What can we Learn about Living from Near Death Experiences?

Near Death Experiences also known as NDEs might give an interesting glimpse into what could happen to us when we leave this earthly life. Due to the internet it has become very easy to connect to people that have had an NDE and share their stories.

NDE Journeys, The Other Side NDE and Coming Home are three YouTube channels that each show a great collection of people sharing their personal NDE stories. We will share two stories of those here.

Harvard Neurosurgeon Died and Discovered Consciousness Isn’t the Brain

She Overdosed and Saw Her Life Chosen Before Birth

And while each NDE is unique there are some people that have been collecting thousands of NDEs from people and do research on them to see if there are common themes that show up.

Dr. Jeffrey Long is a radiation oncologist and is maintaining the NDE Research Foundation where he has collected as the day of writing 5956 different Near Death Experiences. You can find all of them on the website: www.nderf.org And you can share and add your own NDE there also.

Cycle of Birth and Death by Syamarani Dasi

Jeffrey Long found that a number of similar stages seem to come up for people experiencing their NDE.

The first stage is where people realize they are outside of their physical body and come to some realization that their body is not functioning anymore and that they are not their physical body. They often find themselves stuck at the ceiling or standing next to their own body and then they can travel around out of body and go places either spontaneously or more intentionally.

The second stage is where they start seeing a tunnel of some sort, a bright light shows up, sometimes they see a guide appear which helps people go to another place, a different realm. The guide can be a family member, a friend, a religious figure, etc. Often this other realm feels very warm, loving, light, serene, harmonious etc.

Image attributed to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness ISKCON

In the third stage people in this other realm are often shown what is referred to as a life review. They experience what impact their life has had so far on other people but from the viewpoint of the other people. This can be either pleasant when that impact was generally positive and harmonious or it can be rather difficult if that impact has mostly been negative and adding suffering to the lives of others. There is never a judgement or condemnation though, it is purely to gain an understanding of what the consequences are of our behaviors.

At the fourth stage people are offered a choice to stay there or go back, or they are simply told they need to go back. People seem accepting of this but often notice how strange and uncomfortable it is to be pushed back into the human body. Often they make references of having to put something very fast and specious in a very small uncomfortable place. They often feel a longing after getting back to the planet to this other realm but manage to adapt to earth again.

Dr. Jeffrey Long has done some great interviews about his research and findings into NDE’s that go deeper into these general patterns that appear around this phenomenon.

The Deepest Dive into Near Death Experiences on the Net | Dr. Jeffrey Long #36

Seeing how many people have reported on their personal NDEs and recognizing patterns between these accounts gives us something to think about what might awaits us all after this current physical lifetime incarnation.

Also what to think of these 25 NDE cases that report seeing Extraterrestrials on the other side?

Additional information:
-) YouTube channels NDE Journeys, The Other Side NDE and Coming Home
-) Near Death Experience Research Foundation (NDERF) – 5000+ NDE accounts
-) The International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS)
-) Dr. Jim Tucker on Evidence of Reincarnation in Childhood
-) Dr. Bruce Greyson Why NDEs Matter: The Science of Consciousness Beyond Death
-) Dr. Ian Stevenson on The Evidence for Life after Death