About this Website and the Webmaster
Why There Is Nothing Better Than Being Dead

Greetings! Welcome to Near-Death.com! My name is Kevin Williams, the webmaster of this site. Like many people, I became a near-death experience (NDE) fanatic after reading Raymond Moody groundbreaking book Life After Life. My life changed forever after reading this book and my passion for learning more NDE information continues to grow ever since. By 1996, I had read just about every NDE book I could get my hands on. At the same time, I learned how to build websites while earning my B.S. degree in Computer Science. There were only a few websites on the subject of NDEs then because the World Wide Web was relatively brand new. The opportunity to bring NDE revelations to the world via the Internet created within me an epiphany and a tremendous feeling of synchronicity. My mission from God became crystal clear. I was at the right time and the right place to bring these life-changing NDE revelations to the world via a website: Near-Death.com. Public interest in NDEs at the time also began to skyrocket which ultimately led this website to become the number one ranked NDE site on the Internet. In the development of this website I have included content from many profound NDE books in order that this website may contain the cream of the best authors on the subject. When describing the information on this site as a whole, I am inclined to say with a celebrated French writer: 

"I have culled a bouquet of varied flowers from men's gardens, and nothing is my own but the string that binds them."

 

I am also the author of the book, "Nothing Better Than Death: Insights from 62 Profound Near-Death Experiences." What follows on this web page is my personal testimony of my conversion from a very strict fundamentalist Christian - to a follower of Jesus as revealed in NDEs. To show you how far I have come along, I believe a person can even (erroneously) believe Jesus to be a myth and still benefit from the teachings ascribed to him. After all, it takes a "Jesus" to invent a Jesus myth, doesn't it? I am convinced a person doesn't need to be a Christian to be a follower of Jesus - love is the only requirement (see Luke 10:25-28). If religion really mattered, shouldn't all Christians be Jews like Jesus? I now believe Jesus to be our "brother" in God; and that everyone, like Jesus, is a child of God (John 10:30-36, Psalm 82:6). As Jesus declared, everyone can become like him if you believe. (John 14:12).

Table of Contents
1. Why There is Nothing Better Than Being Dead
2. The Teachings of Jesus in the Gospels as Spirituality 101 
3. The Christian Paradox of Faith Versus Good Works 
4. The Christian Paradox of Election and Predestination 
5. How Near-Death Research Solves These Christian Paradoxes 
6. The Resurrection of the Spirit Versus the Resurrection of Corpses 
7. Near-Death Studies Affirm Long Abandoned Doctrines of the Early Church 
8. The Scientific, Philosophical, and Religious Foundation for the Gospel of Love 
9. The Gospel of Love Means Universal Salvation 
10. My Desire to Promote NDE Testimony and the Spirituality Within Them 

 

1. Why There is Nothing Better Than Being Dead

 

NDE testimony offers answers to the big questions: Who are we? Why are we here? Where did we come from? Where are we going? What does it all mean? NDEs also provide circumstantial and scientific evidence supporting the Afterlife Hypothesis for which scientific reductionism cannot adequately explain. The evidence suggests NDEs are transcendental journeys to another dimension of reality profoundly changing the lives of those who have them. One particular near-death experiencer, Dr. Dianne Morrissey, eloquently stated this way: 

"If I lived a billion years more, in my body or yours, there's not a single experience on Earth that could ever be as good as being dead. Nothing." - Dr. Dianne Morrissey, near-death experiencer

 

This wonderful quote is the basis for the title of my book Nothing Better Than Death.

The main purpose of this website is to help people understand the tremendous importance of unconditional love which appears to be the most important revelation given to so many NDE experiencers. Unconditional love is also the primary teaching of Christ as well in many other religions. NDErs frequently learn how loving others unconditionally is not only the way to heaven after death, but it is also the way to create heaven within all human beings and the way to create heaven on Earth. NDE testimonies affirm how living in a physical body creates an illusionary separation between us and other people. People who have had a NDE describe an out-of-body existence after death where the one-ness of all things cannot be denied. This state of one-ness can be described as heavenly if a life of one-ness with others had been lived. NDEs reveal love to be the bond which actually connects all things together. NDEs also reveal love to be what people worship as "God." For those prefer the illusion (or delusion) of separation over one-ness, life after death can be a temporary, painful experience of self-awareness. Such conditions are temporary because of NDEs suggesting how life after death is even more dynamic than physical existence. Nevertheless, after death, the only thing we can really take with us is the love we have. Death means stepping into the spiritual condition we have been creating within us all our life. Then we will find ourselves at a particular level of one-ness (love) which we prefer. In the lower afterlife realms, darkness reigns and the illusion of separation is greater. In the highest afterlife realms, there is a reality of a one-ness which can best be described as a complete realization of a total at-one-ment with God and all things. Love is then the critical factor in determining how close we come to this realization after death.

My mission in life is to promote these NDE truths as a light shining in a world of darkness. As a self-proclaimed NDE evangelist, I seek to end the ignorance of and the fear of death through the promotion of these truths. I am convinced NDE research is contributing greatly to the spiritual evolution of humanity and there is no greater endeavor than planting seeds of love and light within other human beings. Love is literally what life, death, and God is all about. It may sound strange but learning about death means learning about love. Love conquers and transcends death. In this respect, death itself is the Grand illusion.

I am currently writing a new book entitled Nothing Better Than Love, which is a follow-up book to Nothing Better Than Death. It is about my personal testimony of my family's "after-death communications" with my mother which occurred after her death in 2001. You can also read about my unusual paranormal experiences which I have experienced throughout my life.

 

2. The Teachings of Jesus in the Gospels as Spirituality 101

 

Reading these beautiful testimonies of love and heaven by near-death experiencers created within me a deep love for near-death experiences and made me a much more spiritual person and less of a religious person. Reading enough of these experiences can make a person feel as if they are relearning knowledge they had forgotten long ago. My deep love for profound near-death insights makes me committed to bring these insights to the Internet. I also believe my mission in life is to bring these special insights from others to the Internet for all too receive. I strongly believe the insights from near-death testimonies are universal and speak to the heart of everyone. I believe these truths are already known to us all at the deepest core of our being.

 

My spiritual journey began like many people as a child of the 60s believing the profound revelations of John and Paul: "All you need is love." But in 1977, after being challenged by my Christian brother to read the Gospel of John, I had a "born again" experience - a paranormal event of instant spiritual resurrection. I was transformed into a completely different person and have never been the same person since. I participated in follow-up evangelism with the Billy Graham crusade and the Josh McDowell ministry on my college campus. I led a number of people to Christ and gave speeches on Bible prophecy and early Christian history. I was a religious zealot with a savior complex compelling me to want to save everyone whom I perceived were deceived, hell-bound, and lost sinners who lacked the righteousness I had. My savior complex also extended to Christians whom I believed lacked the fundamental intellectual formula I possessed - a very arrogant position isn't it? There is a fine line between ignorance and arrogance and at this point in my life this line was blurred.

 

When I began to read about near-death experiences my religious arrogance quickly disappeared. The spirituality I found in near-death experiences was on a scale far grander than anything I could find in religious dogma. My narrow religious mindset ultimately began to crack as the light of universal love, universal salvation, and a universal God entered in. This ultimately led me to abandon my rigid systematic intellectual religious theology.

 

3. The Christian Paradox of Faith Versus "Good Works"

 

The Christian paradox of faith versus "good works" is most strikingly revealed by these two contradictory passages of scripture:

PAUL: "Therefore we conclude that a man is JUSTIFIED BY FAITH without the deeds of the law." (Romans 3:28)

JAMES: "You see then that a man is JUSTIFIED BY WORKS and not by faith only." (James 2:24)

 

Clearly in the above verse, James the brother of Jesus (died in 62 or 69 AD) taught the exactly the opposite of what Paul  (5 - 67 AD) was teaching. These two Bible verses have been known by scholars throughout history to be perhaps the greatest contradiction in the Bible. This contradiction is one of the major reasons why there are so many different Christian denominations and interpretations of Christian scriptures in the world. To fully understand this contradiction and paradox one must first understand the dispute between Paul and the Twelve Apostles - specifically the dispute between Paul and James the brother of Jesus. Many Bible scholars believe Paul hijacked Christianity as taught by Jesus and the Twelve; and that Paul is the real founder of the Christian religion. Paul knew Jesus only from a near-death experience he had on the Road to Damascus which transformed him from persecuting the Twelve and their followers to becoming a supporter of them. Unfortunately, Paul did not spend the time necessary to sit at their feet and learn from them the teachings of Jesus. He barely knew the Twelve and rarely visited them; but when he did, he would often be in conflict with them as recorded in Paul's epistles. This led Paul to became a witness to the Gentiles who was influential in establishing the Church of Rome. Paul can be considered a self-appointed apostle who taught the Gentiles how the law of God no longer applied to them and how Judaism is no longer relevant. Unfortunately, throughout history, Paul's letters were influential as the source for the Church's [1] anti-Semitism, [2] homophobia, [3] sexual intolerance, [4] religious intolerance, [5] economic discrimination, [6] racism, [7] discrimination against women, and [8] support for slavery. But to be fair to Paul, I doubt he ever wanted his letters to be considered the very words of God and to be included part of scripture. But despite Paul's influence in developing Christian theology, it is clear that Jesus never believed the law of God to be irreverent and he never repudiated his Judaism. The result of Paul's teachings (whether intentional or not) was the exclusion of the behavioral requirements set forth in God's law and which Jesus emphasized was necessary for salvation. Jesus emphasized "good works" over faith all the time in his parables. It is also clear how portions of Jame the Just's Epistle is a point-by-point counter-argument against Paul's Epistle to the Romans. Below is a chart defining the debate between Paul and James. You judge for yourself.

 

How Paul's "Faith Without Works" Salvation
Contradicts Jesus's Emphasis on "Good Works"
PAUL
On Justification:

"Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." (Romans 3:28)

On the Faith of Abraham:

"For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God."" (Romans 4:2)

"For the promise that he [Abraham] would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith." (Romans 4:13)

On Salvation:

"But what does it say? 'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart' (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you  confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9)

On Faith:

"For in it [the gospel of Christ] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith.'" (Romans 1:17)

On Works:

"Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." (Romans 3:20)

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:1)

JAMES (the Brother of Jesus)
On Justification:

"You see then that a man is justified by works and not by faith only." (James 2:24)

On the Faith of Abraham:

 "Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” (James 2:21-23)

On Salvation:

"What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can such a faith save him?" (James 2:14)

"You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?" (James 2:20)
On Faith:

"Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." (James 2:17)

On Works:

"For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, 'You shall not commit adultery,' also said, 'You shall not murder.' If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker." (James 2:10-11)

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." (James 1:22)

 

4. The Christian Paradox of Election and Predestination

 

Before I learned about NDEs, I believed in the extreme fundamentalist view of God predestinating a portion of humanity for salvation and leaving the rest for damnation. This brand of Christian theology is historically known as Calvinism after John Calvin (1509-1564 AD) whose teachings were instrumental in bringing about the Protestant Reformation along with Martin Luther (1483-1546 AD). Calvinism and the Protestant Reformation was actually a rediscovery of the teachings of St. Augustine (354-430 AD) who was the first person to formalize Paul's theology (see the box below). Paul's theology is based upon a concept that everyone is born spiritually dead and are unable to come to God to be saved. Therefore, salvation is entirely the work of God: the Father chose some people (the elect), the Son redeemed them (and only them) at the cross guaranteeing their salvation in the future, then the Holy Spirit draws them at the appointed time giving them the gift of spiritual life and making their salvation secure forever. The non-elect go to hell - not because of their forseeen lack of faith or works - but because they were never chosen by God to begin with. Moreover, Paul viewed God as creating the non-elect for the sole purpose of destruction in order to make God's mercy known to the elect. Even more amazing, Paul didn't believe his teaching dishonored God because God was under no obligation to save anyone at all. Instead, God "has mercy on whom he has mercy, and whoever he hardens he hardens." Read more about the history of this debate between Paul's theology and its alternative on this Wikipedia article.

 

The alternative theology of Christ dying for all humanity and not only for a chosen few is even more of a paradox. If Christ died for everyone, and some are lost, then Christ's death didn't actually save anyone. Salvation is then reduced to a mere possibility conditional upon the spiritually dead sinner's ability to come to Christ - a contradiction of scripture. Paul's theology limits the quantity of Christ's redeeming power because it applies only to the elect. The alternative theology limits the quality of Christ's redeeming power because it didn't actually save anyone at the time and is conditional upon spiritually dead sinners.

 

Ironically, an extreme form of Calvinism (combined with a little Christian mysticism) solves this paradox and is the Christian belief system I hold myself: The Father elected all human beings for salvation; Christ redeemed all human beings at the cross; the Holy Spirit then calls all humanity for salvation according to God's timetable. If a person is not made spiritually alive during their lifetime, then it will occur in some future lifetime either through bodily resurrection (reincarnation) - or by some form of temporary purgatorial-like state in the afterlife - or both. Another source of NDE testimony helping me in transition from a fundamentalist Chrisitan to a more mystical one is the NDE revelations of Edgar Cayce who ties NDE insights together with the mystical Christianity taught by Jesus.

 

Rational minded Christians must choose a theological system to believe in; or it may be best to simply accept God as a child because they are, after all, closer to the Source. In the box below are the scriptural references formulating Paul's theology.

 

Paul's Theology of the Doctrine of Election and Predestination

Salvation depends upon God and not man: No one seeks God [1] because no one has the will to accept things from God without the Spirit of God [2]. The human will is not free, but is enslaven to their fallen nature until set free by Christ [3]. Therefore, salvation does not depend upon fallen human beings [4] but upon God's grace through through the gift of faith [5].


God created the elect for mercy and others for destruction: God chose some people for salvation before the world was created [6] to be objects of his mercy [7] and the rest of humanity God created to be objects for destruction [8]. God's predestined his elect to obtain salvation while passing by the others [9] [10] [11]. God has elect angels and fallen angels as well [12]. Only God elect's are called, justified, and eventually glorified [13]. When Paul preached at Antioch everyone who was appointed for eternal life believed [14]. God redeemed the elect with his own blood [15].


Christ died for the elect only and not for the rest of humanity: Christ gave his life for his predestined elect [16]. Not only this, God has predestined everything to be conformed to his plan [17]. God redeemed "all men" and "the whole world" and wanting "everyone" to be saved in the sense that God's chosen elect are not limited to Jews, but to everyone from every tribe, language, race, and nation [18] [19] [20] [21].


Once the elected sinner is saved by Christ's redeeming power, they are forever saved: God's elect are called, justified, and glorified [22] proving they are saved from God's wrath in the end [23]. So there is no condemnation for those whom God elected [24] and nothing can separate them from God [25] [26]. God's calling and gift of faith are irrevocable [27]. God resurrected his elect when Christ was resurrected [28]. And what God began will be carried on to completion to the very end [29]. Paul's theology may have originated from his conversion on the road to Damascus. His NDE of the risen Christ may have shown him how everyone is totally dependent upon God's grace and sovereignty for salvation; and it has nothing to do with their cooperation [30]. Paul's theology of salvation is analogous to a narrow bridge going all the way across to heaven. The alternative theology is analogous to a very wide bridge going only half-way across. Another analogy is to imagine Christ walking through a cemetery, calling and raising some corpses, and leaving the rest in their graves to perish.


The devasting problem with Paul's theology of salvation: it flat out contradicts everything Jesus taught in the gospels about the importance of behavioral requirements (works) which God expects everyone to perform in order to attain perfection and eternal life. Here are some examples: Jesus taught people how loving God and others is the way to eternal life [31]. Love is God, so without love, it is impossible to attain eternal life [32] [33] [34]. The following parables of Jesus confirm the existence of behavioral requirements leading to salvation: the parable of the Unforgiving Servant [35]; the parable of the Two Debtors [36]; the parable of the Wise and the Foolish Builders [37]; and the parable of the Unjust Steward
[38].

 

If you do an in depth study of Early Christian history you will soon realize how Christian doctrines have changed radically from the time of Jesus. Paul's tremendous influence in shaping Orthodox Christianity and Eastern Christianity denegrated original Judeo-Christianity into a vulgar system where pledging allegiance to Jesus and becoming a member of a personality cult of Jesus worship is the way to salvation. While Paul generally accepted the teachings of the Twelve coming directly from Christ, he threw away (or completely ignored) the essential Jewish teachings of Christ which is based on performing good works according to God's law. The doctrines of the Church of Rome which Paul established ultimately won the political struggle over the Jerusalem Church and Christianity has never been the same since.

 

5. How Near-Death Research Solves These Christian Paradoxes

 

As I read more about the profound insights in NDE testimonies, the more they filled the gaps I had in understanding Christian doctrines. I began to see how concepts such as universal salvation which are found in near-death experiences are also found in the Early Christian teachings of Jesus. I eventually had to deal with the paradoxes and contradictions I found in the Christian doctrines I loved and believed deeply for so many years. This transformational processes caused much mental anguish (on top of my bipolar disorder) but led me on a quest to understand Christianity in light of the insights I was learning from NDEs. By studying a combination of NDE testimony, the lost teachings of Jesus, Jewish history around the time of Christ, Judeo-Christian teachings, lost Church doctrines and an important doctrine of Christian teachings declared a heresy by the Church, I found compatibility between them all. I discovered how Church bishops decided not to include many of the teachings of Jesus circulating among various Christian groups because they were thought to be Gnostic. For example, some bishops held the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation to be suspect and were almost not included in the development of New Testament canon. The Gospel of Thomas (considered to be the oldest gospel) was not included in canon perhaps because it describes Jesus teaching his closest disciples how to obtain salvation through a mystical divine-human unity and the process of reincarnation. The nature of Jesus was the subject of much debate by the Early Church. Scriptures dealing with experiences in the afterlife, such as the Book of Enoch, were not included in the development of canon even though Jesus quoted from them many times in the New Testament. The Pharisees, the Essenes, the Christian Gnostics, and many early Christians were believers in pre-existence and bodily resurrection (reincarnation) and believed in a spiritual form of resurrection taught by Jesus to his disciples (becoming reborn of the Spirit). The general public were not given these closely guarded teachings (including the interpretations of his parables) which is evident in Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus.

 

6. The Resurrection of the Spirit versus the Resurrection of Corpses

 

It is apparent how Jesus meant for the mystery of the resurrection of the dead to be hidden until the last days before he returns. The 1945 and 1947 discoveries of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the early Christian writings in Egypt occurred shortly before Israel became a nation again in 1948. All the unfulfilled Bible prophecies concerning a conquering Messiah arriving to rule the throne of David can now be fulfilled. NDE visions of the future support the notion of humanity currently at a crossroads when major earth changes are approaching. but it will not be the end of the world as many believe - it will simply be the end of the old order.

The Christianity taught by Jesus and the Twelve centered upon two types of resurrection: the resurrection of the spirit (spiritual rebirth) and the resurrection of the body (bodily rebirth, reincarnation). But when Paul abandoned his Judaism and Pharisee upbringing, he effectively did not include (or was ignorant of) these important teachings of the Pharisees and Jesus. Paul accepted a version of the resurrection of the dead which is identical to the Persian concept of resurrection that existed before the time of Christ. It describes how people sleep in their graves until the End Time when corpses are resurrected for final judgment. This concept of resurrection won the political battle over the mystical interpretations of resurrection secretly taught by Jesus. The vulgarized version was more palatable for the ignorant general public and this may be why it was defeated. Rome conquered Jerusalem in 70 AD. Many around Jerusalem fled to Egypt where Jewish-Christianity and Gnostic Christianity could continue to practice the mystical teachings of Jesus concerning attaining at-one-ment with God.

In conclusion, by studying the historical records and allowing NDE concepts to guide me, I reached the same conclusion many others have: Christianity as taught by Jesus resembles Tibetan Buddhism more than it does fundamentalist Christianity. Tibetan Buddhism and the early Christian writings emphasizes liberating oneself from the cycle of reincarnation through a spiritual rebirth of the heart, mind, and spirit. Reincarnation, although not a desirable option, is actually a gift from God allowing humans to have as many opportunities as necessary to become permanent residents of the highest heaven. Hell is having to reincarnate and be subjected to death repeatedly until eternal life in heaven is attained. What is fascinating is how these hidden mysteries of Jesus were not limited to Jesus or to Judeo-Christianity. These mystical teachings of attaining a human-divine unity can be found in Buddhism (Tibetan), Islam (Sufi), Judaism (Kabbalah), Hinduism (too many to list), and Christianity (Gnosticism). All teach the same goal: liberating the soul from the flesh through the awakening of the spirit within.

 

7. Near-Death Studies Affirm Long Abandoned Doctrines of the Early Church

 

The Gospel According to Jesus and the NDE

Love is God (1 John 4:8) and loving God within everyone is the way to eternal life (Luke 10:25-28).

 

That is all there is to it! This is the entire gospel of Jesus! It means allowing the unconditional love from the kingdom of heaven within yourself and then allowing it to manifest into the world. It is about living forever with unconditional love for everyone and everything now. The gospel of Jesus is all about unconditional love: For God so loved the world he gave us his beloved son (John 3:16) that whoever "believes in him" will never die. Now, what did Jesus mean by whoever "believes” in him? Jesus taught this lesson in context with John 3:19-21 where Jesus refers to those who come into the light and live by the truth of this light - as opposed to those who fear entering into the light because of their fear of judgment. The gospel of Jesus is about finding and entering into the light of God's unconditional love now and not waiting until death to go to heaven. Love is the only thing we take with us at death. This is the same message people learn from NDE testimony.

 

So believing and knowing about unconditional love is not enough. It must be lived, practiced, experienced, embodied, until "I AM". Although this is a very high standard for us to follow, it is the reason we are here in this "World-School of Hard Knocks." We are growing our way to heaven by means of unconditional love (i.e., God) right here on Earth. We are bringing this unconditional love of heaven into this world right now. Perhaps a day will soon come when humans have evolved enough like Jesus to walk upon water, raise the dead and heal the sick. Fortunately, I believe we are getting closer and closer to this goal.

 

8. The Scientific, Philosophical, and Religious Foundation for the Gospel of Love

 

The following is my understanding of reality based upon the higher knowledge found in NDEs and their application toward the understanding of science, religion, metaphysics, and philosophy.

 

How we began: In the beginning, there was nothing but one universal, collective consciousness, which people refer to as "Spirit" or "God." Within this one Collective Consciousness are infinite points of consciousness. All things in the past and present, and all things which will ever be in the future, exists as eternal spirit in one of these infinite points of consciousness within the Collective Consciousness. Our spirit is a fractal of God. This means our spirit is both a part of the Whole and the Whole itself. Like a drop of water from the ocean, we are part of the ocean. Like a drop of water from the ocean, the very essence of the ocean is contained within us.

 

The origin of species and dawn of humanity:  Then, at some moment outside of time, came the desire for individuality and self-expression. This led to the creation of the cosmos and souls. The vehicle for our spirit is our soul. In the same way, the vehicle for our soul is our physical body. Our spirit is the eternal part of God. Our soul is a temporary vehicle for our spirit to experience individuality of existence between the physical realm and the spirit realm. The human body evolved from ape-men millions of years ago and it will continues to evolve until it is able do those things which fully evolved people from our past, such as Jesus and Buddha, have achieved. At some point millions of years ago, souls descended upon these ape-men and began influencing to come down out of the trees and eventually form societies. Then souls began inhabiting the bodies of these ape-men. Thus, the dawn of humanity arose on this planet.

 

Humans were created in the image of God:  Humans are three-dimensional beings: body, soul, spirit. The divine nature is as a manifestation of life, light, and love. The Bible mentions a trinity of personalities: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Bible also mentions a trinity of human-divine unity: (Body of Christ, Mind of Christ, and Spirit of Christ.) Science and metaphysics describe human awareness in terms of consciousness (mind), subconsciousness (soul), and the collective unconsciousness or superconsciousness (spirit).

 

What happens when we die:  After death, our soul body leaves our physical body. The physical body decays and is lost forever. As a soul, we can then experience in various soul realms as we did every night on Earth in our dreams. While in the soul realms, our soul body is the vehicle for our spirit. Our soul mind functions as our conscious awareness and our spirit mind plays the role of the subconscious mind. Ultimately, we will want to leave the soul realms and enter into the higher spirit realms. When this choice is made and the soul actually enters into the light, the soul merges fully with the light and soul body is shed much like the physical body was shed at death. The memories of the soul remain forever in the mind and the individual is now once again a pure spirit in the spirit realms. As a pure spirit, we exist once again in pure thought form in the mind of the one enormous and fantastic dream called "God."

 

Humanity is evolving in mind, body, and soul:  As human beings, we have been evolving on a biological level for millions of years. Between Earth lives, we spend "eternities" in spirit form in various spirit realms. We also return to these spirit realms every night during our dreams. The reason we choose to come to Earth for another relatively brief human experience is because we are also evolving at the soul level. Through the cycle of birth, death, life in the spirit realms, and rebirth into flesh, we are learning valuable lessons which only Earth lives can give. The goal for every human being is to evolve into perfection in a manner similar to Jesus, Buddha, and other great spiritual leaders. Ultimately, the day will come when the world will be filled with perfected human beings. It will be a time when humans will be able to live as long as they want and perform feats which today we would call "miraculous" - like walking on water. In such a state of perfected evolution, humans will have become "liberated" from this evolutionary cycle and will no longer be subjected to reincarnation. As taught in the mystical forms of the great world religions, liberation is attained by "becoming one" with all things and all people (i.e., "God") through the practice of unconditional love. This spiritual state of one-ness occurs when a person "awakens" their higher spirit-self and brings it into their conscious awareness. In Christianity, this liberation is referred to as spiritual resurrection or spiritual rebirth or being born again. In Buddhism, the state of liberation is known as Nirvana. In Hinduism, it is known as Moksha. In Gnosticism, this liberation occurs through attaining gnosis. All these concepts describe the same thing. It is the liberation of the spirit from the flesh. It is also the symbolism behind the crucifixion of Jesus.

 

Practicing love for one another is the way to heaven on Earth and heaven within:  Jesus taught people how the way to attain liberation is through the practice of unconditional love. Love brings about a one-ness between people and is necessary to attaining the higher dimensions of consciousness. Practicing unconditional love leads to the manifestation of the spirit within us and in our lives and brings our spirit into conscious awareness. It is an awakening of unconditional love within us and is the manifestation of our holy spirit within us. However, it is not enough to merely believe in love. Nor is it enough to merely know about love. To be spiritual beings living in a physical world, we must live love, manifest love, and become the embodiment of love. We do not get there by focusing only on the love and sacrifice of Christ nor through worshipping him.

 

The Christian life involves taking up our own cross and following in Jesus' footsteps by practicing unconditional love:  We can practice unconditional love by crucifying our self-centeredness through self-sacrifice and self-denial for the sake of serving others. " Crucifying the flesh" also means to put to death the desires of the lower self - the animalistic desires - to allow our higher self, our spirit, to come through.

 

The "beast" we are evolving away from:  This lower nature within human beings is the unevolved animal nature within humanity of which we have been slowly shedding for millions of years through evolution and reincarnation. The nature of this unevolved beast within humanity is manifested as self-gratification, self-indulgence, self-centeredness, selfishness, self-importance, self-righteousness, self-delusion, self-condemnation, and the constant clamoring for self - "ego" (symbolically known as the "false god," the "devil," and the unevolved "beast.").

 

Discovering a higher reality and the supremacy of love:  It is the illusion of separation (i.e., the false notion of our not being part of one giant Whole), which is the source of many problems humanity has ever faced. This constant desire for self apart from the Whole must be overcome in order to become the spiritual beings we really are. We are actually spirit beings having a highly evolved human experience. Everything on the physical and soul level is slowly evolving toward perfect unity with the Whole. Here in the physical realm, we are "enrolled" in a "World-School" for a class called "Introduction to Eternal Life 101" to learn how to live with and love the people around us forever. NDE research reveals an open secret about our lives on Earth. Life is a test. It is a gigantic examination for which we will be graded on after death. There is no judgment except self-judgment and we shouldn't even do this. There is no condemnation but self-condemnation and we should not do this either. The life review after death is for our educational benefit, enlightenment, and soul evolution. The life review is where we discover what we have been filling the void within us our entire life. The more we fill our void with love for others, the more we have evolved as soul. The love we have found within our void is what draws us into the light.

 

However, not everyone enters the light immediately after death. There are many reasons for this and they can be found within the NDE testimonies on this website. In general, it requires many human experiences (i.e., lifetimes) until our higher spiritual nature is brought into our consciousness awareness. In the end, no one is lost. There is no eternal damnation. Nobody completely "flunks out" of God's University of Higher Knowledge. God's love is "tough love" as well as unconditional not wanting anyone to be lost but to attain at the physical level what we are at the spirit level.

 

Life is about loving everyone and everything unconditionally forever as individuals and collectively as a Whole which is God.

 

9. The Gospel of Love Means Universal Salvation

 

Ultimately, I reached a point in my NDE studies where the hundreds of first-hand eyewitness NDE testimonies of Jesus I read became far more sensible and trustworthy to me than the four testimonies of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the Bible. These gospel testimonies are not first-hand testimonies as NDE testimonies are and there are contradictions in the gospel narratives.

 

NDE research dramatically changed my ideas of just about everything on a massive scale. I learned how God is immensely more loving and infinitely more forgiving than I ever knew. I knew God would never abandon anyone forever in hell. The "God of wrath" I once thought existed I now know to be a man-made construct for which to project our fear and own personal weaknesses on. Once I understood how the greatest enemy I will ever have to face and conquer is: my self, an interesting change occurred within me. The Devil I used to blame my sins on and whom I feared all the time evaporated. I began to appreciate the vastness of God's love for all people no matter what their religious or cultural persuasion may be. My narrow religious system cracked and fell away as it became more and more ridiculous to me. Worse still, I discovered my former belief system to be highly dishonoring to God in how it portrays God as throwing the majority of humanity in hell fire to roast and be tortured forever. My former idea of God resembled Charles Manson more than it did of a God of infinite love and I regretted ever having ever believed it. I grew to resent the ignorance within the Church and sympathized with those still trapped by false doctrines. I knew God cannot be limited to any book and realized the universe itself is a greater revelation of God than a zillion Bibles. I realized we could have direct experiences with God. We do not have to rely solely upon 2000-year-old experiences in the Bible. I learned how biblio-idolatry occurs when a person elevates a book to be the infallible words of God.

 

By studying NDEs, I found peace of mind and freedom from rigid beliefs systems and a far greater love for people and Jesus than I would ever have found in the Bible. I discovered truth was everywhere including in other religions. I began to view Christian doctrines in a more spiritual way rather than the inferior literal way. I learned how NDE insights offered greater spiritual lessons in love which can transform the world into the paradise it is meant to be.

 

Although I see a lot of nonsense in every religion, I know the only critical component of every religion is teaching people to love others and God. I know how many people, including myself, need to begin with a narrow religion to direct us within where true spirituality dwells. From narrow religions, people can graduate from "Spirituality 101" when they learn the perfect "religion" is love for others. Because I would be comfortable to consider myself a Buddhist, just as I would be comfortable to consider myself a Christian or a Hindu or a Gnostic, it is difficult when asked what religion I practiced. I used to describe myself as a Christian. But what brand of Christianity believes in reincarnation, pre-existence, the divine nature within humanity, universal salvation, and the non-existence of a Devil? Then I used to answer, "Well, I am Christian, a Jew, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Buddhist" but found out this answer does not make a lot of sense to people. Then I would say, "NDEs are my religion." Nevertheless, once I discovered the kind of love and spirituality found in NDEs, I realized I was no longer concerned about religious dogma anymore. Just follow the simple principle established by Jesus, John, and Paul when they said, "All you need is love."

 

10. My Desire to Promote NDE Testimony and the Spirituality Within Them

 

My love for NDEs and the spirituality I found in them, combined with computer science background, led me to create this website and write a book entitled Nothing Better Than Death. This website is a wonderful labor of love for me and the zealotry I once reserved for religion is now direct toward my passion for bringing the spirituality of the NDE to the internet via my website. It is not my purpose to promote any single religion or even any religion at all. However, there are aspects to NDEs which have profound religious implications. My greatest desire is to promote the supremacy of unconditional love found in NDEs because I believe it is the key for humanity's next stage in human evolution. I believe NDEs will soon prove the survival of consciousness after death without any doubt and this will bring greater love and unity to the world. Imagine a world where everyone understands how, after death, everyone is accountable for every thought, word, and deed. NDE insights equate death as a process of "stepping into" the heaven or hell we have created within ourselves during life. The afterlife is a spectrum of existence where the highest heaven is pure unconditional love and the lowest hell is the absence of love. At death, we awaken to the spiritual environment we have been creating within ourselves and actually inhabiting all our lives. Therefore, death itself is just a body problem. This is all there is to it.

 

My prayer is for this website - the NDE information on it - will enlighten people and help them on their spiritual journey towards unconditional love. This is not some "savior complex" of mine; rather this is an important part of my mission. The light of love as revealed in NDEs is being poured upon the entire world now due to the many people returning from death and their sharing this light with a world living in darkness and starving for light. I believe this tremendous influx of light coming in from NDEs will ultimately deliver the world from the current chaos we are and bring us to a new level of understanding of death and life. It will be the spiritual revolution and unity of man foretold by a multitude of religions, NDEs, and psychic revelations. It will be paradise realized on Earth.

 

On November of 2003, my family received a series of after-death communications involving my mother after her death. It was a remarkable experience and it proved conclusively to me that life does go on after death. It has been over two years since her death and we have been receiving indications of her continued existence from the Other Side off and on ever since.

 

"Love as much as you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, at all the places you can, during all the times you can, for as many people as you can, for as long as you can." - Kevin Williams, a modification of John Wesley's quote

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Copyright © 2013 Near-Death Experiences and the Afterlife
Book by
Kevin Williams

Nothing Better Than Death: Insights from Sixty-Two Profound Near-Death Experiences

by Kevin Williams, B.Sc.

"If I lived a billion years more, in my body or yours, there's not a single experience on Earth that could ever be as good as being dead. Nothing." - quote from Dr. Dianne Morrissey.

Important NDE Books

Journal of Near-Death Studies

edited by Jan Holden
and Bruce Greyson

Sponsored by IANDS, this is the only peer-reviewed scholarly journal devoted exclusively to the field of NDE studies and is cross-disciplinary and published quarterly.

The Handbook of NDEs: Thirty Years of Investigation

by Jan Holden, Bruce Greyson, Debbie James

Experts from around the world share the history and current state of NDE knowledge. They explore controversies in the field, offer stories from their research, and express their hopes for the future of investigation into this fascinating phenomenon.

Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century

by E. F. Kelly, E. W. Kelly, Bruce Greyson, et al

Empirically evidence demonstrating how false mainstream science 's opinion is that all aspects of human consciousness are generated by physical processes in the brain.

Glimpses of Eternity: An Investigation Into Shared Death Experiences

by Dr. Raymond Moody

Moody shares eyewitness accounts of those who have shared the experiences of the dying: the "empathic death experiences" occurring when those gathered at the bedsides of the dying have their own visions of the afterlife.

Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of NDEs

by Dr. Jeffrey Long
and Paul Perry

NDE expert Dr. Jeffrey Long presents the strongest arguments yet for the underlying truth of those who have died and returned to share their tales.

Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the NDE

by Dr. Pim van Lommel

The author of the famous Dutch NDE study offers even more ground-breaking research into whether or not our consciousness survives the death of our body.

Mindsight: Near-Death and Out-of-Body Experiences in the Blind

by Dr. Kenneth Ring

Dr. Kenneth Ring offers astonishing evidence that people blind from birth can actually "see" during near-death or out-of-body episodes.

Erasing Death: The Science That Is Rewriting the Boundaries Between Life and Death

by Dr. Sam Parnia
and Josh Young

The author of the AWARE Study presents cutting-edge research from the front lines of critical care and resuscitation medicine on what happens to human consciousness during and after death.

Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

by Dr. Eben Alexander

The author is a Harvard neurosurgeon who presents his miraculous NDE testimony he experienced while in a deep coma dying from a rare brain illness.

To Heaven and Back: A Doctor's Extraordinary Account of Her Death, Heaven, Angels...

by Dr. Mary C. Neal

The author is an Orthopedic surgeon who drowned and had a NDE which gives details of heaven and her communication with angels.

Life After Life: The Investigation of a Phenomenon - Survival of Bodily Death

by Dr. Raymond Moody

This is Dr. Raymond Moody's ground-breaking study into near-death experiences. This classic exploration of life after death started a revolution in popular attitudes about the afterlife.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to NDEs

by Dr. P.M.H. Atwater
and David Morgan

NDE expert and experiencer Dr. P.M.H. Atwater has assembled a 460-page encyclopedia on everything having to do with NDEs.

Quantum Physics, NDEs, Eternal Consciousness, Religion, and the Human Soul

by Dr. William Joseph Bray

Written by a physicist in neuroscience research who has experienced multiple NDEs, this book describes how and why reality, this universe, is interdependent with consciousness in order to exist, where the idea came from, and why.

Dancing Past the Dark: Distressing NDEs

by Nancy Evans Bush
and Bruce Greyson

Almost 1 in 5 NDEs are not peaceful suggestions of heaven. In a wide-ranging and far from gloomy look at "the other NDE," the author gives the first comprehensive look at a fascinating but neglected topic: NDEs involving fear, emptiness, and even hell.

Lessons from the Light: What We Can Learn from the NDE

by Dr. Kenneth Ring
and Dr. Evelyn Valarino

NDE expert Dr. Kenneth Ring extracts the pure gold of the NDE and with a beautiful balance of sound research and human insight revealing the practical wisdom held within these experiences.

Science and the NDE: How Consciousness Survives Death

by Chris Carter

The author is an Oxford scholar who uses evidence from scientific studies, quantum mechanics, and consciousness research, to reveal how consciousness does not depend on the brain. Examines ancient and modern NDEs providing evidence of the survival of consciousness after death while debunking the materialistic arguments raised by skeptics.

Light and Death: One Doctor's Fascinating Account of NDE

by Dr. Michael Sabom

Dr. Michael Sabom's Atlanta NDE Study was the first comprehensive investigation of its kind into NDEs and in his book he reveals the impact on the people who have experienced them including supporting evidence from the Bible.

Where God Lives: The Science of the Paranormal and How Our Brains are Linked to the Universe

by Dr. Melvin Morse
and Paul Perry

The author sheds light on the links between science and mysticism, revealing the area of the brain linking us to the universe, and is filled with moving case histories, applying the rigor of science to the study of the spiritual, thereby proving the existence of life after death.

Making Sense of NDEs: A Handbook of Clinicians

by Dr. Jan Holden,
Anthony Peake, et al

This essential handbook by leading NDE experts provides everyone (especially health professionals) with the knowledge needed to understand NDEs and those who have them by examining children's NDEs, NDEs from a religious perspective, the role of light in NDEs, the assessment and management of NDEs, and the future of NDE research.

The Truth in the Light: An Investigation of 300 NDEs

by Dr. Peter Fenwick and Elizabeth Fenwick

The author is the UK's leading neuropsychiatrist on the subject of NDEs whose outstanding book provides detailed descriptions and statistics from a study involving the NDEs of hundreds of people.

Crossing Over and Coming Home: 21 Authors Discuss the Gay NDE as Spiritual Transformation

Dr. Liz Dale

This is the author's ground-breaking study of NDEs within the gay and lesbian community, providing numerous NDE examples, and giving the reader an understanding of how homosexuals are accepted in heaven just like heterosexuals.

NDEs as Evidence for the Existence of God and Heaven

by J. Steve Miller
and Dr. Jeffrey Long

Do NDEs provide any solid evidence for the existence of God? The author began his study doubting NDEs provided such evidence but found himself convinced by the weight of the evidence. Using the results of 35 years of expert NDE research, the author compares NDE revelations with Christian teachings and provides evidence that NDEs point to God and heaven.

Dying To Be Me: My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to True Healing

by Anita Moorjani

The author is a Muslim who relates how, after fighting cancer for almost four years, her body - overwhelmed by the malignant cells spreading throughout her system - began shutting down. As her organs failed, she had an extraordinary NDE; after which, miraculously no trace of cancer is found in her body.