One beautiful evening I went out of my tent and breathed deeply of the clean warm air. The sky was extremely clear. The stars shown bright.  It is wonderful to be alive here and now.  I laid down on top of a sandbag wall and gazed contentedly at the heaven. Relaxing and swimming in the ecstasy of the moment. I felt a peace that was overwhelming. I was in love with existence. I looked at the stars and wished to be there, wished to travel to those points in the night sky. Deep inside me, I felt a sense of love and union with all that is.  

In this moment came a sense of expansion, I was extending myself and my love in all directions at a speed that I can only describe as instantaneous. It was a pouring out of emotion, an explosion of love and oneness. It was a sending or an expansion or a transmission of my being. A breaking free of material bonds. Like an explosion, it passed quickly and then there was a serene quietness. I looked down and saw myself laying there on the sandbags. I felt no affinity to that body although I recognized it.  I turned to the stars and again wished to be among them. I focused on one star. Suddenly the world went dark and I felt a surge forward.

At that time, I had no knowledge of the various researches into "Life after Death" experiences.  But I have to say that I can equate this feeling of going dark and surging forward to traveling in a tunnel at night as some people have reported. My perception was more that there was a sudden removal of all physical matter and physical laws starting at a central point in the frame of my view. This event lasted very shortly; I would say it was over immediately. Then I had the feeling that I was on the other side, beyond the boundary.  It was an exhilarating experience. I felt free, and I mean free like it can never exist here on earth. The mere act of breathing is a chain in the prison compared to the pure freedom I felt. There were no restrictions, no laws of physics or simply no laws, for laws are restrictions. I was not restricted to the normal senses, so to describe something with words like hearing, feeling, seeing etc are in themselves restrictive and unable to transmit or communicate the experience.

I am sorry to say that I have only this means to communicate to you what I experienced. Words are totally unsuited, but my only means.  The words "I heard music", as an example is a very inadequate phrase to describe the sensation of swimming in pure Love.  The "air" was exactly that "pure Love". One did not breathe it in, it simply was the essence in which all existed. To my right was a Being. I will say He. He spoke not. He simply was. He was simply with me. He watched me and watched over me. He sent out rays or beams that I can describe as happiness or laughing. I saw that he was an irregular ball of light, but not a cold light that can be measured as in our world. His was a light that lived and pulsed with energy. At this point, I turned my hands palm up and looked into them as I had done when I was still a child. Shock! I had no hands. Also I noticed that there was no down and no up, direction was a restriction that did not exist here. I was also an irregular ball of living, pulsing light. Then He "looked up" and my vision followed His.

I saw the stars. But they were changed. They were also living, pulsing beings.  As one sends a hunting falcon out, I felt as if I was thrown free. I flew towards one of the lights. I wanted to be with it, to be one with it.  Distance, time and speed were irrelevant. I had the impression that the distance was immense, but the mental thought of being there with that other light made it simply happen. I bridged eons in a blinking of the eye. As I wanted to make contact I felt a spreading out, a reaching out to caress that light. 

Suddenly another Light came upon us and, as if a man comes from the left and stretches his hand out to hinder the closing of the caress, He came between us and turned me gently aside. He was not the one that had accompanied me in the beginning. He was somehow more powerful. He greeted me with the love of a father or a brother. A greeting of acquaintances long separated and just reunited. He knew me so very well.  I didn�t recognize Him. The greeting was more than words can describe it was a communication of love, of being, of all that is, of pure truth.  Then He asked "Are you ready?" Puzzled, I could only respond with "Huh!?" Which I now realize answered His question in the negative. For then he said "Go back or your body will die!"  

I then felt again that "going dark and surging forward" feeling again. I saw the night sky around me; saw my body laying there on the sandbags. I felt a clear sense of falling directly toward my body. But before I could react, let alone scream out, I was in my body again. I felt my body, I felt as if someone hit me in the chest with a baseball bat. Then it was over. Only the feeling of euphoria at having felt "pure Love" and having touched the Truth were still there with me.

Was the kind of experience difficult to express in words? No      

At the time of this experience, was there an associated life threatening event?          No      

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness?    From Beginning until the End... and ever since!

How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal every day consciousness and alertness?    More consciousness and alertness than normal

If your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience was different from your normal every day consciousness and alertness, please explain:            I can only attempt to explain in words, which are an inadequate and incomplete means of communication. Meditation: Through an intense inner search and desire to experience the Truth one often encounters experiences which defy the definition as "more than normal"... "normal"... "less than normal"

Did your vision differ in any way from your normal, everyday vision (in any aspect, such as clarity, field of vision, colors, brightness, depth perception degree of solidness/transparency of objects, etc.)?  No       Vision is a term which does not apply to "seeing" as I did

Did your hearing differ in any way from your normal, everyday hearing (in any aspect, such as clarity, ability to recognize source of sound, pitch, loudness, etc.)?
            No       Hearing is not an adequate description of what I heard.

Did you experience a separation of your consciousness from your body?     Yes

What emotions did you feel during the experience?            Love, Freedom, Peace, Power, Energy, in short: the unfiltered and boundless forms of all these things which in this world are corrupted, restricted or limited.

Did you pass into or through a tunnel or enclosure?          Yes     Please read my description in Position Number 3, above.

Did you see a light?           Yes     Please read my description in Position Number 3, above.

Did you meet or see any other beings?           Yes     Please read my description in Position Number 3, above.

Did you experience a review of past events in your life?    No       Past events? You are asking if experiences during my life in this body were reviewed? No. No, events and experiences during my existence in this body were definitive not of importance or meaning. I could remember them if desired, but no, in the face of that which I now call the "Truth" my life in this world and this body were unimportant and not worthy of any exaggerated selfish importance.

Did you observe or hear anything regarding people or events during your experience that could be verified later?          Yes     But as I said in Pos.21, life in this world is relatively unimportant. Verification? for what purpose? I know that which I know and every other person can know that which I know, without verification. The Truth lies within each of us, it is not hidden or the property of selected individuals.

Did you see or visit any beautiful or otherwise distinctive locations, levels or dimensions?           Yes            Please read my description in Position Number 3, above.

Did you have any sense of altered space or time?   Yes     Space and time are restrictions which exist only here in this reality. The place which I visited had no "Space" and no "Time".

Did you have a sense of knowing special knowledge, universal order and/or purpose?     Yes            Please read my description in Position Number 3, above.

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure? No       In that place which I visited there are no boundaries, no restrictions, no limits, only pure freedom and love.

Did you become aware of future events?       Yes
            Yes. But, not for sharing. The role which each of plays here in this world must be played out. It is the purpose for our being here, to experience, to learn, to develop. That which I "became aware of" must remain a mystery for you until you are ready, as I said the secret is within you, seek and you will find, knock and you may enter.

Did you have any psychic, paranormal or other special gifts following the experience you did not have prior to the experience?     Yes     I am, regretfully, not able to directly control my abilities. But I have on occasion visions or insights which help others find peace and purpose in troubled situations.

Have you shared this experience with others?         Yes     I first shared my experience with others on the very next day. Rejection and hone were my rewards. In the more than forty years since then I have retold the story many times with more or less the same results: scepticism and rejection. So I have written my complete story in a book: "A Trip to the Stars" by Melvin Forrester, ISBN 1-4120-2427-7

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience?    No      

How did you view the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened:            Experience was definitely real   

How do you currently view the reality of your experience:            Experience was definitely real   

Have your relationships changed specifically as a result of your experience?           Yes            Relationships are an attempt to learn more about oneself through action and reaction with others. I am still trying to learn.

Have your religious beliefs/practices changed specifically as a result of your experience?            Yes            Yes my religious beliefs/practices have changed. I now know that that which masquerades as religious truth is more often the artificial restrictions created by others and are generally disruptive and not helpful in the inner search and development. I will admit they give an initial basis for development but can also be a trap which hinders further growth.

Following the experience, have you had any other events in your life, medications or substances which reproduced any part of the experience?         No      

Is there anything else you would like to add concerning the experience?       

Did the questions asked and information you provided so far accurately and comprehensively describe your experience?         No       In this world we tend to use language as a means of communication, philosophy as a framework for physic and social development, and physics for an understanding of reality. The place which I visited is not limited by language, philosophy or physics. Therefore no matter of expression can accurately and comprehensively describe my experience. Explain the taste of sugar or salt to someone who does not know.

Are there any other questions we could ask to help you communicate your experience?      The questionnaire is heavily flavored with questions which show a predisposition. Please read the definition of the word Paradigm. It means something like that which we accept to be the truth, a basis for discussion and social life. Your questions tell me that you are based on a Western Society and Christian beliefs. I propose questions of a more neutral nature.