I am an atheist, a science-based person, but I have been in the presence of someone passing a couple of times. I can tell you that, I do not care how science based you are, there is something about this experience that you simply cannot dismiss.
I was with a person who I loved deeply, the details are, personal and I am going to skip over. But when she passed...
Her breathing moved from the rattle to just a quiet rhythm, and after a long time, slowed and finally stopped, with her last breath, I kissed her on her forehead, and said, “I will always love thee my sweet love."
I felt something, I sensed something, her spirit pierced through me, an energy, so intense, so much love. I know it was her spirit, she passed through me on her way to her journey to the beyond.
I had a vision. I don’t know if I fell asleep or exactly what happened, but in my vision, I was on a sandy beach with her on an island, there was a large campfire, it was dark, no moon and the milky way was splashed across the sky so vividly, like diamonds on velvet. I was a child and so was she, an old man as dancing around the fire.
He stopped and smiled at me, he waved his hand across the fire and embers trailed his hand as he traced the arc of the milky way, the embers seemed to mingle with the stars. It was so beautiful; I cannot explain it fully. He turned to me and smiled and nodded, and I nodded back, as if to say, I see, I understand now. He took her hand, she smiled at me, and they walked together into the sea.
Something of her stayed with me, I feel her, and him, both her spirits, some little piece. She was and she is, and he was, and he is, with me, in spirit. I wrote this poem about the experience.
Dämmerstunde (Twilight Hour)
When I stand at the window in the twilight,
I see the sea in front of me in deep silence,
Star upon star shines high above me,
I like to think of long-forgotten childhood days.
How I yearned from my mother's womb,
When she asked the great sky spirit,
With wispy white hair, an old man,
How he splashes the lights across the sky?
How then, she tenderly taught me,
To hold dear the great spirit.
How the omnipresence works and creates,
With immeasurable love, kindness, strength.
Does he love me too, Mommy? Am I too small?
Certainly, my child, you must be sincere and true,
Stay strong, always trust in him,
He will never renounce his love for you.
Oh mother, how often, with patience,
Have you explained to me the great beauty of the spirit.
Then I fell asleep, tired from many questions,
You carried me lovingly and carefully to my little bed.
You left me so long ago, you're in the light,
My mother, sees me from the spirits eye,
But when my lifetime is up,
Come home to thy glory!
I know, I am an idiot. Or crazy. I hope this is not out of line Again, I am not a believer, but I am questioning myself.
I am so sorry if this is out of bounds.
The phenomenon described in the article does not require any non-naturalistic explanations. This is pretty much the role that people ascribe to DMT all the time, which is supposedly secreted during our final moments.
I was in the presence of my mother during her final night and it was the most harrowing and traumatic experience I've ever had.
It was obvious that she was in pain towards the end, but interestingly over the 1-2 hour period after she died, when when she was surrounded by friends and family, her face gradually changed into the most angelic and peaceful smile. Even the guy from the cemetery commented on it, as most of the faces he's seen are contorted into painful visages. A naturalistic explanation would be that it was because of her positive personality and constant use of her smiling muscles led to those muscles being the strongest or first to contract during rigor mortis. I kind of like the idea that your death face is a reflection of who you were in life.
> The phenomenon described in the article does not require any non-naturalistic explanations.
That would depend on:
- the true metaphysical nature of reality, which is not known (though it typically seems otherwise, human consciousness & culture, 2023, being what it is)
- whether you want your explanation to be consistent with the true nature of metaphysical reality
If it was known, it could be error, deceit, laziness, etc.
But the true nature of reality isn't known it is only believed, but human belief tends to be considered (appears as) knowledge once an adequate amount of people in a society believe something to be true - 100 years ago religious beliefs were the dominant truths, now science is the top dog.
Specific object level beliefs change over time, but human nature seems to be much more immutable.
This is one of the most beautiful comments we've seen in a long long time. Thank you so much for writing this <3
We are also somewhat atheistic and science-based, but we choose to believe in souls anyway because... it's the most convenient word for what we want for ourselves.
We want to believe we're 8 separate people who are just in it together. We would never want to be separated from each other... but we would never want to be integrated together, either. We just are 8 souls in one body.
It is the most comfortable way for us to think about it. Those souls don't have to physically exist in the real world or in a real spiritual dimension. They are within us, inside our mind. And we are perfectly comfortable with that.
We believe that even if what you saw was just a creation of your mind... it can still be real to you. It can still exist inside your reality. Inside the realm of your mind.
Thanks for writing this. You conveyed the power of your experience well. It's not out of bounds at all. There is no rule that one can't share spiritual experiences on HN.
I was with a person who I loved deeply, the details are, personal and I am going to skip over. But when she passed...
Her breathing moved from the rattle to just a quiet rhythm, and after a long time, slowed and finally stopped, with her last breath, I kissed her on her forehead, and said, “I will always love thee my sweet love."
I felt something, I sensed something, her spirit pierced through me, an energy, so intense, so much love. I know it was her spirit, she passed through me on her way to her journey to the beyond.
I had a vision. I don’t know if I fell asleep or exactly what happened, but in my vision, I was on a sandy beach with her on an island, there was a large campfire, it was dark, no moon and the milky way was splashed across the sky so vividly, like diamonds on velvet. I was a child and so was she, an old man as dancing around the fire.
He stopped and smiled at me, he waved his hand across the fire and embers trailed his hand as he traced the arc of the milky way, the embers seemed to mingle with the stars. It was so beautiful; I cannot explain it fully. He turned to me and smiled and nodded, and I nodded back, as if to say, I see, I understand now. He took her hand, she smiled at me, and they walked together into the sea.
Something of her stayed with me, I feel her, and him, both her spirits, some little piece. She was and she is, and he was, and he is, with me, in spirit. I wrote this poem about the experience.
Dämmerstunde (Twilight Hour)
When I stand at the window in the twilight, I see the sea in front of me in deep silence, Star upon star shines high above me, I like to think of long-forgotten childhood days.
How I yearned from my mother's womb, When she asked the great sky spirit, With wispy white hair, an old man, How he splashes the lights across the sky?
How then, she tenderly taught me, To hold dear the great spirit. How the omnipresence works and creates, With immeasurable love, kindness, strength.
Does he love me too, Mommy? Am I too small? Certainly, my child, you must be sincere and true, Stay strong, always trust in him, He will never renounce his love for you.
Oh mother, how often, with patience, Have you explained to me the great beauty of the spirit. Then I fell asleep, tired from many questions, You carried me lovingly and carefully to my little bed.
You left me so long ago, you're in the light, My mother, sees me from the spirits eye, But when my lifetime is up, Come home to thy glory!
I know, I am an idiot. Or crazy. I hope this is not out of line Again, I am not a believer, but I am questioning myself. I am so sorry if this is out of bounds.
Thank you for putting up with my silliness.