Judith D NDE

Experience Description

During my NDE I saw a bright light with a shrouded being. It was a female figure. She had her arm outstretched with her hand extended and asked if I wanted to go with her. I immediately said, "Yes." It was a beautiful experience. I felt no pain; only a profound sense of love. Then she said, "Are you sure you want to go? You are not coming back." I then considered the consequences of that decision for my husband, my children, and my parents. I decided to stay. As soon as I did, the entity disappeared and I was hovering above my body, looking down at myself and the doctors and nurses.

Background Information:

Gender: Female

Date of NDE: 4/11/1969

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes
After the NDE, I was told medically what happened. I am not clear about the time. I knew I gave birth to twin sons. I knew I had no blood pressure. Once I stopped breathing was when I experienced the NDE. There were complications during birth: forceps and pedalic inversion.

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

Did you feel separated from your body? I lost awareness of my body
It was real.

How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal everyday consciousness and alertness? Yes. I had never experienced anything like it before.
I had 39 hours of labor and was in and out of consciousness.

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? Incredibly fast

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Everything seemed to be happening at once; or time stopped or lost all meaning
See above.

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 My vision was not worldly.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience My hearing was acute prior to the NDE.

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 beings? No

Did you see or feel surrounded by a brilliant light? An unusually bright light

Did you see an unearthly light? Yes
See above.

Did you seem to enter another world? A clearly mystical or unearthly realm
I felt I was detached from my body.

What emotions did you feel during the experience? Love

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 no longer in conflict with nature

Did you suddenly understand everything? No

Did scenes from your past come back? My past flashed before me, out of my control
Yes

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure? Yes
I was looking at the tunnel, with this being offering guidance away from my earthly physical being.

Did you come to a border or point of no return? I came to a definite conscious decision to return to life
See above.

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Christian - Catholic
Spiritual, but not attached to organized religion.

Have your religious practices changed? Uncertain
I still don't practice any organized religion, but I think I am more spiritual.

What is your religion now? Unaffiliated - Nothing in particular - Religious unaffiliated
Spiritual, but not affiliated with organized religion.

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 had no idea what I was going through.

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes
Awareness of my existence on earth and that there was more beyond.

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
In retrospect, I thought it might have been my maternal grandmother, but I couldn't see her face and I had never met her.

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? Yes
See above: that there was an existence beyond my earthly realm.

During your experience, did you gain information about universal connection or oneness? Yes
See above.

During your experience, did you gain information about the existence of God? Uncertain
I was told if I chose to go, I was not going to be able to come back.

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? Uncertain
I was only given the experience to go or stay.

During your experience, did you gain information about an afterlife? Yes
I sensed that there was life after death.

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? Yes
I felt an obligation to stay on earth.

During your experience, did you gain information about love? Yes
I just felt such a wonderful feeling of calmness, love, and peace without pain.

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience? Moderate changes in my life
I got an advanced degree and, as a teacher, I felt a strong responsibility to my students: to tell the truth, not to abuse my position, and hopefully for them to enjoy the gift of learning. Currently, I am living with stage 4 cholangiocarcinoma. This came out of the blue. I am grateful that I don't fear death because of my NDE, but I am going through a painful time.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Yes
I tend to gravitate toward people with an open mind and empathy.

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes
I think I thought I was dreaming. I questioned one of the nurses taking care of me after the birth and she told me what happened. I had a weird feeling that the experience was my fault, that somehow I wasn't strong enough. Let me mention here that during my pregnancy I had a feeling that I was having twins, but it was not medically proven until I got to the hospital and an X-ray was taken. I don't remember that happening.

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
I feel this experience was very clear.

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Yes
I am an artist, and at the time of my NDE I didn’t know I would use my creativity and art skills to make it a profession. I now paint a lot of sky and cloud paintings, as if I am always looking up.

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? If called to go this time, I will.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes
Probably a few decades. I don’t remember exactly. There wasn’t much research, and I didn’t really want anyone to judge me as wacky. Now, it is more researched and real. When I tell people about my NDE, they are accepting and truly interested.

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 probably real
I put it on the back burner and went about being a mother of unexpected twins. There was no time for anything else.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real
I have time to think about it more now, and particularly with my cancer diagnosis, I have been forced to think medically about what I want in the case of my imminent death.

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? Yes
I have had a few out-of-body experiences.

Did the questions asked and information that you provided accurately and comprehensively describe your experience? Yes
I feel it was very accurate.

Anything else to add? No.