Linda F FDE

Experience Description 6623

I jumped off the side of a pool at my high school. At the 7 ½' below level I found myself unable to move. I tried to swim and could not move. I believed in my mind that I was going to drown. Then a strange thing happened. It was like a wave washed over me and I had this sense of peacefulness hit me. I remember thinking, 'I'll try one more thing and, thinking calmly, if it doesn't work then I'll just have to drown.' There was no fear. I didn't think about my parents, siblings, my pets, or anything else. It was all so unimportant but so peaceful a feeling. I tried to push myself to a position and I started to try swimming the doggy paddle and very slowly found myself heading towards the surface. It felt like I was in slow motion; still holding my breath all the while. When I reached the top one of the girls standing there said to me, 'How long were you down there? I didn't see you jump in.'

I ignored her question because I was so confused at what had just happened to me. I walked over to the swim coach standing on the other side of the pool. I told him that when I jumped off the side of the pool into the water I was stuck underwater for a while and I couldn't seem to swim or move anywhere. He said it sounded like some kind of bounce problem. I didn't mention the strange peaceful feelings that came into me at the idea of drowning. I never felt so calm and at peace as at that time.

Background Information:

Gender: Female

Date NDE Occurred: 1975

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Drowning life threatening in a sense of believing that I was going to die. Other life threatening in a sense of believing that I was going to die. I drowned.

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

Did you feel separated from your body? No No

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 It seemed that my mind was extremely clear and that this was the end; like clicking on a switch. My belief that I was going to die because no one knew I was down there in the pool to help me. Then, poof, I didn't care anymore. I felt that it really didn't matter if I drowned or not. I had no fear of drowning or panicky feelings what so ever.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? When I was almost ready to panic because I didn't know how long I could hold my breath.

Were your thoughts speeded up? No

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Everything seemed to be happening at once; or time stopped or lost all meaning Time lost meaning to me and things seemed to slow down.

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. The same.

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

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

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? No

Did you see any beings in your experience? No

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? No

Did you see, or feel surrounded by, a brilliant light? No

Did you see an unearthly light? No

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

The experience included: Strong emotional tone

What emotions did you feel during the experience? Extreme peacefulness.

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

Did you have a feeling of joy? Happiness

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? No I just seemed to not care about anything in particular not even dying.

Did scenes from your past come back to you? No

Did scenes from the future come to you? 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? Slightly important to me

What was your religion prior to your experience? Other faiths- New age I was not brought up with any particular religious belief. My mother was brought up with the Catholic church. Attended Catholic school. Etc. We did not attend church - my mother did not drive. Father had Catholic background, but did not attend church.

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? Yes I am more aware of other peoples NDE stories when they say that a peaceful calmness occurred during or right before their NDEs. I know what that feels like.

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

What is your religion now? Other faiths- New age I feel that I am a spiritual person believing in a god. At the time of my experience I just believed in a higher powerful being - keeping an open mind to all religions.

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 Never knew a peace existed like I had felt at that moment in the pool.

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes I felt a great push to read and learn more about life after death not just because of my experience in the pool but also because of my father's suicide and my mother's death a year later. I had two extra sensory dreams about my father's suicide before it happened. The third time I dreamed it, it was for real. My mother dreamed that her only brother was killed in a field in Korea during the war. Her uncle came to her to tell her and she said I know my brother is dead. I saw him standing in a field and something flew through the air and killed him. Her uncle told her yes he was killed by a mortar shell. ESP runs in my family on my mother's side. I use to have other ESP events that also came true. But no longer occur with me anymore.

Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice? No

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? No

During your experience, did you gain information about universal connection or oneness? Yes A feeling that there is nothing to fear about death. A connection with everything that this life is important but its not everything that there is more ahead to learn and as I said before - feelings of extreme peace lies ahead for us.

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? Uncertain Seemed to me that god was just making things unthreatning for me. That a higher power was taking control of my feeling. My emotional me.

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 That there is something more to this world of consciousness then people understand. I believe in life after death for another reason. This experience happened in 1975. In 1981, my father committed suicide in his work truck outside on our front lawn. A few days after his funeral his bedroom door slammed shut all by itself. Everyone one in our family had just gotten home from some place and we had a friend and her mother there as well. We all were in the living room at the time. My younger brother and I went down the hall into my father's room to see what slammed the door. No windows were open; no pets were there. My father use to slam his door shut because it wouldn't stay closed if he didn't. Even my very skeptical brothers will not talk about this event because they believe he had come back; giving us a sign that he was still alive somewhere.

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

During your experience, did you gain information about the meaning of life? No

Did you believe in an afterlife prior to your experience? An afterlife probably exists

Do you believe in an afterlife after your experience? An afterlife definitely exists Yes I realized that something occurs right before you die. A calming sense comes over you - possibly to make the experience easier to take.

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

Do you fear death after your experience? I slightly 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? Moderately fearful in living my earthly life

Did you believe that our earthly lives are meaningful and significant prior to your experience? Are probably 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? No

During your experience, did you gain information about life's difficulties, challenges and hardships? Yes That all our difficulties and hardships, challenges don't really matter as much as people think they do.

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

During your experience, did you gain information about love? Uncertain There was a kind of love feeling, peacefulness a sort of forgiving sense that things that I had done in the past. Were nothing to care about. I was never a bad kid, I never got into trouble, but my parents fought alot and I was never at a place were peace

Were you compassionate after your experience? Moderately compassionate toward others

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience? Moderate changes in my life I just knew that there is more to dying then meets the eye.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? No No

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? No The experience was confusing. I think that the mind (consciousness) has a trigger to be pulled, even just realizing that you are going to die for certain because all other options were tried. Then I tried the doggy paddle and I started to move upwards. Very Strange.

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 Never felt this way since this experience. Peacefullnes, not careing, just a great freedom a tremendous burden occurs within you.

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Uncertain I dreamed my mother was walking in the hallway hitting my bedroom wall and door and she gets to my door and says, 'Oh, your father is dead outside.' Then she walks to my brother's bedroom door and says the same thing. The third time it was for real. My mother had an ESP event about her only brother who was killed during the Korean War. Mine started in 1981 with my father's death. I may have just been born with ESP.

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? Just that my experience and belief is a good one as far as peaceful experiences to look forward to; but not knowing how long it will last even after death.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes I would say years later, maybe 10 years or so.

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience? Uncertain All I remember is that I bought Dr. Moody's book, Life After Life, not long after my father's suicide; because of my experience and the slamming of his bedroom door after his death. I may have heard of them before his book but I cannot remember. I have always had an open mind, even as a child, to the unexplained events that I had heard about (even about UFOs).

What did you believe about the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened? Experience was definitely real Never to this day have I ever felt that way again; the peaceful feelings.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? No

Is there anything else that you would like to add about your experience? No, that's about it.