INTRODUCTION TO NDE
By Elizabeth Moreira
I heard the term near-death experience (NDE) probably ten years ago and was somewhat
curious about it. How could one know if these experiences were real or not? Then, I came
across a book written by a neurosurgeon who had this experience, Proof of Heaven (Alexander,
2012). This amazed me because it was written by someone who is a scientist! Surely, this
doctor risked his reputation to write about this topic. Since then, I have read several books,
watch videos and documentaries, and just about anything that fell on my hands about the
subject. While some doctors still believe that NDE is created by the brain, it is surprising that
most people that go through this experience feel unconditional love, meet some type of being,
and come back spiritually renewed.
The following features are one example of a classification of the NDE phenomena: “Moody has
delineated 15 recurrent characteristics notably including feelings of peacefulness and calm,
hearing unusual voices, seeing a dark tunnel, being out of the body…” (Cassol et al., 2018). The
majority of the people that have an NDE come back trying to describe an unconditional type of
love that gave them this calmness. Most of them say there are no words in human language
that can describe this type of love! I understand how a mother feels about her children since I
am a mother of two and I can easily see myself sacrificing my life for theirs. People often say
that this love is a million times the feeling you could have for your own children. This infinitely
pure love heals them immediately.
Another curious phenomenon experienced by people is the meeting of a being or beings of
light. Sometimes, it is someone they recognize, or someone from their past that they have not
even met in the present. It is very hard to believe that the brain is fabricating these beings. In a
qualitative study conducted on 34 individuals, it found that 15 narratives described human or
imaginary encounters with beings that in some cases, were known to the person of the study
and in other cases were non-human (Cassol et al., 2018). People also report that the being or
beings do not have a recognizable shape, but there is a sense of familiarity like when you have
known someone for a very long time and forgot about it. There are other instances when
persons do not see anyone but can feel a gigantic presence that envelopes them.
Finally, people that come back (to life) feel very spiritual. Some had a religious background, but
others were agnostic. It is intriguing that most find religion unnecessary, but they often keep
participating in their community. This is supported by another research by Groth-Marnat, G., and
Summer (1998) indicating that “Whereas increased spirituality is supported by the major
categories of change (i.e., transcendental feelings, decreased materialism), the findings of this
study did not find reduced support for organized religion” (para. 15). Experiencers feel
connected to people, animals, plants, and everything on Earth. Additionally, it is challenging to
understand this feeling. As found in a study, “Regardless of their cause, these transcendent
NDEs can permanently and dramatically alter the individual experiencer's attitudes, beliefs,
values, and behavior” (Greyson, 1998, para. 13). While they feel connected to everything, it is
hard to have strong feelings for a loved one the same way it was experienced before.
I read that many professionals in the scientific community dismiss patients that talk about NDEs.
Little is known about the brain and its chemical processes. Would it be possible that people
from various backgrounds and beliefs, all experience the same events? Certainly, there are no
headlines from any medical institutions acknowledging this phenomenon. Until then, some
physicians will continue to think NDEs are caused by the brain, even though the majority of
people who have them are spiritually transformed by the feeling of an infinite love and an
encounter of some kind of being.
References
Alexander, E (2012). Proof of heaven: A neurosurgeon’s journey into the afterlife. New York:
Simon & Schuster.
Cassol, H., Petre, B., Degrange, S., Martial, C., Charland-Verville, V., Lallier, F., Bragard, I.,
Guillaume, M., & Laureys, S. (2018). Qualitative thematic analysis of the
phenomenology of near-death experiences. PLoS ONE, 13(2).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0193001 Retrieved from:
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A527583608/AONE?u=lirn17237&sid=bookmark-
AONE&xid=ef70939a
GREYSON, B. (1998). Biological aspects of near-death experiences. Perspectives in Biology
and Medicine, 42(1). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A53700948/AONE?
u=lirn17237&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=81dae840
Groth-Marnat, G., & Summer, R. (1998). Altered beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors following near-
death experiences. The Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 38(3). Retrieved from:
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A20855081/AONE?u=lirn17237&sid=bookmark-
AONE&xid=5fe56109
