Hypnotist Says She Stood in the Presence of Christ

Hypnotherapist Says She Stood
in the Presence of Christ
By Gregory Weaver
The Star

Betty Eadie syas she died and has lived to tell about it.

Her story is a riveting venture into the afterlife.

It's about the overwhelming love and the universal truths that she says were revealed to her in the world beyond.

And it's a story that has made her first book a best seller in a matter of months.

Just half a year after its release. Embraced By The Light (Gold Leaf Press) has hit No. 7 on the New York Times best-sellers list.

"People seem to have a hunger for it," Eadie said in a visit to Indianapolis this week. "Not everyone likes what my experience reveals, but everyone seems driven by an increasing desire for spiritual knowledge."

The Seattle hypnotherapist says that fundamentalist Christians feel particularly threatened by her contention that Jesus Christ embraces all religions, not just Christianity.

Why many churches?

"There are some people who are very troubled by that," Eadie said. "Everyone wants to be the biggest and the best. That's ego. The Lord doesn't have ego.

"Anything that brings people close to Him is good," she said. "We are all at various levels of spiritual development, here on Earth and in heaven. I was told when I was there that this is so, and that is why not one church could be everything to all people. It's not a possibility."

Her book also has stirred controversy by claiming that a spirit chooses its parents before entering this world.

"Some people who were born into dysfunctional families can't believe this is true, and I can understand that," Eadie said, "I'm not sure I would have selected my own (parents), thinking with this particular brain in this flesh.

"But I know that when in spirit you select through what is called pure knowledge," Eadie said. "Sometimes I think the choices are made for the challenge or to help others. Maybe you do it for a sibling you knew in the spirit world."

Eadie's mother was a full-blooded Sioux Indian and her father a Scottish-Irishman. They separated when Eadie was 4 years old. When they separated, Eadie and five siblings were placed in a Roman Catholic school.

While there, Eadie said, whe was taught that God was someone to fear. It wasn't until her near-death experience at age 31 that she became thoroughly convinced otherwise.

'Dead' for two hours

She was declared clinically dead after what was to have been a routine operation. After being "dead" for nearly two hours, she said, she returned with amazing knowledge.

She says she stood in the presence of Jesus Christ while in the spirit world and experienced the purest love, a love so over-whelming and encompassing that it cannot be adequately described.

She also was given instant, deep knowledge. She said it was if her mind could instantly absorb and understand every word in every book.

But after all those wonderful experiences, she said, she was encouraged to return to Earth because her human mission had not yet been completed.

"My mission was revealed to me, but I was told I would remember not remember it when I returned to Earth," Eadie said. "And sure enough, it was the only thing wiped from my memory."

Drs. Melvin Morse and Ramond Moody, who specialize in near-death studies, say Eadie's account is the most complete and detailed description they've ever encountered.

Depression after return

Eadie says that returning to Earth was a difficult experience. She says that she became exremely depressed. "It seemed like the world was so unloving, and I had just experienced the purest love," she explained.

Gradually, she said, she was able to share her experience with her husband and six children. Then, she started sharing it while working as a volunteer at a cancer research center in Seattle.

"It seemed to offer peace and hope to families who had loved ones being treated for cancer," she said.

Later, Eadie gave lectures on her experience. Eventually, notes taken by people who attended her lectures were circulated on the West Coast.

Some 18 years after her near-death experience, the notes fell into the hands of some publishers and book offers started pouring in.

"I knew by the spirit that one publishing company would say all the right things and that would be the one I would choose," Eadie said. "And that's exactly what happened."

She said royalties from the book will allow her to do something nice for her husband, who for years has worked and sacrificed to support their family. She said it all will allow her to do something for American Indians.

"But what I do and how much I do is between me and God," Eadie said. "The most important thing is to spread His overriding message. And that is: To love one another."