The Near Death Experience (NDE) is not a new phenomenon or construct of the “New Age”.  Throughout human history people survived brushes with death, reporting entering another dimension of life, having feelings of unfading peace, passing through a tunnel towards a light, and reviewing one’s life events in rich detail.

In the Republic (350 BC), Plato tells the story of Er, a soldier who died in battle but came back to life 10 days later. Er tells of his experience in the afterlife recounting beautiful sights and wondrous feelings he experienced.

In the last thirty years, the field of NDE studies has advanced at a dramatic pace in parallel with technological advances in the field of resuscitation medicine, which have produced a voluminous amount of data tracking the conditions of patients while temporarily dead.

A great deal of information about NDEs has been collected by researchers and published in scientific papers, but the lessons from these experiences have not yet reached the greater masses. Those who undergo near-death experiences often find their worldview, their attitudes, and their beliefs changed. Here are five lessons learned from their encounters with the after-life that may help us navigate life more surely.

Don’t Be Stingy With Your Love

Howard Strom, a professor at Northern Kentucky University who had a riveting NDE, learned how insignificant his intellectual and professional accomplishments were in the eyes of the angels. The highlight of his life was not his degrees or academic achievements but the time he consoled his sister by holding her in his arms after a traumatic episode in her life.

One common thread of the NDErs experience is a new and profound realization of the necessity of love. We crave it because it sustains our emotional life, but more importantly, the NDErs discovered that there is infinite and transcendental joy in the love we offer others, incorporate into our own life, and even the way we regard nature. In the afterlife, they naturally intuited that love is a state of being.

When we are preparing for a long trip abroad, we spend time studying the culture of the place, language, history, how to get to places, and what we can do there. Even TripAdvisor has become indispensable in our day-to-day lives. The NDErs give us all that and more. They tell us that the currency of love is widely accepted, that it opens all doors, and that making friends is easy over there.

Love without measure, starting with your family. Play with your children in the sandbox, take your mother to the opera, have lunch with friends, attend birthday parties, and smile, hug, and kiss a lot. Be generous with your invisible treasure.

When you die, you will be happy with yourself, and will live in the certainty that those same people, and their friends, and their friends’ friends, will welcome you with smiles, hugs, and kisses. It’s that simple.

But what is the purpose of Providence? It’s the growth of the spirit. This is how St. Augustine defined Providence, and remains timeless, even after sixteen centuries.  We are all on a long journey across time to improve ourselves, acquire new talents, form new habits, and refine our character.

Mary Helen Hensley had a clinical death after a tragic car accident. She recounts the marvelous energy that enveloped her journey, the awareness of the light, and the joyful encounter with loved ones, and that, while she observed the events around her, she was overwhelmed by the understanding that she needed to live. She was shown the future that was to unfold and the faces of thousands of people that she would touch.

Of course, our journey is not without storms. Like sailors, we know that storms will pass, waves will calm down, and a sunny morning will raise again. Seafarers never expect to travel straight to a destination. Out on the ocean, weather conditions and currents are always changing. Before we started this life, in spirit, we set an intent and destination for this journey, knowing fully well that course corrections will be a constant, but that we would have the resources to reach the destination. When we veer off course, Providence leads us to the resources to sail again on a new route another day.

It may be a challenge, but try to see your life from a detached perspective, from the beginning to the present, as if you were having your own NDE. From the millions who shared their NDEs, the majority emerged with a heightened sense of appreciation for their lives and a determination to live to their fullest. Many of them came from tough places or were dealing with tragic situations, but they all believe that their situations could be turned around, and that new dreams would be rewarding.  They came to value the extra time they were granted in the body.

In the Spiritist movement, we often hear concerns about karma and how it explains the difficult events of our lives. Karma, law of cause and effect, does exist, but as Allan Kardec pointed out, it accounts for less than ten percent of the factors that determine the quality of our existence. The remaining 90% of our challenges has to do with our choices, behaviors, and attitudes.  The past had a role in defining who we are today, but only we can decide what we’ll be tomorrow, and in a future life.

If you’re going through a hard time at the moment, trust that time heals, pain subsides, and there will be a new day for you. If you are enjoying love, good health, and positive aspirations, make an effort to remind yourself to be grateful to the people in your life and the universe.

You Are Spirit

NDEs are just another form of confirmation of what we are. This time however, the confirmation has the backing of science, and the careful research support of above-board investigators. Outside of the body, we are self-conscious, our memories are clear and sharper, we are able to think, our ability to feel emotions is not changed, and we reconnect with others who have gone before us.

When we truly accept this fact, our attitude toward every event of life changes completely. If you are a musician, a carpenter, or business person you still push yourself hard to excel at your craft, but you will not allow the fascination with money to dominate your priorities.  You will place greater value on the benefits you provide others, and on what you give back to life.

Your religious commitment become less about the tenets and expectations of a creed and more about spirituality, closeness to God, and openness to meditative practices. Life will not spare you the slings and arrows, the suffering and pain, but you bear them with serenity and courage, for you know who you truly are.

We must take control for what happens in our minds if we don’t want to lose sight of our purpose. Control starts with awareness of thoughts and emotions. Mindfulness is the act of being intensely aware of our inner-life, being conscious and alive in the moment, practicing techniques such as yoga, meditation, tai-chi, and Qigong.

In conclusion, technology and science have brought about expanding knowledge and remarkable commonality of stories of the Near-Death Experience.  There has never been a time when more people have access to such knowledge and insights, and the choice to use these lessons to live life with directed purpose, intention, and love.

Life in the flesh, though short, is part of our training for eternity!