Near Death Experience (NDE)
- Jan 19
- 4 min read
What does a 29-year-old white female baker from Cincinnati have to do with a 5-year-old boy from Italy? How about a 92-year-old black male atheist from California and a 57-year-old Japanese Buddhist scholar? Perhaps a 16-year-old indigenous south American native and a 70-year-old Welsh Philosopher?
All six individuals have experienced near death experiences (NDE's).
I was talking with a friend from high school last night who told me about an experience his father relayed to him during his time in the hospital with heart failure. His Dad was laying in his hospital bed, aware of his surroundings and suddenly found himself in a beautiful meadow with children playing. While he was enjoying the scene, his peaceful loving experience was cut short when he was jolted back into the hospital bed where he found himself surrounded by medical folks, one using paddles.
After some discussion, I did a bit of research on NDE's and was surprised to learn that despite cultural, economic, geographic and religious differences, there is a surprising similarity between the visions and phenomenon people who have NDEs experience. In one long term study, researchers collected and analyzed written accounts of over 150 individuals who had undergone a near death experience. In their findings, there were four different phenomena on average that people experienced:
A feeling of peacefulness (80% of participants)
Seeing a bright light (69%)
Encountering spirits/people (64%)
Out of body experience (35%) with a return to body (36%)
Additional commonalities included thoughts of speeding through time and space (5%), precognitive visions (4%), and sequentially:
First - out-of-body experience
Then - experiencing a tunnel
Then - seeing a bright light
Finally - Feeling of peace
There is some variation in the order and severity or intensity of the visions among individuals who have experienced NDE's. The fact that there is commonality of the experience among individuals who have drastically different lifestyle, religious or social beliefs and structures has intrigued researchers for years.
There is also a historical precedence that dates back to ancient Egyptians, Peruvian and Inca Indians and a variety of indigenous people. Through their writings and drawings there has been profound spiritual or religious significance.
While the experiences are similar, the societal reaction to the NDE varies depending on the culture of the people involved. For example, North Americans that experience a near death experience see it as a blessing and a gift and try to replicate the experience through shamanic rituals. However, Africans and Oceania Micronesians see NDEs in a negative light. These cultures consider the experience as an aberrational event and a type of sorcery. Australians and Polynesians take a more middle road, seeing an NDE with casual acceptance as a part of life and nature.
For those of you that know me well, I would consider myself Christian but not religious. That is to say, I believe in God, Jesus as the Son of God, the Holy Spirit and Resurrection and Life hereafter. But I am soured on organized religion and have learned not to base my Christianity on Christians. I have spent considerable energy on understanding the values of Eastern philosophies and the good that they can provide us here on Earth.
In my beliefs, I'm encouraged by the idea of love and peace in the afterlife. It reaffirms my belief that there is a Heaven and spiritual realm after we die and that we are going to a future free from pain that is full of love. It also confirms my belief in a consciousness after physical death.
As with anything, there are skeptics who will explain away the comfort and good feelings associated with a near death experience as simply hallucinations associated with a decline in brain activities during trauma that do not provide evidence of an afterlife.
NDEs are considered an "equal opportunity experience "with upward of 20% of people who survive a close brush with death to experience a near death phenomenon. Approximately 5% of the world's population undergoes an NDE. The idea that people of every demographic (age, sex, nationality, belief structure, religious affiliation, etc.) has reported NDEs, there is something to be said for the basis of the belief.
What happens to people after they experience an NDE? On average, a near death experience has both short- and long-term transformations that affect them for the rest of their natural lives. As you might expect, the deeper the NDE, the more intense and transformative the changes.
In the short term, someone who experiences an NDE feels a challenge to integrate changes in their lives - a second chance of sorts.
In the long term, researchers have documented several changes in people who have gone through a near death experience:
Psychological - A loss of fear of death and an increased belief in knowing that there is life after physical death. An increase in appreciation for Earthly life and a belief that it has purpose. As expected, a REDUCED interest in material possessions, fame and power; an increase in connectedness and concern for others; increased desire to be of service to others.
Spiritual - An increased interest in spirituality while a DECREASED interest in organized religion (More spiritual, less religious) - Precognition, clairvoyance, "Mind's eye" stuff.
Physical - Changes in sleep, appetite and an increased sensitivity to medication and environmental factors like pollution and electrical fields. It has even been found that electromechanical effects where electronic devices malfunction more often when near an NDEr's vicinity (I'm not making this up...there's some proof to this!)
Social - Changes in relationships, the organizational affiliations and clubs one associates with, sometimes a change in job or vocation with emphasis on more service-oriented work. Unfortunately, NDE's become more likely than average to divorce.
If you're interested in learning more about this very interesting subject, I recommend you check out some of the resources I've listed below:
Great post, Bob! Our physical minds are tiny and limited, and we don’t know even a fraction of what the universe holds. NDEs provide us with a glimpse of why we exist and the greater beyond. A universe of love and endless wonders. A glimpse.
Thank-you for this article and sharing more information about NDE’s. I used to think my NDE experience was something that no one would believe when it happen 49 years ago. There has sense been more studies into NDE’s and there seems to be many similarities in each of these experiences. It has forever changed the way I look at life and how thankful I am to have been given a second chance. Thanks Bob!
This is excellent. Learned a lot from this post. Interesting how people from different cultures and worlds have the same experience.
A subject outside the norm well researched and written. Death isn't my favorite topic of discussion but this short blog did catch my interest. Fortunately for me, it was a blog and not War and Peace.
Interesting