Years after I came back from Heaven, an amazing and unexpected event happened. It helped reaffirm my faith in what happened to me. I took Michelle to my old neighborhood in the Bronx. She said she wanted to see where I used to live, but I think she was more curious about the accident and where I was struck down. Not in a morbid way—I think she wanted to see if she could “feel” anything if she saw the place where it happened. Neither of us was prepared for what happened next.
When we reached my old apartment house, I slowed down and parked the car. Without saying a word, Michelle walked right over to where I had been hit by the car and “died.” She just stood over the spot and trembled as big tears rolled down her face.
“I can feel everything, Tommy, like it just happened,” she declared as she wiped her tears away with her sleeve. More than 15 years had passed. I had never been back until now. I didn’t know what I would feel or what to expect, so I just hadn’t visited. Now that I was standing on the very spot where the car had hit me, I didn’t feel sad or scared. I just felt happy that I was alive, that this was my past and I have a new life with someone who really loves me.
During our years together, I had never really sat down and told my story in a linear fashion to Michelle—or anyone else, for that matter. I would just describe a little bit here, a little bit there. I had shared the health revelations that I learned in Heaven with Jan and Steve Sinatra, but I had never told the full story in a sequential way until I sat down to write it for this book.
After a few minutes of Michelle energetically “reliving” my accident, she became anxious to move around. She noticed the old corner store and said she was going in to get us some water. I didn’t say anything to her. I hadn’t been in that store since before the accident. As she went inside, she made small talk with the man at the register. She asked him casually how long he had been there. He replied that he owned the store and had been there for more than 15 years.
On a whim, Michelle asked him if he remembered an accident that occurred across the street. He looked startled for a moment. Then his eyes widened and he seemed excited to tell my wife what he remembered about that night.
The merchant, Carlos, a sweet older man, responded to Michelle: “Yes, I remember that night! I will never forget it. A man, one of my regular customers, was making his way across the street. He was coming to my store when a car with no lights on appeared out of nowhere and was going very fast. The car hit the man and sped away without stopping.
“I saw the man lying on the ground. He wasn’t moving at all, so I thought for sure he was dead. I called 911 and as I was waiting for help, I saw something happen that I have never forgotten, and I have told no one about this. They would think I am crazy!”
Michelle listened as my story unfolded.
“I saw the man’s spirit rise up from his body. His spirit was white, and I saw it lift up from his body. It was dark because it was late at night, but I know what I saw. The man was very still and his spirit was very white, but I could see through it. His spirit lifted up. Then it was gone! I couldn’t see it anymore. That’s when I knew the man was dead. He was my customer. He came into my store every night! He was so young!”
My wife couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How amazing that not only was the man who witnessed the accident still here, but he remembered seeing my spirit rise up from my body! Excitedly, she told the merchant that the very same customer was her husband and not only wasn’t he dead—he was outside! She motioned wildly for me to come inside.
As I entered that store, all of my old memories flooded back in a rush. It was so good to see Carlos again! And he was very happy to see that I was alive!
In truth, I am more alive now than I was before my “death.”
I’ll bet that if you could get a whole bunch of folks who had experienced a near-death together in the same room, they would tell you that there is a definite difference between life before a near-death experience and life after one.
The NDE changes you. I know that it changed me. Based on what I have read about NDEs, I’ve learned that it is not unusual for people to come back with new gifts and insights. Some people come back with more intuition, as I did; some, with more artistic or musical ability. Others return as mediums or channels with the ability to communicate with those who have passed over.
I knew the Old Tommy to be a nice guy, a pretty ordinary fellow with a big heart. He would give you the shirt off his back. If you needed a few bucks or a ride somewhere or help with a project, he was your man. Old Tommy was a good pal and a decent plumber—an average guy trying to do his best every day.
As New Tommy, I know that I have been changed for the better. I can’t talk to dead people or fly or levitate or anything spectacular like that, but I know there is more to me than before. As I mentioned earlier, I’m more in tune with people. I was friendly before, but now I savor every opportunity to form a connection. I take the time to say “good morning” and “God bless you” and “thank you” more often.
I know that I have been forever changed. Instead of being impatient, blind, or bothered by things in life, I embrace everything positively. No longer do I think of just myself. I am everyone and everyone is me. I can still hear Jesus in my head, echoing all of our lessons, constantly reminding me that we are all truly connected.
What a heart-touching honor and privilege it is to have had Jesus give me the tiniest glimpse into God’s intention for our lives and our development. Based on my experience, I know that God has a plan for me and for everyone else. We just have to seek stillness and try to hear what God is saying to us about what He would like us to do. God has a hand in everything. Our challenge is to realize God is in control, listen to Him, and be obedient to what He is asking of us.
I have had a lot of time to reflect on what Jesus revealed to me, and I’m thankful to have learned the eight revelations. I see that they are powerful truths that increase our vibration and thus promote health and healing. But I also realize that they build on each other, and, like everything else in the universe, connect with each other. They give us the meaning and context we need for mind, body, and spiritual health and healing.
The healing we need begins with connection. We’re divinely programmed to seek relationships, and the quality of those relationships affects our health. But fear and lack of faith can keep us from reaching out. We need faith, especially when we get to the difficult parts of our lives, because it cancels out fear, gives our life a deeper meaning, and expands and deepens our connections. Faith in ourselves and in God helps us live out every one of the revelations and directs the course we take in life.
There’s a Vital Force pulsating through us, governing all interactions and the essence of life. Our choices, from what we eat to how we think to what we believe, support our Vital Force and lead to vibrant health and energy. Even the very Earth on which we live has a Vital Force—an electromagnetic energy that, when absorbed in the body through grounding, promotes better health in many different ways. Grounding helps rid the body of physical toxins, as does choosing high-vibration foods that protect the temple that is the body.
I’ve learned that many illnesses can be traced back to things like heavy metals, fungi, bacteria, viruses, parasites, radiation, immunizations, chemicals, and flukes (microscopic parasites living in food and water). All these factors have their own specific frequency and vibration. We get sick as a result of our personal vibration becoming depleted. That can happen if we disrespect our bodies—our temples—by eating poorly, taking drugs, drinking too much alcohol, becoming exhausted, or getting into a negative mental or emotional state that keeps us out of touch with our divine connections.
Some of us have stronger immune systems than others. Why is this so? There are many factors that explain the differences in immune system strength. It could be genetics, lifestyle choices, or negative mental thinking. When a person’s vibration isn’t high enough to stave off one of these conditions, a virus, bacteria, or a parasite opportunistically enters the physical system and runs amok. It gravitates to the weakest part of the body and then works to replicate itself in order to survive. If your vibration is higher than that of any opportunistic offender, then the invader cannot survive and will perish without causing damage to your body. A high vibration creates and sustains a healthy immune system.
Just as there are physical toxins, there are mental ones, too. They can be cleared by positivity in thought. Positivity also brings to us what we seek and what we think optimistically about—the good in life. Through positivity, we can begin to develop greater self-love. Self-love is the first step on the path to loving relationships, affection, and self-care and the ability to give and receive unconditional love. Our lives ultimately become an expression of that unconditional love.
Because God treats me so tenderly, I need to treat myself the same way. I must be gentle toward the places in myself that have been wounded. I can release the lie I’ve often told myself—that I have to be perfect to be loved. I can accept the gift of unconditional love that God gives freely to me, with no strings attached. And I can love others in the same way.
As I learned in Heaven, we are what we think, what we believe, and what we choose. We honor or dishonor our divine and human connections with every decision we make personally and collectively. We would have such a beautiful world if we could all be on Earth as it is in Heaven.
When we listen to our hearts, we can discover our true reason and mission for being on this planet and how to use our gifts and talents to express that true mission with authenticity and freedom. It comforts me to know that our lives are meant to be purposeful.
This key to health and life is exactly what Jesus explained to me: keeping your vibration as high as possible. And we can also do that by applying the eight revelations.
As I journeyed through Heaven and heard the eight revelations, all I knew was that I loved being there. I was humbled and grateful to know that I have a guardian angel, a spiritual helper looking after me who is involved in my life and cares about my well-being. I loved being with Jesus, who was my Teacher and guide. I felt love from him toward me, and I was filled with love for him. It was more love than I’ve ever felt for anyone in my whole life, including myself.
I know you might be wondering about the Jesus I met. What if you are a follower of a different faith? Since I’ve been back from Heaven, I’ve wondered the same thing. What about others who go to Heaven? Whom do they meet?
Even though it has been years since my accident, I have often thought of Jesus telling me that there is no wrong way to love God, and that there are a thousand paths to His door. After all, we are all children of God, and we all have that part of God that lives within us—that Divine Spark.
I grew up as a Catholic so I suppose it was natural for me to meet Jesus in Heaven. Did God choose Jesus to be my guide and teacher because Jesus is an important part of my faith? I remember Jesus saying:
Faith should not separate people, but instead should bind them together to God. Belief systems, however diverse they may seem, are all rooted in God’s love. All faiths should be respected and honored.
His answer now makes sense to me. Perhaps people of different faiths who experience near-death might meet a different Teacher who aligns with their belief systems. They might meet Mother Mary, angels, Moses, Abraham, Buddha, Muhammad, Krishna, or other messengers of God’s choosing. This is an extraordinary insight.
With all of the insights I received, I have remained humbled, and I know I have to honor my experience forever. Before this accident and the near-death experience, I was a pretty typical guy, and that included going to Mass regularly. But I probably wasn’t as committed as I could have been. Like most people, I was busy working and running a business and just went about my life. Those things edged out a lot of my responsibilities to my physical, emotional, and spiritual selves.
Today, as New Tommy, I appreciate life so much more. It is fleeting and fragile, with both good things and bad, but it is a great gift to be treasured. And we should live it with passion and purpose. But I also know that there is life after this life. And I have seen it.
What I do know is that my life would have taken a distinctly different course had the accident never happened and had I never gone to Heaven. Almost dying helped me learn to really live.
I now realize that the revelations were just the beginning—the foundation on which to build my new life. I remember that Jesus taught me that God selects each of us to receive gifts that we can share with each other. He directs us to use these gifts as we see fit with the hope that we will use these precious gifts to honor Him and to be of service to humanity in some capacity.
Today I stay connected to God and all that is divine by creating stillness in my life. In daily prayer and meditation, I feel God’s presence more clearly. My thoughts connect to heavenly matters and divine directives. I become filled with a knowing that creating stillness, where one creates time with God, is the best way to stay aligned with one’s divine purpose and potential.
Each time I meditate, I learn more and I see more. I have been shown that God’s Divine Unconditional Love creates healing. I have also been shown that not everyone can be healed. Sometimes it’s God’s plan for an individual to go through the experience of illness. Perhaps it is because that person will learn a valuable lesson through self-evaluation or awareness that might not take place without the illness. Or maybe the disease will give others who touch the life of the sick person the opportunity to become more compassionate and loving. In some cases, it is adversity that strengthens character, relationships, and personal identity.
I don’t know why some people recover from life-threatening situations while others don’t. Some of us, it seems, must face difficulties such as illness, pain, or loss during the course of our lives. But I know this: God loves each of us and never abandons us at any moment. We may not always understand the reason for what we are experiencing, but we must trust that all we experience is for our highest and greatest good.
I’ve learned through meditation that understanding illness is only one aspect of getting healthy and well. Treating your life as the precious gift it is and valuing each day that you are given to honor yourself and God is our true divine purpose. This is why we are here: to learn, to grow, and to love.
You and I are like artists with blank canvases that represent our lives. The paints you use to express yourself fully are your unique gifts and talents that you discover throughout your lifetime. The goal is to live through the heart so that you can honor the divinity within. I know from my time in Heaven that God’s love for each of us knows no limits. It is endless, everlasting love. No matter what we face in life, whether it is illness, hardship, fear, sadness, or loss, He is there for each of us.
It took me a long time to get here, but today I share my near-death experience openly. Before, I was too afraid of being judged. That fear gave way to shame that I wasn’t brave enough to share my story so people could benefit from what I’d learned in Heaven. My heart wanted to share, but my mind always talked me out of it.
Because I wasn’t true to my heart, my heart failed. I wasn’t being true to myself. I let my stupid ego and fear get in my way, and I sabotaged everything and fell into self-destructive behavior.
It took me a while to understand that all God really wanted me to do was to love myself as He loves me and as He loves us all. He had shown me His love so many times, yet it was a lesson that took me a long time to truly master. I was so busy either trying to prove myself worthy of these gifts or hiding my experience that I’d forgotten about the need to balance the energy properly. I let myself go and followed self-doubt all the way to a health crisis, and only then was I able to accept the gifts and responsibilities that I had been given. Just like those scary sharks I experienced in Heaven wouldn’t have been necessary if I hadn’t been so afraid, I wouldn’t have needed a health crisis to give me the right perspective had I only had the healthier self-esteem and self-worth that God wants us all to have.
In thinking about the trajectory of my life, I realized something else, something once again larger than myself. I realized that this is a common stumbling block for many people. The need for approval, to be loved, and to be worthy of love causes many of us to stumble and fall. Jesus talked about this in Heaven, but somewhere along the line, I reverted to my old patterns. He knew this would happen to me if I used my free will to make poor choices. When you do not have a solid foundation of self-love, you seek love from others. No matter how many miracles you experience, you still require approval and acknowledgment from outside sources to assuage your own deep insecurities.
Living this way makes imbalance inevitable.
The good news is that each day brings new hope: new opportunities to regroup, to rethink how you are living, to reconsider what you are choosing, and to change any aspect of your life that is not working. The key is figuring out what needs to be embraced and what needs to be eliminated, and then committing to make it happen.
This is not where God steps in. He is already there! This is where you come in to reclaim, reorganize, rethink, reprioritize, and go forward in a new way.
If I could do it, you can do it, too!
One of the coolest things about being alive is that we can change. We can redefine our destinies and shape our own futures with our choices.
The gifts and intuition that God granted me have grown over time. I’ve slowly learned what is truly important in life. I’ve discovered how to embrace my own humanity. I know how to face my fears and to forgive myself when I fail. Most important, I have learned to love myself and see my value in God’s universe.
I’m so grateful for my life and what happened to me and for what I’ve learned and what I continue to learn. Of it all, the most important truth is this:
We don’t really die.
There is no death, no true end. In many ways, death is a new beginning. God and Jesus graced me with a glimpse of Heaven. If I could use my near-death experience in the most valuable way for others, it would be to help alleviate people’s fear of death. Heaven is home. Just know that when your time comes, you’ll be infinitely happy there. Believe me, I would have loved to stay in Heaven if I could, but God had other plans for this simple man who never thought much about the afterlife until he died and came back with the truth.
Today I’m a study in gratitude and truly a blessed man. I love my life, and I believe that coming so close to death multiple times gives me a unique perspective of appreciation for just how fragile and precious life is. I have no fear of death. I imagine that many people who have had near-death experiences and have glimpsed the other side feel the same way. There is nothing to fear. We don’t end. We just move into a different state of being. Heaven is paradise. Once you have seen it and been there, you carry that image and those feelings deep inside of you. They don’t leave you.
But while we are here in our respective bodies, inhabiting this beautiful planet we call Earth, we need to be mindful that we are just renters. We own nothing material. It all belongs to God—your house, car, clothes, jewels, and art. All of the things you may have painstakingly collected over the course of your life will no doubt be owned or enjoyed by someone else down the road. Maybe it will be your children or your children’s children—or maybe it will all be scattered to the four winds.
The land, the seas, the sky, and the stars are here for us to enjoy and treasure during our time on Earth. Our bodies were created to be temporary vessels for our souls, and we must treat them with as much love and respect as God created them to receive. In truth, though, all of that belongs to God as well. There is no point in getting too attached to or upset over “stuff.”
In Heaven, I was infused with a universal perspective. Probably all people who go and come back receive this infusion and change accordingly. We likely don’t think of time and space in the same way. We realize that there is no separation, that any idea of separation between human beings is an illusion that we’ve made up. We are all the same! We come from the same source. We are all destined to live, to become what we can become, and then to die and go to the place where our spirits take us.
I don’t think like this every day, but these ideas and principles are stored permanently in my heart. They govern my actions and my life choices.
I was Old Tommy before my NDE, and he was a pretty good guy. But I am New Tommy now, and I like him—and my life—a whole lot more!
As New Tommy, I live my life with more awareness and appreciation. Jesus taught me that every day you breathe is a day that you can change. Every day is a chance for rebirth. I love that idea, and I embrace it even when life gets challenging or disappointing.
When the sun rises, it is a new day for us all.
Let me leave you with my divine dream. Read it often, to yourself or aloud, as its words possess a very high vibration that can bring peace, calm, and healing into your life.
It took me a long time to remember an important teaching that I was given right before I was sent back through the tunnel of light and into my physical body. Maybe it’s the most important teaching of all.
My Teacher taught me that when God created us, He gave each of us something—some quality or gift that makes each of us special and unique, just like a snowflake. He gave no one everything. No individual, no being He has ever made has everything in life. God’s divine plan is for each of us to discover and express our special gifts.
He also created us as one universal family. The purpose of our lives is to connect with each other and through the love we create; to become one with each other and with Him.
If He bestowed everything into one being, then that person would need no one else. There would be no need to create the relationships and friendships that are the richest sources of personal and spiritual growth. Instead, in His wisdom, God created each of us with our own special gifts so that we could use our lives to discover and share these blessings with each other and the world.
I often dream of all of humanity sitting at one never-ending table in Heaven. Imagine it with me: We are all there, sharing our lives, our stories, and our gifts with each other. There are no place cards at this table; we are one. There are no separations at this table; there are no leaders. We are not designated or divided by gender, race, religion, age, education, or financial status.
We do not represent any particular state or nation, country, or continent. We are only His children, and we speak only one language, the language of Divine Unconditional Love.
At this heavenly table, we are all equal in God’s eyes and in our own. We are laughing and smiling together, simply enjoying the feast that God has set out before us. We are sharing our food, our lives, our words, and our love with each other.
This image never leaves me. I keep it in the back of my mind always as a reminder of my miraculous journey.
Perhaps, as his last gift to me, my Teacher imprinted this aspect of God’s divine plan into my mind so that I would remember why I was given another chance at life. I think I came back from Heaven just so that I could share it all with you, and you would have the chance to dream it, too.
After all, we are all connected!
Blessings,
Tommy Rosa