Romy NDE

Experience Description

I was in a car, with my family, on a trip in India, when suddenly there was a commotion. There was a sound of the car going off road, and I could see both my brothers, the one who was sitting in the back and the one in the front, jumping and trying to catch the wheel. The car was tumbling down the mountain.

The circumstances in the car were in the back of my awareness. In the front of my awareness, I heard a masculine, comforting voice say several times slowly, ‘It is all okay’. Part of the meaning of this in Hebrew is, ‘everything is in order’. Surprisingly, I was experiencing absolute peace and I felt no fear. As the car was tumbling down the mountain, turning and bumping against the hard surfaces, the voice calmly said, ‘Roll with it’, as if it was just a movement exercise. Feeling absolute peace, I let myself roll.

The voice came as if from inside of my head but at the same time ‘It’ wasn’t ‘me’. It was very comforting, stable and strong. I did not recognize the voice but I connected to it very deeply, and knew I could trust it with all my heart. As I was ‘rolling’ with every tumble, I suddenly wasn’t in the car anymore. I experienced complete trust. I was surrounded with space, as I saw my whole life unfolding. I was watching millions of the pictures of my life’s events, like a movie broken down into picture frames. All the little deeds, thoughts and moments upon moments, even the ones I forgot ever happened, they were all there. It was such a fascinating sight. The most curious thing was that the pictures were not connected to one another; they had a gap between them that looked like a string of light. It looked like they were threaded upon this string of light.

My main feelings were equanimity, awe and curiosity. There was a strong quality of inquiry and inquisitiveness as I was examining everything. Every time a question came to me, the answer was immediately revealed. This unfolding of pictures and gaps developed and progressed continuously, presenting a constant delicate consequential line, in perfect order, a chain of events, yet somehow they were all happening at once. The past the present and the future were all happening at once. It was inspiring to witness the order and sense that all these little pictures seemed to have in ‘the big picture’.

I felt a lot of compassion. I was all forgiven. In fact, there was nothing to forgive. I could see that my life had ‘perfect order’ to it. In some way it was like watching a mathematical equation, or sum, that makes perfect sense. Such event and such event create this kind of result. It was a simple portrayal of natural cause and effect, with a gentle understanding. There was no judgment, only innocence. As I was watching this linear unfolding of pictures, I realized that just by looking and focusing on a specific picture, ‘zooming in’ on it, I could also ‘enter’ that scene and then come back out of it, ‘zoom out’ and return to my place of observation.

I looked back at my childhood. I could enter pictures there. From each picture, moment or thought, there was always the possibility to access that light that separated between it and the next picture. I could also see all the thoughts I had all my life. Their ‘pictures’ were as strong as the pictures that depicted action or words. I was amazed to see that our thoughts are that strong, so real. It looked as though they were also threaded on a string of light. I realized that everything that happened to me and every single thought I had, created an imprint. Every single event or thought influenced my life and the lives of those around me. Every feeling, every intention, every time I was aware of the light and gap between the pictures, everything counted. As I looked, I felt very peaceful. I could see how the last moment of my life was a result of everything that had ever happened to me, before. I could see my life was a perfect manifestation of just what it was, who I was. There was complete acceptance, even of those moments that I remembered as less pleasant.

My life, all our lives were threaded with this light that filled the gap between each picture. In the moments that we are open to it, we connect with it. It is that simple. It is there always. The last moment or picture of my life was I, rolling down the mountain in a car, with my mother, my brothers and the driver. I was suddenly inside that picture again. I could see how we are all connected. I was connected to everybody in a multi-faceted light web, a DNA-like hologram that was in perfect order. Everything connected to everything with delicate threads of light, which were the gaps between each moment. It showed my connection to other people, other souls, other incidents, moments past future and present. There was complete order and complete acceptance of everything. Then, there were no more pictures, but a strong sense of motion forwards.

I now was continuing onwards, I felt that I was leaping forward. There was nothing around me. There was only space. I tried to understand where I was. I felt very clear in my mind. I also felt happy and light. I was in another realm. Somehow, I was still alive but I didn’t have my body. I know for a fact that I am, that I exist. I sensed that I had left my body. I reflected upon the last picture I saw in my thread of life, of myself inside the car that was rolling down a mountain, and concluded it must have been the last moment of my life in a fatal car accident.

I now realized and understood that there was life after death; I have died and left my body, yet I still exist. I tried to understand where I was. I was in a transition. All I could notice different from before, besides not having a body, was that the air, or the space, was of a slightly different consistency and shade. I reflected on how this whole transition between life and death, is very smooth and calm. It became clear to me that death is the continuation of life, and not the opposite of it. It was on going. I felt vibrant like a child, very curious to see what was next, looking at everything with new eyes.

Next, I felt myself emerging out of a vacuum-like blackness. I had immense speed. I had no body but my spirit had eyes. Around me was a scenery like earth, I thought. There were trees and rocks; we were on a mountainside. I say ‘we’ because after travelling for a while swiftly through this scenery, I could see myself, my body, sitting on the mountain’s edge. I was leaning forward towards the abyss. I joined my body to see what was going on, and found myself looking at this immense light. It was amazing. I recognized the light from meditation experiences I had: moments of insight, spiritual experiences, and strong experiences of unconditional love. Actually, I realized this light was threaded inside every moment of my life and I have always, always known it and had access to it. I felt deep intimacy and powerful love, a great surrender, relief and joy.

From what I have seen, our lives were threaded with this light, which fills the gap between each moment. At each moment, every situation, and every thought: the light is always available to us. If we’re aware that it’s there, we can remind ourselves to call on it: To connect to it. I was now sitting near this light, near the source of it. I had never felt it so strongly. It was everything. Everything I have ever needed everything I need or everything I might ever need in the future. Everything was in this light. It was warm. It had an immense healing and nourishing quality to it. It was pure, immense, powerful unconditional Love. I knew I could trust this light. I was kneeling in front of this light. All I could feel was a great yearning to be part of it. I was aware of being presented with a choice. With gratitude, I decide that I must emerge with this light. I know that I do not want to choose anything different. I smiled a big smile and jumped. For one eternal moment, I was one with it.

The next moment I saw my body lying down on the ground and felt like I was ‘entering’ it. I came back to life. I understood that somehow I’m back in life. I felt quite surprised since I didn't think I made that choice. The first thing I realized was that I cannot breathe. The voice that was with me at the beginning of my experience, came again, and said, ‘contract your diaphragm.’ I did forcefully and that's how I started to breathe. Then I began to feel my senses, there was a terrible taste in my mouth like dirt, and a horrible smell in the air, that was filled with gasoline and smoke.

For the next hour, many interesting things happened. I think that because of the NDE, a different window of perception has suddenly opened in my awareness. It was as if that window took some time to close. For a while, even though I was back ‘here’ in my body, I could get glimpses from that ‘other’ realm. I can in all honesty say that my NDE was the most powerful, insightful and joyous experience I had ever had.

Background Information:

Gender: Female

Date NDE Occurred: 02/01/1996

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Accident. Other: Unsure- woke up by myself after some time, 50 meters from the car, unable to breath. A car accident.

How do you consider the content of your experience? Entirely pleasant

The experience included: Out of body experience

Did you feel separated from your body? No I clearly left my body and existed outside it

How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal everyday consciousness and alertness? More consciousness and alertness than normal When I looked at the pictures of my life and saw how they connected to everyone else, was a time of most insights. After I came back, for the first hour I could see things that I never saw before in this world. I felt more clear, alert and awake than any other time in my life.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? When I jumped into the light I felt the happiest and I expanded.

Were your thoughts speeded up? Faster than usual

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Everything seemed to be happening at once; or time stopped or lost all meaning It seemed all the events of my life were happening at once. Yet, when I was watching them, it felt like I was ‘outside time’. The concept of time was very different from what I had experienced in my life.

Were your senses more vivid than usual? More vivid than usual

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. My vision expanded, as if I zoomed out and could see a lot more things, all happening at once. I could control the zooming in and out and it seemed wherever I would look, wherever my awareness took me: that's where I would go. After I woke up, for the first hour I could see ‘things’ in the air, my mind couldn't understand what they were.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. I heard a voice that I never heard before; it seemed to come from inside my head but it wasn't ‘me’. As I came back to life, the same voice came back and gave me very specific instructions on how to breathe, how to take myself to a safe place. Then I heard a very loud low male voices singing in a choir-like fashion. They were singing a Hebrew prayer that welcomes the ‘angels of peace’. I was so surprised I looked behind to see where these voices were coming from.

Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere? No

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? Uncertain At one stage, everything went black, and the next moment I felt I was being pulled out of a vacuum. I wouldn't think of describing it as a tunnel but it could have been one.

Did you see any beings in your experience? No

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? No Perhaps I should mention that I didn't actually know anyone close to me who had died during my life.

The experience included: Unearthly light

Did you see, or feel surrounded by, a brilliant light? A light clearly of mystical or other-worldly origin

Did you see an unearthly light? Yes It’s very hard to describe in words. The most beautiful, warm nourishing light was there, it was more than visual, it had qualities to it; it was extremely alive and powerful. It ‘held’ immense love within it.

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? A clearly mystical or unearthly realm I was somewhere in ‘space’ (there was nothing around), where I saw all the experiences I had in my life. Then I was in a different realm, also ‘space’ but slightly different. The air had a slightly different color.

What emotions did you feel during the experience? Peace, calm, curiosity, amazement, happiness.

Did you have a feeling of peace or pleasantness? Incredible peace or pleasantness

Did you have a feeling of joy? incredible joy

Did you feel a sense of harmony or unity with the universe? I felt united or one with the world

The experience included: Special knowledge or purpose

Did you suddenly seem to understand everything? Everything about the universe I understood a lot about my life and how things are in our existence; how our experiences actually connects to the world, how this world is ‘built’, how we can connect to eternity at every moment of our lives.

The experience included: Life review

Did scenes from your past come back to you? My past flashed before me, out of my control

Did scenes from the future come to you? No

The experience included: Boundary

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure? Uncertain I reached the edge of the mountain, the abyss, but I can't describe it as limiting.

Did you come to a border or point of no return? I came to a barrier that I was not permitted to cross; or was sent back against my will From what I felt, I was happily continuing forward in my journey. The decision to jump to the light was very impulsive and quick. I remember thinking that someone else would probably give it more thought. I also felt very sure that this is what I want. I felt this light was actually what I was looking for all my life. That everything I did always was for that light. I was making a conscious choice to jump towards it. I was surprised to come back to life. Of course, today I am very grateful for coming back and all the experiences I’ve had, since then, in my life, especially meeting my husband and children, and the joy of our everyday life together.

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What importance did you place on your religious/spiritual life prior to your experience? Greatly important to me

What was your religion prior to your experience? Buddhist Jewish by birth but at the time of accident not connected to that at all.

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? Yes Because I heard that Jewish traditional prayer after I woke up, ‘welcoming the angels of peace’, and that it was very loud and strong, I opened to the Jewish religion.

What importance do you place on your religious/spiritual life after your experience? Greatly important to me

What is your religion now? Other or several faiths See the wisdom and light in all religious and spiritual traditions.

Did your experience include features consistent with your earthly beliefs? Content that was both consistent and not consistent with the beliefs you had at the time of your experience I wasn't th

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes I understood that we are able to connect to a heavenly realm at any moment. That the source of this universe is love and it is with us all the time. It became a priority to me to connect with that, at each moment.

The experience included: Presence of unearthly beings

Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice? I heard a voice I could not identify I heard a voice at the beginning of my experience, just as the car started rolling down. When I was watching the unfolding of my life, there was a very gentle presence beside me, almost un-seeable.

Did you see deceased or religious spirits? No

Did you encounter or become aware of any beings who previously lived on earth who are described by name in religions (for example: Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, etc.)? No

During your experience, did you gain information about premortal existence? Uncertain When I looked at my string of pictures, or the events that happened in my life, I could see the thread goes back but couldn't see where it is starting.

During your experience, did you gain information about universal connection or oneness? Yes I could see that I am connected to everything in a perfectly ordered web of light.

Did you believe in the existence of God prior to your experience? I was uncertain if God exists

During your experience, did you gain information about the existence of God? Yes The light that I encountered felt supreme- I can call it unending, unconditional, immense love, a force that feels eternal, powerful and creative at the same time, which satisfies my definition of "God".

Do you believe in the existence of God after your experience? God definitely exists

Concerning our Earthly lives other than Religion:

During your experience, did you gain special knowledge or information about your purpose? Yes We continue after death and we are connected to the whole of existence.

Did you believe that our earthly lives are meaningful and significant prior to your experience? Are possibly meaningful and significant

During your experience, did you gain information about the meaning of life? Uncertain I didn't encounter a specific meaning or purpose for my life, but the vision of the gaps of light between the moments gave me a big insight on how to live my life afterwards.

Did you believe in an afterlife prior to your experience? An afterlife probably does not exist

Do you believe in an afterlife after your experience? An afterlife definitely exists Yes I saw the last moment of my life, in the car, first from a distance. Than I was able to "enter" or experience it again, and actually felt my body "jumping", leaping into the next moment, where I still felt myself very clearly, but I had no body anymore.

Did you fear death prior to your experience? I greatly feared death

Do you fear death after your experience? I do not fear death

Were you fearful living your life prior to your experience? Greatly fearful in living my earthly life

Were you fearful living your life after your experience? Not fearful in living my earthly life

Did you believe that our earthly lives are meaningful and significant prior to your experience? Are possibly meaningful and significant

Did you believe that our earthly lives are meaningful and significant after your experience? Are probably meaningful and significant

Did you gain information about how to live our lives? Yes I saw that the single most important tool we have is our ability and awareness to connect to the light which is between each moment, and is the same as the big light source I saw at the end.

During your experience, did you gain information about life's difficulties, challenges and hardships? Yes I could see that the difficult or dramatic moments of my life had the "same potency" or "volume" of all the other events or thoughts that I had. In other words their pictures were no larger or more outstanding than other pictures.

Were you compassionate prior to your experience? Moderately compassionate toward others

During your experience, did you gain information about love? Yes I experienced the strongest love when I jumped into the light.

Were you compassionate after your experience? Greatly compassionate toward others

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience? Large changes in my life Large changes in my life. I started seeing the opportunity that lies in every moment. I realized my purpose is to connect to this light I saw and share it with others. I felt a great urge to ‘put my hands on people’ and transmit some of the light, especially in the first year after the experience. Whenever I want, I can close my eyes and connect to this experience, which immediately brings me to a place of trust and love. I think that for the past 18 years, even though I am living a worldly life, part of me is always with this light.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Yes Yes My brother passed away as a result of this accident. I felt a lot closer to my family afterwards, feeling the need to be close and to support.

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes There aren't enough words to describe it, but the difficulty is more because it is so unusual, especially at the time it occurred and the place where I lived. I didn't know anyone else who had this kind of experience until I met Anita Moorjani, and then became aware of this website as well.

How accurately do you remember the experience in comparison to other life events that occurred around the time of the experience? I remember the experience more accurately than other life events that occurred around the time of the experience It is the clearest experience I have had.

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Yes My senses were more open right after the experience. I was able to ‘know’ things. I felt that this one second that I was ‘inside’ the light was a bit like being exposed to a high voltage source of energy. I think that for the first year after, I still felt shaken by the intensity of this experience, could not speak a lot, and was relieved when I could put my hands on someone and do Reiki.

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? Being in the light, and seeing that this light surrounds every moment in our lives. Seeing that my life is not a running movie, but separate pictures with gaps.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes I think in the first few days. The reactions ranged from shock and inability to process, to being inspired. I always felt that just telling the NDE brought with it an energy of the frequency of the experience.

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience? Uncertain I have never heard an NDE account, but I heard something about the light and a tunnel. I don't think it affected my experience, since I could never imagine what I've experienced, or the amazing feeling of joy, love and light that came with it.

What did you believe about the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened? Experience was definitely real It was very, very strong. In fact I felt much more ‘there’ than here for a while.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real 18 years after, it is still the most powerful and insightful experience that ever happened to me.

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? Yes Talking about the experience, writing about it or just thinking about it immediately connects me to there.

Is there anything else that you would like to add about your experience? I feel it was great gift.