George E's NDE

Experience description: 

I was working on a construction job in Puerto Rico. It was 1967. I was 17 years old. I contracted a severe case of gastroenteritis, and was unable to afford proper medical care. I went to a clinic, got a bottle of pills, and went back to the room where I lived. To put it mildly, I had the most severe diarrhea you can imagine. I was losing water at this fantastic rate, just going to the bathroom all the time. The woman who ran the rooming house was good enough to bring me water, but basically I ate nothing. Oh man, I was SICK! I was getting weaker and weaker.

On the eighth day of this misery I seemed to just float right up out of my body. So I'm looking down at my body lying in the bed still as a corpse, and I said "Oh *beep*! I've died!!" I was basically unnerved by this. But in the next second, I thought to myself "Hey, if I'm dead, who is thinking these thoughts??" So then I felt calm and very good, thinking "Well this sure beats being sick as a dog, this is quite okay." So I'm floating in the room, right? And its daytime. Outside there was a church-- this was in Rio Piedras PR near the University-- and the bells started ringing. This was normal. I had a strong urge to go check it out so I floated out of the window. Outside it was blindingly bright. Whoa! It was SO BRIGHT. In a word, it was hard to see. Don't ask see with what, because I don't have a clue, my eyes being back in my body. But I could see the church steeple, and made a circuit of it. At this point I'm feeling very exhilarated. I'm flying around free of my body! And two things really hit me at that moment: first, the body isn't ME...it's just a body; and second, the whole heaven and hell thing is nonsense, we all just float off peacefully, because the spirit endures. So that was a great thing to know. At last though, some part of me got lonely for my body, and I went back inside, and sort of lay down in my body. And I slept. And the next thing I knew the illness had broken and I was recovering.

Now-- as a result of this experience-- I came to think at the time that the spirit endures, and we go off peacefully. This idea I have entertained ever since to a degree, but I rather think now that it was merely a biochemical sort of effect, not anything 'real' in the sense of supernatural. I accept the idea it could be a hallucination of some sort, but it seemed very genuine at the time. So on the real significance of OBEs, I just don't know. But I've not feared death per se during my life for which I am very grateful.

Any associated medications or substances with the potential to affect the experience?     Yes

Was taking anti-diarrhea medicine

Was the kind of experience difficult to express in words? No

At the time of this experience, was there an associated life threatening event?          Uncertain

I was very sick. Life threatening? Probably not

What was your level of consciousness and alertness during the experience?           I seemed perfectly alert

            Was the experience dream like in any way?   Yes. I was FLYING, so that's pretty dream-like

Did you experience a separation of your consciousness from your body?     Yes

Totally disembodied. I saw my body on the bed.

What emotions did you feel during the experience?            Initially, anxiety. Afterwards, exhilaration and a sort of curiosity.

Did you hear any unusual sounds or noises?           Church bells

LOCATION DESCRIPTION:  Did you recognize any familiar locations or any locations from familiar religious teachings or encounter any locations inhabited by incredible or amazing creatures?    No

Did you see a light?           Yes

It was very bright. Blindingly bright actually, like being surrounded by very bright sunlight.

Did you experiment while out of the body or in another, altered state? Yes

I flew out the window, and flew around. It was very pleasant.

Did you observe or hear anything regarding people or events during your experience that could be verified later?          No

Did you notice how your 5 senses were working, and if so, how were they different?          Uncertain

Well, everything seemed just normal. I could hear and see and so forth. I can't say there was any sensation of feeling. In fact, I guess I'd say there was NOT any sensation of feeling or touch. But it wasn't like numbness.

Did you have any sense of altered space or time?   No

Did you have a sense of knowing, special knowledge, universal order and/or purpose?    Yes

I concluded during the experience that it was a great joke on Christianity, that heaven and hell were obviously false and unreal, and this amused me and pleased me, that these people were so wrong and foolish. I was sort of giddy with the knowledge that death was so easy and pleasant. That's how I was feeling at that time, that it was just a matter of floating away.

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure?             No

Did you become aware of future events?       No

Were you involved in or aware of a decision regarding your return to the body?       Yes

Yes. I decided to go back to the body. I thought "Well, this is cool, but enough is enough, I'll just go lie back in the body, and if I'm dead well no problem, and if I'm not, that's fine too."

Did you have any psychic, paranormal or other special gifts following the experience that you did not have prior to the experience?         No

Did you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience?   Uncertain

I became a more confirmed atheist and infidel. Before, I was uncertain about the claims of religion, but afterwards I thought, "These guys are just like scam artists, they don't have a clue about any of it."

How has the experience affected your relationships? Daily life? Religious practices? Career choices?       It has perhaps made me more serene. It certainly has made me more pointedly anti-religious.

Has your life changed specifically as a result of your experience?         Uncertain

I've not been afraid of death.

Have you shared this experience with others?         Yes

I don't really emphasize the supposedly spiritual dimension, and I have not told very many people, but I've told a few that death is just nothing to fear, that we all will float off peacefully.

What emotions did you experience following your experience?  I was sort of pleased.

What was the best and worst part of your experience?      The best part was flying. There was no bad part, really.

Is there anything else you would like to add concerning the experience?        I do not think, after years of reflection on it, that my experience is anything that would tend to prove that the spirit or soul or mind survives death. I thought at the time that this was what my experience demonstrated, but I now tend to think it was just some sort of biochemical thing. Either way, its no big deal really.