July 18, 2025 • 51 mins
Join Sandra to honor Dr. Raymond Moody's first discovery to the future of the field. Plus, get to know IANDS president-elect Evan Mecham and listen to his own powerful NDE.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
And you're here.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Thanks for choosing the iHeartRadio and Coast to Ghost Day
and Paranormal Podcast Network. Your quest for podcasts of the paranormal, supernatural,
and the unexplained ends here. They invite you to enjoy
all our shows we have on this network, and right now,
let's start with Chase of the Afterlife with Sandra Champlain.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Welcome to our podcast. Please be aware the thoughts and
opinions expressed by the host are their thoughts and opinions
only and do not reflect those of iHeartMedia, iHeartRadio, Coast
to Coast, am employees of Premiere Networks, or their sponsors
and associates. We would like to encourage you to do
(00:42):
your own research and discover the subject matter for yourself. Hi.
I'm Sandra Champlain. For over twenty five years, I've been
on a journey to prove the existence of life after death.
On each episode, we'll discuss the reasons we now know
that our loved ones have survived physical death and so
(01:06):
will we. Welcome to Shades of the Afterlife. Fifty years ago,
one man asked a question that changed the way the
modern world talks about death. He gave a name to
an experience that millions have had, but few had ever
dared to speak of. That man is doctor Raymond Moody,
and the name he gave us is the Near Death Experience.
(01:29):
Today we're going to celebrate this incredible fifty year anniversary.
We'll dive into the story of how doctor Moody's journey began,
and we'll hear a profound story of someone who crossed
that threshold and returned with undeniable proof. And we'll give
you a front row seat to an upcoming once in
a lifetime event where you can join the pioneers of
(01:52):
ND research to celebrate this golden anniversary. So get ready,
because today we are exploring fifty years of life, love,
and the undeniable proof that our consciousness continues. Most of
us have heard the term near death experience, but to
understand its power, we have to go back to nineteen
sixty five. Raymond Moody was a university student when he
(02:15):
first heard psychiatrist doctor George Ritchie speak about an event
that had happened to him decades earlier. In nineteen forty three,
during World War II, a twenty year old soldier named
George Ritchie was in an army hospital dying from pneumonia.
He was officially pronounced dead. For the next nine minutes,
(02:37):
his spirit left his body. He described floating above his bed,
watching as a sheet being pulled over his own face.
Completely bewildered. He then felt himself flying at tremendous speeds
toward a distant city, drawn by intense light. The light
resolved into a being of such brilliance and overwhelming love
(03:01):
that Richie immediately knew he was in the presence of
a divine being. This being of light communicated with him
not in words, but in pure thought, asking him a single,
profound question, what did you do with your life? This
question prompted an immediate panoramic life review, where Richie re
(03:23):
experienced his entire life, feeling the effects of his actions
on others. He was then told it was not his time,
and he was returned to his body, just as a doctor,
against all hope, was preparing a final injection of adrenaline
directly into his heart. That jolt brought him back to life.
(03:45):
Hearing this incredible, detailed account from a respected psychiatrist planted
a seed in Raymond Moody's mind. He began to wonder
were there others? He started cautiously asking his students if
they knew of anyone who'd had an experience while being
close to death. To his surprise, many hands went up
(04:08):
and the stories poured in. And as he collected these accounts,
he noticed a stunning pattern. People from all walks of
life were describing the same core elements a blueprint of
the journey home. They spoke of an out of body
experience traveling through a tunnel towards a brilliant light that
(04:30):
radiated unconditional love. They spoke of encountering deceased loved ones, pets, parents,
spouse's friends, who were all vibrant and healthy, and so
many underwent that life review not as a judgment, but
as an educational experience to understand the ripple effect of
(04:51):
our every action. This research became his landmark nineteen seventy
five book, Life After Life, where he officially coined the
term near death experience, giving a name and a voice
two millions. What doctor Moody uncovered is that these experiences
are not frightening endings, but moments of profound spiritual freedom,
(05:17):
and sometimes they come with evidence that is simply impossible
to explain away. Take the story of a woman named Vicki.
In nineteen seventy three, she was in the hospital, and
as she clinically died, she found herself floating out of
her body, watching the scene from the ceiling. There was
(05:37):
no fear, only peace. Then she was pulled through a
tunnel and emerged into a place of brilliant light and
pure love. In this realm, she was reunited with people
she had known in life who had already passed on.
But then a man she didn't recognize approached her. He
had a kind face and dark hair. He gently told
(06:00):
her that it wasn't her time, that her young son
still needed her. He showed her a vision of her
son's future to give her the strength to return. He
then took her hand and said, I will walk back
with you. The next thing she knew, she was gasping
for air, back in her physical body. The profound part
(06:21):
of Vicki's story came years later. She was looking through
old family photos with her mother when she came across
a picture of her father, who had died when she
was just a baby. She stopped cold. The man in
the photograph, the man she had never known in this life,
was the same kind faced man who had held her
(06:43):
hand and walked her back from the light. This is
a classic example of vertical or verifiable information knowledge gained
during an NDE that couldn't have been known otherwise. It's
powerful evidence suggesting these experiences are very, very real. This
(07:04):
incredible legacy of research started by one man asking a question,
is being celebrated in a huge way this year. The
International Association for Near Death Studies also called IONS, it's
hosting its twenty twenty five conference and the theme is
celebrating fifty years of life, after life and the nd
(07:27):
It's a gathering for the world's leading researchers, doctors and
near death experiencers, all coming together to honor doctor Moody's
work and explore the future of this research. And I
understand you may be listening to this episode of Shades
in the Afterlife in the future, but fear not. Every
year IONS holds their yearly conference, and all conferences are
(07:53):
recorded and you can find them on the website IONS
dot org. Speaking of the leaders continuing this work, the
man who is now the President elect of Ian's, the
very organization that upholds this legacy, is our guest for
the rest of this episode. His name is Evan Meetcham
(08:14):
and his own profound near death experience is a testament
to the transformative power we've been talking about. So as
we celebrate fifty years of the ND, let's hear from
the man who is helping to lead this research into
the next fifty. Let's meet mister Evan Meetchim.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
I was a businessman for many years, building things from nothing,
creating a space for people to join me and make
money and move forward. It was an exciting way to
live my younger life. I had an experience in a
car accident where I ran myself right into a semi
truck and changed my world forever. It was so fascinating
(08:57):
to me because little by little my life changed. It
took me many years of step by step progress to
step away from the businesses and things that I was
doing and move myself in a totally new direction. I
felt driven to be of service to people. I felt
driven to speak differently, act differently towards others. So I
(09:22):
chose a different path and I went back to school
became a trans personal psychologist. I went to Atlantic University
in Virginia, a life altering experience to be surrounded by
people who think like I thought, and to see life
as an eternal progression. I began to volunteer everywhere, and
(09:45):
I worked with a local food bank here in Colorado,
and I became a counselor for them, basically a case worker,
if you will. And I got to work with all
kinds of wonderful people who were impoverished because of circumstance
and other things that affected their life. What an experience
(10:05):
to work with people and encourage them to come back
and give it a second try and push forward. It's
amazing when you reach your handout and you help someone
and then you ask them to pass that along start
to develop a whole line of individuals that have a
(10:26):
more positive perspective on life. It's a wonderful thing to
see people come back and make it in life and
do it with an attitude of kindness to each other.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Right, Yes, you are a classic shining star example of
the after effects that happen when somebody has an ND,
and it's the giving and making sure people know you
don't have to have an end to reap these rewards. So,
if it's okay with you, would you mind taking us
back to the car accident. What happened, certainly talk about
(11:01):
the after effects, and I definitely want to talk about
the conference, but I know my listeners are on their
edge of their seat because it's the really those stories
that really have us go wow, Okay, there is something more.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
There certainly is, and there's so much to learn. I
think back about that incident and it's amazing how such
a short, quick thing can alter your perspective and alter
it for so many years and drive you onward to
expand and alter your life for all the right reasons.
(11:40):
I was driving home from work. I was in the
Rocky Mountains, and I was living on one side of
a mountain and going to work on the other. This
was in the late winter, early spring, and the roads
were still wet. The snow would melt during the daytime
and then it would freeze at nighttime. And I had
stayed at work until very late, and I was driving home,
(12:04):
and I was pushing myself and driving way too fast,
as I often did in those days. I was driving
on this very windy mountain road and to head it
for the Interstate at the bottom of the mountain about
thirty five minutes away. As I crested a little hill,
I saw in my headlights a very large mule deer,
a male mule deer with what looked like a massive
(12:27):
rack of horns on its head. I could see that
I was going to hit that deer and that it
would come right over the hood of my car and
into my lap, and I wanted to avoid that at
all costs, so I jerked my wheel to the left,
and I went around the deer and missed the deer.
And when I turned the wheel back again to come
back into my lane of traffic, I hit a wet
(12:51):
or slick spot and I simply kept sliding. The car
never recovered, and I went into the other lane of traffic,
and the very first vehicle coming up the hill was
a semi truck.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Time for a quick break.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
You're listening to Shades of the Afterlife on the iHeartRadio
and Coast to Coast AM Paranormal Podcast Network. Welcome back
(13:29):
to Shades of the Afterlife. I'm Sandra Champlain. Let's continue
with Evan Meacham's near death experience last week. Knew he
was coming home from work on a very icy mountain road.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
As I crested a little hill, I saw in my
headlights a very large mule deer, a male mule deer
with what looked like a massive rack of horns on
its head. I could see that I was going to
hit that deer and that it would come right over
the hood of my car and into my lap, and
(14:01):
I wanted to avoid that at all costs. So I
jerked my wheel to the left, and I went around
the deer and missed the deer. And when I turned
the wheel back again to come back into my lane
of traffic, I hit a wet or slick spot and
I simply kept sliding. The car never recovered, and I
went into the other lane of traffic, and the very
(14:23):
first vehicle coming up the hill was a semi truck.
That truck literally cut my vehicle in half from right
behind the driver's side front wheel right back to the
right side tail lights. That vehicle was cut in half
and demolished. I remember the last thing that flashed through
my mind was, oh, my goodness, it's a head on.
(14:44):
That's all I remember of the actual accident. After some
time I gained consciousness. I found myself laying on the
floor of the car. I tried to move and tried
to raise my right arm up and put the old
on the seat and try to pull myself up. I
couldn't move. Nothing seemed to work in my body anymore,
(15:07):
and so I just laid back down on the floor
of the car and tried to gain some understanding of
what was happening to me. I don't know exactly how
long I laid in that position, but it being in
the top of the mountains and being still the end
of winter, it was very cold and it was very uncomfortable.
(15:28):
And then as time went on, the pain started to come,
and I knew that I was wounded terribly and that
there was something very wrong with my body because it
just wouldn't move. I found it really difficult to breathe,
and it was excruciatingly painful. I tried to move again,
(15:50):
and something right in the middle of my back just
felt like I was being stabbed with a middle rod,
and everything below that point just went numb. So I
couldn't feel my legs anymore, and I started the most
interesting process. I started to look at myself and feel
(16:11):
everywhere I could feel and try to figure out what
I had left. It was very interesting because instead of
being upset that I couldn't feel, I was more engaged
in trying to determine what I had left, which is
an interesting thing to think about, and that's been a
big part of the process of how I've lived my
life since that time. Always look for what's left, What
(16:35):
do you have to work with, What do you have
that you can apply and move forward. Don't spend any
time wasting your efforts on what you've lost. Let's look
at what you've got left and how you can use it.
So I remember people came to the vehicle and they
called out to me to see if I was okay,
and they told me that they had called the emergency services.
(16:59):
Now this is quite some time ago, so we didn't
have nine one one in those days. And I was
on the top of a mountain, so somebody had to
find a little farmhouse and go use the phone to call.
And they said that emergency services had been contacted and
they'll be at least another thirty five minutes. Coming up
the mountain. There was, I guess, a little hospital at
(17:20):
the bottom of the mountain. So I had nothing to
do but lay back, and as I did, I had
the most amazing experience. I became almost unconscious, if you will,
and incredibly focused and I went through my life from
a little child to the current time, and I saw
(17:42):
so many experiences that I had, and I had an
amazing younger life. My parents were kind and loving. They
never ever made me feel that I wasn't loved and accepted.
My father was I'm one of the kindest men I've
ever known. So I had these beautiful feelings and I
(18:03):
was so grateful. And then I saw myself and I
had incredible experiences with my inner talk, if you will,
and I always felt because I had been born Christian,
I always felt that I was speaking to Jesus when
I had these experiences, and I would ask questions and
(18:24):
I would get answers. I remember all of those things,
and it put me into a mood of being so
grateful for this opportunity to live and for having the
life that I did. And I had found love, I
had married, I had three little children at the time.
(18:46):
It was a beautiful walk through my younger years, and
I remember saying that I was very grateful for my life.
I began to stop shivering. I don't know if my
body actually stopped worry if it was just the fact
that I was bleeding out and moving into the death process.
(19:08):
I began to feel less cold, I began to feel
less pain. I remember closing my eyes and putting my
head back, and I went through this process of actually
stepping away from my body, and it was fascinating. When
you are leaving this life, you have only your feelings
(19:31):
and only your experiences to guide you that there is
something else. I remember saying to myself that whether or
not there is anything else that follows this, I'm grateful
for my life. And I said thank you to God,
and I laid back down and I left my body.
(19:54):
I had no idea what was going to happen. I
found myself on my face. What has really been very
difficult to describe over the years. It was almost a
little bit foggy on the ground. It was firm, but
I couldn't make out what it was constructed of. I
(20:14):
remember raising my head and looking around and then putting
my hands, and as I did that, I could see
right through my hands. And I pushed myself up and
I looked around and I was in this incredible space
where this platform, or this fogginess spread out as a floor.
(20:38):
And then I looked up and I saw the Milky
Way galaxy, and it was magnificent. It had colors that
I had never seen before. The darkness had a richness
to it. The stars were so brilliant and outstanding, and
he would see pinks and other colors that flashed through
(21:01):
the universe. I looked forward and I saw a group
of what I thought were spirits or ethereal beings, and
they were all light and beautiful. I was not able
to differentiate who they were. I did not know, but
(21:23):
they were calling to me, and their call I saw
inside brain, if you will, in my head. It wasn't
in words, it was in pictures, and I knew I
was being called and summoned. I thought I would have
to get up, but the reality is that I just
(21:44):
moved towards them, floating very quickly, and once I was there,
I was surrounded by these beings and I felt an
incredible wave of love that wrapped me and embraced me
and loved me. I felt welcomed, I felt accepted. There
(22:06):
was no judgment, there was no criticism, there was no
weighing of things. There was only a deep embrace of
complete acceptance and love. Everything that I had been concerned with.
(22:26):
As I laid in that car, thinking, Oh my gosh,
how am I going to take care of my family?
I just got this new job. How am I going
to work through this job? I need the money, I
have to make the payments. All of the have tos
of life that perplex us all every day were flowing
through me in that car. And now I'm standing surrounded
(22:49):
by these angels of light and they're loving me, and
they're embracing me, and they're accepting me, and every single concern,
every stress that I felt a moment ago was gone.
I knew that everything was going to be all right,
everything was going to be the way it's supposed to be.
(23:13):
As I stayed there, I felt a feeling for the
first time in my physical life. I felt free. I
was released from all of the burdens of the third dimension.
These beings that weren't bracing me, they took away every
(23:34):
feeling that I was concerned about. It was gone. It
was gone, and I knew all would be well. As
I looked up and I saw this incredible picture of
the Milky Way galaxy and you could see the stars
in the background, I realized that I am a part
(23:55):
of all of this. And the second great lesson that
I learned was that no matter how tiny I was,
I still was a part of this incredible creation. The
creation is a multiverse, It is multiple dimensions, It is massive.
(24:20):
What God has done is so much bigger than a
human being can possibly comprehend. And I knew I was
a part of God, and that everything everyone, every person
sentioned being wherever they might be found, was a part
(24:42):
of this universe. Those incredible beings that were embracing me
and filling me with energy and filling me with light
and love. Little me and all the little means on
the planet that I just left, we're all a part
of this.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
Care We're going to stop for our break here because
there's much much more. But did you know that beyond
the famous tunnel, many near death experiencers report arriving at
a breathtaking city of light. They consistently describe it as
a place of stunning architecture made of crystal or light,
vibrant colors that don't exist on Earth, and vast libraries
(25:23):
or halls of learning where souls continue to study the
mysteries of the universe. We'll be right back with more
from Evan Meacham. You're listening to Shades of the Afterlife
on the iHeartRadio and Coast to Coast AM Paranormal Podcast Network.
(25:59):
Welcome back to Shades of the Afterlife. I'm Sandra Champlain.
We're celebrating fifty years since doctor Raymond Moody first coined
the term near death experience. But did you know that
the very first detailed account of a near death experience
was in Western literature and is over twenty four hundred
(26:19):
years old. In his famous book Republic, the ancient Greek
philosopher Plato tells the myth of Er, a story of
a soldier who dies on a battlefield, journeys to the afterlife,
and returns twelve days later to describe a world of light,
spiritual judgment, and reincarnation. Now let's continue with Evan Meecham's
(26:44):
account of his near death experience. Last he was being
embraced by these beautiful beings of light.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
Those incredible beings that were embracing me and filling me
with energy and filling me with light and love. Little
me and all the little me's on the planet that
I just left, we're all a part of this creation,
and we're important. It was an incredible change of perspective
(27:15):
how can you not look at everyone and not feel
that they're a part of you and you've got them.
I'm sure these things knew exactly what was going on
and exactly what I was going to do. But they
told me that I can stay near home or you
(27:38):
can go back. But this is your decision and you
have to make that. And I thought, oh my gosh,
a third thing to remember, right, that we have the choice.
I realized we made the choice to come in the
first place, and we made it from a point of love.
(28:00):
Now we've forgotten that, but we chose to come, and
we had a sole purpose, a soul mission, if you will,
and we came here to fulfill that. And once we
can grasp and comprehend that we chose this, and that
we have a path, that we're part of the oneness,
that we never die, we're part of God. And this
(28:23):
entire creation changes how you perceive this opportunity, and you
begin to call it an opportunity, and you begin to
call your peers and your friends and everyone else friends.
We're all here together. We're all here to do something
(28:44):
that our soul desperately wants to do and fulfill. So
they said, choose what we to be in. Of course,
the first thing I thought about were my little children,
and I thought, I'd really like to see how their
life turns out. I'd like to see them on their path.
Right as soon as I thought, I was shot back
(29:07):
into my body, back in that car, on the floor,
freezing to death, broken and feeling all the pain that
we feel here in this third dimension when we're broken
to pieces. Right, and I'm screaming. First of all, it
was so difficult to get back into that body. My
(29:28):
body was being lifted up by the first responders, and
they were using the jaws of life to tear off
the door and to tear off the roof of the vehicle,
and they had slipped a bodyboard down underneath me, and
they were pulling me out, and I was screaming in pain,
and I was back and they loaded me into the
ambulance and for another thirty five minute ride down the mountain,
(29:52):
and an incredible thing happened. There's a little hospital at
the bottom of this mountain, and it's right on the Interstate,
this other road that I had been riding on, driving on,
and they had so many accidents that they decided that
they would develop a trauma team at this hospital, and
benowns to me for sure it was the night that
(30:14):
they had their very first meeting as the trauma team,
and all these doctors were there in their suits because
they were at a meeting, right. But there was a
whole team of doctors that were specialists from all around
the country who had been brought to this hospital to
lead this trauma team and help this hospital be of
(30:37):
service to all the people who needed help. So I'm
rushed in, I'm placed on this table, and there is
this cacophony of sounds and people doing things and doctors
coming at you from every place in the world, right,
And they're all probing and pushing and sticking. And they
had no time because I had literally nearly bled out.
(31:00):
They had to do their work very quickly, and so
it was very painful. And they were about to rush
me into the operating room. They had stabilized me, and
I said to the doctor that was closest to me,
said would you pray for me? And this doctor didn't
know me. I'm just some guy on the road, and
(31:22):
he said yes, and he started to pray, and all
the sounds that went quiet. It was like everything shut off.
And this doctor prayed for me and said a beautiful prayer.
I was so grateful. Can you imagine most doctors praying
(31:42):
for him. What an incredible man he was. And when
he was done, he said amen. The noise started up again,
and off we went to the operating and my life
started again. But it started again with a great insight too,
how important my life was. I came to Earth for
(32:05):
me and to learn these things, and to walk my
soul's mission, and to do it in kindness and in
love for all of God's creation. That's my story.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
I just want to give you a big hug right now.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Well, on one hand, I'm sorry you went through it.
On the other hand, I'm grateful you went through it
because of the difference you've made, And I think that
just shows each and every one of us the difference
we can make. I wanted to bring up one thing
you and others that have had NDEs. It's hard to
(32:46):
put into words, the colors, the love, all of that,
But you said that this incredible light would require fifty
thousand crans to really describe. Is that what you're talking
about so vivid?
Speaker 3 (33:05):
I love that you're bringing it up. That was something
that was said by someone else, but I quoted it
because I thought it was so brilliant. You know, we
have for all of our little children who loved to
draw and love to make paintings and to crayon drawings,
we have these little box of crayons, right. And I
remember when I was a young child, I got for
(33:26):
a birthday, I got this great, big box of I
think there were forty eight crayons in this box, right,
And I thought, Oh my goodness, I can color everything,
and I can find just the perfect color for whatever
I want to draw. And I read how an individual
who had a similar experience to me said, here we
(33:50):
are with forty eight crayons, when if you could see
the colors eyes, you'd need fifty thousand crayons. Don't you
love that? Don't you just love that? It's so expanding.
We get so focused and tunneled in our lives, and
(34:11):
we get pulled and our focus becomes myopic. And if
you just step back, take a deep breath, and open
your eyes to a much broader perspective, you see the
world in such a different way, and you realize how
(34:33):
massive it all is, and that there's always choices to
be made. There's always different ways to approach everything, and
there's always something to be grateful for.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
Absolutely, I am one hundred percent positive your road to
recovery is probably a very long one. But I also
want to ask you what you experienced. Did you know
what the time Raymond Moody and others were out with
near death experiences. Had you heard any stories like this then?
(35:08):
Or was there a road to connect? Because I do
want to talk about our fabulous friends and I ins
what was that like for you? The recuperation and also
this search as to what's this bigger picture? What was that?
You know? Are there other people that have had that?
Speaker 3 (35:26):
Indeed, I think it was for me very long and
a lovely road. I loved the path that I have walked.
I loved history. My college degree was in history. I
love it right. So I knew how to research and
I dived into things. I found myself being pulled towards
(35:49):
understanding of how other people see things. So I reached
out and became very interested in Buddhism. And I didn't
just read about it. I went and practiced it right
and learned how to meditate. I found an incredible organization
here called Naropa it's right here in Boulder. The organization
has a wonderful mountain retreat where there's a giant stupa.
(36:14):
I went up and took their classes. I thrived in
the atmosphere that they provided there, which was open and
non judgmental. It made me feel at home again right.
There was no judgment. There was just welcoming and opportunities
to learn and to be uplifted, and to learn to
go inside and calm yourself, and ways to practice meditation
(36:38):
and ways to touch spirit again. It was wonderful. I
went from that to Hinduism, and I became very close
to a group that's up in Loveland and run by
an incredible tsunami up there. We're still incredibly good friends.
And I enjoyed him so much, and I learned so much.
And I researched every real and every idea, every philosophy,
(37:02):
and I found truth and love and all of them.
I realized that everyone here. It gave real understanding to
the idea that I had felt when I had crossed
over right, that we are all here to find our
own path and to live out our soul's mission, that
(37:25):
everyone and every culture has ways of finding spirit again,
and ways to teach us to love each other and
accept that we're all part of this incredible creation.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
We're going to take our break now, and when we
come back, we'll find out about Evans Road to meet
up with the International Association for Near Death Studies, the
largest resource in the world, and their huge conference coming
up in Chicago that you can watch online or you
can join live. There's a lot going on and a
(38:03):
lot more coming up.
Speaker 3 (38:04):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
You're listening to Shades of the Afterlife on the iHeartRadio
and Coast to Coast AM Paranormal Podcast Network. Welcome back
(38:30):
to Shades of the Afterlife. I'm Sandra Champlain. Did you
know that when young children have near death experiences, they
often report seeing deceased grandparents they never met in life.
In many documented cases, a child will describe meeting a
kind man or woman that says I'm your grandpa, and
the child later correctly identifies them from an old family
(38:53):
photograph they had never seen before. Also, some of the
most compelling evidence for ndaase come from people who have
been blind since birth. Researchers like doctor Kenneth Ring have
documented incredible cases where blind from birth individuals report being
able to see for the very first time during their
(39:15):
nd accurately describing their own bodies, hospital rooms, and the
doctors working on them details they could not have possibly known.
So let's continue hearing from Evan meachin his Road to
Recovery and finding Ian's dot Org.
Speaker 3 (39:34):
I researched every religion, every idea, every philosophy, and I
found truth and love and all of them. I realized
that everyone here. It gave real understanding to the idea
that I had felt when I had crossed over right,
that we are all here to find our own path
(39:58):
and to live out our soul's mission. That everyone and
every culture has ways of finding spirit again, and ways
to teach us to love each other and accept that
we're all part of this incredible creation. So I loved
(40:19):
the process. I became a vegetarian. My wife, my family
thought I was crazy because I was running around and
going in all these different directions and had all these
new ideas and all these new feelings. I didn't really
understand what was happening to me. Not the talk was
not the podcasters like yourself that reach out and tell
(40:41):
people these wonderful messages. And so it was step by
step from me, and I went through a tremendous process
to understand who I was and what had happened to me.
And I loved every step that I made, and I
learned in every step that I took. It beautiful journey,
and I would do it all over again. When I
(41:04):
first became aware of ions, it was like finding my people,
if you will, right. And I remember the first time
I heard near death experience. I was in a class actually,
and I'm studying another modality, and they played a movie
where they talked about near death experiences. And I remember
(41:26):
seeing back in the classroom and I lost all track
of time and contemplating what I had just seen, and
the professor walks by me and he goes, Evan, why
are you still here? Everybody's gone, And I said, I
just realized that there's a name to what happened to me.
It's called a near death experience. That drove me to
(41:47):
find out if there were and obviously there was, right,
there was a local ions. In fact, there was one
in Denver and one in the Bolder, and I started
to attend these meetings and I was welcomed with open arms,
and it was lovely. It was so fulfilling right, And
(42:09):
I heard others talk about similar experiences, and it was
so satisfying, so calming. I was no longer alone, and
I could talk about all these things without any fear
of rolling eyes or acceptance of what I was speaking about.
(42:31):
So it was lovely. It was lovely. And the spirit
that you find in these local groups that we have,
we have over eighty of them around the world now,
and those little local groups, they reach over twenty two
thousand people every month with their meetings and their sharing groups,
(42:53):
and people are invited without judgment, without any criticism. You
are invited to share your stories. It's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 1 (43:03):
I know just what you mean about finding your people,
finding your tribe. I spoke first in Philadelphia at the
conference and talk about finding like minded souls. And what's
interesting to me and I love, is you don't have
to have a near death experience to belong. And not
only are there the chapters around the world, but I've
(43:26):
been asked to speak on the Zoom groups. So the
chapters say in Chicago, people from all over the world
can watch the videos on YouTube from some of these chapters.
I love that, So the reach is out there, so
you don't need to have a near death experience. You
just have to be open minded. And I know since
COVID hit the world, a lot of in person things
(43:48):
shut down and were turned into online, but I feel
the ions conference yearly conference is just the biggest, the best.
I didn't have the time to count all the speakers
that you have, but when I went to the website
conference dot ims dot com, it's going to be in
Chicago August twenty twenty five, and of course that's the
(44:12):
website for future conferences and also to watch past replays.
But I had this holy cow moment because not only
is it the fiftieth year since doctor Raymond coined the
term near death experiences, but you have some of the
biggest and top names of the doctors and scientifically minded people,
(44:34):
and so many of them I have interviewed. But you
got the best of the best there talking about the research.
Plus you have dozens upon dozens of actual experiencers who
have been there, so I know doctor Raymond Moody's going
to be there, Doctor Bruce Grayson, Jeffrey and Jodi Long,
(44:55):
Jan Holden Graham, Maxi, doctor Melvin Morse, Caroline May, William
Peters talking about shared death experiences. My new top favorite
is doctor Tom Neimi from Australia carrying on the work
of doctor Allan Botkin doing the induced after death communication
grief therapy. It's just incredible and so many more.
Speaker 3 (45:17):
So if we.
Speaker 1 (45:18):
Could just move into talking about conferences. Yeah, Now, I'm
fully aware of theo's people that can't attend the conference live,
so you can watch videos. Absolutely everything's there and many
years past videos are on demand. Plus there's always a
yearly conference going on. So while I want to have
a major thrust into having people joined for the twenty
(45:40):
twenty five conference, I just want to keep it open
that there's an ongoing one if you can't make this one.
So could you talk a little bit about that, because
this is a big deal for people to find their
tribe and actually be able to talk to people one
on one who are interested in this.
Speaker 3 (45:56):
Yeah. I love the introduction you just said. You mentioned
all of the keynotes, and we are incredibly blessed this
year and there have been synchronicities that have happened so
that some of these speakers can come. Raymond Moody rarely
speaks anymore, and we literally will have Raymond Moody who
(46:21):
started all of this and gave a name to what
we're talking about. Thank you, doctor Moody for giving a
name to what happened to me. I appreciate it. You
helped me define it, and I'm very grateful. Raymond Moody
is coming in person, and we have a movie that
has been done, an interview of Raymond Moody, and I
(46:42):
have seen a screening of this. The public has not
been allowed to see this yet, but it will be
introduced at our conference this year, so you'll see it
for the first time at the conference. And Raymond Moody
does an absolutely incredible job talking about his life and
how the book Life After Life was written and how
(47:03):
it came to be, and to all the research that
he's done in his life which has helped develop this experience,
this reality, if you will, into something that can be
studied and understood and spread from soul to soul. So
I'm grateful for the pioneers like doctor Moody. We also
(47:25):
have doctor Hennessy Powell with us from the Telepathy tapes,
and she is one of the top presenters in the
world today about the new science that's coming forth where
we're starting to look at human beings as souls not
just material objects. And to her work with the children
(47:48):
of autism who are on the spectrum and their ability
to have communication skills that are beyond anything that we
can imagine. Has turned the world on its head and
open a lot of eyes to how incredible the human
being truly is. And we have doctor PRIs Grayson, as
(48:10):
you said, and what wonderful work he's done. And we
have Chaz Ebert joining us, who will be on a
panel with William Peters, and they have a brand new
movie called Suffering into Gold and it is an incredible
movie as well, that will be on Wednesday night before
our conference. And Chaz Ebert, she is still very much
(48:32):
loved in the Chicago lands and she has over a
million followers, so we're incredibly lucky to have her. But
we have one hundred and twenty speakers. We have one
hundred and twenty. Wow, we have one hundred and twenty
and they are people like me. Many of them are
(48:54):
the people who've had these experiences, who have gone through
the pain of death, who have stepped over and gone
back home and then chosen to come back. They're the
ones that all these people are writing about. They're the
ones that can share their heart and their soul experiences
(49:19):
with everyone who has ever contemplated death? And what that is? It?
The last limit of humanity and we die and we
never come back. Is there anything else they can tell you?
One hundred and twenty people can tell you that they
(49:41):
have crossed over and they've come back and it's a
wonderful experience for most.
Speaker 1 (49:48):
Thank you, Evan Meacham. And don't forget go visit our
friends at ians dot org. Join their upcoming conference in Chicago,
find your tribe or watch past conference replace and there
are resources that you can read thousands of near death
experiences and find your local chapter as well. And don't
forget to visit me we Don't Die dot com. Come
(50:11):
join me on one of our free Sunday gatherings with
medium demonstration included, so many good things to explore. That's
we Don'tdie dot Com. In closing, I'm Sandra Champlain. I
hope you've found the fifty years of NDEs and lightning.
I sure, I'm glad you've been here today. Thank you
so much for listening to Shades of the Afterlife on
(50:33):
the iHeartRadio and Coast to cost Am Paranormal Podcast Network.
Speaker 2 (50:45):
Thanks for listening to the iHeartRadio and Coast to Ghost
Day and Paranormal Podcast Network. Make sure and check out
all our shows on the iHeartRadio app or by going
to iHeartRadio dot com
And you're here.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Thanks for choosing the iHeartRadio and Coast to Ghost Day
and Paranormal Podcast Network. Your quest for podcasts of the paranormal, supernatural,
and the unexplained ends here. They invite you to enjoy
all our shows we have on this network, and right now,
let's start with Chase of the Afterlife with Sandra Champlain.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Welcome to our podcast. Please be aware the thoughts and
opinions expressed by the host are their thoughts and opinions
only and do not reflect those of iHeartMedia, iHeartRadio, Coast
to Coast, am employees of Premiere Networks, or their sponsors
and associates. We would like to encourage you to do
(00:42):
your own research and discover the subject matter for yourself. Hi.
I'm Sandra Champlain. For over twenty five years, I've been
on a journey to prove the existence of life after death.
On each episode, we'll discuss the reasons we now know
that our loved ones have survived physical death and so
(01:06):
will we. Welcome to Shades of the Afterlife. Fifty years ago,
one man asked a question that changed the way the
modern world talks about death. He gave a name to
an experience that millions have had, but few had ever
dared to speak of. That man is doctor Raymond Moody,
and the name he gave us is the Near Death Experience.
(01:29):
Today we're going to celebrate this incredible fifty year anniversary.
We'll dive into the story of how doctor Moody's journey began,
and we'll hear a profound story of someone who crossed
that threshold and returned with undeniable proof. And we'll give
you a front row seat to an upcoming once in
a lifetime event where you can join the pioneers of
(01:52):
ND research to celebrate this golden anniversary. So get ready,
because today we are exploring fifty years of life, love,
and the undeniable proof that our consciousness continues. Most of
us have heard the term near death experience, but to
understand its power, we have to go back to nineteen
sixty five. Raymond Moody was a university student when he
(02:15):
first heard psychiatrist doctor George Ritchie speak about an event
that had happened to him decades earlier. In nineteen forty three,
during World War II, a twenty year old soldier named
George Ritchie was in an army hospital dying from pneumonia.
He was officially pronounced dead. For the next nine minutes,
(02:37):
his spirit left his body. He described floating above his bed,
watching as a sheet being pulled over his own face.
Completely bewildered. He then felt himself flying at tremendous speeds
toward a distant city, drawn by intense light. The light
resolved into a being of such brilliance and overwhelming love
(03:01):
that Richie immediately knew he was in the presence of
a divine being. This being of light communicated with him
not in words, but in pure thought, asking him a single,
profound question, what did you do with your life? This
question prompted an immediate panoramic life review, where Richie re
(03:23):
experienced his entire life, feeling the effects of his actions
on others. He was then told it was not his time,
and he was returned to his body, just as a doctor,
against all hope, was preparing a final injection of adrenaline
directly into his heart. That jolt brought him back to life.
(03:45):
Hearing this incredible, detailed account from a respected psychiatrist planted
a seed in Raymond Moody's mind. He began to wonder
were there others? He started cautiously asking his students if
they knew of anyone who'd had an experience while being
close to death. To his surprise, many hands went up
(04:08):
and the stories poured in. And as he collected these accounts,
he noticed a stunning pattern. People from all walks of
life were describing the same core elements a blueprint of
the journey home. They spoke of an out of body
experience traveling through a tunnel towards a brilliant light that
(04:30):
radiated unconditional love. They spoke of encountering deceased loved ones, pets, parents,
spouse's friends, who were all vibrant and healthy, and so
many underwent that life review not as a judgment, but
as an educational experience to understand the ripple effect of
(04:51):
our every action. This research became his landmark nineteen seventy
five book, Life After Life, where he officially coined the
term near death experience, giving a name and a voice
two millions. What doctor Moody uncovered is that these experiences
are not frightening endings, but moments of profound spiritual freedom,
(05:17):
and sometimes they come with evidence that is simply impossible
to explain away. Take the story of a woman named Vicki.
In nineteen seventy three, she was in the hospital, and
as she clinically died, she found herself floating out of
her body, watching the scene from the ceiling. There was
(05:37):
no fear, only peace. Then she was pulled through a
tunnel and emerged into a place of brilliant light and
pure love. In this realm, she was reunited with people
she had known in life who had already passed on.
But then a man she didn't recognize approached her. He
had a kind face and dark hair. He gently told
(06:00):
her that it wasn't her time, that her young son
still needed her. He showed her a vision of her
son's future to give her the strength to return. He
then took her hand and said, I will walk back
with you. The next thing she knew, she was gasping
for air, back in her physical body. The profound part
(06:21):
of Vicki's story came years later. She was looking through
old family photos with her mother when she came across
a picture of her father, who had died when she
was just a baby. She stopped cold. The man in
the photograph, the man she had never known in this life,
was the same kind faced man who had held her
(06:43):
hand and walked her back from the light. This is
a classic example of vertical or verifiable information knowledge gained
during an NDE that couldn't have been known otherwise. It's
powerful evidence suggesting these experiences are very, very real. This
(07:04):
incredible legacy of research started by one man asking a question,
is being celebrated in a huge way this year. The
International Association for Near Death Studies also called IONS, it's
hosting its twenty twenty five conference and the theme is
celebrating fifty years of life, after life and the nd
(07:27):
It's a gathering for the world's leading researchers, doctors and
near death experiencers, all coming together to honor doctor Moody's
work and explore the future of this research. And I
understand you may be listening to this episode of Shades
in the Afterlife in the future, but fear not. Every
year IONS holds their yearly conference, and all conferences are
(07:53):
recorded and you can find them on the website IONS
dot org. Speaking of the leaders continuing this work, the
man who is now the President elect of Ian's, the
very organization that upholds this legacy, is our guest for
the rest of this episode. His name is Evan Meetcham
(08:14):
and his own profound near death experience is a testament
to the transformative power we've been talking about. So as
we celebrate fifty years of the ND, let's hear from
the man who is helping to lead this research into
the next fifty. Let's meet mister Evan Meetchim.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
I was a businessman for many years, building things from nothing,
creating a space for people to join me and make
money and move forward. It was an exciting way to
live my younger life. I had an experience in a
car accident where I ran myself right into a semi
truck and changed my world forever. It was so fascinating
(08:57):
to me because little by little my life changed. It
took me many years of step by step progress to
step away from the businesses and things that I was
doing and move myself in a totally new direction. I
felt driven to be of service to people. I felt
driven to speak differently, act differently towards others. So I
(09:22):
chose a different path and I went back to school
became a trans personal psychologist. I went to Atlantic University
in Virginia, a life altering experience to be surrounded by
people who think like I thought, and to see life
as an eternal progression. I began to volunteer everywhere, and
(09:45):
I worked with a local food bank here in Colorado,
and I became a counselor for them, basically a case worker,
if you will. And I got to work with all
kinds of wonderful people who were impoverished because of circumstance
and other things that affected their life. What an experience
(10:05):
to work with people and encourage them to come back
and give it a second try and push forward. It's
amazing when you reach your handout and you help someone
and then you ask them to pass that along start
to develop a whole line of individuals that have a
(10:26):
more positive perspective on life. It's a wonderful thing to
see people come back and make it in life and
do it with an attitude of kindness to each other.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Right, Yes, you are a classic shining star example of
the after effects that happen when somebody has an ND,
and it's the giving and making sure people know you
don't have to have an end to reap these rewards. So,
if it's okay with you, would you mind taking us
back to the car accident. What happened, certainly talk about
(11:01):
the after effects, and I definitely want to talk about
the conference, but I know my listeners are on their
edge of their seat because it's the really those stories
that really have us go wow, Okay, there is something more.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
There certainly is, and there's so much to learn. I
think back about that incident and it's amazing how such
a short, quick thing can alter your perspective and alter
it for so many years and drive you onward to
expand and alter your life for all the right reasons.
(11:40):
I was driving home from work. I was in the
Rocky Mountains, and I was living on one side of
a mountain and going to work on the other. This
was in the late winter, early spring, and the roads
were still wet. The snow would melt during the daytime
and then it would freeze at nighttime. And I had
stayed at work until very late, and I was driving home,
(12:04):
and I was pushing myself and driving way too fast,
as I often did in those days. I was driving
on this very windy mountain road and to head it
for the Interstate at the bottom of the mountain about
thirty five minutes away. As I crested a little hill,
I saw in my headlights a very large mule deer,
a male mule deer with what looked like a massive
(12:27):
rack of horns on its head. I could see that
I was going to hit that deer and that it
would come right over the hood of my car and
into my lap, and I wanted to avoid that at
all costs, so I jerked my wheel to the left,
and I went around the deer and missed the deer.
And when I turned the wheel back again to come
back into my lane of traffic, I hit a wet
(12:51):
or slick spot and I simply kept sliding. The car
never recovered, and I went into the other lane of traffic,
and the very first vehicle coming up the hill was
a semi truck.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Time for a quick break.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
You're listening to Shades of the Afterlife on the iHeartRadio
and Coast to Coast AM Paranormal Podcast Network. Welcome back
(13:29):
to Shades of the Afterlife. I'm Sandra Champlain. Let's continue
with Evan Meacham's near death experience last week. Knew he
was coming home from work on a very icy mountain road.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
As I crested a little hill, I saw in my
headlights a very large mule deer, a male mule deer
with what looked like a massive rack of horns on
its head. I could see that I was going to
hit that deer and that it would come right over
the hood of my car and into my lap, and
(14:01):
I wanted to avoid that at all costs. So I
jerked my wheel to the left, and I went around
the deer and missed the deer. And when I turned
the wheel back again to come back into my lane
of traffic, I hit a wet or slick spot and
I simply kept sliding. The car never recovered, and I
went into the other lane of traffic, and the very
(14:23):
first vehicle coming up the hill was a semi truck.
That truck literally cut my vehicle in half from right
behind the driver's side front wheel right back to the
right side tail lights. That vehicle was cut in half
and demolished. I remember the last thing that flashed through
my mind was, oh, my goodness, it's a head on.
(14:44):
That's all I remember of the actual accident. After some
time I gained consciousness. I found myself laying on the
floor of the car. I tried to move and tried
to raise my right arm up and put the old
on the seat and try to pull myself up. I
couldn't move. Nothing seemed to work in my body anymore,
(15:07):
and so I just laid back down on the floor
of the car and tried to gain some understanding of
what was happening to me. I don't know exactly how
long I laid in that position, but it being in
the top of the mountains and being still the end
of winter, it was very cold and it was very uncomfortable.
(15:28):
And then as time went on, the pain started to come,
and I knew that I was wounded terribly and that
there was something very wrong with my body because it
just wouldn't move. I found it really difficult to breathe,
and it was excruciatingly painful. I tried to move again,
(15:50):
and something right in the middle of my back just
felt like I was being stabbed with a middle rod,
and everything below that point just went numb. So I
couldn't feel my legs anymore, and I started the most
interesting process. I started to look at myself and feel
(16:11):
everywhere I could feel and try to figure out what
I had left. It was very interesting because instead of
being upset that I couldn't feel, I was more engaged
in trying to determine what I had left, which is
an interesting thing to think about, and that's been a
big part of the process of how I've lived my
life since that time. Always look for what's left, What
(16:35):
do you have to work with, What do you have
that you can apply and move forward. Don't spend any
time wasting your efforts on what you've lost. Let's look
at what you've got left and how you can use it.
So I remember people came to the vehicle and they
called out to me to see if I was okay,
and they told me that they had called the emergency services.
(16:59):
Now this is quite some time ago, so we didn't
have nine one one in those days. And I was
on the top of a mountain, so somebody had to
find a little farmhouse and go use the phone to call.
And they said that emergency services had been contacted and
they'll be at least another thirty five minutes. Coming up
the mountain. There was, I guess, a little hospital at
(17:20):
the bottom of the mountain. So I had nothing to
do but lay back, and as I did, I had
the most amazing experience. I became almost unconscious, if you will,
and incredibly focused and I went through my life from
a little child to the current time, and I saw
(17:42):
so many experiences that I had, and I had an
amazing younger life. My parents were kind and loving. They
never ever made me feel that I wasn't loved and accepted.
My father was I'm one of the kindest men I've
ever known. So I had these beautiful feelings and I
(18:03):
was so grateful. And then I saw myself and I
had incredible experiences with my inner talk, if you will,
and I always felt because I had been born Christian,
I always felt that I was speaking to Jesus when
I had these experiences, and I would ask questions and
(18:24):
I would get answers. I remember all of those things,
and it put me into a mood of being so
grateful for this opportunity to live and for having the
life that I did. And I had found love, I
had married, I had three little children at the time.
(18:46):
It was a beautiful walk through my younger years, and
I remember saying that I was very grateful for my life.
I began to stop shivering. I don't know if my
body actually stopped worry if it was just the fact
that I was bleeding out and moving into the death process.
(19:08):
I began to feel less cold, I began to feel
less pain. I remember closing my eyes and putting my
head back, and I went through this process of actually
stepping away from my body, and it was fascinating. When
you are leaving this life, you have only your feelings
(19:31):
and only your experiences to guide you that there is
something else. I remember saying to myself that whether or
not there is anything else that follows this, I'm grateful
for my life. And I said thank you to God,
and I laid back down and I left my body.
(19:54):
I had no idea what was going to happen. I
found myself on my face. What has really been very
difficult to describe over the years. It was almost a
little bit foggy on the ground. It was firm, but
I couldn't make out what it was constructed of. I
(20:14):
remember raising my head and looking around and then putting
my hands, and as I did that, I could see
right through my hands. And I pushed myself up and
I looked around and I was in this incredible space
where this platform, or this fogginess spread out as a floor.
(20:38):
And then I looked up and I saw the Milky
Way galaxy, and it was magnificent. It had colors that
I had never seen before. The darkness had a richness
to it. The stars were so brilliant and outstanding, and
he would see pinks and other colors that flashed through
(21:01):
the universe. I looked forward and I saw a group
of what I thought were spirits or ethereal beings, and
they were all light and beautiful. I was not able
to differentiate who they were. I did not know, but
(21:23):
they were calling to me, and their call I saw
inside brain, if you will, in my head. It wasn't
in words, it was in pictures, and I knew I
was being called and summoned. I thought I would have
to get up, but the reality is that I just
(21:44):
moved towards them, floating very quickly, and once I was there,
I was surrounded by these beings and I felt an
incredible wave of love that wrapped me and embraced me
and loved me. I felt welcomed, I felt accepted. There
(22:06):
was no judgment, there was no criticism, there was no
weighing of things. There was only a deep embrace of
complete acceptance and love. Everything that I had been concerned with.
(22:26):
As I laid in that car, thinking, Oh my gosh,
how am I going to take care of my family?
I just got this new job. How am I going
to work through this job? I need the money, I
have to make the payments. All of the have tos
of life that perplex us all every day were flowing
through me in that car. And now I'm standing surrounded
(22:49):
by these angels of light and they're loving me, and
they're embracing me, and they're accepting me, and every single concern,
every stress that I felt a moment ago was gone.
I knew that everything was going to be all right,
everything was going to be the way it's supposed to be.
(23:13):
As I stayed there, I felt a feeling for the
first time in my physical life. I felt free. I
was released from all of the burdens of the third dimension.
These beings that weren't bracing me, they took away every
(23:34):
feeling that I was concerned about. It was gone. It
was gone, and I knew all would be well. As
I looked up and I saw this incredible picture of
the Milky Way galaxy and you could see the stars
in the background, I realized that I am a part
(23:55):
of all of this. And the second great lesson that
I learned was that no matter how tiny I was,
I still was a part of this incredible creation. The
creation is a multiverse, It is multiple dimensions, It is massive.
(24:20):
What God has done is so much bigger than a
human being can possibly comprehend. And I knew I was
a part of God, and that everything everyone, every person
sentioned being wherever they might be found, was a part
(24:42):
of this universe. Those incredible beings that were embracing me
and filling me with energy and filling me with light
and love. Little me and all the little means on
the planet that I just left, we're all a part
of this.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
Care We're going to stop for our break here because
there's much much more. But did you know that beyond
the famous tunnel, many near death experiencers report arriving at
a breathtaking city of light. They consistently describe it as
a place of stunning architecture made of crystal or light,
vibrant colors that don't exist on Earth, and vast libraries
(25:23):
or halls of learning where souls continue to study the
mysteries of the universe. We'll be right back with more
from Evan Meacham. You're listening to Shades of the Afterlife
on the iHeartRadio and Coast to Coast AM Paranormal Podcast Network.
(25:59):
Welcome back to Shades of the Afterlife. I'm Sandra Champlain.
We're celebrating fifty years since doctor Raymond Moody first coined
the term near death experience. But did you know that
the very first detailed account of a near death experience
was in Western literature and is over twenty four hundred
(26:19):
years old. In his famous book Republic, the ancient Greek
philosopher Plato tells the myth of Er, a story of
a soldier who dies on a battlefield, journeys to the afterlife,
and returns twelve days later to describe a world of light,
spiritual judgment, and reincarnation. Now let's continue with Evan Meecham's
(26:44):
account of his near death experience. Last he was being
embraced by these beautiful beings of light.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
Those incredible beings that were embracing me and filling me
with energy and filling me with light and love. Little
me and all the little me's on the planet that
I just left, we're all a part of this creation,
and we're important. It was an incredible change of perspective
(27:15):
how can you not look at everyone and not feel
that they're a part of you and you've got them.
I'm sure these things knew exactly what was going on
and exactly what I was going to do. But they
told me that I can stay near home or you
(27:38):
can go back. But this is your decision and you
have to make that. And I thought, oh my gosh,
a third thing to remember, right, that we have the choice.
I realized we made the choice to come in the
first place, and we made it from a point of love.
(28:00):
Now we've forgotten that, but we chose to come, and
we had a sole purpose, a soul mission, if you will,
and we came here to fulfill that. And once we
can grasp and comprehend that we chose this, and that
we have a path, that we're part of the oneness,
that we never die, we're part of God. And this
(28:23):
entire creation changes how you perceive this opportunity, and you
begin to call it an opportunity, and you begin to
call your peers and your friends and everyone else friends.
We're all here together. We're all here to do something
(28:44):
that our soul desperately wants to do and fulfill. So
they said, choose what we to be in. Of course,
the first thing I thought about were my little children,
and I thought, I'd really like to see how their
life turns out. I'd like to see them on their path.
Right as soon as I thought, I was shot back
(29:07):
into my body, back in that car, on the floor,
freezing to death, broken and feeling all the pain that
we feel here in this third dimension when we're broken
to pieces. Right, and I'm screaming. First of all, it
was so difficult to get back into that body. My
(29:28):
body was being lifted up by the first responders, and
they were using the jaws of life to tear off
the door and to tear off the roof of the vehicle,
and they had slipped a bodyboard down underneath me, and
they were pulling me out, and I was screaming in pain,
and I was back and they loaded me into the
ambulance and for another thirty five minute ride down the mountain,
(29:52):
and an incredible thing happened. There's a little hospital at
the bottom of this mountain, and it's right on the Interstate,
this other road that I had been riding on, driving on,
and they had so many accidents that they decided that
they would develop a trauma team at this hospital, and
benowns to me for sure it was the night that
(30:14):
they had their very first meeting as the trauma team,
and all these doctors were there in their suits because
they were at a meeting, right. But there was a
whole team of doctors that were specialists from all around
the country who had been brought to this hospital to
lead this trauma team and help this hospital be of
(30:37):
service to all the people who needed help. So I'm
rushed in, I'm placed on this table, and there is
this cacophony of sounds and people doing things and doctors
coming at you from every place in the world, right,
And they're all probing and pushing and sticking. And they
had no time because I had literally nearly bled out.
(31:00):
They had to do their work very quickly, and so
it was very painful. And they were about to rush
me into the operating room. They had stabilized me, and
I said to the doctor that was closest to me,
said would you pray for me? And this doctor didn't
know me. I'm just some guy on the road, and
(31:22):
he said yes, and he started to pray, and all
the sounds that went quiet. It was like everything shut off.
And this doctor prayed for me and said a beautiful prayer.
I was so grateful. Can you imagine most doctors praying
(31:42):
for him. What an incredible man he was. And when
he was done, he said amen. The noise started up again,
and off we went to the operating and my life
started again. But it started again with a great insight too,
how important my life was. I came to Earth for
(32:05):
me and to learn these things, and to walk my
soul's mission, and to do it in kindness and in
love for all of God's creation. That's my story.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
I just want to give you a big hug right now.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Well, on one hand, I'm sorry you went through it.
On the other hand, I'm grateful you went through it
because of the difference you've made, And I think that
just shows each and every one of us the difference
we can make. I wanted to bring up one thing
you and others that have had NDEs. It's hard to
(32:46):
put into words, the colors, the love, all of that,
But you said that this incredible light would require fifty
thousand crans to really describe. Is that what you're talking
about so vivid?
Speaker 3 (33:05):
I love that you're bringing it up. That was something
that was said by someone else, but I quoted it
because I thought it was so brilliant. You know, we
have for all of our little children who loved to
draw and love to make paintings and to crayon drawings,
we have these little box of crayons, right. And I
remember when I was a young child, I got for
(33:26):
a birthday, I got this great, big box of I
think there were forty eight crayons in this box, right,
And I thought, Oh my goodness, I can color everything,
and I can find just the perfect color for whatever
I want to draw. And I read how an individual
who had a similar experience to me said, here we
(33:50):
are with forty eight crayons, when if you could see
the colors eyes, you'd need fifty thousand crayons. Don't you
love that? Don't you just love that? It's so expanding.
We get so focused and tunneled in our lives, and
(34:11):
we get pulled and our focus becomes myopic. And if
you just step back, take a deep breath, and open
your eyes to a much broader perspective, you see the
world in such a different way, and you realize how
(34:33):
massive it all is, and that there's always choices to
be made. There's always different ways to approach everything, and
there's always something to be grateful for.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
Absolutely, I am one hundred percent positive your road to
recovery is probably a very long one. But I also
want to ask you what you experienced. Did you know
what the time Raymond Moody and others were out with
near death experiences. Had you heard any stories like this then?
(35:08):
Or was there a road to connect? Because I do
want to talk about our fabulous friends and I ins
what was that like for you? The recuperation and also
this search as to what's this bigger picture? What was that?
You know? Are there other people that have had that?
Speaker 3 (35:26):
Indeed, I think it was for me very long and
a lovely road. I loved the path that I have walked.
I loved history. My college degree was in history. I
love it right. So I knew how to research and
I dived into things. I found myself being pulled towards
(35:49):
understanding of how other people see things. So I reached
out and became very interested in Buddhism. And I didn't
just read about it. I went and practiced it right
and learned how to meditate. I found an incredible organization
here called Naropa it's right here in Boulder. The organization
has a wonderful mountain retreat where there's a giant stupa.
(36:14):
I went up and took their classes. I thrived in
the atmosphere that they provided there, which was open and
non judgmental. It made me feel at home again right.
There was no judgment. There was just welcoming and opportunities
to learn and to be uplifted, and to learn to
go inside and calm yourself, and ways to practice meditation
(36:38):
and ways to touch spirit again. It was wonderful. I
went from that to Hinduism, and I became very close
to a group that's up in Loveland and run by
an incredible tsunami up there. We're still incredibly good friends.
And I enjoyed him so much, and I learned so much.
And I researched every real and every idea, every philosophy,
(37:02):
and I found truth and love and all of them.
I realized that everyone here. It gave real understanding to
the idea that I had felt when I had crossed
over right, that we are all here to find our
own path and to live out our soul's mission, that
(37:25):
everyone and every culture has ways of finding spirit again,
and ways to teach us to love each other and
accept that we're all part of this incredible creation.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
We're going to take our break now, and when we
come back, we'll find out about Evans Road to meet
up with the International Association for Near Death Studies, the
largest resource in the world, and their huge conference coming
up in Chicago that you can watch online or you
can join live. There's a lot going on and a
(38:03):
lot more coming up.
Speaker 3 (38:04):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
You're listening to Shades of the Afterlife on the iHeartRadio
and Coast to Coast AM Paranormal Podcast Network. Welcome back
(38:30):
to Shades of the Afterlife. I'm Sandra Champlain. Did you
know that when young children have near death experiences, they
often report seeing deceased grandparents they never met in life.
In many documented cases, a child will describe meeting a
kind man or woman that says I'm your grandpa, and
the child later correctly identifies them from an old family
(38:53):
photograph they had never seen before. Also, some of the
most compelling evidence for ndaase come from people who have
been blind since birth. Researchers like doctor Kenneth Ring have
documented incredible cases where blind from birth individuals report being
able to see for the very first time during their
(39:15):
nd accurately describing their own bodies, hospital rooms, and the
doctors working on them details they could not have possibly known.
So let's continue hearing from Evan meachin his Road to
Recovery and finding Ian's dot Org.
Speaker 3 (39:34):
I researched every religion, every idea, every philosophy, and I
found truth and love and all of them. I realized
that everyone here. It gave real understanding to the idea
that I had felt when I had crossed over right,
that we are all here to find our own path
(39:58):
and to live out our soul's mission. That everyone and
every culture has ways of finding spirit again, and ways
to teach us to love each other and accept that
we're all part of this incredible creation. So I loved
(40:19):
the process. I became a vegetarian. My wife, my family
thought I was crazy because I was running around and
going in all these different directions and had all these
new ideas and all these new feelings. I didn't really
understand what was happening to me. Not the talk was
not the podcasters like yourself that reach out and tell
(40:41):
people these wonderful messages. And so it was step by
step from me, and I went through a tremendous process
to understand who I was and what had happened to me.
And I loved every step that I made, and I
learned in every step that I took. It beautiful journey,
and I would do it all over again. When I
(41:04):
first became aware of ions, it was like finding my people,
if you will, right. And I remember the first time
I heard near death experience. I was in a class actually,
and I'm studying another modality, and they played a movie
where they talked about near death experiences. And I remember
(41:26):
seeing back in the classroom and I lost all track
of time and contemplating what I had just seen, and
the professor walks by me and he goes, Evan, why
are you still here? Everybody's gone, And I said, I
just realized that there's a name to what happened to me.
It's called a near death experience. That drove me to
(41:47):
find out if there were and obviously there was, right,
there was a local ions. In fact, there was one
in Denver and one in the Bolder, and I started
to attend these meetings and I was welcomed with open arms,
and it was lovely. It was so fulfilling right, And
(42:09):
I heard others talk about similar experiences, and it was
so satisfying, so calming. I was no longer alone, and
I could talk about all these things without any fear
of rolling eyes or acceptance of what I was speaking about.
(42:31):
So it was lovely. It was lovely. And the spirit
that you find in these local groups that we have,
we have over eighty of them around the world now,
and those little local groups, they reach over twenty two
thousand people every month with their meetings and their sharing groups,
(42:53):
and people are invited without judgment, without any criticism. You
are invited to share your stories. It's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 1 (43:03):
I know just what you mean about finding your people,
finding your tribe. I spoke first in Philadelphia at the
conference and talk about finding like minded souls. And what's
interesting to me and I love, is you don't have
to have a near death experience to belong. And not
only are there the chapters around the world, but I've
(43:26):
been asked to speak on the Zoom groups. So the
chapters say in Chicago, people from all over the world
can watch the videos on YouTube from some of these chapters.
I love that, So the reach is out there, so
you don't need to have a near death experience. You
just have to be open minded. And I know since
COVID hit the world, a lot of in person things
(43:48):
shut down and were turned into online, but I feel
the ions conference yearly conference is just the biggest, the best.
I didn't have the time to count all the speakers
that you have, but when I went to the website
conference dot ims dot com, it's going to be in
Chicago August twenty twenty five, and of course that's the
(44:12):
website for future conferences and also to watch past replays.
But I had this holy cow moment because not only
is it the fiftieth year since doctor Raymond coined the
term near death experiences, but you have some of the
biggest and top names of the doctors and scientifically minded people,
(44:34):
and so many of them I have interviewed. But you
got the best of the best there talking about the research.
Plus you have dozens upon dozens of actual experiencers who
have been there, so I know doctor Raymond Moody's going
to be there, Doctor Bruce Grayson, Jeffrey and Jodi Long,
(44:55):
Jan Holden Graham, Maxi, doctor Melvin Morse, Caroline May, William
Peters talking about shared death experiences. My new top favorite
is doctor Tom Neimi from Australia carrying on the work
of doctor Allan Botkin doing the induced after death communication
grief therapy. It's just incredible and so many more.
Speaker 3 (45:17):
So if we.
Speaker 1 (45:18):
Could just move into talking about conferences. Yeah, Now, I'm
fully aware of theo's people that can't attend the conference live,
so you can watch videos. Absolutely everything's there and many
years past videos are on demand. Plus there's always a
yearly conference going on. So while I want to have
a major thrust into having people joined for the twenty
(45:40):
twenty five conference, I just want to keep it open
that there's an ongoing one if you can't make this one.
So could you talk a little bit about that, because
this is a big deal for people to find their
tribe and actually be able to talk to people one
on one who are interested in this.
Speaker 3 (45:56):
Yeah. I love the introduction you just said. You mentioned
all of the keynotes, and we are incredibly blessed this
year and there have been synchronicities that have happened so
that some of these speakers can come. Raymond Moody rarely
speaks anymore, and we literally will have Raymond Moody who
(46:21):
started all of this and gave a name to what
we're talking about. Thank you, doctor Moody for giving a
name to what happened to me. I appreciate it. You
helped me define it, and I'm very grateful. Raymond Moody
is coming in person, and we have a movie that
has been done, an interview of Raymond Moody, and I
(46:42):
have seen a screening of this. The public has not
been allowed to see this yet, but it will be
introduced at our conference this year, so you'll see it
for the first time at the conference. And Raymond Moody
does an absolutely incredible job talking about his life and
how the book Life After Life was written and how
(47:03):
it came to be, and to all the research that
he's done in his life which has helped develop this experience,
this reality, if you will, into something that can be
studied and understood and spread from soul to soul. So
I'm grateful for the pioneers like doctor Moody. We also
(47:25):
have doctor Hennessy Powell with us from the Telepathy tapes,
and she is one of the top presenters in the
world today about the new science that's coming forth where
we're starting to look at human beings as souls not
just material objects. And to her work with the children
(47:48):
of autism who are on the spectrum and their ability
to have communication skills that are beyond anything that we
can imagine. Has turned the world on its head and
open a lot of eyes to how incredible the human
being truly is. And we have doctor PRIs Grayson, as
(48:10):
you said, and what wonderful work he's done. And we
have Chaz Ebert joining us, who will be on a
panel with William Peters, and they have a brand new
movie called Suffering into Gold and it is an incredible
movie as well, that will be on Wednesday night before
our conference. And Chaz Ebert, she is still very much
(48:32):
loved in the Chicago lands and she has over a
million followers, so we're incredibly lucky to have her. But
we have one hundred and twenty speakers. We have one
hundred and twenty. Wow, we have one hundred and twenty
and they are people like me. Many of them are
(48:54):
the people who've had these experiences, who have gone through
the pain of death, who have stepped over and gone
back home and then chosen to come back. They're the
ones that all these people are writing about. They're the
ones that can share their heart and their soul experiences
(49:19):
with everyone who has ever contemplated death? And what that is? It?
The last limit of humanity and we die and we
never come back. Is there anything else they can tell you?
One hundred and twenty people can tell you that they
(49:41):
have crossed over and they've come back and it's a
wonderful experience for most.
Speaker 1 (49:48):
Thank you, Evan Meacham. And don't forget go visit our
friends at ians dot org. Join their upcoming conference in Chicago,
find your tribe or watch past conference replace and there
are resources that you can read thousands of near death
experiences and find your local chapter as well. And don't
forget to visit me we Don't Die dot com. Come
(50:11):
join me on one of our free Sunday gatherings with
medium demonstration included, so many good things to explore. That's
we Don'tdie dot Com. In closing, I'm Sandra Champlain. I
hope you've found the fifty years of NDEs and lightning.
I sure, I'm glad you've been here today. Thank you
so much for listening to Shades of the Afterlife on
(50:33):
the iHeartRadio and Coast to cost Am Paranormal Podcast Network.
Speaker 2 (50:45):
Thanks for listening to the iHeartRadio and Coast to Ghost
Day and Paranormal Podcast Network. Make sure and check out
all our shows on the iHeartRadio app or by going
to iHeartRadio dot com
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