Reflection on Howard’s Story.
Howard Storm’s NDE generated a lot of interest. Perhaps it comes as a shock, because we have become used to NDE stories being all about unconditional love, acceptance and forgiveness. Even those who have been mass murderers or created terrible suffering for others we are told will enter into the same beautiful landscapes and meet with a God who knows all and forgives all.
Unpleasant NDEs are rare, but they have been recorded. Interestingly, hell experiences are quite common in non-Christian experiences. Samuel Bercholz, who was a practising Buddhist in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition was given an extremely graphic tour of the hell regions as described in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. His experiences are described in his book, A Guided Tour of Hell where he describes tortures and sufferings we would normally associate with medieval descriptions, Dante’s Inferno springs to mind. Bercholz makes one very important observation. In Buddhism, the physical world (Realm-1) is an illusion. So too are the tortures inflicted by demonic beings in his tour of hell. They come to an end when the soul being tortured realises that even this pain is illusory.
Perhaps there is a clue to why people experience particular NDEs. Could it be, that somehow the NDE experience is created by the individual?
One individual related:
I was in a large field of white light. It was inexpressible. I was there only with my consciousness because I had no body. Yet it was very real. The light that I saw there, that is my own divinity.
Excerpt from Coppes, Robert, Impressions of Near-Death Experiences
If our inner light can create light in the Realm-2 experience, perhaps our inner darkness also can create a darkness in Realm-2.
Perhaps Howard Storm’s experience was a Realm-2 intervention. The main theme of the two previous NDE stories was "awakening". Both Erica and Anita had been depressed and overcome by the thoughts, opinions and attacks of other people. They awakened into a knowing that they were unlimited beings of love and power. On the other hand, it is difficult to avoid the impression that Howard Storm, pre-NDE was quite proud of his life, his status and achievements. He was also empty. Storm’s NDE took him to the exact place of emptiness his life he had created within his life.
We could ask the question, “Do painful NDEs happen to people who have lived a materialistic, selfish life?” The answer however, would be “No!”
One of the most famous NDEs in the literature is that of Dannion Brinkley. It is recorded in his book, written jointly with Paul Perry, Saved By the Light.
Dannion had a career as a “contractor working for the military”. This phrase hid the fact that he worked as a soldier, in the most violent manner. He was responsible for the killing of many innocent people, and one might expect that when he entered the spiritual worlds, he would encounter only darkness. Dannion indeed had a most unpleasant life review.
“From the moment it began until it ended, I was faced with the sickening reality that I had been an unpleasant person, someone who was self-centred and mean.
“The first thing I saw was my angry childhood. I saw myself torturing other children, stealing their bicycles or making them miserable at school…”
Saved by the Light p9
Dannion feels all the pain he has caused other souls. “…I felt the anguish and humiliation my opponent felt…” He feels the shock of a man he assassinated who was suddenly propelled into the spiritual worlds in confusion. Dannion experiences the man’s sadness as he realises he will never go home again to his family, and then in a chain reaction Dannion feels the sorrow of the man’s family and loved ones.
Nevertheless, despite everything he did in life and all the pain he caused, Dannion emerges into a state of bliss where he meets a Being of Light who implants in him this simple message:
Humans are powerful spiritual beings meant to create good on the earth. This good isn’t usually accomplished in bold actions, but in singular acts of kindness between people. It’s the little things that count, because they are more spontaneous and show who you truly are
Saved by the Light p20
Dannion Brinkley’s NDE was as much an intervention as Howard Storm’s. After he recovered, he became a tireless crusader for the NDE movement and gave hundreds of talks carrying the message that death is not to be feared. In 1997 he founded the Twilight Brigade which has since trained more than thousands of volunteers in end of life care for veterans. Dannion himself has been at the bedside of hundreds of dying veterans, including his father.
It seems that not only was this a spectacular intervention by Realm-2, it was a powerful turn-around and transformation.
…Next time - is this the deepest NDE yet…