I found myself in a city and was told this was the City of God. I was at a water fountain along with a man dressed in a long white linen robe that was tied around his waist with a cord. He told me that I could ask any question. My first question was, 'What is the right religion?' He said, 'They all are. Each religion is a pathway trying to reach the same place.' I was shown a mountain, with each religious group trying to reach the top. A distance separated the religious groups, but all were trying to get to the same place.
“Another important spiritual concept in near-death experiences is an absence of judgment. We previously discussed that judgment by other beings almost never happens during life reviews. The lack of judgment is a strong and consistent theme throughout NDEs. Typical comments about this from NDErs are:
It's not God as classically defined in religious texts. It's more a supreme energy that set everything in motion. There are no judgments cast. It's a force of pure love and acceptance.
God was with me. I felt Him clearly and so deeply - He was holding me in His arms. His love was in every fiber of my being and every cell of my body. God was in front of me, behind me, beside me, and all around me. All I felt was His total acceptance of me with absolutely no judgment. He is all love; entirely love, and He showered that love on me and through me. I felt complete and whole for the first time in my entire existence. My life review seemed to happen on its own. The life review was over in the blink of an eye. I learned that we judge ourselves; God does not judge us.
“Near-death experiencers consistently describe a connection and unity with God. This may be surprising to many, as this notion of God is usually not emphasized in traditional Western religions. The dictionary definition of love indicates that attachment is a defining characteristic of love. It makes sense that God’s exceptional love would manifest as an exceptional attachment. God’s overwhelming love for all of us likely contributes to the unity and oneness with God so commonly expressed in NDEs:
I felt what we know as 'God' was a very alive and dynamic living force that flowed through our hearts and connected the greater universe and all of us.
We are God. Our spirits are one. We are all parts of the whole.
I now know that unconditional love and acceptance are mine. I was enlightened as to the universe and the oneness of us all. I was not aware of this possibility until my experience. Now I know the universe is one, and we all make up the supreme being.
I was surrounded by God. The light is love. The light is God. We are all connected. We are all one.
“The most recent version of the NDERF survey explored the idea of unity and oneness in near-death experiences in general. A survey question asked, “During your experience, did you encounter any specific information/awareness that a mystical universal connection or unity/oneness either does (or does not) exist?”
“As with the NDERF survey question regarding God, the “or does not” part of the question was added to see if any significant percentage of NDErs encountered information that a mystical universal connection/unity/oneness does not exist. A narrative response to this question followed. As with the NDERF survey question about God, virtually all NDErs responding affirmatively indicated that they encountered information that a mystical universal connection/unity/oneness really does exist. Here are examples of the unity encountered in NDEs:
I felt at one with all existence, and it was indescribably beautiful.
I felt entirely at one with the universe, like a great light free from all suffering had absorbed me. This light was peace, understanding, acceptance, and complete tranquility. I describe coming back to life as being 'ripped back from the oneness.
It was evident that EVERYTHING, not just EVERYONE, is related somehow and that everything is necessarily part of the whole.
There is only one God, and we are all part of that great soul. In all of God's realms, or in the small corner called the physical universe, there is nothing but God.
I felt a connection, a unity or oneness that we are all connected through God.
“The unity of everyone and everything is consistently described in near-death experiences. Hundreds of examples of this unity are available on the NDERF website as supplementary material. The unity described in NDEs transcends the physical material world and seems to encompass and transcend our earthly consciousness. The remarkably high percentage of NDErs encountering this sense of unity is, in my opinion, among the most important spiritual insights from NDEs.
“The consistency of multiple spiritual concepts in near-death experiences converges on the understanding that afterlife is a reality and idyllic in every sense of the word. Evidence from NDEs shows that we are all part of something much greater than ourselves. The vital message from NDEs is that love, unity, and God are central aspects of the afterlife. An unimaginably glorious afterlife is the destiny for all of humanity.”
Jeffrey Long, MD, "Evidence
for Survival of Consciousness in
Near-Death Experiences: Decades of Science and New Insights." In the
next several posts I will share excerpts from Long's 2021 article.
Footnotes
have been deleted. The complete text is available as a pdf at
https://www.nderf.org
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