Near-Life Experiences

So-called near-death experiences are really encounters with the Light.
They occur to people during meditative or spiritual experiences,
not just during life-threatening trauma.
Perhaps a better name then is Near-Life Experiences

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Online book: "A Measure of Heaven"

Chapter 1:

B. Statistical Advantage

Many of the pop-culture NDE accounts and scientific enquiries were limited to a small number of cases and contained anecdotal references. Eventually, researchers were able to gather and report on larger numbers of people who experienced an NDE, and this made inferences from the data more reliable. Two research organizations were able to collect thousands of reports. These groups are:

1. The International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS), at www.IANDS.org
2. The Near-Death Experience Research Foundation (NDERF), at www.NDERF.org.

A curious statistical effect takes place when you accumulate data on more than 500 people: the odd cases, the "outliers" at the extremes on any one measure, begin to cancel each other out, and cumulative values become a more valid measure of the total population, in this case the people who report near-death experiences.

Hellish NDEs seem to occur more often as a result of attempted suicide, as in this next account:

The Spirit said [by thought] "it was your fault that you died, because you were not looking after yourself. That is considered a form of suicide, and there is a penalty that must be paid." A screen appeared far in front of me, depicting the negative aspects of my character in HUMAN FORMS. They became animated and started to attack me. I was kicked and punched. I felt the pain of each contact. Curiously, I felt no need to defend myself or fight off my attackers.  They then moved backwards as though they were on rewind and got back onto the screen as they were before they animated.

D. "You Must Go Back"

Once the person is on the other side, the first words they often hear are: "It's not your time, you must go back." Obviously, since the experiencer has returned to give his report, it certainly was not his time. I can only wonder what the words are for those who do not return!

It's common for the person to resist coming back, as seen in the following report:

I couldn't make out a face but she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. This I knew. This I still know. She said, "You can't go. I can't let you go." But, I didn't want to listen. She kept telling me that I couldn't go, that she couldn't let me go. After repeating that a few times, she sternly said, "You cannot go." A tear was rolling down my left cheek and she wiped the tear with the part of her index finger between the first and second knuckles. At that moment I was back in the operating room

- IANDS, You cannot go (12).

The ultimate spirit being described in NDE cases is Jesus. Jesus predominates in the IANDS spirit being cases. There are too few reports in this current sample to make cross-cultural comparisons with other prominent religions. The following report mentions talking with Jesus:

The light was everywhere; it even passed through me. I can remember looking at my hand and the light passed through it. My hand was transparent, but this did not surprise me. As I walked with a heavenly person, his countenance shone forth with such brightness. I can't even begin to describe it. I knew this heavenly being was Jesus because I recognized him as a familiar friend. He didn't announce who he was because this wasn't necessary. I remember walking with Jesus, but we weren't walking in the physical sense. The best way I can describe our walking is in mid-air, floating a bare spare above the ground of a beautiful garden.

-  IANDS, Spirit communication (18).

One of the most striking accounts (of judgment) comes from a bully who abused other students:

“The first thing I saw was my angry childhood. I saw myself torturing other children, stealing their bicycles or making them miserable at school.  One of the most vivid scenes was of the time I picked on a child at grade school because he had a goiter that protruded from his neck.  The other kids in the class picked on him too, but I was the worst.  At the time I thought I was funny.  But now, as I relived this incident, I found myself in his body, living with the pain that I was causing.  This perspective continued through every negative incident in my childhood, a substantial number to be sure.  From fifth to twelfth grade, I estimate I had at least six thousand fistfights.  Now, as I reviewed my life in the bosom of the Being, I relived each of those altercations, but with one major difference: I was the receiver. ”

– Dannion Brinkley, Saved by the Light (21).

The idea that the world is illusion is also found in some NDE accounts. They indicate the earth life is more like a dream:

I realized that earth is a dream and not reality and anything pertaining to it was contained, sort of not in reality but within it with borders. Sort of suspended. It wasn't able to mix with reality because it wasn't real but still was acknowledged by the reality where I was. . . . I was shown that the Earth is not 'real' out of the experience of it, much like a dream when we are on Earth.

- NDERF, Judith P (16).

Sometimes the experiencer is not sure which reference is reality:

During the first three months after my experience, I had to make up my mind which reality was the real place.  The temptation to return was nearly overwhelming at first.

- NDERF, Arielera's NDE (17).

Appendix A:  Gender, Age, White/Not-White Cross-tabs

Appendix B:  U.S. vs. Other, Health Status, Frightening NDE, Religious Type Cross-tabs

Appendix C:  Medical Condition, Positive After-effects Cross-tabs

Note: Appendices are several hundred pages of cross-tabulation tables and are too numerous to post all of them here.
Only Appendix A is shown. Please contact us if you would like a copy of the other appendices.

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