Dave P NDE

Experience Description

My NDE is not as long or as intense as others I am aware of.

I remember being pushed deep underwater and knowing that it was going to be a long time before I could resurface to take my next breath. It was a very long time ago, and I do not really remember struggling for breath. The memory of the NDE seemed to overshadow any fight for life. My ex-girlfriend may have a different view, because I probably told her when I got back to the accommodation.

I remember a kind of reckoning. It was a passage of images from my life. It was only fleeting, so I am still uncertain if it was real because it was so brief. Mind you, I was only 26.

I remember being aware of a softly lit orb in the distance. It was not necessarily at the end of a tunnel, but I remember moving or being drawn toward it. It was dark at its perimeters, so the tunnel imagery kind of fits.

Then I had an awareness that everything is connected, maybe by love. People, particularly, but also plants and even the earth are all one. I was imagining, thinking, and knowing all this while I was moving towards the orb. The orb seemed attractive and emanated calm, as if it was inevitable that I was going to be drawn to it. Then I popped up and took a breath, and everything I had experienced vanished.

Now, having spent some time studying the phenomena, I recognize it as a shared consciousness, though I do not like to let experiences or learning after the NDE provide names or even interpret the experience.

As I said, it was a long time ago. I may have forgotten the trauma of drowning, but the NDE experience has stayed with me. Embarrassingly, about six years later, I mentioned it in my wedding speech, as that was the closest thing I had experienced to the culmination of our humanity being together; that everything and everybody connected. I remember looking at the blank faces in the crowd as I spoke, so I gave up and did not really speak about it for years.

Now I am tempted to look at our wedding video to see what I did say about the experience.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date of NDE: July 1991

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes
Yes, I had been surfing in large surf in Indonesia. My legrope broke and I was pushed deep down under the water. I had the experience, but all I remember is that I came up in shallow water with my surfboard floating not far away from me

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

Did you feel separated from your body? 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? When I was heading toward the light
I think the life review was so quick I was aware that 'seeing your life flash before your eyes' should have been more comprehensive, but then I was moving toward the orb of light. I am not certain that my level of consciousness was greater it was just that I realised at that point that there was far more to my consciousness (and other consciousness' around me) that I had previously expected

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness? More consciousness and alertness than normal

Were your thoughts speeded up? Faster than usual

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Everything seemed to be happening at once; or time stopped or lost all meaning
I am not sure how time worked. I am not sure how long I was in the otherworldly realm, but it all appeared to happen really quickly, but for me to wash up would have been longer than a few seconds

Were your senses more vivid than usual? More vivid than usual

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience My vision was focused on the direction I was heading, so probably a little myopic. That said I passed the life review, or some of it and it seemed very clear

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience No memories of any hearing

Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere? No

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? Uncertain
I was heading toward the warm orb, so was probably myopic and became focussed on the tunnel

Did you see any beings in your experience? No

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased beings? No

Did you see or feel surrounded by a brilliant light? A light clearly of mystical or other-worldly origin

Did you see an unearthly light? Yes
My memory was that it was distant at first. It was like an old-school round headlight with a dim, but warm emittance, as I got closer it became clearer, but I didn't get close enough for it to be bright or blinding

Did you seem to enter another world? Some unfamiliar and strange place
The movement toward the light and the calmness which was not the fury of the ocean which surrounded my body

What emotions did you feel during the experience? Just surprise. Like Wow! This is amazing

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

Did you have a feeling of joy? Happiness

Did you feel a sense of harmony or unity with the universe? I felt united or one with the world

Did you suddenly understand everything? No

Did scenes from your past come back? My past flashed before me, out of my control
It was so fleeting and I was surprised it happened so quickly. There was possibly a girl there that I had some connection to, and an old primary school friend, but I didn't immediately recognise anyone

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure? No

Did you come to a border or point of no return? No

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Christian- Protestant
Not connected at all (or practising) a faith, but when asked would describe as Christian

Have your religious practices changed? No

What is your religion now? Unaffiliated- Nothing in particular- Religious unaffiliated

Did your experience include features consistent with your earthly beliefs? Content that was both consistent and not consistent with the beliefs you had at the time of your experience
I was very much a young physicalist, so it really challenged what I believed.

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes
I am a lot kinder to insignificant living things. Even worms and snails I disturb benefit from their interactions with me. I try to be compassionate to some humans who frustrate me, sometimes succesfully. I look at my wife and family and just smile. They are the very embodiment of my love.

Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice? 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
Yes the unity of all things became very apparent

During your experience, did you gain information about the existence of God? Uncertain
I was heading toward an calm and attractive light. I didn't interpret it as God but it was calm and attractive.

Concerning our Earthly lives other than Religion:

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

During your experience, did you gain information about the meaning of life? No

During your experience, did you gain information about an afterlife? Yes
The very fact that I was 'going somewhere' seems to confirm there is more to existence than this realm

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

During your experience, did you gain information about love? Yes
I realised that we are all connected by a sense of love.

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience? Moderate changes in my life
I always had the feeling that we were rushing around 'playing the game' and I did too. As a husband, a father, an employee, but it never sat well with me. I worked really hard at achieving all of the above, but now all that busy-ness has subsided I have time to reflect and research and I almost believe in panpsychism. And now contemplate that we are living in a simulation

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Yes
I am less inclined to 'react' to inputs from other humans

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes
It is difficult to express because it is experienced in another realm. I believe that it is difficult to articulate because nobody really knows that it happened, they are busy with their own lives so I have just shut up for 33 years and got on with life. Consequently I am probably not practised in articulating such an experience.

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 as accurately as other life events that occurred around the time of the experience
I worry that it is distorted by time and my curiosity in other people's NDE experiences

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Uncertain
I sometimes wonder (and my wife genuinely believes) that I can predict outcomes way before they happen. She often says to me 'why don't you just tell me so I don't have to worry', but I always thought that everybody has the same premonitions, so mine are nothing special

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? Yes, I am going through what Alan Watt's describes as the Dark Night of the Soul. That arises as I have given myself permission to believe in my NDE and consequently I will try to change my behaviours to be more present and forgiving when others tell me of their (what seems often trivial) concerns

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes
The same day, or a couple of days later. I told my girlfriend. Most people just dismiss it

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience? Uncertain
I had always wondered but assumed it would never happen to me. 27 year olds are invincible, right?

What did you believe about the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened? Experience was definitely real

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real
It is inconcievable that it didn't happen and it is so similar to some many others NDE

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? No

Did the questions asked and information that you provided accurately and comprehensively describe your experience? Yes
They seemed to account for all of my fleeting experience

Anything else to add? No