This is a collection of examples of many types of death-transcendent EHEs,
as well as some quotes from experiencers and from EHE researchers about
these experiences.
These cases have been chosen for their credibility and convincingness.
Some have been selected on the basis of comforting factors or recognized patterns, such as comments exemplary of NDEers having lost their fear of death, or an apparitional experience in which the
EHEer is reassured that the one who "died" did not suffer or is now very happy and at
peace -- frequently observed aspects of such events.
They are from
other published sources or Rhea White’s or my collections and personal experiences. Many of these
were originally obtained from surveys, interviews or occasionally, actual laboratory events; a few are gleaned from historical records.
Most are from
the 20th [to the present] century and a sprinkling of events are documented from hundreds or even thousands of years ago.
EHEs almost by
definition occur "out of the blue," unsought, at least not consciously or at that given moment. In recognition of this and more as a symbolic gesture, the examples are presented with what appears to be a totally random lack of pattern or organization. Occasionally, to make a point, a certain common element from a number of examples will be presented together, like a sprinkling of dew drops gracing a favorite flower, reflecting in many dazzling duplicates the early morning sun. Sometimes examples will be placed so a type of relationship will emerge, such as a striking contrast or similarity.
Overall, I feel it is important to keep these cases as close to the original disclosures as possible, if not quoted directly from the sources, so there is little to no distortion of the
stories. A special advantage to this approach is that the confessional stories retain their original "voice" (or at least the varied voices of the authors/researchers who published them). One of the things that has detracted from even some of the most popular books devoted to this kind of material is that the anecdotes are so edited or cleaned up, they all sound like the same person speaking.
Dr. Moody’s work exemplifies this unfortunate feature, which may have
been one of the reasons he was so unhappy with how publishers handled
his manuscripts [and which he famously fumed about in The Last Laugh,
published by good ol', accommodating Hampton Roads].
All told, there is a certain kind of effect
I hope readers will enjoy: The stories are presented in a
randomized, wave-upon-wave-upon-wave form, so you have an opportunity to be perhaps even a bit overwhelmed by the amazing array and profusion of these powerfully
life-transforming events. The idea is to provide an
environment of bibliotherapeutic immersion for you to soak in. A frequent observation made by those who have
studied EHEs (Maslow, White, Ring, Morse) is that being exposed to this type of material does indeed change
even nonexperiencers' views and lives. The material tends to invite a sort of vicarious
"exceptional experience" for the reader. Maslow and his students
noticed the more they studied and wrote about these events, discussed them, thought about them, the more they
themselves tended to have such
experiences. Although this was an unexpected observation by
Maslow, et al., the idea here is to use that understanding to good
effect, to contribute toward "priming the pump."
The hoped-for effect is that of reading,
slipping into this sea
of stories,
of being awash in wave-after-wave of these
experiences---
one after another
after another after…
a hint at the countless events with which people have been gifted
throughout time and all over the world,
glimpses of this Larger Reality, of life that never,
.. never,
.. never .. ends.
Wave-after-wave in the voices of "I," as so many of the examples are spoken,
but also he-she-they, which finally merges into "we."
We are awash in this magnificent sea of
evolving, growing human consciousness
—
sometimes amid the frothy drops
of individual accounts that can be observed,
flung free momentarily by the shifting, restless waves,
and other times, submerged in the
wonder of the unanimity
they hint of, their
universality,
their bringing us back
into the sense of our
oneness, each and all
of us, in the LIGHT!
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