Fascinating Near Death Experience (From Jewish perspective)

[tamdrin12]

Hi guys,

Not a jew but I found this account of a near death experience to be fascinating. It happened to someone who was not religious at all. In fact he was against it and just into partying and other hedonistic behavior.. After he became completely orthodox. If you look into the near death experiences you can find that the core tenets of the religion come through. We are held accountable for the good and bad actions we do in this life.

[Moretorque]

Yaa but he's one of the chosen ones.

[tamdrin12]

Yeah.. that part of Judaism is super weird and I don't believe in the chosen ones for sure.. but I believe in certain parts of his description of the experience

[Moretorque]

mjhhh

[Hero]

But the Jews don't even believe in Hell, at least not for eternity. This guy said that if he blew his second chance, he'd be going to Hell forever. His experience is inconsistent with Jewish dogma.

[tamdrin12]

Nothing is forever, but since hell is extremely and unimaginably painful it feels like it lasts forever. People just give the label "forever" to things that seem to last a long time... But since no one has experienced anything forever it is impossible to conceptualize... He mentioned like he was in hell for trillions of years even though he was only out of his body for like 10 or 15 minutes.

This is the relativity of time. In Buddhist texts it also mentioned how one day in the realm of the gods is like so many years in earthly terms and the gods live for many thousands or hundreds of thousands of years. Do you get it?

[Rock]

It was very weird NDE, quite different from most of the others I've heard. Most I've listened to or read are simpler and unconditionally positive.

Also, since time does not exist once you leave this world (that part is consistent with the other NDE's I've heard), how can one speak in terms of millions of years or forever. This guy's vid makes me think it's all about being a good righteous person which sounds religiously motivated (by some works based faiths).

I've derived hope, peace, and positive anticipation of body death from other NDE accounts. But this guy's just confused me more than anything else.

[Hero]

I never understood all those rules that orthodox Jews have to follow, either. Why in the world is it sinful to light a fire on the Sabbath or to eat meat and dairy together?

[Moretorque]

Screw all that nonsense, hell will be a reality for the children of earth when the mass extinction runs it's course. It may not be for eternity but it would sure seem that way if you were born into a lifeless world with nothing to sustain you or your existence.

Adam I have given you everything you need for perpetual generation states the bible.

[tamdrin12]

Rock,
The NDE experience can manifest in a variety of different ways depending on the tendencies of the individuals. It's true that a lot of NDE's had very unconditionally positive experience but we shouldn't overlook the fact that an equal number of people, perhaps, have experienced negative things or seen negative things. If you think about it, all the great world religions, do accept that hell exists although the reasons for which you may be sent there do vary. In Buddhism and Hinduism, it is a matter of your karma. In Catholicism your deeds do have an effect and can influence whether you get into heaven or not. Apparantly, in Judiasm your deeds will have a big effect on the afterlife.

I don't find his NDE to be confusing. I do find it convincing, but not as an ad for Judaism or to become compulsively religious. It seems to me that because he was Jewish by birth becoming orthodox was his only way to interpret and deal with his profound experience, remember before he was a common secular person and party animal.

I don't know why some people are in denial that hell may exists. I know it can be scary, and sometimes people need to only think on the positive side to just get through this world. But there has to be justice in this universe. If hell doesn't exist what do you think happens to the most evil people on earth? People who torture and destroy the lives of others? I will never accept that heaven is guaranteed by accepting a certain religion or faith. But the law of cause and results makes sense, even scientifically, and it makes for a justice in the universe.