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My NDE was actually two experiences. The second followed the first by perhaps 3 months. 1. The first was caused by falling several meters headfirst down a cliff and landing on sandstone rock. A small tree I was levering myself up on came away in my hands. I found myself traveling rapidly upwards into the sky. I had an immensely joyous feeling of lightness. I remember looking back at my crumpled body on the rock below and observing that ‘I’ was not my body. I could see everything below me very clearly. Below was the Hawkesbury River, with the beautiful bush surrounding it. I was heading towards some very beautiful cumulus shaped clouds. I had no fear, only joy. I looked back again and saw my boyfriend, who I was very much in love with, standing beside my body. In real time, this would have been several minutes after I fell, as he was quite a ways behind me and it would have taken some time to get down the steep cliff. I was a long way away by now and still traveling upwards, but I could feel exactly what he was feeling. He was very distressed. My heart filled with compassion for him, which I guess was what brought me back. 2. I am joining these two experiences together as I have always believed they are related. My (same) boyfriend and I were visiting a friend’s New Year's Eve party. The party was in the main room of a small house, and was packed with people. It was before midnight. I remember feeling vaguely discontent, as if I wasn't where I really wanted to be. I was standing about one meter from the only door into the room, looking across the room at my boyfriend. Suddenly I was no longer in this room, but facing an enormously tall angel. Surrounding both of us was radiant light. I knew this angel, and he knew me. I felt no fear, only joy and immense happiness. We communicated non-verbally. The angel was 'reminding' me of the power of LOVE that was actually THE power of the universe. It seemed that I already knew this, but 'he' was just reminding me. We communicated for what I would have estimated to be about 20 minutes, then with no warning I was abruptly back on earth, in the same place I had been standing when the experience first happened. The astonishing thing was that it was obviously hours later as there was no one in the room other than a sleeping body crashed on the couch. My boyfriend was not there, and when I eventually found him by calling out through the darkened house, he had been asleep upstairs as he had searched everywhere and not been able to find me. I had been physically removed during this experience. The effect of these experiences on my life was profound. Overnight, I had become intensely empathetic. I could feel any pain or suffering and sense of isolation of people passing me in the street. I had an overwhelming sense of needing to DO something: my search for what this something is, has dominated the rest of my entire life. The sense of the reality of these experiences has far eclipsed anything else in my life. By this, I mean everything in comparison has been far less real. I could not use the words 'God' or 'Love' for many years as the reality of these words are so much greater than our 'normal' usage.
Background Information:
Gender: Female
Date NDE Occurred: 1967 NDE Elements:
At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Clinical death (cessation of breathing or heart function or brain function). This is correct for the first of my 2 NDEs, (experienced approximately 3 months apart), but not for the second.
How do you consider the content of your experience? Entirely pleasant
Did you feel separated from your body? Yes Experience 1: I was definitely out of my body. When I was a significant distance away from my body, which also would have been several minutes after I had left it, I could intensely FEEL the emotions of my boyfriend who had found me on the rock below the cliff. Experience 2: The remarkable fact of this experience is that I experienced myself as being in my body during the encounter with the angel, but I was obviously not physically present in the room where I had previously been standing. So my body had been transported to this other dimension as well as my soul. 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 Just intensely alert.
At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? At all times during both experiences.
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 Time in these 'other' dimensions has no relevance at all.
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. In the first experience my vision was heightened due to the beauty I was seeing and the strange perspective of looking back on my body which was getting smaller and smaller the further upwards I traveled. In the second experience, my vision was incomparably heightened by the brightness of the angel and the light that surrounded both of us. My vision just prior was shadowed by my mood of discomfort.
Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. In the first experience there was nothing to be heard, only felt. In the second experience, the communication I had with the angel was completely nonverbal. It was totally comprehensible to me but it was telepathic. I have meditated on this communication for the rest of my life.
Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere? Yes, and the facts have been checked out
The experience included: Presence of unearthly beings
Did you pass into or through a tunnel? No
Did you see any beings in your experience? I actually saw them
Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? No
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 was beyond what we call light: Intense white radiant warm glowing light. This mainly in Experience 2, but the light was also very bright in the first experience.
Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? A clearly mystical or unearthly realm In the first experience the world was still visible as if in the body. In the second experience, there was nothing but Light, (and the Angel of course).
The experience included: Special knowledge or purpose
What emotions did you feel during the experience? Bliss. Peace. Joy. Freedom. Happiness. (For both experiences)
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
Did you suddenly seem to understand everything? Everything about the universe I saw and experienced that Love is truly the power of the Universe: that everything is made of Love. Our earthly understanding of this word is immensely far from the experience.
Did scenes from your past come back to you? No
The experience included: Content that was entirely not consistent with the beliefs you had at the time of your experience
Did scenes from the future come to you? No
The experience included: Strong emotional tone
Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure? No
Did you come to a border or point of no return? No God, Spiritual and Religion:
What importance did you place on your religious/spiritual life prior to your experience? Not important to me
What was your religion prior to your experience? Unaffiliated- Agnostic I had been sent to a Presbyterian Sunday School by my parents, neither of whom were religious.
Have your religious practices changed since your experience? Yes From agnostic to profoundly spiritual and grateful
What importance do you place on your religious/spiritual life after your experience? Greatly important to me
What is your religion now? No comment Religion is a word I have great difficulty with as I understand it to mean division, separation, one belief at the expense or exclusion of other belief systems. I have a profound and ongoing spiritual connection as a result of my 2 NDEs
Did your experience include features consistent with your earthly beliefs? Content that was entirely not consistent with the beliefs you had at the time of your experience I was a cynical agnostic. I had been disillusioned by what I had experienced in the churches I had been to.
Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes A complete change from being a disillusioned agnostic, to someone who sees the evidence of "God", of Love, everywhere and in everyone. I remain disillusioned about the motives and practices of religion. ALL religions!
The experience included: Unearthly light
Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice? I encountered a definite being, or a voice clearly of mystical or unearthly origin The being was an angel as described above: Very tall, benign, full of joy and love.
Did you see deceased or religious spirits? I actually saw them
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.)? Uncertain As regards question 19: I recoil at the angel I met being described as either deceased or "religious". I don't know the Spiritual identity of 'my' angel. He sure had a lot of spiritual authority, but there was no sense that I was inferior to him. We w
During your experience, did you gain information about premortal existence? No
During your experience, did you gain information about universal connection or oneness? Yes Again this was blindingly obvious.
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 It was blindingly obvious!
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 See above.
Did you believe that our earthly lives are meaningful and significant prior to your experience? Unknown
During your experience, did you gain information about the meaning of life? Yes This came after the experience…. I wanted to tell everyone that Life was full of meaning
Did you believe in an afterlife prior to your experience? I was uncertain if an afterlife exists
Do you believe in an afterlife after your experience? An afterlife definitely exists Yes In my first experience that awareness was the first thing I became ware of. In my second experience that wasn't really an issue, but as a result of this experience, my earthly logic can deduce that one's soul continues on.
Did you fear death prior to your experience? I slightly feared death
Do you fear death after your experience? I do not fear death
Were you fearful living your life prior to your experience? Slightly 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 after your experience? Are meaningful and significant
Did you gain information about how to live our lives? Yes That we are the LOVE of the Universe, that it comes through us. That we are powerful when we are connected with this love.
During your experience, did you gain information about life's difficulties, challenges and hardships? Uncertain This came after!
Were you compassionate prior to your experience? Moderately compassionate toward others
During your experience, did you gain information about love? Yes YES YES YES! LOVE IS GOD, Is the POWER of the UNIVERSE
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, dramatic changes. I am not the person I was.
Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Yes Yes Initially I felt isolated as I could not share this great joy I had experienced adequately with my friends. I also had become hyper-empathetic and could "read" into people’s hearts, with which I was struggling to cope. It has taken me a long time to learn how to cope with this. Now, although I am still highly empathetic, I can walk through life more normally. After the NDE:
Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes There are no adequate words in any language that can accurately express either of the experiences that I had.
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 The memory of these two experiences has never dimmed, and has served as a guiding beacon throughout my life.
Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Yes I can feel/read where people are in their souls. This has given me a heightened sense of compassion for people in trouble, people who are struggling. I see their higher selves, their potential.
Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? The simple fact that they happened. I feel very fortunate.
Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes I was not able to adequately share my experience with others. When I tried to, people often became fearful of me, so I began to live as an iceberg with most of my soul hidden from view. It is only recently that I have been able to talk about these things more openly. I believe this is due to the shift that is happening on our beloved planet at the moment, and far more people are becoming open to these stories.
Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience? No
What did you believe about the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened? Experience was definitely real Super real. More real than anything that has ever happened to me, both then and now.
What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real Super real. More real than anything that has ever happened to me, both then and now.
At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? Yes I have had a great number of mystical experiences since these NDEs described above. These were both the beginning, and the most dramatic and vivid as they changed my view entirely of life on this planet.
Is there anything else that you would like to add about your experience? Only that I still would like one day to be able to adequately share my experience with other people.
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