Life: The Hardest Choice
David Bennett, once a brash young commercial diver whose personal philosophy was “cut your swath through life to survive,” was caught in a violent storm off the California coast one night where he drowned. While technically “dead,” he met beings of light, relived his life, and peeked into his future, resulting in a complete paradigm shift for him. Later, he discovered he had stage IV lung and bone cancer—so advanced that his spine collapsed. Miraculously, he survived once again, and this second close call taught him even more about living, loving, and how to find purpose in his life. He is the author of Voyage Of Purpose: Spiritual Wisdom from Near-Death back to Life and will be at First Spiritualist Church Feb. 18.
Beverly Brodsky: Why do you say that “Dying is hard, but coming back to life is harder?”
David Bennett: Because after being immersed in that spiritual world, we have to learn how to integrate and live with it, being mindful of both worlds.
You adopted a macho personality and career after a rough childhood. What did you learn from the grandmothers and why did you ignore this in your youth?
I learned how to find my sacred space within myself, as a form of meditation. I used that in my teens, because it helped me to get past my family’s dysfunction. The problem was that I jumped from between different families. Then life happened, and I put it aside. I was in survival mode, trying to make a living.
Our culture makes it hard to live a spiritual life. But it’s wonderful you had this tool available.
It helped out with my integration of my NDE, when I was searching for its meaning. The initial part I had to do on my own without any support structures.
Sadly, this is common. You use some eclectic practices for spiritual communion. What are the most important ones?
One that I use every day before I get out of bed is my gratitudes to the energies of the four directions, the above, and the below. Then I open it up to pray for my family and friends. Afterwards, I do a 30-minute meditation in my office. If I don’t do that each morning, my whole day doesn’t flow. It puts me in the right place to go through the day keeping that connection, coming from my heart.
How do you to achieve natural pain relief since you got stage four cancer and your spine collapsed?
Spirit told me that we don’t have live with pain. This is part of my meditation: I go into my heart, and the Light is there. Once I connect to the Light, I go into the pain, where I can mindfully set it aside. I only have a problem when I talk about it, and have to set it aside again.
I’m sorry. People are drawn to you because of your open heart. Describe your quiet ministry.
To be an authentic being, you are present and who you are all the time. When you’re working as an open-hearted person, you don’t put on the usual social veils. Truth was big for me— developing and owning my truth. Living with it is a key element of my quiet ministry.
You say in the book that you’ve used two lines of Gandhi’s guidance to his grandson Arun as a mantra for the past 15 years: “Keep your thoughts positive because they become your words; keep your words positive because they become your behaviors.” How have does this help you?
These two lines are very, very powerful and also life-changing. When you keep your thoughts positive, you naturally keep your actions positive. In Buddhism and Hinduism the first step is disciplining the mind. I adopted these phrases as mantras from Gandhi. They help you to stay mindful. We all slip, and I catch myself often. Another mantra I use frequently is: “Thank you for this life.” I probably recite that 100 times a day, and it pulls me back to center. It’s also when I’m on center; this magnifies it.
Do you know why your particular path been so difficult?
I believe that I chose this path as part of my purpose. I feel that the heart shifts that I went through were all to align me with my purpose; to be able to help people, to have the message they need, and to be at the right place at the right time. I never would have developed my spiritual communications if I hadn’t had those hardships along the way. It’s like when bowling, you can’t get out of the lane. You can sit down in your lane; but once you recognize your spiritual connection, you must move with it.
Why do any of us come here on this life voyage?
There is a grander purpose to all this. We have to remember what we are. This was a path that we chose, to rely on our mind for answers. We created this global crisis that we’re in right now, economically, environmentally, and culturally. It’s all coming to an apex at this time; and the greater purpose we are on is to develop our spirituality to balance our mental wisdom. We need to become more heart-centered in order to survive. That’s the way we can solve this.
How did you learn to go back into the Light at will?
My friend Margaret emanated love and compassion and taught me how to go into the Light. The only other person I’ve met who had this energy is the Dalai Lama. Margaret was just such a presence; we held hands and looked into each other’s eyes; and then we transcended that. It’s emotionally overpowering to feel those waves of love, you just melt. She also got to experience my vision of the future from the Light.
What did you see?
There will be lots of changes, which people will resist, causing suffering. Governments and the economy won’t be there to support us; rather, we will have to come together as a community to support each other like our parents’ parents used to do. In my vision I saw people changing and becoming more communal. I see the rumblings now. When I go out in social media I meet people from around the world. And the neat thing is that there is a huge surge of people trying to find their spirituality, not through religious dogma but rather using their own awakened consciousness. They’re all saying the same thing. When we reach that tipping point, say 11%, you will see real change.
Explain the “10-year plan” that you are on.
After the bone cancer, we decided I’d go ten more years, which just passed. Last year, I had the opportunity to go home. I was alone with severe sunstroke and was ready to leave this world. I heard, “As long as you continue to do this work, we’re going to keep you busy.” I said, “I’m enjoying this work; I get to meet so many cool people that are on this path also.”
Thank you, David. You have such wonderful energy and such a powerful message.
David Bennett will speak at the First Spiritualist Church at 3777 42nd St, San Diego, at 7:30 pm on Feb. 18. $10.