True Stories Near Death Experiences

In some cases, where patients undergo clinical death and then return to physical life, they report that they maintained consciousness during the clinical death (despite the absence of brain function). Since this clinical death often happens in a hospital setting with professional medical oversight, thousands of these near-death experiences have been sufficiently well-documented for scientific study.

true stories near death experiences

Frequently during near-death experiences, some transphysical component leaves the body but does not go immediately to an other-worldly domain. Instead, it remains in the resuscitation room or somewhat near the body.

Some of these reports have highly unusual or unique characteristics which are not part of ordinary resuscitation or hospital procedures. Additionally, some patients blind from birth report visual data accurately about their experiences during clinical death.

Some NDEers report stories of veridical out-of-body experiences, including traveling through walls to the waiting room where they see their relatives and friends. One patient reported traveling through a wall and seeing her young daughter wearing mismatched plaids, which was highly unusual. Another woman traveled through a wall and overheard her brother-in-law in the hospital waiting room talking to a business associate in a very derogatory manner; she was able to report this back to him later.

The above studies of near-death experiences give considerable probative evidence of transphysical consciousness after bodily death, which is not explained by current physicalist explanations and is unlikely to be presented by future ones. Nor can it be explained by the medical world, this challenges certain ideas of consciousness.

There is a growing body of legitimate research around near-death experience reports, and peer-reviewed scientific journals have published a number of actual medical studies on the subject. Verified NDE stories provide evidence that the soul does indeed continue beyond death.

Tapp is one of the 158 individuals who participated in a study between Western University and the University of Liège that used text mining and artificial intelligence to find that most people respond positively to near-death experiences or NDEs.

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Most surprising to Greyson is that people can see things in their near-death experiences that will later be corroborated as accurate. Like certain tools used during open heart surgery or conversations that happened when they were unconscious, or pronounced dead during.

"I've got story after story of people who couldn't go back to the same profession, people who were, say, career police officers who couldn't shoot after a near-death experience, of people who were in competitive businesses who no longer felt it was meaningful to get ahead at someone else's expense."

Before his brush with death, Lisa Schiefer says her dad seemed a little lost. Just going through the motions. But now, he has newfound energy. He's excited and optimistic. And he loves sharing his near-death experience with anyone who is curious.

Regardless of whether or not a loved one wants to validate a near-death experience as "real," they often can't ignore the real changes that come from them. Some of these changes have caused Greyson to rethink preconceived notions.

"It becomes like an old friend," Greyson says. "Probably because near-death experiencer after near-death experiencer has told me that the universe is a friendly place. It's nothing to be frightened of. And the fact that you don't know the answer doesn't mean there isn't one there. That there's something that's greater than us that is in control of things. I can't say that I believe that, but I certainly have absorbed the feeling that this is a safe place to be."

Leslie Kean, a journalist who has written extensively about near-death experiences, says there is evidence that human consciousness exists independently of the body and that it survives physical death.

Psychiatrist Bruce Greyson has spent decades talking to people about near-death experiences. His work raises questions about what happens when we die, and how we ought to choose to live. Illustration by Paul Blow

Though we know there is much interest in near-death experiences, do we know how to think about them as Bible-believing Christians? What are these phenomena? Does the Bible mention them? How can we separate fact from fiction? In essence, how are we to understand near-death experiences as believers in Jesus?

The University of Virginia (UVA) School of Medicine defines an NDE as a common pattern of events that many people experience when they are experiencing intense threat, are seriously ill, or come close to death. UVA School of Medicine also found NDEs can include the following reported experiences:

Not surprisingly, distressing NDEs are not as well publicized in a culture that seems attuned to more positive messages. Because distressing near-death experiences are more difficult to record, it would be unwise to speculate how many NDEs are positive or negative based on reports.

Despite the popular interest and literature documenting near-death experiences, atheistic materialists have attempted to explain away the phenomena. Materialists believe that matter is all that exists and thus immaterial souls are not real nor is a spiritual realm. There are several explanations materialists posit to explain away near-death experiences as physical anomalies.

As in everything else, the Bible is the most authoritative source for information on this life and the life to come. Near-death experiences are, by nature, subjective events that happen to one person. God knows why they happen. If they are from him, they may be specifically for that individual. Perhaps God may even use such an experience to draw people to himself. Though some may be true, we cannot be absolutely certain about any given NDE. Subjective experience must never overrule the clear teaching of the Word of God, which is our only sure foundation.

In conclusion, near-death experiences point to a reality we must all face: death. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1-7), every person who lived before us has died. Death is one of the unifying realities in humanity (Romans 5:12). NDEs generate immense interest in a world where everyone dies.

Near-death experiences point to a world beyond our own. Whether any particular near-death experience is a reliable experience from God can be challenging to discover. However, one thing remains true of everyone: we will all die. And there is only one rescue from a just and eternal judgement: repenting and believing the good news of Jesus Christ.

For those that have survived a near-death experience (NDE), some are interested in sharing their story, what they saw or didn't see, and how it impacted their life afterwards. Trying to better understand what comes after life and how this information can impact their daily choices while they are still alive interests many. Near-death experiences have been studied and reported extensively.

Beyond the Light by P.M.H. Atwater chronicles various near-death experiences through interviews with survivors. Bryce, a former media personality from New York shares incredibly compelling memories about reuniting with loved ones who had already passed during his near death experience. Bryce was deathly allergic to pine nuts and began having a severe reaction.

Reddit-er shares his heart-wrenching story of his attempt to commit suicide, his revival, and what the come-to experience was really like for him. This is a true story with a more neutral-to-negative experience rather than some of the more beautiful near-death experiences discussed by others, due to his panicked feelings.

Near-death experiences offer others a glimpse into what may happen after one passes away. One of the biggest fears many people grapple with is whether death is painful and what existence or non-existences looks like after you've died. Although there is still a lot to learn, near death experience stories contribute to the increased understanding around death and the dying process.

Which brings us to Dr. Rajiv Parti, former chief of anesthesiology at Bakersfield Heart Hospital. His is most likely the best near-death experience I have ever heard, not just for the experience itself, but for the transformation it led to.

As a neurosurgeon, I did not believe in the phenomenon of near-death experiences. I grew up in a scientific world, the son of a neurosurgeon. I followed my father's path and became an academic neurosurgeon, teaching at Harvard Medical School and other universities. I understand what happens to the brain when people are near death, and I had always believed there were good scientific explanations for the heavenly out-of-body journeys described by those who narrowly escaped death.

The brain is an astonishingly sophisticated but extremely delicate mechanism. Reduce the amount of oxygen it receives by the smallest amount and it will react. It was no big surprise that people who had undergone severe trauma would return from their experiences with strange stories. But that didn't mean they had journeyed anywhere real.

All the chief arguments against near-death experiences suggest that these experiences are the results of minimal, transient, or partial malfunctioning of the cortex. My near-death experience, however, took place not while my cortex was malfunctioning, but while it was simply off. This is clear from the severity and duration of my meningitis, and from the global cortical involvement documented by CT scans and neurological examinations. According to current medical understanding of the brain and mind, there is absolutely no way that I could have experienced even a dim and limited consciousness during my time in the coma, much less the hyper-vivid and completely coherent odyssey I underwent. 041b061a72