Death Brings Context to Life | Dr. Mary Neal | TEDxJacksonHole

Good evening and thank you for being here, I'm Dr. Mary Neal and I are going to talk to you tonight about

death

because the way you understand

death

directly determines how you experience

life

. My own understanding of death changed in 1999, when I died while kayaking in South America. I was trapped under 8 to 10 feet of water. at the base of a waterfall and that I was without oxygen for 30 minutes before CPR was started and when I regained consciousness I was in shock, not because I simply drowned, not because of my multiple broken legs and not because I was on my side . from a remote river with no access to medical care I was now in a state of absolute shock because I couldn't believe I had been sent back to my body from a place I will call heaven, there was peace under the water and I was held and comforted by Christ and No, I didn't just think or hope it was Jesus.

I know it was Christ, just as I would know my husband of 30 years if I had seen him in the supermarket and been taken through a

life

review that had little to do with judgment and everything to do with understanding, compassion and grace and I was shown the beauty that arose from every heartbreak, every challenge and every disappointment of my life and then I was released from the heavens, my spirit rose and came out of the river and I was immediately greeted by a group of people or spirits that had known and loved me since I existed and even as they carried me along this beautiful path woven with fibers of the love of God and exploding with color and flowers and the scent of flowers I could look towards the river and saw how my body swollen with purple color was washed ashore and my friends started performing CPR and I recognized my body and knew I was dead, but despite having a magnificent life with a wonderful husband and these four young children whom I loved more than life itself , I felt at home and I really had no intention of returning and then they told me that it was not my time, that I had more work to do on earth and that I would have to return to my body and when I objected they gave me a long list of work yet to be done, none of which was desirable and all of which would challenge me in one way or another, especially challenging was the news of the coming. and unexpected death of my eldest son who, as many of you know, was hit and killed by a car ten years later, now, of course, I returned to my body and spent many of the following days and weeks moving between the two worlds, one that contained my past and my future the god of the universe and all that is love and one that contained my present with the family that I cherished in the life that I enjoyed now I knew I would never be the same again but at that moment I wondered if It was simply a figment of my imagination, maybe it was a death experience that I had always expected, but the problem is that I had no expectations like most of you.

I had never thought much about my own death and I certainly hadn't. I heard about near-death or after-death experiences in 1999, and if I had known about them, I would have dismissed them out of hand because, although I was raised in the church, I easily exchanged my religious beliefs for intellectual beliefs when I went to medical school. . at school and in 1999 I was a well trained scientist, surgeon, I was very confident in myself, I was intelligent, I certainly didn't think I needed God, I was probably a mix of humanist, rationalist, materialist, I may be a cultural Christian , I really don't know, but what.

What I did know is that my underwater experiences certainly seemed real and God not only seemed real but He was the only real one who mattered, so I needed answers. I spent many months of my hospitalization in rehab searching for scientific answers and first I looked to my doctor. The records and people had been in the river and then really driven by a desire to discard everything I had been told. Then I read a lot about drowning, about the physiology of a dying brain, about anoxia, dreams, hallucinations, seizures, neurotransmitter releases, but all these conventional explanations fell apart.

In short, the scientific gaps were truly unbridgeable and nothing could explain my unscathed survival or my profound spiritual experience. I finally realized that I had had a near-death or after-death experience and discovered that I was not alone in these nearly 20 million. Only in this country have people had these deeply transformative experiences and in every culture a continuation of the soul or consciousness is described after death, every religious tradition and every age group, even very young children who have never been exposed to Religion tells of near-death experiences and we all talk about the same things, we talk about this purity of divine love and the interconnection with all living creatures and, regardless of what our previous beliefs were, God becomes the only truth, of In fact, 75% of atheists find themselves identifying as Jesus or God. and our understanding of death changes forever the fear disappears and we all hope to return home one day, maybe you understand death as a resurrection or a day of judgment or a turning to another life or maybe just the dissolution in the energy of the universe.

Or maybe you think it's just a hole in the ground waiting to be filled, but what you think about death is important and I'm here tonight to tell you that death is nothing more than the door to home and it's the very existence of it. . home that

brings

context

, purpose and meaning to our time here on earth now to help you understand this idea. I'm going to tell you a story about my childhood home. Now, when I grew up, I loved my home. I loved everything about him. I love me my family my friends my neighborhood my local dog the trees the stream behind the house I love the freshly cut grass when I was home I felt comfortable and content I felt safe and loved and I never really wanted to leave, but one day I I went Now I went to summer camp.

I knew I would face challenges. I was a little nervous. I had never been away from home. I didn't know what to expect. I figured I would learn and grow and maybe become a better me and I did. It was great I learned to swim, sail and water ski, I learned about kindness and humility, I made friends, we had bonfires, it was great, but of course not everything was good, the breads were stale and I didn't really like the meal. One day my sandals were stolen and I was pretty angry, but I actually felt compassion for the girl when I found out about her plight and I ended up giving her most of my clothes and I hated, hated, hated the time I spent in the nurses' cabin. after being stung by a bee, but I was able to find humor in all of this because I knew that my time at camp was temporary and that before long I would return to my comfortable and familiar home.

Sure enough, the camp bus came and took me home and my friends were sad and cried a little, but actually I really wanted to go home and sleep in my own bed and I knew that my family would be waiting for me and they would be very happy. happy for my return now that I am. What I do with this story is that it was the existence and reality of my childhood home and the knowledge that I would return there that gave a

context

to my time at the camp that allowed me to live it as a great adventure and since 1999 so It is exactly how I experienced my life here on earth, the reality and existence of our true and permanent spiritual home, which I discovered on the other side of death and the knowledge that I in you will return there one day,

brings

context to my time on earth that allows me to experience it as a great adventure with great meaning and purpose and changes the way I experience both the good and bad times.

Now what is another way to understand this concept. On the next slide, many of you will immediately see the white cup and some of you will see the blue faces and you see it as a matter of focus and perspective, if you concentrate completely on the cup you will miss the blue faces that give it context and if they focus entirely on the faces We will miss the beauty and purpose of the cup. Now imagine for a minute that this white cup represents our life here on earth and the blue faces represent the people, love and reality of our home without the background of our home and the phases.

Within her, this white cup of life becomes nothing more than potential. Now the relationship between my childhood home and the camp or the faces and the cup is the same relationship that exists between our true spiritual home and our time on earth. Now many of you may not want to do that. I believe this spiritual home exists and you may not want to talk or even think about your own death, but that does not change the truth and reality of this relationship and I encourage you to wake up, awaken, to the potential of your life and self.

I'm not talking about choosing to live differently or more intentionally. I'm talking about experiencing the profound transformation in your daily life of who you really are, how you live and why you live, that only happens when you live in the context of our true spirituality. home metaphysical questions become important problems become opportunities love becomes the only thing that really matters and the door to experiencing the presence of God in your daily life begins to open and the deepest joy the joy that transcends circumstances will become a state of being, I can honestly tell you that even in my darkest days of sadness and grief after the loss of my son I still experienced great joy because that is the power of this transformation and that is why you take heart now I challenge you tonight to let go of your excuses, let go of your complacency get rid of your intellectual barriers and sit with your thoughts question your current beliefs go home and do some research gather your own data and try to prove what I'm saying wrong because I know you can't and I know even without You are approaching death, if you honestly undertake a process of spiritual exploration and discovery, your daily life will change for the better in ways you can't even imagine, thanks for listening.