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Powerful Near-Death Awakening Provides Inspiring Mega-Perspective Mellen-Thomas Benedict is an artist who survived a near-death
experience (NDE) in 1982. He was dead for over an hour and a half. During
that time, he rose up out of his body and went into the light. Curious about
the universe, he was taken far into the remote depths of existence, and even
beyond, into the energetic void of nothingness behind the Big Bang. Eminent near-death experience researcher Dr. Kenneth Ring has
said, "His story is one of the most remarkable I have encountered in my
extensive research on near-death experiences." The Near-Death Experience of Mellen-Thomas Benedict In 1982, I died from terminal cancer. My condition was
non-operable. I chose not to have chemotherapy. I was given six to eight
months to live. Before this time, I had become increasingly despondent over
the nuclear crisis, the ecology crisis, and so forth. I came to believe that
nature had made a mistake-that we were probably a cancerous organism on the
planet. And that is what eventually killed me. Before my near-death experience, I tried all sorts of
alternative healing methods. None helped. So I determined that this was
between me and God. I had never really considered God. Neither was I into any
kind of spirituality. But my approaching death sent me on a quest for more
information about spirituality and alternative healing. I read various
religions and philosophies. They gave hope that there was something on the
other side. I had no medical insurance, so my life savings went overnight on
tests. Unwilling to drag my family into this, I determined to handle this myself.
I ended up in hospice care and was blessed with an angel for my hospice
caretaker, whom I will call "Anne." She stayed with me through all
that was to follow. Into the Light I woke up about 4:30 am and I knew that this was it. I was going
to die. I called a few friends and said good-bye. I woke up Anne and made her
promise that my dead body would remain undisturbed for six hours, since I had
read that all kinds of interesting things happen when you die. I went back to
sleep. The next thing I remember, I was fully aware and standing up.
Yet my body was lying in the bed. I seemed to be surrounded by darkness, yet
I could see every room in the house, and the roof, and even under the house. A Light shone. I turned toward it, and was aware of its
similarity to what others have described in near-death experiences. It was
magnificent and tangible, alluring. I wanted to go towards that Light like I
might want to go into my ideal mother's or father's arms. As I moved towards
the Light, I knew that if I went into the Light, I would be dead. So I
said/felt, "Please wait. I would like to talk to you before I go." The entire experience halted. I discovered that I was in control
of the experience. My request was honored. I had conversations with the Light.
That's the best way I can describe it. The Light changed into different
figures, like Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, archetypal images and signs. I asked in
a kind of telepathy, "What is going on here?" The information transmitted was that our beliefs shape the kind
of feedback we receive. If you are a Buddhist or Catholic or Fundamentalist,
you get a feedback loop of your own images. I became aware of a Higher Self
matrix, a conduit to the Source. We all have a Higher Self, or an oversoul
part of our being, a conduit. All Higher Selves are connected as one being.
All humans are connected as one being. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. It was like
all the love you've ever wanted, and it was the kind of love that cures,
heals, regenerates. I was ready to go at that time. I said "I am ready,
take me." Then the Light turned into the most beautiful thing that I
have ever seen: a mandala of human souls on this planet. I saw that we are
the most beautiful creations-elegant, exotic...everything. I just cannot say enough about how it changed my opinion of
human beings in an instant. I said/thought/felt, "Oh, God, I didn't
realize." I was astonished to find that there was no evil in any soul.
People may do terrible things out of ignorance and lack, but no soul is evil.
"What all people seek-what sustains them-is love," the Light told
me. "What distorts people is a lack of love." The revelations went on and on. I asked, "Does this mean
that Humankind will be saved?" Like a trumpet blast with a shower of
spiraling lights, the Light "spoke," saying, "You save, redeem
and heal yourself. You always have and always will. You were created with the
power to do so from before the beginning of the world." In that instant
I realized that we have already been saved. I thanked the Light of God with all my heart. The best thing I
could come up with was: "Oh dear God, dear Universe, dear Great Self, I
love my Life." The Light seemed to breathe me in even more deeply,
absorbing me. I entered into another realm more profound than the last, and
was aware of an enormous stream of Light, vast and full, deep. I asked what
it was. The Light answered, "This is the River of Life. Drink of this
manna water to your heart's content." I drank deeply, in ecstasy. The Void of Nothingness Suddenly I seemed to be rocketing away from the planet on this
stream of Life. I saw the earth fly away. The solar system whizzed by and
disappeared. I flew through the center of the galaxy, absorbing more
knowledge as I went. I learned that this galaxy-and the entire Then a second Light appeared. As I passed into the second Light,
I could perceive forever, beyond Infinity. I was in the Void, pre-Creation,
the beginning of time, the first Word or vibration. I rested in the Eye of
Creation and it seemed that I touched the Face of God. It was not a religious
feeling. I was simply at One with Absolute Life and Consciousness. I rode the stream directly into the center of the Light. I felt
embraced by the Light as it took me in with its breath again. And the truth
was obvious that there is no death; that nothing is born and nothing dies;
that we are immortal beings, part of a natural living system that recycles
itself endlessly. It would take me years to assimilate the Void experience. It was
less than nothing, yet greater than anything. Creation is God exploring God's
Self through every way imaginable. Through every piece of hair on your head,
through every leaf on every tree, through every atom. God is exploring God's
Self. I saw everything as the Self of all. God is here. That's what it is all
about. Everything is made of light; everything is alive. The Light of Love I was never told that I had to come back. I just knew that I
would. It was only natural, from what I had seen. As I began my return to the
life cycle, it never crossed my mind, nor was I told, that I would return to
the same body. It did not matter. I had complete trust in the Light and the
Life process. As the stream merged with the great Light, I asked never to
forget the revelations and the feelings of what I had learned on the other
side. I thought of myself as a human again and I was happy to be that. From
what I have seen, I would be happy to be an atom in this universe. An atom.
So to be the human part of God ...this is the most fantastic blessing. It is
a blessing beyond our wildest imagination of what a blessing can be. For each and every one of us to be the human part of this
experience is awesome, and magnificent. Each and every one of us, no matter
where we are, screwed up or not, is a blessing to the planet, right where we
are. So I went through the reincarnation process expecting to be a baby
somewhere. But I reincarnated back into this body. I was so surprised when
I opened my eyes, to be back in this body, back in my room with someone
looking over me, crying her eyes out. It was Anne, my hospice caretaker. She
had found me dead thirty minutes before. We do not know how long I was dead,
only that she found me thirty minutes before. She had honored my wish to have
my newly-dead body left alone. She can verify that I really was dead. It was not a near-death experience. I believe I probably
experienced death itself for at least an hour and a half. When I awakened and
saw the light outside, confused, I tried to get up to go to it, but I fell
out of the bed. She heard a loud "clunk", ran in, and found me on
the floor. When I recovered, I was surprised and awed about what had
happened. I had no memory at first of the experience. I kept slipping out of
this world and kept asking, "Am I alive?" This world seemed more
like a dream than that one. Within three days, I was feeling normal again, clearer, yet
different than ever before. My memories of the journey came back later. But
from my return I could find nothing wrong with any human being I had ever
seen. Previous to my death I was judgmental, believing that people were
really screwed up. Everyone but me. About three months later a friend said I should get tested for
the cancer. So I got the scans and so forth. I felt healthy. I still remember
the doctor at the clinic looking at the "before" and
"after" scans. He said, "I can find no sign of cancer
now." "A miracle?" I asked. "No," he answered.
"These things happen...spontaneous remission." He seemed
unimpressed. But I was impressed. I knew it was a miracle. Lessons Learned I asked God: "What is the best religion on the planet?
Which one is right?" God said with great love: "It doesn't
matter." What an incredible grace. It does not matter what religion we
are. Religions come and they go. They change. Buddhism has not been here
forever, When God said, "It doesn't matter," I understood that
it is for us to care about, because we are the caring beings. The Source does
not care if you are Protestant, Buddhist, or Jew. Each is a reflection, a
facet of the whole. I wish that all religions would realize it and let each
other be. It is not the end of separate religions, but live and let live.
Each has a different view, and it all adds up to the big picture. I went over to the other side with a lot of fears about toxic
waste, nuclear missiles, the population explosion, the rain forest. I came
back loving every single problem. I love nuclear waste. I love the mushroom
cloud; this is the holiest mandala that we have manifested to date, as an
archetype. More than any religion or philosophy on Earth, that terrible,
wonderful cloud brought us together all of a sudden, to a new level of
consciousness. Knowing that maybe we can blow up the planet fifty times, or 500
times, we finally realize that maybe we are all here together now. For a
period they had to keep setting off more bombs to get it into us. Then we
started saying, "we do not need this any more." Now we are actually
in a safer world than we have ever been in, and it is going to get safer. So I came back loving toxic waste, because it brought us
together. These things are so big. Clearing of the rain forest will slow
down, and in fifty years there will be more trees on the planet than in a long
time. If you are into ecology, go for it; you are that part of the system
that is becoming aware. Go for it with all your might, but do not be
depressed or disheartened. Earth is in the process of domesticating itself,
and we are cells on that Body. Population increase is getting very close to
the optimal range of energy to cause a shift in The Great Mystery of life has little to do with intelligence.
The Universe is not an intellectual process. The intellect is helpful; but
our hearts are the wiser part of ourselves. Since my return I have
experienced the Light spontaneously. I have learned how to get to that space
almost any time in my meditation. You can also do this. You don't have to die
first. You are wired for it already. The body is the most magnificent Light
being there is. The body is a universe of incredible Light. We don't need to
commune with God; God is already communing with us in every moment! For the full text of this near-death experience: |
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