ATHEISM - Dannion Brinkley was an atheist whose life was dramatically transformed when he was hit by lightning and had a near-death experience (NDE). Later he wrote about it in his book “Saved by the Light.” Here are snippets from his extensive NDE experience:
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From immense pain I found myself engulfed by peace and tranquility. . . . A tunnel was forming, opening like the eye of a hurricane and coming toward me. . . . I looked ahead into the darkness. There was a light up there, and I began to move toward it as quickly as possible.
I looked to my right and could see a silver form appearing like a silhouette through mist. As it approached I began to feel a deep sense of love that encompassed all of the meanings of the word. . . .The Being of Light stood directly in front of me. As I gazed into its essence I could see prisms of color, as though it were composed of thousands of tiny diamonds, each emitting the colors of the rainbow. . . .
The Being of Light engulfed me, and as it did I began to experience my whole life, feeling and seeing everything that had ever happened to me. . . . When I finished the life review, I arrived at a point of reflection in which I was able to look back on what I had just witnessed and come to a conclusion. I was ashamed. I realized I had led a very selfish life, rarely reaching out to help anyone. . . . I hadn't given a damn about my fellow humans.
I looked at the Being of Light and felt a deep sense of sorrow and shame. I expected a rebuke. . . . “Who you are is the difference that God makes,” said the Being. “And that difference is love.” As the being of Light moved away, I felt the burden of this guilt being removed. . . . I could hear the Being’s message in my head, again as if through telepathy:
“Humans are powerful spiritual beings meant to create good on the Earth. This good isn’t usually accomplished in bold actions, but in singular acts of kindness between people. It’s the little things that count, because they are more spontaneous and show who you truly are.”
BUDDHISM - This is a near-death experience case from Thailand provided by Dr. Dhebhanom Muangman, president of the Bangkok Institute of Psychical Research. He simply describes the woman as a 58-year-old university professor who was educated in the United States. Here is his report:
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The near-death experience began in her kitchen as a cobra bit her when she reached down to turn on the propane that fed her stove. Patient was put in a coffin which was placed in a Buddhist temple. She remained there for three days before reviving.
Her NDE began with an autoscopic out-of-body experience. She then found herself in front of her house. Two men in western clothes appeared and told her to get up. They said they wanted to take her for a walk. She looked back and found that the house had disappeared. The path in front of her was misty. The weather was cool and pleasant. She saw crowds of people from which emerged an older man who she referred to as uncle (father's elder brother) “Pong.”
“Pong” told her that he was dead, and was there to welcome her. (He had, in fact, died the day after she was bitten by a cobra).
Two men, not described, came to “take her” for judgment. She came before a “judge” (not described) who told her that although her name was the right name, it was actually another person of the same name who was to have been taken. He instructed the two to take her back.
The patient resisted, and asked, before she went back, to know if heaven and hell were real. The judge instructed the guides to take her on a tour of heaven and hell. She was taken to heaven first. Her experience of heaven was of a cool place where birds, flowers and beautiful houses were found in abundance. Hell was a place where souls were tortured in various ways, with whippings specifically mentioned.
After her tour was over, she revived, and began to beat on the lid of the coffin. The monks in the temple ran away, frightened, thinking that she was a ghost. One of her family members opened the coffin, and let her out.
CHRISTIANITY – Tiffany Snow was a successful songwriter and record producer in Nashville when she was struck by lightning and had a near-death experience that transformed her into a healer and teacher who says she now is “a worker for the Big Guy.” Here is part of her testimony from her book “Psychic Gifts in the Christian Life – Tools to Connect.”
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The lightning struck, and I did an uncontrollable electrical dance as my muscles spasmed. I felt no pain, and all went black. I died. Next, I found myself standing on nothing, way up in the universe, and there were distant colorful planets all around me. . . . I had a sense of being able to see not only in front of me, but all around at the same time.
Floating just a few feet from me, I saw a man with a see-through body like mine. He spoke to me with a voice that I heard in my head: "Don't be afraid, it's ok." Meanwhile, we were speeding toward a great elliptical ball of spinning light, brilliantly white in the middle and yellowish on the outside edges. The closer we got to it, the more I felt overwhelming Love; it seemed so warm and comforting, I felt like a child being held.
We stopped. The bright light was still far from me. I wanted to go on; I felt like a magnet, irresistibly drawn. The desire to "blend" grew stronger the closer we got. I knew the light beyond was the very Presence of God, heaven itself! A glowing luminosity appeared in front of me, coming together to form a head, shoulders, a body.
A voice called out from the golden sparkles massed in front of me."What have you learned?" he asked. The voice was so soft and tender, yet the presence of Divine Authority was there; I knew that it was the voice of God's own son, Jesus Christ.
Then life events unfolded before my eyes - times when I showed anger, and when I showed love, appeared like a movie. I could feel the anger and hurt of the other person whenever I had been mean; and I also felt the anger as it rippled on through to others. Then, where I showed love to people, I felt that too. And I felt how much further that love rippled out from person to person, as a warm pulse triggering cause and effect - such joy!
Then Christ said, "The flesh is the test of the spirit … Love each other." And, I faintly heard voices singing the most beautiful melody I had ever heard, singing from the white light. A hot tingling sensation filled me to my toes. I was told, "Welcome to the world of healers."
Then the Christ sparkled and faded away. Beauty and colors twinkled around me, like being in the midst of a sparkling aurora borealis. . . . I then felt myself sinking, as if falling through a bed. I was being pulled back. . . .
Now, I do healing work in three clinics in California, and I fly all over seeing people get well, through prayer and hot hands. I never believed in healing or even near-death experiences before. The healing happens when I remember how it was up there, and I see myself in front of Christ, holding the sick person in my arms. Then I feel that warm tingling again and the miracles happen, like I'm connecting to God just from my memory.
I can't wait to go back. Until then, I'll try to make a better movie for my life review.
HINDUISM – Researchers Ian Stevenson and Satwant Pasricha documented 16 cases of near-death experiences in India for the “Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research.” They reported Hindus frequently say they were taken to the after-death realm by functionaries who then discover they’ve brought the wrong person, whereupon the person revives. Here is Mangal Singh’s account which the researchers say is typical of a Hindu NDE:
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I was lying down on a cot when two people came, lifted me up, and took me along. I heard a hissing sound, but I couldn't see anything. Then I came to a gate. There was grass, and the ground seemed to be sloping. A man was there, and he reprimanded the men who had brought me, "Why have you brought the wrong person? Why have you not brought the man you had been sent for?" The two men ran away, and the senior man said, "You go back."
Suddenly I saw two big pots of boiling water, although there was no fire, no firewood, and no fireplace. Then the man pushed me with his hand and said, "You had better hurry up and go back." When he touched me, I suddenly became aware of how hot his hand was. Then I realized why the pots were boiling. The heat was coming from his hands. Suddenly I regained consciousness, and I had a severe burning sensation in my left arm."
FOOTNOTE: The researchers added that a boil appeared on Mangal’s arm where he had been touched during his NDE and that he later said the “official” had picked up a heavy Indian staff and was about to beat the two “employees” before they ran away.
ISLAMIC FAITH – At the age of twenty, Mebruke drowned while swimming in the Mediterranean Sea. Here is the essence of her near-death experience as recorded in the book “Parting Visions” by Melvin Morse.
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I went under for the fourth time, and my body went limp and I wasn't aware of it anymore. It was at this point that I saw a beautiful white light. It was so bright and yet it had such a calming effect that the more I looked at it, the calmer I felt. To this day I can't really say what that light was. In my religion there are beings called angels who are made out of pure white light. Maybe that is what I saw.
Anyway, while I was underwater, I heard a voice say, "You are not to die like this." Suddenly I felt this energy shoot through me from my feet to my head, and at the same time I seemed to be propelled out of the water. It was as if someone was physically bringing me out of the water, but I can swear that there was no physical being there.
I was moved through the water, I don't know how else to describe it. Before long a boat came, and a man reached over the side and pulled me out.
JUDAISM - Dr. Rene Turner recounts her near-death experience in Kevin Williams’ book “Nothing Better than Death.” Here are snippets from her NDE in her own words:
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I have no memory of the process of dying or leaving my body. I was moving head first through a dark maelstrom of what looked like black boiling clouds, feeling that I was being beckoned to the sides, which frightened me. Ahead was a tiny dot of bright light which steadily grew and brightened as I drew nearer. . . .
I arrived in an explosion of glorious light into a room with insubstantial walls, standing before a man about in his thirties, about six feet tall, reddish brown shoulder length hair and an incredibly neat, short beard and mustache. He wore a simple white robe.
Light seemed to emanate from him and I felt he had great age and wisdom. He welcomed me with great love, tranquility, and peace (indescribable) - no words. I felt, "I can sit at your feet forever and be content," which struck me as a strange thing to think/say/feel. I became fascinated by the fabric of his robe, trying to figure out how light could be woven!
He stood beside me and directed me to look to my left, where I was replaying my life's less complementary moments. I relived those moments and felt not only what I had done but also the hurt I had caused. Some of the things I would have never imagined could have caused pain. . . . When I became burdened with guilt, I was directed to other events which gave joy to others, although I felt unworthy. It seemed the balance was in my favor. I received great love. . . .
The Person who first welcomed me came and placed his hand on my shoulder and turned me towards him. He said, "You must return. You have a task to perform." |
“He had light blue eyes, that were filled with knowledge of what was right the instant you looked at them. He had shoulder length hair that was a lovely blond with a slightly rust reddish tinge in it. His hair moved with the same grace and flowing movement that his clothing had; it was as though I saw him in slow motion.
“I looked up and saw standing at the foot of my bed the biggest character I had ever seen in my life. I hadn’t heard anyone come into the room. He just stood there looking at me. It was an angel of the Lord! He was huge! He looked about seven feet tall and had blond hair longer than mine. He glowed. It was such a shock to see him standing there. I could have blown a hole in the wall getting out if I could have made myself move. He said, ‘I have been sent by the Lord. . . .’ One particular thing I remember about him was that he didn’t have any wings.” - Jesse Duplantis, evangelist 
