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Bob Coppes on Near-Death Experiences, Life Reviews & the Truth About Unconditional Love
25 Plays2 months ago
In this episode of the Journey Mindfulness Podcast, host James interviews the wonderful Robert Christophor Coppes, PhD, a best selling author and board member of the International Association of Near-Death Studies (IANDS). They discuss Bob’s book, Impressions of Near-Death Experiences, which features quotes from over 100 near-death experiencers (NDE’rs) to convey the ineffable nature of NDEs, inspired by the impressionistic art of Monet on the cover. Bob highlights key NDE themes, including unconditional love, interconnectedness, and life reviews, where individuals feel the impact of their actions from others’ perspectives. He shares examples of veridical observations—verified experiences suggesting consciousness can separate from the body—and stories of NDE’rs gaining transformative insights, such as learning of unknown relatives or future events. Bob emphasizes that NDEs reveal a universal, non-judgmental love awaiting everyone, challenging religious exclusivity, and underscores the importance of living lovingly in small, everyday moments. The episode explores how these fantastical stories of NDE's offer hope, dispel fear, and encourage a more mindful and deeper appreciation for life’s interconnectedness with all beings and nature.
To learn more about Robert (Bob) Christophor Coppes, PhD and his thoughtful books:
Impressions of Near Death Experiences Book on Amazon: https://a.co/d/1HxUoFF
See also: https://www.nde-unconditionallove.com/
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DISCLAIMER: This show is for entertainment purposes only, not intended to replace medical or psychological advice. Please seek licensed medical professionals for help & guidance.
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Transcript
Insights from Near-Death Experiences with Dr. Robert Kopp
00:00:12
Speaker
Welcome to the Journey Mindfulness Podcast, and today we have the pleasure of speaking with Robert Christopher Kopp, PhD, author and board member of the International Association of Near-Death Studies, of which the association has a number of amazing doctors and experiencers, such as Dr. Eben Alexander, Anita Morjani, and of course, Dr. Raymond Moody.
Do Lessons from the Afterlife Offer Life's Greatest Insights?
00:00:38
Speaker
So the question to pose to the audience and that we'll kind of unpack here is what is the greatest lessons about life? Or what if the greatest lessons about life came from those who have glimpsed the afterlife?
00:00:50
Speaker
So Bob is here to help us unpack that question and share about his newest book, Impressions of Near-Death Experiences. Bob believes that the near-death experiencers are our best teachers.
00:01:02
Speaker
So join us as we explore the profound insights Bob has gathered over his years of research and discover how personal tragedy inspired him to share these transformative stories.
00:01:15
Speaker
Welcome, Bob. Thank you for having me. It's exciting to be in your show. Thank you. Well, it is a pleasure to have you because you have a very unique voice and you've come across so many people who have so many incredible stories.
The Symbolism of Monet in Near-Death Experiences
00:01:32
Speaker
ah But one of the things I wanted to ask you about to start off with is I was struck by the art on the cover of your book and wanted ah to invite you if you wouldn't mind sharing the story behind it because I thought it was very interesting.
00:01:50
Speaker
It's nice that you start with that. I'll show the the artwork. it's It's a painting by Monet and Monet is an impressionistic artist from the from France some 150 years ago.
00:02:06
Speaker
And um he he painted this the picture because it, and um he got a lot of criticism from critics because they said it's it's not finished. The painting is not finished.
00:02:19
Speaker
It's still, it's you have to continue working on it because this is not what we want to see. and he And the idea is that with an impressionistic painting, you just get to see part of what it is and you fill it in yourself with your own mind and your own imagination.
00:02:40
Speaker
And ah since the critics call this, the the painting is called Impression of the Sun Rising Above the Harbor. As you can see, there's a sun there and there's a harbor. And the the the the critics call it, it's just an impression. It's nothing interesting.
00:02:59
Speaker
And that stuck. That stuck for the whole ah movement. ah So it's called the impressionistic movement.
Understanding the Ineffable Nature of NDEs
00:03:06
Speaker
um And i wanted to use this picture because if you if you if you study near-death experiences, it's difficult to two tell or to explain what they actually are because it is Those experiences are ineffable. People who have had such an experience have big problems in trying to explain what they have gone through or what they have met on the other side because they say they were on the other side of of life and death.
00:03:42
Speaker
yeah And because it's so ineffable, ah I think the only thing you can do, and that's what I did in this book, I assembled a lot of quotes from NDEers and had that in the book, which gives the reader only an impression of what an NDE is, because better than that, you can't get it. So it's an impression that I try to give to the reader of what an NDE is. And you you get a good impression, but it's your own impression.
00:04:11
Speaker
It's what you get out of I thought that was so you you have that sort of ah instruction in the book, you know, like allow yourself to absorb what you pick up from these quotes and these experiences and just see how they land with you.
00:04:30
Speaker
ah Because I think any time at least when I've heard someone share their story, it is very, It's just very um profound, right? Like they're they're just sharing their experiences as they they it happened to them.
00:04:48
Speaker
And there's no kind of manipulation behind a lot of them. It's just, this is what happened to me. And there's such a variety too in your book of these experiences.
00:04:59
Speaker
I did not realize how many different kinds of NDEs there were just the different experiences that people have. Yeah. You know, there is not one NDE the same as another. They are all different, which makes it more difficult to um to study.
00:05:16
Speaker
It would be easier if you could have a tick box kind of exercise where you say, oh, you have had a tunnel. That's fine. You have a light. That's fine. You have a life review. That's good. You saw deceased relatives. Very good.
00:05:30
Speaker
But that's not how it goes. Not everyone has sight or contact with deceased relatives. Not everyone sees the light. Not everyone has life review.
00:05:41
Speaker
But that makes it very interesting. And that's why I think the only way to get close to what an NDE is and to information from the other side is to...
Common Themes in NDEs: Love, Unity, and Transformation
00:05:53
Speaker
look at a lot of those NDEs and I categorize them in several ah chapters to capture the the main items there. and For me, the main items are especially love, unconditional love, but also unity, life reviews, as I said, that it's a very ah special place on the other side. it's It's not from this world. It's totally different.
00:06:20
Speaker
And it's more real than than this life, as end the years say. um And um there are a lot of, ah yeah, what is the purpose of our life?
00:06:32
Speaker
What are the after effects? How do you get out of your body? How do you get into your body again? So such a very interesting topics. And it's covered by hundreds of quotes.
00:06:44
Speaker
Yeah.
Growing Acceptance and Prevalence of NDEs
00:06:45
Speaker
i mean, it's...
00:06:48
Speaker
Are they becoming, do you think NDE stories are becoming more widely accepted by the general public? I think so because you know um there the medical ah knowledge is getting better and our ah tools to get people back from from dying, it's it's it's improving. So more and more people will have near-death experiences.
00:07:18
Speaker
um And having said that, they they are all different, as I said. yeah What I know at some point I had read that you, you had mentioned that you read the book by Dr. Raymond Moody, life after life.
00:07:34
Speaker
How, what got your attention originally about this topic and these stories? Well, I was always ah spiritually oriented. I wanted to know more about that. i couldn't find that in the Roman Catholic Church um where I was brought up in in that line.
00:07:55
Speaker
Likewise. Yeah. yeah And then then I read Raymond Moody's book. And what struck me was that there was an an interview with a woman who had her near-death experience. And in her near-death experience, she had a life review.
00:08:12
Speaker
And what was really striking for me was that there was no judgment in her life review. She had had a life in which she not always did nice things to others like we all do.
00:08:28
Speaker
we are no saints, not one of us. yeah So we always have some some issues. and But she was not judged. And there were more of those people in the book that said there's no judgment.
00:08:40
Speaker
And in as you know, in Roman Catholic Church, there is a
Robert's Spiritual Journey and Resonance with NDEs
00:08:43
Speaker
lot of judgment. yeah At the end of your life, you will go either to the left or the right, or sometimes you go to purgatory and you hope to be going to the right side.
00:08:54
Speaker
yeah that's That's not the case as I understand from the years. is it That really resounded with me. um And I thought that was correct because it it felt right at that moment. We all know somehow what the truth is. there's We all have the truth within us and the the light and the love.
00:09:17
Speaker
It's in every one of us. But sometimes for some people is really covered by a lot of and junk that we pile upon ourselves throughout our life. It can be because of your upbringing you can also be having difficulties, genes um that that are yeah that are in the way, like your nurture and nature.
Support Networks for NDE Experiencers
00:09:43
Speaker
Your nature is the genes, of course. Yeah. It's so once you hear. So talking about these things is clinically was not widely accepted, I would say. And I was just realizing or looking at the IONS website. It looks like you have clinicians that are sort of registered to be able to to kind of handle and provide care for people that have had experiences, which is really great because you don't always know who you can talk to about some of these things and depending on you know what the people's beliefs are around you it's uh not always welcome or for you know accepted as such uh which can be problematic but there's
00:10:31
Speaker
You know, you're a part of it, this growing community of acceptance and sharing these stories, ah which are, you know, I know a lot of ND years that they start to seek out meetings and and start to to hear other people's stories. And there's a ah lot of curiosity about, ah you know, all of the varieties that people experience as well.
00:10:54
Speaker
Yeah, there's, you know, when you have an NDE, and it can happen to anyone, and actually ah one out of 25 or 20 people has had such an experience. So if you look around your your friends and family, you will find some of them.
00:11:12
Speaker
So going back to what I was, I didn't quite finish my thought was with the the clinical side of things, a lot of nurses and or hospice worse ah nurses.
00:11:24
Speaker
And now they also, you know, we have death doulas now. I don't know how prevalent they are in Europe, um but they they are, you know, these really special people that kind of are at that moment of death. And some of the stories that they share are just remarkable.
00:11:44
Speaker
ah But it's it's always, it was interesting to me once they could find out that I provided an open place for them to share their stories, all of these things came out that these experiences that they had.
00:11:57
Speaker
And it was always funny to me sometimes where the doctor wouldn't believe it, but the nurses would all just recognize like, oh, well, these things happened or these relatives were here in the room. It was kind of interesting, but it's becoming more accepted.
00:12:10
Speaker
ah We had mentioned vertical observation. Yes. Perhaps we maybe should touch on that now. Yeah, maybe maybe just about the nurses. You know, they are on the front line of ah at the beds of the people and yeah they get to see more than the doctors. And um so it's for and also for people have had such an experience, it's difficult to to talk to their family and friends about this because they sometimes feel that they can't really tell everyone what they have gone through because
00:12:48
Speaker
Sometimes the the people that surround them don't believe in these things or think that you're being gone crazy. or And they change. People with an NDE do change a lot.
00:13:00
Speaker
And they sometimes the the spouse doesn't recognize the NDE anymore. So that's that that's ah that's the problem that arises there as well.
Veridical Observations: Do NDEs Confirm Consciousness Beyond the Body?
00:13:11
Speaker
And you you say something about veridical observations. You know, for people who um and think that these NDEs are wonderful stories, which they are, ah like fairy tales, but there's nothing true about them, that's where the veridical observations come into play because there are so many stories of near-death experiences who could could be um corroborated, confirmed later on after their experience. Let me just give you an example for this. um
00:13:51
Speaker
and very famous example is where a woman was brought into the hospital unconscious um and in the hospital she has her near-death experience ah she leaves out of the window of hospital and she can see the whole hospital ah from above but she zooms into a part of the ledge of the hospital and she finds a shoe there now no When she's resuscitated later, she talks to a nurse ah at the bedside and she says, you know, this strange thing happened to me. I was just flying out of the window and i'm i'm I saw a lot of things. I saw one of the things that I saw was a shoe in the ledge of the the hospital.
00:14:44
Speaker
And um she also had her near-death experience, which was mind-boggling to her anyway. But the shoe, she wanted to know for sure if the shoe was there in the ledge.
00:14:57
Speaker
And this nurse, she went looking for the shoe. And it's... it's difficult It was difficult for her to see through the windows and see the ledge because so at some places you couldn't. So she had to hang out the window and she really found this shoe, which shows you that ah this person could have...
00:15:19
Speaker
left and left her body, um went out of the hospital and had seen a place where she couldn't look from out of her body.
00:15:30
Speaker
yeah That's what what the what the thing is. And there are so many of these ah stories where people overhear what the doctors say during an operation or they can see what happens around the crash site of their car where they have the NDE.
00:15:49
Speaker
And that can be later confirmed. And just let me ah flash you another book because this is a book also published by IONS. It's called The Self Does Not Die.
00:16:02
Speaker
and there are hundreds of these veridical observations in this in this book. Yeah. um yeah but But this only, this example that I gave to you is, only shows you that your ah consciousness can get out of your body and roam around this world that we are in.
00:16:22
Speaker
So it yeah gives you a kind of, um circumstantial evidence since there are so many of those stories that your consciousness can be separate from your body.
00:16:34
Speaker
It doesn't prove ah that there is this otherworldly environment. Now there are other veridical observations and I call them the category two because what I just spoke about was category one.
00:16:48
Speaker
um And the category two is the the stories of people that went to the other side saw things there or heard things there and they come back again in their body and then it proves to be true.
Afterlife Encounters and Verified Information
00:17:06
Speaker
And to give you an example here is... um um Fiona Horton, that's the case in the book as well. she she wasn't ah She was ah having a problem with her, I think her lungs, and that was o okay. But a day later, she had a heart ah cardiac arrest, and she she had her NDE.
00:17:31
Speaker
um And in her NDE, she was walking or floating through the hospital and she saw her friends ah coming to the hospital because there was this issue with her ah illness.
00:17:46
Speaker
And she saw how some people were dressed and that later it was correct what she had seen. So that is a category one for her observations.
00:17:58
Speaker
but okay when She went to the other side and there was ah she met a number of ah relatives that were already deceased. And there was one person coming forward and showed himself as a baby ah in certain clothes. and but And this person said to her, you have to remember me, how I'm dressed and ask your father about me.
00:18:25
Speaker
And then she went back, well, she was resuscitated. She came back into her body, and later ah she could ask her father what this was about. There was this this baby boy ah dressed in this and this kind of clothes. And yeah then the father said, well, you had a brother before you were born, but the brother...
00:18:50
Speaker
died within a few days, and we never spoke about him. was It was not ah an issue that people would speak about to her because she was she had always been ah young and later. It was not necessary, they thought, to talk about this brother.
00:19:07
Speaker
Wow. Then there was this this evidence that she had seen it. And there was another part of the story that she was told that she would meet Raymond Moody. And at that time, he was not famous yet. Wow.
00:19:24
Speaker
They said, you will meet him and you need to ask for a um an interview with him and talk about what you experienced now. And she thought, i don't know what you're talking about because I don't know this guy.
00:19:39
Speaker
And they said, eat it once it is there, you will know and you will have to ask for an interview. Now, Raymond Moody moved over to the city where ah the little town that she lived in.
00:19:54
Speaker
And for several years, they they never met. And then one day, ah Raymond Moody's son went around the doors for trick and treat at Halloween.
00:20:06
Speaker
yeah And then she thought, I don't know this boy from this town, so I'll ask his name. And then ah she she asked him, what is your name? And he answered, um my name is Raymond Avery Moody.
00:20:23
Speaker
And then it hit her. and It was something it's in her head said, this is the moment now. Wow. that She turned to the mother and she said, i need to talk to your husband.
00:20:37
Speaker
And that's that's where it started. They had this conversation and she is, i think she also was in his book. Wow. Later, yeah.
00:20:49
Speaker
wi So let show she knew sorry what was this before ah this sort of, what do they call that, pre precognition or this awareness of this event from years before that transpired.
00:21:04
Speaker
That's incredible.
Exploring the Inclusivity of the Afterlife
00:21:05
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's really a wonderful story. There are so many of those stories out there, people that didn't know about ah someone ah in the family who died and they were shown this person while they are on the other side and they come back again they say, well, I had an uncle or I had a sister.
00:21:26
Speaker
Or my father is not... My father that raised me is not the guy who is my biological father because I met him in heaven.
00:21:37
Speaker
Things like that. so ah yeah you you Yeah, there are so many stories where it sort of gives you circumstantial evidence that there is this afterlife that we we will go to.
00:21:50
Speaker
And I think we all go there. There's no exception. Well, that's an an important distinction that you make is that it's not closed off to anyone, you know, by your belief system or structure in any in any way like that.
00:22:07
Speaker
That's not logical. Why would there be, i mean, i know religions ah preclude others, and it's it's always like that.
00:22:18
Speaker
Why? Why would there be a God that says, well, I'll make all these peoples on earth and and I'll give them several religions, but only one is allowed to enter heaven?
00:22:33
Speaker
I find that so strange. Why would people think about that? it' it's interesting well went in my own upbringing uh i started traveling and learning about world religions and reincarnation and other things and it's like okay you have this group that believes this and this group that believes that and some things are similar and i think
00:23:01
Speaker
Eventually, you you you come to that conclusion like, okay, we're not excluding most of the world's population because they don't believe a certain kind of thing. ah But that's maybe where, ah and and also in your background, you you were what born in Venezuela and lived all over the world and Iran. like so what you had all You must have had all kinds of experiences ah with religion growing up.
00:23:27
Speaker
Absolutely, yeah. In Iran, we yeah I was, well, confront is not the right word, but I will i ah saw that there were other religions like Islam, but also Zoroastrism.
00:23:43
Speaker
The people living across from our street, they believed in Zoroaster. ah So there were different religions in Iran that was not the religion that we had.
00:23:56
Speaker
And I got to um appreciate Islam because there are such a nice things in Islam. and People tend to look down on Islam because some people decide to to to become terrorists and kill others.
00:24:14
Speaker
ah that Actually, that's not what Islam is about. It's it's ah peace. Peace is the thing you need to do. And jihad, which they always use for war or getting down the other side or the other people, that's actually the jihad is, the big jihad is your the you the struggle within your own mind to come closer to God. That's what they what is in in Islam.
00:24:46
Speaker
So there there is so so many things that are nice in Islam because there's we always struggle to get closer to God or to to this other realm or to become more spiritual or whatever. So there's this this struggle we all have.
00:25:06
Speaker
Well, most most of all. Not everyone, I know. Well, it's interesting that you bring that up. ah Part of my my travels. And actually where, maybe i'll I'll share this and you can tell me whether or not this is ah an actual near-death experience or not. But I was living in Bangladesh, which is a... I'm curious, is yeah. um So i was living in Bangladesh, which is predominantly Muslim country.
00:25:34
Speaker
yeah And, um ah you know, they have a lot of rivers and you have to take these ferries. Which can be quite dangerous. And um I was on a ferry one day ah traveling. It's too crowded.
00:25:49
Speaker
oh my gosh. Yeah. So this is a crowded ferry boat. ah The women and children are sort of on the inside and the the guys are on the outside kind of hanging off the boat.
00:26:01
Speaker
Yeah, typically. And so this would have been in Bangladesh is the Padma River, but it's essentially the Ganges where it comes down and they dredge.
00:26:13
Speaker
because of the way the currents and the seasons, they they have to dredge past. So, you know, the boat is pretty shallow. That's very shallow hull. And we're going across the river, which ah if I remember correctly, takes at least a half hour or more, depending on the current and where you have to go.
00:26:33
Speaker
And we're crossing the river and all of a sudden the storm came and out of nowhere, just this quick storm and the boat started to rock.
00:26:46
Speaker
And very quickly I realized this boat's going over. And so I was, i was a Peace Corps volunteer and we were sort of trained. If this, if you're on a boat that goes under, you have to get away from the boat quickly. Yes.
00:27:01
Speaker
Otherwise, it'll suck you in. And if people can see you swimming, they'll just grab onto you and pull you under. So you want try to get ahead of it and jump. yeah So a terrifying moment. Everyone starts to, you know, cry, ah scream to Allah, like, you know, save us.
00:27:22
Speaker
And it just looks it looks grim. And I'm i'm at the point where I'm going to have to jump. And I know that if I jump, I'm not surviving. But my hope is if that I can kind of figure out where the current is and maybe they'll find my body and kind of give my parents some closure.
00:27:41
Speaker
And so you have to really work up a lot of courage when you're about to jump. So I get ready to jump and I'm trying to time it between the boat the way that it's tipping over.
00:27:53
Speaker
And just as I'm about like, I work up the courage. I'm like, all right, let's I'm going to go. I hear like it's almost like time stood still. And I hear a voice that just says, don't jump.
00:28:07
Speaker
And this is like reverberating through my body, like crystal clear. Don't jump. you're going to it's You're going to make it. You're going to get across the river. It's not your time. Oh.
00:28:20
Speaker
And if this is in the midst of the storm and I, you know, logically I'm like, I have to jump, but that happened and I'm just okay. I'm not going to jump.
00:28:31
Speaker
Even though every, you know, cell in my body was like, you have to jump off this boat and it, the storm passed and we got to the other side and everyone was just very grateful that we all survived.
NDEs vs. Spiritual Transformative Experiences
00:28:48
Speaker
um But that's the first time that I didn't tip over. It didn't tip over. But in the midst of that, this voice came down and just said, Hey, we're not. Yep.
00:28:59
Speaker
And I felt, I felt grateful that I got a glimpse of the other side. Like, you know, like I got to hear something that, that really happened. um And then, but then I didn't really tell anyone about it because, you know, what do you say to somebody?
00:29:17
Speaker
I don't think it's near-death experience because, i while it' with a near-death experience, you don't need to be dead or near dead in order to have such an experience.
00:29:29
Speaker
People think that it's something that is necessary to have an an NDE e or to constitute an NDE. But there are also people that have had um ah psychological downturn, really a trauma, where they ah get to see ah kind of near-death kind of experience or when they pray or meditate and sometimes spontaneously.
00:29:54
Speaker
But in this case, you had um apparently voice or a communication the that said things that were true and right. So I would more i would classify that more as a spiritual transformative experience but because for you, because you know these things you know, you know that this is not the voice from one of the people around you. you know It's a voice within yourself. It's some from somewhere else.
00:30:26
Speaker
so And you attach this um importance to it, which it has. So then ah it becomes more a spiritual transformative experience because i i think it will have changed your life. Did it change your life?
00:30:43
Speaker
um It did, but not immediately. ah Like I remember journaling about it. can It can yeah take ah time before it does change your life because it needs to sink in.
00:30:59
Speaker
I've heard some people that have had multiple and NDEs talk about that where they say, you know, you would think I would have changed my life after the first one or two.
00:31:12
Speaker
but it took another time before I really did something about it. And that that's that resonates with me because that's sort of what happened to me. Yeah. You know, it is ah now you mentioned this, I know a guy who had an NDE and he was really a financial wolf. I mean, he was only into money and stuff like that. And after his NDE, he changed. He thought that's not so important anymore.
00:31:42
Speaker
ah But later on, he changed back again and becoming this ah financial ah ah person that ah is nothing wrong with financial people. I'm one of those two.
00:31:53
Speaker
But it's the way that you are consumed by just only money, and because that's very narrow. ah But that's happened to him again. And then he had his second NDE that really changed him. And then after that, he thought, well, I was on the wrong path.
00:32:11
Speaker
um Going back to this only money is important kind of idea. Yeah. And that that is what changed him.
The Long-Term Impact of NDEs on Life
00:32:21
Speaker
But some people most people change after the first time. And having an NDE is not an easy thing. it takes time to have it settle down within you.
00:32:33
Speaker
ah take and On average, it takes like seven years for people to ah adjust again to to life. They find it difficult to live again because they've seen this other world and they really, really like that' because it's much nicer there There's so much love and it's from an unconditional kind of love.
00:32:56
Speaker
You don't find that here. You don't find the music here. You don't find the colors here. you don't find anything here that you have seen on the other side. So it draws. You want to go back again. you have a yeah a homesickness.
00:33:10
Speaker
So people who have had an NDE do... do have trouble adjusting to life again. And they they can settle at some point, but they will always have this homesickness.
00:33:26
Speaker
yeah Yeah, so that was one thing that did happen in my experience, which was not an NDE, but there was the acceptance of my impending potential death.
00:33:38
Speaker
yeah There was a tremendous amount of peace, a peace that I have never really felt before or since. And that's, I think, maybe what you're referencing there is there is you lose, you can go to this place where there's this you lose all sense of attachment to this world and it's beautiful and it's loving and it's peaceful and you want to experience that again.
00:34:06
Speaker
yeah You know, and and life can be hard. saying that, that you have had felt that peaceful feeling. That's one of the one of the um ah items that are in an NDE. So, um yeah, that that's important to hear.
00:34:23
Speaker
Well, you know, I think when we are close to death or when we are close to seeing a birth of a child, the ah thin line between the other side and this side becomes so thin that you that you it's almost um can almost touch it.
00:34:43
Speaker
And that's what you you experienced at that moment. You were so close to death. that you could hear the other side, you could feel the other side, and and I don't know if you saw light perhaps, but that that's and another, and then you couldn't really see it, but you can feel it and you can hear it. So there's some of the, yeah that's important to know.
00:35:11
Speaker
I was just thinking some of the things that come up sometimes ah in sessions that I have are, you know, at the moment of passing. There's so many. you the The one book you had she said paranormal, but visitations from relatives and things like that, you know, putting a hand on a shoulder or a thigh. There's just so many interesting things that happen at that moment.
00:35:35
Speaker
of death and you know, with near death, they're coming back, but it's always interesting. Um, are there interesting stories about that, that you've come across?
00:35:47
Speaker
You know, the after-death communication, which is a a totally different subject, but there, you know, um studies show that around 50% of the people of the population has had after-death communication of some sort, like feeling a hand on the shoulder or having meaningful ah moments ah in things they see hear even or see.
00:36:17
Speaker
also seeing of people that had been deceased. ah So there's a lot of that kind of stories. But yeah I just ah settled for only the near-death experiences. So those are the people that had um most of the time medical critical situations, but not always.
00:36:37
Speaker
Also the other ah things that I mentioned. like a trauma or a psychological downturn, prayer, meditation, and sometimes even spontaneously. And they went to the other side, got information, messages, and came back again. Because, you know, what I think is, um what I always liked to know is what the messages are.
Messages from NDEs and the Interconnectedness of Actions
00:37:04
Speaker
I'm not so much interested in how people die. Sometimes the stories of and ears are very long in the way they had the car and then crashed into something else or they had this cardiac arrest or they had a breathing problem.
00:37:19
Speaker
it's it's For them it's important, but for me not because there's no message there. To hear the messages from the other side and those are the then it starts to become interesting.
00:37:32
Speaker
For instance, life reviews. Yes. Life reviews, you get to learn that you you can feel whatever your anyone else that you interacted with has felt.
00:37:46
Speaker
But you feel it not only from your own point of view, but you feel it from the other point of view, from the the person that you interacted with or that the receiver, as someone said. it's So the other party that you acted with is the receiver of your actions being nice actions or being...
00:38:06
Speaker
not so nice actions, but the receiver. You become the receiver. You're on the other side. You're feeling what it is to be the other side. That's really amazing.
00:38:17
Speaker
It's not only that one or two people say it. It's constantly that people say that. so That's one of the similarities. be something true. Yeah.
00:38:28
Speaker
Well, that's one of the things, you know, you you talk about what, how do you put it? ah What I do to you, i do to myself.
00:38:39
Speaker
Yes. Yeah. Yeah. you know And it's it's incredible to think that every um interaction that you have with someone, like this exchange now, this moment, yeah everything matters. It's all relevant.
00:38:54
Speaker
yeah each Each experience counts. And the interesting thing is you can also find that in the Bible. you're You're a Roman Catholic, so I can tell you also, you know that probably, that Jesus at one point said, whatever you do to the least of the people, you do for me. And I think he said that because he knew that you can always feel anyone.
00:39:19
Speaker
if Whatever you do to someone else, you can feel it from the other side. Yeah. Yeah, no, it's, ah you know, one of those things that once you've heard about that, it makes you, I don't know how you can hear that and not,
00:39:36
Speaker
bring greater awareness to how you are interacting with yourself and people around you. But you know, I hope that when people realize from vertical observations that NDEs are actually real and that the other side does exist.
00:39:57
Speaker
Yeah. And that also we are more one than we think because i can feel what you feel. that we will change our lives, that we can become nicer towards other people, but also towards nature.
00:40:12
Speaker
And i also give the the example of all the wars that are going on at this moment, like the Russian-Ukrainian war the Gaza against, or the the Palestinians against the Israelis.
00:40:27
Speaker
I mean, if you hear that people shoot each other, that they... they do these awful things to each other, you have to imagine that they can feel it from the other side.
00:40:40
Speaker
and we cheer only one side always. we We cheer either this side or the other side, but we both sides will feel the other side. That's how it is organized, according to me, and that's based on NDEs.
00:40:56
Speaker
yeah we will all feel the other side no matter what we do hopefully it's nice things we do to the other side but yeah it you and in a war we do horrible things to each other you will feel feel those things also. And so I pity the Israeli soldiers that go rampaging Gaza.
00:41:19
Speaker
And I feel pity for the Hamas soldiers that were killing others. I feel pity for the Russian soldiers that kill indiscriminately or the the Ukrainians because they will feel the other side.
00:41:33
Speaker
And that's yeah I think that's painful. You can only pity them for that. because they are being sent into all these wars by others. Yeah. Yeah. Just the the concept of there is no other and we're all interconnected.
00:41:51
Speaker
The ah last ah person I interviewed that ah shared their NDEs, you know, actually they were a soldier, but they came back and but one One of the rules that that he had to live by was to love everybody with the emphasis on everybody.
00:42:11
Speaker
Yeah. Which is not, you know, we're not always taught that in the way that, you know, our programming tell teaches us different things when we're coming up next.
00:42:24
Speaker
That's the whole problem with programming. I mean, we are we are programmed ever since we were born. we we are taught to do this and taught not to do the other thing.
00:42:35
Speaker
it starts with all that kind of stuff. Sometimes it's very good because if you put your hand on a hot stove, it's nice to know that that will be be painful and you learn that you do you shouldn't do that.
00:42:47
Speaker
But there are other things that that like... um learning that a certain so species species on earth, like whatever color they have, is the wrong color.
00:43:00
Speaker
That's awful because that that's we are all the same. We come from the same thing and we will go back to the same thing. That is what I... ah learn from end years and there are so many of those quotes in my book that show you that we will all go back to this one place and yes will we will understand why we are here um And we will meet a lot of love that goes to everyone, that goes to black or white, Muslim or Palestinian or Jew or Russian or Ukrainian, doesn't matter.
00:43:41
Speaker
Everyone gets this yeah abundance of love. Well, think that's why, you know, voices like yours and the work that you're doing, writing this book and sharing all these accounts is is so valuable as ah as a teacher to, you know, those of us, you know, like me who works on deprogramming a lot of people and in a sense, but to give them a glimpse of the other side and to to share, you know, about the life review and this love and unity and interconnectedness. It's not just with people, but with the planet as well and animals. Absolutely.
00:44:21
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Nature is so important. I mean, we need nature. Nature doesn't need us. and we If we kill nature and we die ourselves, nature will restore.
00:44:34
Speaker
ah we won't. Yeah. Yeah. Well, supposedly we, you know, we, we have it in us. If we take some of these stories and listen to them and and start to implement, you know, this love in our lives towards ourselves and towards others, then, you know, I think by default we get there.
00:44:54
Speaker
My hope anyway. ah yeah I believe that we will be helped somehow. um There will be some, there will be help. And it it doesn't come from a big and army with trumpets and whatever. It comes from people like you or and maybe me and and also your listeners. Yeah.
00:45:16
Speaker
When they do nice things to others and, and, cherish nature, cherish others. It comes from normal people. Absolutely.
00:45:27
Speaker
Common people. well And that's a really you know one of the things you talk about is just having, being fully immersed in this life in a loving way.
00:45:41
Speaker
When you do that, it's the usually it's the ordinary moments that make it so special. Yes. You know, it's not these big things that we kind of fantasize about. no Yeah. That's what I understand from in the years, from live reviews. It is especially the small and seemingly insignificant moments that really count where you smile at someone or where you say a nice word to someone or where you do something nice. It's not...
00:46:12
Speaker
that you earned a lot of money or that you have a big car those things are not important it's it's these kind of things and it's especially the things you do to people you don't know i mean it's easy to be nice to the people you love or the people that love you yeah it gets more important and more difficult perhaps to be loving towards people you don't know yeah street or whatever Absolutely.
00:46:40
Speaker
It's always curious to identify what's coming up and triggering us that we need to work on. ah what a So you're one of the things that I really wanted to get across is is kind of dispelling this sort of, there's so much fear in the world. And I think when you share these stories, you start to see, okay I need to focus on my life and living well and and loving myself and loving others more.
00:47:10
Speaker
And also that there's hope for the future. And I think that's very strong. And I think that's what part of the message I think you're trying to get with your book is that there's hope and love versus this fear and of, you know, making the wrong turn at the end of the line.
00:47:28
Speaker
yeah it's it's Yeah, exactly. it is um There is a chapter in my book that says something like, why are we on this and um but what is important to do?
The Role of Love and Purpose in Life and Afterlife
00:47:41
Speaker
And it's it's like it's exactly what you say. It is the the how much love have you brought into the world?
00:47:49
Speaker
And there's no judgment. if you If you did nothing about love, fine too. You're always welcome on the other side. Yeah. Everyone is loved. You know, if you get to understand the impressions of NDEs, of near-death experiences, you understand that everyone is loved beyond their wildest dreams and that applies to every everyone.
00:48:17
Speaker
Also the people you don't like. yeah have People we don't like. Maybe the politicians or there's your boss or there is a person around the corner, ah shopkeeper. I don't know.
00:48:29
Speaker
We always have someone we don't really like, but that person is loved beyond our wildest dreams and his or her wildest dreams too. We are all loved. We are all important. we the That we are on earth is so important because what we you do is important. it's it's You wouldn't be here if you wouldn't be important.
00:48:54
Speaker
So you we all have this task that we have to perform. we don't You know, NDEs, sometimes they they don't want to go back. to their body. and then they are shown, well, you need to go back because you you're not done yet. There is something important you still have to do. And then they they sometimes get to see what that is.
00:49:18
Speaker
And they then they decide, okay, I understand now. That's something that I decided before coming on earth that was going to do. So I'll be going back. And then when they're back, they can't remember what that was.
00:49:32
Speaker
But there is something we all need to do. and there is we are all important in that we have to do that. It's interesting that Anita Morjani is an NDEer. Yeah. and she And she likened it to ah nice, ah wonderful, really magnificent tapestry where every little ah thread is a person.
00:50:01
Speaker
But if you would take out one thread and toss it away, then the tapestry loses its wonder. That's how she likened it. And I thought that was interesting because it shows you that we are all important. We all are indispensable.
00:50:19
Speaker
ah So we the the time you have on Earth, even if you have difficult times here, it is important. That's what I understand from Endy Ears.
00:50:32
Speaker
So there are, of course, listeners that that may have had or are in big problems, difficulties for whatever reason. There is reason for this and there you you are loved nonetheless.
00:50:47
Speaker
and And you are important in the way you try to tackle and and resolve those those issues. So don't think that you are not loved or that you're not important.
00:50:59
Speaker
You are. That's what I understand from Andy Ears. And there so many of those stories. There's exactly one person had this story that she was really in such a traumatic situation with her um her marriage.
00:51:19
Speaker
ah On top of everything that went wrong in her life, she heard that she was not be would not be able to get children because of some medical issue. Then she wanted to just die and she sort of committed suicide.
00:51:35
Speaker
And then she met Jesus in her NDE. And at this point, I always say that also other deities have been seen. So it's not only Jesus that is... Yeah.
00:51:48
Speaker
But Jesus said to her, is one line. she He said, don't waste your life thinking that you're not loved. And she was ah an English teacher. And she later was...
00:52:03
Speaker
analyzing those words because she thought well apparently i have a life that i can waste by doing certain things um and that's true so try to be loving and know that you are loved um so yeah that's it yeah that's uh those are both wonderful stories and Very inspiring. you are You are a wonderful storyteller, Bob. These are these are wonderful.
00:52:34
Speaker
They are all in my book. it's they there are Yeah, it's shown up. Very interesting stories to tell. there's it's There's an abundance of those. Well, I will put the link um to your
Converging Spiritual Teachings in Major Religions and NDEs
00:52:51
Speaker
book.
00:52:51
Speaker
And are there any other books that you've written that you would like to to mention? um There is, well I have had I wrote a book on NDEs and religions, the essence of religions. That's the the title.
00:53:09
Speaker
And there I compare the five religions, major religions and ah the the the main strands of the religions with NDEs. And I thought that was very interesting to do.
00:53:22
Speaker
Because it shows you that... The essence of every religion, ah so the real essence of each religion, will find in NDEs.
00:53:34
Speaker
But not every and essence of NDEs you can find in all of each of the religions. And ill I'll give you an example to clarify that. like um In Hinduism, for instance, the idea is that we all have God within us.
00:53:52
Speaker
You have a God within us within you, and have one of your listeners. And that's why people always put their hands together ah to greet the God within you. um Now, in NDEs, there are so many people that say that we all are part of God, or that we have God within us, or the light within us.
00:54:15
Speaker
So that coincides with Hinduism. But if you look at Christianity, or Islam, or Judaism, God is somewhere outside of us. It's a third person who will judge us and toss us in hell.
00:54:31
Speaker
If we have been bad puts us in heaven, we are good. But we are still different from God. And that's different from what Hindus think. And it's also different from what end-the-ears think. So but that's ah an example there.
00:54:47
Speaker
Yeah.
Conclusion and Embracing Joy in Life
00:54:48
Speaker
Well, well, Bob, thank you very much for coming on my show and sharing your experiences and your book and and these stories. The message is is of love and hope.
00:55:02
Speaker
It's very powerful and very compelling. For those listening, you should check it out. It's it's really good stuff. Thank you for having me on your show. It was wonderful to talk to you and to have all these questions, a really wonderful questions.
00:55:18
Speaker
Well, I appreciate it. And yeah, we'll be in touch. Thank you, my friend. Thank you too. Thank you so much for tuning in today and being with us. May you find joy, flow and adventure on your journey.
00:55:32
Speaker
And if you got something from it, please like, share and subscribe and or comment. It means a lot. Thank you.