What is involved in near-death experiences?

Cardiologist Pim van Lommel writes: “A near-death experience (NDE) can be defined as the reported memory of a range of impressions during a special state of consciousness, including a number of special elements, such as an out-of-body experience (OBE), pleasant feelings, seeing a tunnel and/or light, seeing deceased relatives, a life review, or a conscious return into the body.” [AS, 19]

Radiation oncologist Jeffrey Long studied a wider range of NDE survivors than van Lommel under the auspices of the Near-Death Experience Research Foundation. Long writes: “The NDERF study took a straightforward approach by defining both the near-death and experience components of near-death experience. I considered individuals to be ‘near death’ if they were so physically compromised that they would die if their condition did not improve. The NDErs studied were unconscious and often apparently clinically dead, with absence of heartbeat and breathing. The ‘experience’ had to occur at the time they were near death. Also, the experience had to be lucid, to exclude descriptions of only fragmentary and disorganized memories.” {EA, 5}

Long proposes “that NDEs may include some or all of the following twelve elements:

1.  Out-of-body experience (OBE): Separation of consciousness from the physical body

2.  Heightened senses

3.  Intense and generally positive emotions or feelings

4.  Passing into or through a tunnel

5.  Encountering a mystical or brilliant light

6.  Encountering other beings, either mystical beings or deceased relatives or friends

7.  A sense of alteration of time or space

8.  Life review

9.  Encountering unworldly (‘heavenly’) realms

1   Encountering or learning special knowledge

11 Encountering a boundary or barrier

1   A return to the body, either voluntary or involuntary” {EA, 6-7}

Long explains: “That so many people are willing to share their NDEs with others speaks volumes about the power of these experiences in a person’s life. Respondents describe their experiences in a variety of ways, calling them ‘unspeakable,’ ‘ineffable,’ unforgettable,’ ‘beautiful beyond words,’ and so on. More than 95 percent of the respondents feel their NDE was ‘definitely real,’ while virtually all of the remaining respondents feel it was ‘probably real.’ Not one respondent has said it was ‘definitely not real.’ Some say it was not only the most real thing to ever happen to them but also the best event of their lives.” {EA, 2}

Long argues that the results of his research justify reaffirming the old assumption that there is life after death. He presents the results of scientifically studying more than 1,300 cases shared with NDERF in his book, Evidence of the Afterlife.

AS - “Near-Death Experiences: The Experience of the Self as Real and Not as an Illusion,” Annals N.Y. Acad. Sci. ISSN 0077-8923, 1234 (2011) 19–28, http://pimvanlommel.nl/files/NDE-NYAS-Experience-Self-article.pdf

 

Jeffrey Long and Paul Perry,  Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of Near-Death Experiences (2010).