Jeff H NDE

Experience Description

In the early hours of the morning, some time during the summer of 2004, I was headed home from a friend's house with my best friend who was driving at the time. Almost home, we were stopped by a red light in the quiet suburban neighborhood a few blocks from both our houses. As the light turned green, we pulled out into the intersection. I glanced to my right side and only had enough time to scream the first syllable of my friend's name before the Mercedes plowed into the right rear quarter of our minivan at high speed.

Immediately, everything was in slow motion and filled with white light. I could still see, but everything seemed to now be in shades of bright, white light. At this point I felt a strong presence of an extremely loving and compassionate being, although I could not see them. There was no fear or panic, just an awareness of what was happening. Not realizing that I had left my body, I was very surprised to be able to see the back of my head as it hit the passenger side window and shattered the glass. I did not feel any pain from this and I had a sense that the being was somehow shielding me from the trauma.

Sometime after this I reviewed my life experiences. It felt like I could see everything all at once, like staring at a lot of monitors each displaying a different scene.

From that point, it is hard for me to connect exactly how one moment proceeded to the next. But I remember having the distinct thought, 'Man... I wanted to do more this time.' I was about to go off to college and become an engineer. I had this sense that I was meant to do that and help people somehow. Although I had never really thought about having multiple lives. Yet, this thought strangely felt completely normal and familiar to me, like I had been in this situation before. The disappointment I felt at my life ending was surprisingly not that severe though. The best way I can describe it is as if you had to suddenly change your vacation plans and cancel a trip you were looking forward to doing. It may be disappointing, but not the end of the world.

The next thing I remember is opening my eyes. I was sitting on the edge of my car seat. The door was open and I was rotated 90 degrees so I was looking out and away from the car. My shoes were off, although I have no idea how that happened. When I looked up, there was a couple standing about 6 feet in front of me. They looked to be between age 30 and 40. They were both thin and looked very healthy. I asked the woman if I was going to be ok and she told me, 'Oh honey.. you are going to be fine'.

There was a car behind us at the red light before we pulled out into the intersection. They called 911 and I had thought this couple was from that car. After loading me into the ambulance, I asked the paramedic who the couple was and said they had been so nice and kind. She told me that there was no couple standing by the car with me. To this day I wish I could remember what they looked like with more detail. I really wonder if they were deceased family members coming to comfort me.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: 2004

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Accident Out of body experience. The car crash was certainly life threatening.

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

Did you feel separated from your body? Yes During the impact I saw my head hit the passenger side window and shatter the glass. Afterwards I was able to verify the window was indeed broken, but of course couldn't verify what had caused it to break. 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? Normal consciousness and alertness Normal consciousness / alertness

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? My consciousness / alertness remained about the same throughout the experience from before the impact of the car to when I opened my eyes.

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 slowed down during the collision and while I was viewing it outside of my body but time seemed to not exist during the review of my life and only seemed to come back when I opened my eyes.

Were your senses More vivid than usual? No

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. My vision during the experience felt the same, although the world looked different to me (i.e. the white light).

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. My hearing was about the same.

Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere, as if by ESP? No

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? Uncertain I saw a couple (man and woman) standing outside of the car after I opened my eyes. The woman approached me and told me I would be ok when I asked her, the man stood there and did not speak but felt loving / peaceful. When I asked the paramedics about this couple they told me there was no one there. I did not recognize them at the time and now do not remember exactly what they looked like. I wish I did so I could try to identify them if they were deceased family members.

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 While I was out of my body and observing the accident occurring in slow motion everything was bathed in white light.

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? Some unfamiliar and strange place During the review of past events I was clearly somewhere else, but didn't have a lot of sense of where it was.

What emotions did you feel during the experience? I felt disappointment that this life was ending and that I still had more to do, but I also felt at peace and that it was 'ok' to die. I also felt like I had been in that place before. In the presence of the being / light I felt completely loved and protected.

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 myself or others I wouldn't say that I understood everything, but I came away with a strong feeling that we exist in this life, separated from God, so that we can find and choose love and compassion and learn the lessons we need to learn and could not learn in our true home. I felt that the being protected me and that I was sent back because I still had work to do in this life. It was after expressing disappointment that I wanted to do more and specifically I felt like I needed to go to engineering school and use my knowledge to help people somehow that I was suddenly back with my eyes open.

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? Scenes from my personal future I didn't actually see any scenes from my future but had a sense that I would die in my 30s (35 now, so far so good). This has haunted me at times because the knowledge of it felt so strong. I'm not afraid of being dead after my experience, but still have a fear of the dying process / suffering.

Did you come to a border or point of no return? No

God, Spiritual and Religion:

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

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? I now believe in reincarnation without any doubt. No

What is your religion now? Christian- Protestant

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 did not believe in reincarnation at the time and the experience made it very clear to me that we do indeed take many earthly forms, each time to learn particular lessons.

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes I now believe in reincarnation and that death is just a transition

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 During the impact, as stated elsewhere, I was in the presence of a loving being. At the time I strongly felt this was Jesus. This being seemed to move from place to place, absorbing the impact and motion as the car spun around although I couldn't see it, just perceive it. That being said, the sense of perception of the being and its actions / intentions felt every bit as clear as seeing it with my eyes.

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.)? Yes Please see my answer to 18

During your experience, did you gain information about premortal existence? Yes I had a strong feeling of being there before, and a thought that 'I wanted to do more this time'. I had a feeling that I had experienced many lives in the past and whatever I was trying to do/learn in this life had not happened yet and I wanted to continue. The memory of that thought really surprised me later as I had never had such thoughts before and didn't really believe in reincarnation.

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

During your experience, did you gain information about the existence of God? Yes Although I can't say exactly how I knew (I'm not sure how), I was completely confident that the being of love that was with me during the impact was Jesus.

Concerning our Earthly lives other than Religion:

During your experience, did you gain special knowledge or information about your purpose? No

During your experience, did you gain information about the meaning of life? Yes As previously stated, I came away from the experience with a strong conviction that earthly life's purpose is to learn how to love unconditionally and learn the lessons that your soul needs in order to grow. I also came away with the belief that we exist in this form because it uniquely allows us to do those things by forgetting our true nature.

During your experience, did you gain information about an afterlife? An afterlife definitely exists Yes Yes, I came away with the knowledge that we exist in this life to learn lessons that our soul needs to learn and that we return home after we are done. I've sometimes explained this to people as similar to the experience of going to sleep and then waking up in the morning. We lose our sense of our daytime existence during the dream and then experience things that we need to to learn / process events. When we wake up in the morning we then integrate that into our waking consciousness. I view life and death as another layer to that.

Did you gain information about how to live our lives? No

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

During your experience, did you gain information about love? Yes I came away with the knowledge that love is what life is all about, as cliché as it sounds.

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience? Moderate changes in my life

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Yes

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes The clear presence of the entity with me during the collision is hard to explain. I couldn't see anything, but I knew the entity was there and I could perceive its actions / intentions. Also, the life review is very hard to describe. Simultaneously viewing everything at once is just impossible to put in words.

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 remember the experience in much more detail than other experiences around the same time due to how impactful it was for me.

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Yes I seem to have certain things happen with people that are very close to me. Many times with my parents and spouse since then I will have a thought enter my mind a second before they express it. My father is very musical (he is a pianist and loves music). Many times, with him I have had a melody get stuck in my head a few seconds before he then mentions that song or says he has it stuck in his head.

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? The most meaningful part of the experience is that death is not the end, we are here to learn, and loving unconditionally is the most important thing we can do.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes I shared my experience immediately with my parents. They were very interesting and believed my experience pretty much right away.

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience? Uncertain I think I was vaguely aware of NDEs as a concept before it, but certainly had never researched / read about them.

What did you believe about the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened? Experience was definitely real There was never any doubt in my mind that the experience was real.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real There is still no doubt in my mind that the experience was real.

Is there anything else that you would like to add about your experience? Yes

Are there any other questions that we could ask to help you communicate your experience? I think it has made me a more loving and patient person, or at least has made me place a large value on working to be more loving and compassionate.