Aftereffects 

Originally Associated with NDEs 

and Now with EHEs as a Whole

A New Consciousness Coming into Prevalence Within the Human Species.

         The noted outcomes characteristic of near-death experiencers below have been gleaned from the work of Kenneth Ring and Evelyn Elsaesser-Valarino, NDE researchers, who wrote a whole book largely about the aftereffects of such experiences.  Aside from their scrutiny of NDEs themselves, they also included some data concerning other types of mystical / paranormal experiences in order to form some allusions to the clear similarities of the data for the different types of experience, suggestive of what White had also theorized, that many of the same aftereffects can and do apply, regardless of type of experience.  In her wonderful review of Ring's and Valerino's book, Lessons From the Light, Rhea A. White states this unequivocally, but with the understandable proviso that there are trends of differences in terms primarily of degree.  People who have NDEs, for example, frequently lose their fear of death entirely, brought home to them -- literally sometimes, in the Light!  This is not nearly so likely to be the result for someone who has, say, a dejá vu  or psychic experience.  

          The pondering of the value and effect of such experiences has been probably uninterruptedly in process since well before Plato.  Although the 'north' of his internal compass points solidly toward religion, and the approach and language of parapsychology would just not occur to him, Mircea Eliade [1907-1986] recognized the impact of such encounters, which he has simply called religious experiences, and speaks of the "fascinating mystery" out of which perfect fullness of  being flowers.  Concerning what he described as these "acts of manifestation of the sacred," he used the word hierophany to mean "Something Sacred Shows itself to us."  Many people who had anything but spiritual inclinations before their EHEs, from that moment forward have come to appreciate his point of view. 

          The well-studied aftereffects extant in the literature concerning NDEs given below come from Lessons From the Light:  What We Can Learn From the Near-Death Experience, by Kenneth Ring and Evelyn  Elsaesser Valarino.  Look at them from the standpoint of other types of exceptional experiences familiar to you for comparison.  If you have had any such experience/s, how does your personal list of aftereffects compare?

          Overall, most near-death experiencers, and by extension, exceptional human experiencers . . .

 

	Appreciate life more fully.
	Experience increased feelings of self-worth.
	Have a more compassionate regard for others and, indeed, for all life.
	Feel a heightened ecological sensitivity and protective concern.
	Experience a decreased interest in purely materialistic and self-seeking values.
	Are no longer attracted to the rewards of competitive ladder-scaling taken for granted in the business and professional world.  In Ring's and Valarino's words, "Caring, rather than achieving is what really matters."
	Have a personally unprecedented hunger for knowledge, especially insofar as it fosters their own post-NDE spiritual quest.  Many NDErs come back with memories of taking in vast quantities of knowledge, such as  answers to all their possible questions and more.  Yet they do not often come back with much of that still consciously available to them, which is part of what fuels this hunger.
	Become more universalistic in religious/spiritual orientation.
	Become more inclusive and spiritual in feeling and expression.
	Become aware their fear of death is most often completely extinguished [particularly for NDEers; many who have had EHEs other than NDEs, mystical or cosmic-oneness-type experiences or OBEs also say this is so or their fear of death is definitely markedly decreased.  On this website, these are referred to as death-transcendent EHEs.].
	Have a deep-rooted conviction, based on their direct experience, that some form of life after death awaits us, which becomes unshakable and a source of enormous comfort and strength.
	Spontaneously experience more frequently, or are aware of increased powers of higher sense perception, increased psychic abilities, intuitive awareness, and/or the gift of healing.
	No longer merely believe in the existence of an infinite spiritual intelligence.  Rather, they know directly, experientially Spirit / God / Goddess / All That Is exists [especially true of NDEers and those who have or have had other types of death-transcendent experiences].
	Have an increased reverence for all life.
	Have a clear moral understanding.
	Have a more positive, confident outlook on life, in spite of continued evidence that doesn’t support positive outlook.
	Are less judgmental of others; rather, they are clearly interested in and  appreciative of differences in other people.
	See all of life as resplendent with meaning and that each person's life is invested with sacred purpose.  They have a passionate drive to know and to fulfill their own life's mission.

 

          "In short," Ring and Elsaesser-Valarino conclude, "The NDE [/EHE] seems to unleash normally dormant aspects of the human potential for higher consciousness and to increase one's capacity to relate more sensitively to other persons and the world at large."  Similarly, White observes that the transformed worldview EHEs engender culminates in

 

"a spontaneous  development of moral consciousness 

and reverence for all life."

 

          Further, White says, "We think it is likely that the basic meanings revealed by these experiences, once they become potentiated into EHEs [i.e., once they become active agents for transforming the experiencers' identity, life and worldview], are the key to the evolution of consciousness and also to saving planet Earth because of the types of changed consciousness that are associated with EHEs."  

          If EHEers did not have the courage to share their experiences, the rest of the world, including other Experiencers, would never know, as was the case in the Western world, just a half century ago.  Pick up ten books by EHEers, and at least nine of them will say one way or several:  These two things can save us and our world from our otherwise destructive craziness deriving from qualities oppositional to those stated above, if [as White says] enough of us do it:  We must honor these experiences within ourselves, and we must share them with others.

 

 

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Culture, context, and origin of EHEs can play a powerful role in how we may be enabled [or sometimes less-abled] toward  understanding, accepting, integrating, valuing, and utilizing such Gifts as EEs/EHEs.   Compare these gleaned from NDE research above to observations of the broad spectrum of EHEs made by R. A. White and S. V. Brown.  Another even more direct trait-related article by White of value for comparison is Brief Overview of Exceptional Human Experiences.                Look at these also in relation to the Cultural Creatives' Values [Paul H. Ray and Sherry Ruth Anderson], Shamanic Vocation [H. Kalweit], Translucent Experiences [Arjuna Ardagh], Mystical Experiences [Louann Stahl], as well as the long-studied observations of the Spiritual Emergence Network [Stanislav and Christina Grof] for similar variants.  The surprisingly universal focus, by the time one has made a clear commitment suggestive of the values and meaning-filled lives shared with such emphasis by EHEers and the Core Cultural Creatives, is about a lifepath of service to others, to the good of the whole.   What particularly stands out is the reverence for all life that lives in them and their passionate and compassionate altruistic instrumentality within community and for the world, which could be deemed an active expression of "moral consciousness."