Woman On Her Death Bed: The Secret To Living A Life of Purpose & Meaning | Anita Moorjani
Here are the top 10 insights from Anita Moorjani's experience that completely transformed her understanding of life, health, and purpose after surviving terminal cancer against all medical odds.
1. Living life fearlessly
Living fearlessly means being authentically yourself without concern for others' judgments or approval. Anita explains that most people's biggest fears aren't about physical dangers but rather about exposing their true selves and risking shame or disapproval.
Before her cancer diagnosis, Anita spent her life trying to please others, particularly her father. She never considered that her own thoughts and feelings mattered. After her near-death experience, she realized the importance of taking back her power and living according to her own values rather than seeking external validation.
2. The world of fear versus the world of love
Anita describes experiencing two contrasting worlds: the world of fear and the world of love. During her near-death experience, she felt enveloped in unconditional love, something she had never experienced in life. This helped her understand that our society operates primarily from fear-based conditioning.
She noticed how our major systems—education, healthcare, and others—are built around fear rather than positive motivation. The medical system focuses more on the fear of illness than the promotion of health. Similarly, education emphasizes the fear of failing rather than passion for learning. This fear-based approach permeates many aspects of society and shapes our behavior in limiting ways.
3. The transformative power of a near-death experience
Anita's near-death experience completely transformed her perspective on life. While in a coma with end-stage cancer, she experienced herself leaving her physical body and entering a state of expanded awareness. She could perceive everything happening around her with 360-degree awareness, including events occurring outside her hospital room.
During this experience, she encountered deceased loved ones including her father and best friend. She gained profound insights about her life and why she developed cancer. This experience was so vivid and real that she describes it as more real than physical existence. The memory remains crystal clear many years later, guiding her current approach to life.
4. Self-love as essential for health and healing
Anita believes her cancer developed partly because she never loved herself. She had always prioritized others' needs while neglecting her own. Even when actively dying from cancer, she continued refusing help from others because she didn't want to burden them.
After her near-death experience, she realized the vital importance of self-love for health and healing. She now tells people to "love yourself like your life depends on it—because it does." This self-love creates energy equity and allows us to live authentically. Without sufficient self-love, we remain in energy deficit, eventually leading to physical and emotional breakdown.
5. Energy equity as a foundation for wellbeing
Anita presents a powerful concept of "energy equity" as currency for daily living. She explains that various activities either provide or drain our energy. A good night's sleep might give 12 units, a healthy breakfast adds more, while traffic jams, toxic relationships, or unfulfilling work deplete our reserves.
Living in constant energy deficit eventually leads to illness. Conversely, maintaining energy equity allows us to help others effectively and handle life's challenges with resilience. The key to building energy equity is prioritizing activities that genuinely nourish us. This approach should come before seeking external changes, as energy equity actually helps attract positive circumstances into our lives.
6. The healing power of purpose and meaning
Having purpose and meaning in life creates health and resilience. Anita discovered that her perception of cancer shifted dramatically after her near-death experience. Before, she ate healthy foods out of fear; afterward, she maintained healthy habits from a place of love and purpose.
People who wake up looking forward to their day are more likely to heal and maintain good health than those living without purpose. Finding meaning isn't about searching externally but rather about being authentic and following what brings joy. When we align with our authentic purpose, our health and wellbeing naturally improve.
7. Viewing challenges as gifts
Anita frames life challenges as gifts rather than burdens. During her near-death experience, she realized that she had chosen to come to earth for the adventure and growth opportunities. This perspective transformed how she views difficulties.
She suggests that if a current challenge doesn't feel like a gift, it means you haven't reached the end of the story yet. From the soul's perspective, life happens for us, not to us. Each obstacle offers opportunities for evolution and development. This mindset shift from victim to creator empowers us to find meaning in our struggles.
8. The problem with excessive people-pleasing
Excessive people-pleasing depletes vital energy and can contribute to illness. Anita describes how she was socialized to put everyone else first, believing that being subservient was positive. Even while dying from cancer, she continued refusing help to avoid inconveniencing others.
Her near-death experience finally freed her from this pattern by showing her inherent worth. She realized that constantly prioritizing others' needs at the expense of her own wasn't virtuous but harmful. True service comes from a place of energy abundance, not depletion. Helping others while neglecting yourself ultimately serves no one.
9. The existence of consciousness beyond the physical body
Anita's experience challenges conventional medical understanding of consciousness. While clinically near death with compromised brain function, she experienced expanded awareness rather than diminished consciousness. She could perceive conversations happening outside her room and retained these memories after recovery.
Her oncologist initially accepted her account privately but later publicly attributed her experience to medication effects. Despite medical skepticism, researchers like Dr. Bruce Grayson have documented thousands of similar cases. After 50 years of research, even this initially skeptical psychiatrist now believes "the mind is something else and the brain filters it," suggesting consciousness may exist beyond the physical brain.
10. The possibility of spontaneous healing
Anita's cancer disappeared completely within five weeks of her near-death experience without conventional medical explanation. Her medical records document her terminal diagnosis, coma, and subsequent cancer-free status. Doctors noted her tumors were "melting" and healing progressed with unexpected speed.
While some doctors attributed this to "spontaneous remission," others like Dr. Co acknowledged it defied medical explanation. This case points to healing possibilities beyond current scientific understanding. Anita's experience suggests that profound psychological and spiritual shifts can potentially influence physical health in ways not yet fully understood by conventional medicine.