the Daily Mail stories here.

More 67 Not Out Posts:
20 Examples Of How The Dead Contact Us With Messages Or Signs
The White Dove As A Messenger Of The Dead
White Feathers Comfort The Bereaved

We All Go To Our Own Version Of Heaven When We Die

Cafe Society - Heaven For Some People

A while back I published a post We Create The Afterlife We Desire in which I wrote:

"Could it be that, just as our dreams are individual, so is death, dependent on the actions and thoughts while alive in our physical body? Some may undergo fantastic adventures. Others may suffer from recurring nightmares, trapped in some form of hell created by their own minds. While others may experience a kind of paradise conjured up by their expectations."

I was looking at something by Joseph J Weed, a former Rosicrucian Grand Councillor. His thoughts seem to be similar to mine (or even mine to his!):

"The events of transition [death] are different for each individual and depend upon the state of consciousness and perhaps training. Some go to higher realms and are ecstatically happy while they study and train there. Some live in surroundings they have dreamed of living in, a creation of their desires while alive. This may be a cabin in a forest, a home on a beautiful farm, a cottage by the sea - in other words a heaven of their own making."

But, according to Weed, there are some souls who also remain earthbound. They fight death, even after death, and refuse to believe they are not 'alive'. He gives an example of someone he saw on the astral plane.

"I had known this man in life. He was handsome and charming and traded on these qualities ... he loved night life and cafe society and succeeded in acquiring the reputation as a playboy.

[During] World War II in 1941, he took up his commission in the Navy and became one of the first U.S. casualties when his ship was torpedoed and sunk in early 1942.

I encountered him in the astral realm. He was one of a party in a night club a very real-appearing creation of his own desire, and had no notion he was already dead in the physical sense ... he was drinking, dancing and joking and flirting in cafe society surroundings, fully convinced that the places and people were real and that he was still among the so-called living.

To cut things short Weed visited the man for about three years [in the astral realm] and saw that the man gradually became worried and anxious and looked unhappy. He was permitted to assist him and visited him once more.

"When I spoke to him he seemed to be in a stupor and it was difficult to get his attention. Finally, I succeeded in rousing him ...

I said, 'Steve, I want to help you. Do you know you are dead?'

Dumbly. he nodded slowly and then said, 'I have been thinking so for some time. But I don't seem to be dead. Nothing much has changed. I'm so confused.'

Weed explained to him how he was reliving the existence that had appealed to him most but could alter the situation with an act of will. Opportunities would then develop - and this is what is said to have happened. Steve was able to move on.

This may all sound far fetched but if we look at Near Death Experiences they vary in what the person actually sees. Christians experience something different from, say, Muslims - because of their beliefs.

As with everything there is no reality just our realisation of how things are. We are all responsible for what happens to us, whether on Earth or in 'Heaven' - well, that's my theory at the present time!

 Reference: Wisdom of the Mystic Masters

Other Heaven Stories:
We Create The Afterlife We Desire
Where Is Heaven?
What Version Of Us Will Go To Heaven?

NDE: Returned From Death As She Had Three Things To Complete On Earth Before She Could Leave

Here's a near death experience story I came across recently that somehow rings true. It's also interesting that the person concerned returned to our world because she had three more 'things' to do before she could move on. This follows the idea that we all have a purpose pre-determined before we are born. We have lessons to learn or projects to accomplish. Here's the story, see what you think.

"I think there should be more research and more scientific work done on possible life after death and any connections to another dimension we know nothing about. I am saying this as I have a personal story concerning my mother.

She 'died' when I was eleven years old. She killed herself by taking an overdose of tranquillisers that our family doctor had prescribed to her. My father's boss had stopped in to see if my dad was at home and noticed my mother laying on the floor. He called an ambulance and she was rushed to the hospital.

The doctors and nurses had her hooked up to the life support systems and heart monitor and were not able to get any pulse or brain activity. They had given her electric shocks to get her heartbeat back with no avail, nothing worked. They placed a sheet over her body and came to see my dad and told him she was clinically dead.

The priest came and asked if she was Catholic and would give her the last rights. He entered her room and began giving them but did not realise she was still hooked up to the monitors. The machine came back to life and started to blip and showed a heart beat. He told the doctors who rushed back in and brought her back to life.

As they checked her and asked her questions she seemed to have no brain damage or effects from the entire time she was transported to the hospital, which took roughly 30 minutes. She had 'died' for about five to ten minutes. She remained in the hospital for a few days and was omitted to the psychiatric part of the hospital for counselling for depression.

My mother was released after a week and came back home and continued to get counselling for a period of three or four months for her depression. Things worked out for her and she was able to manage in a much better way. It was not until I turned about twenty years old she confided in me about something very personal.

She told me she could remember everything about her death and that she remembers taking the pills and falling asleep. She remembers my dad's boss looking over her, the ambulance attendants checking her and picking her up and taking her into the ambulance.

Here is the weird part she actually tells me she was watching them all do this from above - she is looking down at them and she is watching it all.

Now I kind of thought this was a joke or, you know, maybe the medication she was on or something, or possibly some kind of connection to these people when they were dealing with her. Yet this gets better.

She tells me she can remember the hospital and the doctors working on her and she can remember the moment she died. She felt this tremendous warmth rush over her and could see a light appear in the distance and it was like a tunnel. It was calling her somehow, telling her to go into it to follow the light.

She told me she felt the most incredible feeling of happiness and love and started to go to the light. She was going towards it through this tunnel and all of a sudden there were four beings at the end of the light and they stopped her. They told her that it was not time for her to leave. She needed to complete three more things here before she could be accepted.

She told me that she did not want to leave and pleaded with them to stay, because she felt so wonderful and wanted to stay. They continued to instruct her to remain as she had to complete the three things on Earth before they could accept her and she would know, in time, what these three things were. All of a sudden she awoke and noticed the doctors checking her and asking her some questions.

It was pretty freaky that she could remember all of this and see everything that was happening. I was not sure what to think of this and I told my mother I had heard that some scientists and doctors had worked on this kind of thing. They said that the light that people see is just the last few electric impulses our brains have before we die. My mother insisted that this is not so and that she really experienced a spiritual meeting and conversed mentally with beings and now saw everything in a different way. She told me that she now has no fear of death and if she were to die she would be completely happy and know there is another life after death.

Now I have heard other people having the same experiences and our family ancestry is native, we are Algonquins and Ojibwe by blood. In the native cultures you hear the elders and other native people speak of spirits who talk to them or send them messages of how their life path should be. They have out of body experiences. They make important decisions based on what they should be doing in life before they can meet with their ancestors in the other world.

I tend to believe my mother and I think when it is time for me to die I would like to be happy knowing that there is something more to my being than just living on Earth and dying never to be heard of again." Source

~ RB

Other Near Death Experience Stories:
Author's Experiences Led Her To Believe In Life After Death
The Over Powering Love Of Near Death Experiences
Near Death Experience In The Stars
Pam Reynolds Near Death Experience

Author's Experiences Led Her To Believe In Life After Death

Author Fay Weldon has reached her ninth decade and doesn't fear death. She believes we live on in an afterlife - though she has no idea where this 'somewhere else' might be.

Fay was brought up in believing that the laws of physics are immutable and are the same throughout the Universe - and yet somewhere there is still an afterlife.

She bases her beliefs, that we continue after death, on her personal experiences.

Firstly on near death experiences (NDEs). To quote her words:

"The first came when I was 17 and under anaesthetic for a knee operation. I felt myself hurrying down the tunnel of death towards a light at the end: the feeling of euphoria, or being united in companionship, was so vivid as to be unforgettable and convincing.

"This left me with the feeling that the Universe is benign, and I've been afraid of very little since."

Her second NDE was when she was in her 70s and her heart unexpectedly flat-lined. This is what she experienced:

"Under anaesthetic in hospital, I saw the gates of Heaven, in garish colours rather than pearly white. I was being dragged through while others - I couldn't see their faces - tried to hold me back.

"Staring through the haze, I caught a glimpse of the other side. I had a clear impression of the same old familiar struggle going on there as here, good and evil mixed, one step forward, half a step back.

"Waking up in intensive care I heard myself say: 'Oh I see, just more of the same!' Whatever it was, Heaven or Hell, it didn't seem too bad, and it led me to the notion that death was just the continuation of life by other means."

Kay has also seen ghosts. She says:

"I accept that the unusual happens. For example, that the man in the preacher's hat whom I saw winking in and out of nothingness at the end of St Andrews pier in 1951 was, indeed, the parson from Dundee who drowned according to legend, on his way to preach to the students one Sunday in the year 1551.

"I felt spooked but ... at the time he just looked as a man would have looked 400 years earlier."

The NDEs and the ghostly sighting means she no longer fears death. She also claims that loved ones visit us after they die.

"You're lying asleep or walking down a street when they make themselves known, as if tapping you on the shoulder and saying, 'Hi, it's me. I've come to say goodbye.'

"You look around and there's no one there, yet you heard them clear as a bell. It's a kind of brushing of the spirits that puts grief to rest; a sudden, clear unexpected awareness of their presence for a second or two before they go off somewhere else."

And that is why Fay Weldon believes there is life after death - her experiences and feelings tell her this is the truth. Maybe we all get such glimpses throughout our lives and overlook them as tricks of the mind or imagination - but they may well be something more meaningful.

Fay Weldon's latest book on Amazon: Habits of the House

Other Posts About Life After Death:
Death Is Freedom And All Is Well
The Over Powering Love Of Near Death Experiences
Where Is Heaven?

Out Of Body Experiences

I have published several posts about Out of Body Experiences (OBE) and Near Death Experiences (NDE) and it's interesting when readers leave their own experiences.

The noticeable thing about OBEs and NDEs is that people recalling them are always sure that these aren't simply dreams. They are very real. As to whether this proves life after death is up to individuals to decide.

Here are a couple of reader's experiences - anonymous as requested.

"I personally had a similar experience (an OBE) and had not heard of anything like this prior to now. There was a time in my life when I was mired in the experience of the greatest emotional pain that I've ever endured. At the height of my body's suffering, I felt 'myself' float up and behind my body.

For a few minutes, I floated there looking down on the back of my head. I remember the immense peace that I felt while floating. My thoughts during this experience where that I had no idea my body was capable of such an emotional extreme and I was marvelling at the event. After my body calmed down I naturally migrated back in to it.

From my experience I might offer that perhaps the spirit is incapable of occupying the body when the body is experiencing extreme pain. And that once the body is again an available vessel, the spirit will return to its natural state."

"I recall having my drink spiked, followed by a blur and then waking up in hospital (or so I thought) in a critical condition and witnessing my mum and her friend at my bed side. The strange thing was that I felt serene and peaceful but here is the twist in the story. I wasn't awake as I was essentially in a coma with drips and all sorts of things attached to me.

When I saw my mum the next day I apologised to her for the grief I had caused everybody and we spoke about the night before and I will remember till the day I die the look on my mother's face when I told her that I remember seeing them both at my bedside the night before. To which she replied, "You must of dreamt it," because apparently I was completely out of it, and she told me that I was in a coma when she had visited me the night before.

I have since tried to do this again but I am unable to do it as it feels very strange and I guess fear plays a big part."

Random OBE and NDE Posts:
Tortured Man Experienced Astral Projection And Travel
OBE: An Out Of Body First Experience
OBEs And Out Of Body Loving Experiences

Did This Doctor Visit Heaven?

Out of Body and Near Death Experiences are easily explained away by scientists. Surgeons often hear such tales and take them with a pinch of proverbial salt. The same goes for anyone who claims to have visited Heaven.

Such experiences are said to be caused by a malfunctioning cortex or maybe nerve cells being deprived of oxygen or even the brain causing hallucinations, because of some form of immense stress.

These sort of opinions would likely have been put forward by say, a neurosurgeon like Eben Alexander. But because of a personal experience Eben has now changed his mind and claims he has seen Heaven for himself and now believes in God and an afterlife.

Dr.Alexander contracted a rare form of bacterial meningitis whereby the area of his brain which controls emotion and thoughts - his entire cortex - actually shut down. He was in a coma for a week and doctors believed he wouldn't recover.

It was during this seven day period he claims to have visited Heaven.

Alexander explains: "According to current understanding of the brain and mind, there is absolutely no way that I could have experienced even a dim and limited consciousness during my time in the coma, much less the hyper-vivid and completely coherent odyssey I underwent."

So what was Heaven like?

His first memory is of  "roots" over his head and having no knowledge of his past life. Sights and sounds appeared to merge together and began spinning and clearing away the surrounding murkiness.

The next thing he was aware of was flying over a meadow. He couldn't speak and had no awareness of his body. He felt he was simply a "speck on a butterfly wing" along with millions of other butterflies in a swirling "river of life and colour".

Below him were waterfalls, pools and "indescribable colours", and above him were clouds that were "big, puffy, pink-white ones that showed up sharply against a deep blue-black sky".

Far above the clouds were flocks of "transparent, shimmering beings", making arcs of gold and silver across the sky. "Indescribably gorgeous" hymns and chants wafted down from these beings - "higher forms" of life which, as he gathered his thoughts later, he could only describe as "angels".

Travelling with him was what he took to be his guardian angel: a young woman with high cheekbones, deep-blue eyes and golden brown hair. She was wearing orange, indigo and powder blue clothing.

"Her thoughts were things like, 'You are loved. You are cherished for ever. There’s nothing you can do wrong'".

Together they moved on to "the core, an inky darkness that was also full to brimming with light." Here there was "a beautiful warm awareness of the divine which was clearly what we would call God".

After being in a coma for seven days Dr Alexander awoke. He is now back to being a doctor but spends part of his time investigating how "we are much more than our physical brains".

Obviously many will think Dr Alexander's story to be just that: a fantasy tale. To doubters he says that he has two points to make:

(1) Firstly, to his knowldege, no one else has made such claims while his or her cortex was shut down.

(2) His experience happened while his body was under intense medical observation every minute that he was in his coma.

So, is this proof that Heaven does exist and we have nothing to fear from death?

Dr Eben Alexander has written a book of his experience, which is available on Amazon:
Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

Similar Heavenly Posts:
Where Is Heaven?
The Bird Angel Who Comforts As Someone Dies
Near Death Experience In The Stars

The Over Powering Love Of Near Death Experiences

I was reading a long study by Dr. Pim van Lommel on the International Association For Near Death Studies website.

I don't want to repeat the eleven pages he has written - you can read this at the link above - but I thought I'd just publish part of his conclusion about Near Death Experiences (NDE):

"There are still more questions than answers, but, based on the aforementioned theoretical aspects of the obviously experienced continuity of our consciousness, we finally should consider the possibility that death, like birth, may well be a mere passing from one state of consciousness to another."

To reach his conclusion Dr van Lommel had carried out a clinical study of 344 patients who were successfully resuscitated after suffering cardiac arrest. About 18% of them had an NDE. The patients remembered details of their conditions during their cardiac arrest despite being clinically dead - even with a flat line brain stem activity.

I believe that we live on following what we call death but can understand why there are so many sceptics. Most modern science is on their side with various theories on how NDEs happen.

But - no matter what scientists and other 'experts' state - anyone who has actually experienced a NDE will be emphatic in what they saw and felt. Take this lady, for example, who wishes to be anonymous:

"Over the years, I’ve tried to find the words, but they don’t even come close to describing what I want to say. It was just the most-beautiful experience in the world."

She told her story to the The Columbus Dispatch.

At the age of 24 she had excruciating pain caused by a blood clot in her leg.

A very bright light filled the room and she found she was looking down on herself. Her pain had disappeared and she felt very safe and secure, as if arms were wrapped around her.

She witnessed thousands of scenes from her life and could feel the emotions of people she had either helped or hurt. A 'greater force' seemed to tell her everything she ever wanted to know but, unfortunately, she is now unable to recall what this was.

She became aware that her great-grandparents were accompanying her throughout what was happening. There were also other people she didn't recognise but she knew they were loved ones.

After a while she realised that she had to return to her Earthly life, but couldn't understand why.

She returned to her body and the pain and regained consciousness.

She talks of the love she felt during her NDE: "It was one hundred times more - thousands of times more - than love for your parents or your child. Multiply that by I don’t know how many times, that’s what it was like. Nothing comes close. I love my husband; I love my kids. But nothing comes close."

Needless to say she no longer fears death.

Kathi Beasley also experienced this same love with her Near Death Experience.

She said, "I was pierced by this incredible column of light that was iridescent, and it just filled me with the most unbelievable, unconditional love that I have experienced in my entire life. Nothing comes close, nothing. There’s no experience that I’ve ever had that is so deeply spiritual or meaningful to me at that moment.

It was filling me, filling me, filling me with love, filling me so much at one point I said, 'that’s enough, please stop, I can’t take any more, this is wonderful, but just stop,' and it did, it stopped."

Kathi realised she had to return to raise her daughter but even so she adds. "It’s so incredible and so beautiful you don’t want to go back,"

NDEs have been experienced for thousands of years. The first recorded is said to be in the 4th Century BC in Plato's The Republic.

But sceptics will tell you that the drug Ketamine produces all of the elements of an NDE when it is injected into normal, non-dying people - reference: Dr. Karl L. R. Jansen. But does this disprove that there is an after life? I don't think so.

What we believe, of course, is up to us as individuals.

Similar Posts about Near Death Experiences:
Pam Reynolds Near Death Experience
Where Is Heaven?
Captain David Perry And His Near Death Experience

Near Death Experience In The Stars

I'm back on the life after death theme again today with a Near Death Experience. This is the story of a small two-and-a-half year old girl called Durdana Khan. At the time she was living in the foothills of the Himalayas, where her father was an army doctor.

Dardana had been ill for several months and was gradually deteriorating. She was becoming paralysed but what was wrong with her wasn't fully known.

One day, while working, her father received an urgent message from his wife telling him that something had happened to his small daughter.

He hurried home. On arrival Dardana was in a cot outside with his wife. He realised straight away that 'she was gone'. On hearing this her mother lifted her daughter's limp body from the cot and carried her into the house and laid her on her husband's bed.

Her father, in his capacity as a doctor, carried out routine emergency procedures but felt that it was a lost cause. But he kept saying to her, "Come back my child, come back."

As an absolute last resort a heart stimulant was given to the her by administrating nikethamide drops. The couple watched their daughter, sadly and with heavy hearts, as the drops trickled down her cheeks.  But, after being 'dead' for about 15 minutes, something amazing happened. Dardana opened her eyes and told her parents that the medicine was bitter. Gradually the little girl recovered and the parents also recovered from the trauma.

Dardana's mother asked, "Where did my little daughter go the other day?"

Remarkably the little girl replied, "Far, far away, to the stars."

"Indeed," asked her mother, "and what did you see?"

"Gardens." was the answer.

"And what did you see in the gardens?"

"Apples and grapes and pomegranates."

"And what else?"

"There were streams, a white stream, a brown stream, a blue stream and a green stream."

"And was there anyone else there?"

"Yes, my grandfather was there and his mother and another lady who looked like you.. Grandpa said he was glad to see me, and his mother took me in her lap and kissed me."

"And then?"

"Then I heard my Daddy calling, 'Come back my child, come back.' I told Grandpa that Daddy was calling me and I must go back.  He said we should have to ask God. So we went to God. He asked me, 'Do you want to go back?' I said, 'I must go back.' And down, down, down I came from the stars, on to Daddy's bed."

Durdana was asked what God was like and her reply was one word, "Blue."

Durdana went to Karachi with her mother for convalescence. At her Uncle's house she saw a photo and shouted out, "Mummy, Mummy. This is my grandpa's mother. I met her in the stars. She took me in her lap and kissed me."

This all happened in 1968. Twelve years later in 1980 the family moved to London, England where her story was featured on BBC television. The producer of the programme suggested that Durdana should try and paint what she had seen while when she was 'in the stars.' One of the pictures is at the top of this post. (Photo right shows Durdana and her father in 1980).

After the story was shown on television a Mrs Rachel Goldsmith asked if she could see Durdana and the pictures again. This was agreed and when the lady saw the paintings, which had only been shown briefly on television, she said of one of them, "My God. I've been to this place."

Mrs Goldsmith had also had a near death experience and is positive that she had been to the place painted by Durdana. The two of them discussed the scene and also what was round the bend of the river and therefore not included in the picture.

Durdana has been quoted as saying that she was happy while in this after life and only returned out of a sense of duty. She felt as if she was 'everywhere at once' and could 'reach whatever she wanted.' Physical objects appeared ethereal and had no substance. There was no source of light so everything was 'visible through it's own luminescence.'

As to what this all means is up to the individual to decide.

Further Reading:
Pam Reynolds Near Death Experience
Black Elk On Peace And At The Door Of Death
Where Is Heaven?

Pam Reynolds Near Death Experience

You may have heard this story before about Pam Reynolds Near Death Experience (NDE). It has seemingly been around for a while but it's new to me.

I got to hear about it for the first time because the BBC video, as below, was recommended to me. It impressed me and, though there seem to be skeptics about Pam's NDE, it all seems genuine to me.

Everything is explained within the video so there isn't much for me to add. But the film was made by the BBC (UK's major public television network) and features staff (doctors and nurses of unimpeachable credentials) involved in the medical operation that led to the NDE.

Pam was dead for a while, all of the instruments had no output. Her body was completely shut down, as was her brain. Somehow though she was able to describe what happened after she had left her body. It wasn't simply leaving her body though as she went on to experience a full NDE. She describes this ...

"There was a sensation like being pulled, but not against your will. I was going on my own accord because I wanted to go. I have different metaphors to try to explain this. It was like the Wizard of Oz - being taken up in a tornado vortex, only you're not spinning around like you've got vertigo. You're very focused and you have a place to go ...

At some point very early in the tunnel vortex I became aware of my grandmother calling me. But I didn't hear her call me with my ears ... It was a clearer hearing than with my ears.

The feeling was that she wanted me to come to her, so I continued with no fear down the shaft. It's a dark shaft that I went through, and at the very end there was this very little tiny pinpoint of light that kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger.

The light was incredibly bright, like sitting in the middle of a light bulb. It was so bright that I put my hands in front of my face fully expecting to see them and I could not. But I knew they were there. Not from a sense of touch. Again, it's terribly hard to explain, but I knew they were there ...

Okay, here's the video, see what you think. It's about 10 minutes duration.


Sadly Pam Reynolds died for a second time on May 22, 2010 following heart failure in Atlanta.

More NDE Posts:
Captain David Perry And His Near Death Experience
Black Elk On Peace And At The Door Of Death
Near Death Experience Changes Woman's Life

Black Elk On Peace And At The Door Of Death

Today we have a couple of the sayings and experiences of Black Elk. He was a famous Wichasha Wakan or Medicine Man of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) and was said to have been at the Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876. He writes about Peace and a Near Death Experience.

"The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes from within the souls of men when they realize their relationship, their oneness, with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells Wakan-Tanka, and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us.

This is the real peace, and the others are but reflections of this. The second peace is that which is made between two individuals, and the third is that which is made between two nations. But above all you should understand that there can never be peace between nations until there is first known that true peace which is within the souls of men."

- Black Elk

As a child Black Elk was very sick and near to death. He had a vision, Sioux style, which today we would no doubt describe as a Near Death Experience, NDE.

The following is what he saw at his point of near death:

"Then I was standing on the highest mountain of them all , and round about beneath me was the whole hoop of the world. And while I stood there I saw more than I can tell and I understood more than I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being. And I saw that the sacred hoop of my people was one of many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all the children of one mother and one father. And I saw that it was holy.

I saw ahead the rainbow flaming above the tepee of the Six Grandfathers, built and roofed with cloud and sewed with thongs of lightning; and underneath it were all the wings of the air and under them the animals and men. All these were rejoicing, and thunder was like happy laughter.

As I rode in through the rainbow door, there were cheering voices from all over the universe, and I saw the Six Grandfathers sitting in a row, with their arms held toward me and their hands, palms out; and behind them in the cloud were faces thronging, without number, of the people yet to be."

I find it interesting with NDEs how they are sometimes tailored to the beliefs and perhaps upbringing of the person concerned. It's good to see things from a different perspective.

A Peace Perspective Dalai Lama Style:
The Simple Secret Of The Way To World Peace

Where Is Heaven?

Rosa Celeste: Dante and Beatrice gaze upon the highest Heaven
"So where is Heaven?"

I've read quite a few Near Death Experiences (NDEs) and though, often very descriptive, they never say 'whereabouts' it is they actually visited. Travel descriptions and pictures are all well and good but it's also nice to have a map. Especially if you think you might one day pay a visit yourself.

Usually people say that Heaven is up above us: we go up to Heaven and down for Hell, but that must surely now be an outdated view.

I was pondering this conundrum - not that my bags are packed or anything - but it would be nice to know where certain people are now residing.

When my best friend died his wife gave me quite a few of his books, many of them I still haven't got round to reading. I did, however, open up one yesterday called, The Magic Of Angels. This is a publication from the Seekers Trust who my friend was associated with. They are a spiritual and healing group in England.

The book is written by C.A. Simpson but the fly leaf states, "Based on the teachings of Dr. Lascelles received through his medium the late Mr. C.A. Simpson." Think of that what you will.

Anyway, here is what the book says about the location of Heaven:

"Heaven, we are informed by the great teachers and masters, does indeed exist, but it exists in the here and now, not in some other place some other time.This leaves us with the conclusion that it must occupy the same place as this earth.

One of the first precepts of philosophy is that two things cannot occupy the same place at the same time. But they can. If one interpenetrates the other as the odour of roses interpenetrates the air, or as water interpenetrates a sponge, then two things can occupy the same place.

This leaves us with the problem of invisibility. If Heaven is here and now interpenetrating not only us ourselves, but everything else on earth, how is it that we are not aware of it?

Perhaps the problem is one of hyper-physics whereby one atomic system can exist within another. This would indicate that there is nothing supernatural about Heaven and that it is a manifestation of a greatly extended nature, vaster and more intricate than science at this stage is capable of measuring.

After all, frontiers of nature have been pushed back so far that many things which are regarded as normal and acceptable (e.g. radio waves for instance and the whole range of cosmic rays) would have been looked upon as both impossible and supernatural a century ago."

Regarding Heaven and it's residents the book states:

"As for the inhabitants of Heaven we might consider Dr. Lascelles' assertion that Heaven is a mirror of this world. If a mirror, then the inhabitants of Heaven would be recognisable, but so also would the buildings, roads and artifacts. Normality would have to be the keynote."

So, according to a dead doctor - who should therefore have the inside info - Heaven is running alongside the earth side by side, intermingled, so to speak. The dead are with us but denseness or vibrational levels mean we can't see them.

And what do the dead in Heaven wear? Clothes - fortunately! To quote the good doctor, "The inhabitants of Heaven wear clothes. It is noteworthy that period costume appears to be the mode more than modern gear. This again suggests that what we call Heaven is, in some mysterious way, furnished by our own consciousness ..."

And regarding the variation in NDE visions, this would be dependent on what part of Heaven was seen. Just as our earth varies from country to country and continent to continent, so does Heaven.

Did this answer my question: "Where is Heaven?" Probably not but I've always felt that there are different 'layers' surrounding the earth getting finer and finer. The level we reach after death depends on our personal level of attainment. If we are none too fine, back we come to our earth level for another lesson. This way I can believe both in Heaven and reincarnation.

But there again, it could all be something completely different and one day we'll simply wake up from our dream. The only thing I feel certain about is that we are all immortal.

Heavenly Quotes:

Heaven is not a place, and it is not a time. Heaven is being perfect.
Richard Bach, in Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Nothing is further than Earth from Heaven: nothing is nearer than Heaven to Earth.
Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth

If our Creator has so bountifully provided for our existence here, which is but momentary, and for our temporal wants, which will soon be forgotten, how much more must He have done for our enjoyment in the everlasting world?
Hosea Ballou

Heaven, as conventionally conceived, is a place so inane, so dull, so useless, so miserable, that nobody has ever ventured to describe a whole day in heaven, though plenty of people have described a day at the seaside.
George Bernard Shaw, A Treatise On Parents And Children

He who seldom thinks of heaven is not likely to get thither; as the only way to hit the mark is to keep the eye fixed upon it.
Bishop Horne, Aphorisms and Opinions of Dr. George Horne

The number of levels in Heaven is the number of verses in the Qur'an. Thus, when a reciter of the Qur'an enters into Heaven, it will be said to him: 'Go up one level for every verse that you can recite.' Thus, no one will be in a higher level than the one who has memorized the entire Qur'an.
Muhammad

Heaven will be no heaven to me if I do not meet my wife there.
Andrew Jackson

Name something you like. I bet it's not in heaven. Sex? Sorry, lust is a sin. Can't have it. Your career? Nope. There's no money in heaven; nobody needs to work. Besides, as far as I can tell from studying the scriptures, all you do in heaven is pretty much just sit around all day and praise the Lord. I don't know about you, but I think that after the first, oh, I don't know, 50,000,000 years of that I'd start to get a little bored.
Rick Reynolds

Further Reading:
Near Death Experience Changes Womans Life
Tortured Man Experienced Astral Projection And Travel
Captain David Perry And His Near Death Experience

Tortured Man Experienced Astral Projection And Travel

Having read recently on the subject of Astral Projection I noticed how many of the experiences come about in crisis situations, such as while in intense pain, when seriously ill, while under a medical operation, following an accident and so on.

Not all, of course, are experienced under such conditions but I thought today I'd give a reasonably well known case which was. In this instance the astral projection came about while being tortured.

The person concerned is Ed Morrell who was tortured in an Arizona State Penitentiary. He describes some of his experiences in the book The 25th Man which shows him as the author. In fact it was his wife who actually wrote the book as he was illiterate. Jack London also made him the hero of his novel The Star Rover.

While in the penitentiary Morrell was often subjected to various forms of torture. It was under this torture that he experienced astral projection for the first time.

It appears that refractory prisoners were tied into two strait jackets which were then soaked with water. As these dried they shrank in size, so much so that the prisoners felt they were being crushed to death.

The first time this happened to Morrell he felt as if he was smothering and lights danced in front of his eyes. Suddenly he felt himself to be walking around outside of the prison as if he was a free person. He had managed to leave his pain wracked body.

He was a difficult prisoner and was often tortured in this way. When this happened the guards were amazed as to Morrell's reaction to the subsequent pain - he appeared to fall asleep. Though some say he had learned self hypnosis.

It was during this 'sleep' that he was able to 'walk' freely and explore the streets of San Francisco. In other words he became free of his physical body to travel wherever he wished.

Morrell was able to verify his astral projections by telling others of what he had seen including a shipwreck in San Francisco Bay.

His travels, while under torture, where even verified by the then Governor of Arizona, George W.P. Hunt. He was able to agree that happenings which Morrell had seen and described were absolutely true.

It's strange though that once Morrell was no longer subjected to torture he lost the ability to leave his body. It's as if astral projection in such cases is an escape mechanism when the body can't take any more.

The circumstances are similar to Near Death Experiences (NDE) such as the case of Iris Lemov which I wrote about in my post Near Death Experience Changes A Woman's Life. The difference being that with Astral projection there is free movement to travel wherever we wish. With NDEs it is usually where someone experiences what happens after, or just prior to, death.

I guess the importance of Astral Projection and NDEs is that it shows quite clearly that we are not simply physical beings. The body is just a temporary home.

Further Reading:
Near Death Experience Changes Woman's Life
Astral Travel By Hypnotherapy
How The Virgin Mary Had A Child But Remained A Virgin

Captain David Perry And His Near Death Experience

I came across this Near Death Experience (NDE) when I was doing some research on my surname Perry. The story is about the recollections of an old officer, a Captain David Perry, who lived way back (1741 to 1826). He was involved, as a soldier, in both the French and Revolutionary wars of that period. He kept the experience of his NDE to himself for thirty years.

The following is Captain Perry's story in his own words, in the style of that time - he seems to have liked very long sentences!

"While I was on board the vessel, it appears to me that I died - that I went through the excruciating pains of the separating of soul and body, as completely as ever I shall again, (and such a separation must soon take place) and that I was immediately conveyed to the gate of Heaven, and was going to pass in; but was told by one, that I could not enter then, but in process of time, if I would behave as he directed, on the set time I should have admittance.

It appeared to me that my feet stood on a firm foundation, and that I stood there for the space of about a half hour. In this time there appeared to be a continual flowing up of people, as we suppose they die; and none stopped, but all passed off, one way or the other.

Just at my left hand, there appeared to be the opening of a great gulph, and the greater part of the grown people seemed to pass off there. Once in a while one passed through the gate into the Holy City.

One person appeared, with whom I had been intimately acquainted, and it appeared to me that I knew him as well as ever I did: it was Doct. Matthews - [and whether I saw him or not, he died, as I afterwards learned, while I was sick on board the ship].

The one that talked with me, told me about the Revolutionary War, and showed me the British vessels in the harbor of Boston, as plainly as I saw them when they came. And during the first year of that war, I was down there in Gen. Putnam's regiment, and I went on Roxbury hill to see the shipping in the harbour, and they looked exactly as they had been shown to me many years before.

This transition (as I firmly believe) from life to death, and from death to life, which took place nearly sixty years ago, is as fresh in my mind now as it was then; and not many days have passed from that time to this, which have not brought the interesting scenes I then witnessed, clearly to view in my mind. But I never dared to say any thing about it, for a great many years afterwards, for fear of being ridiculed. But about the [last of February or first of January, 1763], peace was declared between England, France and Spain, and the people rejoiced exceedingly on account of it.

I told them we should have another war soon. They asked me why I thought so. I told them the British had settled peace with their foreign enemies, but they could not long live in peace, and they would come against us next. But I never told my own wife, nor any other person, of what happened to me on board the vessel, as above related, for nearly thirty years afterwards."

More info on Captain David Perry

Source: The Captain David Perry Web Site, © 1999 by Denise G. Jones, Chapter 5 - Used by Permission.

Near Death Experiences And Electrical Brain Storms

Here we go again, another scientist has 'discovered' why some people experience near death experiences (NDE). It's simply an electrical storm in a dying brain they say.

Hang on though, a little while ago they were telling us it was down to carbon dioxide - see Are Near Death Experiences All Down To Carbon Dioxide?

Okay lets look at the current theory from a Doctor Lakhmir Chawla from the Washington University Medical Center. Dr. Chawla explains:

"We think that near death experiences could be caused by a surge of electrical energy caused as the brain runs out of oxygen. As blood flow slows down and oxygen levels fall, the brain cells fire one last electrical impulse.

It starts in one part of the brain and spreads in a cascade and this may give people vivid mental sensations."

It seems that the doctor monitored terminally ill people and in each case he found a tailing off of brain activity in the hour prior to death. This was, however, interrupted by a spurt of brain action lasting anything from 30 seconds to three minutes.

If the patient was to recover they would then often tell of NDEs with familiar memories of leaving their bodies, travelling down a tunnel, a feeling of peace and so on.

Research is also been carried out on NDEs by Southampton University in England. In one test they place pictures that can only be viewed from above on high shelves to see if patients can recall the images. If they can it suggests (to the researchers) a 'genuine' out of body experience. Unfortunately no data has been produced, as yet, for their findings. They are also asking 1500 patients to recall any memories following a cardiac arrest.

All the scientists are no doubt genuine and, who knows, perhaps one day they might be able to 'prove' that there is something in NDEs which shows that a continuation of life after death is possible.

Meanwhile stories such as those of Iris Lemov, see Near Death Experience Changes Woman's Life, may have to suffice.

My personal opinion is that most near death experiences are genuine. As for an electrical storm in a dying brain, I would have thought this would produce many, many varied and completely random reactions and memories - whereas NDEs often follow a similar pattern.

Are Near Death Experiences All Down To Carbon Dioxide?

In yesterday's post I wrote about an example of a Near Death Experience (NDE) and how this changed a woman's life.

To balance things up I thought I'd put forward the sceptics view of such experiences today. The journal Critical Care has just published details of a study carried out by a team of Slovakian scientists on patients whose hearts had stopped following a cardiac arrest.

The scientists have reached the conclusion that any near death experiences (calmness, travelling through a tunnel towards a bright light, meetings with dead people etc.) are all down to carbon dioxide! An excess of the gas, they say, alters the chemical balance of the brain and this, in turn, fools the brain into seeing these things.

The Slovaks reached these findings after studying 52 people who had been resuscitated after their hearts had stopped. The patients which had an NDE, or something similar, were those who had a higher concentrate of carbon dioxide.

They explain that, though the heart and breathing may have stopped, the brain can survive for several minutes unharmed. It is during this period when the NDEs or out of body experiences occur.

A British expert Dr. Sam Parnia told the Daily Mail that high levels of carbon dioxide indicates that a patient had a 'good resuscitation'. In other words the doctors had ensured a good flow of blood to the brain, and these are the people more likely to remember out of body experiences.

So there you go it's nothing mystical at all, it's all down to carbon dioxide!

I'm not saying they are right, of course.

Near Death Experience Changes Womans Life

I guess a lot of us have ideas about an afterlife, so this story of Iris Lemov's Near Death Experience (NDE) will hopefully be of interest. It was sufficient to change Iris's whole outlook on life.

Mrs. Lemov was in hospital for an operation - nothing major but something which had to be carried out. Everything appeared to go well until, that is, she was returned to her hospital room. In Iris's words:

"I was brought back to my room after surgery and was speaking to my nurse, when a strange separated feeling between my body and my brain occurred. High above my body I floated wondering why so many doctors were around the bed."

Her heart actually stopped beating, she looked down on her pale face and then everything went black.

The next thing she recalled was being in a black tunnel, there was a light at the end of it - sound familiar? She continued:

"I felt frightened and excited as I neared the end of the tunnel. I felt peace, without pain and free. The light at the end of the tunnel was bright but easy on my eyes."

Once through the light, "It was a sight to behold. There was velvety green grass and calmness. Music coming from nowhere made me feel comfortable and I began to feel as if I belonged. I saw figures coming towards me who called my name. This man with a white beard told me to go back and said, 'Your family needs you, enjoy your life.' This beautiful man was my grandfather who died two years before I was born."

Iris added, "If we could all have the opportunity of seeing my valley during the course of our lifetime, how much more purposeful our lives would be."

Though Iris Lemov had been technically dead she survived and returned to full health. There does appear to be a right time for life and for death.

There are countless similar stories of Near Death Experiences (NDEs) on record. Many in the medical profession, however, put these down to some sort of psychological, chemical or biological action (see here). The mind or brain, they reckon, simply plays a trick on us - but why would this happen? For what purpose?

I remember reading somewhere of a medical nurse who sometimes saw apparitions at the time prior to her patients dying. She saw figures and in one instance the patient, who was clinging to life, smiled and said that she had just been visited by her dead sister. This tied in exactly with what the nurse had witnessed.

Like so many things about our lives it is up to us to decide what we wish to believe.