Initial experience—sometimes called the 'non’ experience.
"Involves one, maybe two or three elements, such as a loving nothingness, the living dark, a friendly voice/visitation, a brief out-of-body experience, or a manifestation of some kind. Usually experienced by those who need the least amount of shake-up in their lives at that point in time. Often, this becomes a ‘seed’ experience or an introduction to other ways of perceiving and recognizing reality. Rarely is any other element present. (76 percent of children, 20 percent of adults.)
Unpleasant or hellish experience—sometimes referred to as ‘distressing.’
"Encounter with a threatening void, stark limbo, or hellish purgatory, or scenes of a startling and unexpected indifference (like being shunned), even ‘hauntings’ from one’s own past or having to face ‘unfinished business.’ Usually experienced by those who seem to have deeply suppressed or repressed guilt, fear, and anger, and/or those who expect some king of punishment or discomfort after death. Life reviews common. Some have life previews. (3 percent of children, 15 percent of adults.)
Pleasant or heavenly experience—sometimes referred to as ‘radiant.’
"Involves heaven-like scenarios of loving family reunions with those who have died previously, reassuring religious figures or light beings, validation that life counts, affirmative and inspiring dialogue, lovely landscapes. Usually experienced by those who most need to know how loved they are and how important life is, and how every effort has a purpose in the overall scheme of things. Life reviews common. Some have life previews. (19 percent of children, 47 percent of adults.)
Transcendent experience—sometimes called the ‘collective universality.’
"Encounter with otherworldly dimensions and scenes beyond the individual's frame of reference; sometimes includes revelations of greater truths. Seldom personal in content. Usually experienced by those who are ready for a ‘mind-stretching’ challenge and/or individuals who are apt to utilize (to whatever degree) the truths that are revealed to them. Life reviews rare. Collective previews common—the world’s future, evolutionary change, etc. (2 percent of children, 18 percent of adults.)
Do not affix ‘positive or ‘negative’ labels to any of these experiences or types.
"Positive and negative are judgmental terms that do not necessarily apply to near-death states or to the aftereffects that follow. Case in point: I gave a talk about the phenomenon in a large hall. It was so packed that there were not enough chairs, leaving some standing. When l I finished, I asked if there were any experiencers in the audience who would like to come up to the microphone and share what had happened to them. Two volunteered.
"A slender man, maybe in his late twenties, enthralled everyone with his tale of one of the most beautiful, heavenly experience I had ever heard. There was hardly a dry eye in the place. Then he shocked the audience by saying this was the worst thing that had ever happened to him, that it had fouled up his life and he felt cursed to have had it.
"Immediately, a woman, probably in her thirties, jumped up and described her experience, a terror-filled scenario of being at the mercy of a raging storm, with high winds, thunder, and lightning. She had to fight to save herself from being sucked into a whirlpool as she swam to shore. What she said next was equally a stunner: 'This was the best thing that ever happened to me. I proved to me that we all have a second chance in life, and we can succeed no matter what the obstacles are.' She was so glowing when she said this that she appeared to be engulfed by a special light."
P. M. H. Atwater, Near-Death Experiences: The Rest of the Story (Hampton Roads, 2011).
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