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Sept. 2, 2023 - The Unexplained - Howard Hughes

01:01:54

Edition 751 - Stephen Chong

Stephen Chong in Queensland, Australia had a very different near death experience - and it caused him to write a book - "The Afterlife - A Journey" about dying and what happens beyond it. He says the book was effectively "channeled" through him.

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	Across the UK, across continental North America and around the world on the internet, by webcast and by podcast, my name is Howard Hughes and this is The Unexplained.
	Well, I really hope wherever in the world you are that life is good.
	I know that there are so many challenges, weather challenges at the moment with hurricanes and financial challenges with people feeling the squeeze, you know, a lot of things for a lot of people to worry about.
	And I notice that when I go out shopping these days, when I go in my local community, fewer and fewer people appear to smile.
	And when I see that, that worries me because I was born in Liverpool, right?
	And in Liverpool, everybody's a comic.
	It is the most characterful city, perhaps with the exception of New York in the world, I believe.
	And I was very lucky to have been born and brought up there.
	And I kind of expect people to acknowledge each other and to smile, and there seems to be less and less of that.
	So I think we are becoming a worried world.
	And if I can be anything of a distraction from that, even if only for an hour or so a time, then, you know, maybe that's a service.
	I don't know.
	You'll tell me.
	Now, looking out of the window here in London, it is very autumnal looking, which is bizarre because I'm recording this at the crossing point between August and September.
	It seems that we haven't had much of a summer here.
	We've had a hell of a lot of rain and not nearly enough sun.
	And now the powers that be upstairs have said, that's it then.
	Time for the seasons to switch and the sun is going to move south and that's it.
	The guest on this edition is in that southern part of this world, as far away from here as you can go, in Queensland, Australia.
	His name is Stephen Chong.
	We're going to talk about his book and his life story, there is an afterlife story.
	Now, we've had many afterlife accounts, NDE accounts on this show over the years, and they're all slightly different, but similar in some ways.
	There are common themes there.
	What happens when you pass the life review?
	Some people maybe get sent back here.
	Some people go on to something else.
	And I think the detail, the bit that differs, is in the something else.
	What does happen beyond here, if indeed anything?
	And a lot of my friends, if you ask them, will very clearly and very firmly tell you, nothing happens.
	It's like turning off the television at night or whatever.
	You fade to black and there ain't no more.
	So make the most of this because don't think you can try again or review it all after this because you're done.
	Personally, I don't think I've ever really believed that.
	And that is partly down to an experience that my mother had.
	She is a great void in my life.
	I miss her and my dad every single day, as you know.
	But she had her own NDE when she was a kid.
	And I'll maybe talk about that when we talk with Stephen Chong.
	So his book is called The Afterlife, A Journey to brackets, now you know what will happen.
	Well, it's for you to decide whether it's a convincing explanation of what will happen or not.
	So Stephen Chong, Queensland, Australia, the guest on this edition.
	Thanks to Adam, my webmaster, for his continuing hard work on the show.
	Thank you to you for being part of it.
	Lovely to get your emails and to read them.
	If your email requires a response, then please put in the subject line, response required.
	But I do read every single email as it comes in here, and I take note of everything that you say.
	And thank you very much for all the support you've given me for all of these years when I've been doing this independent show and putting together the TV show.
	You know, the TV show is very much a one-man band.
	It's me putting together ideas.
	That's all it is.
	I don't have the resources that the other shows have on the station.
	Not at all.
	It's only me.
	And sometimes the show is easy to find topics and guests for.
	And sometimes, especially around public holidays, it's very difficult and it takes days of work to do.
	But, you know, you shouldn't see that.
	And you shouldn't be aware of that.
	All you need to be aware of is what you hear and what you see.
	And that's part of the theater, I guess, that we all do.
	Listen, I'm going to stop talking now because I've ranged far and wide in these words.
	Maybe I've said too much.
	Who knows?
	But you can always email me through my website, theunexplained.tv.
	That's theunexplained.tv.
	Follow the link and you can send me an email from there.
	If you made a donation to the unexplained online, then thank you very, very much for doing that.
	You know who you are and it's very gratefully received and always will be, especially now.
	Okay, let's get to Queensland, Australia then.
	Stephen Chong is there.
	Stephen, thank you very much for coming on my show.
	How are you?
	Very well, Howard, and thank you very much for having me.
	Now, listen, I'm always fascinated, intrigued, and delighted by just the thought of Australia.
	I've been lucky enough to go there three times in my life, twice to the part of the world that you're in, and once across to Perth in WA.
	And I've loved it every time.
	I've loved the people.
	I've loved the climate.
	I've loved everything about it.
	It's been the most laid-back experience.
	So the reason I'm saying that is that it's still very hard for me to get my head around the fact that here I am in the morning time with a cup of coffee here, my breakfast black coffee here, and you're there in the evening time.
	You've had your day.
	There's an awful lot of distance.
	I've just finished dinner, and it's 6.30 here in the evening.
	It's amazing that we can talk like this.
	But my younger listeners will say that's what we expect.
	I've got to tell you, too, from where I sit, it is now this super moon.
	So we've got a full moon, and I think they call it a blue moon shining through the window.
	So it's quite the experience.
	How does it look in Queensland?
	Because it's been in the news here.
	Oh, it's extraordinarily vivid.
	Where we are, we've got sort of surrounded by rainforest, so trees and stuff around, so it blocks a bit of the view.
	But you can see this beautiful moonlight shining.
	You can walk outside, and it's not dark.
	You can find your way.
	It's quite the sight.
	And the moon sits low in the horizon, so it looks this magnificent monolith.
	Wow, that's an amazing description.
	They tell me if the media reports that I read that this moon, and just a word to my listener, no, this is not an astronomy podcast, don't worry.
	But the moon won't be doing quite this for another 37 years, I understand.
	I think that's right, Howard.
	Yeah, something like that.
	It's quite the phenomenon.
	But yes, there's a long time between drinks, as they say.
	One of the reviews of your book that we're going to talk about says that this book will provide comfort and hope to anybody who's lost a loved one and is questioning whether their loved one is still safe and provided for.
	That's a very confident statement, and I know it's a statement that you support.
	Yes, absolutely.
	One of the what I saw in the writing of this book, how it has quite frankly changed my life.
	But one of the areas that I was taken to and shown was the room for children, or a building for children.
	And if I could describe it, I'm standing on a hilltop with a guide, Marcy, and I'm seeing through this character's eyes.
	So I'm seeing and feeling what he's showing me.
	And we walk into this building.
	And don't think like just a regular house building.
	This is magnificent Greco-Roman alabaster marble type building.
	And as we walked in by the door, and even now as I describe it to you, I can still feel the chills.
	The love that I felt when I walked into this building was so profound.
	It was like being wrapped in a warm blanket on a cold night.
	And as I walked through, there were these beautiful angelic beings in these blue gold robes.
	And they're tending to these fledgling babes.
	And what I understand in asking the question was, like, what is this?
	And it was explained to me that this place for children is where children have left the earth plane early.
	They are so beautifully nurtured by the heavenly host and his angels that it is so difficult to describe.
	No child that leaves the earth plane early is left alone.
	Everyone is so beautifully nurtured by the heavenly father.
	That's what I understand.
	And that's just one of the many things and did my best to describe.
	So what I, yeah, go ahead.
	No, I was just going to say that the accounts of the book that I've read are very straight and open for everybody, if this is a bad way of putting it.
	But when I went through the book, you know, today, it seems to be very religious.
	Is this a religious book?
	Because I have to tell you that not all of my listeners are going to be religious.
	No, no, I don't see that at all, Howard.
	I'm not a religious man at all, and I don't believe the story has any influence Spiritual, yes.
	And it's got many metaphysical laws of heaven and earth that are described through the passages.
	But to me, it is in no way religious, not at all.
	All right.
	And the journey, I think, is going to fascinate people.
	So let's start it before we get into the detail and some of which we've just heard anyway.
	But before we get into the detail of this, talk to me about you.
	I see a description career-wise of you as educator.
	Yes, Howard, and now I'm on the other wrong side of 65, I've got to tell you.
	But my professional life has been one of an educator, a trainer.
	I coach hundreds and hundreds of people over the years.
	So that's in the blood.
	But as I said, now with grey on the top of my head and thoughts of retirement, I don't do that much anymore.
	The writing has taken preeminence for what I do now.
	I understand and all sparked by your experience.
	What did you educate people in?
	Mostly it started in business, like I would teach people how to be better supervisors and better managers or executives or whatever.
	And then it morphed into more personal development.
	So, you know, to help people break through the internal barriers that stop them from reaching their fullest potential.
	So that's in my DNA.
	That's part of my genetics.
	But as I say, I don't do that much of it anymore.
	Well, I can give you the details of dozens of broadcast managers who need some training along those lines.
	All right.
	So I think we get to the point then where we need to talk about the experience that prompted all of this.
	What happened to you?
	Oh, my goodness.
	Well, you know, Howard, when you're over 60 and still think yourself bulletproof, I was up one Saturday morning cleaning out the gutters in the roof.
	And now, where we are here in North Queensland, we're very remote and we're surrounded by rainforests and near neighbours, they are a long way away.
	And I'm up cleaning these gutters and the ladder slipped.
	And this is, oh, we're about five meters above ground.
	And the ladder's gone through all these plate glass windows that we've got.
	And I'm on the ground in a screaming heap and I couldn't feel anything below the neck.
	And I thought, Stephen, you are in trouble.
	But as the gods have it, my wife happened to be here this particular morning.
	So she heard me scream and come to the rescue and here I am.
	But the interesting thing is, Howard, the revelations that have come consequential of this Experience did not occur at that time.
	Like I didn't float off to the universe and come back and report.
	That's not how it happened.
	Because it occurred in my period of rehabilitation.
	So I'm on the couch good for nothing for months.
	I couldn't even, I could barely feed myself.
	And I had pounding away in my head the title of this book, now, The Afterlife, a Journey 2.
	And I knew what it was.
	And just by backstory, I'd stopped the writing process.
	Prior to the accident, I'd said, I'm done.
	I'm not writing anymore.
	I'm going to start planting vegetables in the garden.
	But I had this thing, this title pounding in my head.
	And I'd go away, leave me alone.
	And I knew what it was.
	But I said, no.
	And I resisted it for, I don't know how long.
	But eventually, eventually I said, okay, you to the universe, you want me to write this thing.
	Okay, I'm in.
	I'll write.
	But the afterlife, what do I know?
	I know nothing.
	But hold on, Stephen.
	Did you have a period of unconsciousness when you fell?
	Were you taken to hospital and put out under anesthetic?
	Oh, yes.
	Yes, yes, yes.
	All of the above I was on.
	They put me on morphine and ambulance came and took me to hospital and stuff.
	And I was there for a couple of nights.
	And I'd actually fractured my neck.
	Good God, you could have died.
	Oh, yes.
	And I suppose the point of this is that you nearly did.
	I nearly did, yes.
	But you know how it was in hindsight, you know, of course it was such a profound experience.
	But what it did directly was turn me away from an errant path.
	Because I'd said, I'm done.
	Just leave me alone.
	I've got to retire.
	I'm not writing anymore.
	I'll plant my vegetables.
	Uh-uh.
	Sorry, Stephen.
	You've got a job to do if you so choose.
	So when I've then chosen, I said, okay, I'm in.
	I'll write this thing, but you have to show me.
	I don't know anything about this afterlife thing.
	And that's how it happened.
	Because then when I was able and sat down in front of the PC, I had, I tell you in truth, I had no storyboard, no character, no nothing.
	And I said, okay, I'm here.
	You want me to write?
	Show me.
	And from that point, I've got to tell you that I saw the colours, heard the music, and the characters just presented themselves.
	And I heard the dialogue.
	It was like I took dictation, quite frankly, and seeing through this character's eyes, and he's taking me to these different places.
	And it was like, how would I describe, like being on a scenic railway tour.
	So I'm seeing through his eyes and he's taking me to these different realms.
	And I'm doing my best to write and describe what I saw.
	And you're sure that you hadn't had a bump on the head and it had made you hallucinate this stuff?
	No.
	I've challenged myself out.
	I've thought of it.
	Is this all in your vivid imagination, Stephen?
	And every time I ask myself that, the answer is no.
	What I know deep within me is the story, the message that's come through.
	I'm just a messenger boy and did my best to describe what I saw.
	But the language that I wrote in, it was almost like Old English and Gothic.
	And I don't speak nor write like that.
	So all I know is that the words in the story have come from a place that I know is working to our best favour.
	And I'm here as best I can to just to shine a light on that message.
	So it wasn't actually a being unconscious and you were taken to a beautiful place.
	My mother had a near-death experience when she was 10.
	She had pneumonia.
	She very, very nearly died.
	And I wouldn't be here having this conversation if that had happened.
	She managed to turn the corner, though, but in the process of turning the corner, she was deeply unconscious and went to a beautiful place where they gave her the message that she had to come back.
	She didn't want to come back here.
	But your experience, and I've heard that story similar to my mother's a number of times on this show and in other places, that's not your experience then.
	No, it is not, Howard.
	No, I kind of profess to that.
	And, you know, I've often, again, asked myself, why?
	Why did I get this story in this particular form?
	And what I understand is that, you know, like from these, and like you, I've done subsequently done a lot of research on these NDEs and they're most profound.
	But to me, they're very objective.
	It's happened to someone else.
	And you and I, the reader, look at that experience and go, oh, that's really interesting.
	And that's important, by the way.
	However, in this case, through the wisdom of story, it's different.
	The experience for the reader becomes subjective.
	In other words, so when you read the story, I mean, you can read it to a particular level.
	I mean, you could read that book literally and go, oh, yeah, well, that's good, that's interesting, that's right, that's wrong, that's good or bad.
	But you could also look at the inherent allegories, the parables in there and go, oh, well, that's nice too.
	But the real depth of the meaning in this story form comes at a deeper level, comes at a metaphysical level where The laws of heaven and earth are explained or enlightened, which I'll explain to you later what happened with that.
	But even deeper than that, a person can read a book such as this in story form and have a mystical experience.
	They can read it and go, oh, I get that.
	Oh, that is so me.
	And that's their own truth being revealed.
	So to me, that is the reason why I was given this story in the form that it's been presented.
	So the reader can experience for themselves their own mystical moments, if we call it that.
	All right, so you believe that something beyond yourself was dictating this to you, rather like people channel music and stuff like that.
	Had you thought of these things before this experience, before doing that?
	In other words, is it a contemplation that you'd had before?
	No, no.
	What I saw and have now experienced, I couldn't even make up it in my, even if I was on drugs, I couldn't.
	No, I don't know how else to put that.
	I couldn't make it up in my wildest dreams.
	Yet I did my best to describe what I saw and heard and experienced.
	So there you were, you'd had an experience where you did nearly die.
	You needed a lot of TLC and medical care to come through this.
	And perhaps you'd had, I mean, I'm asking you something that you could tell me better than I'm telling you.
	But I presume that you were sitting there or lying there at some point and contemplating the fact that you nearly shuffled off this mortal coil.
	And perhaps you asked the question of the great cosmos, if I had gone, what happens?
	Is that the way this unfolded?
	Yeah, it's interesting, Howard.
	I mentioned before that these spiritual NDEs or spiritually enlightening experiences, whatever we want to call them, what they do is give you the ability to redirect yourself to a higher purpose.
	So in me choosing to say, okay, I'm in, I'll write this book, I'm aligning myself with this God-given purpose.
	I've said, okay, I'm in, I'll write, I'll do all the things that are necessary.
	But the other thing I'm aware of through these types of experiences is that they imbue you with what I would call a superpower, give you a talent or a skill that you never knew you had.
	Like I said before, the afterlife, what do I know?
	But one trust implicitly the messages that have come through.
	And when I was writing, I didn't judge, I didn't review, I didn't say, most of the time, wow, where did that come from?
	But it wasn't an analytical journey.
	And it wasn't a thinking journey.
	It was a listening journey.
	I tuned in like a radio dial tuning into a frequency.
	And when I did that, and every time I sat to write, I never knew it was coming next.
	I had no idea where it was going.
	But there it was.
	Every time I sat, the next part of the journey unfolded.
	And from a writing process, I've got to tell you, it took about four weeks.
	Not long.
	Well, no.
	You know, somebody's been talking to me about a book, and that's something that will take many months to actually do if it were to happen.
	So four weeks is nothing.
	And you're absolutely convinced that you weren't just using what great authors and writers of fiction have used down the decades, down the centuries, forever.
	You've just sat there and a story has come to you, like Roald Dahl would have sat down and a story would come to him or whoever.
	The guy who wrote the 007 books, Ian Fleming, a story would come to him about 007.
	You're sure that this was coming through you, not from within you?
	Yes, yes, I'm certain of that.
	I mean, at the end of the day, Howard, I can't prove anything to you or the readers of the book.
	All I can, and I understand the burdens of proof that are required with this type of information because it's so profound.
	But at the end of the day, I can only share you with my experience, both in the writing process and also in the post-writing process.
	Now, let me explain that.
	As consequential of writing this book, my knowledge of the afterlife, and now I've done all this research and you get online and you go to Dr. Google and you find all this fantastic stuff.
	But it's more than that.
	So now, personally, I have no fear of the transition.
	So when my time is up, I will have no fear of such, which is profound of its own.
	But it's more than that, because about, I'll tell you the experience that happened about three months ago, I lost my beautiful mum.
	Now, she was an angelic, she was a beautiful, I chose, well, when I chose it to come down to this earth, a beautiful being.
	And I always thought from a very young age, when you go, when it is your time, and mind you, she was 85, when it's your time to go, I'm not hanging around.
	I'm sort of, that's enough, if you know what I mean.
	But, you know, subsequent to her passing, one feels grief for the loss.
	She's not here, obviously.
	Yet that grief is so, it's not debilitating, it's empowering.
	Because I know Where she's gone.
	I know the realm, the level where she's gone to.
	I know where to find her in the heart.
	And I know how to contact her.
	I know she's there.
	And so, you know, you want to be in contact direct, if you like.
	She's a guardian angel.
	So that the knowledge I've gained from the writing has turned into one of now a very profound experience and one that I'll ever be grateful for.
	Whatever it was that was guiding you that said, we want you to do this, from what you said, they apparently gave you the option, but it wasn't much of an option.
	It seemed that, you know, you pretty much had to do this.
	Oh, yeah.
	I guess.
	Did you ask them why me and why this?
	You know, that's a question I've asked myself subsequent.
	And even as late as today, how, and you question yourself, you know, as you doubt yourself all the time because we're human beings.
	But I guess the way I would describe it would be the fruit was ripe, you know, and I guess, you know, there was a stage in my life that said, okay, Stephen, no matter how long you've got left on this planet, but if you retire and plant your vegetables, well, you're not really fulfilling your purpose.
	We're giving you now the chance to do so.
	And thank God I said yes, because even now in this relatively short time since writing the book, my life has changed exponentially.
	Now, that's interesting.
	All right.
	I'm going to stop talking for a while, and I'm going to ask you then to take me on the journey.
	What happened?
	Okay.
	Where do I start?
	Let me preface the journey through the main character, give you a background on this character.
	Now, this character, whose eyes, through whom I'm seeing, this character, whose name is Athar, in life as a child, he was abused by the clergy.
	And subsequently, later in his life, he took his own life.
	And he is stuck in this purgatory, in this house of, because of the shame and the guilt and the anger that he felt, he was stuck.
	He couldn't move into the heavenly realms.
	And it was only through his forgiveness of others that perpetrated these heinous things that he was able to move out of this purgatorial state.
	So that's how it started.
	And one of the first places I was taken to was this healing arena.
	Now let me best describe this.
	If you could picture the Roman Colosseum in its fullness.
	And in this Colosseum were these multitude of souls and the colours and the vibrancy and it's full and they're all in this Colosseum, they're all chanting, doing the Aum sounds.
	That OM sound is resonating through this arena.
	And I'm sitting there as a, like, in the bleachers watching this through this character's eyes.
	And in the middle of this arena were these repose lounge, lounge recliner lounges.
	And like, I've turned to this guide who was with me and I go, what the?
	And he said, just watch, just watch and see.
	And in walked these beautiful seraphim, angelic beings.
	And each seraph had, which charged with a soul that had maladies.
	The soul was decrepit and like injured and sick and deformed.
	And they took, the seraph took their charge and placed the soul on these clina lounges.
	And then in walked this angelic being, beautiful white golden robes, majestic.
	And he held up his hands.
	And in his hands was this magnetic ball.
	He's taking the energy from the crowd source and weaving it like one of those disco balls, excuse the analogy.
	So this spinning ball is in his hands.
	And out of this ball shone these laser lights into these souls on the couches.
	And I'm watching this and going far out.
	And again, doing my best to describe.
	And eventually he stopped and he closed his hands and the ball goes away.
	And he exits the arena.
	And then the souls on each of these couches stood up and they were totally renewed.
	Like all the melodies had gone.
	And they were just like back to their prime.
	And like, fire out.
	Did you think that that was a metaphor for what happens?
	In other words, you were being shown a pictorial representation of something else.
	Or whether that literally is what happens?
	Yes, well, that's what I saw.
	And later I asked this guy that was with me, what is this?
	How does this work?
	And what was described to me was that sins imposed by others that cause harm to another soul are not borne by that soul.
	They are relieved of those burdens, those deformities, those sins that are caused by others.
	So if I did something bad to you that caused you a deformity of spirit, you are in these heavenly realms, you are relieved of those burdens.
	You do not endure those burdens.
	The consequences lie with me who did those things to you, who perpetrated those.
	So I would endure the consequences of what I've caused.
	And what would those, as far as you know, what would those for those who perpetrate those things?
	And I've had a few people do me not the greatest deeds in the world over my lifetime, personally and professionally.
	What do they have to go through?
	What is their penalty?
	Well, it comes down.
	Let me give another actual example, Howard, of what I saw and did my best to describe.
	Again, with a guide, Athar is taken to this horrible, horrible place, dark tunnel, screaming, sulfur, sulfur.
	I could smell it even now.
	And screams and things.
	Well, that sounds like hell.
	Yes, pretty close.
	But what it was, we traversed down through this decrepit tunnel.
	And in the tunnel, at the end of this tunnel, was the priest who perpetrated those heinous actions on Athar in life.
	So he had caused, because of what he'd done and the fear that he held, he created this hellish enclave for himself because he was fearful of all the things, the consequences of obviously what he'd done in his lifetime.
	Right.
	So bad people who do bad things don't get absolution.
	Oh, no.
	No, no, not at all.
	The law that we're best describing here, Howard, is what you have caused to affect in your fellow man is what declares your place in heaven.
	So if I'm a really bad dude and I do a lot of really bad things with intent, then I'm certain to be in realms that are not particularly pleasant.
	And is the idea that those people who do those bad things are given the chance to make amends or be better or, you know, if you can?
	I mean, some of these things are so heinous.
	How can you achieve that?
	But, you know, that's supposed to be the aim of the penal system here, isn't it?
	They tell me.
	But, you know, what is the ultimate aim of that?
	Do they stay in this kind of purgatory forever?
	Yeah, this is a very interesting question.
	And to me, the answer is no, because there's another law of heaven that I uncovered latterly after writing the book.
	And it says the judgment of heaven is neither vindictive or eternal, but probationary and remedial.
	So my understanding, yes, one may have done, we've all done silly and bad things, I guess, in our life.
	But we are able, if we are contrite and we are remorseful and we're able to forgive ourselves and others, that enables us to release ourselves from those burdens.
	And I saw in another place, which I can describe for you later, how angelic beings are waiting for these souls to be remorseful, to be contrite, and they come to assistance.
	I don't expect you to have any kind of answer for this, but that surely can't apply to people like Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein and various other despots who inflicted terrible harm on vast numbers of people.
	I mean, look, I don't need you to have an answer on that, but it's just a thought to throw out there.
	Yeah, so one could only imagine the depth of, well, the consequences of the many heinous things that they've done.
	And one could only imagine the darkness of where they exist now.
	Haven't you missed a stage in all of this?
	Because most of the NDE accounts that I've ever heard have some variant on the, I went on a shining path or tunnel, and at the end of that tunnel, I met so-and-so who took me to this place.
	You haven't given me that.
	No, no.
	And that's an interesting point, Howard.
	And like we were saying before, that again, my limited understanding, only from more or less research, latter research, is that ND will take you to a particular spot and show you certain things, which is profound of itself.
	But in this circumstance, through the eyes of this character, I'm seeing different realms being taken to different levels, realms of heaven, if you like.
	So I'm seeing a cross-section doing my best to describe what I saw.
	As you were writing this and this stuff was coming up, what did your wife think?
	That's a very good question.
	She still loves me, I think.
	Well, this is good news.
	Well, when I write, Howard, I've got to tell you, I'm like a hermit because what I do is I –
	I've got all this other stuff to do in the morning, but one o'clock you're on.
	You've probably got a couple of hours.
	And I would turn off anything that beeps and buzzed at me.
	Total silence.
	And my wife understands me, thank God for that.
	And that included my wife.
	So I'm shut away in this little cocoon of mine.
	And then every time I did that, the writing process started.
	But my wife is my harshest critic, I've got to tell you.
	But I'm pretty sure that it's had a profound effect on her as well.
	Because she, and thank God she did, talking about my mum before, there was three months where my mum was very palliative and we had to tend to her needs, which was quite a significant burden on all of us.
	And my wife, God bless her, was like a rock.
	It's at times like that when people pull together, isn't it?
	I've experienced that too, so I totally understand that.
	Well, listen, I'm glad that she's completely with you and on side with this because some people might have seen it as being so outlandish.
	But, you know, you were sitting there, you were having your writing sessions every day and the stuff was coming to you.
	What else did you experience?
	You know, they showed you all kinds of things.
	I believe there's some kind of giant repository of all learning, all knowledge, all understanding.
	Ah, yes, yeah, that was one of the other places.
	There was, again, I call it the Hall of Learning.
	So, again, picture a building, Greco-Roman if it's architecture, huge, magnificent balustrades.
	And we walk into this edifice, and it's just wall-to-wall books and records of all things past, present, and future.
	Pardon me, there were all these students sitting there and different sort of different areas, like there was science and medicine and music and tapestry and things.
	So you could go, and what I understand is you can access all of the records.
	So there is no thought or action in life is insignificant.
	All is remembered to record.
	So it's all there in these, I think they call them the Akashic records.
	So these souls can go in there and learn about all of this knowledge, if you will.
	That was one of the number of places that I was taking.
	So that everything that you think or do or achieve is all logged up there.
	Correct.
	That is absolutely my understanding.
	And why would it be logged?
	Who wants that?
	Well, there is a law of heaven and earth, Heron, that describes that.
	And it says, and I'll read it to you.
	It says, in your life review, all shall be revealed.
	No thought or action insignificant.
	all remembered to record.
	My goodness, if that doesn't scare one or turn one away from Errant Path, I don't know So as a lot of people describe with NBEs, you pass away, you go to another state or place, and they acquaint you with stuff that you've done.
	You know, people that you've maybe hurt along the way, those to whom you've been thoughtless to, perhaps, which I certainly have and most people have in their lifetime.
	All of this stuff, what you were, who you are, how you did what you did, it's all logged there.
	And you are, you say, acquainted with it.
	Yes, that's absolutely my understanding.
	Let me give you a description of what I saw, Howard.
	These, I could just describe them as mists.
	And in these mists is where, I called them purgatory, but it is where one does the life review.
	And what I saw was this portal, and these souls were exiting out of these mists.
	And they are robed, dressed in all the colours.
	Forget the seven colours of the rainbow.
	This is far more than that.
	But they're dressed in these robes.
	One is dressed in these robes, consequential of the life review.
	And the robes designate the pathway that you then follow into the heavenly realm.
	So what I saw were these souls exiting these mists through this portal onto this sort of plain, grassy plain area.
	And some are dressed in beautiful gold, shimmering blues and yellows, and they were able to follow pathways like going up.
	And yet others came through and they were dressed in these brown, Hessian, dark colours.
	And that meant they had to follow the path that was of necessity down to the lower realms.
	And what I saw was a woman who'd come through these mists and she tried her best to go upwards, up to the higher levels.
	I think she had sort of maybe more tickets on herself than she thought she had, but she tried her best to go up into these levels and she was not able.
	And she tried three or four times and then was resigned to follow the pathway that was uniquely hers, which led down to where I don't, no, it wasn't shown.
	I was just seeing this from a distance.
	But she had to follow the pathway that was uniquely hers.
	So this is something that is inescapable then.
	We're all on a voyage to learning.
	This life is part of the process of building up experience that will Then be siphoned and filtered back to you, and you will then go through a process on the other side.
	And then, what becomes of you?
	Oh, well, there's a very interesting question.
	What I understand how is this concept of you go to heaven or you go to hell, and that's eternal.
	Quite frankly, now I know that's just total rubbish.
	Let me read the law of heaven that describes this.
	It says, the judgment of heaven is neither vindictive or eternal, but probationary and remedial.
	So one is able to come through the experience of these myths.
	We follow our pathway, but then we continue to evolve if that is our choice.
	You say in the book, and you say in the blurb, the publicity about the book, that you're not trying to convince or convert anybody to any kind of belief.
	So what is it do you think you are offering people?
	Well, I've got to tell you, Helen, I reckon I'm just the messenger boy.
	You know, there's nothing, I'm just a regular dude, you know, maybe certain knowledge of certain things and lived a good life.
	But now with this knowledge and gift that I've been given, my job is to, quite frankly, just put it out there.
	If I make a little difference in a life of somebody who's read the book, great.
	If somebody reads the book and goes, wow, my life has changed completely, then that's fantastic too.
	But at the end of the day, I feel very strongly now that my role is to describe as best I can the things that I saw to let people know that the information inherent to the book changes your life exponentially for the better.
	It's like, let me give you another example of that, Howard.
	You know, since a couple of, and this is good brownie points, by the way, I've said to my wife a couple of times, particularly through the difficulties with my mother, and my knowledge now of the things that I know from this book, you know, I love her more deeply now than I ever did.
	We've been together a long time.
	So if that enhances our, that makes life a better place.
	And if I can do that for others through the writings and the wisdom of this book, well, then I've done my job.
	Yours is a very unusual story.
	It seems that you've had like a near-death experience by proxy.
	You didn't actually physically, you don't think, go through this thing yourself when you had the accident.
	But it was brought to you subsequently in a very, very unusual way.
	Now, those people that I've spoken with over the years about NDEs that they've had have often recounted the experience that they have come back from it different.
	They appreciate certain things or they want to do certain things or they have knowledge of certain things that they didn't have before.
	Perhaps they have an appreciation for music that they never had before or they want to travel to particular places.
	So what I'm asking you is, I suppose, after this NDE by proxy and the detail that you brought out through it, are you different?
	Are there things that you think differently about, feel differently about things that you want to do?
	Absolutely.
	It's been a dimensional shift, Howard.
	Absolutely.
	I now see the world through a far wider perspective.
	And as I mentioned before, the two principal things for me are that I have no fear.
	Now I know where I'm going.
	I mean, we've all got an end point, to be sure, but I have no fear of that process because I know what awaits.
	And I'm very thankful of the gifts that have been given in the writing of this book.
	Now the knowledge and now the experience of that knowledge has shifted totally my perspective on life.
	One could only, you know, now, on the wrong side of 66, one could only wish that I had learnt these things about 50 years ago.
	Life would have been diametrically different.
	But so be it.
	You know, that's the way it is.
	But yes, the difference in my outlook is totally profound.
	You say that you almost channeled this information that was being given to you.
	When it stopped, when you came to the end of the process, when you'd written the final full stop and drawn a line under it, what did they say to you?
	Did they say, well, thank you very much for your help and we'll be seeing you when you pass over, but you're done for now?
	How did that happen?
	Well, I can't give away the end of the book now, would I?
	I'd be a spoiler.
	Give me a clue.
	I'll give you a clue.
	I was taken up into the higher realms with a guide.
	This guide's like grabbed me around the, when I say me, this Athar character.
	He's grabbed me around the waist and taken me up through these levels.
	And I could feel the resistance.
	As I'm writing, I could feel the resistance.
	He's taking perhaps where I, what wasn't worthy to go.
	And I met this master.
	Now, I've got to tell you something really interesting about that.
	Because all of the characters in the book, every new one I saw, I would ask, what's your name?
	And instantly I would get it.
	I would know straight away.
	But in this case, this master, three times did I ask, what's your name?
	I never got it.
	So I don't know who it is, but this master in this magnificent edifice in the prime of his spiritual life, glowing beautiful white robes, took me to like a hilltop and showed me this.
	The best I could describe it was a matrix.
	And the matrix is composed of music and love.
	Music, love, and it was color.
	And it was so vivid.
	And like in the higher part of this matrix, it was gold and white.
	And in the lower region, it was darker, but it was still a matrix.
	But more interesting than that, and sorry, I'm giving away kind of the end of the book, aren't I?
	However.
	Sorry, it's only you and me.
	Never mind.
	I've got to tell you, Howard, something interesting, only about a month ago, when I tune in, and I do it daily, I do it often, I got the message that there's more.
	I'm going to be shown something about the higher realms.
	So there's more to be seen.
	I'm kind of saying, like, when, now, please.
	But that's as much as I can tell you.
	I don't know anymore, but I know there's more to come.
	I should have asked you this question before, and I'm sorry that I didn't.
	But when you're sitting there about to write, and you know, I have to write copiously for journalistic projects that I do, and you're waiting for the fluence and for the muse or for an angle, I think, to write things, if you're a journalist.
	How, when you connect to whatever it is that was giving you the information, are you seeing almost like a vivid dream?
	Are you getting impressions?
	Are you hearing voices?
	How does that work?
	I, yeah, it's a very interesting question.
	So I'm not thinking, I'm listening.
	So I would ask a question, what I call a constructive question, like, what am I going to write about that topic?
	And because that in itself is what I understand and trust implicitly that the answer will come.
	But you don't go into a trance or anything like that.
	No, no.
	But no distractions, apart from a cup of tea, so I have a cup of tea there on a second.
	And then go, oh, okay, got it.
	And hear and see the colours and the music and hear the dialogue.
	So I'll just start to write.
	And that writing process is not a, there's no review, there's no edits.
	I just describe what I'm seeing and feeling.
	Like in this story's case, I heard the dialogue.
	It was like it was in my ear.
	So I just writing this, the dialogue and seeing the colours and feeling, like I mentioned, that School for Children, I walked into the building and I felt the love, the profundity of the love.
	So I just describe what I saw, felt and heard.
	I have many sceptical listeners who will no doubt make their feelings known to both of us.
	But all I could say on your behalf to them, I think, and maybe you can flesh out some detail here, is if you were making stuff up, then every time you sit down at that place where you wrote, you would be getting stuff flooding into your mind, telling you something that you thought was profound.
	And I'm guessing that once the process of writing this ended, then that flow of information ended.
	Yes, in the writing process, Howard, I trusted implicitly that the next part would be there.
	So the essential ingredient was listening and then trust, because I knew what was being shown was not me.
	I'm not making this up.
	I'm being shown this stuff and through the limitations of – I missed that part in school.
	You know, I'm a journalist and I'm not sure half the time, but there we are.
	Anyway, so thank God for editors.
	But I trusted implicitly that the next part, the message, would be there.
	So the listening and the trust were the essential ingredients for the writing process to proceed.
	If I had have said, ah, no, no, that's rubbish, then I'm putting a barrier between the gift and its benefits.
	And I'm presuming this doesn't happen when you go to that place to write your shopping list or do your tax accounts.
	Well, you've got to turn that analytical side of your brain on, don't you, when you do that stuff, Howard?
	But you know what I do now, which I did not do before, is I trust implicitly that one of the places I was taken to was a school for guardian angels.
	And I was shown that these angels, angelic beings, are taught how to be guardians.
	And what I know from the writing is we all have guardian angels and they are there for us all the time.
	So, and I, having seen and written that, I know it to be true.
	So I tune into that.
	So if there's things going on in life, as it has its want, tune in and go, what do I do about that?
	How do I fix that?
	And invariably, I trust the intuition that comes through because I know they're there and working to our favor.
	Well, now I think we have a point of commonality here on this one, Stephen, because, you know, sometimes when I've been in, and I have been a lot lately, in a bad place, let's put it that way.
	And you sometimes ask for assistance.
	And, you know, Sometimes it, well, more than sometimes it comes.
	So maybe there is something.
	You would say, yes, there is something to which we all connect that is literally beyond our ken, but all will become clear in the fullness of time.
	Now, look, this book is available around the world.
	I looked online today.
	From what I could see, Barnes and Noble have this book.
	Correct.
	Yes.
	So what kind of feedback are you getting about it?
	Well, it's interesting, Howard.
	I must confess to receiving some wonderful feedback from people.
	It's been beautiful.
	I did that I almost expected quite a few brick bats.
	People say, oh, that's rubbish and you, whatever.
	And I was prepared to wear that.
	But extraordinarily, that's been very limited.
	And people have been very profound in their descriptions.
	I know, certainly a couple of instances, I've changed life substantially to the better.
	So I've done my job, I think.
	I guess, and the message for my audience now, then, is there's a part two you think possibly on the way.
	I would, I suspect so, Howard, I cannot give, I don't know timeframes yet.
	I say I tune in every day and say, is today, is today the day?
	But I don't know, but I don't, I suspect it is not far away.
	My intuition says clear the decks next Thursday, but what do I know?
	Okay, I'll hang out for that.
	All right.
	Thank you very much, Stephen.
	It is a fascinating story.
	And my listener doesn't know this, but you and I, we had to postpone this a few times for months now.
	So I'm glad we finally had this connection between myself and Queensland, Australia.
	It's been lovely to do it.
	And I have to say that I wish you well in all that you do.
	It is a very different kind of story.
	And like I say, it's an NDE almost by proxy, which is incredibly unusual.
	But it seems to me that the whole process, and that's the most that any of us can hope for in anything we do, has been very beneficial to you.
	Yes.
	And Howard, I peace.
	I know it took us a month or two to make the connection, but I thank you very much.
	And to your listeners for being here.
	And the book title is The Afterlife, A Journey to Brackett's Now You Know What Will Happen, which is a very grand statement, but fits the book very nicely.
	Lovely illustration on the front of the book if you check it out online.
	And it is available, as they say, at all good booksellers, right?
	Correct.
	Correct, Howard.
	Yes.
	Well, I wish you a very good.
	I'm going to get on with the rest of my day now because it's only just started here in London.
	And I wish you a good night.
	Thank you, Howard.
	And you're going to reach tomorrow before I do.
	Thank you, Stephen.
	Cheers, Howard.
	All the best.
	Stephen Chong, what did you think of that account?
	You can email me through the website.
	More great guests in the pipeline here at the home of the unexplained online as we apparently move towards autumn in London without having really gone through summer first.
	So until next we meet, my name is Howard Hughes.
	This has been The Unexplained Online.
	And please, whatever you do, stay safe, stay calm, and above all, please stay in touch.
	Thank you very much.
	Take care.

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