By Narcissa Lyons

Truth I

Not finite.

More than one twilight.

Not finite.

Windswept misty mornings,

Falling water on skin,

Fables by the firelight

And smiles of wicked glee.

This is a witch’s brew,

And Oh, the taste of this stew.

Why cook if not to feed the men?

Why eat, if not to dine again?

Not finite.

Not finite.

I’ve held for many years to the fact that we don’t end.  That ending doesn’t make sense. So I prefaced this article with a poem relating to just that tenet written years ago.  Many would argue that this is just wishful thinking on my part, and the part of many death fearers.  We don’t like to think about it, it’s true.  How do we go from ironing shirts, driving around the corner, cooking a decent meal, kissing, erasing mistakes and making new ones, to–just–nothing?  To the fading memories of others bound to fade in the same way?  While that is an understandable slant, it does not negate what actually happens.  “Well you were not around for centuries, maybe billions of years, you were nothing then, so why would you NOT go back to nothing?”  I can picture that line coming out of one of my friends in particular.  I’ll call him Juan.  Juan, I love you, cynicism and all, but that’s a big ol’ unknowable assumption.

Sure, these physical skins and bones in which our energy is ensconced will turn to dust, crumble, feed the bugs.  But the essence of who we are, our “soul”, if you will, does in fact go elsewhere, and science backs that up (The First Law of Thermodynamics ).  Energy is not created or destroyed, but merely changes forms.  I don’t claim to know how we are dispersed, but I have been doing a rather lot of research, and I only find more evidence of my LGO Theory (Life Goes On) I am here positing.

To the extreme skeptic there is no way to prove any of it, but to the logic minded, a preponderance of evidence will sway.  Until I started researching the subject, my sole basis for the belief, that we don’t end, was just because of everything around me–the details, beauty, shattering horror, minutiae, sky vastness, all of it–pleasure and pain (see poem above) was enough for me to realize that nothing else makes sense.  Really?  We could just be accidentally created, like the rest of the universe, for no reason?  That somehow, absolutely every molecule came into creation on its own?  Seems on the weightier side of absurd and I really don’t get that line of denial.  We just happened.

No.  Back to the preponderance of evidence.  I have been attending meetings of the Boston chapter of IANDS (Internat’l Assoc. for Near Death Experiences), with each meeting hearing about the experiences and theories of those that have experienced NDEs (Near Death Experiences), and have conducted interviews of some of the NDE experiencers, in addition to the woman, Susan Hebard, who oversees the Boston chapter of the group.  While not surprised about what I have been learning, I am still consistently overwhelmed by the immensity of it, the grandness of the overall meaning, and the emotional impact felt by those who crossed that bridge, if only briefly.

There are commonalities, most of which any reader here will not find new.  The experiencers see their body being worked on by EMTs or Doctors and Nurses, usually witnessing from a top corner of the room before they are whisked into the next plane.  There is the feeling of undefinably profound benevolence, sweeping acceptance and love, light and light and light.  There are life reviews with no condemnation of sins committed.  The lesson that humans are all connected beings, even if most of us don’t realize it on  this plane…that in fact we are part of a greater, unified energy/light and are evolving so that more of us realize it.  Some theorize we are finally starting to fight back, in some small but growing fashion, against the continuing horrible tide of animosity, atrocity, neglect–all things terrible, and part of the battle is this growing awareness of our collective consciousness.  I know full well that the majority of you likely are still at the hocus pocus bogus phase, and that acceptance of this is not now possible, but I know what I saw in the eyes of those that have seen part of what’s next, and I know how to recognize the perplexed but grateful awe with which they retell their stories.  Some of them are telling about their only experience 20 or 30 years ago, but are no less reverent because of lapsed time.  To some degree, the speakers relive as they tell, and you can feel the haunt of it–the overwhelm of it.  I have yet to see an agenda.  There is no weirdness of character or otherwise telling sign of a possible charlatan.  It has just so far been everyday people telling of their experiences and the humbling effect that ensued.

The humbling may be the only reason they come round to talk at such gatherings.  Other than talking about it to those of us eager to learn and to also be among others that may have experienced similar, they want to help spread the hope of what they have seen, and be part of the movement to which I referred earlier.  You hear it all the time, but part of the inferred message is to live in the moment.  To to be kind.  To spread joy. Be. Kind.  I am not preaching if it sounds like it, just repeating what is obvious to some but needs to get obvious to all.  We all stumble through bad days, get annoyed at the prospect of a long grocery line, and often feel our joy moments are too few and far between.  Maybe so. But two things here if you still have the patience….even if you do only rarely experience happy, it is not to deprive others because of this lack.  Better point, the more you instill feel-goodness in others, the more frequent will be that joy that before was so sparse.

And then that gets me to one point where I must differ.  There are some NDE experiencers who believe we are all of us going to be forgiven, that one of the several powerful emotions conveyed is utter and total forgiveness of the things in your life about which a moral you would not be so proud.  We’ve all got them, and I am not looking forward to the review of some snippets of my life, even while I won’t shy away from most of it….but to forgive the truly horrible human cannot be the way it works, particularly since that alone would likely increase, at least a little, the amount of bad shit that is happening around us.  Absolute absolvement means a present life without consequences, and while good people are good because they want to be good, there are quite a few good-ish people who are so because they don’t want to be punished for doing otherwise.  Less altruistic.  I do not know how the energy of the evil will be dispersed, so I will do some investigating on that and write about it later, but it’s a tougher topic.  I’d have to talk to shitty people who have experienced an NDE, and they are not easily identifiable or regularly doing talks.  That I am made aware of.  I suppose I could post something on Craig’s List –  “Murderers with NDE Story Sought”.  Or walk the walk in a maximum security prison.  Pish tosh.

I went to see Joel Kaplan and Leslie Gabriele make a presentation that was billed more as an NDE presentation than what it was.  While Joel did speak of his experience from 22 years ago, the presentation was more about he and Leslie using their respective healing powers on the audience.  Joel has been clairaudient and telepathic since grade school, but his NDE enhanced his abilities, and here let me explain that I am skeptical of these talents–not that some people are gifted, because some people do have special sight–but  there is a large population of shysters in this arena.    Joel travels internationally to perform his healing, sometimes with Leslie, but almost always  for charity.  During his 9 minute NDE, one message to him was that he would return to his life and continue to use his talent, and that it would be enhanced.  What strange magic I saw.  Through the course of 2-1/2 hours and at least ten different audience members, Joel made odd movements, sometimes clacking his teeth, sometimes shaking his hand in the air near the “patient” or speaking across the room to another spirit while Leslie also added her own movements at times.  There was no pattern and each person was treated differently.  After some of this activity, he would have the individual walk back and forth and help them “balance” themselves, and each and every one of them was grateful when the session was over, several of them in tears.  One woman, clearly a skeptic, walked and deeply thanked him.  “How do you feel?” Joel asked.  “I am just so filled with joy”.  He told us that we are all so much more than  we think we are, and they had both promised we would be happier upon leaving the meeting, even if we had not been directly one of the specifically healed.

About halfway through the presentation I noticed that I was extremely relaxed, calm, almost stoned.  This was a week ago and I am still without my usual angst.  I don’t know if some aspect of my diet (CBD oil?) kicked in right then or what, but I am grateful regardless for the experience that day.  What a beautiful kind of power, and wielded as part of the overall effort to better the planet, or at least his possible portion of humanity.

It is a very cool world out there.  And out THERE.  The magnitude of it regularly astounds me, and I will keep investigating and listening, not just because it fascinates and is growing, but yes, it is comforting.  And just because something is comforting does not mean that it is made up or fabricated for that end.  It just is.

As always, Be Thee Well.