There’s no such thing as “the way it always is.”

 QUESTION

“Why do criminals experience beautiful near-death experiences?  Their souls should have a low vibration.  Why do they not experience hell?  This is unfair that good people have hellish experiences.  The theory with the soul vibration cannot be right?  This injustice makes me very afraid.  Please help me to understand.”......Kristin

ANSWER

Don’t fret about this.  Consistently, I find that people are looking for “the way it always is.”  There’s no such thing.  People’s story will vary - according to their sense of culture and their ability to describe what’s going on.  For instance, in Viet Nam, invariably children have scary or stern NDEs, and are judged by animals in a court-like setting.  They can also tell stories about being met by Yama Toots - beings who work for Lord Yama, the head of the Underworld.  Yama Toots can be very scary and threatening, but they can also be friendly.  

There are just as many violent souls who experience a hellish scenario as those who do not.  Remember, the near-death experience opens wide a broader reality than what we experience on earth in our daily living.  It often opens up the life of the soul, above and beyond what we know or see as the human being in front of us.  The truth of their life now, what caused what, what was the real reason behind whatever happened, reasons beyond our knowing - all of this - everything about a person on the soul level can be opened.  No, that doesn’t happen to everyone.  But it does happen to the majority.  Revealed is what that person really went through in life, the choices made or not made, whatever pain or joy resulted, what was and is the real truth behind what seems to be important.

Yes, sometimes near-death scenarios can seem unfair and unjust.  But when you find out the whole story, before and after, opinions change.  Don’t be too quick to judge until you know the whole story, the whole person.  Those that really deserve a hellish environment get it, and they stay there until they “wake up.”  But even those who seem to be saints, or at least very loving people, can wind up in hellish environments.  I found this to be true again and again in my work.  Don’t be too quick to pass judgment until you know more.  People are not always as they seem.

There is always something “more” or “greater.”  Let the higher orders pass judgment as needed.  We are enjoined to forgive, or at least affirm what is truly right for everyone’s highest good be what happens.  What we think is true, may not be.  The more we find out about different people’s near-death experiences, the more we come to realize that a Force greater than we can imagine does indeed exist.  

Blessings, PMH

Comparing Heaven and Earth

QUESTION

"I have a question for you that was posed to me by a friend. I was not sure how to answer it, but after the conversation, I had an idea and an analogy. I would really like to get your opinion on this question, as I think, that it will help both my friend and I. So here is the question.

"If all is One, does this mean that murder is okay and you can do whatever you want? Are God and the devil the same? He also gave me an excerpt from a C. S. Lewis book, where a man named Dr. Weston believed this way, then he invited the Allness in, good and bad, and became possessed. The book is called Perelandra, and it is part of the space trilogy. If I remember correctly, you told me that J. R. R. Tolkein's book, The Simarilion, explains oneness or the origin of it, the best. Thank you. My analogy, by the way, was this. Imagine you have a banana. As one, it is a banana, but it is also a peel and a core fruit. Both parts are necessary, but you are not going to eat the peel. The peel could be compared to darker forces. Also, Satan means "accuser" or "adversary" so, he is like a prosecuting attorney, absolutely necessary to a court case, but this does not mean you will join him and prosecute yourself. This example was given to me by Dr. Mike. The banana was my own."....Ryan

ANSWER

You are way out in left field with your questions, as they do not apply.

Here's the deal: when you're talking God and you're talking human beings, you're really talking about different reality systems that operate according to different vibratory frequencies. Most of your metaphysical/mystical schools of thought address this. So, just for fun, let's say there is a Level 1 and a Level 2. When you're in Level 1 (and higher planes beyond even that), you're really in a world of abstracts - not form as we know it. You could say it's all Mind. That's simplistic, but it's a good analogy. In the higher planes there is no such thing as male and female, good and bad, black and white, nature and nurture, local banks and the Grand Cayman Islands tax loops. Forget all that stuff. This is why near-death experiencers, those who had a deeper experience, are at such a loss to explain anything or name anything or relate what they saw, felt, heard, and have come to know. You cannot give voice in modern language to that which is beyond words. On that Level (Level 1), you come to recognize/realize why things happen the way they do on earth, why there is war, etc. It all becomes clear and you understand. Try explaining that to anyone once you are back in your body here on Level 2. Can't be done.

What you can do is begin to make connections. Once you're back you begin to see how our decisions, our intent, our very thoughts and feelings and longings and regrets, weave into our life experiences as if on some level a choice was made. Certainly, in this life, I did not plan to have five fathers and two mothers. I was just a child, a kid. How could I have planned that or the screwed up life I came to have because of that and how deeply I was imprinted by the attack on Pearl Harbor and the constant slap of death all around me? Whoa. Heavy stuff. Nor could I accept my biological mother. I had clear memories that she was my daughter and I was her mother back in France, and I refused to accept her as a mother. More heavy stuff. Then, as I grew older, I learned about the soul, our soul; we each have one, you know. When I died, I was able to see my soul - souls - what a soul is and how it functions. More whoa. I am convinced now that the main purpose of prayer and meditation, living a more spiritual life, is to bring you (me, us) more in line with our soul, so we can live soul, merge with our soul, become more soul like. Is that ever wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Joy! Lots and lots of joy. You just feel better when this happens and your life gets better - EVEN WHEN IT'S NOT NECESSARILY BETTER IN THE SENSE OF HOW WE JUDGE THINGS ON THE EARTHPLANE. By that I mean, you can still lose your shirt, have surgery, and meet up with people who scream and yell at you because they think you're weird or cursed or whatever.

This earth, this blessed planet, these precious bodies we live in, are too wonderful for words. Don't believe anyone who says earth is a the bottom of some kind of ladder and we are cursed to be here. Nuts to that. Life is very much worth living, however brief or long. We humans and our little minds take a while to wake up and see that the only responsibility is self-responsibility, the only protection anyone has is forgiveness - because you become whatever it is you cannot forgive. Love is the only standard. As Meister Eckhart said: "If the only prayer you can say is thank you, that is enough."

Don't try to mentalize any of this or the lower and higher levels of existence. Get yourself involved in classes and workshops that address self-development, spiritual development, meditation practices, mindfulness, know thyself. It is only through experience, practice, being in the "zone" of that which is spiritual, can you ever take that wonderful deep sigh and breathe the fuller breath you have. It is in those moments that you begin to understand that which cannot be explained, only lived.

Blessings, PMH

The Dynamic of Heaven and Hell, and Study Groups

QUESTION

"Dr. Atwater, what happens to people who commit the ultimate crimes? Is there eternal damnation in the afterlife?. . . Dominic"

ANSWER

No one can say for certain how all of this works on the other side. I know from my research that the majority of those who had hellish or uncomfortable cases were those people who seemed to be sterling figures in their communities, or, at least not the kind of people one would think had a "dark past." Conversely, many of the criminal types, even hard core, that I had sessions with experienced rather beautiful scenarios. . . most often, though, with a really tough life review. Truly, life reviews can be far more horrific or difficult to handle than a hellish episode. When you experience what the other person went through, live through their pain and what happened to their families because of what you did, hey, that's hell.

I can offer you this. Of the thousands of cases I have covered/experiencers I've had sessions with, the dynamic of heaven and hell seems more like a "layer-cake" of levels on the other side, separated by degrees of vibratory frequency. Resonance is the factor. By that I mean, after death you move or are attracted to that level that matches your own rate of vibratory energy. Like attracts like. Still, there seems to be no top or bottom to the system. Rather, it appears as if open-ended. As such, choice and change reign. In other words, you cannot stay in hell forever any more than you than you can play harps on a cloud in heaven forever. As an open-ended system, an active dynamic based on choice and change, this system seems incredibly beautiful to me and is far more fair than anything anyone could possibly imagine. God/Allah/Deity seems far bigger than our little minds and far more dynamic in providing opportunities for us that move in accordance with our highest good and the highest good of all concerned. Not our will. The Greater Will. Blessings, PMH

QUESTION

"I just love your book. All that you talk about in this book applies to me, as I believe I have experienced more than one NDE. It is so accurate and yet not understood by doctors. I recently had some very vivid dreams associated with a 'burn-out' condition. Psychiatrists locked me up for 35 days in a psych. ward, when I knew I was sane. If only these doctors had read your book. I am an author and wish to refer to one character (based on my experiences) in my latest book referring to certain behaviours/insights written in your book - to refute suggestions that I am schizophrenic. I have been told that I will have to take antipsychotic medicine for life, which I dispute, but cannot argue validly about. My friends believe the doctors and tell me that I have to accept the doctor's views that I am seriously mentally unwell. This is utter bunkum and leads me to row with my friends who are well-meaning. Your book is, therefore, sensational in justifying my wild imaginations, etc. and supports my view that the previous psychotic episodes were in fact premonitions/prophecies about not only the future of the world on Earth, but also about likely changes in the Universe itself.

"I also believe that God (universal intelligence) has a good and a dark side as you suggest in your dedication. . . Thomas"

ANSWER

What would really help you here is to get involved with study groups of the type of phenomena you seem to be experiencing. Go to my website at www.pmhatwater.com, and into the Marketplace. You want to look up the A.R.E. (Association for Research and Enlightenment) and the Monroe Institute. Both are wondrously sane and practical, yet offer lively programs for exploring spiritually and dimensions beyond our own. The A.R.E. sponsors Study Groups internationally. Inquire. If you can, you might plan a trip to the A.R.E. They are located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and offer conferences, health-care facilities, and a host of classes and varied opportunities to explore not only your own life but what may be a universal reality that is beneficial to know about and interact with. The Monroe Institute is especially geared for this, for helping you have a direct experience beyond the norm that may be helpful to you. They have well-trained teachers and directors to assist in whatever you would like to explore.

If you could get into Study Group work in your own area, this would enable you to spend more time with people who have had similar experiences to your own. Hearing the experiences of others, learning about ways to handle the extraordinary, may be exactly what you need to better understand yourself and live in a productive and healthy way. You can even learn to "split dimensions" as I do daily. I keep myself grounded, balance my checkbook, meet my deadlines, hug my husband, cook our meals, and have a great deal of fun doing all of this. I also take part in helping to educate our medical community. You could do all of this and more. And, by exposing yourself to peer-reviewed published papers that underscore the "differences" healthy people can exhibit, especially those who have had a near-death experience or a spiritual breakthrough, you can not only help yourself but you can have a direct effect in the education and upliftment of the medical and psychiatric community. Many blessings, PMH