These NDE accounts were submitted to our website and are published here anonymously. Minor edits have been made to protect the identity of the experiencer and others who may have been involved with the experience. Note to researchers and authors: IANDS cannot grant permission to publish quotations from these NDE accounts because we have not received permission from the NDE authors to do so. However, we advise authors who wish to use quotations from these accounts to follow the Fair Use Doctrine. See our Copyright Policy for more information. We recommend adopting this practice for quotations from our web site before you have written your book or article.
One evening, I was talking with a friend on the phone who knew that I was interested in exploring different spiritual practices and religions. He said, "Hey, you should check out a Society of Friends meeting. They don't have any sermons and just meditate for an hour or so together." I was intrigued and after we hung up I looked them up on the Internet. I found out that they were what I knew as "the Quakers" and after only a few minutes of searching, came across a posting that explained a style of meditation they do called "Looking for the light within." I printed it out, took it to my bed and read what it said. It was very simple: Get into a comfortable position, close your eyes, focus your attention on the darkness and look for a light within. When you see a light, focus on it. So that's exactly what I did.
I was in the hospital with pre-term labor. The physician on duty administered turbutaline (brethine) intravenously. Within seconds, I didn't feel right, grew very hot and had barely said "Something doesn't feel right" when I blinked out of my normal version of consciousness and blinked into the void. The medication stopped my heart (I later learned). I was in a vast dark place that was quite peaceful. I wasn't sure where I was but knew that I was fully conscious and no longer in my body. I tried to wiggle my toes and fingers but discovered I had none. I knew I existed in only pure consciousness.
I had an NDE during a 12-hour surgery for removal of a benign neuroma. After leaving ICU the next morning, I awakened to the thought I had had a strange dream.
A few months later after I related this "dream" to a friend she said she did not think it was a dream; her mother related to her a similar experience. My friend then gave me the two books, "Life After Life" and "Life After Death". As I read them I was stunned to realize again and again the experiences were similar to what I had. I did not have a "dream". I now had a name for it - a near-death experience.
In the accident, the vehicle I was driving skidded and rolled several times and landed upside down. I was knocked unconscious but felt transformed out of body into another realm. No sense of colours, no lights, just the feeling of floating in a vast void.
I was ill with 5 parasitic infestations at once (bacillary dysentery, amoebic dysentery, pinworms, roundworms, and giardia). I had come into the city after being at my site for quite some time, and was to go to the doctor's office after taking a short nap while my hosts went to the store for a few things.
As I lay on the floor, my head began to buzz. It was not so much a sound as an interior trembling. My eyes were open then. I felt a bit dizzy with the buzzing. As it continued, I started feeling dizziness similar to twirling twirling twirling, then stopping - that sort of "not quite sure" what's happening feeling, though I was fully aware. Slowly, I felt my spirit/self lift away from my body.
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