“Spiritually Transformative Experiences” (STEs)

 ANNOUNCEMENTS

***  Don’t forget the big near-death conference, 

held near Phoenix, AZ

August 28 through September 1.  I’ll be speaking twice.  On that Thursday giving an hour talk about Kenneth Ring’s work with THE OMEGA PROJECT:  NDErs, aliens, Whitley Streiber’s story of being taken aboard a space ship and “examined,” then some of my own research concerning NDEs and aliens.  That Saturday I’ll be part of a panel to discuss the full range of UFOs, Alien Beings, and NDEs.  

QUESTION

“Miss Atwater, I had two SDEs.  I watched you on YouTube.  You said the same as I have felt after my SDEs.  They have a message for me.  First question:  SDEs are more common than we are now aware?  Further, I was more Happy after my SDE, just like Elisabeth Taylor and you.  But in the Network NDE in The Netherlands, often NDE people are doing so dramatacalie, you will feel the only thing they want is to get back.  I think this is because they had drama (fysiek) and cannot deal with it.  Thank you so much for letting me know this!  Life is Super in all.  Warmly, Lieke.”

ANSWER

You ask a big question, Lieke.  It is only recently that “Spiritually Transformative Experiences” (STEs) are being considered equal to near-death experiences.  They seem the same, but they are not, not really.  Death can alter a person’s body and mind in ways beyond speech.  Yes, spiritually transformative events can too, but…………………….

I’ve had numerous STEs.  Each one changed me utterly, and made significant alterations in my life.  Three of them came from Kundalini breakthroughs.  Another from an unusual harp concert that totally changed me to the point that I no longer knew who I was.  Took me two weeks before I could “come down” and be a human again.  Yes, indeed, a 

spiritually transformative event can be more than transformative.  It can turn you around in ways that seem above and beyond anything you can explain.  And indeed, I was never quite the same again - after each one.  Radical changes can indeed occur.

But in comparing the two kinds of transformative events, I must admit my three near-death experiences were so radical, I didn’t even know who I was afterward and was incapable of memory.  It took me a year just to accept my body and the life I supposedly had.  If you read my new book, EDGE WALKER:  THE MANY LIVES AND DEATHS OF PMH ATWATER, you will see how much I went through after my three NDEs - just to be a human again.  Although my spiritually transformative events were also quite radical, after each I was able to resume my life in meaningful ways.  That is not the case when I died, again and again and again.  Sort of like a “heavenly sledge hammer” effect.  In my case, I had tremendous physical changes to contend with.  In many ways, there simply was no coming back.  My three children made note of this and did not like the extent to which I changed.  My oldest daughter was very outspoken about that.  She wanted back the mother she knew.  We both looked for her.  Never did find her.  Now, four decades later, she finally decided I was okay.  Phew!

Everyone is different, Lieke.  Don’t let others define your experiences nor your aftereffects.  Just because one person is radically changed, doesn’t mean yours is any less or you any more or less changed.  Spiritually Transformative Experiences can turn a person around to the extent that they seem as if they “died.”  I am glad this kind of experience is now accepted by IANDS and most other groups.  Changes like this are radical in their own way and they change people to their very core.  Experiencers can even look different and act different afterwards.  I still say and feel that an NDE is even more transformative, though.  It is really up to the individual to decide.  And why decide?  It’s enough that you’re not the same as before.  It’s enough that you’ve had to make some big changes in your life, and that now you think and act differently.  Don’t let anyone make you feel “less than.”

NDEs and STEs are now accepted as radical change agents in a person’s life.  No one is “less than” if their changes seemed somehow less.  Look at your life.  Bless your life.  Feel good about your new self.  And be thankful that now you can talk about that - and not feel weird or that you have mental problems.  Science has now shown us we are more than okay afterward.  Yes, afterward changes can be difficult or even more than hard to handle.  That’s where IANDS and other such groups “shine.”  They show us - not only are we okay, we are better than okay.  We have shifted, and we can learn how to make that shift as incredible in our life as it was during the event we had.

 

Thank you for contacting me.  I hope this helps.  I like to put stories like yours in my blog.  I never use anyone’s full name.  Pick a name that I can use.  That’s all it takes.  Blessings, PMH

Seeing Spirits

QUESTION 

"I was reading your book, The New Children and Near-Death Experiences. The experiencer, Clara, mentioned seeing people in spirit-form at night. I have now read this numerous times from not only near-death experiencers but also from those who are starting to have psychic abilities. Do you have any theories why the spirit-forms can be seen more easily at night time?”....Laurie

“P.S. I have avoided the use of certain terminology and used the term people in spirit form for a reason, since my own son is passed away. Some terms that are very old-school tend to provoke fear and misperception (use of disincarnates, ghosts). I think it is rather odd to be afraid of the form we all will one day assume. And I don’t care what form my son is in. He is still my son. Just an aside.”

“P.P.S. from your book: Clara Lane, Belmont, Ohio. NDE at age ten, complications during surgery for acute appendicitis. ‘Many times I have awakened in the middle of the night to see people standing in my bedroom and in the hallway. They turn to look at me, then vanish. I do not feel afraid. Several times we have lived in houses that were haunted. I could sense things. Seeing people in my bedroom at night still happens to me thirty-eight years later. I believe they are watching over me all the time, but only at night do they become visible.’”

ANSWER 

Laurie, seeing spirits, during the day or at night, is common for near-death experiencers of any age, for those who have undergone an intense spiritual transformation of any type, and for our new children (the present generation - detailed in Children of the Fifth World). Children, however, report this happening more often than do adults.

Why is a good question. From esoteric literature and legend, we are taught that children are more open, question less, and are exquisitely curious! Most of us tend to lose this particular openness as we age. Usually it is taught out of us by our schools and by our culture. At night “the veil thins” as the wise ones say: energy patterns and flow change: we have more negative ions in the air (a slower, finer, more indirect yet penetrating freshness/stillness. During the night our own bodymind rhythms alter as well, with the most discernible change occurring between 3:00 am and 4:00 am, for most people. Termed “The Hour of the Wolf” by medical people, it is a time when many die or have more problems with major illnesses and heart failure. Conversely, this same timeframe is also known as “The Hour of the Muse,” when creative people wake up and are the most inspired, a time of vision and fine spiritual connection, when angels and guides speak more openly and easily. Don’t forget, 4:00 am is the first prayer of the day for Muslims. Our bodies and our brains are made for this - a time when the spiritual reigns. . . either in upliftment or decline.

The intuitive, the spiritual, the creative, the innovative - all heighten after any type of intense transformational experience that engenders the pattern of physiological and psychological aftereffects I have described in all my books, including the one you read. Plus, the human species is changing, an evolutionary shift that is causing similar characteristics to “blossom” in children everywhere on the planet. Indeed, we are in a time of change - for everyone. It is the children, though, who are more upfront and honest about the world they see, which, to the upset of their adults, is not the same world the adult sees.

If you read Dying to Know You: Proof of God in the Near-Death Experience, you’ll have a more direct dialogue from experiencers themselves (the collective), as they open up and most directly, to what happened to them and what life is like for them now. You’ll sense your son in this, a soul very much alive, although not encased in the body form you are used to. As you said so perfectly, your son is your son, irrespective of form.

Many blessings, PMH

"Who did you love? Who did you serve?"

QUESTION

"You have often talked in your books, interviews, and blog, etc., of love and growth being important. Would you say that the greatest message from the light to those of us currently having an existence on earth is to continually work towards improving our ability to show unconditional love and to continually work towards our own (and others) spiritual growth?

"In many NDEs, experiencers report other entities, religious figures, or spirit guides, etc., who are helping us out. Do you think that when life or our own fears and problems feel almost beyond our ability to cope, that "asking" for help is important? If so, do we pray or just ask in our minds or is it better to look within for insight, perhaps using meditation?"...Jon

ANSWER

Jon, you're very perceptive. I can say without hesitation that near-death experiences are spiritual experiences, and they are part of that larger genre called "Transformations of Consciousness" or "Threshold Experiences." I delve deeply into this and what it may mean in my book, NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES: THE REST OF THE STORY.

The majority of near-death experiencers said they were asked "Who did you love? Who did you serve?" Some were asked questions similar to these two, or, at least came away from their episode with that sense, that feeling, that love and forgiveness and helping another were the most important things we could do in the world. Achievements, intellect, possessions, and power mattered not at all. Nada. What we accomplish in life certainly makes a difference, sometimes a big difference, but look at accomplishments in the sense of "What did you learn" and "Who did you help" and "What were the ripples?" Native Americans say "Plan for the Seventh Generation." In other words, do what you do in accord with the lasting effect of your actions. Short term doesn't cut it. We must think long-term. It's not profits that matter most; rather, what is the long-term impact of those profits on the education and upliftment of those concerned?

Always long term. Always love and forgiveness. Always the upliftment and education of others. Always healing and helping. Always investment in the future. (Think infrastructure. Think sustainability. Think your neighbor as yourself.) Profit is okay, as long as one remembers to tithe, to give back, to honor The God of Your Being.

When in doubt, always use your MAP: "M" - meditation, "A" - affirmations, "P" - prayer. These three are the most powerful, effective ways you can use to plug into Source, to bring more spirituality into your life, to keep you on course with your life's mission (and you don't have to know what that mission is - you'll be guided along the way to be where you need to be doing what is right for you). Yes, you can ask for help. No one knows all the answers, because no one knows all the questions. Turn to that which inspires you, whether a good book, a YouTube video, an article, meeting, workshop, nature walk, religious ritual, religious or spiritual service, spiritual retreat, sacred pilgrimage, volunteerism, or being one in the silence of the deeper, fuller self. I'm not a great supporter of channeling and mediumship, although both can be helpful and beneficial. To me, there is no surer way to Source than by developing the depths of self, taking the Inner Journey to the wisdom walk within. We are born knowing what is true. Anything can deflect us, and does. The trick is to bring balance back into your life: moderation in all things. That's what experiences like near-death episodes do - they enable us to rebalance. They enable us to regain the clarity and the honesty we lost. They bring us back to center. . . the sacredness of our being.

Blessings, PMH