Greg A NDE

Experience Description

The day started out with me and my older brother, along with his wife and child, going to the beach in our two-man raft. We put the raft into the water and got in. I sat in the bow in front of my brother's child, who was in the middle. My brother sat in the stern. After about thirty minutes of rafting, the weather made a big change. The lake started getting choppy with three-foot whitecaps. In just a matter of one minute, the weather had gotten so bad that we could have capsized! So, because my brother's little child was in the raft, we decided to turn around. We did an 'in-canoe, self-turn around' - that is where each person in the boat turns around in place and winds up facing in the opposite direction. At that time, that seemed the only way to get back to shore without putting all of us into freezing waters. However, while we were doing the turn, a wave hit the raft and into the water, I went. The extremely cold water immediately cramped my muscles and I sank down. I did try to swim but the third time that I came up was also the last. I had taken too much water into my lungs.

I guess I lost consciousness or, at least, I thought I had, but then I saw the most brilliant light and felt the most loving feeling coming from the voice of a figure in the light. It was a friend who had died in June of that same year but that was not the only voice I heard and felt - there was another voice that told me, 'Son, it is not yet your time to go, there is still something left here on earth for you to do.'

The voice of my friend told me, 'It is so beautiful and loving here, but you can't come in yet.' I saw a few other figures in the light. To me the light was so peaceful with so much love that I can't began to tell you how I felt. Within a split second, I was back floating in the water right next to the boat I had fallen out of, yet the boat and I were fifty to sixty yards away from where we had been when I had fallen in. There is so much to tell about the experience. It has made me different in so many ways, that it is hard to tell you everything.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: October 30 1976

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Drowning Clinical death (cessation of breathing or heart function or brain function)

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

Did you feel separated from your body? No I lost awareness of my body

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 'Knowing' as in just 'Knowing All', like being so on top of it all, you just know with total confidence.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? While in the light and listening to the voices.

Were your thoughts speeded up? Incredibly fast

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Everything seemed to be happening at once; or time stopped or lost all meaning There seemed to be no time, no feeling of time or need for time.

Were your senses more vivid than usual? Incredibly more vivid

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. Brilliant in every way - sight, sound, and emotions.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. Focused completely, as if just one sound and only one sound was there, and it was the voices.

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

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? No

The experience included: Presence of deceased persons

Did you see any beings in your experience? I sensed their presence

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? Yes I became aware of a close friend that had died in front of me on June thirteenth of that same year.

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 More than brilliant, more calming than I can explain. A light, like the sun in your face but not blinding at all, just warm, radiating nothing but pure love.

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? No

What emotions did you feel during the experience? I felt pure total love, peace like no other.

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 no longer in conflict with nature

Did you suddenly seem to understand everything? Everything about the universe Pure peace, like the waters and I were one, no fear of drowning, no cold or cramps.

Did scenes from your past come back to you? No

Did scenes from the future come to you? Scenes from the world's future Yes, but not until later on in my life. To be exact it started about a year and a half after this NDE and continues today, this is why I am here.

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? Slightly important to me

What was your religion prior to your experience? Christian- Other Christian

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? No I talk more to the spirits and I feel at times closer to truth.

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

What is your religion now? Christian- Other Christian

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 had no idea of any light you may see.I thought when you died you just went to sleep just like a switch ,turn it off and all dark.

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes I know that we are here for a reason. There is purpose within our lives and life is greater than we know, and that the gift of life is all wrapped up in one word - 'LOVE'.

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 most loving, powerful, awe-inspiring voice I've ever heard! It calmed me and loved me like I have never felt in my life. It was like a father talking to his child, as if I were a baby in the hands of his father. More soothing than I can tell you.

Did you see deceased or religious spirits? I sensed their presence

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? Yes total awareness .

During your experience, did you gain information about universal connection or oneness? No

Did you believe in the existence of God prior to your experience? God definitely exists

During your experience, did you gain information about the existence of God? Yes You know it is a supreme being ,by the all in compassing of love and warmth ,with in and out of you,all around you and through you in every part in every moment.

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 I felt as if I had yet to know what it is I have to finish doing or even what it is I have left to do in life but, on the same hand, I felt as if I had complete confidence in life now and still do.

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? Yes Love that love is what it is all about.I left the light knowing that love is what it is all about.

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

Do you believe in an afterlife after your experience? An afterlife definitely exists Yes Just the knowing the feeling you know there is more to life then here on earth.

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

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

Were you fearful living your life prior to your experience? Moderately 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 meaningful and significant

Did you gain information about how to live our lives? Yes That I had something I have to do here before I can go on in to the light.

During your experience, did you gain information about life's difficulties, challenges and hardships? No

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

During your experience, did you gain information about love? Yes That love is what it is all about.

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 Yeah, here is where I get a little back-offish. At times, I can see future events with perfect vision, sight and sound, as if I am watching a movie and I am also the camera.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Yes Yes At the time of the NDE I was married. A few months after my NDE, my friend that had died that same year, came to me in a vision and took me to a place so I could see my then wife cheating on me with one of our best friends at the time. The vision was in complete, exact detail, right down to the sounds and the time. So I got a divorce soon afterwards.

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes It is difficult because you think that your family is going to call you crazy and, also, because it is hard to put into words how you felt and what you saw.

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 I can recall it just like it is going on right now,anytime I want to remember it,it comes back just like it is happening right at the moment.

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Yes At times I see the future in complete detail and sometimes I can call upon it at will. It is like I can turn it on and off again and again.

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? Yes. I had something I have to do here before I can go on into the light.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes It took about two or maybe three years before I could tell anyone. Unfortunately, all responses I got were negative but today I have told my future wife and there is total support.

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 Wow, this one is hard to tell or talk about, so I'd rather talk to someone about this experience by phone.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real True, because too much has happened to me since.

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? Yes I had two more NDEs. One NDE was in 1992 after I got a shot of morphine during an operation and the other in 2010 when I had a heart attack. At that time I felt my father's voice go through me and say, 'Still not your time, Andrew, but tell my granddaughters I love them'.

Is there anything else that you would like to add about your experience? In time I will but not now.