Experience Description

After high school, I went to work in a coal mine in Chukotka, Russia. [Chukotka is a province in Russia that is furthest East and North, actually in the Western Hemisphere, located along the Bering Strait.] In the coal mine there was a lot of dust from the rock and a lot of heavy lifting and pulling things around. I worked with mining shovels for 6 hours a day. After six months, I ended up in the hospital with blood pressure of 185 over 110, angina, headaches, and spasms in my legs and arms. Four months later, even after strong doses of medicine, there was no improvement in my health, and I could still get up out of bed only with difficulty.

I was lying in bed one day. Suddenly, I understood that this was the end for me. It was as if my consciousness was moving down a slippery hill and I was unable to grab hold of anything. Then as if I were in a whirlpool, I was sucked out through the top of my head. There was a click, like fingers snapping. Then I found myself in a different space. I was lying down, feeling like I was in my own body and still breathing. But the air was clean, without any type of gas or smog in it. It was like after a rain when breathing is easy and pleasant. Around me there were little white stars, like snowflakes in a fairytale. My surroundings seemed like a room with no visible walls, yet definitely an enclosed space.

I had a strong sense of being in a welcoming place of peace. On my left, there was a woman with brown eyes and a ponytail. Her hair was the same color as her eyes. She was wearing a sweater and a blue leotard with tights. I remembered the color of the leotard because it was such a totally earthly image. She looked at me and said, 'Look into my eyes.' I looked into her eyes and suddenly beams or threads of energy shot from my eyes into hers. As soon as they touched, the scene changed. I shut down and opened my eyes in the hospital bed.

No more than a few minutes had passed. I felt such lightness, like a weight had been lifted from me. I also felt that I was now completely healthy and there was no soreness anywhere. My head didn’t hurt. I sprang out of bed like a ten to fourteen year old! I went around telling everyone, 'I suddenly got better and it just took a minute.' I had this feeling for the next three days, like I wanted to run and be happy.

But I started smoking again, out of habit. My health immediately went downhill. The heaviness came back down on me like lead, and the miraculous healing went away. Everything started to hurt again, and there was no more of that lightness. With time it became a little easier. I became used to the heaviness and tiredness. They put me on disability. Nothing like it ever happened to me again.

I don't know what it was. It could have been astral projection. Or maybe it was a welcoming department for the next world, with someone meeting me at the threshold and turning me back. To me it means that 'they' know who is going to die and when, and they meet us. It was very interesting, but I know that dying is usually a very unpleasant process. I’d like to find out about everything that happens in that next world.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: июль 1990г.

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? No. Illness Direct head injury after carrying a heavy load, high blood pressure, angina. Other: loss of consciousness

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

Did you feel separated from your body? No I lost awareness of my body

How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal everyday consciousness and alertness? Normal consciousness and alertness consciousness. I was as free as in a body, but the body was not felt. I was like being weightless in a bathtub with water.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? At the time when consciousness was lost

Were your thoughts speeded up? No

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? No

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. Here the air gets in the way. It was more like bing in outer space without the motion of the air, resistance, mirages, and refraction. I could see far and there is nothing to get in the way of my eyes. It’s was like my vision was 50% and became 100%.

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? A clearly mystical or unearthly realm. A place where the air was not constrained or affected by pressure, vibration, or refraction. It was evenly-distributed, very easy to breathe, and pleasant. It was like I had always dreamt of such air, no smog or strong smells, like ozone after a storm. There were little stars around, like snowflakes in a fairytale. The stars make a clicking sound, but they aren’t shooting electricity. They move pleasantly like snow falls in peaceful weather. I didn't have to strain to see, everything is very easy, and the space is enclosed like a room. The walls were not visible, and were blacked out, yet they were energetic walls and hemispherically shaped.

What emotions did you feel during the experience? Surprise at something new, being in a new place that was spacious and free

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

Did you have a feeling of joy? No

Did you feel a sense of harmony or unity with the universe? No

Did you suddenly seem to understand everything? No

Did scenes from your past come back to you? No

Did scenes from the future come to you? Scenes from my personal future. I have dreams, like movie scenes, for example I’m sailing on a steamship on the ocean. I’m talking with people, walking in shops and along streets, but it’s like abstractionism, with rough outlines. Then it all goes away. Then it’s colored with natural colors, like the sun is yellow, the sky is blue, the steamship and the people, they’re all live.

The experience included: Boundary

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure? Yes I was detached from the physical body. I distinctly felt that I was floating out through the top of my head. It was the end of life and the realization of myself in the body. But it was as if I were in weightlessness. There was no earthly gravity, only lightness.

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 importance did you place on your religious/spiritual life prior to your experience? Moderately important to me

What was your religion prior to your experience? Do not know

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? Yes I began to believe in life beyond the grave, before this I only believed in a terminal existence.

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

What is your religion now? Buddhist

Did your experience include features consistent with your earthly beliefs? Content that was entirely not consistent with the beliefs you had at the time of your experience. I did not see anyone from religious images or illustrations. I saw a regular earthly person who was a woman possessing extrasensory abilities which we don’t have on Earth. She had energy rays, and I saw them in myself. I had never seen them there before.

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes. I began studying religions, not only according to the stories of others, but by comparing them with my own experiences. I don’t open my mouth in surprise at others’ wild tales, and before I would have probably had envied those lucky people, or would have thought of them as extraterrestrials

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. Near me and on the left, sat a woman, like a person from earth, with brown eyes and auburn hair. It was pulled back in a ponytail, hanging down to her shoulders. She wore a gray sweater and a pair of blue, athletic leotards. She was a regular earth person, appeared to be 30 to 40 years old. There were no angels or saints. Even so, I was surprised. I guess I was in heaven.

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 The woman was completely earthly in appearance, but when she said to me 'look into my eyes,' beams from my eyes suddenly shot into her eyes. They were like dark gray threads. As soon as they touched, I immediately severed the connection, tuned out, and came back to myself.

Did you believe in the existence of God prior to your experience? God probably exists

During your experience, did you gain information about the existence of God? No

Do you believe in the existence of God after your experience? God probably exists

Concerning our Earthly lives other than Religion:


During your experience, did you gain special knowledge or information about your purpose? No

Did you believe that our earthly lives are meaningful and significant prior to your experience? Are not 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 does not exist

Do you believe in an afterlife after your experience? An afterlife definitely exists. Yes. I had a feeling of loss of physical existence. I was floating away to somewhere and at first felt fear for 2-3 seconds. I heard clicking noises like the sound of turning on lights, and then was in a different dimension. I was 'upstairs' as if in a new place. Then there was a lapse, and then I’m back in my body again

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

Do you fear death after your experience? I slightly fear death

Were you fearful living your life prior to your experience? Slightly 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 not meaningful and significant

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

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

During your experience, did you gain information about love? No

Were you compassionate after your experience? Moderately compassionate toward others

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience? Slight changes in my life. I began to understand what was beyond the border, why they don’t let us through. Yet they can know everything about us, that we are here for a certain reason, but we can be everything. There THEY are not aggressive, but they won’t take you before it’s time. I must go my own way. They won’t let me know more than I need. It is like I am a first-grader and they are like tenth-graders

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Yes I spend less time on trivial things and more on useful information

After the NDE:


Was the experience difficult to express in words? No

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. This recollection comes up clearly. For example, a cross-country skiing event where you remember everything to the tiniest detail, or a ride out somewhere where there’s an unusual landscape, tall trees or a beautiful lake on the background of mountains, which are unusual and can be remembered strongly

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Yes understanding of the situation, there’s no primal fear of death, as if maybe it’s interesting there

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? It can give hope to others that everything is survivable, even your own death

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes I shared it immediately, and then many time since that time. The response was silence, like it was something really unexplainable.

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. It was interaction just as real as if you were sitting with a friend in a café and drinking coffee with cakes. Later on, there were no more signs. I became just as normal as I had been previously, well possibly with the difference from thinking about all that had happened

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real because before you could only believe, and now you know for sure

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? Maybe something will happen again, there’s no guarantee it won’t Uncertain

Is there anything else that you would like to add about your experience? It was very interesting, but you can’t get much further, it’s just a tiny fragment of a different world