A True Story

[Guest guest]

Dear Ones, I am going to share true story of a gentleman living in

USA, personaly known to me.This story is complete in all respects but

it has it's "what happend next" portion too. Presently I am holding

that back and post the story to ponder upon. It goes life as follows:-

Love

Satish

Near-death Experience, 1984

The mid-November night was cold and quiet as Paul drove his

tractor-trailer unit toward the highway interchange. The rookie-over-

the-roader decided to transfer to another highway to avoid a major

urban area while making his way to deliver a cargo of washers and

dryers. Reducing the tractor's road speed and downshifting to gain

pulling power, he steered his rig into the exit lane, which

transferred onto the northbound lanes of the other highway. As he

regained the desired speed, he blinked several times. His eyelids

responded very slowly with a growing heaviness. Perhaps the toasty

cab was too comfortable this wintry night or, maybe, it was the late

hour, maybe both.

Flipping on the overhead light, he looked at his watch and

yawned. The watch face showed 2:00 a.m. Being up at this hour of the

night was one of the unusual demands of driving for an irregular

route carrier. Sleep times were unnatural and that spoke to why he

constantly felt tired. In addition, driving for long periods of time

lulled him, particularly after sunset. Road hypnosis was a well-known

occupational hazard in his line of work.

The thought of being continually tired made him immediately

wonder why his job choice had turned him in the direction of such a

dull occupation. Immediately He knew it was chosen more out of an

insatiable curiosity for how certain aspects of his world worked than

any genuine interest in the work. He certainly didn't feel that he

was necessarily serving humanity in any great capacity or even

fulfilling himself for that matter. If Paul knew anything about

himself, it was that his curiosity had many lives yet to live.

As Paul drove on he reminisced. Only six months earlier he

had been performing special duty in the Egyptian desert for the Multi-

National Peacekeeping Forces. The camels, the desert nomads and their

marginal existence, and the extraordinary silence of the arid

landscape, were far more fascinating than the scheduled delivery of

consumer goods, which now occupied much of his time. He had always

preferred peering into the way others choose to live than climbing a

social ladder or working simply to put money in someone else's

pocket. The assignment had ended when his military enlistment was

over. His decision not to reenlist caused an awkward transfer back to

civilian life, even though it was peacetime. Driving a truck appeared

to be a quick reentry route and enabled Paul to further avoid

addressing certain recurring and unpleasant concerns about his adult

life.

One such concern was pain. Not the physical type, but a

deep-seated hurt from being somehow unfulfilled. Another was

dissatisfaction, an ever-present discontent that was not necessarily

a complaint, but a knowing sense that there was something more to

life; that something was missing. Finally, there was his continual

restlessness, which kept him searching; an ill-defined condition that

might well be a creative tension between who he was compared to who

he felt he had the potential to be. Figuring out life's path was both

confusing and difficult for him. He wasn't certain who he was or what

he should be doing. Nor was he aware that his avoidance at looking

deeper into these conditions supported his restlessness. It was just

such restlessness that told him he was ready for another change after

only a few months of driving a truck. It raised an obvious question

for him: What to do next?

Yawning again, he turned the heater control switch

to "off" and opened the window wide enough to let the cold air blow

directly on his face to reduce is drowsiness. The frigid air blasting

his face afforded a brief measure of relief, but still insufficient

to change his ever-tiring condition. In the next few minutes he

caught himself nodding off a couple of times. He fought hard,

determined to keep his eyelids open, but in time, his efforts proved

futile. It wasn't long until his chin fell against his chest and

remained there. His torso was still upright and his hands still

gripped the wheel, but he was out.

Seconds later Paul was awakened by the sound of breaking

glass and other frightening noises that went unidentified as the

sensations of weightlessness and tumbling took over. When his glazed

eyes opened he saw the beams from the headlamps shine first into the

grass then into the sky. He was tumbling and there was nothing he

could do. He had lost control of his rig. Groping clumsily for

something to cling to, he swung his arms wildly. But they found

nothing to hold on to. His body was tossed around mercilessly,

hitting and banging against the hard metal objects inside the cab.

Suddenly his head crashed against the windshield. In that moment he

heard a voice say, "Let it go. Just let it go." Seconds later the

sounds of twisting, grinding, metal abruptly ended and the rig

slammed against the hard concrete roadbed of the southbound lanes.

Then only silence filled the crisp night air.

From one moment to the next Paul found himself in a

strange state, at once alert but seemingly still unconscious. A state

difficult to define in his mind. He was suddenly confused. There was

a "pop" and a surge of energy, accompanied by the feeling of being

free. His disembodied spirit found itself hovering freely above the

scene of the wreckage, viewing an overturned tractor and trailer

laying in the middle of a wide curve and stretching across two broad

lanes. Rough road, the spirit thought with amused detachment.

As it floated over the demolished rig, the spirit came

to the overturned tractor cab. The windshield was completely broken

out. Inside the cab, on the seat, now pushed up against the

dashboard, rested the still and silent body. The left leg was fully

extended while the other was bent at the knee and concealed under the

physical form. Twisted at the waist, the torso was draped over the

steering wheel and the side of the head was resting on the dash. The

body the spirit knew as dead. But without feeling frightened or

surprised, it felt certain empathy for its physical form.

Aware of the lights of an approaching car, the spirit

remained close to it's physical form but focused its attention on the

vehicle pulling up close and stopping on the inside shoulder of the

highway. The lights continued to shine on the wreckage as the driver

quickly got out, ran to the front of the tractor cab and peered in.

He saw the skin and clothing of the driver sprinkled with blood and

glass. The spirit heard the man exclaim, "Look at this. What a damned

mess" and watched as the stranger knelt down and placed his fingers

on the side of the neck of the lifeless body.

There was an urge from the spirit to tell the man, I'm

dead, but knew during this separation that such a message was not

possible. It could not be heard or seen in a disembodied state even

though it saw and heard everything in its immediate surroundings.

Spirit continued to observe the stranger close-up. It noticed the

stern expression on the man's long face.

The man saw that the victim's baldhead was already

considerably swollen and bloody and knew that this reflected a

potentially serious injury. He apparently decided to inspect the body

no further, but instead turned and looked back down the road toward

the roar of an approaching truck. He flagged it down.

The tractor-trailer unit stopped at the scene and the

trucker yelled out his open window, " Is the driver dead?"

"He might be. I couldn't get a pulse," was the loud

reply of the man on the road as he moved closer to the driver in the

idling truck so he could be heard over the drone of the diesel

engine.

"I'd better radio for an ambulance on the CB," the

trucker said as he grabbed The microphone suspended from the ceiling

of his cab and began talking into it. Once the call was completed he

climbed down from his rig and stood face-to-face with the man who had

flagged him down.

"That ambulance better hurry," observed the first man at

the scene, "If he's not already dead, he will be soon. As many times

as that rig must have rolled over coming down that slope I'm

surprised he didn't get thrown out and crushed..."

"Was he wearing his Seat-belt?" The trucker interrupted,

asking a textbook question that might be expected of an insurance

agent, but not a trucker.

"No, but that may be fortunate in this case. The seat is

jammed tight against the dashboard. If he would have been wearing the

seat belt his legs might have been cut off. Of course, being in a

wheelchair may be preferable to being dead."

"Is there anything more we can do for him while we wait?"

the trucker asked.

"No. I'll just get a blanket from my car and lay it over

the body to keep him warm until the ambulance gets here. I'm no

doctor; I can't tell if he's dead or alive. He might be bleeding

internally. His head is noticeably swollen already."

"I wonder what caused the wreck?" The trucker asked,

curiously, as he shivered, then added, "Being a single vehicle

accident usually means he either swerved to miss an animal on the

road or he fell asleep behind the wheel. Either way, it created one

hell-of-a-mess. I'd better get out my reflective triangles and put

them down on the pavement before a trucker who is half asleep comes

around that curve and plows into me. I'll stay at least until the

ambulance gets here, then I've got to go!"

"Ok. We can get some of this debris off of the highway

while we're waiting," the man said as he walked toward his car to

retrieve a blanket to cover the body.

As the spirit hovered above the two men and listened to

their conversation, it felt a very strong magnetic force begin

pulling it upward. That caused the spirit to again consider that its

body was dead, particularly because it was being pulled away from it.

The mass of conscious, however, energy could not and

did not resist the pull. What was to be, was to be. As the spirit

started to ascend it saw flashing lights in the distance speeding

toward the scene it was now leaving. Moving at incredible speed by

thought alone, the spirit passed first through absolute darkness for

the spirit. Fast approaching was a growing light that moments before

was only a point in the distance, like a distant star. As the

spirit "arrived" it experienced a light of supernatural brilliance,

which somehow guided it direction. Spirit was not aware of being in a

particular place, but there was a sense of being "home".

Spirit felt itself enfolded in light and penetrated

with unconditional love at the same time. In the center of the

radiating light was its source; the figure of a force spirit knew to

be its Higher Self.

After the embrace of light and love, which the spirit

did not want to end, it received a message from its higher source.

There were no words spoken, the message was simply understood. The

spirit was reminded that it was the beloved of the higher forces as

all children of creation are. That what spirit did unto the least of

these, it did to itself and it did unto Creation, as all were one,

bound together in love. However, on planet Earth, choice was spirit's

to exercise and experience. When harmony with oneness was chosen, it

would know joy and bliss. If disharmony with oneness were selected,

spirit would know sadness, and when it didn't know the difference, it

would be lost. Furthermore, when spirit acted against oneness,

oneness was never broken. Spirit broke itself against oneness. Thus

were the story of spiritual evolution and the unfolding of creation.

The Source did not judge spirit; spirit judged itself.

Next the disembodied spirit experienced an incredibly

compressed replay of The thirty-five years already completed in this

lifetime on Earth. It became aware that its end had not yet arrived;

that its earthly purpose had not been yet accomplished.

Despite its reluctance to leave the overwhelming love

and acceptance from its Higher Self, spirit made a commitment to

return to Earth.

In the next instance, the conscious energy simply found

itself in the corner of a well-lighted hospital room. The body that

spirit had left on a cold and nearly deserted highway now rested on

an operating table surrounded by a doctor and two nurses.

Another doctor and nurse suddenly barged into the room.

Everyone was scurrying, somewhat frantically. The hovering spirit

observed the bedside machines, which were monitoring the body's vital

signs, and noticed that several were registering "flat line" readings

at that moment. The spirit shifted its focus to the heavy, stiff,

motionless body and there was a sudden reaction, a feeling of utter

dislike. There was uncertainty as to whether it wanted to slip on

that bulky, cumbersome garment once again. The sense of limitless

freedom in the disembodied state was enrapturing.

"Respiratory arrest," a nurse yelled as she whirled

around to prepare the artificial respiration machine located against

the wall behind her.

"I need a scalpel," a dark-skinned, East Indian-

looking physician said evenly yet firmly, knowing that he needed to

begin tracheotomy procedures immediately. The nurse next to him

placed a surgical knife in his open waiting palm and commented, "His

vital signs have been so unstable for three days. He was dead once..."

"More than once," interrupted the nurse who was

standing on the opposite side of the operating table and was checking

the electric pacemaker, which rested on the body's chest and was

wired to its heart. "Makes me wonder what is really going on with

this guy."

Hearing this, The spirit was surprised, sensing

that three days to them seemed only like minutes in its experience.

Floating directly beside the doctor's head, the

spirit watched a surgical knife cut through the neck skin and into

the trachea and observed the insertion of a thin but long plastic

tube into the airway. The other end of the tube was attached to a

device, which maintained the body's respiration mechanically.

It was now or never for the spirit, though it held

no great desire for putting on that physical garment once again. If

its next move was considered a second more it might loss courage and

flee. It had made a commitment. In that instant, the spirit slipped

back into it's physical body.

All the sensations of the body registered at once

for the returned spirit. The painless observer immediately became the

pained participant. The irritation of the resuscitating tube in his

throat was the most obvious pain, the resultant coughing, the most

annoying and unbearable.

Coughing violently, Paul opened his eyes for the

first time in three days.

[Guest guest]

This story is truly intriguing. Most of us are busy with the mundane

activities of the world and stop not to think even for a moment who

we actually are, whence we came, and where we will go.

 

There was once a Raja, who had transferred all responsibility of

ruling to his Manthri, and who was spending his time in ease. He

never worried about anything, be it big or small. He had a personal

companion, whom he had always by his side, more or less as a

bodyguard. This fellow was very wise, for he never did anything

without deep deliberation, about the how and the why and the

wherefore. The Raja took all this deliberation to be just foolishness

and he nicknamed the companion, "Avivekasikhamani" or "The Crest-

Jewel of Fools". He went to the length of actually engraving the

title on a plate of gold and compelling him to wear it on his

forehead for all to see! Many people were mislead by this and they

took him to be an ignoramus at court; they did not heed his words.

 

Meanwhile, the Raja fell ill and took to bed. The kingdom was combed

for physicians who could heal the king. Messengers went to the eight

corners, seeking drugs and doctors. Hundred were busy round the royal

patient, but, all efforts failed; the illness worsened day by day.

The Raja was at the very door of Death.

 

The Raja suspected that his end was near; so he hurriedly made some

dispositions, spoke to all those whom he wanted to meet, and was

immersed in sorrow. He had no thought of God or any other auspicious

Power. He was in terrible fear of Death and could not think of

anything else.

 

One day, he called Avivekasikhamani to his bedside and whispered

feebly in his ear, "Well; I am going soon, my friend!" Then, the Fool

asked without any compunction, "What? You are weak and cannot walk a

few steps; I shall order a palanquin, please wait till it is

ready.No palanquin can take me there," said the Raja. "Then, I

shall order a chariot," entreated the Fool. "The chariot too is of no

use," replied the Raja. "Of course, then, the horse is the only means

of journey," wailed the companion, who seemed eager to come to the

rescue of his master, and spare him the toils of travel. The Raja

said that the horse too could not enter there. The Fool was at his

wit's end. Then suddenly an idea struck him, he said, "Come on

master! I shall carry you there." The Raja became sad; he said, "My

dear friend, one has to go alone to that place, when one's time has

come. No companion can be taken." The Fool was thrown in great doubt;

he asked the Raja, "It is curious, is it not? You say that the

palanquin won't reach there, that the chariot can't go there, nor the

horse; you say that no second person can join you! Well can't you

tell me at least where that place is?" The Raja replied, "I do not

know."

 

Immediately, the Fool unwound the Golden Plate with the engraving of

the title, 'Avivekasikhamani', and tied it round the brow of the

Raja, saying "Raja! You know so much about the place, even, which

things cannot go there, but, you do not know where it is, and still

you are going there soon. O, you deserve this title much more." The

Raja was overcome with shame. "Alas," he said to himself, "I wasted

my years in eating and sleeping and pursuing pleasures, never caring

to inquire who I am, whence I came, what I am doing, whither I am

going, and why I came. The precious time allotted to me has come very

near its end. There is no time for me any more for all that inquiry.

Death is knocking at the door; children have started weeping; my

subjects are in great anxiety. Can I, under such conditions immerse

myself in inquiry? Can a thought that I never entertained throughout

my life suddenly arise now, during my last moments? It is impossible.

Yes, I deserve the title, Avivekasikhamani more than anyone else, for

I wasted my life in useless pursuits; without any thought of the

Reality." The Raja let it be proclaimed that Inquiry is the best

means of knowing the Truth, that the inquiry must be directed to

separating the true from the untrue, the eternal from the temporary,

that people should arrive at the conclusion that, 'God is the only

true and eternal Entity' and that by their own independent

investigation, his subjects must not only grasp the entity

intellectually but must also attain the Grace of God, by their pure

lives. Announcing this lesson to his subjects, the Raja breathed his

last.

 

-------

 

The story you mentioned is just another vivid reminder of whence we

came and where we'll go.

 

Hari Aum !!!