Teri's NDE

EXPERIENCE DESCRIPTION:

I couldn't catch my breath, I heard the Doctor say, "Let's get that baby out of there!"  I felt searing heat on my abdomen from the surgical instrument, and I passed out finally from lack of air.  I could hear voices, very high pitched, they had a brassy or tinny metallic tone.  The voices were coming from what seemed to be pink dots swirling around my head.  They said it's time to go, come with us.  I felt like I knew who the voices were, and I felt comfortable with the voices and started rising off the table.  I could no longer see the dots and the swirling feeling was gone.  It was dark.  I felt like I was in a dark room and I was going higher but then I just stopped rising because something stopped me, I think it was the ceiling. 

I didn't look down at my body, I was unconcerned about it, I felt it didn't matter.  My surroundings, and thoughts and feelings were all I was concerned about, there was a flood of emotion, knowledge, excitement, anticipation, and love.  Love was almost tangible, as was the lack of distance or time.  I remember thinking I could go anywhere and do anything if I just thought of it.  I felt free and more alive than I had ever felt.  It was as if I had been in slow motion and been released - not unlike when someone is chasing you in a dream but you can't run fast to escape, and when you wake up, you can move at normal speed again.  I knew it was where I belonged and it was natural to be there, not scary, just right,  I felt contented and peaceful but yet excited about the trip I was about to take.  My mind felt so clear and awake.  For unknown reasons, I suddenly realized I needed to go back.  I told the unseen beings around me in the dark that I had to go back and I woke up seemingly many hours later (actually only 1/2 hour later) in the recovery room. 

I felt heavy, slow, depressed.  I had a new baby I couldn't focus on because my feelings of being pulled back to the other dimension were so strong.  The first few days I thought about it constantly.  I told my mother as soon as she arrived in the morning, I was so excited I wanted to tell everyone what I'd seen.  My mother was clearly upset and unbelieving and told me not to talk about it because in 1980 people thought you were crazy if you talked like that.  II felt like I'd been displaced, I was in the wrong place.  I felt like if I concentrated hard enough, I'd be able to see it again but I couldn't break through.  I had a hard time adjusting to the new baby, it was as if I was in a storybook world and had left the real world when I came back to my body.  The other dimension exists in the same space we are in, we just can't see it because our brain won't go fast enough to see it, it is only visible when the restraint of the body is removed.  The other dimension is reality and this world is an illusion.

Was the kind of experience difficult to express in words? Yes     The words are too simple to explain how enormous the feelings were.  The things I felt and knew do not exist in this dimension so they can't understand.  It's like trying to explain color to a blind person.  For example, how do you explain there is no time in that dimension or how you knew there was no time when all people on earth have always had time?  There was no clock there to tell me time was gone, I just knew.  In the other dimension, I knew everything all at once about the universe, humanity, existence, and that we are all connected mentally to each other, but now that I'm back in my body, I can't remember what I knew no matter how hard I have tried.  My mind can't go that speed while in this body, it's too slow to process the information. Who will believe you knew everything but now you can't remember?  It all sounds ridiculous to people who have never been there.

At the time of this experience, was there an associated life threatening event?          No      

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness?    Right before I said I had to go back.

How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal every day consciousness and alertness?    More consciousness and alertness than normal

If your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience was different from your normal every day consciousness and alertness, please explain:            Right before I said I had to go back.

Did your vision differ in any way from your normal, everyday vision (in any aspect, such as clarity, field of vision, colors, brightness, depth perception degree of solidness/transparency of objects, etc.)?  Uncertain      It was dark.  I knew somehow the darkness was about to go away and I'd be able to see, but I said I had to go back before this occurred.

Did your hearing differ in any way from your normal, everyday hearing (in any aspect, such as clarity, ability to recognize source of sound, pitch, loudness, etc.)?
            Yes     My hearing was very clear.  I could hear telepathically, an remember being amazed I could hear voices of so many people around me comforting me and welcoming me, making me feel "at home."

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

What emotions did you feel during the experience?            Already explained in #3

Did you pass into or through a tunnel or enclosure?          Yes    

Did you see a light?           No      

Did you meet or see any other beings?           No       I only heard them

Did you experience a review of past events in your life?    No      

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

Did you see or visit any beautiful or otherwise distinctive locations, levels or dimensions?           No           

Did you have any sense of altered space or time?   Yes    

Did you have a sense of knowing special knowledge, universal order and/or purpose?     Yes            There is life after this body dies, and it goes on forever as there is no time.  All life on earth is connected mentally.  We are in a cocoon like state here in these bodies, and when this body dies, the cocoon opens and we are free.  We become our beautiful, butterfly selves as we were intended.  There is a plan, it is all extremely organized, like a very complex mathematical equation.  I knew everything but I can't remember anything else.

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure? Yes     I was about to cross the ceiling or top of the enclosure, I couldn't see it, I just knew it was there, it was dark.  I sensed I would not be able to go back if I crossed it.  I knew there would be light on the other side.  I knew where I was going, I can't remember now. I actually never even thought I was dead or dying because I felt so alive. I didn't put all that together until after I woke up in the recovery room.

Did you become aware of future events?       No           

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

Have you shared this experience with others?         Yes     I didn't tell anyone else for about 5 years after telling my mother because she was so upset and I didn't want people to think I was crazy.  I tell anyone now without adverse reactions.  People are interested or have known others with similar experiences or even had one themselves.

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience?    No            The first time I learned of studies about it was in 1983 while in college I read about Raymond Moody's stages of dying during a classroom lecture.  I started to cry because so many of the things I saw were right there on the page.  I didn't have to be ashamed or wonder if I was nuts any more.

How did you view the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened:            Experience was definitely real    I knew it was real but I tried not to think about it, it took about 6 months before I stopped thinking about it every few minutes.  I can still remember it 28 years later as clearly as if I just woke up from having the NDE

Were there one or several parts of the experience especially meaningful or significant to you?   

How do you currently view the reality of your experience:            Experience was definitely real    It was more real than anything that has ever happened to me during this life on earth.

Have your relationships changed specifically as a result of your experience?           No      

Have your religious beliefs/practices changed specifically as a result of your experience?            No           

Following the experience, have you had any other events in your life, medications or substances which reproduced any part of the experience?         No      

Is there anything else you would like to add concerning the experience?        Approximately 5 years after I told my mother about my experience, I brought up the subject again.  I felt stronger now that there was more information available on NDE's, many persons had been studied with similar experiences.  My mother said the reason she was upset was because she had been so scared, she didn't want to face the fact I almost died.  She said the Doctor had come out and said "We almost lost her."  When I described leaving my body, it was just all too real for my mother to accept and she didn't want to hear it.

Did the questions asked and information you provided so far accurately and comprehensively describe your experience?         Yes    

Are there any other questions we could ask to help you communicate your experience?   I have never met anyone with so much understanding of NDE's.  It was very fulfilling to be able to communicate with those who understand.  This was obvious by the questions you asked.  You have had to interview persons having real NDE's such as mine to know what to ask.  Thank you so much for your interest and all you are doing.