What jumps from the pages of Visits to Heaven is the irrefutable evidence that near-death experiences (a euphemism, since these growth-producing experiences happen in instances other than when one thinks death is near) heavily influence healing through love and caring relationships. How does this occur? The answer is simply that the conviction naturally surfaces that there must be something after death, an afterlife in which loved ones are reunited and come to realize that earthly life is but a prelude to a much more significant existence.
Over and over again in the stories you will read, those, who are gifted with the extraordinary, return with an altogether different view of life and death. This is due to the impact the experience has on their inner lives. Consider this: several years ago I interviewed the late Dr. Barbara Rommer, an internist, who had conducted considerable research on NDEs, had written about them, and who had had a “visit” from her husband who preceded her in death. I asked if these things influenced her belief about an afterlife. Her response: “I grieved differently. I even did his eulogy. I could do that because I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the only thing that died was his physical body. I will see him again. I know, not believe.” Notice the emphasis on the word know. It was her emphasis, not mine. This comes from a woman trained in the scientific method.
No one can truly understand the impact of these encounters unless he or she is fortunate to be given the experience. Furthermore, you will discover the impact of the experiences on those reporting them and equally important the messages they have for all who read and believe.
Varga, once again, presents not only life-inspiring accounts, generally unknown to the general public, but makes it clear that there must be a power greater than the self which is brimming with love for all humanity. If you want to learn about another way in which love operates in our world, if you want to read one of the most impressive collections of stories about NDEs ever assembled, this is the book you will not be able to put down and will long remember.
Once more, you will be convinced that those in another existence are very much aware of what survivors have to deal with in adapting to the absence of a loved one, that no one grieves alone, and that our deceased loved ones are very much aware of the painful new routines that must be initiated by survivors.
This is a book to read and reread–in short, to study. Why? Because the information presented is profound, filled with insights to change the quality of life, and is deeply thought provoking. If you value an approach to the spiritual side of life, you have found it.
Preface
Robert Perala
Author of The Divine Blueprint: Roadmap for the New Millennium and The Divine Architect: The Art of Living and Beyond
Life is a mystery school in which we are commissioned to discover the laws between the material world in the here and the hereafter.
Visits to Heaven captures a virtual compendium of stories and examples in near-death experience studies including apparitional appearances, deathbed visitations, ghostly encounters as well as angel visitations and after death communication cases.
The secret of life’s continuum is found throughout Visits to Heaven. Unlocking each case gives the reader an insider view into the revolving life cycle the human soul continues to experience.
Throughout the book we find specific examples from such well-known researchers and authors as Bernie Siegel and Mellen-Thomas Benedict as well as Dannion Brinkley and many others. Each takes us through his experience with those members who exist on the Other Side and continue to visit us in our dreams and in the physical world.
Josie Varga‘s research is extremely well founded as she shows us that God is energy and the infinite wisdom that surrounds all things at all times. All these visits to heaven truly show, as Linda Stewart’s testimony says in one of the chapters of this book, “that God and love are the only reality.” Throughout our journey we find that dying is the easy part; living is hard.
Many surprises are held for the reader to encounter along the way such as the theories which explain that there is a life review we must all encounter in addition to our own judgment of ourselves. We also find that when leaving this earthly plane, the body, apparently, and all of its earthly connection of memory go away. As alarming as that may seem, it is also liberating as we don’t necessarily take all of our pain with us. This disconnect allows us to observe our painful moments for what they are without being overthrown by them which in turn allows us to come to terms with the events of our past life and prepares us for the next.
Visits to Heaven makes for a startling and intelligent report as well as an eye-opening read that allows us to look at the wonders of life before birth, during our time in the material world, and after death.
This book truly shows us that spirit shines bright and lights the way for many. Enjoy the journey!
Introduction
“In the beginning, when God created the universe, the earth was formless and desolate. The raging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness, and the power of God was moving over the water. Then God commanded, ‘Let there be light’—and light appeared.”1 And so begins the book of Genesis.
While researching the near-death phenomenon for this book, I found it very interesting that the first line of the Bible mentions light since it also seems to be a common link between most near-death experiences (NDEs). In his book, Saved by the Light, Dannion Brinkley tells of seeing a light around a Spiritual Being who came to greet him. He writes, “The Being of Light stood directly in front of me. As I gazed into its essence I could see prisms of color, as though it were composed of thousands of tiny diamonds, each emitting the colors of the rainbow.”2
Many who have had near-death experiences believe that this light and God are one and the same. As one NDEr explained, “At some point I felt I was sucked away, and I went into a long dark tunnel; I was sucked at an incredible speed! At the tunnel end there was a glowing pinpoint. In this tunnel there were other beings like myself, and we looked at each other saying, ‘I believe we are dead!’ The more I went forward, the more the light grew. I arrived into this light which was wonderful, very bright, but what hit me the most is that in this light I felt at peace, joy, but most of all I felt an incredible love! This light loved me! This light talked to me! I asked it if it was God, and it answered me, ‘Yes, I am the light!’ This light being (whom I did not see) knew EVERYTHING about me; He knew my life from beginning till end! Once in this light, I remembered who I was; I also got answers to all questions I ever wondered about like who created the universe and how, how does the cosmos work, physics, etc. Oh, yes, I did not learn it, I remembered it!”3
Steven