Empathy Day: The Life Review

According to Kenneth Ring, author of Lessons from the Light, the life review is one near-death experience phenomenon that is under-reported. Most people have heard about the tunnel and the light and meeting “dead” relatives, but the life review, which may be the most intriguing event of all, isn’t as commonly known or discussed.

I have not had an NDE or an OBE. I only go by the amalgam of what I read or hear from near-death experiencers. But the life review is wildly exciting (if not daunting), as are its implications for the world!

The life review was loosely depicted in the Albert Brooks film Defending Your Life. Of course, that depiction was made to appeal to Hollywood audiences, so it was quirky and funny and understated. But at least it conveyed the idea that after we die, there’s a system in place that requires us to look at any moment of the life we just led; that ultimately, amid the seeming chaos of our world, there is accountability.

NDErs who have experienced life reviews report a most extraordinary development in our human perception; they suddenly experience empathy far beyond anything we know in this planet’s physical existence. From what I hear, people are suddenly acutely perceptive as if all our physical senses have become much more sensitive. For example, people who physically have yucky vision (some of whom are even blind) can suddenly see as it their eyes were fitted with electronic microscopes and Hubble telescopes at the same time.

Many people report feeling connected to everything, the quintessential “one with nature” experience. It’s like being plugged into omniscience itself. You think questions and instantly answers fill your mind. Sometimes a brilliant light being assists in this process. The light being’s identity usually corresponds to your belief system. Christians get Jesus or angels, and so on.

At so-called death, you step out of time. This essentially means, from what I gather, that you can relive every second of your physical life, but in our time, it’s just a blink of an eye. According to Howard Storm, who’s been there, done that, you can project yourself anywhere you want, such as to 14th Century Spain or 19th Century America or even into the future.

According to Kenneth Ring, who’s among the most prominent of NDE researchers, anecdotal evidence shows that in the life review you literally re-live every second of your life in minute detail. You re-experience everything you ever thought, everything you ever said, everything you ever did.

Not only that, but then you also experience every effect your presence in the physical world had on anybody and everybody. The Golden Rule (do unto others as you would have them do unto you) turns out not to be just a moral precept but natural law like gravity. You do experience everything you dish out.

This apparently comes as quite a shock to people who have become accustomed to this physical plane’s environment where you can keep secrets and tell lies and get away with it if you don’t get caught. Apparently, all the while, the universal six-sense recorder is recording everything, secrets and all!

Aware of this, NDErs become much more careful about what they think and do. The life review is a major motivator for their abrupt turn-around in behavior, especially for those whose behavior prior to their NDE might be called creepy or unloving. They know that if they punch somebody out, they’ll only be punching themselves out. That’s because you literally feel every result of everything you ever thought or did. In a most literal way, what goes around comes around.

It’s a curiosity to me why the life review is not taken more seriously. I supposed it’s because near-death experiences, while having stirred up intense curiosity among the spiritual community at large, are still considered by many as near-delusional experiences. Taking this stuff seriously would rock the boat big time.

For the most part, all the NDE reports have made nary a dent in how the world is run at the corporate and political level. At one time I wrote a column that asked readers if they thought it was possible for them to do their job without telling lies. I don’t think very many people could say in all truthfulness that they could do their jobs if they had to be 100% honest. I often kid—but I suspect with a high percentage of accuracy—that our economy would crash the day we were all required to inject truth serum and behave accordingly.

That’s one reason why NDErs have such a tough time coming back to the material world. They have experienced something wildly profound that is not reflected in the majority of social institutions established to run (some would say to ruin) our lives. For example, say that you were the clichéd sleazy used car salesman who enjoyed ripping off people. Then you have an NDE and during your life review, you feel all the pain you caused. Would you, upon returning back to earth, be highly motivated to continue to rip people off, knowing that sometime later you would feel all their pain as yours?

Meanwhile, prior to his NDE that same sleazy salesman has no motivation to act out of love for humanity. His world is surrounded by proof positive that his route to “success” is to deceive people. He learns from his culture that money is power and that deception is okay unless you get caught flagrantly breaking the law. Deception gets rewarded for the little crook just as it does for the mighty corporations who routinely gouge the public. When you encounter the light during an NDE or related mystical experience and have your whole illusion (or delusion) of security shattered that things dramatically change.

It is said repeatedly that life reviews are conducted in an environment of extreme love and total forgiveness. There's no Judge Judy screaming at you about what an idiot you were. The justice system there is truly omniscient. It knows all motives and sees all circumstances that led to thoughts and deeds. The ultimate goal of this system is to teach us how to become loving beings, and therefore, even though we may encounter zillions of instances we instantly regret, it’s not about punishment.

Our legal system is frequently not about ascertaining truth; it’s more about which attorney can manipulate the law or put on the best show to prevail with a verdict. Our penal system is frequently not about rehabilitation, but it is about punishment. In celebrity murder cases, you often see the deceased’s family members giving speeches for justice to be done through capital punishment. Based on what NDErs are saying, the murderer will experience first-hand all the ramifications of his thoughts and actions. He will feel everything he inflicted. We the people do not have to pretend that by killing him by lethal rejection that we are actually punishing him.

As you can tell, the life review process fascinates me. Unlike the traditional Christian scenario of Judgment Day, which is more like a trial, Empathy Day appeals much more to me. You are the judge and jury of your life because you get back everything you’ve ever dished out.