Near death experiences

[ArthurIhde]

lol i vote Yes! They definitely exist!

 

[Pryomancer]

I don't believe in spiritual stuff, ghosts, the paranormal etc, and I wouldn't lump NDE's in with that category.
I think what G.Armour is proposing in this thread is that an NDE is a spiritual thing, maybe because he's religious himself. Also that seems to be how other people are handling it.
I think the idea of a NDE being some sort of vision of God or whatever isn't the case. The definition of an NDE is some experience you have when near death. In that state the body reacts strangely, both physically and, mainly, mentally. Being near death is a traumatic event that most people will be affected by, and I think the brain could cause things to help deal with it.
In my view, that's what I determine to be a near death experience.

 

[G.Armour]

Na, I never claimed they were spiritual, just stated what my friend saw. I'm just amazed at how close the poll is.

 

[Martimus]

Na, I never claimed they were spiritual, just stated what my friend saw. I'm just amazed at how close the poll is.

Currently 5 votes yes, 6 votes no, and 6 votes maybe. Lets just hope the yes vote doesn't go to 6 or we'll have 666, the number of the beast!

 

[Isthmus]

I've been under general anesthesia a few times and I can never remember going under. I remember the beginning of the process, but not actually feeling sleepy or actually passing out. What I do remember is that for a while before actually waking, I'm in this half awake, half asleep stage in which I'm conscious (up to a point) of what is going on around me, but have no desire to wake up and interact with it. Once I finally do wake up, the only thing I remember is the terrible cotton mouth and whatever part f my body is numb or sore from having been worked on.

No NDE's here.

 

[Roze]

I'm not very religious, though people might consider me superstitious, as I do believe ghosts exist. I've never really put much thought on NDE, but I do believe in the after-life. From what I've been taught, NDE makes sense.

 

[Bramsy]

Had a stroke at age 27... was awake and coherent through the WHOLE thing... although i wasnt "near near" death, everything was kinda in slow motion.

and i remember everything before they gave me drugs... the whole process i think i missed about 10% of the process. the surgery to remove the clot, and about 2 days after.

no white lights, no heavenly harps, nada

buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut thats just my experience!

 

[Seddy]

Coming home from Atlanta after my birthday weekend, me and my roommate hydroplaned on I-20, 30 miles into Louisiana. It was raining like hell and I couldn't see NOTHING! So I said I was going to pull over and wait until the rain stopped. Before I could pull over, I hit a puddle and the car started fishtailing. Now i've never experienced a 'fishtail' before so my first instinct told me to hit the brake... before I knew it, we did a full 180 degree turn and was facing the oncoming traffic (luckily the cars were about 1/2 mile away and no one was beside us). The car stopped spinning but we slid to the left off of the road. I looked out the driverside window and saw nothing but tree's. Thats when I saw that 'bright light' everyone talks about. I just knew it was over for me. I knew at that moment, that I would never live to see 26.

Luckily the car stopped within 5 feet from the tree's. The front and rear axels on the driverside were messed up to the point where the car couldn't be driven anymore. Lets just say the wheel was sitting flat on the ground and was no longer connected to the car. I'm just glad I wasn't driving the truck and/or the car didn't flip over.

 

[baillou2]

Hate to be a stickler, but I can't vote on your question since it's far too ambiguous to warrant more than one answer.
As you ask it, YES of course NDE's are real. People have them all the time.

The real question I guess you're trying to ask is, "Are these experiences supernatural in orgin."
To that I say NO. If something happens there has to be an explicable reason for it regardless of whether or not we can explain it in practice. Otherwise it wouldn't happen. And if there is a reason then it's not supernatural, is it?

It's like UFO's; people either think they are optical illusions etc. or they think they are piloted by aliens, but no one ever thinks they are ghosts or spirits from another world as this is the least substantial argument of them all. Aliens from another planet are practically run-of-the-mill by comparison.

 

[SamsungVibrant]

So I had a friend who almost died, came extremely close to it. He claims to have seen a" bright light" and had an out of body experience. He also claims that he stayed away from the light and that's the reason he is still here. Now, my question to you guys is, do you think they exist or is it just a hallucination or what do you think it is?

Can you give more details on what exactly caused your friend to have this near death experience. Was it a trauma injury, overdose, heart attack. What were the exact details? Provide clear details, that will help solve the mystery. Include everything such as anything abnormal for your friend, meaning any new medications or even any regular meds for that fact, drugs, sleep deprivation, stress?

Your friend was probably experiencing some sort of abnormal activity from his occipital lobe. It was not a near death experience, with no doubt, 100 percent sure it was your friends brain making him see all those things in his mind.

When I was younger I use to swear on everything that was precious in my life that I would have out of body experiences. I was so certain of it. I would tell my friends and family how my spirit rose up and above my body. It felt real, and at the time I thought it was very real. I often wondered why I had these out of body experiences. Why was my soul leaving my body?

As I got older and more educated and learned exactly how the brain works, the different areas of the brain, the tracts within the brain, and the tracts that send information from the central nervous system, to periphery and back, and all the neurotransmitters, I soon realized my out of body experiences were nothing more than brain activity. My spirit wasn't floating over my body. I was just too young and too uneducated about the human brain at the time to know what was really happening.

So to repeat myself one more time, 100 percent certain your friend didn't have a near death experience in terms of seeing the heavenly lights.

 

[Frisco]

I can't vote on your question since it's far too ambiguous to warrant more than one answer.

The real question I guess you're trying to ask is, "Are these experiences supernatural in origin."

I think that's exactly what the OP is asking, using the term, "real" to designate or to at least imply "supernatural in origin" as opposed to "not real," implying hallucinations, etc.

 

[NightAngel79]

So to repeat myself one more time, 100 percent certain your friend didn't have a near death experience in terms of seeing the heavenly lights.

Well until it's YOU, you really can't be 100% certain can you. I'm a maybe... you can BELIEVE it was or you can BELIEVE its not, but NO ONE can be certain
in MY opinion that is

 

[SamsungVibrant]

Well until it's YOU, you really can't be 100% certain can you. I'm a maybe... you can BELIEVE it was or you can BELIEVE its not, but NO ONE can be certain
in MY opinion that is

No, I'm pretty certain it wasn't a near death experience in terms of his spirit going towards the light.

It was purely physiological in nature, all of it. I'm 100 percent certain.

Out of body experiences, similar to the ones I use to experience and use to believe in with all my heart and soul, are nothing more than a natural physiological phenomena of the brain. I know that know. Same is true for near death experiences.

So again, I am certain.

I just wish the OP would give more details pertaining to the moments that led up to this event. That way we can pin down why this person experienced this.

 

[NightAngel79]

Again, you CAN NOT be certain what happened to someone else. Period. And the OP I'm sure doesn't want or need to drill his friend about what he saw/experienced when he nearly DIED.

All i'm trying to say is that it seems silly to say your certain what someone else believes is false. Doesn't matter how much you know about the brain or what logic you use to explain away what you experienced as a child. Also supposed out of body experiences as a child are in a totally different ballpark than almost dying, or even dying for a short time.
Do you have any experience almost dying?


Not trying to stir anything up just don't understand your reasoning in this matter, not even saying i believe it was something more than it was. I suppose I'm just being argumentative for the sake of the discussion.

I just wish the OP would give more details pertaining to the moments that led up to this event. That way we can pin down why this person experienced this.

Because of a deep spiritual connection, the trauma of the injuries, because it happens to everyone, LSD?????? How can anyone TRULY know. The answer is NO ONE can. And besides, my man G.Armour's reason for creating this thread is to see what people believed in, not to dissect the events leading to the almost death of someone extremely close to him or to play 20 questions.

As always, just my $0.02

 

[Thefoodman52]

Cocaine is a hell of a drug.

 

[NightAngel79]

Cocaine is a hell of a drug.

Just add baking soda!!

 

[Chai Wallah]

i've always been very interested in the afterlife



here is intereting links


this is the famous spirit guide Silver Birch speaking at a seance giving information on life here and hereafter




and here are hundreds of spirit communicators speaking via direct voice medium Leslie Flint

Leslie Flint Direct Voice Recordings


wish i knew as much about programming and Android , as i do about Mediumship , , he he

 

[SamsungVibrant]

Again, you CAN NOT be certain what happened to someone else. Period. And the OP I'm sure doesn't want or need to drill his friend about what he saw/experienced when he nearly DIED.

All i'm trying to say is that it seems silly to say your certain what someone else believes is false. Doesn't matter how much you know about the brain or what logic you use to explain away what you experienced as a child. Also supposed out of body experiences as a child are in a totally different ballpark than almost dying, or even dying for a short time.
Do you have any experience almost dying?


Not trying to stir anything up just don't understand your reasoning in this matter, not even saying i believe it was something more than it was. I suppose I'm just being argumentative for the sake of the discussion.



Because of a deep spiritual connection, the trauma of the injuries, because it happens to everyone, LSD?????? How can anyone TRULY know. The answer is NO ONE can. And besides, my man G.Armour's reason for creating this thread is to see what people believed in, not to dissect the events leading to the almost death of someone extremely close to him or to play 20 questions.

As always, just my $0.02

I can be certain, just as certain as I am that Sylvia Brown is a crook, a complete fraud. I'm even MORE certain that the OP's friend experienced a totally physiological phenomenon. No doubt about it.

I don't have to be in that persons body to know that his spirt did not drift towards the heavenly lights.

Like I said before, I have had out of body experiences. I've seen what I believed at the time to be my soul, being pulled out of my body, with extreme force. I believed very strongly in out of body experiences, and was 100 percent certain I was experiencing them. However at the time, I was younger, and didn't have the education I have now.

Once you learn how complex the brain is, and how powerful it is, you realize that stuff like near death experiences are purely physiological in nature.

Think about it. Your brain is this delicate tube, that upon development twists and turns, one long tube that becomes this delicate tissue. The brain is organized with different lobes such as your occipital. Then within deeper are nuclei, further adding to the organization. You have tracts that run, like cables from one area to the other. Billions of cells we call neurons that simply use the electrochemical gradient for sodium and potassium to fire action potentials. what you see, what you feel, what you taste, what you smell, what you dream, everything and anything is controlled by the brain. It is the master higher order command center.

Beyond neuronal control, your brain participates in humoral control. The area adjacent to the 3rd ventricle is not exposed to the blood brain barrier. Essentially the hypothalamus and nuclei in this area can participate in humeral control. There is even direct communication with the SupraOptic nucleus, and suprachiasmic nucleus in this area, both of which are void of blood brain barrier. These two areas are highly open to humoral regulation, now add other areas of the brain like the occipital lobe, and you have the recipe for a near death experience.

Just image, some sort of trauma, lack of oxygen, pressure, swelling, drugs, or anything that disturbs the homeostasis of this highly regulated system, any of these could cause what appears to be a supernatural phenomena, however it is nothing more than purely physiological.

What makes this a closed case for me, is the fact that the OP said his friend almost died, meaning something happened to his friends body, something to off set homeostasis. More proof the brain would react the way it did. His friend did not go to heaven and back, that I know for sure.



I'll say it again, in my opinion, IT WAS NOT a near death experience. It was completely physiological in nature

 

[G.Armour]

I'm curious, at what point have I mentioned that my friends experience was religious? Would it matter if I said my friend was athiest? (not saying he is, but just saying)

 

[SamsungVibrant]

I'm curious, at what point have I mentioned that my friends experience was religious? Would it matter if I said my friend was athiest? (not saying he is, but just saying)

Do you mind giving us details of how your friend almost died?

 

[ImaYam]

Did someone say near? Did I hear a death? What about experience!?!

Ive had 2/3! : D

Well One time I was really sick, I saw the light as well, so I question what the phenomenon is, although I didnt see myself, just my footsteps in the "white". Lots of geometrical shapes, some of them were....impossible (thats the best way to describe it..)

Well, I 'moved' towards the light, but it was too 'comfortable' for my taste so i decided Im not ready for such comfort, and stopped.. Whew..

THe second time, I think was a more physical one, where I was about to be mauled by a bear.. But i was in full consciousness, so does that count?

 

[Vihzel]

Well, I 'moved' towards the light, but it was too 'comfortable' for my taste so i decided Im not ready for such comfort, and stopped.. Whew..

How were you able to decide that it was too "comfortable" for your taste? And what exactly do you mean by too "comfortable"? You were too happy that you didn't want to go through?

THe second time, I think was a more physical one, where I was about to be mauled by a bear.. But i was in full consciousness, so does that count?

So.. you had this phenomenon right before being mauled by a bear? How did that work out and how did you end up in the end?

 

[ImaYam]

NOnono... MY "light experiece" was because I was very sick one time..very sick.. The light, as I remember it was very soft, it was very bright, but it wasnt blinding, and as I got closer it started feeling very euphoric, but just in an ambience sort of way.. all i remember is my brain/conscious saying to me that I am not ready for such comfort and ease.. Of course, It couldve been the meds..

ALso, the bear thing didnt involve anything with blacking out or flashes.. Long story short; I was crept up on by a big ****ing black bear, and when your adrenaline gland is on overdrive and about to blow, you start thinking and seeing and thinking and hearing all sorts of things.. I think I couldve broken the land speed record when I just ran... I ran for my life! i think i was 15, or 16.

 

[mcatdtDROID]

I've never nearly died, but I had a dream one time that I was waterskiing on top of those multi-person ski-towers and I fell off. I fell in the water, and went all the way to the bottom. It 'felt' like about 20 feet. Well, I start swimming towards the top, and swimming, and swimming, and I can't get to the top. Holding my breath, still not getting to the top. Now I'm getting nervous because my breath is running out, so I swim more, and more. I can't reach the top.

Meanwhile, I'm holding my breath (in real life), and finally, I can't hold my breath anymore and I inhale (the point where drowning victims suck in all the water they have in their lungs) but something is strange... I can breath.... underwater???? It was at that point I realized I was dreaming and woke up. But when I awoke, I realized my heart was beating out of my chest, I was breathing hard, and I was sweating. I know it was a dream, but I drown in real life... but I wasn't in water.

definately a very VIVID dream. I was in 5th grade but I still remember it clearly. Funny thing is, the place I 'drown' in, now has a bridge built over the spot I fell in during my dream. This is a new bridge built beside the old bridge that existed when I dreamed it. The reason I fell in the dream was I was about to hit the bridge span of the old bridge. Either way, I drive to work everyday, and drive over the "spot" I drown. lol

 

[Martimus]

Dreams are dreams... Lucid dreams are inexplicably different... Near death experiences seem to be on another level entirely...