Many people who die (or almost die) and come back to
life have a memorable, tangible and often life altering
experience. The experiences have many common elements.
The following list highlights some of the most common
elements of near death experiences.
1 Feeling that the "self" has left the body and is hovering
overhead. The person may later be able to describe who
was where and what happened, sometimes in detail.
2 Moving through a dark space or tunnel.
3 Experiencing intensely powerful emotions, ranging
from bliss to extreme distress.
4 Encountering a light. It is usually described as golden
or white, and as being magnetic and loving.
5 Receiving some variant of the message "It is not yet
your time."
6 Meeting others: may be deceased loved ones, recognized
from life or not; sacred beings; unidentified entities
and/or "beings of light" sometimes symbols from one's
own or other religious traditions.
7 A life review, seeing and re-experiencing major and
trivial events of one's life, sometimes from the perspective
of the other people involved, and coming to some conclusion
about the adequacy of that life and what changes are
needed.
8 Having a sense of understanding everything, of knowing
how the universe works.
9 Reaching a boundary, a cliff, fence, water, some kind
of barrier that may not be crossed if one is to return
to life.
10 In some cases, entering a city or library.
11 Receiving previously unknown information about one's
life, e.g., adoption or hidden parentage, deceased siblings,
12 Glimpses into future events.
13 Decision to return may be voluntary or involuntary.
If voluntary, usually associated with unfinished service
to loved ones.
14 Returning to the body.
Many see near death experiences as an experience of
the afterlife. This implies the view that the neardeath
experience can not be explained by physiological or
psychological causes and that consciousness, in some
instances, might function independently of the brain.
Some near death -accounts include elements which, according
to some theorists, are most simply explained by an out-of-body
consciousness.
For example, in one account, a woman accurately described
a surgical instrument she had not seen previously, as
well as a conversation that occurred while she was understood
to be clinically dead. In another account, from a proactive
Dutch near death study, a nurse removed the dentures
of an unconscious heart attack victim, and was asked
by him after his recovery to return them
Many people who experience a near death event tend to
see it as a verification of the existence of an afterlife
in particular they tend to be convinced of the reality
of the experience as an intimation of the afterlife.
This includes those with agnostic/atheist inclinations
before the experience.
There exist reports about, what appears to be, connections
between deceased persons and persons who have had an
NDE. These visualizations happen over a long period
after the near death experience. Ken Mullens , who was
clinically dead for more than 20 minutes, reported spiritual
encounters in his life after his NDE. As he reported,
deceased persons he communicated with were often unknown
to him, but were connected to people he met at a later
point. While many such reports are criticized and discredited
by the scientific field they remain a mystery. Since
they have no apparent medical or physical explanation
they might be said to belong the interpretative and
phenomenological dimension of the NDE, as investigated
by the field of Near-death studies..
