Near-death experience

A near-death experience (NDE) is the perception reported by a person who nearly died or who was clinically dead and revived. They are somewhat common, especially since the development of cardiac resuscitation techniques, and are reported in approximately one-fifth of persons who revive from clinical death. The experience often includes an out-of-body experience.

As an afterlife experience

Many commentators see near death experiences as an afterlife experience, and some NDE-accounts include elements that, 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 (Sabom, 1998). In another account, from a proactive Dutch NDE study http://www.iands.org/dutch_study.html, a nurse removed the dentures of an unconscious heart attack victim, and was asked by him after his recovery to return them (van Lommel et.al, 2001).

Related Topics:
Afterlife - Out-of-body - Dutch - Dentures - Heart attack

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

But researchers have been unsuccessful in running proactive experiments to establish out-of-body consciousness. There have been numerous experiments in which a random message was placed in a hospital in a manner that it would be invisible to patients or staff yet visible to a floating being, and thus far, no person experiencing a near death experience has been able to reproduce the message.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Regardless of the origin of the phenomenon, the subjective experience of NDEs is well-documented, and follows certain patterns:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• It is generally accepted that some people who reported NDEs were shown to have approached the clinical boundary between life and death. However, it is not shown that the experiences themselves took place in any time other than just before the clinical death, or in the process of being revived. In altered states of consciousness such as this and during dream states or under the influence of drugs, the subjective perception of time is often dilated.
• Those who report NDEs typically respond by a major change of life perspective and direction, generally away from self-orientation toward outward orientation, or what they call a more loving life. The NDE is reported by some to feel "more real than life"http://www.meta-religion.com/Paranormale/NDE/nde_research.htm. Some former atheists have adopted a more spiritual view of life after NDEshttp://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/01-04/01-31-04/c04rg223.htm (for example Howard Storm and George Rodonaia).
• Those who report NDEs typically look forward to death, but despise suicide.

The similarities amongst the experiences of the many documented cases may simply show that the pathology of the brain during the dying and reviving process is more or less the same in all humans, as written by Russian specialist Dr. Vladimir Negovsky (Unkn. publ. year) in Clinical Death As Seen by Reanimator.

Related Topics:
Pathology - Brain - Humans - Russia

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hellish Near-Death Experiences

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Although near-death experiences are typically associated with intense bliss, there have been a few cases that have been unpleasant, such as those involving acute senses of boredom or those involving feelings of shiver and cold. Attwater (1996)has reported that in his research, about a seventh of the cases reported were hellish near-death experiences. It is possible that hellish near-death experiences are unreported, as people may have inhibitions against reporting them (to do so may indicate moral weakness).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~