The following profile of the major characteristics displayed by people who have gone through a transformation of consciencness (brain shift), is based on my research of the near death experinece period. I offer it as a public service. Even though it is a copyrighted piece, you have my permission to download it at will, copy the profile, and spread it around as much as you can. My goal here is to help people realize, first of all, that there are aftereffects, and secondly, what is typical to the experience. So many people are confused afterwards, or think they're going insane. Knowing what is normal goes a long way in helping individuals to integrate their experience in a positive, healthy manner.

No one returns from "an otherworldly journey" quite the same as before - nor is anyone any kind of "special messenger" or "chosen one" because of what happened. We each return with one piece from the big picture. . . value and meaning are determined from the aftereffects and how they are integrated over time, not from the event itself.

Remember that transformations of consciousness are not magic - even though they may seem so at the time.

Brain Shift

A transformation of consciousness is more than just a change of attitude. By combining three ongoing research projects of mine, I can now state with confidence that a transformation of consciousness engenders structural and chemical changes in the brain that affect experiencers both psychologically and physiologically. Four books of mine speak to this, and there is now movement within clinical research settings to test the pervasiveness of such aftereffects. More is needed and encouraged.

A transformation of consciousness, what I call a brain shift, can result from any manner of otherworldly occurrences. I would include here those of a more turbulent nature, such as: religious conversions, near-death episodes, kundalini breakthroughs, shamanistic rituals, sudden spiritual transformations, certain types of head trauma or having been hit by lightning. I would also include those more tranquil in how they're experienced: from the slow, steady application of spiritual disciplines, mindfulness techniques, meditation, vision quests, or because, in a prayerful state of mind, an individual simply desires to become a better person.

Aftereffects from a brain shift are universally similar, regardless of what type of otherworldly occurrence is involved; and you can use the near-death experience as a model to identify the pattern:

MAJOR CHARACTERISTICS
DISPLAYED BY PEOPLE WHO HAVE GONE THROUGH A BRAIN SHIFT

Physiological

Changes in thought-processing (switch from sequential/selective thinking to clustered thinking and an acceptance of ambiguity), insatiable curiosity, heightened intelligence, more creative and inventive, unusual sensitivity to light and sound, substantially more or less energy (even energy surges, oftimes more sexual), reversal of body clock, lower blood pressure, accelerated metabolic and substance absorption rates (decreased tolerance of pharmaceuticals and chemically treated products), electrical sensitivity, synesthesia (multiple sensing), increased allergies or sensitivities, a preference for more vegetables and grains (less for meat), physically younger looking (before and after photos can differ).

Psychological

Loss of the fear of death, more spiritual/less religious, abstract easily, philosophical, can go through bouts of depression, disregard for time, more generous and charitable, form expansive concepts of love while at the same time challenged to initiate and maintain satisfying relationships, "inner child" issues exaggerate, less competitive, convinced of a life purpose, rejection of previous limitations and norms, heightened sensations of taste-touch-texture-smell, increased psychic ability and future memory episodes, charismatic, childlike sense of wonder and joy, less stressed, more detached and objective (dissociation), "merge" easily (absorption), hunger for knowledge and learning.

Note: Characteristics can be positive or negative, depending on how applied. With my research of near-death survivors, I found the spread of impact that appeared to occur to be as follows (1994 figures) - 21% claimed no discernible changes after ward, 60% reported significant changes, and 19% said changes were so radical they felt as if they had become anothcr person. Based on my previous investigations of spiritual awakenings/enlightenment done in the 1960s and '70s, these percentages seem to fit across the board with the universal experience of a brain shift, no matter how caused. (For more information about the methodology I used to conduct over 3,000 interviews with near-death survivors, 700 of them indepth, refer to Appendix II in "BEYOND THE LIGHT.")

Considering the scope of aftereffects, it could well be that as the brain is restructured from the otherworldly experience, neural pathways are "rewired" or somehow rerouted or maybe revitalized. How the brain alters, though, suggests that we may be programmed as a species to ever evolve and that we possess the apparatus we need, which, when triggered, will advance that growth.

Brain shifts, partial or radical, are accelerating in number, globally. High technology and new resuscitation techniques are returning more people to life who would have died previously - and many of these people report having had a near-death experience, especially children. No longer relegated to the fringes of society, such otherworldly journeys are now commonplace. Thus, it behooves all of us to recognize this, and seek to understand the mechanism which seems to cause such episodes - plus the pattern of aftereffects and what is implied by them.

P.M.H.Atwater - Books that address the topic of brain shift -

"COMING BACK TO LIFE: THE AFTER-EFFECTS OF THE NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE"
(hard-cover 1988 Dodd, Mead & Co., paperback 1989 Ballantine Books).
"BEYOND THE LIGHT: WHAT ISN'T BEING SAID ABOUT THE NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE"
(hardcover 1994 Birch Lane Press, paperback 1995 Avon Books).
"FUTURE MEMORY: HOW THOSE WHO 'SEE THE FUTURE' SHED NEW LIGHT ON THE WORKINGS OF THE HUMAN MIND"
(hardcover 1996 Birch Lane Press, paperback available Spring 1999 from Hampton Roads Publishing).
"BRAIN SHIFT: USING THE NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE AS A THEORETICAL MODEL TO EXPLORE THE TRANSFORMATION OF CONSCIOUSNESS" (self-published available only from the author).

Other books: Atwater - "THE MAGICAL LANGUAGE OF RUNES"
(softcover 1990 Bear & now out-of-print).
"GODDESS RUNES" (softcover 1996 Avon Books),

P.M.H. Atwater Website: http://www.pmhatwater.com

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