|
 P.
M. H. Atwater, L.H.D., Ph.D. (Hon.), is one of the original researchers
in the field of near-death studies, having begun her work in 1978. She
is one of the very few top NDE researchers who have actually had a NDE.
Her website is filled with very interesting NDE research information
and articles of hers. Her contribution to near-death studies is
considered to be one of the most important as her first two books,
Beyond the Light
and
Coming Back to Life,
are deemed the Bibles of the near-death experience by researchers
and a multitude of experiencers and enthusiasts.
Using her firm understanding of police investigative
techniques as a protocol, she has specialized in original fieldwork and
research that also included sessions with significant others. Her
findings are contained in six books (see right). Some of her
findings have now been clinically verified. Her research is referenced
in the distinguished Lancet medical journal, December 15, 2001
(the
landmark Dutch study by Pim van Lommel, M.D.). For more
information about P.M.H. Atwater's contribution to near-death research,
download her press kit here. On this page, P.M.H. Atwater answers
questions submitted to her.
 QUESTION:
I
came across your web page recently and found it very interesting. Years
ago I watched you on the Geraldo Show, and as a result bought your book,
Beyond the Light.
In my lifetime, so far, I've experienced a few interesting events
concerning the afterlife (the next realm), or things related. Years ago
I had an interesting experience, not a near-death experience for me, but
from a famous person who had just died.
The actor Michael Landon (Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie)
was in a hospital in the Los Angeles area, and he had just passed away.
I perceived his spirit (because I wasn't really seeing him in a physical
sense) coming to me. He got very near and said, "Thanks for being such a
great Fan." Then he moved toward the sun, then around it into the
(outer) space behind it and kept going.
Years later my brother-in-law told me that two of his friends had the
same experience at the time Mr. Landon passed away.
I hope this intrigues you. I have never mentioned this to anyone outside
of my immediate circle of friends or relatives. I never knew where to go
with such information. You are the first "celebrity" that I have given
this to. -
George R. Zadravec
 PMH
Atwater's reply: Thank you so much, George, for sharing your story and
allowing me to reprint it. Michael Landon had quite a reputation for
being a caring individual. Besides any short-comings he might have had
(and we all have them), he loved his family and his children and was
exceptionally kind to his fans. You can look back on his career and note
that he appeared only in family fare, shows he could be proud of and
allow his own children to see. I am not surprised that people in far
flung places "saw" him leave this earth and "heard" him bid a fond
farewell. He was a Catholic; his religion and the spiritual meant a
great deal to him.
Many times I have witnessed friends and even those I barely knew, go out
of their way to "buzz" by my home or office as they left this plane.
Never have I been asleep when this occurred, nor in a relaxed state of
mind. Quite the contrary, these brief encounters occur the most often to
me when I am wide-awake, alert, and busy with my day's activities.
I consider such moments to be precious, a time of sacred union where two
souls can experience each other's essence before one shifts vibrations
to another plane of existence. Although these incidents are normal and
typical in my life, I never cease to be amazed and thrilled by them. It
takes extra energy for the departing soul to do this. And I deeply
respect and honor that effort. Truly, to witness the "flight of the
dead" as they continue on in their journey back to the fullness of
Light's Presence, our Source, is a special gift. -
PMH Atwater
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QUESTION:
I
finally found myself in your book, Coming Back to Life. I have
not had a near-death experience, but nonetheless have an enlightenment
story you might be interested in.
In 2000, I became sick and underwent a very taxing chemotherapy course.
As far as a time line, this began in November, but worsened considerably
early in the next year. I had always been a disappointed former
Christian. I had been very angry with God for taking the lives of my
baby son and my mother. I raved at God.
Then, amazingly, I began to have signs of psychic ability. I knew what
people were saying or doing when I wasn't in the same room. Soon after I
felt a totally compelling urge to search spiritually. This was something
I had never felt or done before. I am still studying psychology, and I
was getting my degree in science.
A non-spiritual person suddenly became different. I felt love for
everyone. I began sending money to charities. Although I have a very
good job as Manager of Operations for Amtrak, I went back to finish
school in psychology, and my goal is to help others. I told my husband
Michael that I would help those who could not pay for free. Everyone
said that I glowed, and people are attracted to me, as well as animals.
Last week I faced a fear of spiders in my bathroom. I was readying
myself for work, and a black spider made its way across my floor, then
stayed perfectly still. I talked softly to it, and bent to touch it,
stroking its back lightly. Then, the spider followed me everywhere I
went until I had to leave for work.
I don't consider myself anything special at all, but I am a changed
person. Is this possibly an enlightenment? Should you find the time I
would appreciate your opinion. Many blessings to you, and I thank you
for your work. -
Debra |
 PMH
Atwater's reply: Ah, I love the way God works. "The psychic is God's
fishhook," Rev. Carol
Parrish-Harra
once said. "You take a bite and then get reeled in." And that's exactly
what happens to a lot of us when we brush with psychic phenomena and
begin to experiment with psychic abilities.
That's how I got started on my spiritual path back in the sixties. I was
working at top speed as a secretarial assistant to a department manager
in a large firm, no breaks, hardly time for a quick lunch, every day,
every month, every year, and this one year I had all three of my
children in the hospital, one in twice, a husband who was never home to
help, and I crashed. I mean I crashed - had what the doctor called a
"mild" nervous breakdown. During my "getting-well period" I met a woman
who practiced automatic writing. What she did fascinated me. True to my
nature, I would study her arm when she was writing, touch it, stick pins
in it, do all kinds of experiments (with her permission), and finally
satisfied myself that something or someone really had taken over the
control of that arm. She wasn't doing the writing. No effort on her part
at all. Finally I began to entertain the thought: "Well, if she can do
it, maybe I can, too." That's all it took. In three days, I was a
natural, words flowing out of my arm lickety-split, volumes of stuff,
some of it hard to read, some of it quite plain. And I was predicting
things, knowing things, talking about things in a manner that was
accurate and amazing.
Then, one night, the message was: "You will soon die. I love you and I
want you over here with me." Yikes. I remember the shock and the fear. I
got up and spun around in my kitchen, where I was, and there on the
counter where I had placed a fresh red rose in a vase only minutes
before, was that same rose, dead, black, hanging. And I found my arm
suddenly wrest from me and writing a message in the air: "What happened
to the rose, will happen to you."
Double yikes. I called my friend and sobbed so much I could hardly speak.
She calmed me down. The next week she arranged with my husband to take
me on a little trip on a Sunday afternoon. Some trip! She had
pre-arranged everything. We arrived at a house way out in the sticks
where a group of people had gathered. One of them was my son's school
teacher! Another was the Governor's assistant, a school principle, a
real estate agent, and so forth. No slackers. The minute I walked in the
door, these people could see right through me as if I were transparent.
They knew everything, far more than my friend did. No secrets. No
nonsense. When they heard my story about the automatic writing (and,
yes, I had been saying a prayer of protection before each session), and
what had happened with the rose and the threat of death, they had mercy
on me. They revealed that they each had left their own homes that day to
be with me and to help me. They did a 44-breath healing prayer (Huna-style).
I felt a bolt of energy enter through both palms, up my arms, and
permeate my entire body. It's like my eyes opened for the first time. I
remember telling them: "I don't know who you are or what you do, but
whatever it is, may I join your group? Who you are is what I want to
be." That was an
Edgar Cayce "Search for God" Study Group - the beginning of
my inner journey inward to the core of my being.
 I
tell you my little story because, in a way, it is somewhat like yours.
You were angry at God and had suffered grievous loss. Then suddenly,
without meaning to, other doors began to open for you and you found
yourself softening, your energy accelerating, your interests opening up,
other worlds becoming real to you, and you became a better person
because of it - a more responsible, wiser, more knowing individual.
It doesn't matter how this happens. Our stories differ in that regard.
What matters is that it happens - that wake up call, that awakening. You
could call it enlightenment if you want, but I prefer to call it an
awakening. I write about awakenings in all my books. They are that first
step we take beyond the confines of our mind's belief systems and our
culture's programming to encounter worlds without end and realms without
number. We discover that there is more to our world, more to ourselves,
than we had previously known or had been taught.
Most near-death experiences are awakenings. Experiences like what you
had was an awakening. That prayer circle of people waiting for me that
Sunday afternoon prepared me for my awakening. Awakenings are so
thrilling, so wondrous. Deep in our heart of hearts, whether the event
that occurred was quiet or dramatic, we discover an energy, a pulse, a
song of sound we had never been subject to before. Once that "door" is
opened, there is no closing it. Sort of like that fishhook Rev.
Parrish-Harra was talking about. We get "reeled right in," right to our
Holy of Holies, the core of our being, our sanctuary, the God of Our
Being. Phew! That's an awesome moment. Do you think you would believe it
if someone just walked up to you and in all sincerity said, "You are
loved. You are love itself. You are so bright you are brighter than the
brightest star." My goodness, you'd probably think that person was daft,
or maybe drunk or on drugs. Going "Home" is like that - not "Home" as in
death - but "Home" to the truth of our being. That special core inside
of us all. That's what awakenings are, we awaken to Truth. We are love.
We can love ourselves because that's what we're made of, Pure Love.
"Enlightenment" implies more, like being able to integrate what you
learned from your awakening and use it everyday in your life and then
getting "hit" with more and more and more. It's like a step-up in
energy. There is not one big enlightenment, no matter how great (I don't
know of many who could top what happened to Walter Russell during his
time of enlightenment - 40 days in that incredible, intensely awesome
Light. Get my book
The New Children and Near-Death Experiences and read about Walter
Russell). More happens afterward. More steps. More opportunities to grow
and learn and mature and ascend upwards on The Grand Spiral of
Remembrance. Our enlightenment leads to more enlightenment.
 There
are so many ways this "door" can open for you, that I no longer regard
the near-death experience as any type of anomaly, but rather part of
that larger genre of transformations of consciousness - where we have an
opportunity to awaken. What sets the near-death experience apart is that
it can happen to anyone at any age anywhere, ready or not, and happens
in the type of environment where science can get involved and study it.
These types of experiences used to be regarded as mystical, intimate,
unique. Now there are so many of them it's like "enlightenment for the
modern age." Don't hear me demeaning this, as that is not my intention.
But do hear me alluding to numbers of occurrences - so many - millions
of people - that it's as if God has taken the "grass roots" approach to
reaching people. If churches can't do it, then "light-shows" will. The
"light-show," that experience of God's Light, Holy Light, Universal
Light, The One Light - whatever you want to call it doesn't matter. We
get plugged in to a different, better socket of energy and we're never
the same again.
Ah, isn't life fun? Just when we think we're having a pity-party, along
comes Truth and we're uplifted. Yeah!
Many blessings,
P. M. H. Atwater, L.H.D., Ph.D.
www.cinemind.com/atwater
& www.pmhatwater.com |
