"It's only when we truly know and understand that
we have a limited time on earth -- and that we have
no way of knowing when our time is up, we will
then begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it
was the only one we had." - Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

=======================================
The online version of the Near-Death Newsletter
=======================================

The online version of this newsletter can be found at
this web page:
http://www.near-death.com/newsletters/2004/0115.html

For AOL and Compuserve users:
<a href="http://www.near-death.com/newsletters/2004/0115.html">Click here.</a>


=======================================
Near-Death Newsletter January 15, 2004
www.near-death.com Vol. 03, No. 01, Edition
2
=======================================

The Near-Death Newsletter is a free semi-monthly
newsletter which is emailed to subscribers on every 1st
of the month and every 15th of the month. The purpose
for this newsletter is to provide timely information to the
general public concerning the latest in everything having
to do with near-death experiences and related phenomenon.
The newsletter's mission is to inform, educate, enlighten,
stimulate, entertain, aid, promote, and bring people
together who share a common love for near-death
experiences, near-death research, and near-death related
phenomenon. If you have not yet become a member of
IANDS, the International Association of Near-Death
Studies, the premier organization for near-death
enthusiasts, researchers, and experiencers, you should
consider joining. Membership gives you access to their
prestigious journal, the Journal of Near-Death Studies,
and their newsletter, Vital Signs. You can join online
right from their website at http://www.iands.org


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magazines, and journals. More NDE media products
are coming.
http://associatesshop.filzhut.de/shop/index.php?ID=62ed2010a2e86954f2f1f2020e105\
6af

If you have NDE information that you would like to
contribute for possible inclusion in this newsletter
and/or website, please me at this email address:
webmaster@...

=======================================
Table of Contents
=======================================

(1) NDEs in the news
(2) Notes from the webmaster
(3) What's new on near-death.com
(4) NDE Forum
(5) Odds and ends

=======================================
(1) NDEs in the news
=======================================

*** "I Died Twice" - Ozzy Osbourne
BIRMINGHAM, UK (icBirmingham.co.uk)
"I didn't know where I was or how long I'd been there.
I would drift in and out of consciousness. Other times
there would be a white light shining through the
darkness, but no f---king angels, no one blowing
trumpets and no man in a white beard."
http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/content_objectid=1378\
1765_method=full_siteid=50002_headline=--I--died--twice----Ozzy-name_page.html


*** Hammond Man Tells How Near-Death Experience
Changed His Life
NORTHWEST, IN - (NWItimes.com)
"Suddenly, he felt cold and dizzy and the next thing
he remembers is seeing what he believes was God's
face. "He was waiting for me. He touched my forehead
and said, 'Go back. It's not your time. Do your best,'"
Gutierrez says."
http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2004/01/01/features/lifestyles_and_living\
/aa0577ba5fe98a8c86256e06002181be.txt


*** Victim Took Trip To Heaven and Back
CAPE CORAL, FL - (news-press.com)
"What I experienced was a complete union with God -
complete, unconditional love," she said. "All of the
burdens I had on Earth dissolved into nothing." Then
she had to make a decision.
http://www.news-press.com/news/lifestyle/040110heaven.html
"The Blue Cord" by Laurel Duran
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/096469090X/neardeathexpe-20


*** Ultimate Survivor: RIT Coach Had Near-Death
Experience
ROCHESTER, NY (DemocratandChronicle.com)
"I died for 30 seconds,'' he says. "I didn't see a light
at the end of the tunnel, but I remember watching
everything from above. The surgical team was working
on me. There were seven people in the room, and
my doctor was sitting in the back, with her hand
to her mouth as if to say 'Oh, no.'''
http://www.rochesterdandc.com/sports/general/1227J02P8BS_sports.shtml


*** Author Hopes For Acceptance of Mysticism
GALVESTON, TX - (The Daily News)
"Some involve deathbed visions of already deceased
loved ones that calm the fears of someone about to die.
Others tell of out-of-body and near death experiences."
(You may have to take a moment to register to access
this paper. It's free.)
http://www.galvnews.com/story.lasso?wcd=16418
"A Glimpse of Heaven" by Dr. Carla Wills-Brandon
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580629474/neardeathexpe-20


*** Spirited Suspension
TUSCON, AZ (Tuscon Weekly)
"When I got out of the hospital after that near-death
asthma experience in 1986, I had this epiphany about
the universe that has changed my life," Carter says. "I
went from being a typical cynical comic to being
someone who had a strong sense of God."
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gbase/Arts/Content?oid=oid:52412


*** Donations Put Defibrillators In 11 Schools
LOUISVILLE, KY - (Courier-Journal.com)
"Oldham school leaders had talked about buying
the machines, but they didn't think the community
would support spending school money to do it. One
South Oldham High student's near-death experience
last spring proved otherwise."
http://www.courier-journal.com/nabes/2004/01/07/C1-defib0107mc-9704.html


*** Dream Interpretation Offers Insight
MILL VALLEY, CA (WebMD)
"Ancient cultures attached great significance to
dreams as communication with God or prophecy or
out-of-body travel. Much of twentieth century dream
theory was influenced by three approaches: Freudian,
Jungian and gestalt."
http://my.webmd.com/content/article/79/96212.htm?lastselectedguid=%7B5FE84E90-BC\
77-4056-A91C-9531713CA348%7D


*** The Largest Ice Shelf in the Arctic Has Fractured
LONDON, UK - (BBC)
"The huge mass of floating ice, which has been in
place for at least 3,000 years, is now in two major
pieces. The scientists who report the break-up in
the journal Geophysical Research Letters (GRL)
say it is further evidence of ongoing and accelerated
climate change in the north polar region."
http://news.softpedia.com/news/2/2003/September/4895.shtml


*** Sign up to receive free news email alerts from
GOOGLE News concerning the "near-death experience."
http://www.google.com/newsalerts?q=%22near-death+experience%22


*** Sign up to recieve free news email alerts from
YAHOO News concerning the "near-death experience."
http://alerts.yahoo.com/config/edit_notification?.confirm=n&.done=http://search.\
news.yahoo.com/search/news?p=%22near-death+e


=======================================
(2) Notes from the webmaster
=======================================

Kevin Williams writes:

Everyone talks about the light and being embraced
by the light and how God is light. This is great. But
what about darkness? What do NDEs have to say
about darkness?

In this section of my newsletter, I want to share my
thoughts and opinions on a variety of NDE related things.
Recently, someone emailed me and wanted to know
how the darkness fits in to all this.

Although it may not be spelled out in so many words
on this website, but the darkness is just as important
as the light. To qualify this, I will need to define some
terms. In NDE terminology, "light" is defined as: God,
divinity, spiritual knowledge, and spiritual understanding.
There are probably more ways to define it, but this will
do for now. "Darkness" is defined as: nothing, void,
ignorance, but especially spiritual ignorance. People
have traditionally associated light and darkness with
the moral values of right and wrong, or good and evil,
or God and Satan.

NDEs generally reveal that one of the reasons why
a person commits injustices is because of the
existence in this world of a false illusion that we are
separate from everyone else and everything else and
not a part of everyone and everything around them.
It is an illusion that fools people into thinking they
can hurt other people without hurting themselves.
This is the nature which humans are born into:
ignorance. This is the darkness. Through education
and enlightenment, people are brought out of this
condition. It is not "evil". It is just the
absence of spiritual understanding. It is not "sin".
It is just making mistakes out of ignorance. But
why do souls leave their heavenly home of light
and enter this world of darkness in the first place?

There are two main reasons that I know of.

(1) We come here to bring the light into this dark
realm.

(2) We come here for soul growth and bodily
evolution through experience in the physical realm.

As spirits, we are one with God. As souls, we are
autonomous entities experiencing free will. As humans,
we are individuals subjected to physical evolution
and soul evolution. Why? Because we are learning
to attain that perfect balance between being one with
God and autonomous at the same. Jesus taught
in John 10:30-36 that "Ye are gods." What did he
mean by this? He meant that we are like "children"
of God who are growing up to be our Father.

This is a tall order. But in order to become like "Daddy"
we have to go to a special school for on-the-job-training
and experience. It means learning about ignorance and
darkness in the "School of Hard Knocks" because the
only way to learn is through experience. Book knowledge
is not enough.

So, life on earth is a test. It is an examination for which
you will be graded on when you die and go through
various stages of self-realization. The first stage which
many people go through is a place called the "void". It is
a place of complete darkness and nothingness. People
experience this void for the purpose of self-realization -
to experience yourself without any force exerted on you.
It is the perfect place to decide where you want to go
without any external influence. For this reason, the void
experience has been described in many ways ranging
from the hellish extreme to the heavenly extreme and
a multitude of degrees in between. It is the light of love
within you that draws you out of the void, through the
tunnel and toward the light. Those who have not realized
the light within them need more soul and physical
evolution.

Everyone is born into the world with a spiritual and
intellectual void (ignorance, "darkness") within them for
which the challenge, as students, is fill that void.
Because life is a school where undergoing a test, we
are not given the answers to the test beforehand.
Knowing the answers before you take a test is not
a good way to learn. It is during the test, that the
questions are given so that they can be answered.

So, we go through life filling this void within us -
preferably with the spirit. Then at death, we "step into"
this void within us and experience what we have put
there. If in life, we were able to become aware of
our spirit within our void and bring our spirit into our
conscious awareness through love, then we will see
the light of our spirit in the void. Otherwise, more
soul growth is needed and that means reincarnation.

Darkness is the state of ignorance that humanity
has been evolving away from. A case can be made
that without the darkness, we wouldn't be able to
fully experience or understand the light. God is light,
but is God also darkness? I think the answer has
to be "yes." Otherwise, we have a dualistic system.

In conclusion, there is a very good reason for the
darkness and why we are born into it. The darkness
is nothing except whatever we put into it. And
whatever we put in there, we inhabit after death.
The goal is to find the divine light of love within
you now before you die and enter the void. Let that
light of love shine from within you to everyone. Let
the light of everyone within you become the greatest
thing in your void.

Here are my main pages that deal with darkness:

Void: http://www.near-death.com/experiences/research15.html
War: http://www.near-death.com/experiences/research09.html
Satan: http://www.near-death.com/experiences/research23.html
Hell: http://www.near-death.com/experiences/research14.html
Humanity: http://www.near-death.com/experiences/research04.html
Spirituality: http://www.near-death.com/experiences/research07.html

Cayce on the dark realms and spirit realms:
http://www.near-death.com/experiences/cayce05.html

Pre-birth - why we are born into the darkness:
http://www.near-death.com/experiences/research01.html

Peace and Light,
Kevin Williams

=======================================
(3) What's new on near-death.com
=======================================

The following are the latest additions to near-death.com
website:


(1) Christian NDEs and Reincarnation
I added much more material to this main page to give
people a better high-level overview of how NDEs,
Christianity and reincarnation are tied together. This
helps when trying to see the forest when in the middle
of so many trees.
http://www.near-death.com/origen.html


(2) The Gospel According to Kevin
A lot of people email me to get my opinion on various
Christian doctrines and sometimes how these doctrines
relate to NDEs. I don't know why I haven't done this
until now, but I have added a short summation of my
brand of Christianity that encompasses all of life and
death, metaphysics, science, and religion. You will
find it in the box entitled "The Gospel according to Kevin."
http://www.near-death.com/about.html


(3) The NDE Online Store is open!
I have built a better NDE online store which is easier
to navigate, find the NDE products you are looking for,
and buy them online very easily. Included are NDE
books, NDE documentaries in VHS and DVD, NDE
music on CD, NDE-related movies on DVD, and
NDE-related magazines and journals. This will be
an ongoing project as I intend to add other products
having to do with everything NDE.
http://associatesshop.filzhut.de/shop/index.php?ID=62ed2010a2e86954f2f1f2020e105\
6af


*** What's New page
All the recent additions to this website are also listed
on the What's New page on my website.
http://www.near-death.com/whatsnew.html


=======================================
(4) NDE Forum
=======================================

These are the latest NDE testimonies submitted by
email to me at webmaster@.... You can
also post your NDE on the NDE Forum web page
at http://forums.near-death.com


*** Search the NDE Forum archives at:
http://www.near-death.com/forum.html


*** Norma H's NDE
"I passed slowly down a tunnel towards a beautiful
golden glow, I didn't pass anyone, but when I was
halfway I could hear my Dad's voice calling me and
the voice got more and more urgent until it brought
me right back."
http://www.near-death.com/forum/0160.html


*** Anthony Sammarco's NDE
"The next thing I realize is my vantage point is about
ten feet above the water and I see my mother and
her friends talking while sitting in their chairs. I then
see my mother's friend, Mrs. M., look over in the
direction of the water were I was and suddenly dash
from her chair towards the water."
http://www.near-death.com/forum/0161.html


*** George's NDE
"As she came closer, I got the shock of my life. When
I looked at her face, I knew who she was. It was my
little playmate who died 58 years ago at the age of 10.
I could not speak as I tried to understand what was
happening."
http://www.near-death.com/forum/0162.html


*** Dayne Mohlin's NDE
"Beauty before me, beauty all around me, beauty. But
that's a limiting thought because it was so much more
than that. I had no body. I was nothing but everything!
I felt this great sensation like I was a high vibrating spirit,
like I was energy, like I was something out of this world,
and words just can't even do it justice!!!"
http://www.near-death.com/forum/0163.html


*** William Harris' NDE
"Life here pales in comparison to what awaits us. But I
was told: "It is not Your time!" ... and like a rebellious
child I rebuked this and wanted to remain in this realm
of "completeness" but found that it was an effort in vain ...
and I can recall returning to my body like a hand in a
glove and bouncing on the floor beneath my hospital bed
and up back into my body."
http://www.near-death.com/forum/0164.html


*** Skrzynski's NDE
"In this lovely place, people were telling me that this
was the 'next level' higher than earth. I went to a lovely
quaint church (like an English country church) where
I met people who continually prayed for children on
earth. They were male and female but with ageless
faces full of wisdom and compassion."
http://www.near-death.com/forum/0165.html


*** Robert Young's NDE
"As she approached the burning pit, a tremendous
effort was made to draw her into it; but she felt
herself under the protection of her guardian angel.
She recognized many in the place of torment whom
she had known on earth, and even some who had
been thought to be Christians."
http://www.near-death.com/forum/0166.html


*** Bernada Fernandez's NDE
This testimony appears on several websites and
was submitted to me for inclusion to this forum.
While I was reading it, it became obvious to me
that it was a fake. It was written by someone whose
only afterlife knowledge comes from the Book of
Revelation. I wasn't going to include it in the forum,
but I thought this would be a good opportunity for
people too see how I evaluate hellfire-and-brimstone
testimonies posing as real NDE testimonies.
http://www.near-death.com/forum/0167.html


*** SybreSiphen's NDE
"During this time that I was clinically dead, I saw
no lights, saw nothing but a lot of images of various
things flashing through my head. These images
were what I could only guess as "life flashing
before my eyes."
http://www.near-death.com/forum/0168.html


*** C. David Johnson's NDE
"I then heard a voice that sounded like a Catholic
mass of a million plus people say "Not yet". It
sounded a lot like fast flowing water. Very cool.
Then in an instant I was back on the motorcycle."
http://www.near-death.com/forum/0169.html


*** Jack Marcellous Ward's NDE
"I do not have any visual perception at all during
this time. I can only say that I feel the most
wonderful peace in which nothing material matters
at all (not even physical perceptions), and that I
feel myself in the presence of someone with whom
I am very comfortable."
http://www.near-death.com/forum/0170.html


*** Roberta Misikin's NDE
"All of the sudden the room exploded with millions
upon millions of diamond like objects, each with
a rainbow inside each of them, and the most
incredible love, a love beyond any description I can
think of, it filled the room."
http://www.near-death.com/forum/0171.html


*** Kenny's NDE
"Approximately 10 seconds after being ejected
(so to speak) from my body, a MASSIVE white
light gently ascended. It was about 40 feet wide
and then started to recede until a pencil beam
size only the width of my own shoulders remained.
I was then lifted upwards up and into this light beam."
http://www.near-death.com/forum/0172.html


*** Carie A. Dean's NDE
"They told me that my suicide would only pass my
pain along to others, and that the sum of pain would
actually be greater. They also told me that I would
eventually have to go back anyway, and live through
all the traumas I had already been through. It would
be a little easier the second time around since I had
already learned some of my lessons in this life, but
wouldn't it be better just to go back now and finish
what I started?"
http://www.near-death.com/forum/0173.html


=======================================
(5) Odds and ends
=======================================

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=======================================
Copyright (c) 2004 Near-Death Experiences & the Afterlife
=======================================


Peace and Light,

Kevin R. Williams
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"Near-Death Experiences and the Afterlife"
http://www.near-death.com
"Nothing Better Than Death"
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"Think of stepping on the shore and finding it heaven, of touching
a hand and finding it God's, of breathing new air and finding it
celestial, of waking up in glory and finding it home." - Don Wyrtzen