Introduction
Near-death experiences (NDEs) are reported by about 17% of those who nearly die.1 NDEs have been reported by children, adults, scientists, physicians, priests, ministers, among the religious and atheists, and from countries throughout the world.
While no two NDEs are the same, there are characteristic features that are commonly observed in NDEs. These characteristics include a perception of seeing and hearing apart from the physical body, passing into or through a tunnel, encountering a mystical light, intense and generally positive emotions, a review of part or all of their prior life experiences, encountering deceased loved ones, and a choice to return to their earthly life.2
Methods
There is no uniformly accepted definition of near-death experience. Definitions of NDE with some variability have been used throughout the 35 plus years that NDE has been the subject of scholarly investigation. For my retrospective investigations, an NDE was required to have both a near-death and experience component.
Individuals were considered to be “near-death” if they were so physically compromised that if their condition did not improve they would be expected to irreversibly die. Near-death experiencers (NDErs) included in my investigations were generally unconscious and may have required cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The “experience” component of an NDE had to occur when they were near death. Also, the experience had to be reasonably lucid, which excluded fragmentary or brief disorganized memories. For an experience to be classified as an NDE, there had to be a score of seven or above on the NDE Scale.3 The NDE Scale asks 16 questions about the NDE content and is the most validated scale to help distinguish NDEs from other types of experiences.
In 1998, a website called the Near Death Experience Research Foundation (NDERF, nderf.org) was established to conduct NDE research and to be a public service. It is NDERF policy that all NDE accounts shared with NDERF are posted on the website if the NDErs give permission to do so. Nearly all NDErs allow their experiences to be posted on the NDERF website. Portions of the NDERF website, including the NDE questionnaire, have been posted in over 20 different languages. The NDERF website has consistently been at or near the top of websites listed from a Google search for the term “near-death experiences.” This prominence of the NDERF website provided a unique opportunity to conduct a large-scale study of NDEs, including NDEs from around the world. At the current time there are over 3,700 NDEs posted on the NDERF website, which is by far the largest collection of publicly accessible NDE accounts in the world.
The NDERF website has a form allowing near-death experiencers to share a detailed narrative of their experiences, and includes a detailed questionnaire. Extensive prior studies found that an Internet survey has validity that is equivalent to traditional pencil-and-paper survey.4 All experiences shared with the NDERF website are reviewed. Sequentially shared NDEs from the NDERF website were studied. NDEs included for study were single NDE accounts, shared in English, and were shared by the individual who personally had the NDE. An investigation of the NDEs shared with NDERF led to nine lines of evidence suggesting the reality of NDE.
Results Suggesting the Reality of Near-Death Experiences
Line of Evidence #1
Lucid, organized experiences while unconscious, comatose, or clinically dead
Near-death experiences occur at a time when the person is so physically compromised that they are typically unconscious, comatose, or clinically dead. Considering NDEs from both a medical perspective and logically, it should not be possible for unconscious people to often report highly lucid experiences that are clear and logically structured. Most NDErs report supernormal consciousness at the time of their NDEs.
The NDERF survey asked, “How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal, everyday consciousness and alertness?” Of 1,122 NDErs surveyed, 835 (74.4%) indicated they had “More consciousness and alertness than normal”; 229 (20.4%) experienced “Normal consciousness and alertness”; and only 58 (5.2%) had “Less consciousness and alertness than normal.”
The NDERF survey also asks, “If your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience was different from your normal everyday consciousness and alertness, please explain.” In response to this question, NDErs commonly reported that consciousness during their experiences was “clear”, “more aware”, and often associated with heightened awareness.
Near-death experiences often occur in association with cardiac arrest.5 Prior studies found that 10–20 seconds following cardiac arrest, electroencephalogram measurements generally find no significant measureable brain cortical electrical activity.6 A prolonged, detailed, lucid experience following cardiac arrest should not be possible, yet this is reported in many NDEs. This is especially notable given the prolonged period of amnesia that typically precedes and follows recovery from cardiac arrest.7
Line of Evidence #2
Seeing ongoing events from a location apart from the physical body while unconscious (out-of-body experience)
A common characteristic of near-death experiences is an out-of-body experience. An out-of-body experience (OBE) is the apparent separation of consciousness from the body. About 45% of near-death experiencers report OBEs which involves them seeing and often hearing ongoing earthly events from a perspective that is apart, and usually above, their physical bodies. Following cardiac arrest, NDErs may see, and later accurately describe, their own resuscitation.
The first prospective study of the accuracy of out-of-body observations during near-death experiences was by Dr. Michael Sabom.8 This study investigated a group of patients who had cardiac arrests with NDEs that included OBEs, and compared them with a control group of patients who experienced cardiac crises but did not have NDEs. Both groups of patients were asked to describe their own resuscitation as best they could. Sabom found that the group of NDE patients were much more accurate than the control group in describing their own resuscitations.
“A man should look for what is, and not what he thinks should be.”
-Albert Einstein
Read More – Near-Death Experiences Evidence for Their Reality
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