Betty J. Eadie had a particularly detailed and spectacular NDE. She recounts it in her book *In the Arms of the Light*. In her second book, *The Awakening Heart*, she recounts the rest of her journey. She has worked tirelessly to share the message of love, hope, and joy she received during her NDE. Here are a few extracts from his book.
Life does not end with death
Life does not end with death. Death is a rebirth into a spiritual world of light and love. It is a transition from the physical to the spiritual. It is no more frightening or painful than walking from one room to another through an open door. It is also a joyful return to our natural home—a return to the Creator who sent us here and who welcomes us back with open arms. I know this because on November 18, 1973, I experienced death following a hemorrhage during surgery.
I was shown that everything we do has an impact—for better or for worse—on the rest of the world, and I was given a review of my life. I experienced the effects of all my thoughts and actions. I learned that God loves us all unconditionally, that we are eternal spirits who came here to grow and learn to love. After we die, we are welcomed into heaven with great joy and celebration.
Love is all that matters
The essence of what I have learned is that love is supreme, because God is love, and that the only way to be like Him is to love as He does… unconditionally. The message I brought back is this: “Above all, love one another.”
We have reached a crossroads, and a great awakening has begun throughout the world. People are hungry for answers and for meaning in their lives. We are finally ready for God’s message of love. One of our missions on earth is to grow in the Spirit by sharing this love. My prayer is that God will use this book to help us live more fully in love.
I think about the magnificent power of the ripple effect that has been shown to me. I know that reaching even a single soul with the message of God’s love will set off a chain reaction. This message of hope will be passed on to others, and then to still others. It will ripple out endlessly, reaching countless souls.
A Being of Infinite Love
During my NDE, I saw Jesus. He didn’t need to show me the nail marks on his hands or the wound in his side to prove who he was. I belonged to him just as I was, and the fact that he had suffered wasn’t the point. It was his divine love that was manifesting itself. The aura surrounding his body was dazzling white and full of energy. Even though this light shone around him, I saw that he was the light and that it came from within.
His voice resonated within me, its rich, vibrant tones penetrating my spiritual being. It was a melody I could feel as if I were an instrument he was playing. His voice gave me life and healed me. I have never known greater joy than his unconditional love for me!
The rays of light surrounding Jesus were filled with knowledge and love. Simply standing in his presence and absorbing him gave me the ability to spread love and knowledge within myself. My spiritual body was filled with his divine love and understanding.
So Many Misconceptions About God
I began to realize that I had passed on many misconceptions about God and life in general to my family, and that they would pass this knowledge on to their own families and then to society. We are like empty vessels at birth: what fills us then is what we pour out later.
I had taught my children what I had learned about God, constantly warning them that God was watching over them and knew all their “sins.” They came to believe, just as I did, that if they did even the slightest wrong, something bad would happen to them—and that God would be to blame!
My fears were reflected in them. I had no intention of using this in a threatening or punitive way, but as a warning—exactly as I had received it. But because of this, my children carried within them a fear and a sense of guilt that hindered their growth and their love for God.
A New Vision
My view of God has changed completely, and I’ve started teaching my children differently. First of all, I’ve taught them that God loves them unconditionally and that they are part of Him—literally, His spiritual children. As a parent, He wants only the best for them and will give it to them if their hearts desire it. We also prayed differently—from the bottom of our hearts, not just with lip service—repeating what I had taught them before. They also needed to know that God doesn’t punish them by causing bad things to happen in their lives. In reality, these things often happen as a result of our own bad decisions or the decisions of others.
Every morning, I woke up with the same thoughts. I longed for a place that didn’t exist on earth, a place my heart yearned for deeply. The sounds and melodies of that heavenly garden, where everything glorified God, could not be replicated on earth. And more than anything, I longed for even a small measure of the love I had experienced there, but I found that nothing here could compare. I now understood why it was important for us to pass through the “veil of forgetfulness” when we come to earth… because the memory is so horribly painful. I missed the warmth of God’s eternal and unconditional love so much. Being deprived of it was what I imagined hell to be like.
We are rough diamonds
I knew that as part of His plan—as part of our growth—God may allow us to go through trials during a time of sifting, cleansing, and purification. This forces us to make new decisions based on our faith and trust in Him. Each of us grows like a rough diamond. The jagged edges are then smoothed out, and the unnecessary roughness is removed—until we have multiple facets and many different perspectives. This also makes us less critical and more compassionate after experiencing life’s pain.
I realized that I could trust in prayer. I knew and believed that if I asked for God’s will to be done in my life, my prayers would be answered in due time. I began to exercise my faith through prayer, as I had been taught, by thanking God for everything—even things that seemed negative at first glance. I now saw that God was teaching me to be patient and to wait for Him. By trusting Him, believing in Him, and knowing that He truly is in control of the situation, I knew that He would grant us—His beloved children—the righteous desires of our hearts when we asked for them.
Love Healed Me
I needed to let go of the past by creating love here and now, in my life and in the world I now lived in. I chose to heal from my depression by serving others, having faith, and sharing love—by doing the things I had been shown are part of the reason God placed us here.
I began to heal. At first, I did small things: cooking a meal for sick friends, babysitting for young parents who needed some time together, calling elderly people who were stuck at home. Those first small steps led to others, and then to still more. I kept helping others because it required energy and focus, and because I appreciated the love I received in return.
As I continued the process of opening myself up to God and letting go, I healed more quickly. Serving others allowed me to make new friends, and I was blessed by their love. Most importantly, God was able to reach me through my open heart. I began to experience His loving presence in great abundance once again.
Finding God in Everything Around Me
Seeking God’s presence in my life was more important than ever. I had to first find Him in everything around me, and then seek His presence within me.
When I began to see Him unexpectedly—everywhere, in everyone, and in everything—my soul rejoiced, and I felt like a child seeing everything for the first time and with greater clarity.
God is love
God is love, in its purest form. His love seeks nothing from us and demands nothing of us. His love is given unconditionally. Anyone who wishes to may receive it. To be in His presence and share His love, we must become like Him and learn to love without judgment or conditions.
I understood the fullness of love now that I had experienced it with Jesus. I longed for it now, here on earth, with all my heart—not only in my life, but within me, just as I had felt it before.
Love is meant to be shared
I reflected on the unconditional love I had experienced in the spiritual world. I remembered that the light emanating from Jesus was knowledge filled with love, whereas the fainter light I had noticed within myself was more a longing for love than love itself. However, the longer I remained in his presence, the brighter my light shone, absorbing some of his light, which he shared with me. Then, just before I returned, I noticed that my spirit, too, was radiating an abundance of light—a light overflowing with love! It was his loving presence that I had absorbed, and it caused me to grow.
I know that as human beings, we must share light and love with one another—by coming together and helping each other grow. It is a spiritual exchange of energy, not the selfish pursuit of physical love.
Love Heals Us
Our unity—the part of us that is love—resides in our cellular memory. It is present within each of us. It is the most healing energy we possess.
I have come to understand that Christ’s message is about loving one another. Nothing stands between us and God’s love—except for the obstacles we put in the way, which prevent us from accessing God’s love. I realized that the judgments I had made actually masked fears I didn’t want to face.
Love knows no bounds
Unconditional love knows no bounds. There are no “hows,” “whos,” “ifs,” or “whens.”
In the company of Jesus, I experienced the boundless and unconditional love of my Creator, my God. The joy it brought me was incomparable.
From then on, I no longer wanted anyone to convert. I realized that they had to want to change on their own. I knew that God, our loving Father, would place that desire in their hearts at the right time. When we trust in God, He guides us and leads us to deeper understanding when we need it.
Growth is a process, and when we take the time to internalize and understand what we believe, we are blessed even more abundantly. Our beliefs shine through on our faces for everyone to see. All I had to do was freely share what had been given to me and set the best possible example of love.
God is so close to us
I began to think of God as a father in my communications with him. “God” is a way of referring to the ultimate Source, the Omnipotent One, but the God I encountered was more like a father—someone personal and loving, not just a figure of authority. We spoke together as a parent and a child.
I shared my joys and fears with him. I began to thank him for the things he spoke about—which was pretty much everything. I began to look forward to these moments and quickly realized that my conversations with Him didn’t necessarily have to take place at night, on my knees, but that I could be in constant communication with Him throughout the day.
When Love Awakens
As my beliefs were challenged—both by my near-death experience and by my heightened abilities—the unconditional love stored within my cells began to awaken. My spirit awoke, remembering the love I had felt in Jesus’ presence and how that love had filled me to overflowing and caused me to grow. Now, my cells remembered an abundance of love—unconditional love. My greatest challenge was learning to use that love for a mission that had not yet been fully revealed to me.
I shared my message with these people. They simply wanted me to tell them more about Jesus. They wanted to hear about unconditional love. They wanted to hear that they are exactly who they’re meant to be and that they’re in the right place to grow in their walk with God. They wanted to feel God’s love, just as I had felt it, and I was eager to share it with them. As I spoke to this group of people, I knew I couldn’t have stood there in front of them to share a part of my experience—or a part of myself—without knowing that God was there, right by my side. But I knew He was there with me and that He would be there throughout my journey, more than I had ever known before.
Suicide is not a real solution
Suicide is a temporary solution. You escape your misery only for a brief moment, until you come face to face with it again during the life review. You interrupt your spiritual development—the growth that determines your experience in heaven. We are all at different spiritual levels—here and there. If you do not grow here, you will have to do so there. The wonders of heaven are beyond our comprehension. If we live in accordance with the spirit with which we came to earth, we can progress more quickly.
We do this by expressing the love of God that is within us—by loving God, loving ourselves, and loving one another. It’s as simple as that. I’m sorry you’ve suffered, and I wish with all my heart that I could share some of your pain. But you can find the love you need. God is always with us; He is constant. He is like the sun, and we are like the earth. We revolve around Him. He never turns away from us, but we often turn away from Him.
There are many atheists who live just as faithfully—if not more faithfully—to God’s message of love than many religious people. But they are missing something by leaving God out of their lives. If you can see ahead and know that death does not end in the grave, you prepare yourself a little more and challenge yourself more. Knowing that we are responsible for our actions and understanding the ripple effect they create, we spend more time preparing for the other side than for death itself.
We remain free after we die
God loves us so much that, even after death, He will not force us to switch from one belief system to another without giving us a choice. As I traveled through the darkness that precedes the light, I saw many people who remained behind after I left. I knew they did not know God’s love, even though God loved them. He kept them there, showering them with love until they reached the point where they would come to know of His existence and be able to move on to another level.
I thought about the souls I had seen preparing to come to Earth. I remembered that their deaths had been planned… just like ours… before we came. I knew that some had come knowing they would stay only a short time. These were souls who did not need a long life on Earth to grow spiritually. They chose to help foster the growth of those they touched during their brief time on Earth. I knew that the pain left by their deaths would be erased when we were all reunited as spirits, and that the suffering of those who had stayed longer was part of the spiritual development that brings us all here. We are here to develop our souls.
Life is a school
Life on Earth is like going to college. Our spirits stay here until we graduate, and then we leave campus to continue our development elsewhere. Some graduates may return if they have gained enough knowledge to come back as teachers.
I thought of the spirits I had seen as they prepared to be born into the bodies of children whose lives would be short or hampered by a disability or illness. Their light was the brightest of all.
When we open ourselves to God to learn more about unconditional love, He gladly sends us the people we need to learn to love without judgment. Sometimes, our existing love is put to the test just so we can see how unconditional it truly is. In this way, our spirit is enriched with a greater love—the pure love of God—and it shines more brightly within us.
Choosing to Love
I saw the heavens part to reveal the earth and its billions of people who find love, learn from experience, and make mistakes. I knew that it is up to us to make the most important decision—to choose for ourselves, each and every one of us, whether we want to open our hearts to God and His love.
Those of us whose hearts have been awakened to God have a responsibility to share His love with others as they make their own decisions. That is the very nature of service and love. All our lights shine brighter when we pass them on.
During an NDE, not all of us see a being of light—the Father and the Savior whom I still think of every day. Not all of us see Jesus. Some have told me they saw the spiritual leader of their belief system—the one who led them there. Others simply see someone they love. Some have told me they were greeted by animals.
Create the Kingdom of Love
George uses the gifts he has been given to share his experience. Sometimes he describes the source of the light, love, and knowledge that filled him as God. At other times, he refers to “infinite wisdom,” or something infinitely universal that we cannot grasp. It is impossible for us, he tells me, to understand our Creator.
But George could grasp the divine plan that unites us all—God’s creations—as spiritual beings in physical bodies. Here on earth, we must grow spiritually as we journey through this world. Time is necessary for earthly life to grow in every way, for each person to connect with eternity and for eternity to connect with them, and for them to understand their own unity with the spirit. He saw that our purpose here is to participate in an awakening, which, he says, will occur when we “expand our spirituality in such a way that matter is transformed.”
In doing so, he continues, we will create the kingdom of God on earth—the kingdom of love. By unifying body and mind and feeling our oneness with all that exists in the universe and with God. Part of Jesus’ message is that the creation of the kingdom of love begins on earth and that each of us is part of it. It is we who will create it.
Our soul reminds us of itself
I have learned that within each of us there is a place where our spirit resides. We are born into this world with our soul—the pure part of ourselves that we bring here from the spiritual realm. As we grow, we gradually lose touch with this spiritual part—our divine self—through a process of forgetting that is necessary for our development.
But we can lose too much of it, and when we have lost all awareness of our divinity, we become spiritually disconnected and depressed. To feel whole again, each of us can and must reconnect with our spiritual selves. Since we are all at different levels of spirituality, each of us arrives at this understanding in our own way.
Finding the Right Balance
Striving for a balance between body and mind is essential for mental and physical health. When I am in this state of balance, my mind is no longer at the mercy of my body. I was taught in the spirit world that the mind can control the flesh by elevating earthly desires to a higher, more spiritual level, and I have found this to be true in my own life.
It is when we achieve this kind of balance that we function in the most creative, spiritual, and natural way. When I start to feel a disconnect or an imbalance between body and mind, I’ve learned to go to a quiet place within myself and reflect on my spiritual needs.
Everyone has a different way of reaching this peaceful place. Some people connect with their inner selves through incense, music, rituals, or other aids. There is no single “correct” method.
What works best for me is simply to remain still, which I can do anywhere and anytime. Then I invite God’s presence to come in. As I contemplate this invisible, spiritual part of myself, I feel it expand to become the largest part of me, overflowing with His love.
Faith helps us move forward
During my travels, I’ve learned that it often seems easier not to move forward. Even the mud in which we’re stuck often seems less frightening and challenging than the unknown path that lies ahead.
Some people use faith as an excuse to remain stuck. They often say, “I have faith, so I’ll wait.” But faith isn’t about waiting—faith is action. We don’t have faith just to wait. When we have faith, we take action.
I have developed my faith by placing God at the center of my life. I have learned that I must maintain a deep sense of peace within myself to achieve this. I must be in tune with the love that God has placed within me. I know that God is love, and if I do not recognize that same love within myself, I cannot express it to others.
Our actions can bring us closer to God
Our actions can also bring us closer to God. We are all at our best when we give the most to others. When we are self-centered, love is hard to find. Love is God’s energy. It flows like electricity or a current. When you release it and allow it to flow through you, it must flow to the other people you touch. It is both a giving and a receiving. When we give love to someone, love literally flows through us, and we can’t help but feel it.
We are here to learn, and for us, that means making mistakes. Learning to love is our goal, and our connection with God will help us achieve it—if we let Him. He loves us, waits for us, and invites us to return to Him.
