End of Life Experiences: Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogue 79 

My 16 year old Italian Greyhound passed this weekend. He wasn't sick, just old. The night before he passed I carried him for a walk around the neighborhood. We stopped to look at the near full moon and I had the unusual experience of literally feeling the energy of his heart transfer into mine and the chronic pain in my spine and heart center disappeared. My thoracic curve shifted dramatically and my scoliosis from childhood cancer changed dramatically in an instant. I'm a chiropractor and this was an amazing unique experience. It's as if the yin yang energies of my heart were balanced by his gift. The next morning I held him in my arms and chanted mantras for an hour. He passed peacefully in my girlfriends arms when I went to work. A transformative and life changing experience for us both. Thank you Pavan. We love you.

I had a goat for about 8 years. She was having problems kidding so I took her to the veterinarian. Unfortunately the vet was a fourth year student and didn’t properly cup the hooves of the baby resulting in a tear in my goats cervix, which is always fatal. They quickly bleed to death. The kid was pulled out and I asked the vet to give it to her. (They were keen to get us out as they were expecting a cow in labor). My goat spoke softly to her little one and cleaned her off. I milked some colostrum from her for the orphan I would be caring for. The vet approached me to tell me that I could leave and they would “take care” of her. Upon hearing this my goat grabbed my jacket hem in her mouth and looked at me imploringly. I told them I would stay with her until she had passed. Which I did. I still haven’t recovered from that whole experience. I can barely tell the story without breaking into tears. I am a seasoned farmer and kept goats for 23 years. She knew she was dying, and she wanted me to stay with her. I have seen many animals die. They get about the business of it. It seems to me they somehow know how to “do” it. As if it’s something you can do. I’ve seen them resign themselves to it. We also had a wild raven come to our pasture next to the house to die. We had a pair here that nested nearby for 20 years and each spring brought their babies to the house for daycare while they went hunting and foraging for food. We never fed them. When this raven, which was obviously ill or very old, passed away my son and I witnessed a raven funeral. It was surreal. Seemingly from out of nowhere, hundreds (and I’m not exaggerating) of ravens came from all around. They formed a kind of whirlwind formation that almost touched the ground right over the dead raven’s body. They swooped in and swirled up one at time to say goodbye. My son and I stood with our mouths open and goosebumps on our skin. This went on for at least 20 minutes, maybe longer, it’s hard to say, it was as if time stood still. And then it was over. And they dissipated almost as mysteriously as they had arrived. I have no idea how they all knew at once that their clan member had passed, but they did. So many miraculous things I have seen in the animal world. Thank you Rupert for giving them the dignity they deserve.

God blesses the soul of every living thing.

my wife woke up out of a coma twice to speak with me on the day she died of hemolytic leukemia, the second time five minutes before she died. she simply didn't have enough oxygen in her system for it to be physically possible. two weeks later, the crows we fed came and silently held a vigil in our yard. spirit is real and probably all there is

My dog was only ill for one week before he died, but the day before he passed away, he seemed a lot better, we went for a walk, he had appetite and ate some of his favourite foods. He seemed comfortable, sleeping with his belly up, even though he was a very ill dog. He almost died the week before, but we managed to take him to the vet and we tried to save his life, even though the vet said that his condition was fatal basically. But I'm so grateful for that last week we had with him, it was a chance to say goodbye and to show him one more time how much we loved him. He was such a joy to us, and I will always miss him, till the day I see my little doggy again.

My bulldog Scarlett died almost 12 years ago. We were two peas in a pod and pretty much joined at the hip from the day I brought her home as a puppy. The night she died was extremely unexceptional as she was just laying on the ground next to me and when I called for her she was gone. I was so angry I didn't have a chance to say goodbye. I have seen her in dreams a few times since then, but one really stood out to me. She was just sitting in front of me in the grass and looked up at me and she put her ears back and smiled with her booty wagging. I got down to get level and she put her paws on my shoulders and i hugged her and kissed the side of her head, kissing her and yelling her how much i missed her. Then i had the most overwhelming endorphin dump I've ever had in my life. It was literally the best I've ever felt. I was so happy just to have this short period of time to see her and feel her again. It was like getting a chance to say not only goodbye, but I'll see you again some day soon as well.

A coworker came in one day telling me this story about her grandmother who had died the night before. Her grandmother had her own apartment but my coworker's mother and aunt took turns going in the morning to get her up and ready and at night to get her ready for bed, to make sure everything was ok. One evening the grandmother told her daughter that her deceased sister had visited her the night before and told her she was going to die that night. Her daughter reassured her that it was just a dream, that she was fine and not going to die, got her ready for bed and left. At some point during the night the grandmother changed from her nightgown into her best dress and jewelry and put on makeup. They found her the next morning passed away.

All creatures of all species are equally important. Everything is here for a reason. I grew up on a farm with lots of animals. Death was common. We had a 22 year old cow, who was the matriarch. When she died, all of the cows had a funeral. My father took her body to the back of farm. The cows followed and they bawled for days.

I’m a retired, professional chaplain after 30 yrs., half in hospice. It’s very common for patients to die, sometimes in the briefest window of being alone. This is often very distressing for family, but it’s evident that some patients choose to pass while alone. It’s so common for patients to see and talk with deceased loved ones that it is assessed as a sign of approaching death. Many patients have a brief period of complete lucidity in the midst of actively dying. I once waited, with the RN, at the home of an 83 yr old, beloved patient. Her 2 grown children were at her bedside, she was not conscious and had every sign that death was imminent. After a long wait, we reluctantly had to leave. We later found that after we left, she woke right up, had a little pizza party with her children and then peacefully passed. Most patients will experience a life review at some point. My mother died from cancer at a young age. During her last two weeks, she remained conscious but unable to speak. One night she began talking. She was aware of my presence but was focused on talking with every person she’d ever known, obviously as a young bride in a receiving line. At times, she was very funny, other times, moved me to tears. This went on all night. Suddenly she sat up, called me over, told me she loved me and, unable to see me, said goodbye. She lay down and never spoke another word. The greatest privilege of my life and preparatory to recognize the many unique ways patients often experience similar. It’s true that it can be a challenge to keep a balance between symptom management and level of alertness. Most patients are able to voice which is most important to them and most prefer to remain as lucid as possible, even if uncomfortable. Thankfully, most of the time, a good balance of both is achieved. I also worked as a bereavement counselor both individually and in groups. At some point, the conversation will inevitably turn to what might be considered supernatural concerns before and/or after death. Those who do have supernatural experiences, and there are many, do find them a great comfort. In my experience, this most often happens exactly filling a particularly great need in at some point in bereavement, for patients and/or loved ones. It is a great relief for them to share these experiences without fear of being judged. Many people long to share this aspect of life and death but usually have no idea that others have had these experiences too, let alone how common it is. It can be challenging in a group for those who haven’t had any unusual experience and wonder why. Most often I’ve noticed that those who don’t receive these experiences just did not require that particular kind of help and are very supportive of those who have. I have so many stories of beautiful miracles of love they could fill a book. Only once did I witness a complete cure of terminal cancer in an older lady. But true miracles happen all the time, especially in hospice. All the staff with whom I’ve worked would agree, even those not religious. Only once did I get a bit scared, standing with the doctor, at the bedside of a deceased patient. He looked at me and said, did you see that? I turned to him and asked, did you see that? We hightailed it out of the room. It wasn’t a frightening thing that happened. It just can be a bit of a surprise when you experience the supernatural. But, when shared with the daughter, it was a great comfort, especially in this case where, with good reason, she was very worried about the state of his soul. She actually saw his soul leave his body, immediately after a priest arrived with great urgency for the final sacrament. Our story seemed the confirmation she needed to be reassured. The beautiful, astonishing stories one gathers working in hospice are a tremendous gift for all , but the greatest gift, the greatest miracle is the expression of love. I can’t count how often a patient who’s had a painful life passes peacefully once love is offered and returned. Sometimes it can seem to take forever for those who’ve lost love in their lives. They’ll often test us and sometimes we have to be pretty stubborn in loving them, but it’s breathtaking to see someone so hurt like this, finally able to receive the loving care we offer. Once they’re able to express love in return, it’s as if their final task is completed and they leave in peace. I’m so grateful for the work you are doing. There remains a serious need to educate about hospice, dying and bereavement.

I was told a story about such an experience, regarding a person rather than an animal but I would like to share it. The person who told me about it used to nurse elderly people. One lady had gradually deteriorated with dementia, however, my friend very kindly sat with her, held her hand and talked to her whenever she could. She noticed that the elderly lady had a photo of her husband on a dresser. He had passed years earlier. She put the picture on her bedside cabinet and told the old lady that she had placed Albert's photo there to be close to her. For several evenings, my friend sat with the old lady and often spoke about her husband and how handsome he was in the photo, thinking that it may give some comfort. One night, while she sat holding her hand, the old lady opened her eyes and became very lucid for a few moments. She looked my friend in the eyes and simply said "I hated that b*st*rd", closed her eyes and passed away. I have a twisted sense of humour and found the story hilarious but I know her reasons for saying that could be much darker. Nevertheless, a case of terminal lucidity.

2 stories. 1: HUMAN: My mother was heavely medicated and dying from Alzheimer after a year of complete immobility and unconsciousness. She was medicated with morfiine. In her final hours, she lifted her arm and hugged my daughter, who approached her to say good-bye.
 2. DOG: Our old and beloved golden-retriever was dying of cancer and my daughter, her most loved person, was at the beach. I called her and told her to return and I told the dog to wait because she was coming. The dog waited until she was back and at her side to pass away.

Animals are supremely intelligent. It's nice to hear that being acknowledged.

I had a pet pug and cat. The pug wasn't really interested in the cat but when she died we buried her in the garden. We were digging her grave (she was run over by a car but thankfully intact) and she was lying on the grass. The pug went to her, sniffed her and lay next to her until we buried her. Sadly our pug also died 3 weeks later (he had cancer). They are next to eacht other in our garden.❤❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉🎉

If you die before you die, then when you die, you won't die. Enjoyed your video.

Great conversation. More please. I used to be a nurse, and I saw many times, that a patient would wait until their distraught relative would finally be persuaded by staff to go and get a coffee, and would slip away. I thought it was something to do with the relatives sort of holding them back, because when the staff would say, Tell them it's ok to go now, the patient would slip away. Of course, many deaths happen on night duty - but that might be the natural ebb of life force at about 3 am. I've had several loved ones visit me post mortem - sometimes in dreams, other times with smell or a feeling, or a sound. The difference (for me) between a memory and a visit, is that the memory is often tinged with sadness and a wistful longing feeling; whereas the visit is joyful and vivid and cannot be mistaken for anything else - especially when it's happened a few times. E.g. I have been missing my dog today and went on our old walk by the river, and shed a few tears for him. But when he bounces into a dream, I wake up feeling so happy. I''m sure, when it's your turn Rupert, Terence will be there and he'll look over his sunglasses and say, Dr Sheldrake, I presume. Give him my love - unless I beat you to it.

Just had this with a neighbours cat, dying with kidney failure. he always wanted to come into our house, but we denied access and made him welcome in the very large garden. He turned up looking like a bag of bones, I picked him up and cuddled him in the living room in front of the french doors in bright evening Sun, after about 10 minuets he asked to be put down where he rolled over and stretched like a young cat on a rug in the warm Sunshine, he then asked to go out and wandered off. Two days later a tourist knocked on my door and inquired if we had a Cat. I described the neighbours cat and he said yes. He had found it in the Holy Well at the bottom of our Garden. We recovered his body which seemed to have died after his visit to us, and buried him in an area of the garden where he loved to watch and hunt Rabbits.

My 8 year old pug had a horrible genetic condition which slowly paralyzed her entire body. About 3 months ago she gradually passed away while I was holding her in my arms on the family couch. Moments before her passing I realized that she’d be going away at any time. All I could do was hold her with my eyes closed while listening to the Beatles. About 20 seconds before she passed away I could vividly see a couple of brilliant purple auras floating behind my closed eyelids. These auras floated around for several seconds and then all of a sudden the auras merged into 1 red aura which formed into the shape of a heart. As soon as the auras disappeared I opened my eyes to find that my sweet little girl had passed away. Stuff like this sticks to your psyche like nothing else, and words cannot express how thankful I am to have experienced such a beautiful thing during a very dark event

Our family had a favourite goat. Fiends would ask if the goat was half dog! One morning he called out distressed, I checked him and he was near the end(goats are the great pretenders) I checked him made him comfortable and went to work That afternoon I left work early to check on him The moment I opened the car door, he bleated out( 120 meters away) I went straight to him. He had moved 50 meters toward the gate and was lying on the ground. I went and sat beside, he lifted his head, layer on my lap, made some gentle noises. He calmed and just licked my fingers and nuzzled into my lapHe passed 10 mins later I feel confident that he waited until I returned before he left. Yes I was moved

It's not the individual imagining their dead partner. Few years ago I'm in the garden and could hear the man from house behind calling "Christine". As it's my name I got a bucket and poked head over fence nothing there. Fast forward a couple weeks I'm in garden again and lady from house behind pops her head over she tells that the house is getting sold, she hadn't been here for last month because husband died from his brain tumour. I gave commiserations but I didn't mention I'd heard him calling her name two weeks prior. I didn't say anything because what good would have it done. I had no "memories/attachment" of this man but I definitely heard him calling. Also visiting friend in palliative care, he was 100% lucid, chatting to him and he said his mate Donny had visited last night. His mate had died 18 mth prior. He died shortly after.

My last dog clearly said goodbye half an hour before she passed away. There is a cat called oscar in a nursing home who according to the staff new who would die soon. The cat would "crawl up to them for comfort and hold a little vigil in their honor." Dr. David Dosa, a health researcher at Brown University and a geriatrician working with patients at the Steere House nursing home even wrote a book about the cat. I've heard as well a story about a dog, who did the same in a nursinghome. Animals are aware of many things, we can't sense or have lost the ability to do so.

My friend died and I am mostly convinced she led me to a physical sign for me to find, right where I was at the time she passed. It was such a rare object and it coincided with some special experiences we had together. I didn’t know she had died when I found it, and her death was extremely unexpected. I had actually texted her about it, amazed about another bizarre synchronicity. It’s hard for me to think it wasn’t all tied together for her to communicate with me after her passing. It’s still quite unbelievable to me

It is 3.20am in Adelaide, South Australia and about an hour earlier I was awaken by my wife who has acute pain from her hip joints. I turned my light on and tried to comfort her and then turned my mobile on and this RU-vid video came on straight away. I watched it for 20 minutes and then needed to go back to sleep as I begin teaching music at 8am today. I couldn't go to sleep and kept going over the death of my mother and two family cats. I have read and studied Rupert Sheldrake's book on morphic resonance and will write another comment on my experience after I finish teaching this afternoon at 2.30pm. God bless Rupert for his remarkable in-depth study of science and spirituality.

Thank you both for this wonderful discussion. As a palliative care nurse who worked at a hospice for 5 years I saw many people who became very lucid and alert days or hours before their death. I have felt that for some it was too painful to die with their loved ones present and they could only let go and transition spiritually when their loved ones had left the room. This is common. As a midwife of 25 years I have also observed that in a normal birth without intervention a woman who will be exhausted during the first stage of labour will become lucid and often more energised during the transitional phase of the second stage of labour. I feel there is a link here.

I JUST LOST A BELOVED PET, so this is hard to engage with at this moment. Unfortunately my little dog was in full seizure which led to her passing. But prior to that, she was getting increasingly close to me/our bonding was increasing to an ever-increasing level. So hard to have lost her this way, but so valuable and precious the time that lead up to it.

This phenomenon..a final surge of energy, calls to mind the final scene in Verdi’s La Traviata when Violetta is dying. Her last words are “ E strano! Cessarono gli spasimi del dolore. In me rinasce - m'agita insolito vigor! Ah! ma io ritorno a viver! Oh gioia! How strange! The spasms of pain have ceased: A strange vigour has brought me to life! Ah! I shall live - Oh, joy!

I am unfailingly pleased by Rupert's discussions and findings, and wish more scientists could escape their disciplinary confinements, but that must be only for the financially powerful or the recklessly daring as to employment and financial matters.

In 2005 my stepdaughter was accepted into an agricultural high school (Urbrrae) in Adelaide and in her first year had to keep a record of a particular pet animal. She initially selected an axolotl, but changed her mind and got two kittens instead. The female, called Poppy, became an indoor cat, and the male, Thomas, was an outdoor one. They became great mates and gave us lots of entertainment and unconditional love and affection. In September 2020, Thomas, now an aging 16 year-old, was not seen for several days. We became concerned and I started walking around the neighbourhood looking for him. I went down a nearby creek and from a distance saw him under a bridge. I went down a steep embankment and when I got to him he looked lost and confused. I then picked him up and carried him up out of the creek and he slowly followed me home. We took him to the local vet and was advised to have him put down on Sep 14. I live in a unit with a shared carport and every time I came home after teaching music Thomas would wait for me and come down to the carport to meet me. After he was put down I kept seeing him and hearing him at the carport for days. In May 2021 Poppy, now aged 17, had an absess on her face and the vet operated on it and took out a number of her teeth. The absess came back and she was run-down, deaf, couldn't groom herself and couldn't walk abound. She was also taken to a vet and put down on May 9. After Poppy passed away I had continual images, feelings and thoughts of her. A particular silhouette of her was seen recently in the lounge area made up of two whiteboard pens. My wife also has a silhouette of her formed from a scarf hanging near the bedroom window.

Very interesting Rupert & Mark, My Mum rallied and held her arms up before she died and when my Dad died a few years earlier I felt a heaviness and knew something had happened. My brother saw a small ball of twinkling lights about the size and shape of a rugby ball that hung around appearing and disappearing for a few days after Dad had died, no body else was aware of this only my brother

I have a theory on this. When our greyhound died, she had been sick and quite immobile for days. The moment she died, she leapt up and ran outside -- and laid down and quickly died. My theory is that mammals -- having evolved over millions of years -- gained the ability to flee the cave or flee the communal den, so that their corpse doesn't rot where the pack sleeps. If they didn't have this final burst of energy to flee the pack, it would temporarily ruin the home for the whole group.

Thank you for a pleasant and quiet conversation, always characteristic of your style of presentation, Rupert 😌One of my cats, years ago, chose solitude in the garage. I knew she wasn't well, and expected her to live her last days. I noticed her walking outside, toward the garage. I followed her, feeling as if she meant to show me her whereabouts. She lay down with determination and began to die, while I held my hands around her body. It was all good and right, this was her moment of goodbye. She was very clear about it, no suffering or hesitation, just a leaving of her physical body, and that was that.

Our cat, a few weeks before she died, would routinely seek solitude in her carrier, a place she usually hated because it meant a trip to the vet. She would always struggle when we tried to get her in her carrier, but at this point she sought it out herself.

My mother was dying of Alzheimers. Two weeks before her death she was hospitalised. I was visiting her when a gerontician arrived. “Good morning” he uttered out loudly. My mother who had not spoken in months, and only made weird clucking sounds replied clearly “Good morning!” He leapt backwards in fright. “Omg.” He says. “I was told she was semi-comatose and unable to speak”. He then looked at me and said “get your kids to come at once as I see this only very rarely! This is your small window of opportunity to say goodbye” I called my daughters and together we sat beside my mother’s bed and they hugged and kissed her and sang her songs. My mother answered almost lucidly for a few hours. She looked at my younger daughter and said “Oh the little one is here”. She then slipped back into zombieism. Even then she did not die for another fortnight. I got a call on the morning of her death, drove like a maniac to the home 20 minutes away. No one greeted me at the doors. I ran through to her room and found her corpse. She had died while I was driving there, 10 minutes prior. I was furious with the staff as they could have called me earlier (or met me at the door so I did not receive such a shock!) one of the male staff members glibly told me “some people prefer to die alone!” I had endeavoured to be there for my mother for her passing so I took it very hard that the staff had not bothered to notify me earlier. It is what it is. She’s been dead 13 years now and occasionally she still haunts me. Dreamed of her only a few days ago actually.

We had a cat, a real friend, for 26 years. I feel bad because when she did eventually die of pneumonia I tried desperately to keep her here. By force feeding medicines and invalid foods/drinks. This made her last days not exactly hell but … well … not good. Looking back now, it was her time & I was so selfish putting her through this. Bringing her inside against her will from under the ferns in the garden and squirting crap down her gullet. Forgive me Tisha. 😢Please. Maybe one day you’ll tell me yourself in a land where we all understand

We took in a,stray cat that had been abandoned, a problem in this neighborhood since he was the sixth one. He was the biggest and most affectionate cat I've ever had. We only had him for about five years as he was probably about ten when he showed up here. He started to wheeze and not be able to breathe. He'd hide which wasn't like him. I was gonna have him put to sleep because it was very painful watching him suffer. He had a sudden recovery and I thought he would be fine, but the next evening he died very suddenly.

I have lived that experience with my dying dogs, the know when they are leaving 🙏

After i had my children, i started to smell my grandmother's perfume in the house, this went on for some time and it was particularly strong wherever my children were playing. It felt like she was watching over my children and at times coming to help me. She was my father's mum and one day i mentioned this too him and he said, she always liked children. I was totally floored as i never knew this. It was quite a comforting experience. When my dad died I never had chance to say goodbye to him, he was heavily medicated with morphine. After he died i felt enourmous grief and pain as having not been able to say goodbye. One night my grandmother came to me - in a dream - i was upset in my dream and she told me it was good to see me, she hugged me and told me it was alright. I woke up with an extreme sense of peace and the grief for my Father felt easier to deal with.

uhhh, don't leave me alone when I die. Sounds grim. Wonderful lecture! I enjoy you very much, Rupert. I will always remember the first time I saw you in the 3 hour group discussion of Metaphysics :) . You were so adorable. So handsome. More discussions, share everything with us. You are wonderful to listen to.

Dear Rupert, thank you for sharing your, now, personal interest. A bow to you

My husband passed away 30.04, this year It was a Natural Death . We were papering for his final hour for nine months. I was with him to the end. He knew that he is dying, we discussed every step. After final, last inhale implosion happened in his heart, at that moment we separated. Next was explosion of his "aura" No pain, no medication needed. I am writing now "the art of dying" You know, Natural Death is like an orgazm. In a few weeks my/our story will be ready to share. One of my cats died under our bed, one of my female dogs, who can't have children, after an injury, went to the garden and stay there till she died. I am not afraid of the process of dying. The most important conclusion, from my experience is : we are not going out of body, we implode inside the heart, which is the star gate to the Divine Realm . I wish you all the most beautiful Natural Death.

Lost a great friend recently who moved to California from England. Older guy, lot of health problems. Super rad guy loved drone technology and had a lot of Irish. Glad to have shared a Beer with him before his passing. Maybe he made it to a better place anyway.

Slightly OT..kind of as not at point of death or right before....my dad in a care home with vascular dementia...few months before dying...suddenly a spark of life in those dead eyes..then starting to do Tai Chi flow movements like a Tai Chi Master...I'm trained in martial arts so can distinguish 'quality of movement'...it had the tone and intricacy of a flowing master...I just sat there bamboozled as he never studied it in his life or had an interest in the 'East' and these kinds of movement forms...he winked at me...then went back into his stupor !

aww thank you. hugs to all the pet owners

This happened with my father who died in November of 2021. I wasn't present but my sister was there, and they made a phone call to another family member while he was lucid. His hospice person actually told us this was common...even to "expect" that it might happen, before it did. I was with him the evening of the night he died...My sister was there for a couple of hours after I was...and then he died about 3hrs after she left. Another thing I want to mention here is that, when I was there the evening before he died, he was not able to communicate and was really struggling to breathe (congestive heart failure)..we knew he was very close to death..and because I wasn't able to engage with him in the usual sense, I just sat and closed my eyes and imagined us all (my sisters and brothers) walking on the pier at the beach he lived at for most of our lives...on a beautiful sunny day, laughing and really enjoying ourselves...with dolphins swimming and playing below. It was like a visualization I was hoping he may be able to tune into from what I thought of as is "halfway out" state. I swear he let out a sigh at that moment that sounded like relief, and for the next few minutes he seemed relaxed and relieved. The dolphins were something that just seemed to "fit the mood", I suppose. In reality, I had never seen dolphins swimming there at this pier. Then on January 16, 2022 when we held a celebration of life party for him at this beach, the whole family got together to scatter his ashes from the end of this pier. It was a beautiful sunny day...perfect weather...and THERE WERE DOLPHINS SWIMMING RIGHT THERE AT THE PIER! I believe it was the first time I'd ever seen this! This day we scattered his ashes just happened to be the day after the tsunami in Figi...and apparently about 65 miles North of this particular pier, there were just enough residual waves caused by the tsunami that a boat had been overturned from the waves created by the tsunami... so a slightly more "scientific" explanation for the presence of the dolphins could be that the dolphins were responding to the changes caused by the tsunami, but I will always believe that there was "something more" going on. I felt it as a "wink" and "hug" from my father. The very best things can never be "proven"....and that feels completely appropriate to me. I feel no need to prove anything to anyone. I feel this was "for me", and that's what matters.

I think we can only truly understand and accept through the experiences of a life lived and everyone has different kinds of experiences and encounters during their lives. Though i haven't spoken of my own experiences following my wife's untimely passing until now i can very much relate to what is being discussed here, the smell of a fragrance a touch, a sound, things that can be considered somewhat subjective. But it has been the very real physical encounters i have experienced which are not remotely subjective that can't possibly have been a state of mind which i wont speak of even now. Thanks to Rupert and Mark for this and other discussions.

My dad was on a high dosage morphine drip during his last days dying from cancer. This was in 1983 and no one talked about NDE 's and terminal lucidity. Yet, even on such a high dose of opioid, he had an NDE from which he returned with what I can only descibe as a look of utter rapture on his face. This was a man who now weighed 85 pounds with cancer ravaging his body. He remained in a lucid state, reverting to his original french language and talked to me for over two hours and kept repeating how beautiful it was on the other side of death. I get tears in my eyes just remembering.

My late sister did the same,a last surge shortly before she died

A friend's dog who had dementia for the last two years of his long life (18 yrs) suddenly perked up, playfully acknowledging both his canine companion and the humans in the home. This lasted about ten minutes and then he sat before his main person and died. The family speaks of the entire event as a great gift - especially since the dog had been 'non compos mentis' for so long prior. Thank you both for this conversation.

It seems to be quite common for people to die alone. Perhaps for some, dying is a private function.

Oh wow. More of this please. I'm totally sick of the mechanistic World over shadowing the spiritual World so much. Also, I had 3 wonderful and strange experiences just after my Mother died on my birthday. Indeed such wonderful presents from Mum in the afterlife World.

The infamous comedian Norm Macdonald told no one, apparently not even his family that he was dying of cancer. Then he died alone, perhaps in company with some nurse.

Hello. Thank you for Being. I remember pre-Being. I was a Star. I was a shining dot of awareness in an infinity of infinities and I was in a field of such stars. I intuit that when I die I will return to that Perimeter in the Starfields of Life. It's not my belief. That is my Experience. I remember my own birth although I push it down as it was trauma of a sort. Like materialising in a mess of flesh. Later in life I described the maternity room to my birth mother. In death some sink. Some float, some, few, Shine. May you Shine, throughout life, reader. Please help Morph the World to be sustainable. As far as I know it's the only one with many good things, such as Pubs. Live in a state of AgapeLife. There is no such thing as Death. You are eternal in ways you can only, and , I think, do often dream about. Please Join any Ecological Environmental Group and Act to share the Great Earth Morph. Or who knows how long the Perimeter stay you have will be? You see? 😊 Jonathan Frodsham

Thanks for creating and sharing this, Rupert. Well done, again.

My beloved first own dog retreated into solitude at age 18 and was found dead 3 weeks later.

Two years after my wife died I had a vision of her sitting on our bed and she said to me:"It's time for you to go on with your life." I took this to mean to stop grieving.

As for End of Life Experiences the story of Stanisława Umińska might be interesting. She has performed "euthanasia" (whatever shooting someone may be called) on her terminally ill fiancé and then experienced different ways of acompanying people dying. A quote from her diaries might be description of one of the phenomena You have discussed: "I once took care of an impaired little girl; when she died, in the last moment of her life, she became a normal child, there was a flash of awareness in her eyes, she smiled at me - for the first time. And if someone before her interfered, she would not have matured to this moment...".

So interesting...I look forward to the sequel paper. Thanks so much Rupert.

I rescue animals, many of them guinea pigs. The pigs have bells in each enclosure to call me for attention or food. KiritoSan, an old boar had stopped eating and moving, and I was to take him for euthanasia in the morning to shorten his suffering. I held him at intervals throughout the night, each time until he seemes weary of touching. I decided to let him be for the last few hours until morning and get a quick nap in as I had been up all night. I laid down, and shortly he rang his bell! He had traversed the area of the pen to get to it, which must have been an enormous effort for one who could barely lift his head. I placed him on my chest once again and we waited together until morning. I have many such stories.

A dear friend of mine died of cancer. He'd been heavily drugged with morphine. Suddenly, as I was sitting with him, he came to and was the boy I knew. He didn't speak but looked me in the eye and we were able to kiss goodbye and I was able to fetch his parents. Off topic but I felt the need to share.

Thanks Rupert and Mark. That story of Foxy doing a farewell to his family was touching. Your content is consistently 😊first class. I appreciate your efforts

My mother waited until my sister went for a drink of water and I went for a pee. My daddy made me help him out of bed and died literally in my arms, chest to chest (and has hung around ever since, more supportive than he'd ever let me see while he lived). He drops $20s on me from time to time, a hallucination I can spend at Starbucks. 👻

Tattoo, about whom I've given you two anecdotes, was a Star Trek fan, strictly TNG. She approached death with dignity and full consciousness. She became so psychic in her last days that people who came to visit said, Wow, Cosmic Kitty! She died in my lap and clearly saw herself embarking on a journey through a starfield.

I remember that shortly before my wife, Eileen died, I was leaving her long term care room after a visit. She had suffered Alzheimer's and Neuropathy and spent eight years in that bed. She was sitting up and I heard her say, "Keith". I turned and noticed that she sounded and looked unusually bright and attentive; just as I remembered her from years earlier. She said, very clearly and purposefully, "Now you take care of yourself". I couldn't remember her ever saying anything like that to me before, but I responded with some kind of assurance, and left in wonderment. When I visited her next, the bad condition was back. That incident stayed in my mind until she died in my arms, in hospital, about a week later. Then I knew what it was. *She knew* ..... and I had known too, but couldn't admit it to myself. I am now 94 years old and in a "minimal care" seniors lodge where I spend much of my time alone - due to the nature of the place. But Eileen has always been "present" - not in any physical or audible sense - she is just "THERE", just as comfortably and naturally as always; and I have occasion to speak or smile to her, from time to time, especially when I do or say something stupid and lose my cool - when she would always smile and say, "What a performance". After 68 years, 5 months and 15 days of being together, death does NOT "do us part."

My dog was comatose and we had carried him to my bedroom next to my bed. I was in the kitchen washing dishes when suddenly I just left the sink and went straight to my room and knelt by him. He started moving his legs as if he was walking, and gave three soft howls (he had howled to music all his life) and moments later he died in my arms. He wanted me there.

This video brings to mind a lifetime of similar experiences, some of which occupy part of 2 books I wrote. There is a veil between the material and spiritual worlds, between life and death. For most people the veil is like a castle wall. For myself and countless others, the veil is as thin as a water bubble. These experiences went through the roof when I plunged into Native American spirituality and shamanism. A dozen or so times a “dead” person has contacted me. I perceive them as “a person without a body.” Out thinking mind makes it hard for a “dead person” to contact us. In 2004, I began making myself available to someone who just died. Often I did not personally know that person. One was Christina Grimmie, a rising singing star who was murdered right after a concert. I made myself available to her...and spent about an hour a day for a week communicating with her. She wanted to dance with me. As an integrative psychiatrist I’m used to taking notes, and there were 19 pages of notes. At first contact I asked her if she was with God or Jesus. Immediately she was with a light (that I knew was God). I fell unconscious for about 10 seconds. When I “returned, “ she was at the foot of a tall, smooth, simple teal crucifix. I watched her 2-hour memorial service on TV. The camera at the back was zoomed in to whomever was speaking. At the very end the camera zoomed out. At the far right side a crucifix came into view. The cross was the teal one she showed me. After a week I started to pull back. I did not want to interfere with her journey. A week after that I asked silently, “Christina, are you still around?” Instantly a p as it of huge wings (that went from floor to ceiling) appeared right next to me and physically brushed against me. The wings were off white, like in tiger movie John Travolta was in as Michael. In a similar very long encounter it occurred to be that communicating with thoughts and words might be challenging so I tried focusing on images which “people without a body” can read much easier than thought or words. Anyone can try that. I met a husband and wife who spent they’re lives helping people who died in WWI to complete their transition. Many had become stuck and had not completed their transition. The mss a n was Benito Reyes, founder of a university in the Philippines. I pray fir people as they are dying... and I continue to pray after they’ve passed. My work involves a great deal of analytical thinking. This video pleasantly put me back in touch with the spiritual and mysterious side.

On his death bed, our groundskeeper Carl was offered ''total consciousness'' by the Dali Lama. I cannot say for certain whether or not he received this amazing gift, but we are often reminded of his childlike presence whenever we whack the heads off perennials with a grass whip.😆A Cinderella story if ever there was one. Many of us still hear him hollering ''cannonball!'' off in the potting shed on warm summer nights. * Bushwood has not been the same without him.🥰😘 *Please find the gentle teasing and humor in this post. I love Rupert and am wiser for having found his work.🙃

15:41 together we stand alone we fall. I think this reflects the deep deep need for community, togetherness, connection. I feel for the lonely. When individuals go through ordeals, others always show additional respect if the person has gone through it alone. It is deep rooted fundamental knowledge that whatever the situation it is not good to be alone. I wonder how many of our adventurous ancestors have fought through and survived against the odds, purely to provide companionship and not leave another on their own .

It is Sunday 11th June (Australia time), a little over a week after I typed out a comment on 2nd June, which malfunctioned when I tried to send it. The following is the same text copied from a hand written draught copy, which I kept. On Friday 2nd June (Australia time) I wrote a comment at 3.20 in the morning. In this comment I will refer to my mother's death and then, separately, the two family cats. Firstly, I'd like to mention that I have read and studied the 2009 expanded edition of Morphic Resonance and Science and Spiritual Practices (2017) of Rupert Sheldrake. Apart from teaching both the classical guitar and piano, I also am a keen myrmecologist (ants) and have done both a music degree and a science degree, but unfortunately didn't complete either. In my unpublished Piano Sight-Reading Method I have included in Book 6 an appendix section on Morphic Resonance after experiencing a change in my school children that continued learning music with me after the lock-down due to Covid-19 pandemic. In 2008 I was kept in touch with my mother's ailing health by my older sister in Canberra and on November 14 I got a call saying that she was gravely ill and would pass away very soon. I immediately booked a mercy-flight from Adelaide with my wife, which incidentally had been delayed. I booked another flight and we got to Canberra early the following morning. A taxi rushed us to the nursing home and we go there at 10.30am. My two sisters were there, but my younger brother was too upset to be there. We sat around mum's bed as she lay under sedation. My older sister joked about me teaching the piano and how mum couldn't believe what I was doing with it. When I turned around at 11.00am she had passed away. My mother held out to the last half-hour to say her farewell, in her own way. You see, my mother has a particular "Spiritual gift", which I witnessed countless times and of which I have a documented collection of her work from the early 1970s. In mainstream jargon (which I share much of what Sheldrake has experienced) she did "automatic writing". A regular communicator of mine was Fernando Sor (1778-1839), a classical guitar composer and performer. We tried to have these "letters" translated and assumed they were written in Spanish. The translater couldn't translate them and found the language quite odd - a mixture of Italian and Spanish. About 40 years later I resolved the issue and discovered they were written in Catalan. Sor was from Barcelona.

Extraordinary! - Just as I was about to write, here in the comments, questions that occured to me as the discussion developed, I found that they were almost immediately addressed by the participants! Arch

In terms of smells etc being memories of deceased loved ones. I don't think that is the case. I've had a very strange experience of smelling lavender perfume and hearing slippers shuffle on the kitchen lino in my old flat where one of the previous tenants had died. An elderly lady. It was in a moment of complete calm or meditative mind whilst I was creating music. I had no memory of this person but thete was something there. I'm not prone to such experiences.

A surge of energy to help push the soul to where it needs to go?

Your talk about your brother makes sense, in case of dementia the soul is not affected by injury or any mental problems. The meat puppet is damaged not the spirit. The soul is stuck with a damaged puppet he needs to deal with. The human brain is damaged in dementia, the soul has to go thru life and learn from the experience. Your brother's soul was in perfect condition. Your brother (soul) remembered everything, Andrew, let you know at the end that he was aware and remembered and knew everything.

The day prior to my mother's death it was clear that she was 'leaving her body' in that life seemed to leave her body and limbs and she was no longer able to move. She also lost her sight and her eyes seemed to be covered with a film. Then at some point later she suddenly sat bold upright, opened her eyes looked me fully in my eyes with her clear, blue eyes, then lifted her arm, wave at me and then she lay down and was gone.

Jusus' resurrection was different from anyone else who was merely raised from the dead. His body was a new kind of body, and He took His body to Heaven with Him. Now we have a Man in Heaven, a representative of our own human kin at the throne of God. He became like us, so we could be made like Him.

Truly fascinating, thank you

Very interesting and important conversation. I'd say it depends on how peoples energys are, when a person dies. . If they are able to provide a calm, loving, letting go atmosphere, without beeing scared of the person dying, that would be great. But especially relatives are often not able to do this. The can't let go, they sre scared, they are nervous,... Think I'd prefer to die allone then.

My dog died when I was 14. He had swallowed a piece of corn cob and it killed him. A week before he died I dreamt he died under a tree on our 10acre plot. After he died on the way home from the vet my father said he would bury him for me. A couple of days later I found out he was buried under that very same very specific tree, everything else that ever died on that block of land got buried in a totally different area.

I tried contacting Rupert a few years ago to discuss this but he was very terse with me and didn't have time for me. How nice to have a suave English accent and RU-vid channel.

My mother had an after death visitation from my father, and I can tell you it wasn't "wishful imagination" because she did not like him and suffered much under his wrath during their marriage. She was very scared of the experience. She later had a visitation from my sister (her daughter) shortly after her death. She described both incidents a an electrical buzzing sound followed by a fog from which she saw unclear figures and clearly heard the voices. My mother was not a religious woman or someone who read about or dabbled in the paranormal.

This was a very powerful conversation by 2 great thinkers thank you for sharing

I Lost my grandmother to cancer when I was 16 and she was in her 70s, we received the call from the hospital while I was asleep. We had visited her earlier that day and she seemed ok If I remember right. I had wanted us (me my mum and uncle) to be there with her when she passed, not for our sake but for hers and the fact that we weren't had always made me feel a bit guilty, like I had failed her in her last moments and that she had to die alone. But I had never considered that someone might want to or prefer to pass on alone, the possibility of that never crossed my mind, and when it comes to my grandmother, well I cant say for sure but I wouldn't put it past her. Maybe I shouldn't feel guilty, I know she wouldn't want me to.

I wonder if wolves (and other predatory animals) perceive this sense of the dying process, therefore knowing which animals should be taken as food? Sort of nature's plan for the wheel of life...

My Dog was sick for a while we knew the end was coming , but no time frame. The day before he passed, he walked the back yard he stopped at serval different vantage points and sat for a while at each spot. this process took about 2 -3 hrs.(normal lot size 1/4acre).I went and got him Mckys'd(favorite treat) and he passed it up. I knew than this was our last day together and somehow I knew he knew also, and that he knew I knew. I sat with him until 1-2 am he was snoring peacefully I kissed him 1 last time and left my heart with him knowing it was time. In the morning he was gone. my heart returned a few weeks later with a piece missing but replaced with gratitude. No mistake DOG reversed is GOD

thank you dear fellows - very comforting to know

I just put my cat down he was very ill. He had not paid too much attention to me while he was sick. But when I took him to the vet to put him down he stared at me intently.

Utterly fascinating, and emotive at times… I feel it incumbent upon me though to point out, in connection with the question of Jesus’ resurrection, what is differential in the gospel accounts is the emptiness of the tomb, and, moreover, if one takes the case of Thomas, he puts his fingers in the wounds… This, and the tenor of the accounts more generally, seems to set it apart from merely an after death encounter.

I texted a comment about 4-5 days ago from Adelaide at about 3.20am in the morning. It was quite long, but something went wrong when I pressed the send blue arrow and I lost the lot. I wrote it out by hand before I typed it, so I can sent it again soon. I just finished teaching an adult class the piano tonight and it's quite late so I'll try and type it out again soon. I have a lot to say about many areas that Sheldrake talks about and has covered in two books of his that I have read. Thanks to the reply I received from one reader and the acknowledgements I received from my first comment. I'm determined to type it out again.

Fascinating, thank you.

The british neurologist Dr. John Lorber published a paper with hundreds of cases that the patients brain almost didn’t exist because of hydrocephaly and almost 50% of the patients were very inteligent . “ Is your brain really necessary ?” is the name of the paper

Dr. Sheldrake could it be the strong emotions of the people sinking in the Titanic left such energy resonance about the sinking that stays in the area for ever? Because in the case of the Titanic Sumergible it is second time around that a submersible has trouble. I once got lost in Warsaw and came to a cross roads where many streets meet (like in the arch of Triumph, but not round about just old train tracks) in this case in the middle lay an iron monument a cart full of bodies which appeared to be dead. I felt such pain that burst in uncontrollable crying, the same happened when a tour guide in Zanzibar took me to the market where slaves where kept once they were sold/ bought in the old times I could not control the pain and crying.

Hi Rupert Interesting to note Odin 2 ravens Hugin and Munin (thought and memory) Odin talks how he works that one day his raven who go out to all the 9 worlds won’t come back to him Our thought and memories come to us they are not stored in our brains but come to us

I wonder if animals are capeable of creating DMT...anyway this lucidity may be the effect of DMT... Thanks Rupert!

Anyone know of any books on the subject of end of life along the lines of What to Expect When Your Dying or Dying for Dummies. I am nearing end of life and no amount of Googling has led me to materials that address the existential dread I feel and other phenomena

I experienced "a last rally" with my son's cat whom I looked after for ten years, after he moved out. She had kidney disease. I could see her deteriorate quickly . I decided that the time had probably come for her to be euthanized. I wanted to spare her the progressive starvation which follows kidney failure. I discussed it with my the vet and my son and decided to book a home visit by a vet and vet nurse for the following week. I felt that she was giving me signs that she was in distress and was asking me to do something. The days before she was due to be euthanized, she was very calm . The last day before her death was sceduled she seemed to regain strength. Her symptoms (loss of blader control) almost disappeared. She asked for breakfast. I fed her boiled rice and chicken which I had fed her over the previous days because it calmed her diarrhoea . She asked for a second serving, then went to sleep in a cupboard where she liked to hide. She slept all day and resurfaced only late afternoon when it was getting dark as we are now in the southern hemisphere winter. She asked for her dinner. Gobbled the rice and chicken I had prepared. Then asked for a second serving and even a third! She signalled that she wanted to be let out into the garden where she always used to spend a lot of time before her illness.. I let her out but she hovered around the front door , rather hesitant and came back in. But 10 mn later she again asked to go out. I let he out thinking that she was again only going to stay out a short while but she disapeared for an hour. Several times I checked and called but she didn't come. I was getting worried and even started thinking I had made a terrible mistake booking the vet's visit! I decided I couldn't do anything. It was around 10pm. She had been out for 15 to 20 mn. I felt very tired . I decided I could not do anything , that it was pointless to worry and that I should as well get some sleep. At 11.30pm I woke up and I decided I should call her again. I went to the backdoor and there she was, waiting for me to let her back in.I did and invited her to come back into the bedroom with me where she had slept next to me during the whole night over the.previous days. However she didn't want to come in and even started to scratch the door wanting to go out. By that time it was getting very late. I picked her up and said, no, you must come to bed with me. She did for 10 minutes but like she was humouring me and went off into the house..The next morning , when I got up, she came into my bedroom, asked for breakfast and straight away went back into the cupboard.where she stayed until the vet came. In other words, for 24 hours she seemed to have reverted back to her healthy self but now looked weak again It was like she knew her time had come, had gathered the energy to have one last evening patrolling her territory, then rebelled against the prospect of losing the garden she loved so much. I was devastated by her death but I am glad I listened to her and let enjoy the garden one last time.

It is the energy of the other people in the room that makes it difficult to die. When close to death the absence of the others life force eases the transition. That's why holding their hand isn't advisable.

Can dying relatives say their goodbyes through dreams? One of my cousins died almost a decade ago from stomach cancer. The night he died I had a vivid dream of him. In his last weeks alive, I had visited him in the hospital. He looked extremely weak and gaunt. He could still talk but his voice was like a whisper. On the night he died (I didn’t know he had died) I dreamed that I walked into the hospital room and there was a lot family members smiling and laughing. As I looked over the curtain he was sitting there upright on the bed. He had gained weight and looked as healthy as he can be. He was looking at all of us smiling. Even his hair had grown back. After that dream I got the feeling he was telling us, he was going to be okay. I’ve not had a dream like that since.

I was following this with great agreement until Rupert's theory about the Resurrected Christ and 1:1 similarity to after-death contact. I'd rather phrase it that in this phenomenon we currently participate just in a small glimmer of the Resurrection of the Son of God, and that at the eschaton we will *fully* embody that promise. What we see now are just little reflections / shadows of what Christ did and what He promises. Many saints *do* appear to people after their deaths (in fact some bilocating during their life too), because they have reached sanctity, union with God joining the Communion of Saints. Christ's Resurrection appearances - and Ascension - is the source and pinnacle of this experience which we will all share in. We cannot reduce & explain away the Resurrection simplistically. He is the cause, being God incarnate.

The RIGHT message at the RIGHT TIME!

As humans we can not come close to imagine the limitless power of GOD our Lord and Creator!! He is everywhere and knows everyone of his created entities thoughts and desires. GOD doesn't need praise, GOD wants you to be the best you can be. GOD can be here and 300 light years away at the same time, This is all in the mind (will) of GOD! THANK YOU, LORD FOR THE OPPORTUNITY!

The real question is: Are these near death experiences a kind of illusion (due to altered brain bio-chemistry etc) or a metaphysical altered state of consciousness?

Do see my Bird of Oblivion where there are three poems on this topic: The Wave, Seansang and The Lemon Tree