Experience Description

I should say that I had these kinds of experiences.

The first one was in a surgery in 1986 during the Iran-Iraq war, when I was under anesthesia. After the Valfajr military operation, when Iran reclaimed the city of Paveh from Iraq, there was another small military operation on the west side. A bullet hit me in the head and I went into a coma. I was assumed dead because my pulse was extremely weak and they could not detect it. They wrapped my body in a plastic bag and moved me over to the other corpses in cold storage. They noticed vapor accumulating inside the plastic bag that my body was in and realized that I was alive. I was feeling that I am carried along a way on a rail or roller or something.

I was in coma for about a month. After I woke up, I could not remember who I was or what my name or address was, and I didn't have my military tag on me either. The only memory I have from my coma was that I was walking on a path and could hear people talking, that is all. When I woke up from my coma I had lost my memory. I could not even read.

The second time was in Loghman-Hakim hospital in Tehran where I had a few surgeries. During the surgery, although I was anesthetized, I could hear the doctors and nurses talking. I could even see what color of dress they were wearing. I could hear the jokes they were saying. I was watching the whole thing from the ceiling.

Another time was in 1990 or 91. I was in a very bad health condition due to my injuries in the war and had a seizure. My mother told me later that I had cardiac arrest and she had cried and prayed a lot, and I think that is what pulled me back.

There was no fear or nightmares in any of these experiences; on the contrary, there was a special feeling of peace and warmth. I could feel the difference between the physical and spiritual world. I could feel that physical laws like gravity or pain do not apply to this spirit world. You can see clearly in dark of the night and you can look right into the sun without burning your eyes. I could feel that I was protected by an invisible force. I didn't feel lonely or lost at all, it is hard to describe. It was like there were eyes watching me but I could not see them. Although one expects to feel distressed, the dominant feeling there was love. But I did miss my loved ones. The space I was in was light with a special color of green and yellow. I felt like I was on some kind of edge or boundary, where one side had one color and the other side a different color. I could go to one side and return. I could see the light and colors, but could not see any source for it.

How did this experience affect you?

It is a very pleasant feeling right on the boundary between the physical and metaphysical worlds. I find myself wanting to repeat that feeling and it is like I am always chasing after it. I am more spiritual, even without having a near death experience, we have the capacity for a spiritual experience on this very earth. This can happen with the practice of detachment from earthly things like money, victory, and defeat. That way these experiences don't affect me and don't make me happy or sad. This experience gives me a feeling that there is something beyond that boundary. When I got away from that green atmosphere, it is very unpleasant to get dirty again and come back to the physical world. I can now make decisions easier because I perceived things here just as they are - child's play. There is a quote from Imam Khomeini that all these fights are because of our egos. I get the feeling that on this side things are irrelevant. But that feeling of light, love, and justice, becomes a permanent feeling. If we keep this in the heart, it keeps us in a good place and from slipping back to the old ways. When I sin, I am disgusted by it right away.

In my experience, when I was in the hospital, there was a nurse whose dress was not proper and she was exposed. But during my experience, I saw that she was shining with light. I was wondering who she is, but then saw her feeding me personally by putting food in my mouth. She was very caring about a wounded soldier who is weak, handicapped, and lonely and has no one else there. She was doing it with so much compassion. So you see that there is something going on. What they (prophets and spiritual leaders) say is not just fairy tales. This view helps me from sinking in this physical world. Of course, if I don't deny the spiritual aspect of the experience.

In your experience, did you see any spiritual or evil entities or soul of any deceased?

I did not feel lonely there; it is as if there were eyes are watching me. We interpret things according to our own religious teachings. We might call them angels or something, but this is our interpretation. I know there is something but you do not know how it looks like and cannot paint a picture.

Did you see anything from future?

I saw an image of myself when I was very old, and I looked soaked, like Ammar in the TV series Imam Ali.