Scientists call [the] verifiable aspects of the NDE “veridical perceptions”, perceptions of specific and unique events that can be verified as true or false. Veridical perceptions are often accurate depictions of events that the NDE experiencer’s (NDEr’s) physical body could not have seen or heard and that the NDEr could not have figured out through logic or reasoning skills. The veridical perceptions normally happen in stages of the NDE where the subjects experience themselves in surroundings considered part of the “natural” world. Moody reports a case in which a woman left her body during surgery, traveled to the waiting room, and saw that her daughter was wearing mismatched plaid clothes. While the mother did not see her daughter that day physically, she later mentioned this to her maid, who was astonished to hear how she knew this fact and explained that she had dressed the woman’s daughter so hastily that she had not noticed the mistake.
As faith moves a person to action in the absence of proof, some argue that faith-based ideologies can be dangerous since they cause a person to act without the certainty that the principles he is operating from are in fact correct. Yet all human action possesses some degree of uncertainty. Outcomes and responses to a person’s actions are rarely, if ever, absolutely predictable or determined. Human beings do not act with full and perfect knowledge of every event that will arise after the words they speak or the actions they make. Every attempted communication requires a person to have the faith that his intended meaning will be conveyed. Every movement is enacted by the faith that its course will find completion. As no course of events or human response is entirely determined, no matter how likely, faith is ever-present in human action: faith in a person’s abilities, faith in his decisions, faith in others, faith in the processes of day to day life. The scriptural declaration that “without faith you can do nothing” (D&C 11:1) is a universal law that applies to every deliberate or non-instinctual action, in every instance.
Just as climbers scaling the top of Everest need to know what temperatures and air conditions they will face as they make their ascent, knowledge of the nature of a person’s spiritual destination lets her know what preparations will be required in order for the journey to be successful.
The evidence of the pre-mortal existence of the soul [1], coupled with the emotional innocence of children testifies of a spiritual plane from which souls came that is pure beyond description. NDEs give additional support to this premise. In nearly every NDE described as pleasurable that has a period where the subject goes beyond the natural realm, there is a description of an incredible light that encompasses everything. This light not only illuminates the external surroundings, but pierces through the soul, making every aspect of one’s heart and mind open and visible before all others present. [2] One effect of being in such a place of authenticity is that people see themselves as they really are, even beyond their own self-image, or rationalizations of their behavior. There is no possibility of making oneself different in one’s mind; every unconscious motivation is manifest. The experience is described as complete nakedness, all of one’s life actions, thoughts, and desires opened, with every detail exposed in the light. Every thought or intention is instantly manifest before all others. It is impossible in this place to lie, to conceal one’s feelings, or to even entertain a private thought:
“Whatever anyone thought, however fleeting or unwillingly, was instantly apparent to all around him, more completely than words could have expressed it, faster than sound waves could have carried it...What was it going to be like, I thought with a sudden panic, to live forever where my most private thoughts were not private at all? No disguising them, no covering them up, no way to pretend I was anything but what I actually was.”[3] In Return From Tomorrow, George Ritchie notes what an uncomfortable experience it would be to live in such a state of nakedness before all if one’s thoughts and intentions were prideful, angry, or full of judgment or resentment towards others. “How unbearable. Unless of course everyone around me had the same kind of thoughts.” [4] This casual observation points to the difficulty of living in a place of such purity and authenticity if one is not prepared to do so. He explains understanding that living in this state of authenticity before others in a realm of purity, with any embarrassment of one’s deepest self, would be much more uncomfortable than living with others who had similar aspects of character that they were not comfortable exposing, whether pride, or lust, or hate, or bitterness, or deceit. While those who have had such experiences do not claim to be in the presence of God, those who returned from these experiences often testify of “purity” as an energetic reality and explained feeling uncomfortable to be near such purity while filled with any degree of impurity of heart or intention.
For this reason, nearly all scriptural texts exhort each and every soul to purify their hearts and intentions, understanding that “God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”[5] In the course of the ‘Life Review’, Ritchie is asked what he has done with his life and searches for an accomplishment that would be of spiritual worth: “I started to point out my pre-med courses, how I was going to be a doctor and help people. But visible alongside the classroom scenes was that Cadillac car and that private airplane – thoughts as observable as actions in that all pervading Light.” [6] Where the action of going to Medical School may have seemed an admirable thing on it’s own, this account demonstrates that beyond this life, the intentions behind action are as important as the actions themselves, and visible to others. NDEs set the standard of human worth far beyond achievements, and beyond how a person’s actions may appear on the surface to others; spiritual worth is placed on the love and kindness shown to other souls, and the state of one’s heart and intentions.
There is a massive gap between objects and qualities emphasized to be of worth in practical life, and the spiritual qualities given importance in these types of Near Death examples. The gap between these two different value structures, those of the immediate world in contrast to those of the world to come, works to create the slope of this mountain. It is this gap which makes it an uphill climb to pursue things of spiritual worth while in a place which ignores them, or at times encourages one to hold values in conflict with things of spiritual worth. As with an actual mountain, it requires more effort to progress up a steep pitch then to take a leisurely walk through a gentle valley or downhill slope. Since it is more difficult to go uphill, unless the climber sees value in the objective of summating the mountain and therefore willing to do what is required (however more difficult to keep moving higher in elevation), any climber will certainly take what appears to be the easier path.
(See PDFs for the References which correspond to those marked here.)
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