A Glimpse of Paradise
A Video or DVD on the Afterlife
Few subjects cause as much curiosity as what happens to us after death. In the United States alone some eight million people claim that they know. Unfortunately, the price of knowing is quite high. One must come very close to death, just short of actually dying. One must lose all vital signs of life, such as breathing and a heartbeat.
Until recently death was a total mystery. The study of near-death visions has lifted the veil of this mystery and given us a glimpse of the beyond. People who have been supposedly dead claim to have been as alive as ever, if not more. They say that during their visions they acquired even more power and perception than they had before. Some of them report with full accuracy events they had no way of knowing. They met and talked with a dead brother or sister they did not know they had.
During near-death visions, physical disabilities disappear. The blind suddenly see, the deaf begin to hear. They see and hear loved ones who had died before. Could all these be illusions? Illusions do not correspond to reality; near-death visions do. Their accuracy is remarkable, far beyond coincidence.
What can we learn from these visions? A positive attitude and a purpose for life. Most of those who have had near-death vision experience a remarkable transformation. Life suddenly becomes meaningful to them. They stop worrying about little things and concentrate on the big things: learning and loving. They develop a thirst for knowledge and a keen desire to love and serve. We can all learn from their example. Two excellent books are Closer to the Light, which describes the near-death of children; and Transformed by the Light, both of them written by Dr. Melvin Morse, a pediatrician from Seattle, Washington.
This video is the story of an individual who had such an experience not once but three times. She is Reinee Pasarow who broke through the mysterious veil of death and came back to tell us about it. What makes her third vision unique is the details it contains. Hers is one of the longest and richest visions on record.
Because of this, Reinee has been interviewed repeatedly by news media including major networks, such as ABC, NBC, and CNN. Her third vision has also been studied and written about by a number of researchers, such as noted psychologist Dr. Kenneth Ring, the author of several books on near death vision. Her story has been heard by people in about 45 countries.
Reinee is a graduate of the University of California with a degree in economics. She is a successful business woman, the founder and director of a corporation in California. She is listed in Who’s Who in Finance and Industry, and Who’s Who of American Women. For many years Reinee has suffered from Multiple Sclerosis. In spite of her disability, she has been very active. She has founded or directed several charitable organizations and projects. In addition, she travels and lectures extensively to make life on earth more like the one she has seen in heaven.
Why was Reinee chosen for this honor? We do not know for sure. But it may be helpful to mention three qualities that make her special:
- All her life Reinee has been afflicted with disease and suffering, yet she has kept a most positive attitude.
- She is very open minded. From childhood she has searched for knowledge and truth and prayed to God to guide her.
- She is very practical, and yet extremely spiritual.
The purpose of this video is not to encourage dying but to inspire living. This world has a fundamental purpose: it is a place of preparation for the next one. To try to make the journey short is to miss the very purpose of coming into this world. For everything that happens there is a reason. Scientific studies of near death visions give us hope that the promise of immortality given to us by all great religions has a rational and scientific basis.
Such visions also serve another purpose: they lead to dramatic changes in the lives of those who experience them. Reinee’s visions were no exception. They transformed her life completely. At the end, Reinee will talk about some of those changes.
Some Comments from Dr. Motlagh
About Mrs. Pasarow’s Dreams
and Near Death Visions that
Guided Her to Bahá’u’lláh
It may be helpful to review and clarify the three clues Reinee received in her childhood dreams and the five clues she received in her last near-death vision. As a child, Reinee was very spiritual. She prayed constantly for guidance. A clue to her spiritual destiny was given to her at age 3, when she began to have recurring dreams of her deceased grandfather, who told her that someday she would become a member of a new race of men. When Reinee woke up and asked her mother what the word “race” meant, she said, “Well, a race is when you run down the street.” Instinctively Reinee knew that the answer was not right.
Reinee’s unusual dreams went on for years. The prediction made by Reinee’s grandfather, that she would become a member of a new race of men, was the first clue about her becoming a Bahá’í. For Bahá’u’lláh uses that very expression in His writings. He states that He has come to raise a new race of men.
During her childhood, Reinee also had recurring dreams of twin stars rising from the East, which she believes, symbolize the advent of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. The Báb, like John the Baptist predicted the coming of One greater than Himself. Bahá’u’lláh declared to be not only the One promised by the Báb but by all great Messengers of the past.
While dreaming, Reinee loved the stars, but no one else in her neighborhood did. In fact, her neighbors showed fear of the twin stars and covered their windows, so that they could not see them. Reinee was astonished at her neighbors’ fearful response. She was ecstatic at seeing the two beautiful stars, but others ran away from them. The “twin stars” was the second clue she received in her childhood dreams.
Reinee’s childhood dreams were intertwined with three near death visions. The first vision happened when Reinee was six years old. At that time she was severely sick and in agonizing pain. During that vision she asked the Being of Light to allow her to stay in the beautiful paradise of peace. But her request was not granted. Her mission on earth was not yet accomplished.
At age 13 Reinee was invited to a Bahá’í fireside. She went and instantly fell in love with Bahá’í beliefs and wanted to become a Bahá’í. This is an amazing phenomenon! Just think of a thirteen year old going on her own to investigate a new religion! This act requires a wisdom and courage seldom seen in adults.
That night, Reinee came home from the Bahá’í fireside in a state of utter joy and ecstasy. She had found her heavenly Beloved! Perhaps, she thought, she could live in peace and joy everafter. But that was not to be. Someone was waiting to interrupt and temporarily spoil her dream of everlasting joy and peace. The interruption happened as soon as she arrived home and told her mother about her new and exciting discovery. The loving mother became extremely alarmed by her daughter’s spiritual adventure and warned her of dire consequences.
By now Reinee’s soul was on fire, and no warning could quench her burning desire for truth. That evening, after seeing her mother’s deep distress and opposition, Reinee experienced an amazing pain. For the first time in her life she had found a faith she loved dearly, but was being prevented from pursuing it. In desperation, she turned to God with tearful eyes and prayed fervently for His help. That night Reinee had a dream in which she encountered a divine Being whom she recognized as the Blessed Beauty. At this point, she did not know who “the Blessed Beauty” was. She had never heard that title before. But the dream served its purpose. It relieved her pain and uplifted her spirit. She perceived her encounter with the Blessed Beauty, whoever He was, as God’s answer to her prayers. She knew Someone was listening! This was the third and the final clue she received in her dreams.
In addition to these, Reinee received five clues in her near death vision. One of them was a repetition of a clue she had received in her dreams. Surprisingly, three years after her dream, Reinee had her deepest and last near death vision in which the same divine Being she had seen in her dream with the same title “the Blessed Beauty” appeared to her. This Being was still a mystery to Reinee. She had no idea who “the Blessed Beauty” was. Only years later did she discover that the Blessed Beauty is one of Bahá’u’lláh’s titles. It is used frequently by His Son ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and by Persian Bahá’ís in place of Bahá’u’lláh. As a rule, they shorten that title and refer to Bahá’u’lláh simply as the Blessed. As the following prophecy declares, the title of “the Blessed” will eventually become a universal title for Bahá’u’lláh:
His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed. -Psalms 72:17
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Thus the first clue Reinee received in her near death vision was the same as the last clue she had received in her vision.
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The second clue Reinee received in her near death vision was “the just.” Every religion has brought love into the world, but promised that justice will later come. The Bahá’í Faith is the first religion that not only introduces justice as its goal but also provides the institutions essential for establishing it. As Isaiah declares:
He will make justice shine on the nations...on every race, never faltering, never breaking down, he will plant justice on earth. -Isaiah 42:1-4
The third clue Reinee received was a view of the seat of the Universal House of Justice. When she had her vision the seat of the Universal House of Justice had not yet been built. But in her vision she saw it exactly as it was built later. In her vision, Reinee saw this magnificent building in a land that she recognized as “old yet new” on the coast of the Mediterranean sea. Reinee later discovered a distinguished Jewish author called Theodor Herzl who in 1902 wrote a novel about Israel. He called it: Old-New Land.
The fourth clue Reinee received was the location on which the seat of the Universal House of Justice is built. She saw the building on the Mediterranean coast. As we know it is built on Mt. Carmel, in Israel, on the Mediterranean coast exactly as she saw in her vision.
The fifth and final clue Reinee received in her near death vision were the words: Here am I! Here am I! We find those same words in Bahá’u’lláh’s writings such as:
Thy love, O my Lord, hath enriched me, and separation from Thee hath destroyed me, and remoteness from Thee hath consumed me. I entreat Thee...by the words “Here am I. Here am I” which Thy chosen Ones have uttered to ordain that I may gaze on Thy beauty and observe whatsoever is in Thy Book.
The book of Revelation, which is mostly about the second advent, contains the same prophetic expression:
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will go in and eat with him, and he with me. -Revelation 3:20
Our Creator is saying to us: I am your Lord and Creator. Here am I ready to receive you and embrace you. Accept my invitation; come forward. We too should respond by saying: You are the source of my being and the hope and joy of my heart. Here am I ready to receive you and embrace you. He stands at the door of our hearts and knocks. We must open our hearts and invite Him with exceeding joy and gratitude.
Reinee believes that the expression "Here am I" was the most significant clue she received. Over the years, Reinee has discovered the same expression in both biblical and Bahá’í scriptures. Here are a few examples from her collection of quotations. In His Epistle to Napoleon the third Bahá’u’lláh wrote:
It behooveth thee when thou hearest His Voice calling from the seat of glory to cast away all that thou possessest, and cry out: “Here am I, O Lord...”
In Genesis Chapter 22, it is announced that:
God tested Abraham, and Abraham answered “here am I!”
Exodus, Chapter 4, states that:
God called out to Moses from the burning bush, and Moses answered “Here am I.” (Exodus 3:4)
A prophecy from Isaiah points not only to the expression “Here am I” but also to the exact title of Bahá’u’lláh, which in English is the Glory of God or the Glory of the Lord:
Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. (Isaiah 58:8-9)
Isaiah’s prophecy was literally fulfilled. For Reinee cried to God for help. And in her vision she heard the Glory of the Lord or the Blessed Beauty say, “Here am I, Here am I.”
Reinee has been interviewed by several researchers. One of them is psychologist Kenneth Ring whose research on near death vision is perhaps the most sophisticated. Here is a passage about the state of the world from Reinee’s interview with Dr. Ring:
The vision of the future I received during my near-death experience was one of tremendous upheaval in the world as a result of our general ignorance of the “true” reality. I was informed that mankind was breaking the laws of the universe and as a result of this would suffer. This suffering was not due to the vengeance of an indignant God but rather like the pain one might suffer as a result of arrogantly defying the law of gravity. It was to be an inevitable educational cleansing of the earth that would creep up upon its inhabitants, who would try to hide blindly in the institutions of law, science, and religion. Mankind, I was told, was being consumed by the cancers of arrogance, materialism, racism, chauvinism, and separatist thinking. I saw sense turning to nonsense, and calamity, in the end, turning to providence.
At the end of this general period of transition, mankind was to be “born anew,” with a new sense of his place in the universe. The birth process, however, as in all the kingdoms, was exquisitely painful. Mankind would emerge humbled yet educated, peaceful, and, at last, unified.
Let us conclude this commentary with the words of Bahá’u’lláh:
Know thou of a truth that the soul, after its separation from the body, will continue to progress until it attaineth the presence of God...The movement of My Pen is stilled when it attempteth to befittingly describe the loftiness and glory of so exalted a station. The honor with which the Hand of Mercy will invest the soul is such as no tongue can adequately reveal, nor any other earthly agency describe...If any man be told that which hath been ordained for such a soul in the worlds of God, the Lord of the throne on high and of earth below, his whole being will instantly blaze out in his great longing to attain that most exalted, that sanctified and resplendent station.
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