Tui
Jedi
I thought I read an article "Can you will yourself to die?" on Sott.net recently, but I cannot find it there anymore. Here is the other source for the article: http://www.hopesandfears.com/hopes/now/question/216619-will-to-die. Perhaps this is where I read it and not on Sott.net.
Anyway, this article reminded me of an experience I had some years ago.
It was about ten, fifteen years ago. I was pondering death and the possibility of reincarnation and an afterlife, and what life after death could possibly be like. I was not convinced that something like past life regression is possible. Nevertheless, I made an appointment with a certain retired university professor who was doing past life regressions - the first and last time I have ever done something like that. But I wanted to see if I could find out more about death and the afterlife.
At the appointed time (15:00) I knocked on his door and lay down on the professor's regression couch - it was more like an upholstered medical examination table. He stood behind me, at my head, and asked me to close my eyes and describe where I am and what is happening. Just like that - no hypnosis or counting me backwards in time or snapping of fingers. Maybe he did a kind of unseen zapping thing to my head to take me back in time.
I listened to myself (without ever having had these kind of thoughts before) describing a past life of mine some millenniums ago, when I (then also a female) was in a leadership position. The professor asked me to describe some of my tasks and responsibilities, which I did. Eventually, in that life, I realised that the purpose for which I had incarnated could not be fulfilled. The time had come to let go of the purpose and die. I lay down on my bed and without any pain, gurglings, or fear, immediately "passed over" to some other existence, a process as easily accomplished as crossing the threshold between rooms of my then residence. I instantly materialised on the "other side", where I was awaited by three oldish sages, dressed appropriately in the brown robes in which these kind of wise men characters are depicted in movies! I approached them happily. It seemed as if I knew them well, because we greeted each other with lots of smiles and friendliness, holding hands and embracing when they welcomed me back. I apologised, saying that I am sorry to have returned before the time agreed upon, but matters had developed in such a way, have progressed too far away from my intended purpose, that it had become impossible to achieve certain aims - there was no point in wasting further time on that life. The sages agreed and completely accepted my decision to return (die).
Then I heard the professor saying we are done, "You can now open your eyes". He asked me, "How much time do you think have passed since 3 o'clock?". I said about 10 or 15 minutes and was surprised to learn that it was after 5 o'clock. I remembered, and still do, every detail of what I had experienced during my regression, if that is what it was. I informed the professor that I was highly skeptical of the information that I gave him and that he should not regard it very seriously as I am a professional writer of fiction and it was highly likely that I was just spinning a tale.
But even if most of it was just my imagination, the decision to end my life through pure will, and the easy "walk over" at the end of that tale, and seeing myself and the three men in forms that looked very physical in every respect, have silently stayed with me all these years, comforting me a little that maybe there is indeed life before birth and after death.
Just an incident from my life, fwiw.
Ynna
Anyway, this article reminded me of an experience I had some years ago.
It was about ten, fifteen years ago. I was pondering death and the possibility of reincarnation and an afterlife, and what life after death could possibly be like. I was not convinced that something like past life regression is possible. Nevertheless, I made an appointment with a certain retired university professor who was doing past life regressions - the first and last time I have ever done something like that. But I wanted to see if I could find out more about death and the afterlife.
At the appointed time (15:00) I knocked on his door and lay down on the professor's regression couch - it was more like an upholstered medical examination table. He stood behind me, at my head, and asked me to close my eyes and describe where I am and what is happening. Just like that - no hypnosis or counting me backwards in time or snapping of fingers. Maybe he did a kind of unseen zapping thing to my head to take me back in time.
I listened to myself (without ever having had these kind of thoughts before) describing a past life of mine some millenniums ago, when I (then also a female) was in a leadership position. The professor asked me to describe some of my tasks and responsibilities, which I did. Eventually, in that life, I realised that the purpose for which I had incarnated could not be fulfilled. The time had come to let go of the purpose and die. I lay down on my bed and without any pain, gurglings, or fear, immediately "passed over" to some other existence, a process as easily accomplished as crossing the threshold between rooms of my then residence. I instantly materialised on the "other side", where I was awaited by three oldish sages, dressed appropriately in the brown robes in which these kind of wise men characters are depicted in movies! I approached them happily. It seemed as if I knew them well, because we greeted each other with lots of smiles and friendliness, holding hands and embracing when they welcomed me back. I apologised, saying that I am sorry to have returned before the time agreed upon, but matters had developed in such a way, have progressed too far away from my intended purpose, that it had become impossible to achieve certain aims - there was no point in wasting further time on that life. The sages agreed and completely accepted my decision to return (die).
Then I heard the professor saying we are done, "You can now open your eyes". He asked me, "How much time do you think have passed since 3 o'clock?". I said about 10 or 15 minutes and was surprised to learn that it was after 5 o'clock. I remembered, and still do, every detail of what I had experienced during my regression, if that is what it was. I informed the professor that I was highly skeptical of the information that I gave him and that he should not regard it very seriously as I am a professional writer of fiction and it was highly likely that I was just spinning a tale.
But even if most of it was just my imagination, the decision to end my life through pure will, and the easy "walk over" at the end of that tale, and seeing myself and the three men in forms that looked very physical in every respect, have silently stayed with me all these years, comforting me a little that maybe there is indeed life before birth and after death.
Just an incident from my life, fwiw.
Ynna