PAST THE VEIL
In an earlier Open to Hope essay, I wrote about the gripping After-Death experience of a friend I call Chief. The anesthesiologist had a heart attack 60 feet underwater while scuba diving in 2007 and, by all measures, was clinically dead. (That’s why he insisted on calling it an After-Death experience.)
Chief wanted to write a book about this but crossed over to stay in 2021 before he could finish. He did get as far as drafting a manuscript, which he shared with me because I also wrote a book about the Afterlife (My Dead True Love).
“I died, I lived again, and my life was forever altered,” Chief wrote. He wanted to give hope to those who have lost loved ones, as well as those who wonder if this is all there is.
In the second Open to Hope essay, he described his initial encounter with the other side, traveling toward a curtain of golden light, then being pulled through it by the hand of a guide.
In this, the third essay, Chief takes us deeper into what happened there.
BEYOND THE GOLDEN WALL
We pick up with Chief and his guide standing in a verdant, park-like setting. Chief begins: “We had climbed a hill, and at the far end of a vast valley, wrapped in glowing luminescence, stood buildings. The simple term ‘buildings’ doesn’t do them credit. They carried a majesty and power that instinctively drew you towards them. The buildings seemed to radiate light and were the source of all the luminosity around me.
“The shapes were magnificent,” he continues. “I can remember stately, impossibly tall structures. Spires. The tops were wreathed in clouds. They glistened as if set with gems. Paths converged towards them.”
Groups of individuals appeared from all directions on those paths, he wrote. “They were of every race. Every dress. Like a street in London or New York.
“As we strolled toward the buildings, the crowds increased, and individuals would sometimes step forward and take me by the hand or nod as I passed. Names and relationships streamed through my consciousness. Some—most—I recognized, but others seemed to belong to a past, different life.”
The Journey Continues
“I was conscious of a deep kinship, an abiding oneness with everything around me. Beyond that was an awareness of an infinite Universe. Everything here possessed an intelligence. I knelt by the path and held a leaf in my hands. It seemed as though I could peer into the very heart of the leaf, aware of an intellect that resided within the plant itself. More than just an awareness of detail was a sense of inward descent and insight into the very nature and soul or personality of the plant itself. Cells appeared that were living and functioning, movement of tiny structures flowed and changed. The heart of the cell, DNA, was coiled, glistening, electric and alive.”
Chief stepped back into the wave of individuals flowing toward the buildings.
LIBRARY OF KNOWLEDGE
He continues: “We neared the doors, as imposing as the buildings themselves. ‘Are these the gates of heaven?’ The question caused my guide to slow his pace. ‘No, these are the doors to the library of knowledge of the Universe, if you will. A sanctuary of learning.’
“We slowed and turned toward a particularly beckoning door. The room was filled with a brilliant iridescent light. Other beings were within, luminescent. ‘The Library,’ came into my mind, unbidden.
“Within that room, complete lessons were symbolized within a single image. Answers. And questions I had yet to ask. Images and visions swirled within my consciousness. Knowledge was literally being poured into my mind. The infinite answers would come as I evolved and was ready for them.
Love of Family Brings Him Back
“I asked to see the rest of the Universe, beyond this realm, beyond my perception of this world. The light flowed around me, and I was transported at infinite speed through the solar system, then toward endless galaxies. My consciousness was expanding, but I implicitly knew that this was just a foretaste, the barest intimation of knowledge and wisdom available to us all. I was riding light itself.”
Chief continues: “I sensed an upward pressure. The thought echoed within my mind: Remember, I am not done with you yet. The pressure became more intense. It seemed I moved upward, and the golden glow returned. It was the palpable wall of golden light through which I’d originally passed.
“My purpose was to return. As I moved closer to the wall, I felt a gentle push. I was in conflict. I wanted to remain, yet I also realized at that moment how desperately I wanted to return to the love of my family. At my deepest level, I had a quiet reassurance—actually an absolute conviction—that I would, in the future, return. Not only return, but be welcomed.”
Chief returned to his body from his After-Death experience in 2007, physically unscathed despite his deep-water heart attack. He ultimately left our world for good in 2021.
Learn more about the author at her website, https://mydeadtruelove.com
