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As a sequel to the e mail I sent you on the experience of one man who survived the ravages of the horrible experience of the 911 catastrophe in New York which he attributed to the power of the rosary, I would like to share with you my personal experiences in this regard which I do think is attributable to the power of the rosary.
I do pray daily the rosary whatever I may do without fail. It is my belief that this has helped me on a few occasions.
I have had near death experiences on at least 3 times in my life. The first time , I was in Chicago attending a Cardiology conference in the late 70’s. As always I did not wait for the end of the conference and on the Friday of the meeting I decided to leave early back to Los Angeles in the hope of catching an earlier flight.So I left my hotel early and urged the taxi driver to drive fast to the airport to enable me to catch the earlier flight. But due to the traffic we were delayed and I reached the O’hare airport a little too late and I was disappointed that I had missed the flight to Los Angeles by a couple of minutes. What a God send this was , as this was the DC 10 plane with over 300 passengers that crashed just after taking off from the airport. And , would you believe it , among the list of passengers who died was a Tony Ernest, an Engineer from Los Angeles on this fateful flight.
Another instance - again in the late 70’s, I was returning from Beverly Hills on the 405 freeway on a Friday afternoon after attending to my income tax affairs at my accountant’s office. As always the 405 is a very busy freeway, and I was driving back home in my Chevy Caprice classic car in the fast lane when going down the steep decline on the freeway near Mulholland drive, for no apparent reason, the car skidded and I lost control and it went right across the road crossing 5 lanes of heavy traffic and came to rest on the fencing on the extreme right of the freeway. How I managed not to be hit by any of the vehicles on that busy freeway remains a mystery to me to this day. In fact I remember a truck whizzing by me in what seemed like a few feet from me. How I escaped a major collision still amazes me.
The next instance - I was driving from Encino, where I lived, to Lancaster on the 14 freeway on a Wintry day after heavy snowfall. I was in the slow lane and near Acton a truck overtook me on my L side on the fast lane and as it drove by spewed all the slush and snow on to my wind shield completely disabling my vision. I went off the road and landed in a ditch, a few feet more and I would have gone down a precipice of at least 40 feet. How did I escape? I do not know.
Well as I have indicated I truly believe that there was a guardian angel looking after my well being and I do believe that my daily Rosary praying did in some way help me.
Faith and Prayer (whichever the religion) helps us get through difficult times. Even though we have our own beliefs , we must respect the beliefs of others.
ReplyDeleteIt is still a mystery to me why some people survive disasters and others do not. Faith certainly helps us endure the worst. I certainly don't claim to know the answers. One of the most inspiring stories in the recent past was the story of the boy scout troop in Thailand. The boys got trapped in a cave for over two weeks, I think, and managed to survive. It turned out that their leader who had been a Buddhist monk at one time had taught the boys to meditate, which suppressed their hunger, and they all managed to survive. That was a remarkable outcome.
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ReplyDeleteI deleted my comment as it was full of errors (I didn't preview). Here it is in all its glory!
ReplyDeleteI think the email referred to was from Cyril Ernest, a sincere man strengthened by his faith and devotion. As Srianee has observed, none of us really know the truth although you would have a hard time convincing some that they really may not know! This is the power of Faith; the truth is "known" and all seeming contradictions have an explanation which may not be apparent at the time, but will be "revealed" some day. So long as faith and belief in a dogmatic and absolute way does not harm your fellow human beings, I have no problems. We all need props of some kind or other. Most of us seek explanations for events and occurrences which satisfy us, and that does not necessarilly mean scientific proof. “Evidence” means a whole lot of things; may be personal experiences,could be those of people close to them, or just may be something that appeals to them. Science of course is evolving all the time and never claims to be the "truth" and that is why I personally approve of Science. Science is humble and admits to human fallibility and limitations.We are learning all the time.
In the end, we must respect good people who live a moral life taking care of themselves, their families, their friends, their enemies and OUR planet, and learn to tolerate those who don't
ReplyDeleteAs I have said in our Starbucks chat "We have finite minds and knowledge" speaking of my favourite remark "the awesome force of destiny". Growing up as a Christian I have seen the positive effects of faith. It is said faith can move mountains just to show its power. I am pleased Cyril has the faith that probably has saved his life or serious injury. Thank you for sharing those remarkable stories.
ReplyDeleteThank you Cyril for sharing your near-death experiences with us. Knowing you I am sure that the unseen forces above us will continue to safeguard you. A classmate of mine at RC, Srinath Jinadasa, survived the 9/11 blast,although he went back to his office to water the indoor plants in his office!A photograph appeared on the front page of the Daily News, with him covered in soot. His father was Jinadasa Samarakkody, Permanent Secretary , Ministry of Education.
ReplyDeleteSanath
I,too experienced a near-death situation,a couple of years ago.I was driving to Birmingham from Dorking-Surrey(my daughter's home),after few hours of rest from a flight from Colombo.It was around 4 pm,when I left Dorking and I had reached almost 24 miles to Birmingham on M40 Motorway.I had the feeling that I was going to fall asleep on the wheel.My determination to reach the destination prevented me having a break.I had fallen asleep within seconds and the vehicle went out of control and hit the central reservation ending up at the hard shoulder on the same side.It was like a dream to me to survive with no injuries.The accident happened between 6.15 and 6.30 pm.My wife who was with my daughter in Dorking was wondering as to why I did not ring to tell her my arrival in Birmingham.It took few hours for my car to be towed away to a near by garage and get back to Birmingham.When I contacted my wife and told her the story,she told me that my second grandson has sustained a minor trauma and was crying and calling Dadda(I was called Dadda by him).That incidence happened more or less the same time.Soon after the nasty accident,I regained my full senses and thought only about the grandchildren.Perhaps,the Guardian Angels looking after them, might have saved my life.In Cyril's case,could it be a mysterious form of energy
ReplyDelete,emanated from the Rosary keeping his life well protected from any harm?
These are beyond the scope of science for analysis.
Such a worrying tale Sumathi. I am so pleased that you escaped relatively unscathed. Your wife must have gone though hell just listening to what happened. And your grandson's experience- coincidence? Who knows.
DeleteFeeling drowsy while driving is a dangerous thing. I had that experience and was fortunate enough to take early action by taking the next exit and have a nap in my car in the service area. Some cars now have sensors which monitor your eye blinks and sound a early warning. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks,Speedy.
ReplyDeleteWhat prompted me to travel back to Birmingham was,I had to attend a conference.I always enjoyed learning things by attending them on a regular basis.My wife pleaded not to travel that day,but I was determined not to miss the conference.
Lucky to be alive to communicate with my old mates and keep learning new things,by being a blogger.Now that I am fully retired,there is no more meetings to attend.I do not want to gatecrash.The meetings are strictly reserved to practicing Clinician only.
Sumathi, I am glad you survived to tell us about it. Remember everyone, please call the friends and relatives who are waiting for you! In the age of cell phones, there is no excuse!!! If you don't have one, the tow truck guy will allow you to use his. Drowsiness is really dangerous. I've taken many rides in tow trucks for one reason or another. (Sudden break of a cable, fuel pump dying etc.) None of them were near-death experiences, thankfully. The most recent ride in a tow truck was when I hit a young deer, who came out of nowhere and jumped right in front of my car, which was traveling at the highway speed of 65 mph. It was the most startling and shocking moment. My car was eventually repaired, but the poor deer did not make it. I was lucky that he did not come at me through the windshield, which happens sometimes.
DeleteThere are many such events and phenomena in our lives which are hard to explain. We all have different ways to describe and try to explain them. Glad you are alive , Sumathi, after that horrendous crash.
ReplyDeleteThank you; Nihal about your comments.I have never told about this
ReplyDeleteincident to anyone in our group,in the past.As,you have stated,people have different explanations.I used the word "Allah"risi bosum(God saved my life)once when I sent an email to our mate,Rasaque,certainly,not as a joke.
Interesting, Cyril and Sumathi, coming from the two of you, whom I can say I know well enough, to state that the stories are authentic. It is good to be alive. there are still somethings hard to explain.
ReplyDeleteia
I’ve heard of the miraculous healing at Lourdes and the requests of devotees being granted at Kataragama all being a part of the spectrum of amazing grants by the great powers.
ReplyDeleteThere is a common problem with these and that is distinguishing between random occurrences and "determined" events. For example, someone says "I have sensed my mother is not well for no reason, and when I give a call, she indeed wasn't well, and this has happened so many times". Problem is that there is no log of the number of times he had this feeling but Mum was Ok and number of times Mum was not OK and he didn't get that feeling. This is an example of selective evidence for a favoured theory.
ReplyDeleteHi!,Speedy,Is there any scientific evidence to prove that Telepathy is real.I have had several experiences in the past.The one ,I remember well is an incidence,where Douglas Arulanandan and myself were talking about our sub-Warden at Bloem,who went to UK to sit for his MRCOG.By the way,Dr.Kularatna was a Registrar to Prof Ranaya.We were of opinion that his time(Dr Kularatna's) was up for return To our surprise,Dr Kularatna appeared within few minutes of our te-a tete ,with his broad smile.
ReplyDeleteSumathi, Telepathy is another thing I have a personal conviction of, beyond coincidence. I have the theory that our thoughts can travel far at speed, as waves of energy- No science to it !!
DeleteI believe in telepathy too, or some form of it. There have been many times when I have thought of someone, and then the phone rings, and the voice at the other end is the person who was in my thoughts. And these are not necessarily people I call frequently.
DeleteCyril, Thank you for sharing these amazing experiences with us.
ReplyDeleteI do not belong to any specific religious group, but believe in, and try to follow whatever I think is good in any of them. Yet I have experienced so many
instances of what I could consider to have been divine intervention as they were certainly not within my control. I have dozed off twice at the wheel when I have been fatigued,but miraculously came to no harm. There are many other instances where I have been ‘saved from myself’! which makes me certain there is some higher ‘energy’ that takes care of me.I have no name for ‘it’, or explanation, and I know I will never understand any of it.
As has already been said, faith itself can move mountains, and I hope your faith continues to keep you safe.
I keep an open mind about telepathy and clairvoyance but there is no clear and unequivocal evidence for it. Whatever you are comfortable with! So long as you don't depend on these. As for "Guardian angels", it does help if you believe that there is a helicopter ready to swoop down and help you if you get into trouble while traversing the "dessert of life" in your life vehicle, even if there is no helicopter. These is my personal approach and I do appreciate that people have their own.
ReplyDeleteAs an agnostic I respect other's beliefs ever mindful of our limited knowledge being a mere fraction of what's out there. I've had no specific instances of telepathy but have heard of other's experiences. I saw an event at Kataragama which I would call a miracle in the presence of Nalin Nanayakkara. I wouldn't wish to recount it here. There have been many occurrences in my life which I cannot explain rationally. We have our own ways to accept and believe such events or discard them. These phenomena exist but I don't depend on them to lead my life. They are beyond my personal control.
ReplyDeleteIt is very interesting to see the contributions from our colleagues on the miracles,that have taken place in the past.Some are beyond comprehension by a layman.To be honest,I am not one of those who is tethered to various religious beliefs.Truth is a truth and a belief is a belief and one should not get entangled on hearsay.
ReplyDeleteHear, hear, Sumathi... a man after my heart/
DeleteHi Cyril.
ReplyDeleteI was intrigued to hear of your 'near death experiences'.
I too have had a few (not what some may think!!) such experiences and I put it down to God. I do pray every day-- even if I had 'one or two'. I believe that the Koran never said 'Do not drink'... but I believe that it said 'Do not get drunk'. so my conscience is clear.
May I say that I do believe in GOD but not those religions that preach one thing and up to all kinds of nefarious activities and pity about some of those followers. Also I do not believe in Religion but do believe in God and that has stood in good stead for me all these years. Important thing is to have pure thoughts and pure heart....( Of course mine has been cut and chopped to put it on the right path.... Thank God)
I have got into a lot of trouble in my young days because of my beliefs and some of my out of place utterances!!.
Anyway, my friend Cyril, you follow your beliefs and what you are doing and God will bless you and be with you always.
This is the 'so far absent' Zita, back as 'annonymous' as my comments were unable to get published (due to my own fault, it has to be said). I am full of admiration and relief reading quickly through the above experiences you have all had and I just want to say, I am so happy so many escaped near death experiences. This is the one human life we know and it is precious and it is a gift. Zita
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