Narrow is a Fragile Heart: Western nun

Episode 62: A Narrow Heart is a Fragile Heart | How to Stop Feeling So Alone

 

(Handful OfLeaves) Handful of Leaves Podcast. Support British Bhutanese Vajrayana Buddhist nun Ani Pema Deki's charity fundraiser: openingyourhearttobhutan.com.

• Buddhism in Bhutan

"Opening Your Heart to Bhutan" is a registered UK charity, whose work is providing education, medicine, and shelter to children facing the greatest challenges in Bhutan.

In this episode, Lopen Ani Pema Deki (Ven. Emma Slade) — a former London investment banker who left after a near-death experience in Jakarta (Indonesia) to ordain as a Buddhist nun high in the Himalayas of Bhutan — explores what it means to widen the heart and become truly unbreakable.

She contrasts fleeting, manufactured happiness with the effortless joy that arises from practice, explains how small acts of kindness build resilience, and reflects on faith, karma, and why some people in Bhutan seem less vulnerable to life's ups and downs.

Perfect for listeners curious about practical spirituality, courage, and living with greater purpose.

Key Takeaways:

• 🧭 Choose Liberation, Not Comfort — Why training the mind matters, and how practice aims for freedom from samsara rather than temporary ease.
• 💫 Real Joy vs. Manufactured Bliss — The difference between practice-born joy (stable, effortless) and short-lived worldly pleasures.
• 🤝 Small Acts, Big Heart — Two-minute kindnesses, widening our circle of care, and the role of faith/teacher in sustaining practice.

⏱Timestamps:

• (00:00) – Introduction to Lopen Ani Pema Deki (Ven. Emma Slade), former banker turned Buddhist nun
• (01:00) – The challenge of practicing Dharma in a busy modern life
• (02:31) – Are we seeking comfort in samsara or liberation?
• (02:51) – What happiness really means from a Buddhist perspective
• (03:40) – Joy and bliss: natural results of Dharma practice vs. worldly joy
• (05:28) – Reflections on Bhutan and why happiness can’t be measured easily
• (06:20) – Mental resilience and faith in Bhutanese life
• (07:17) – Small daily acts of kindness in a busy life
• (07:53) – Expanding motivation beyond yourself and loved ones
• (08:52) – Why bother about anyone else besides your loved ones?
• (09:20) – Why widening your heart supports resilience
• (10:24) – The Bodhisattva path: stretching beyond your comfort zone
• (11:14) – How British Lopen Ani Pema Deki (Ven. Emma Slade) became a Buddhist and later a Buddhist nun
• (11:40) – Meeting her teacher in Bhutan
• (12:24) – Moments of clarity and deep spiritual connection
• (14:27) – Karma and how Lopen Ani Pema Deki (Ven. Emma Slade)’s path ripened in Bhutan
• (15:18) – Sneak preview of Part 2

ABOUT THE SPEAKER: 👤 Lopen Ani Pema Deki (Venerable Emma Slade) was born in Kent, England, and was educated at Cambridge University and the University of London, where she gained a First-Class degree. She is a qualified Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and worked in Fund Management in London, New York, and Hong Kong. A deep-seated yearning to enquire into the deeper aspects of humanity arose following a life-changing business trip to Jakarta, where she was held hostage at gunpoint. She resigned from her financial career and began exploring yoga and meditation and methods of wellbeing with the ultimate aim of turning a traumatic episode into wisdom and conditions for thriving. She qualified as a British Wheel of Yoga teacher in 2003 and, over the last 19 years, has run numerous yoga workshops and retreats. ​ Her interest in Buddhism as a science of the mind strengthened after meeting a Buddhist lama (teacher) on her first visit to Bhutan in 2011.

This crucial chance meeting led to her studying Buddhism with this lama and, eventually, led to her becoming the first and only Western woman to be ordained in the last Himalayan [Buddhist] Kingdom of Bhutan as a Buddhist nun. #OpeningYourHeart #BuddhistWisdom #MindfulLiving #FaithAndPractice

• 📄 Transcript: bit.ly/hol-ep-62

Resources:

• Lopen Ani Pema Deki (Ven. Emma Slade) website: emmaslade.com
• Lopen Ani Pema Deki (Ven. Emma Slade) charity fundraiser: openingyourhearttobhutan.com

Special thanks to sponsors:

Buddhist Youth Network, Lim Soon Kiat, Alvin Chan, Tan Key Seng, Soh Hwee Hoon, Geraldine Tay, Venerable You Guang, Wilson Ng, Diga, Joyce, Tan Jia Yee, Joanne, Suñña, Shuo Mei, Arif, Bernice, Wee Teck, Andrew Yam, Kan Rong Hui, Wei Li Quek, Shirley Shen, Ezra, Joanne Chan, Hsien Li Siaw, Gillian Ang, Wang Shiow Mei, Ong Chye Chye, Melvin, Yoke Kuen, Nai Kai Lee, Amelia Toh, Hannah Law, Shin Hui Chong, Dennis Lee

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🎬 Editor: Hong Jiayi ✍️ Transcribers: Cheryl Cheah, Tan Si Jing, Bernice Bay 🎨 Visuals and Sound: Anton Thorne, Tan Pei Shan, Ang You Shan 📱 Get connected: Telegram: bit.ly/hol-telegram. Instagram: bit.ly/hol-instagram-podcast. Facebook bit.ly/hol-facebook-podcast. Spotify spoti.fi/3w2jfQ1.

• Handful OfLeaves, Sept. 23, 2025; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Jen B. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly, orig. 12/19/25

If there's no self, whose NDE is it?

(Buddha's Wisdom) NO-SELF vs. NDEs: Buddhism's strangest question about death

• Near-death experience (NDE)
• Dr. Raymond Moody wrote Life After Life: A Groundbreaking Exploration of Near-Death Experiences and the Transformative Insights into the Afterlife, Backed by Scientific Study and Personal Testimonies
• Dr. Ian Stevenson
• Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross: stages of human death
• Dr. Helen Wambach does early science in Reliving Past Lives: The Evidence Under Hypnosis
• If there is no permanent "self," what is there then?
• Saṃsāra is not Nirvana, but is to say so helpful?
• What is Liberation (Moksha) but Awakening to the Truth that this was all a Dream (Maya)?
• Death (marana) is death because it is immediately followed by rebirth; there is no space in between, as the Bardo is misunderstood to be, because it will not be another human rebirth next
• At the instant of death, in that submoment, what was a human life is lost, the impersonal process of consciousness relinks and rearises according to karma in a new form. It is neither a new existence nor the same as the one before, and this is confusing. Identity clings. But just as it was impersonal before, it is impersonal still, and the process (patisandhi in samsara) rolls on. Samsara is the "continued wandering on" and its detailed process the Buddha made known in the Abhidhamma, how cittas (mind moments) and impuslions (javanas) produce their results (vipaka and phala), and a "being" (which is really always a becoming) is unaware and just carried on...

Rebirth is real, sometimes we remember

(Buddhism Podcast) Who were we BEFORE we were [re-]born? Buddhism explains

5-year-old Amercian boy says he was Black woman: The Ghost Inside My Child (S1 Flashback) | LMN

If I were a white man, I'd bring down the Patriarchy and White Power Structure. - How?

My name was once "Pam"!

(LMN) When 5-year-old Luke told his mother his name was "Pam" in the "time before" [this current rebirth] when he was Black and he "was pushed out of heaven [by god sending him back to earth to be reborn as a boy]," Erika became nervous. Then things escalated when Luke began to recall dying a fiery death in this clip from Season 1, Episode 3, "Orphan Trains & Hotel Flames."

Uh-oh, does this mean that a privileged white male now can die and be reborn as an oppressed Black female -- or someone suffering famine and other deprivations in the Third World? Oh, is that what the Buddha was talking about when he warned about karma? #GhostInsideMyChild #Tulku

• Rebirth (Buddhism)

American kids reveal memories of picking their parents (compilation)

• Ghost Inside My Child, LMN, Jan. 9, 2023; Buddhism Podcast; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

First 40 days after death; Bardo Thodol

Reincarnation of Edgar Cayce?

Edgar Cayce was once America's "Sleeping Prophet," a healer who channeled many healers, guides, and a mysterious consortium of helpful beings trying to give a message to humanity and those who came seeking cures and answers as to why they were sick. The cures were provided in many case studies preserved by the A.R.E. (Association for Research and Enlightenment) in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The reason for strange illnesses that didn't seem to have a cause was often found to be past karma from past lives. Cayce was a Protestant Christian. He didn't believe in past lives, as that did not seem biblical nor in line with the belief system of the official church. He, however, studied the Bible and saw that it did teach that there were past lives and it certainly taught that karma (sowing what we reap) was real and an official position of the church today. His psychic abilities were present from childhood, but his greatest power came when he stepped out of the way in a trance like state (mistaken for sleeping) when he channeled information for those seeking it for themselves or others. He worked on much more than health and wellness. He predicted wars, discoveries, stock market trends, and even engineering through remote viewing, once going through a bridge to find defects in its construction. Cayce, who live a century ago, is alive and well today, reborn as David Wilcock (divinecosmos.com). You or anyone can talk to him and ask him questions about that life or this, as he is glad to answer. We almost traveled to Egypt with him to see the pyramids. He is now very busy with his ongoing research and his show on Gaia.com TV. (How can we know Cayce was reborn as Wilcock? Author Wynn Free proved it in his book on the subject, The Reincarnation of Edgar Cayce?: Interdimensional Communication and Global Transformation).

The Tibetan Book of the Dead: Bardo Thodol

(ReligionForBreakfast) What is the "Tibetan Book of the Dead"? The Tibetan Book of the Dead, or the Bardo Thodol, is arguably the most popular Vajrayana Buddhist text in Europe and the United States. Freud's protege Carl Jung loved it. So did Beatle John Lennon. But why? What is this text all about?

Sources

• Lopez, Donald S. Jr. The Tibetan Book of the Dead: A Biography. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011.
• Coleman, Graham, and Thupten Jinpa, eds. The Tibetan Book of the Dead: First Complete Translation. Translated by Gyurme Dorje. New York: Penguin Random House, 2005.

Sponsor

• Thanks to Wondrium for sponsoring today’s video. Signup for FREE trial to Wondrium: ow.ly/BBou50N4T0f. Join Patreon community: religionforbreakfast. One-time donations: paypal.me/religionforbrea... Check out favorite religious studies books by following this affiliate link to Amazon page: amazon.com/shop/religionf...

Edgar Cayce via AI; Religion for Breakfast, March 23, 2023; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

What about 'When Things Fall Apart'?

It's time to die, and you're next. (Ready? You can't be surprised. You knew Death was coming).

What? This doesn't apply to me. I'm fine. I'm famous, I'm young, I'm pretty, and I'm rich!!!
Beauty queen Ariana Viera dead at 26 after car crash in Orlando, Florida (Samsara Times)

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How can we live our lives when everything seems to fall apart — when we are continually overcome by fear, anxiety, and pain?

The answer, American Buddhist nun Ani Pema Chödrön suggests, might be just the opposite of what one expects.

Here, in her most famous and beloved work, Pema shows that moving toward painful situations and becoming intimate with them can open up our hearts in ways we never before imagined.

Drawing from traditional Buddhist wisdom, she offers life-changing tools for transforming suffering and negative patterns into habitual ease and boundless joy. shambhala.com.

Things don't fall apart; it's all just an illusion, right?

What does Pema know?

American Tibetan Buddhist nun Pema Chodron

Ani Pema Chödrön was born Deirdre Blomfield-Brown in 1936, in New York City.

She attended Miss Porter’s School in Connecticut and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley. She taught as an elementary school teacher for many years in both New Mexico and California.

The venerable nun was once a hot young hippie

Pema has two children and three grandchildren. While in her mid-30s, Ani Pema traveled to the French Alps and encountered Lama Chime Rinpoche, with whom she studied for several years. She became a novice nun in 1974 while studying with Lama Chime in London.

His Holiness the 16th Karmapa came to Scotland at that time, and Ani Pema received her ordination from him.

Why Welcome the Unwelcome? That's crazy

Pema first met her root guru, [sex scandal ridden cult leader] Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, in 1972. Lama Chime encouraged her to work with Rinpoche, and it was with him that she ultimately made her most profound connection, studying with him from 1974 until his death in 1987.

At the request of the 16th Karmapa, she received the full bhikshuni (Buddhist nun) ordination in the Chinese lineage of Buddhism in 1981 in Hong Kong.

• The Pema Chodron Foundation
• Ariana Viera (Kenia News); Ven. Pema Chodron (shambhala.com), 10/31/24; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Science no longer believes in death

• I've studied more than 5,000 near-death experiences, my-research has convinced me without a doubt that there's life after death

Nurse dies and sees how we go on living

(The Other Side NDE) ⭐ Nurse Penny Wittbrodt encountered death, or what we think of as "death" judging from this side. From the other side, the afterlife, it looks very different. The mystics were right. Seers through the ages have really been seeing something we will all eventually see when it is too late to make use of the knowledge. If only we had come to believe and understand while living, the next phase (lives after lives without end) could have been comforting rather than our worst nightmare of annihilation and obliteration, which many scientific types look forward to because it would mean nothing was ever going to come of ill-done and well-done deeds in this and countless previous lives. When Wittbrodt had a near-death experience (NDE), it taught her about life. That was the most amazing thing. We do not die in any final sense. We may lose loved one, this body, this situation, and all that we hold dear, but there is continuation, reappearance elsewhere (blissful or dreadful or not completely unlike here). She saw her death from her own and then a disembodied perspective, which gave purpose to all the moments she had had here on Earth, the good, the bad, the ugly, and precious few lofty moments. The story of crossing over is mind-bending, glimpsing our potential to reappear in a heaven (one of many) or in any of 31 Planes of Existence in countless worlds. Stories come in from around the globe 🌍 ➡️ tinyurl.com/helptheothersidende 🙏 See more of Penny Wittbrodt and her NDE here ▶️ witthealthcoaching.com. #nde #neardeathexperiences

The "soul" (self) is not immortal. It dies from moment to moment in life whether we notice or not. The process continues after "death." So we are neither immortal nor do we end by death.

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Science finally uncovers what really happens

What happens after we die? While many scientists believe that death is the end, quantum physics suggests that it might not be as simple as we think.

In fact, it could be an illusion.

• How consciousness and life persist after death
• Beyond Death: The Best Evidence for the Survival of Human Consciousness (S. H. Rawlette)
• VIDEO: 25 things that will happen when we die

This new scientific idea challenges everything we know about life and "death." By looking at concepts like the interconnectedness of all things and the nature of consciousness, here’s to a whole new perspective on life after death.

Biocentrism challenges our understanding of death and life

I tried to do my part for predictive programming, showing that there was no Death (T-Swift)

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Everything doesn't go black?

Dr. Robert Lanza, a leading expert in biotechnology, plays a major role in this idea.

He’s the chief scientific officer at the Astellas Institute for Regenerative Medicine, where he studies stem cells and how they can be used to treat diseases.

Before this, Dr. Lanza focused on researching embryonic stem cells and cloning, working with both animals and humans. [Illegal human cloning?] He is also an adjunct professor at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina.

I'll reappear in another place in another body?

According to biocentrism, death might not be what we think it is. Instead of seeing death as the end of life, this theory suggests it could be an illusion, something created by the way we perceive the world.

Beyond Biocentrism: Rethinking Time, Space, Conscious
-ness, and the Illusion of Death (Dr. Robert Lanza)

The idea is that time and space, as we understand them, are not fixed. Our awareness of these concepts might shape what we experience as life and death.

• Beyond the final-breath: How consciousness persists during death

Can we change the subject? This is upsetting.

The theory doesn’t deny that our physical bodies die, but it suggests that our experience of death might not be the final event we think it is.

By studying stem cells and regenerative medicine, Dr. Lanza is working to explore how life can be extended or even renewed [as happens anyway according to the science-friendly Eastern traditions, in a recycling modality known as samsara].

Why lately has science been promoting suicide euthanasia, abortion, infertility, LGBTQIA+?

His research into cloning and stem cells shows that the boundaries of life might not be as clear-cut as we once believed.

If we can manipulate biological processes, it suggests that life—at least the biological part of it—could be much more flexible than we realize. More: 

• According to quantum physics, death might be an illusion
• What is an NDE or near-death experience?
• Nancy Maffia, Viral Chatter via MSN.com, 11/17/24; Pat Macpherson, CC Liu, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

That time my ANGER killed me (NDE)

But I hate him so much because he's so full of hate, and I hate hate and people who hate!

Why are you mad? - Oh, I'dunno, no reason.

Can anger grow so bad that it eats us alive? But anger is "natural," and it's not good to hold it in. Science has found that people who express their anger, say by beating a pillow, significantly worsen. Acting out what is a transient emotion into a practice trigger-and-response.

Ven. JC Reilly, Dr. Nicholson, and angry Sandler

Every time I hear that man's name, I get so triggered and p*ssed off, I'm just like Whoopi Goldberg cussing like I did when I was best friends with Mr. Trump, who often hired to me to cuss with my filthy mouth during my act.

Shut the h*ll up, Kids, before I beat you! - Yeah, you heard Mom, shut the h*ll up! - No, you!

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The way to "manage" anger is to let it all hang out, behave irrationally, right? What could be healthier? When anger arises, watch it mindfully (non-reactively). If that is impossible, apply the immediately-effective antidote of metta (loving-kindness).

What are the Three Poisons the Buddha warned against? Craving, HATRED, and delusion.

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If feeling cold indifference towards others and their plight, practice karuna (compassion).

If not happy enough and wishing to instantly be happy, engage in mudita (joy in others' joy), the opposite of schadenfreude.

(What's that? It's delight in the misfortune of others, like poor Mr. Trump, who has to wear an adult diaper and fouls himself daily, which is why his baggy pants are so ill-fitting and wrinkled and his posture so extraordinarily bad, pushing his butt out and behind him. Just ask firsthand witness Noel Casler.)

What's wrong with anger if I don't hurt anyone?

One of the very dysfunctional things about anger is that, without realizing it, we often use it as the basis of our bad habits: I have to drink, I have to party, I have to get my grind on...or I'll explode. First, make things internally intolerable with messy emotions. Then "solve" the distress with a dysfunctional coping method.

Angry activist dies from heart attack and discovers we are all one (NDE)

Anger Management my @$$!

(Coming Home) Mr. David Williamson shares the story of his near-death experience, dying of a heart attack brought on by hypertension after years of intense anger-fueled activism in support of the Black community.

During his encounter on the Other Side, he is surprised to realize that we are All One, while experiencing himself as a glowing orb of light and learning that no experience in this human life is ever lost or wasted.

Mr. Williamson shares how the experience transformed the way he views life now and how it changed the way he relates to all other people.

"We are creating our next life right now in this moment, with our attention"

- David Williamson

Follow David Williamson on his Substack to connect with him, receive articles he writes, and learn about workshops he may offer ⇨  dwilliamson.substack.com.

Support this channel and become a member of Coming Home ⇨ @cominghomechannel. Watch all of the near-death experience stories ⇨ • Near-Death Experiences

SUBMIT YOUR NDE

Share your NDE story for consideration on the Coming Home channel ⇨ cominghomefilms.org/submit...

Subscribe to newsletter ⇨ cominghomechannel.substack.com where Coming Home explores the meaning and purpose of near-death experiences in the modern age. CH writes about the intersection of spirituality, life after death, comparative religion, philosophy, depth psychology, modern culture, and most of all how we can all stay connected to the truth that living doesn't end when we die in this life. Connect on Facebook ⇨ cominghomechannel. Instagram ⇨ cominghomechannel.

• VIDEO: Childish Gambino - "This Is America"
• Hidden meaning behind "This Is [MAGA] America"
• David Williamson (Coming Home NDE (video), June 27, 2023; Dhr. Seven, Ani, Melissa MacKay of insightla.org (video recommendation), Wisdom Quarterly COMMENTARY

Dr. B. Long: life after death proof, NDEs

Best evidence for life after death: World's largest NDE study revealed | Jeffrey Long

(Danny Jones) June 17, 2024: Danny Jones Podcast. Watch all episodes uncensored and ad-free on Patreon: dannyjones.

Dr. Jeffrey Long is a medical doctor specializing in the practice of radiation oncology, using radiation to treat cancer. Long has conducted the world's largest study of Near-Death experiences (NDEs) which includes over 4,000 experiencers.

OUTLINE

• 00:00 - Scientific evidence of near-death experiences (NDEs)
• 08:56 - The problem with researching NDEs
• 20:46 - Near death experience vs. fear death experience
• 23:19 - Are NDEs religious?
• 34:54 - Scientific evidence of reincarnation
• 42:10 - How NDEs change people
• 47:11 - NDEs give people superpowers
• 52:58 - DMT vs. NDEs
• 01:05:19 - Consciousness during cardiac arrest
• 01:11:09 - Blind people regaining vision during NDE
• 01:21:00 - Remembering NDEs
• 01:25:07 - Death bed visions
• 01:31:14 - Shared higher consciousness
• 01:35:23 - Hellish NDEs

FOLLOW DANNY JONES:/ dannyjones / jonesdanny. LISTEN ON Spotify - open.spotify.com/show/4VTLG0H... Apple - itunes.apple.com/podcast/id14...

SPONSORS: cutsclothing.com - Refine style with ‪@cutsclothing‬ and get 20% off with code DANNY. shopmando.com - Control Body Odor ANYWHERE and get $5 off of Starter Pack. That’s over 40% off with promo code DANNY whiterabbitenergy.com/?ref=DJP - Use code DJP for 20% off EPISODE LINKS x.com/4nderf, nderf.org.

• Dr. Bryan Long, Danny Jones (Danny Jones Podcast); Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

It's life after life, NDE research shows

Will we die only to be reborn again in this endless re-cycling of samsara? Yes, but not today.

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I've studied more than 5,000 near-death experiences (NDEs), and my research has convinced me without a doubt that there's life after what we call death. (WQ) The dying process seems final, until we ourselves die and reunite with those who passed before us.

• UNDERSTANDING NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES (The Hearty Soul) Dr. Long’s exploration was based on an encounter while in medical residency. He stumbled across an article describing NDEs (near-death experiences) in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The article stirred his curiosity so much so that he eventually founded the Near-Death Experience Research Foundation. With incredibly meticulous scientific collection techniques and analyzing firsthand accounts, Dr. Long was able to uncover a collection of experiences that defy today's conventional understanding. These experiences, whether taking place during clinical death or in life-threatening situations, share common threads that hint at an existence beyond the physical realm: a life [lives] after death.

Raise the dead with this mantra: "Kuchi kuchi koo!"

(WQ) But it is not like this. What we call death is not oblivion, not the end of everything. It would be nice if it were and we could look forward to eternal peace and rest, unconsciousness and a closing of all things. But it isn't that way at all.

The rebirth (relinking, reappearance) process is immediate. We are not dead for more than a moment because the very next moment is the relinking consciousness. Therefore, it is an unbroken chain of mind moments (cittas) between lives.

In fact, it really should be called life after life not after death. There was this life, and before, there were countless others lived in this cycling chain. Hereafter, there is much more to come, for good and ill. People crassly say, "Karma is a b*tch," not seeming to realize that nearly everything good that happens to us is due to karma. The bad, too.

We have a choice, if we only knew it. We can steer the ship of our lives if only we regained the wisdom to know that. Even faith can help right away. If one but have faith (saddha, confidence) that karma really happens -- that our deeds really do beget appropriate results -- we would not be so timid.

The brain proceeds after the last breath

We might step up and begin to live. Belief in "fate," called fatalism, is very harmful. It absolutely seems true, that things just happen out of the blue. But that is only because we do not see the whole picture or even the big picture, but only a tiny fragment of it.

We only see that we did something good and nothing came of it, or even harm came to us. But we are blind to the fact that IT (the deed) has not yet come to fruition. Ripening is not immediate. It takes a variable length of time, which is why John Lennon's threat "Instant karma's going to get you" is so harmful.

Instant karma is unreal or very rare. If we do something and get an immediate result, it is not because that karma (that seed) suddenly sprouted and bloomed. It is far more likely because similar seeds were waiting in line to bloom. People do not usually suddenly turn over a new leaf and begin acting out of character. They (we) very much stick to character.

• PATTERNS OF LIFE AFTER DEATH (The Hearty Soul) Dr. Long’s research has revealed that approximately 45% of individuals report an out-of-body experience when near death. This experience detaches consciousness from the physical body and provides vivid details of one's surroundings. These consistent accounts have often included details confirmed by witnesses which, of course, is great for accuracy and authenticity for Dr. Long. On top of this initial separation, individuals describe "going into" another realm, feeling a profound sense of peace, and reunion with departed loved ones. With such vivid descriptions and consistency of accounts across age groups and cultural backgrounds, it's hard to dismiss it all as mere hallucinations.
• Anesthesia study unlocks clues about the nature of consciousness
• Researchers discover brain circuit that controls ability to recall information and memories

Medium dies, reports NDE

Those past deeds come to fruition when we're still doing the thing we habitually did in the past, and it comes to seem like the deed we just did is producing its result when it is much more likely to be a deed from the distant past catching up with us.

[See the Abhidhamma for the unbelievably complex way in which this works with impulsions (javanas), volitions (cetanas), and the many kinds of karma (kammas) so named based on their function. All of these things, unbelievably, are directly observable to a mind that is temporarily purified and utterly obscured to defiled minds. That purification (vissudhi) is accomplished by meditative absorptions (jhanas), refined states of stillness and concentration. It is not really a DIY project but one that needs a teacher with experience in these matters. We can suggest form British Buddhist nun Beth Upton.]

• I've studied more than 5,000 near-death experiences (NDEs), and my research has convinced me without a doubt that there's life after what we call death
• More: You can meditate yourself into a near-death experience (and if you practice, you can get better at it)
• Sean Cate, The Hearty Soul via MSN, May 2024; TEXT by Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly