Pratibha A. Dabholkar, Ph.D. "Departed Loved Ones Are Guardian Angels" PDF

My conviction that departed loved ones are guardian angels to those left behind is based on years of scholarly research into the literatures on after-death communication (ADC) and the near-death experience (NDE). A thorough examination of the ADC literature reveals that thousands of bereaved people have received ADCs from departed loved ones conveying that they are happy in heaven and yet they are always with the bereaved, watching over them. The NDE literature also corroborates these conclusions. People who have had NDEs have met departed loved ones in the spirit realm who told them that they are always watching over them. The reason I refer to departed loved ones as “angels” is that a careful study of the ADC and NDE literature reveals that there is no difference between spirits who have reached the Light and angels, contradicting archaic religious beliefs that angels and people are different kinds of beings. For those unfamiliar with the literature on spiritually transformative experiences—such as ADCs, NDEs, and death-bed visions (DBVs)—I have included appendices which define these phenomena and discuss how these experiences (and other phenomena) confirm the reality of the spirit dimension.