Religion in the Afterlife

From: The Crossover Experience: Life After Death - DJ Kadagian, Gregory Shushan PhD, Dr. Pim van Lomell

When given the opportunity to ask a question of God or Jesus in a near-death experience, the two most common are: why do we exist, and which is the one “true” religion? To the first question, it is explained that we exist simply to love one another. And to the second — there are different paths to God, but at their core, they are all the same. Two important questions, one clear and simple answer. It always comes back to love.

Those who more strongly associated with a particular religion or spiritual discipline may hold on to their general tenants, but with less of an attachment to their more institutional elements.

Almost universally, NDErs no longer accept that only those that come from a particular religion or spiritual tradition can reach heaven. They have experienced firsthand that God does not judge, and that all are welcome in this realm.

Some of the Native American examples, among others, show indigenous people challenging the teachings of missionaries. They believed the eyewitness accounts of their own people who had been to the otherworld and returned over the teachings of the foreign missionaries. 

While NDEs are universal, and people commonly base certain religious beliefs on them, they do so only when their cultural environment allows, unless they are innovating away from established tradition. Local attitudes toward death affect receptivity to NDE phenomena. 

The numerous examples of NDEs that run contrary to local or personal beliefs demonstrate not only that these experiences are not predicated on cultural expectation, but also that they often lead to a spiritual or religious reorientation. 

Whatever the ultimate nature of the prompting event — neurophysiological, metaphysical, or something else — NDEs are powerful generators of religious beliefs in an afterlife, both for individuals and in established religious traditions. 

There are NDEs of atheists and very young children who have either no prior beliefs or opposite beliefs to what they experience. But we still have all this information and knowledge floating around in our heads. I’m not saying we’re creating the experience, but I am saying we act as filters for it. I don’t think we can get rid of all of the cultural clutter. Maybe there are moments during the experience that are like a pure consciousness event where there’s no content going on in the mind. Overall, however, when we come back and try to explain what the experience was like, we don’t have any language other than the cultural language that we have. So we are going to use metaphors. We are going to use symbols, ones drawn from our culture and language.

People’s religious sentiment increases after an NDE while their interest in organized religion declines sharply.⁠

Recorded Accounts

This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.

"What is the right religion?" I was told, "They all are. Each religion is a pathway trying to reach the same place." I was shown a mountain, with each religious group trying to reach the top, separated from each other by distance, but each one was trying to get to the same place 

Some people come to the Earth to work on only one aspect of themselves, while others come to work on several aspects. Then there are others who come to not only work on their own nature but also to help the World as a whole.⁠

The space between heaven and earth is only in our minds. We are able to join God and His life here on earth; we are one.

However, I can no longer believe that non-Christians are not accepted in heaven since I was told there was no condemnation and no judgment during my NDE. At the time I believed that people who didn't believe in Christ were condemned to hell. Since my NDE, I believe there is no condemnation. We may choose to turn from God but God does not turn from us.

I now believe life is about loving and sharing my God-given gifts with myself and others.

I was told and shown that He is always caring for me. That worry is a waste of time.

I believe God approaches you according to your individual beliefs, that we are all his children and He speaks to us according to the language that we understand. I do not believe in everlasting damnation for those with different beliefs.

There is no judgment like the religions preach. 

But I think that most of us if we grew up in a devoutly Muslim household in Afghanistan where 98 percent of the people are Muslim, would be Muslim. That’s just the reality of it. And for us to pretend that God doesn’t love those people because they happen to be in that situation is putting our own narrowness on a God who is bigger than we are.

I learned that we are here many times. An afterlife definitely exists. I now know how this game on earth goes, why we're here, what we need to do, and that if we don’t learn the lessons we need to learn, we have to go and do it once more until we have the complete, earthly experience mastered.

We have many lives and many experiences. It’s all about picking what lesson you want to learn, learning them, and moving on to a higher source of consciousness.

I was in the presence of the Lord. It was at that time that we were telepathically communicating. I was asking and crying about things that happened to me from the beginning of my life for the most part. (Incest, emotional abuse, physical abuse, mental abuse, running away starting at about twelve years old to get away from all the abuse. Stranger raped at fourteen. Countless things happened to me, but this might give the reader an idea as to where I came from. Frankly, I believe I was living a hell on earth.) It was amazing and beautiful. My Savior answered, giving me knowledge and peace about every single thing that had happened to me. Everything. However, He didn't allow me to come back with all of that He revealed to me. What He did, is sent me back with peace in my spirit. Bondage gone. I am a brand new person on the inside. I have been set completely free of my past. I truly believe that He knew I was on a one-way ticket to hell, and because of me crying out to Him, he answered my prayers!! That is how much He loves me.⁠

When I see and hear people speak in the name of religion, after experiencing what lies beyond, it is evident to me that in all instances thus far, people are merely reciting what they have been taught and told to believe. Very little seems to mesh with my experience outside of the feeling that life beyond will be sublimely peaceful and full of love and that a great person or being of some sort is responsible for and created what we will experience on "the other side".

 I could see how different religions might try to explain all that I saw and felt, but there was so much more than any of them promote. My experience was something of a conglomerate of many religions though not following any specific doctrinal ideal or image. It is like all of them might have a piece of the whole, but not all. 

What I saw was so much more than one religion. However, there also seemed to be a purpose in all of the religions and people are drawn to the ones that would help them most with whatever "theme" their life purpose happens to be in this lifetime.⁠