near-death experiences are the “ultimate” astral travel....and also provide a serious dose of ultra reality....because no matter if or how much we don’t understand, or may want to deny it, this earth-plane reality is simply not real at all!
think about some of the most vivid dreams you’ve ever had....while you were in it, it appeared to be real....very real...but after waking, it either came as a disappointment or a relief (as in the case of a nightmare) that it just wasn’t real!
think about the fact that death is the ultimate uniter. According to Eckhart Tolle, it is also the great equalizer....it’s the one thing every human being has in common....therefore, at some point in everyone’s life, we will experience this phenomenon.
but those who (by choice or otherwise) experience this early, as
Tolle says, “die before we die,” always come back with a renewed and more
accurate understanding of just who we really are. And most say, it’s never a bad
or scary experience!....although those who choose to live on earth without
acknowledging their connection to the All, or more specifically to Christ,
which is not a man, but the actual energy of LOVE may get a little scare....and
it’s generally these folks who, upon returning to the earth plane, feel the
most urgent need to warn and educate others about the hereafter. but just about everybody encounters the familiar - "i've been here before," or "this is my true home."
many understand that time and space are only concepts experienced on earth. so when certain spiritual texts talk about eternal life or the afterlife being spent in eternity, it only seems like a “long time” from the mind’s point of view. regardless though, it’s best to at least try and get a grip on what it’s all about before the moment we take our last breath. and this is why meditation is such an ancient practice....because the ancients were in tune with the universe and understood our “need to feed” our soul body, higher self, or true self – it’s all the same thing.
however, many many people meditate without experiencing profound transformation because they don't understand how to really do it.....many experience meditation as simply an extended state of relaxation.....but in true meditation the mind stops....therefore, there is no you to even be relaxed....you are like dead, and in that state, the higher self must take over....it was there all along!....eastern religions talk about the "veil" that hides us from reality....this veil is the mind....because "we" are always here, but if we are fooled into thinking we are the body, then we (our true selves) retreat into the background until death or trauma "wakes" us up into reality. (to be continued)