JUST WHO DO WE THINK WE ARE?
by Shari Harris
My Near Death Experience in Iraq
from The Application of Impossible Things
by Natalie Sudman
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Just Who Do We Think We Are?
Natalie Sudman Says....
"...[It] can be difficult to remember who we are as Whole Selves while we're within the physical. But the point is this: all of us are sharing a unique experience that takes real and amazing skill. We have absolutely no idea how amazing and totally cool we are, really, each of us, and how totally amazing and cool it is that we can maintain a physical body and comprehend experience from within time and space as we do." (p. 27)
"I believe in the profound value of taking personal responsibility for everything that I create and experience in my life." (p. vi)
Natalie Sudman, Application of Impossible Things
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Greetings
It's hard to believe that we are nearing the end of February already! We are in the thick of winter right now, but spring is just around the corner! I hope you are finding things to enjoy as we continue to stay home and do our part to stay safe in this COVID culture.
I introduced Natalie Sudman in January's edition of this newsletter, and this month I'm reviewing her book, Application of Impossible Things. In addition to a short summary, I want to highlight some of her lessons from what she calls "the Blink Environment" (because it was just a blink away in her experience). She also refers to that environment as "expanded awareness." Another term she uses throughout the book is our "Whole Self," which means our soul or higher self.
This book about an NDE is different from others I've read, as Natalie uses most of it to attempt to explain what happened to her from the perspective of expanded awareness, and she dives deep in a unique way. After a brief summary of her story, I list below some of her beliefs about our physical world that she remembered from that expanded awareness. To me, they are affirming and helpful!
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Be well and enjoy your amazing life!
Sending my love,
Shari
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Natalie Sudman
Natalie is the author of Application of Impossible Things which describes her near-death experience (NDE) after being "blown up" in Iraq when a roadside bomb exploded as the Army vehicle she was in made contact with it. This article summarizes her story, some of her her "take-aways" from the incident, and her beliefs about life.
Natalie was a civilian employee working as an archeologist for the Bureau of Land Management with the US Army in Iraq. Her job was administering construction contracts. She lived on the Army base and was escorted to various construction sites by soldiers. On the day of the bombing, returning to base after a tiring day and dozing in the backseat of an armored Land Cruiser, she heard a "pop" as the explosion happened. Her consciousness immediately left the scene and in a "blink" she was in another dimension of expanded awareness, which she calls the Blink Environment in her book.
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While spending a month healing from her injuries at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Natalie honed her memory by reliving the story over and over in her mind, determined to remember accurately everything that she experienced. (Pictured is President George W. Bush visiting Natalie at Walter Reed. In 2008, Natalie received the Defense of Freedom Medal for her service.)
In the Blink Environment, she remembered standing on a dais in a huge stadium addressing thousands of non-physical white-robed beings she refers to as "The Gathering." They were familiar personalities that she knew. In her book, Natalie explains that she felt her brain chose to perceive the energy beings in "human" form wearing glowing white robes (instead of, for instance, as points of light) because, having been so abruptly transferred from the physical plane, it was still her point of reference.
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She felt their admiration for what she refers to as her "latest silly feat on earth." (Natalie wrote, "How intrepid is it, really, to choose to get blown up?") Natalie communicated to the beings that she was tired and was not interested in returning to Earth. She understood that the decision was hers, and at that point in the experience, her decision was "to end my physical existence."
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She remembered then presenting to the Gathering a transfer of information in the form of "an inexplicably complex matrix." It was a condensed download, communicated by thought, of cultural and political information from her life that included events, thoughts, individuals, stories, concepts, judgments, and dimensions. She was aware that this transfer of data was in response to a request made by this Gathering before she began this physical lifetime.
The Gathering of personalities then requested that she return to her physical body to accomplish some further work. She agreed to return but asked for some assistance. To summarize, Natalie went to another vibrational dimension, a spiritual deep resting state, to restore her energies. She then went to a place of healing where energy beings helped her repair some of her wounds so she could re-enter her body, leaving some injuries that they decided she'd need in order to accomplish her goals when she returned. After agreeing on specific tasks, the type of assistance she would receive, discussing mechanical details and some "personal issues," she popped back into her life.
She found herself still in the back of the rolling vehicle. "I could tell that my right hand was nearly severed at the wrist, my right foot and ankle were badly mangled, and I had a deep wound in my right torso. There was a large hole in my head: I was missing one eye, the frontal sinus, and a portion of my brain."
Natalie Sudman, Application of Impossible Things, pp. 3-6
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Natalie's Truths
There is much more detail, of course, in Natalie Sudman's fascinating book about her experience. Below are some of the things she learned from the Blink Environment perspective and wants her readers to know.
- "We are more than our physical bodies and the limited minds and consciousness-focus of this physical environment." (p. 26)
- Criteria for judging my physical life's actions:
- 1st: Was my Whole Self expanded in understanding the nature of myself?
- 2nd: Did I express my creativity?
- 3rd: Did I enjoy the experience as a whole?
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- "I craft my physical experiences. Things don't happen to me without my consent; they happen because I created, co-created, or agreed to experience them." (p.39)
- "There is no victim status available. My actions, emotions, and thoughts are not a hopelessly blind product of parents, school, television, abuse, poverty, social prejudice, racism, sexism, or politics. I entered the physical world as a complete being, a full-blown personality, a consciousness with intentions and agreements." (p. 42)
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- "The moment I become aware of myself as a Whole Self, I cease to be a victim of anything. Instead, I become the cooperative creator of my own experience, fully responsible." (p. 42)
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- "My being blown up by a roadside bomb in Iraq isn't the fault of the person who built the bomb, the person who placed it, or the person who triggered it. It wasn't bad luck or coincidence. It was an event that my Self cooperatively created and agreed to, and for my Whole Self the event was and is meaningful...." (p. 42)
- Even though Natalie explains that we create and/or agree to our experiences, she writes, "I don't mean to diminish the reality of pain and anguish: it exists, it is real, and it matters. Personally, being in the throes of a migraine or nerve pain or falling down a flight of stairs because of having only one fully functioning eye..., I'm not wondering how I created this torment.... (p. 43)
- "It isn't someone's fault if they're injured or otherwise have a difficult life.... [F]rom the perspective of expanded awareness, all experience is valuable. It is not to be interpreted as placing blame. I'm more likely to be thinking it is my unique gift to myself. I can try to appreciate it in some way." (p. 43)
- "I want to give others a glimpse of the expanded perspective that I experienced in order to assure them that their pain isn't forever, there is value and reason in it, and that the reason is their own--the experience is potentially as valuable as their pain is intense and real." (p. 44)
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Natalie's Conclusion
"I used to believe that one person's efforts were too small to make a difference in anything large like war or racism or poverty. Now I'm convinced that each and every consciousness makes a valuable contribution to the world and beyond, no matter how insignificant that person might seem from within our belief structures.
One person changes the world just by imagining a more harmonious one. Let's try it." (p. 114)
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DAILY AFFIRMATION
Planting Seeds for Growth
"I craft my physical experiences. Things don't happen to me without my consent;
they happen because I created, co-created, or agreed to experience them."
Natalie Sudman, Application of Impossible Things, p. 39
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I love these good news stories from Future Crunch!
I signed up for their emails, and I will include several good
news facts in each issue of Just Who Do We Think We Are? Shari
About Future Crunch: "We are a team of science communicators based in Melbourne, Australia. We curate stories of human progress, and support small charities using science and technology to make the world a better place. More than 40,000 people subscribe to our free, fortnightly email newsletter." (https://futurecrun.ch/)
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- "South Australia has become the largest grid in the world to have 100% of electricity demand met by solar power, even as its electricity prices have become the cheapest in the country." (Fossil fuels advocates wrongly warned that wind and solar will increase energy prices.) Renew Economy
- "More help, less handcuffs. The US city of Denver is reporting early success with a program that replaces armed policer officers with healthcare workers for non-violent incidents. Since June 2020, a mental health clinician and a paramedic have responded to 748 calls without the need for police intervention or any arrests." Denverite
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- "After 40 years of effort, researchers have finally succeeded in switching off KRAS-G12C, one of the most common cancer-causing genetic mutations in the human body. The finding promises to improve treatment for thousands of patients with lung and colorectal cancer, and may point the way to a new generation of drugs for other cancers, like pancreatic cancer, that still resist treatment." New York Times
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Just Who Do We Think We Are?
Shari Says...
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I believe we are eternal spiritual beings who are currently
living one of our many lives on Earth and who are the co-creators
of our experiences through our thoughts and beliefs.
Shari Harris
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I believe that if people understand that we live many lives and that our current situations will change in our next lives, it will help the world to be more accepting of all people.
- How could we be prejudiced against a certain race if we understood that we might be born into a family of that same race in our next life?
- How can we hate people of a particular religion, if we know that we may have worshiped the same way in a past life or may do so in our next life?
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- When we know that in consecutive lives we can change our race, our gender, our religion, and that we can switch roles in relationship to our parents, siblings, children, and spouses, as well as co-workers, friends, and enemies, I believe that empathy and compassion for others will abound.
Shari
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Please feel free to forward this newsletter
to friends who may be interested!
Others are welcome to sign up.
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Previous Issues of
"Just Who Do We Think We Are?"
are available on
2021 Issues
1-28-2021: Just Who Do We Think We Are? Vol. 2, #1/Bob Olson-Afterlife
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