Ask different people and you’ll likely get various answers that reflect their perception of life based on their experiences.
Everyone has different reasons for incarnating based on their individual karma and fate. But near death experiences (NDE) give us a clue about the main spiritual purpose of incarnating.
Howard Storm was an atheist before his NDE. He said he turned so far away from anything to do with God and living an honest life (he says he was very manipulative about getting what he wanted), that when he “died” he rejected the Light. He didn’t think he was dead since he was certain that if he was he wouldn’t exist anymore. Instead of going to the Light, he joined a group of people (spirits) calling his name outside his hospital room. He walked with this group for a long time down what appeared to him as the hospital hallway, which later turned into darkness. The spirits then became really nasty, verbally and physically abusive. They were all atheists like him.
Note: Being an atheist doesn’t prevent one from entering the Light or other side after death, but refusing to accept death and rejecting the Light after dying can cause people (their souls) to either wander the Earth as a ghost or go to lower dimensions. Can you see how these types of experiences have been misinterpreted to mean that “you must believe in God (or be religious) in order to get to heaven”?
After being abused by the spirits for a while he gave up trying to protect and defend himself and curled up into a ball on the floor. He heard a voice say, “Pray to God.” He remembered some prayers from his childhood and started reciting them and praying to God. As soon as he did, the nasty spirits, who were repelled by any praying or God talk, scattered and he was picked up by a spirit he perceived as Jesus and taken to the Light.
Howard’s life review
Once in the Light, he had a life review, as many who have had NDEs experience. He said, with a laugh, that he was surprised they completely skipped over all his accomplishments, as if they couldn’t have cared less. The only things the beings of Light focused on was how he treated others, the good and the bad.
What the beings of Light told him he was to do back on Earth
He asked a lot of questions of the beings of Light and one of them was what they want him to do back on Earth, since they said he had to go back. They told him, “Love the one you’re with.” He asked again because he thought he had some kind of mission or project and they just told him that he was to be as compassionate and loving as possible to everyone he meets. They told him that this will cause a chain reaction of others being loving, and eventually heal the world. He noted in his account of his NDE that sometimes “loving” someone is taking a baseball bat to them to stop them from hurting you or another person. Also, in my view, being a couch potato won’t help you spiritually; your opportunities for expressing love come through following your heart and striving to reach your goals in the journey of life.
His story is typical of NDEs and seems credible to me, based on my experience with the death experience during past life regression.
Did Howard go to Hell?
Regarding his experience with the nasty spirits, the place they escorted him to might be perceived by some as Hell. I suspect that it was just a lower dimension, and since all those spirits rejected the Light upon death and were likely possessed, or at least harbored a lot of negative energy from their actions while incarnated, they naturally gravitated towards it. It’s my opinion that atheists might unknowingly open themselves up to negative or even demonic energy if they express a lot of anger or hatred towards a belief in God, and especially if they take drugs or drink excessively, as Howard did.
Howard’s opinion of reincarnation
The narrator of the video asked Howard about reincarnation, and he said he doesn’t believe in it, even though he has a memory of being a small girl in the WWII concentration camps. He said there are so many other dimensions and worlds to be in, why would you return to Earth, the lowest of the low, energy wise? In my educated opinion, most people return to work through karma and to learn, and souls reincarnate in other places too. He’s very into the Bible now (though, like most people after a NDE, is more spiritual than religious), and I’m guessing that if reincarnation hadn’t been edited out of the Bible around 350 AD, he might believe in it.
The important lesson of Howard’s experience
Even though life on Earth can be very difficult and the last thing you might feel like at times is to be loving, the most important thing to remember is that the purpose of life, the main purpose of being here, is to rise above your fears and express love whenever possible.
Watch Howard’s account of his NDE here: http://youtu.be/VsyWGPoMiMI
Copyright © 2014 Stephen Petullo
photo credit: h.koppdelaney via photopin cc
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