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Ascent of the Blessed Hieronymus Bosch |
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Inspiration from an Unlikely Source
Excerpt from A Practical Guide to Prosperous Living Revised edition
Over the past several decades, research into near-death experiences has produced a phenomenal body of evidence supporting the reality and absolute importance of our spiritual existence. A near-death experience occurs when a person is pronounced clinically dead or comes close to death through some traumatic event. They are then resuscitated, either by medical means or unaided, and are able to report details of their out-of-body excursions. Because of improved resuscitation techniques, near-death experiences are becoming so commonplace that medical professionals are being trained to deal with patients who report them. At first glance, it may seem that this field of research has little if anything to do with the subject of prosperous living. However, nearly all people who recall events during a near-death episode report a level of satisfaction and fulfillment so astounding they cannot put it into words. They find themselves having to speak in similes, metaphors and parables in their attempts to describe what they see, hear and feel during their near-death experiences. From these studies emerge two critical points that are deeply relevant to our understanding of the spiritual basis of prosperity. First, it is clear by the sincere expressions of joy and universal love these people try to relate, that, contrary to what most of the human population believes, material things are not needed to produce the kind of deep fulfillment and gratification for which we yearn. Near-death experiencers find themselves in a position of having absolutely nothing, not even a physical body, and yet they consistently report unbounded joy, aliveness, serenity and a deep feeling of fulfillment beyond any they can adequately describe. As one experiencer put it: There’s no way I could possibly ever bring to words how actually good it is. I mean, it’s the most of anything, whether it be peace, love, kindness, it’s the most of everything that you can probably ever have. The second critical piece of information is the inference that this dimension of the soul not only exists in each of us right now, it is the eternal, indestructible foundation of our being. Soul evolution is a mistaken idea. We are not now something less than we will be in the future. We do not develop into a higher state of being; we evolve a system of consciousness that supports what we already are at our spiritual level. Research into the near-death experience strongly suggests that when individuals, by an experience of momentary, physical “death,” are forced out of their current identity and its attendant life-view, they discover that their real self—their native soul—already exists in a state far superior to anything they had imagined. Their previous self-image and life-view simply masked their genuine, core identity. These are normal, everyday people from every walk of life, many with little or no previous interest in anything resembling spiritual development. They are people like you and me that are quite familiar with the entire range of fears, insecurities and anxieties that have become so typical of the human experience. They are consistent in their reports that this core identity does not become happy and peaceful by acquiring things. According to these people, the core identity already exists in a perpetual state of unimaginable happiness and serenity. Almost to the person, near-death experiencers report that during their episodes, they feel more alive than ever, their senses more acute, their minds sharper and more perceptive than anything they recall. This enhanced “aliveness” transforms, in a positive way, their values and their attitudes about the meaning of life in a physical body by stimulating in them a more universal view of their life’s purpose. We speak of the Christ nature—that individualized expression of God in us—in theoretical terms, as a potential we will someday realize. To the near-death experiencer, there is nothing theoretical or potential about it. As one woman said: Up until the moment of my ‘death,’ everything I had believed about myself was false. That me that I was when I was outside of my body, that was me, that was the real me. And where did this real me come from? Apparently it was there all along, buried like a treasure in a field of false perceptions. Near-death experiences indicate that beneath the mask of personality, beneath the sense-based self-image from which most people live out their entire lives, there exists a highly evolved person already functioning as the prosperous being that you and I are striving to become. We all have a “real me,” and if we are to consider the subject of prosperity in its fullest scope, then we must factor this eternal aspect into our thinking. The life review is a fascinating and frequently reported component of the near-death experience. The individual is given the opportunity to review, in amazing detail, the consequences of choices they have made throughout their entire life. This review is conducted from the elevated perspective of their spiritual identity, unencumbered by all fear of death or limitation of any kind. They see in an instant how they have lived their life. Now they are being asked, How will you live your life now that you know you are an eternal, limitless being? In one sense, my intention with this book is to facilitate a similar life review. What will happen to your attitudes, interests, dreams and quest for a more prosperous life when you begin living from the point of view of your eternal nature? From the perspective of the artistic expressionist, prosperity and its normal acquisitional associations take on an entirely different meaning. Living the prosperous life starts by letting go of that which blocks the expression of your native soul. It involves creating an environment of consciousness conducive to bringing forth your fully-functioning, fully-intact native soul, your completed self. Does this mean you have to divest yourself of the various roles you play or dispose of your goals or give away the material things you possess? No, not at all. In addition to their newly discovered interests in loving and learning more, many near-death experiencers come back to their lives with renewed enthusiasm and interest in their careers, relationships and homes, as well as an increased appreciation for the simpler pleasures of life. As long as we occupy a physical body, we will set goals that involve the acquisition of material goods. We must, however, do so with the understanding that the sense of identity and personal power we were once trying to derive from our external accomplishments can only be unfolded from the deeper reality of our being. As a balloon filled with helium naturally rises when released, so your true state of being rises to its natural condition of happiness when you release the weight of the false belief that something external must be added to complete you. You are, in fact, to express more of your completeness, bringing it to bear on the achievement of the external goal, if the goal is to have any meaning at all. If you do not become more of who you naturally are in the process of attaining your goals, what’s the point in amassing more material things? |