Remember, Every Breath is Precious

The following account of a Near Death Experience is an excerpt from Remember, Every Breath is Precious by Lesley Joan Lupo.

I was free! All physical constraints vanished. Previously unaware of how tight and squished one feels inside the human form, I felt fresh and completely unrestricted, as if I had peeled off a head-to-toe body girdle that was four sizes too small. Every cell separated into buzzing particles, and a crisp, sweet breeze blew through. With no aches and pains, I felt completely invigorated and more alive than ever before.

Somehow, I balanced this new, crackling vitality with an abundant sense of tranquility. Harmony flowed through from my soul and cultivated a sense of completeness, of oneness with the world around me…

Photo: Hanro Bauermeister

One recurring thought ran through my mind: I have to remember this. I have to remember it all.

I reached out to touch a bush right next to me; the wide green leaves were bright and slightly translucent. They glistened yet were dry to the touch. It resembled a hologram, however denser.
A faint rhythmic tune pulsed just beyond my hearing. I wondered if it came from somewhere in the distance. I began to move as things snapped into place around me. Moreover, in spite of the fact that my mind was still alert, I felt much groggier than I did after the accident.

As I moved around, selfless love hung around me like fabric, a veil of spun sugar, sticky and sweet. Even though it felt palpable, it permeated me like energy: I soaked it up from my head to my toes and embodied the essence that saturated all around me.

Photo: Frankie Lopez

I knew I was in Heaven or what I would come to call Upstairs. I or some part of me-at that point I had no idea how to define myself-existed beyond my body on earth. I was still mindful of me, my mind, and that I was dead. That knowledge never left me as I looked around. I felt more at peace than ever before.
I knew this was real. Never once did I feel stupefied. It was not a dream; instead, I was in a heightened sense of an authentic reality. It was so ultra-real that for the first of many times a sentence popped into my mind: This is real: earth is the dream.

I adjusted to the crisp, cleansing energy fields of the heavenly dimension and discovered something absent within me: all negative emotions. The fight or flight reactions that unconsciously formulated part of my human psyche-and all the deleterious reactions that were hard-wired into that system-were gloriously absent. No negative emotions registered in me: no fear, no pain, no anger, no anxiety, and no worries.

Even though I was woozy, I did not feel judged or any sense of competition. I did not want to control what surrounded me; nor did I feel the need to “earn” the selfless love that flowed around me. I was lovable and it was infinite; I knew there would never be an end to this.
Time-that physical sense of seconds as they tick by like little soldiers on a march that drained away my future-did not exist, at least as I knew it before.

A circular energy kept everything eternally present: Timeless. Nothing could age here.

Even the concept of space, of distance, a “here and there” was different. I encountered one consciousness that connected every particle to the whole. My distant earth-mind seemed like a ticker-tape machine, spewing things out in little lines. Here, Upstairs, all information, all movements absorbed into me instantly. My mind’s ability to process all the data simultaneously astonished me.

I basked in the freedom from any worries or fears and trusted in the knowledge that it was permanent . Selfless love was the way it had always been : “I am Loved: I Love: I am Love.” As simple as strolling in the sunlight.