July 9, 2007

Near Life Experience



Shelley Yates is a woman who had a "near death" experience in which she saw seven-foot "light beings" who advised her, as her lungs filled with lake water, to relax into the experience. This is the first of eight YouTube videos in which she describes her experience, and what came afterwards.

She survived the drowning, as did her young son, who was at first diagnosed as brain dead. It's an extraordinary story, and you can learn more about it by watching all of the videos, and visiting Shelley's website, Fire the Grid.

Shelley's one of us: a gal with stories. Hers include repeated sexual abuse, difficult family relationships, being a struggling single mother of two on Welfare. Her experience did not change her personality, she says, but they did open her, in a very big way, to seeing that all is not as it seems. She's now interested in letting people know, as she does, that there is no separation, with the intention of healing ourselves and the planet. She feels that her dying son was healed as a result of others' focused attention on replenishing his life-force, and that the entire planet's energy can be renewed in the same way. As agendas go, it's a nice one.

Some people will see Shelley's story as a miracle, and as proof of the existence of spirit guides. They will be inspired to join her on the 17th of this month in a one-hour meditation. Other people have also had similar "near death" experiences, and have reported seeing these tall, luminous friends.

I don't talk about it much, but I, too, saw light beings as described, many years ago. Even though I saw them with my own eyes—an endless procession of them walking through the walls of my friend's upstate New York bungalow one dark, pre-dawn morning—I can't say they were "real" or not, just as I cannot say that any person in front of me is real, or not. Everything is projected; everyone is who we say they are.

I was neither afraid of the light-beings, nor particularly drawn to them, but I was fascinated by them. They didn't speak to me. I perceived them as benign, and I saw there was no end to the procession, so I went back to sleep, reassured by their momentary presence in a life that often felt lonely.

I never saw them again. The experience did not make me believe in light-beings. You can't believe what you don't believe, even if it appears to be right in front of you.

So what happened to Shelley? I think—and I can't know this—that as the oxygen left her brain and bloodstream, she also lost access to beliefs such as "I don't need anyone" and "I need to breathe." These thoughts could not be true in the moment, because she wasn't breathing, and help did come to carry her and her boy out of the lake and get them medical care.

Because mind needs some proof of something tangible, it could be said that the light-beings are an ego-manifestation of infinite mind. Infinite mind would not have a form, but it appeared in a way that Shelley could see and hear. And what great advice it had: "Relax." This is what it looks like to love what is. We've all had glimpses of this "peace that passeth understanding." It's who we are without a story. There was no time to question beliefs here, and no need; any limitations were instantly seen to be untrue.

I applaud Shelley's efforts to bring people together for the highest good. It's something that will resonate with many, and make it easy for them to feel aligned, safe, purposeful, and whole.

As for the world meditation convergence at 4:11 AM on PDT on July 17...well, my thought is that I will be peacefully asleep in my bed. Since time, like everything else, is a mental construct, and meditation is a "doing." it's fine to participate in this endeavor, and it's also fine to hold the intention for healing and wholeness at any time at all. I am the world I project. It is my job to restore energy unto myself.

For me, now, this very moment is a good time to fire my grid.


©2007 by Carol L. Skolnick; all rights reserved.

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