Walter R NDE

Experience Description

I was at the beach. I don't remember the date for the simple fact that I've let a lot of years pass - I never told anybody about it because I didn't want to be ridiculed. I have stories that can easily be misconstrued as a crazy man's delusions, and then of course since I was seventeen years old at the time I was thinking about the girls and I certainly didn't want to be made fun of by them - I preferred to keep everything inside.

I was at the beach. It was a splendid sunny Sunday and just like all the others, I wanted to enjoy my day off in the warm ultraviolet rays that give you a bronze colored tan. I remember that it was very hot and the better alternative was to take a healthy swim out to the rocks and then to return to the sun. The water was calm, like a sheet of crystal, clear and as warm as a thermal bath. I dove in and as was my habit swam underwater keeping my eyes open so as not to bump into the rock that I was headed for.

Once I arrived at the rocks, I decided to dive in twice where I knew the water was the deepest. Before I did so, I clung to the rock. I looked down and could see the wonders of the ocean floor, the fish, the starfish, and all the food that you find in a good dish of pasta. When I had my fill, I decided to return to the beach.

I was practically out of the water, I had arrived at the safe part of the water's edge where the ocean reached my knees and I walked towards to the beach wiping my face with both palms of my hands, and then in one second I felt myself fall into that water. I managed to take a breath and instinctively used my arms to break my fall as my body very slowly was engulfed by a hole in the water/sand. I remember feeling intense cold in my feet. I tried to wriggle about to get out but my legs were folded and the pressure of the sand was so strong that I was held in its grip, but the worst of all was the fact of having my arms and head out of the sand but - under water! I don't know how long all of this lasted, but time seemed to pass both very quickly and very slowly. Then the panic dominated me with a devastating force, I was conscious and understood that this was not the classic gulping in of water that leads to vomiting. I was hoping that someone would come and pull me out of this torture chamber.

The instinct to take a breath was overwhelming and I was incredulous at what was happening to me. I don't remember breathing in the water, but I knew it was in my mouth by the sound of the grains of sand crackling between my teeth. I could taste the bitterness and the saltiness of an ocean that I had never hated as much as at that moment. I had already entered into a calm phase where your memories flow past in a fantastic way, things I would have never remembered without the help of someone else, and yet there they were before my eyes like books that had been written.

During all the memories, a particular and strange question kept being asked and it overrode all the rest: but if I die now - tomorrow how will I be at work? It might seem absurd but I wasn't even concerned in the least about the pain my family would feel. I only cared about work.

Then a new wave of panic took over which little by little dissipated and I remember that I lost awareness as if an iron curtain slowly descended. I reopened my eyes. The situation had changed; it seemed like a dream. I found myself about ten meters above the ground, immobile, levitated into the air and below me on the shore was my body lying there with a bunch of people around it, they were screaming, they lifted my legs, someone gave me mouth to mouth and cardiac massage. I had no questions and no answers; I felt neutral and just observed the scene knowing full well that this body on the ground was me.

Like a change in scene on TV I found myself flying (still at the same height above the ground, ten meters) over a green field but the green was a splendid color, I flew through this amazing green at a good clip and I remember that this field was like a hillside and I needed to get over the top. Below me the grass passed by but the horizon did not get any closer.

Then another change of scene in a flash I was in a tunnel of light, but there I wasn't flying and I wasn't walking, I moved as though zooming. I got to the middle of the tunnel and the light was becoming more and more intense, but the brighter it got the more my joy grew, a warm joy, a sensation of peace, it was like looking at the sun, but the sun compared to this light is weak, very weak, in addition the sun is very annoying.

The closer I came to the end of the tunnel the more I became aware that on my right something or someone was waiting for me, I couldn't make out who or what but it certainly was a shadow from the waist up with human form. Once I arrived at the source of the light, I only saw this immobile shadow. Suddenly the joy that the light was giving me became even more complete, it was as though I had become a child again and was feeling the affection and the warmth of a hug, but not the loving embrace of a friend, it was more a feeling of a newborn in the arms of its mother, or grandmother. Through all these amazing feelings, one in particular impressed me the most. I was free of all weight and had no physical form. As I spent time with this immobile shadow, I felt a caress on my face and then suddenly darkness and then right away the light again but it was a different light, annoying, I felt chaos and an aggravating feeling of stickiness on my skin, not to mention the pain in my chest - I had returned to the beach.

I didn't remember everything in that moment, I was in a 'state' and it was only after several hours that all memories returned. I am an atheist and don't believe in any religion whatsoever, I believe in science and not in heaven or life after death, I think it's all a product of the subconscious but I wanted to tell my story as one of my outlets and also for those who study these phenomena.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: non la ricordo

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes annegamento 'Life threatening event, but not clinical death' Drowning.

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 The whole time.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? The whole time.

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 vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. The colors were more splendid and accentuated.

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? Yes 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? Yes I only saw the shadow from the waist up and it seemed to have a human shape. Man or woman I don't know.

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 A wonderful and intense light.

The experience included: A landscape or city

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

The experience included: Strong emotional tone

What emotions did you feel during the experience? A maternal affection and the warmth, but one that babies feel when they still know nothing of the world and a single sound can scare them. It's then that their only recourse or defense is in the loving arms of their mother.

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? Everything about the universe

Did scenes from your past come back to you? My past flashed before me, out of my control Memories.

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? Liberal ateo

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? No

What is your religion now? Liberal ateo

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

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

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? No

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? No

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? Everything was significant.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Uncertain

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 I judge my experience as something fantastical without equal.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real I judge my experience as something fantastical without equal.

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? Yes But I think it must have been a dream or flashback. It happened at night and all I recall is the sense of suffocating but it never remained with me as the first experience has.

Is there anything else that you would like to add about your experience? I remember everything that was in my field of vision - but I never lifted my head to look above me.

Are there any other questions that we could ask to help you communicate your experience? They are sufficient.