NDE of a man clinically dead for 45 minutes

[Ninshub]

I tend to think that any answer we come up with will be partial for something ultimately unfathomable in terms of our limits of understanding here.

I just watched/listened to this today. It seemed a fairly clean, uncluttered presentation as these things go, though I share some of @Kamarling 's reservations about part of it. Towards the end, after more or less completing the coverage of the NDE it drifts a little into some religious stuff which perhaps helps with making it acceptable to the target audience.

On the whole I liked it, whether one takes it as literally a factual description or just a good story doesn't matter that much to me, I appreciated it either way.

Certain parts of it regarding the different state of mind here on Earth relative to 'home' (at about 30 minutes into the video) and also the different aspects of ourself that we share depending on who we are with, that really matches my own experience. In my own life, nothing to do with an NDE, I've been painfully aware of the difference in state or level when shifting from one environment to another so I feel he is sharing some truth in that part of the account. Trying to be that more complete version of myself has been more or less my only life goal for decades.

I'm returning to this particular account, referring back to the video in the opening post. Often I don't like to actually watch these, some months ago I extracted the audio from the video.

I randomly came across this audio file on my phone yesterday. I started listening to it late at night but fell asleep and didn't hear it. This morning I restarted it from the beginning. (Link is to 75MB AAC audio which can be downloaded or listened online).

Having returned to this, I really find it interesting. There is a lot which somehow I can relate to. That I still find it of interest rather than dull on this re-listening makes it stand out somewhat for me. However, I think the relevance of anything like this is dependent on where my/the listener's interests are at present.

What stood out for me on this occasion was the part from about 30 minutes in, where 'being authentic' is talked about.

At 31:46,

Because home - home has a lot higher understanding than even what my religion could teach me, within the evangelical church. So I did, I began my process of journeying. And, and I'm thinking well, it's, it's all about love, it's all about love, I'm sure, that's the first thing I've got to do is, is learn how to love, right? Right Drake? And, and he again laughs. He - I kept him laughing pretty well,

Obviously, you're doing a stand-up routine for him.

But he explained that, that love actually is very  important. And love is the is the system that we exist in here. That that is love. But love in itself is not the first thing I need to embody, I actually need to peel away all the different aspects of who I am and who I was in the earthly realm. And I needed to come into an authentic self, a single, authentic self. And once I could come into that space, of being truly authentic, then I could begin my journey. But until I could get to that authentic space, I couldn't start building who I am and where I needed to go.

Which you know that that was odd to me, because nobody ever had come up to me and said, be authentic, be authentic. There wasn't really this movement back then.

Everybody thought we were all being authentic, but he helped me show - he helped me see that I had a different aspect of who I was, that was coming out when I was with family and with friends. And a different aspect of it would come out when I was with coworkers and with with different people at church. I mean, I had so many different aspects to my personality, that I had to peel all of them away and see what was inside.

This bit here says it very succinctly:

And Drake helped me understand that in this life, we come into this life extremely authentic. And right before we go, we leave, we leave very authentic. So it's all these years in between, we need to get better at allowing ourselves to be authentic. And he explained that when we're authentic, we're vulnerable. But, but we can't grow unless we are vulnerable. So if we're constantly pushing away vulnerability in our life, we're constantly pushing away growth.

And it's in our vulnerable moments or authentic moments that we're actually able to grow. But yeah, that was the first and foremost thing I had to learn was how to be authentic.

All um, that's my most important thing...

This resonates with me so much because it brings back to me something so big and significant in my life that I barely ever mention it. I mean, something so prominent, like if we live next to a mountain or by the sea, those things are just so apparent that there's no need to mention them in every sentence.

What happened to me was I found at a certain point in my young life that I could be, as he puts it 'authentic' though I wouldn't use that word, I'd just say be fully alive, my real self. It was the most joyful time of my life, followed by the most distressing, painful and depressing as I found I was not able to sustain that in every situation. I had to hide who I was, to pretend to be somehow hidden, and in living that way, one becomes it. I became that 'hidden' person. That was the pain and distress.

It took many years to find my way gradually out of there, a bit like a small green plant placed inside a dark box, but it seeks the light and seeks to find a way out, to just be that plant in its natural way.

I still haven't reached where I want to be in this respect, but as I get older it becomes easier.

[Ninshub]

Great stuff Typoz.

Maybe peeling away the extraneous layers, the stories we tell ourselves, too much focusing on our "life situation" rather life (obsessing over this "me" character in the world rather than just being the underlying self), our defenses and pushing away feelings and vulnerability. The simpleness of an embodied "I am".

I'm very confused recently with various teachings, spiritual, psychological, their contradictions, and trying to see what's "best" (which is itself a trap of the mind I've come to realize, borne out of fear: I must find the best "way" otherwise I will be lost, alone and in danger), but these are kernels of truth I feel.

Great stuff Typoz.

Maybe peeling away the extraneous layers, the stories we tell ourselves, too much focusing on our "life situation" rather life (obsessing over this "me" character in the world rather than just being the underlying self), our defenses and pushing away feelings and vulnerability. The simpleness of an embodied "I am".

I'm very confused recently with various teachings, spiritual, psychological, their contradictions, and trying to see what's "best" (which is itself a trap of the mind I've come to realize, borne out of fear: I must find the best "way" otherwise I will be lost, alone and in danger), but these are kernels of truth I feel.

What I would say for one is that what is important for you in your life will likely not be the same as what is significant for me. So I'd recommend not attaching too much importance to what I've highlighted, it may be a kind of message for me, but not necessarily for everyone.

The reason I say that is because we are all travelling through different parts of our lives and we don't necessarily do things in the same order. Like going on a tour of different countries, we don't all travel first to Paris and then to Sydney and then to Rio de Janeiro - and no-one would expect that we do.

All I can say, at least a suggestion, place less emphasis on logic and more on instinct. What feels powerful and impactful, that's where something beneficial may be found, maybe.