Swas NDE

Experience Description

Around 4:00 p.m. on November 15, 1984, with high rheumatic fever, I was standing by my bedroom window. After standing for a while, I felt my toes and the palms of my hands were getting numb, so I sat at the base of the window (the old houses in Kolkata will always have some place to sit at the base of the window, but if you choose to sit you cannot get much view of the outside). I pinched my toes but couldn't sense a thing. I also felt a sheer pain around my chest area at the same time.

I could see my nanny sleeping on the marble floor. I tried to call her and wake her up, but she didn't answer. I tried desperately to stand on my feet to get rid of that irritating numbness, and as I did I felt somebody snatch my soul from my body and start to fly me like a kite in the sky. There were several vertical iron rods placed in equal distance from one another in the window (this used to be a common structure in old construction houses). My soul flew from the space in between two of those rods. I felt like a bird. I immediately looked back and saw my pale and fragile frame, lying at the base of the window with eyes closed, saliva dripping out of the wide-open mouth and a skeletal right hand that was somehow entangled with one of the rods. I was shocked, but didn't realize I was dead. I then flew above the row of houses in that area. I saw children playing in the park, telegraph poles, television antennas on the roof of our neighbor's houses and wet clothes hanging on the balcony. As I flew more, I began to see unfamiliar faces shouting from the streets, young men discussing a cricket match.

Suddenly the city view started fading away and somebody pushed me into a pitch-black space. When that black space arrived, I started flying even faster. I was really scared as I couldn't see a thing, but could strongly feel that somebody was pulling a thread, at the end of which my soul was lying. After a while, I saw a thousand suns but felt no heat - it was a bit cold for my preference. My eyes were not blurred by the sunshine, neither were my senses. I was wondering why it was not so hot in spite of so much of sunshine - I still keep on thinking about this. Next, I was hit against a rock like structure but wasn't hurt, and immediately started flying back to the direction where I started my journey form. I flew back to me with a speed double to what I started from. When I was about to enter my body I heard one of the nurses frantically saying that I had no pulse. The doctor saw me at 4:45 p.m.

Background Information:

Gender: Female

Date NDE Occurred: 15th November 1984

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Uncertain Illness 'Illness, trauma or other condition not considered life threatening' I was suffering from rheumatic arthritis with high fever around 106 Degrees F every now and then. I could barely walk or move my hands because of swollen joints. I was on antibiotics for more than a year. I used to lose my senses plenty of times, but I was still at home with family, pediatrician nurses and nannies around me.

How do you consider the content of your experience? Mixed

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? Normal consciousness and alertness

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? When I was flying through the darkness.

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 The time seemed to speed up after each significant experience. When I was flying over the city the time felt more or less normal, in the darkness a few notches higher, and then in sunshine faster than before. When I was coming all the way back to the place where my body was lying the speed was faster than ever. I felt as if I was travelling in a spacecraft made by God Himself, not by the astronauts.

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. The sunshine was too bright.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. An ‘ommmmmmmmmmmm’ sound was coming from all directions. It was a very low pitched buzz, but the intensity of the sound neither increased nor decreased, as if someone was maintaining the volume very carefully. As I was travelling through the darkness towards the sunshine I expected the sound to become a little louder but it didn't.

Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere? Yes, and the facts have been checked out

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? Uncertain I don't know if you are describing the pitch black area as a tunnel. To me it felt like an open enclosure, not a closed one like a tunnel.

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 didn't see or meet anyone, but definitely felt the presence.

The experience included: Darkness

The experience included: 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 Most certainly. It was the light from more than one sun - all the suns from all the galaxies of the universe. A superlight, in a word.

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

What emotions did you feel during the experience? Emotionally overwhelmed, always very alert and trying to figure out what was going to happen next, as if am ‘Alice In Wonderland’. I wanted to explore more but somebody didn't allow me to and I was pushed back to my body earlier than I expected.

Did you have a feeling of peace or pleasantness? Relief or calmness

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? Everything about the universe

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 the world's future A few things happened. Just few months after the experience I was studying in my room and heard the sound of a low flying plane. It was a rainy night, but not a stormy one. I told my mother the plane was about to crash. She laughed it away. The next morning we came to know about the crash from the front page of our newspaper. Another time I dreamt about my would-be husband. I saw his face, knew about his profession, his name, his body stature, and 8 years later that same person came into my life. I could see my granny's death in my naked eyes fifteen days before she died. I predicted correctly about my brother's career.

The experience included: Boundary

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure? Yes My soul was hit against a rock like structure and I felt that somebody wouldn't allow me to explore further. If I was allowed to cross that rock I would have met God, the unseen, unheard powerful being who was pulling me towards a thousand sunshines through a thread and who was standing just behind that rock - at least that's what I felt at that point of time.

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

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Liberal Hindu

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? No

What is your religion now? Liberal Hindu

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? No

The experience included: Presence of unearthly beings

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

Did you see deceased or religious spirits? I actually saw them

Concerning our Earthly lives other than Religion:

During your experience, did you gain special knowledge or information about your purpose? Uncertain I knew about my husband, although I have a traditional arranged marriage where you have absolutely no chance to know a person before getting married. I told my father about the time and nature of my grandma's death fifteen days prior to the actual incident. I told my brother he'd get a bank job and would be promoted to managerial level pretty soon, which indeed has happened within two and half years of his employment.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? No

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes I was up in the air and flying so fast that it almost seemed like I was travelling at the speed of light, and that too was in a pitch blackness. I still felt the presence of a super powerful being who was controlling me like a kite while I was flying, though I couldn't see any powerful being. Everything happened too fast.

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Uncertain I can sense extremely good or bad events few weeks before the actual event is going to happen.

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? When I was brought to that thousand sunshine zone I felt ecstatic; before that I was a bit scared. I felt the presence of God when I was in sunlight. I felt His presence in each and every molecule of that light and could barely wait to meet that powerful being. I feel He is still standing behind the rock and controlling all of us through a thread, and I also feel that He is watching over me 24/7.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes Only my mother, who is closest to my heart, knows it. I told her when I got back senses after the incident, on the same day. My mother believed every bit of my experience.

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

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real Nothing can be more real than what I experienced.

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? I wish I could experience it one more time before I die.

Are there any other questions that we could ask to help you communicate your experience? It seems perfect, although repetitive and might get monotonous for others who have less patience than me. Otherwise very impressive.