"The Big Book of Near-Death Experiencers" by PMH Atwater

Third_Density_Resident

Jedi Council Member
I have just completed reading the new book by long-time Near-Death Experience (NDE) researcher, PMH Atwater. I found the book highly interesting, informative, and also disturbing.

Although packed with interesting findings, some of the ones that most stood out for me are listed below:

• 39% of child near-death experiencers (NDEers) identified themselves as coming from other dimensions; 9% believed they were from other planets. A quarter or so of the ‘interdimensional’ child experiencers were aware of a previous existence to their present life not as an individual identity, but rather as being part of existence itself. Could this possibly hint at what it's like to exist prior to existing as an organic portal, or what exists after the second death of organic portals? These children identified with formlessness – like a gas, or waves, or energy pulses, or particles of sparks. ”They talk as though the substance of their being and their place of origin were one and the same; that their beingness is part of the very mechanism and structure that holds together and maintains Creation itself.” I find this last part intriguing – it sounds like this quarter of the 39% group (about 10% of the total) identify with primal matter. Sounds familiar. However three-quarters of the ‘interdimensional’ children believed birth and death to be entrance and exit points “to a single life stream or life continuum inhabited by the type of spirits they once were and would be again. These realms, they said, were their true home.”

• It’s interesting that Atwater found that none of the 3000 adults she interviewed identified as coming from interdimensional realms; only ‘other planets’ were ever mentioned, if at all, by adults.

• Most child NDEers ate more meat after their experience; most adult NDEers had more vegetarian diets. I am not sure what this might mean; perhaps the changes in brain structure, which most certainly occur, demand a diet higher in protein and iron in the growing child brain than in the adult.

• Three types of light consistently reported by experiencers are: positive, negative, and primary. ‘Positive light’ or ‘bright light’ was seen as ‘white’; ‘negative light’ or ‘dark light’ was perceived as ‘womb-like’ and purely black. Primary light was ‘colourless’. All three types had very positive and beneficial effects for most experiencers, although the ‘primary’ type, perceived as ‘the origin of all origins’, had the most beneficial effects.

Most NDEers have a craving for the gaining of knowledge and for service to others – which indicates that their experience is a largely positive thing. All of this begs the question of whether the experiencer was already innately STO or whether it was the experience itself that turned them from being (potentially) STS into STO. Most experiencers felt that what they went through was like a ‘shove’ in the ‘right direction’ – as if they were getting ‘off track’ in their ‘true purpose’.

• Atwater mentions Kenneth Ring’s research, and how he found that a significant number of NDEers have had UFO experiences also. However, Atwater notes that unlike those only having NDEs, the UFO experiencers’ lives are more troubled and negative in the long-run (and we at SOTT all know why this is). My take on all this is that NDErs become more prone to UFO experiences because the rewiring of their brain structure enables UFO experiences to occur more readily – in other words it is more receptive to higher realities. Unlike Ring, Atwater did not conclude that NDEers identify UFOs in a positive light.

• Possible description of the Second Death – ‘The Darkness that Knows’. This was described by one person as a state totally devoid of light, a formless mode of pure consciousness in which no thoughts or feelings exist, and yet there is still an awareness of existence, a ‘bliss of knowingness’. One of the experiencers of this ‘darkness that knows’ is convinced that it has something to do with a type of consciousness that interacts with Creation and created matter.

• IQs of most NDEers increased markedly. Many report being unable to operate electrical equipment because it keeps on malfunctioning, including watches, lights and computers.

• Most child experiencers believe great Earth changes are just around the corner. Atwater calculated, based on the children’s descriptions of themselves in the future with their own children and grandchildren, that such changes would transpire from 2013 onwards. This is consistent with what SOTT has found.

There’s a lot more to talk about (the book is 473 pages, and each page is much larger than the average book). However I will conclude by saying that I found the book to be an excellent source of information relating to the NDE. Even the alternative, 3D materialistic theories are presented and then systematically demolished. In many ways the book is like an encyclopaedic compendium of all the NDE research ever done. Anecdotes are included throughout to help illustrate certain findings. Probably the best part of the book was the descriptions of the after effects of the NDE. Most scientists who scoff at the NDE or write it off as the 'dying brain' completely ignore the profound after effects. Any scientist MUST account for the after effects in order to be a true scientist.
 
Third_Density_Resident said:
I have just completed reading the new book by long-time Near-Death Experience (NDE) researcher, PMH Atwater. I found the book highly interesting, informative, and also disturbing.

[snipped]

There’s a lot more to talk about (the book is 473 pages, and each page is much larger than the average book). However I will conclude by saying that I found the book to be an excellent source of information relating to the NDE.
Thanks for this post, Third Density Resident!

After reading this, I plan on getting this book. Sounds like an intriguing research.
 
Third_Density_Resident said:
• Possible description of the Second Death – ‘The Darkness that Knows’. This was described by one person as a state totally devoid of light, a formless mode of pure consciousness in which no thoughts or feelings exist, and yet there is still an awareness of existence, a ‘bliss of knowingness’. One of the experiencers of this ‘darkness that knows’ is convinced that it has something to do with a type of consciousness that interacts with Creation and created matter.
Hey, that is exactly and precisely what I experienced during an Ayahuasca trip. The experience was so good and meaningful that I lost all interest in Ayahuasca from that point onwards. Like if I was looking for something and I found it and that's it...

I distinctively remember 'feeling' or 'sensing' that the state described as ‘The Darkness that Knows’ was the natural or general state (for me, at least) and that this reality was just a kind of exception or dream, a temporary, a particular solution for the equation that describes All That Is.

Anyway, I am definitely getting that book.
Thank you very much for you very interesting post, Third_Density_Resident.
 
Laura said:
Fascinating!

While reading this, I thought about some Eastern teachings of Nirvana - dissolving into formlessness - and wondered if some of these ideas came from Organic Portals.
Maybe OPs can become aware of being part of something ineffable, to some degree, whilst incarnate here.
 
Not having had any such experiences myself, those descriptions bring to mind a few things from my reading: the "black virgin"/ocean of undifferentiated potential/"intelligent infinity"/the "field". I think that an OP and a non-OP would have different interpretations of such an experience. An OP may experience such "oneness" and come to the idea that life is about returning to such a state of formlessness, while a non-OP might realize that at another level, all is ONE, therefore becoming more responsible and empathic in THIS world of differentiation.

I wonder what the correlation between the different groups of child NDE'ers and psychoneuroses/giftedness is... That might give us some insight into how each "type" of human reacts to such an experience, and what philosophies they might create after their experience.
 
Third_Density_Resident said:
Most NDEers have a craving for the gaining of knowledge and for service to others – which indicates that their experience is a largely positive thing. All of this begs the question of whether the experiencer was already innately STO or whether it was the experience itself that turned them from being (potentially) STS into STO. Most experiencers felt that what they went through was like a ‘shove’ in the ‘right direction’ – as if they were getting ‘off track’ in their ‘true purpose’.
The statement above strikes a chord within my being and I must speak out. I believe there is some truth in this. When I began to die after a car accident, I was speeding towards the 'light', and I 'screamed/cried/let' out that "I'M NOT DONE", and wanted to and did come back. Tis a long story but this experience is a main point in why I do believe in exit points as pointed out by the C's. The NDE definately change my character and have been seeking ever since.
 
Laura said:
Fascinating!

While reading this, I thought about some Eastern teachings of Nirvana - dissolving into formlessness - and wondered if some of these ideas came from Organic Portals.
I think that this statement is a misinterpretation of a concept. Nirvana is not negative excistence, a cessation, but absolute one, because every determination or form is a hindrance in the path of realization of oneness. We could understand this if we consider the absolute as beyond being.


'They talk as though the substance of their being and their place of origin were one and the same; that their beingness is part of the very mechanism and structure that holds together and maintains Creation itself.'

I find this last part intriguing – it sounds like this quarter of the 39% group (about 10% of the total) identify with primal matter.
Maybe they identified themselves with consciousness. They felt their similarity with a principle that sustains them.


'The Darkness that Knows.' This was described by one person as a state totally devoid of light, a formless mode of pure consciousness in which no thoughts or feelings exist, and yet there is still an awareness of existence, a 'bliss of knowingness'.
This agrees with the understanding that the absolute is outwardly white and inwardly, or in itself black. This is black sun that corresponds numerically to zero. As our visible sun is number one or relative absolute - being, concsiousness and bliss in vedantic trinity. We can speak also of krishna, which means black and arjuna, which means white.
 
Rauno said:
Nirvana is not negative excistence, a cessation,
Wikipedia said:
"The cessation of becoming means Nirvāna"
'Cessation of becoming' sounds much like a descent into primal matter and unconsciousness: the contractile opposite of gathering knowledge and awareness, which is further suggested by the following:

Wikipedia said:
In Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta the Buddha likens [nirvana] to the cessation and extinguishing of a fire where the materials for sustenance has been removed[...]

[Nirvana is] the perfect peace of the mind that is free from craving, anger and other afflictive states [...].
Free from all the material necessary for the Work.

Wikipedia said:
This peace, which is in reality the fundamental nature of the mind, is revealed when the root causes of the afflictive states are dissolved.
Shane said:
Dabrowski said:
The majority of the mentally retarded, as well as those with psychopathic mental structure, do not experience inner conflicts, though they are often involved in external conflicts.
Wikipedia said:
[Nirvana] carries further connotations of stilling, cooling, and peace.
No inner struggle, no need to Work, no growth.

Given that the Buddha lived 2500 years ago, it is a certainty that his teachings have been co-opted and twisted in order to keep people asleep. At our level of reality, inner struggle - not the 'cessation of becoming' - is a necessary part of the Work. Perhaps it is so at all levels of reality - as above, so below.

Laura said:
Fascinating!

While reading this, I thought about some Eastern teachings of Nirvana - dissolving into formlessness - and wondered if some of these ideas came from Organic Portals.
It seems to me that an Organic Portal's idea of nirvana would look like 'dissolving into formlessness'. Perhaps they carry a deep and largely unconscious memory of their origin as an undifferentiated consciousness. If this is their first incarnation into third density, then falling back into the soul pool would look very attractive, osit. I see it like waves in a body of water - the water being the OP soul pool, the crests of the waves being the incarnations of the soul pool into individual 3D bodies, and the OP idea of Nirvana being the return to the body of water.
 
Near-Death experiences - the rest of the story

Hi

I have been reading a book by P.M.H. Atwater, her last it seems on Near-Death experiences, and I have been intrigued by the correspondences to the Cassiopeaen material, and comments on the Forum. I am presenting this as validation from a different angle of what the C's and others have said, but I'd like to say that there is a whole lot more in her book that I don't fully understand and I am re-reading it now.

I am reproducing some passages from the book, with my comments after words.

page 106, Personal experiences of core truth
"One way to appreciate what this means is to learn something about the legacy of the Tibetan storytellers called Gesar Artists. These storytellers, although usually illiterate, are able to recount numerous lines of extraordinary sophistication - tales of their most venerated hero Gesar, s knoght from the \Kingdom of heavern sent to earth to save and protect Tibetans. Gesar's story has been passed from generation to generation, but not by memorizng it. To be a true "Gesar Artist" (not just a storyteller), one must be "god-instructed". One must go through something like a near-death experience or what shamans call "dying unto the self"(an ego deah) in order to achieve the personal experince of what Gesar came to earth to teach.
God-instructed. . . that's what the Gesar Artists call it. For those near death experiencers who had longer or more complex episodes, that's exactly what it felt like, as if they were instructed by God..."

For me this not only connects to the shamanic experience, but to a wider question. According to the work of P.M.H. Atwater the number of people on the planet who have had a near-death experience is approaching 5%, and I am wondering if these NDE(Near-death experience) people will also be able to "hold the frequency" as it is called for the coming wave, if this near-death experiences are previously planned ways of waking up people.
I wonder if this is what the C's meant, in part, when they mentioned that there are other groups that are working towards the same goal as the FOCM.
Could this group of experiencers be one of those groups?

page 116 I got what I needed
"There was one pattern, and only one pattern, that I found present in every single case(of Near-death experience ed.) I saw, and that was that during the near-death scenario, experiencers had the opportunity to come face to face with whatever existed and was fully integrated within their deepest self. If you are honest about near-death episodes and examine them in context with the life of each expereincer, you will discover what I did: scenarios complement on some level the inner reality of those who experience them."

When I read this it brought to mind what the C's have said about the experience of the wave, and that is in part that we will be confronted by our deepest selves, and that for us the work is to prepare ourselves for this event. I wonder if the experiences of experiencers of near-death might help us in doing that work? I am not suggesting that we go around killing ourselves!

page 143 colloidal conditions
"The colloidal condition is a peculiar in-between state that occurs when forces suddenly collapse and then converge. This in-between sstate creates anti force, which is antigravity. Particles caught in this unique state between imposion and explosion transmute and remain forever changed by that transmutation. On a molecular level, these particles show evidence of enlargement and of having taken on a different and enhanced characteristics.
Recognize this? No? Well, maybe this illustration will help.
Let's take a look at what happens when water is stirred. There are several ways you can stir water. For the sake of this discussion, we'll rotate it.Spin the water, round and round. Faster and faster. Really spin it. The stop it suddenly and revers direction.
Did you see what happened? When you stopped the spin, the water collapsed into itself, creating an implosion.But just before you initiated the reverse spin, where the water could explode back out again, conditions mysteriously changed. |Both the water and everything contained in it were briefly held in suspension. This is called colloidal condition; the particles caught therein are referred to as colloids.
The same thing csan heppen to the human brain if suddenly hit, jarred, or severely jiggled, espacially during an automobile accident or as a result of a fall. Typically a colloid-like suspension of consciosness will follow such trauma, whereby the environment appears to expand out as time slows to a standstill. The individual feeld somehow caught in bewtween realities when this occurs, as if he or she has slipped through a crack in time and space and suddenly become resident of a world neither here nor there. This peculiar feeling of being suspended in between realities affects a person so deeply that it can permanently alter the way the individual regards the world at large and his or her place in it."

The first thing that came to mind when I read this was "spinning!" This sounds like the spinning exercise where you spin 99 times and then stop. What next occurred to me was magnetite, and detoxing. If you are spinning around, you are influencing the magnetic field around your body, and are you 'charging' the magnetite in your body? BUT if you have heavy metals in your body, and/or a flouridated pineal gland, could this not interfere with this magnetic charging? so, by detoxing and ridding our bodies of metals other than magnetite, would this fundamentaly change the spinning experience?
This is just an idea and I don't know if the terms 'magnetic' or 'charging' are applicable, but there were the ones first to mind.
To test this, I have been doing 'test spins' as I detox, to see if I can notice any effect. Would anyone else have any input on this question of detox-spinning-colloidal changes?

There is lots more in this book, and particularily of interest to me: chapter 20 "Brain Shift: deep structures", and although it is referenced (the colloidal thoughts reference Viktor Schauberger) it is not heavy on the references EXCEPT insofar as she is always referencing her own many years of research into near-death experiences, in conjunction with her own experience of dying 3 times.

Ken
 
Re: Near-Death experiences - the rest of the story

February 10, 2017
After a NDE Dr. Tony Cicoria began receiving music compositions from “The Other Side”

https://youtu.be/WUXzj0Tczz4
In 1994, Dr. Anthony Cicoria was struck by lightning and almost lost his life. After he was struck, he had an out-of-body experience where he says he saw his own body lying on the floor.
in this interview, Dr. Cicoria describes what it was like getting struck by lightning and the feeling he had when he saw "the light."

After being struck by lightning and having a near-death experience, he began receiving what he terms "downloads" in the form of music composition for the piano which were given to him from “the other side”, he then got the desire to play the piano.

Session 19 July 1995
Q: (L) Now, the question has arisen that, since other dimensional beings have the ability to kidnap or abduct or forcibly extract souls, do they also have the capability of manipulating our soul essences after they have left our bodies during the transition to fifth density?

A: Not correct.

Q: (L) They do not?

A: No, you see when your physical body expires, and you enter fifth density, this is done one way and one way only: by passing through a conduit which opens specifically for the purpose of transference from third density to fifth density. Now, something often referred to in your terminology as a silver thread, is like a closed line which opens when this conduit is needed. That's rather awkward, but it's the only way to describe it. So that when the physical body terminates, this line is opened forming a conduit through which the soul passes naturally. However, part of the existence of this conduit is that it is absolutely impenetrable by any force from any density level. Therefore, souls in the process of transferring from third density to fifth density are not in any way able to be molested or tampered with. And it should be mentioned here, also, that the soul imprint of the physical body always has a connection to fifth density and that is through the so-called "silver thread." That always exists as the third density soul's doorway to fifth density. It can be opened at a moment's notice whenever needed. When it is opened it becomes a conduit. Through that conduit the soul passes. And it is not subject to interference by anything. This is not a deliberate construction, it is merely the natural process similar to what could be described as the protection mechanisms existing on second level density for creatures which are not capable of protecting themselves through their own conscious thought processes. For example, your turtle is contained within a shell that protects it. That shell is impenetrable by any natural forces, therefore nothing that is natural can harm that turtle. However, the same can exist for any creature when it is connected by the silver thread to fifth density. Once it is passing through the conduit produced by the opening of the silver thread, then, of course, it cannot be tampered with. Do you understand?

Q: (L) Yes, but why do so many souls, when they leave the body, not traverse this conduit, and why do they stay earthbound, and why do they attach to other bodies? Why does this condition exist?

A: That is a complicated question, however the best answer is choice is involved there for those souls who wish not to leave the plane of third density. The only possibility to do this is to be detached from the now expired physical body but still be within the third density plane, which, of course, is not natural, but nonetheless can occur. In situations such as this, though it has been incorrectly reported, the silver thread is still attached and still remains a thread rather than a conduit. The soul is still attached to the silver thread but detached from the host body which has now expired. So the effect is very similar to being consciously aware of third density surroundings without a third density unit to accompany. Do you understand?

Q: (L) Yes. Okay...

A: Also, please be aware of the fact that once the soul leaves the confines of the physical body, the illusion of time passage is no longer apparent even when the soul remains on the third density plane. Therefore, it appears to that soul that no time whatsoever has passed. And, we mention this merely for you to contemplate all of the various meanings behind this.
 
I think this may be the best place to post this. I haven't yet read the book mentioned in this thread by P.M.H Atwater but plan to. The book of hers I'm currently reading is titled 'Future Memory.' As others have noted in this thread, certain areas of her work seem to correspond with and/or bring to mind the C's material and it is the author's description of her third and most dramatic near death experience in 1977 that made me think of one of the C's sessions.

She refers to what she saw in this near death experience as 'the cyclones' or more descriptively 'the huge energy masses the shape of two cyclones, one inverted over the other,' and goes on to describe how they resemble the geometric shape of a torus. The C's session that discusses the torus is from the 17 June 1995 session. This session and the geometric shape are also mentioned in 'The Wave' but not exactly sure where.

I first read about her third near death scenario in her book 'Coming Back to Life' but in 'Future Memory' she provides a more detailed description. She also provides her own sketches of what she saw.

For some reason, I find it interesting how this image of all images is what she saw and experienced during her near death experience. Maybe it is largely due to the fact that this very geometric shape is highlighted in a C's session and so it already holds more significance in my mind than if I hadn't read about it previously.

She writes a lot more about the torus and her thoughts about what it could mean to experience it as she did. She discusses 'the colloidal conditions' and how it relates or ties in to it all (still trying to grasp it all).

One excerpt for example, where she provides a description of what she saw:

More was involved in what I saw than has been pictured. Particles of twinkling light extended some distance from the lip of light, creating a force field. Also the activity to either side of the cyclones seemed indicative to me of yet another construct, that of a system within a system. Appreciating that what I saw may indeed have been the middle of a torus, as I believe it was, then this side activity exposed the presence of another torus, one inside the other...
 
Thanks for resurrecting this thread, Cleo, first time seeing it.

• Most child NDEers ate more meat after their experience; most adult NDEers had more vegetarian diets. I am not sure what this might mean; perhaps the changes in brain structure, which most certainly occur, demand a diet higher in protein and iron in the growing child brain than in the adult.

Given the research pointing to meat as the basic human food, perhaps adults NDErs tend to vegetarianism due to rationalizations regarding their newly found/increased respect for other beings, while children might be less prone to such pitfalls and the NDE allows them to act more spontaneously aligned with their natural way of being. Just a thought.

"One way to appreciate what this means is to learn something about the legacy of the Tibetan storytellers called Gesar Artists. These storytellers, although usually illiterate, are able to recount numerous lines of extraordinary sophistication - tales of their most venerated hero Gesar, s knoght from the \Kingdom of heavern sent to earth to save and protect Tibetans. Gesar's story has been passed from generation to generation, but not by memorizng it. To be a true "Gesar Artist" (not just a storyteller), one must be "god-instructed". One must go through something like a near-death experience or what shamans call "dying unto the self"(an ego deah) in order to achieve the personal experince of what Gesar came to earth to teach.
God-instructed. . . that's what the Gesar Artists call it. For those near death experiencers who had longer or more complex episodes, that's exactly what it felt like, as if they were instructed by God..."

I had never heard of Gesar or Gesar Artists, but such name attached to someone sent to Earth to save and protect his people seemed way too familiar:

Epic of King Gesar

The Epic of King Gesar[1] (/ˈɡɛzər, ˈɡɛs-/), also spelled Geser (especially in Mongolian contexts) or Kesar (/ˈkɛzər, ˈkɛs-/), is an epic cycle, believed to date from the 12th century, that relates the heroic deeds of the culture hero Gesar,[2] the fearless lord of the legendary kingdom of Ling (Wylie: gling). It is recorded variously in poetry and prose, shuochang being the style of traditional performance,[3] and is sung widely throughout Central Asia and North East of South Asia. Its classic version is to be found in central Tibet.[4] Some 100 bards of this epic (Wylie: sgrung, "tale")[5] are still active today in the Gesar belt of China.
[...]
Etymology of the name

It has been proposed on the basis of phonetic similarities that the name Gesar reflects the Roman title Caesar, and that the intermediary for the transmission of this imperial title from Rome to Tibet may have been a Turkic language, since kaiser (emperor) entered Turkish through contact with the Byzantine Empire, where Caesar (Καῖσαρ) was an imperial title. Some think the medium for this transmission may have been via Mongolian Kesar. The Mongols were allied with the Byzantines, whose emperor still used the title.[15] Numismatic evidence[16] and some accounts speak of a Bactrian ruler Phrom-kesar,[17] specifically the Kabul Shahi of Gandhara, which was ruled by a Turkish From Kesar ("Caesar of Rome"),[18] who was father-in-law of the king of the Kingdom of Khotan around the middle of the 8th century CE.[19][20] In early Bon sources, From Kesar is always a place name, and never refers, as it does later, to a ruler.[21] In some Tibetan versions of the epic, a king named Phrom Ge-sar or Khrom Ge-sar figures as one of the kings of the four directions – the name is attested in the 10th century[22] and this Phrom/Khrom preserves an Iranian form (*frōm-hrōm) for Rūm/Rome. This eastern Iranian word lies behind the Middle Chinese word for (Eastern) Rome (拂菻), namely Byzantium (phrōm-from<*phywət-lyəm>).[23][24]

A. H. Francke thought the Tibetan name Gesar derived from Sanskrit. S.K. Chatterji, introducing his work, noted that the Ladakh variant of Kesar, Kyesar, in Classical Tibetan Skye-gsar meant 'reborn/newly born', and that Gesar/Kesar in Tibetan, as in Sanskrit signifies the 'anther or pistil of a flower', corresponding to Sanskrit kēsara, whose root 'kēsa' (hair) is Indo-European.[25]

Epic of King Gesar - Wikipedia


An interesting article about Gesar Artists that mentions how a few of them gained their "God-instructed" ability:

Gesar Artists Spread Ancient Legend

With his eyes half closed, Tsering Zhandui waved his hands slowly, intoxicated by his own narration of Gesar, the world's longest epic.

Dozens of Tibetans gathered in his small tent in Nagqu, a pastoral prefecture in the northern part of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, revelling in the tale, just as their predecessors have for the past 1,000 years that the story of the great Tibetan hero has been told.

"Whenever I tell the story of King Gesar, I feel I am going back in time, joining the wars, or seeing generals of the king riding horses charging towards the enemy lines - it's just like seeing a film," said the 34-year-old Tibetan folk ballad singer wearing his yellow performing robe.

Tsering Zhandui, and 10 other young Tibetan ballad singers in the Nagqu area are actively spreading this epic through the vast grassland area - at the same time many Gesar experts fear the tale could be lost as many well-known Gesar artists are getting old.

The most revered hero in Tibet, Gesar is believed a knight sent by the Kingdom of Heaven to earth to save and protect Tibetans.

The 20-million-word, 1.5 million-line epic, is not only a great work of literature, but has also been called an encyclopedia on Tibetan tradition, culture, society and religion in ancient times.

With no written version, Gesar's story has been passed down from generation to generation by wandering folk ballad singers.

"Without the singers, the great epic will fall into oblivion," said Yang Enhong, a famous Gesar expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing.

Precious Heritage

There are about 100 folklorists able to sing or narrate the epic today, and most of them are Tibetan. Several are Mongolian or from the Tu ethnic group. Most are in their 60s or 70s. The only young artists are found in Tibetan-inhabited areas.

To save this great literature, the Central Government has funded several programs and projects.

Many artists have been invited by local cultural departments to recount the epic so it can be recorded on tape. So far, about 40 volumes of Gesar stories have been published and 5,000 tapes have been made.

"Young artists are real treasures," said Yang. "We find new artists in very remote areas."

As more and more local herds people gain access to modern media, the number of young people interested in singing ballads may fall, he said.

"It is necessary to protect the narration artists," Yang said.

Many Gesar narrators say they discovered their skill in dreams.

This was precisely what happened to Tsering Zhandui, when he was only 13 years old, he said.

"I still clearly remember that day and the dreams," he said.

That day he was scolded by his parents for a mistake while herding sheep, so he ran away from home in Bange County in Nagqu, and got lost in the mountains.

He found a cave and slept there overnight and that was where he dreamed endless dreams about King Gesar, his queens, and the wars, he said.

When his anxious parents awakened him from his long dreams, he said, "I just felt hungry and thirsty, and felt the lines of the epic were about to jump out of my mouth."

Three years after that, he was recounting the epic to himself. Few people knew what he was saying because "Gesar" was banned in the "cultural revolution" (1966-76) in China.

"I had never heard the story told before," he said. "But I knew such a story existed."

Later, a neighbour showed him a book from India that referred to the words he kept repeating to himself, and told him that those words were actually from "Gesar." That was when he knew he had become a legendary "God-instructed" Gesar artist.

For Gesar artist, Mardy, 22, it was not a dream that showed him the epic, but a fever.

When Mardy was also 13 years old, he got sick and was feverish.

After he recovered, he could recite some Gesar stories, but not very much.

His parents invited Lamas to chant Buddhist scriptures to him and after several days, he could recount the whole story.


Mardy cannot read and has never been enrolled in school.

"My existence before this life might have been a Gesar artist," he said.

The stories of Gesar narrators all different, yet similar, experts said.

"Each of the 11 artists have different stories," said Danba Yargyai with the Nagqu Culture Bureau. "Some slept when herding sheep and woke up with the epic in their hearts. Some became mad or lost consciousness suddenly. After Lamas chanted Buddhist scriptures, they regained consciousness and were able to tell the story."

But the artists all show commonalities. None of their parents, grandparents or other relatives are Gesar artists and none of them were enrolled in school. None had heard the story but some said they knew the name of the epic.

Epic Performances


Now, except for Tsering Zhandui, who is the head of the group and works for the Nagqu Culture Bureau where he has performed regularly since 1995, the other 10 artists still herd sheep and yak.

They are invited to perform for big ceremonies and festivals such as the horse-racing festival held in Nagqu in August every year.

Some Tibetan families also invite them to perform at special family occasions such as the birth of a new baby or a harvest.

"Tibetans love to listen to the stories," said Danba Yargyai. "They are very familiar with the story and its heroes. They don't like reading from the books even though there are now books on Gesar."

Generally, the price for watching a performance is 5 yuan (60 US cents) per person. They tell different stories on different occasions.

"All 11 can narrate any part of the whole Gesar story, but there might be minor differences among their own versions such as the names of the generals," said Yargyai, a Gesar lover and chairman of the Nagqu Writers' Association.

In the past seven years, Tsering Zhandui has performed every day, eight hours a day. Normally, he tells one and half chapters per hour.

As the head of the group, Tsering Zhandui, who has also performed in Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region; Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province; and Beijing, the national capital, said he never considered having an apprentice because he believes there are only "God-instructed" Gesar artists in the world.

He hasn't even considered teaching his own daughter, 5, and son, 1, about Gesar.

"One cannot learn to be a Gesar artist," he said seriously.


He and his group feel very lucky and grateful to be Gesar artists, he said. They are respected and warmly welcomed by the local people and the government.

"I feel proud of being a Gesar artist," said Mardy. "Whenever I tell the Gesar stories, I become excited and very happy."

(China Daily September 10, 2002)

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Third_Density_Resident said:
• Most child NDEers ate more meat after their experience; most adult NDEers had more vegetarian diets. I am not sure what this might mean; perhaps the changes in brain structure, which most certainly occur, demand a diet higher in protein and iron in the growing child brain than in the adult.
Given the research pointing to meat as the basic human food, perhaps adults NDErs tend to vegetarianism due to rationalizations regarding their newly found/increased respect for other beings, while children might be less prone to such pitfalls and the NDE allows them to act more spontaneously aligned with their natural way of being. Just a thought.

Reading the above, I thought of another research finding:

• Atwater mentions Kenneth Ring’s research, and how he found that a significant number of NDEers have had UFO experiences also. However, Atwater notes that unlike those only having NDEs, the UFO experiencers’ lives are more troubled and negative in the long-run (and we at SOTT all know why this is).

I wonder if NDEers tend to vegetarinaism after the experience because of their UFO experiences and not so much because of the NDE. I feel like I've read somewhere that those with UFO experiences, especially abductees sometimes tend to vegetarianism after the UFO experience.

Doesn't really explain the difference between child and adult NDEers diet preferences though. Just something that came to mind as I read the above research findings, FWIW.
 
I wonder if NDEers tend to vegetarinaism after the experience because of their UFO experiences and not so much because of the NDE. I feel like I've read somewhere that those with UFO experiences, especially abductees sometimes tend to vegetarianism after the UFO experience.
I wasn't aware of this connection between UFOs and vegetarianism, a quick search did not yield any fruitful result. I did notice that new age types or otherwise spiritually inclined people tend to promote vegetarianism or veganism for alledged ethical/spiritual/energetic reasons. There seems to be some overlap between UFO people and New Age people, so that might help explain part of it.
 
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