Tom N NDE

Experience Description

I spent a year in Viet Nam with the 101st Airborne Division. I was assigned to, 'B' Company of the 502nd. In the year I spent with the 'Oh deuce,' we sustained 97% casualties and fatalities. It is hard to understand death on such a grand scale and the experiences caused me to reexamine everything I understood and knew to be true. I had many unanswered questions.

In April of 1968 as we advanced on a village in the northeast portion of I Corp, the trooper in front of me struck a wasp's nest with the butt of his rifle. The wasps swarmed on me and stung me eleven times in the head. I was evacuated by helicopter to the MASH unit at LZ Sally. By the time we arrived, my facial features had completely disappeared because of the swelling from the stings. As they carried me into the emergency room the doctor looked at me and said; 'What in the hell happened to him?' I realized I had bitten one of the wasps that had stung me in the mouth; I removed the wasp from my mouth and offered it up for anyone to see. I then went into anaphylactic shock; and suffered cardiac arrest and complete respiratory failure. As soon as I flat lined my spirit and soul left my body. There were no bright lights, no tunnels leading anywhere, and there was no one there waiting to meet me. I just went above the operating table and watched the efforts to revive me. There was no fear, no anxiety, and no concern, just watching and waiting. I was however aware of my existence and I knew it was still me. The surgical team withdrew blood from one arm and put new blood into my other arm, while they were administered shots of adrenalin. As soon as they resuscitated me, I returned into my body.

The next day in the recovery room, I was thinking about the supernatural phenomena I had just experienced and was wondered how I could empirically verify my experience. The emergency room orderly came by and said, 'Oh, I see you're coming around.' I asked him, 'Why were you putting blood into one arm and taking it out of the other?' With a very surprised look he replied, 'How the hell did you know we did that, you were gone?' This was the empirical verification I needed. The experience was real. My experience had not been a dream or an experience induced by stress, shock or some other means.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: 'July, 1968'

NDE Elements:

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

How do you consider the content of your experience? Wonderful

The experience included: Out of body experience

Did you feel separated from your body? Yes 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 As above.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? I was fully conscious through the entire experience, I was also aware that it was me having the experience.

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

Were your senses more vivid than usual? Incredibly more vivid

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. I saw everything that has going on around me, or I should say below me, however I do not remember hearing anything.

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? 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? No

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

What emotions did you feel during the experience? There were no extreme emotions, I was calm, and relaxed, I was even unconcerned as I looked at my lifeless body.

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

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

The experience included: Special Knowledge

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

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? Moderate

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? Yes I have become significantly more spiritual since my experience. I don't have to wonder whether there is life after death or not, I know. We are fully conscious after we die and we maintain our identity.

What is your religion now? Conservative/fundamentalist

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes I have become significantly more spiritual since my experience. I don't have to wonder whether there is life after death or not, I know. We are fully conscious after we die and we maintain our identity.

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? Yes As I was fully conscious, I was alive in a different dimension, I could see all of those around me and they could not see me. This took me a long time to reconcile and it is the subject of my book, 'A Brief History of the Bible'. We exist in our physical reality, however, there is another reality that simultaneously exists along with this one. In my book I call our present physical reality Provisional Reality, the other dimension, the dimension of God and all of His celestial beings, I call Foundational Reality.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Yes Everything has changed since I had my experience.

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? No

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Uncertain I have what I refer to as a spiritual receptivity. I have a heightened sense of awareness that beings exist beyond the thin veil that separates the two realities. Beings that live in a dimension that does not have the same physical laws that we have in this provisional reality.

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? The entire experience was especially meaningful, it changed my entire worldview. I also seem to remember looking at my hand, and it was translucent.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes I did not start sharing my experience right away when I returned to the USA. I thought I needed to figure it all out first. I now share it through my book, 'A Brief History of the Bible'. Of the people I shared my experience with it seems that Catholics and older Fundamentalists have the hardest time believing the 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 When I questioned the medical procedures that were performed during the attempt to resuscitate me the orderly as astonished I was aware of what they were doing. In his words, 'How the hell do you know that, you were gone?'

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real We exist in a transitory reality that is only a small part of a larger reality. The larger reality is eternal.

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