Andy Petro had a profound IME while drowning in a lake as a child. Decades later, he recounted it in his book “Alive in the Light: Remembering Eternity”. Here are a few short extracts.
The radiant light, which looks like a thousand exploding suns, invades the darkness. My retinas should be burned by its brilliance, but I can stare into the light and it doesn’t hurt. It’s a wonderful sensation. I realize that all the pain that consumed me a moment ago has completely disappeared. Warmth, joy and an indescribable feeling of love replace the cold, terror, panic and fear that enveloped me.
I am the Light
I’m drawing closer to the Light, absorbed by its radiance and perfect love. I’m in the Light! Oh my God, I’m really in the Light. I am the Light! I look directly at the source of the Light and it appears to me in human form. It looks like a massive human figure, radiating the brilliance of thousands of suns.
Although I don’t remember seeing this shape before, I recognize it somehow. The Light speaks to me: “Andy, don’t be afraid. Andy, I love you. Andy, we love you. The Light knows me. It knows my name, it called me Andy.
Back home
Around the central light form, millions and millions of other lights welcome me home. I know them all and they know me. We’re all pieces of the same Light. I hear myself say, “It’s good to be home. We’re all together again.
Although I’m in the Light and the Light is in me, I’m still Andy. I am everywhere and I am in the Light at the same time. I see myself as a person and I see myself in the infinite, warm, loving Light. I become the Light.
Laughter and humor
The Light has a voice I’ve never heard before, but it’s not foreign to me. The Light has an indescribably beautiful smile, and I recognize it too. The Light has an incredible sense of humor and an infectious laugh. We talk and laugh together. The Light knows everything there is in the universe – and I have no questions, because I know everything the Light knows, and that’s it!
The Light also knows every decision I’ve made or will make, and it loves me unconditionally. The Light loves me for what I am – Andy, a piece of the Light. There is no fear. There’s no judgment. No punishment. No blame. No shame. No record of good and bad deeds. Only warmth, peace, joy, happiness and love in the Light.
I am one with the unconditionally loving Light. I am home again. I am home forever. The moment when I entered the Light, when I became one with the Light, has no equivalent in my life. It’s a feeling of inexpressible, unconditional love, peace and joy. It’s a love I can’t describe in words. It’s a love that can only be experienced. And I’ve experienced it… I am in the Light, the Light is in me, and we are all One.
Unconditional love is the basis of the whole universe
The essence of light, the smallest particle of light, the building block of all that is, is a vibrating string of energy. And every vibrating string of energy is composed of unconditional love, created from unconditional love and the source of the universe. Unconditional love is all that exists. There is nothing that is not unconditional love. Unconditional love is everything!
My earthly memories and feelings became insignificant, as if they were snippets from an unimportant and inconsequential dream. A very interesting dream, but a dream nonetheless. The only important thing for me is to know that I am unconditional love. The beauty and essence of creation is its simplicity. And nothing can be simpler and more powerful than unconditional love. Regardless of what happens in the past, present or future, unconditional love simply loves unconditionally, without exception or expectation.
My ego prevents me from experiencing unconditional love on earth. My ego asks questions like: “What about justice? What about retribution? What about fairness? Vengeance?” These questions have no answer in the Light, because they are irrelevant.
The Light was infinite, but it’s made up of an infinite number of other unique Lights like me. I was aware of these other countless pieces of Light that welcomed me home after my visit to earth. Being an infinite and finite entity at the same time is my natural state in Light. On earth, this natural state is an incomprehensible paradox.
A sea of infinite love
I am always aware of being immersed in an infinite sea of unconditional Love and acceptance in the Light. I know that the unconditional love of the Light is limitless and endless. The totality of my earthly love is like a single lit candle placed on the surface of our sun – compared to the unconditional love of the Light within me.
Being in the Light is pure ecstasy. The moment I let go, I was invaded by a feeling of total, unconditional love. A sense of belonging. A sense of home. A sense of oneness with all existence. A feeling of total acceptance. A feeling of total peace and joy inside and outside my being.
The word “why” had no meaning in the Light. I had no reason to ask “why” or to ask a question in the Light because I knew the answer to every question there was. I knew everything. Everything in the Light knows everything because everything is one in the Light.
We are One
I remember being in the Light and not knowing judgment or separation. I am neither greater nor lesser than the Light. In a way incomprehensible on earth, I am also Light. No matter how many times I recall my experience of the Light, I always remember that separation does not exist in the Light. Only unity exists.
During the life review, I observed my choices and saw that they generated either love and acceptance, or fear and separation. But this was not a judgment about right and wrong. Judgment cannot exist in the Light because all is one, and so there is no point of reference to allow judgment.
Light is composed of an infinite number of pieces of Light. It’s like a hologram. Each infinite piece is made up of its own set, so that no two pieces are identical. But, at the same time, this collection of unique pieces of Light is one. Therefore, there can be no separation, because there is nothing to separate. We are all unique pieces of the same unity of Light.
Free and loving
Freedom and unconditional love are opposite sides of the same cosmic coin. True freedom can only exist in unconditional love. To experience, live, give and choose unconditional love is to imbibe the purest form of freedom. Unconditional love is defined as love without expectations. To live and love without expectations is the purest form of freedom. I was free to believe that I was living in a world of fear and separation, which I did for a while. I forgot that all I had to do was remember that I could change everything in my earthly life. By simply choosing unconditional love and unity.
Loving unconditionally, without expectations, is the closest I can come to being in the Light while I’m still here on earth. That’s being free.
Joy, love, acceptance
To live in the Light is to be in a happy place. The Light is imbued with joy, laughter and humor. It’s filled with love, acceptance and the excitement of being alive – living in the Light. The Light is not a serious, somber or stoic realm. The Light is free of fear, separation, judgment, condemnation and terror.
To be immersed in unconditional love is also to be immersed in joy, laughter and bliss. You don’t have to do anything to feel joy and happiness in the Light. Joy and happiness are the very essence of Light. One of the Light’s main aims is to bring joy and happiness to itself and to all parts of itself.
Fear disappears
Before my IME, I truly believed that my adventures on planet Earth were real and important. I let my ego run wild in its beliefs of separation, guilt and fear. It wasn’t until I remembered who I really was that my life based on separation and fear was transformed into an unconditionally loving life filled with freedom, laughter and the joy of knowing that we are all one.
We are all independent souls, vibrating in our own unique frequencies, but we are also the one and only Light.
We are all one and the same in the Light, but at the same time we vibrate at our own frequencies and have our own experiences. This is another great paradox of the Light.
To find out more, visit Andy Petro’s website
See also Peter Panagore’s article on EMI
