Fast Lane to Heaven

In the last few years, I have read many books on the topic of near death experiences (NDE's), and I have yet to tire from reading about the wonderful journeys these people have experienced. This particular book is about a man who took a wrong turn during his life, and wound up being an alcoholic club owner who was dabbling in drugs and had some pretty shady characters as friends. After a violent fight with one of these "friends", he started to not feel right, and within a few minutes he was dead. The book then goes on to describe the experiences he had while clinically dead, how he was treated by the medical profession after he was brought back to life, and how this experienced impacted his life. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who's had an NDE and is looking to hear of other's experiences, as well as those who are just plain interested in this topic.

The thing that impressed me about this book is that I read it before 9/11. After 9/11 I had to go back and re-read some of his predictions, and he came very close to describing the events in the news today. He discribes religious fanatics who think they are doing Gods will but are not. He says they attack either Washington D.C. or New York, and that these attacks change the way we live. That is pretty impressive to me. If the rest of what he pridicts comes ture we are in for a very rough ride.

"...A MAJOR TERRORIST ATTACK MAY BEFALL NEW YORK CITY OR WASHINGTON, D.C., SEVERELY IMPACTING THE WAY WE LIVE IN THE UNITED STATES". These words are part of a series of global visions given to author Ned Dougherty by an angelic "Lady of Light," in this riveting account of a core Near Death Experience (NDE). A self-proclaimed hedonist and successful nightclub owner, Dougherty suffers respiratory arrest while attempting to strangle a business associate during a heated argument. The book takes us on a remarkable journey from the velvet rope lines of his Hamptons nightclub (where he arrogantly presides over admissions) to the very gates of Heaven. We stand beside him when he reviews his earthly life, while immersed in a crystalline sphere, suspended above a celestial field. We meet the souls of the three children whom he has been too preoccupied to father. We encounter the beautiful Lady of Light who bequeathes her prophesies to him. And we stand before the very presence of God.I know Ned Dougherty. Many years before this book was written he attended a support group with me for individuals who had NDE's or other transformative experiences. His is a tale of spiritual redemption; of one brave soul's journey from a life of empty materialism to one of joy and profound spiritual purpose. It is a portrait of a heavenly landscape so beautifully painted, it will touch the heart of the most skeptical among us. It is a book filled with hope, but also caution. Above all, it is a book which beckons us to create a future based on love.

Having read dozens of accounts of near-death experiences, I would have to rate Ned Dougherty's account as one of the two or three best, very possibly THE best. It is very well written and keeps the reader captivated and wondering what comes next. As the owner of two prosperous night clubs, Dougherty was leading a very hedonistic life, striving to be "one with his toys." He was a playboy who had strayed far from the spiritual path on which his Catholic school had tried to direct him toward. After becoming involved in an altercation at his New York nightclub, Dougherty had a near-death experience, which involved nearly every one of the characteristics associated with the NDE. He was met on the "Other Side" by an old friend, who had been killed in Vietnam, then accompanied "into the light," where he encountered other deceased friends and relatives and had a life review. "While in the presence of God's light, many revelations were conveyed to me," he writes. "As God was bestowing a radiant energy upon me, I recognized that the energy contained information about universal laws, revelations that were part of God's plan for the universe." Several chapters are devoted to these revelations, but Doughtery's own awakening is what kept me glued to the book. He comes across as very credible in explaining why there is no way that his NDE can, as the pseudo-skeptics claim, be written off as nothing more than an hallucination or dream. It so impacted him that he gave up his nightclubs as well as alcohol to pursue a life of helping others. The book meets my "4-I" test -- interesting, informative, intriguing, and inspiring. I plan to give some copies of the book to friends and relatives as Christmas gifts.

The 21st century is upon us--ready or not--and Planet Earth is being called to the "centerstage of being" in a cosmic drama that unfolds according to the script we write for her finale. This is the message that I get from reading Fast Lane to Heaven: our collective consciousness will determine how this divine play ends, either as a comedy of errors compounded on a global-wide scale environmentally, until we are humbled by the forces of Nature, or as a love story consummated in a restored Garden of Eden. So, for me and my household, I am glad that Ned Dougherty took the time to write this "program of performances" to follow based upon what he was shown as "potential" upcoming major events in our history during his near-death experience (NDE). To me, his NDE is a map that I will glance back at frequently in the next couple years, especially. With headlines reading more like science-fiction thriller movies every day: War in the Middle-East seems inevitable, China disagrees with U.S. policy, Japan rebuilding their military, polar ice caps melting; bizarre weather patterns plague U.S. and Europe, solar flares increasing in intensity, etc., I want to know what in the world is going on with our world. Don't you? Then read this book and heed its message: love thy neighbor--and our world--as oneself! Dr. John Jay Harper is author of Tranceformers: Shamans of the 21st Century. www.johnjayharper.com