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1. Introduction to Group NDEs
A so-called “group” near-death experience (NDE) is a rare NDE that involves the near-death of a group of people at the same time and place. A group NDE is a form of shared NDE involving more than one person. The following group NDE appears in the International Association for Near-Death Studies publication Vital Signs (Volume XIX, No. 3, 2000) and is described in a greater way in May Eulitt’s and Dr. Stephen Hoyer’s book, Fireweaver: The Story of a Life, a Near-Death, and Beyond. May Eulitt finally made the transition into spirit on February 19, 2002, due to complications following a surgical procedure to repair one of her heart valves. She was 52 years old. The following is her group NDE as described to Dr. Stephen Hoyer:
2. May Eulitt’s Group Near-Death Experience
During the fall of 1971, when I was 22 years old, I shared a near-death experience with my cousin, James, and his best friend, Rashad, who was from India. Both young men were on a break from school and were staying with my family on our farm. One afternoon the three of us went to the cornfield to cut fodder. To get to the field we had to go through a metal gate, and we took turns climbing down to open and shut it. By late afternoon a storm started brewing in the west, and we decided to quit for the day. It was James’ turn to open the gate, and as he did so, he reached up for my arm to climb back up onto the wagon. I was leaning the wrong way, and his weight pulled me toward him. Rashad grabbed my other arm to steady me, and we were in just this position when the lightning hit us.
I saw the lightning sparkle along the top of the gate. The next thing we knew, we were in a large room or hall made of dark stone. The ceiling was so high and the gloom was so thick we couldn’t see the top. There were no furnishings or wall hangings, just cold, black stone all around. I knew I should be afraid, but I just felt peaceful, floating along there in the gloom with my two friends in the great, dark hall. The stately walls of this place loomed above us and seemed to radiate both great power and also great masculinity. I remember thinking it would have suited King Arthur. It was at that point that I realized that the three of us were united in thought and body. Images of Arthur came to me from James and Rashad. James saw only a cosmic version of the king. Rashad seemed to [be] envisioning himself in the time of Arthur. As we all became conscious of each other’s thoughts, I suddenly knew James and Rashad better than I have ever known anyone else.
We realized there was light coming into the chamber from an archway at one end. It was more than just light. It was a golden, embracing warmth. It gave off a feeling of peace and contentment more intense than anything we had ever felt. We were drawn toward it. We weren’t talking, but we were communicating with each other on some other level, seeing through each other’s eyes. As we came to the archway and passed through, we entered a beautiful valley.
There were meadows and tree-lined hills that led to tall mountains in the distance. Everything glistened with golden sparks of light.
We saw that the sparkling lights were tiny, transparent bubbles that drifted in the air and sparkled on the grass. We realized that each tiny sparkle was a soul. To me, the valley appeared to be Heaven, but at the same time I knew that James and Rashad were seeing it differently. James saw it as the Gulf of Souls. Rashad saw it as Nirvana, and somehow we knew all this without speaking. The light began gathering at the far end of the valley, and slowly, out of the mist, a pure white being began to materialize. I saw an angel with a strong, bright face, but not like you’d usually imagine. She was closer to a strong, Viking Valkyrie. I knew she was the special angel that watches over the women of my family, and I perceived her name to be Hellena. James saw this same being as his late father, a career Naval officer, in a white dress uniform. Rashad perceived the being to be the Enlightened One, or Buddha.
The being spoke first to Rashad and welcomed him. He said that Rashad’s time on Earth was done. He was worthy now of Nirvana. Rashad asked why James and I were there and was told that we were part of the reason why he was worthy of Nirvana. His two great friends loved him so much that they had willingly accompanied him on his last journey. At the same time, however, James received a different message. He had been worried about what his father would think about his anti-war protest activities, and his father told him he was proud of him for standing up for what he believed. He knew he was not a coward because a coward would not have made this journey with Rashad. I received yet another message in which Hellena told me she was glad I had remembered the example of strength, honesty, wisdom, and loyalty taught to me by my family.
We spent what seemed like an eternity in this place as we talked to our separate, yet joined, entities. They said they appeared to us in this way because back in the real world we were physically joined when the lightning struck us. They said it also symbolized the joining of all religions and doctrines. They said I would live to see a new age of tolerance, that the souls and hearts of humanity would be joined as the three of us were.
The guides taught us that doctrine and creed and race meant nothing. No matter what we believed we were all children joined under one God, and that the only rule was God’s true law – do unto others as you would have them do unto you. We should treat all people as if they were a part of our soul because they were. All living things in the universe were connected to one another. They said that soon humanity would mature enough to assume a higher place in the universal scheme of things, but until then we must learn acceptance and tolerance and love for each other. They said there would come a new age when people would not be able to endure seeing others homeless and hungry. We would realize that only by helping each other could we truly help ourselves.
Eventually we were told that it was time to go. We would not be allowed to stay longer because it was not yet time for me or for James, only for Rashad. The enlightened one told Rashad he would have a little time before he returned to take care of his worldly affairs. James’ father told him he would return to this place soon after Rashad, but the two of them had to go back for now so that I could. I said I would willing stay here in this valley with them, but Hellena told me that I had not fulfilled my destiny; that I had children yet unborn.
We drifted slowly toward the archway. The pull became stronger and we were literally thrown back into the world. We floated for a while there, hovering above our bodies.
Some of my cousins had been in the next field and had seen what had happened. We saw them all come running to where we lay. James and Rashad’s hands were still stuck to my arms. We saw my cousins pry their fingers loose so they could turn Rashad over to help him.
When our hands were pried loose, James and I re-entered our bodies. We felt as if we were on fire, but it turned out that we had only minor injuries. Rashad, it seemed, being on the end, had taken most of the charge. The doctors said that the lightning had caused damage to his heart, lungs, and liver. He remained in the hospital for several weeks. During that time, tests revealed that James had a brain tumor that would eventually claim his life.
As soon as Rashad could travel, James took him home to India. He offered to stay, but Rashad told him that he wished solitude for his final time. Rashad took on the life of the Ascetic, in the Vedic tradition. He asked his wife to stay with her family because he wanted his last days to be spent in spiritual awakenings. About a year and a half later, on a cold day in January, Rashad returned to Nirvana. James and I knew when his soul left the world without being told.
James lived about three years after he found out he had the brain tumor. He gave most of his considerable inheritance to a charity that educated young people in India. I, on the other hand, have survived for another thirty years (so far) with the knowledge that this experience which I shared with my closest friends has been a guiding force in my life. I strive every day to meet my destiny, whatever it may be, with the same quiet dignity and resolution they showed when they met theirs. They have truly been my pathfinders, and I know that the connection I shared with them so long ago is the same connection we all share. We just sometimes fail to realize it.
3. An Analysis of May Eulitt’s Group NDE
May Eulitt’s group NDE is one of the rarest and most unusual testimonies in NDE research. It describes three people who shared the same spiritual experience while each understood it through their own cultural and religious beliefs. Most NDEs happen to one person. Eulitt’s terstimony combines a shared NDE, a group NDE, and a cross-cultural spiritual experience. It raises important questions about consciousness, how personal experience relates to spiritual reality, and whether different religions may describe the same deeper truth in different ways.
One of the most amazing parts of the experience is that the three people seemed to share the same awareness. After they were struck by lightning, May, James, and Rashad said they traveled together. They also shared thoughts, feelings, and perceptions without speaking. May said she knew what the others were thinking and seeing while still being aware of her own experience. Telepathic communication is often reported in individual NDEs, but stories of several people sharing the same awareness at the same time are extremely rare. It suggests that consciousness during an NDE may not depend on the normal limits of the physical brain.
Another unusual feature is that all three experienced the same place but understood it in different ways based on their own beliefs. May saw the beautiful valley as Heaven and met an angelic guardian named Hellena. James understood the same place through images connected with his deceased father and the legends of King Arthur. Rashad saw the same place as Nirvana and recognized the shining Being of Light as the Buddha. Even though each person described it differently, all three believed they were sharing the same experience. This matches what many cross-cultural NDE studies have found. People from different religions often report the same basic experiences but describe them using symbols that are familiar to their own culture and faith. This suggests that spiritual reality may be the same for everyone, even if people understand it in different ways.
Eulitt’s group NDE also includes many of the classic features found in thousands of other NDEs. These include an out-of-body experience (OBE), entering another realm, deep peace, meeting bright spiritual beings, communicating without words, feeling outside of time, receiving spiritual teachings, not wanting to return, and being deeply changed afterward. These familiar features make the account consistent with many other NDE reports, even though its group nature is very unusual.
The spiritual message was also important. Instead of teaching that one religion was better than another, the spiritual beings stressed love, compassion, acceptance, and helping others. They taught that race, religion, and religious beliefs matter much less than treating people with kindness because all life is spiritually connected. This message is very similar to what many NDErs from different cultures report. The Golden Rule becomes the main spiritual principle, replacing religious divisions with the idea that all people belong to one spiritual family.
Eulitt’s group NDE also included what seemed to be knowledge of future events. Rashad was told that his life on Earth was ending. James was told that he would return to the spiritual world not long after Rashad. Doctors later discovered that Rashad had suffered serious internal injuries from the lightning strike and that James had an undiagnosed brain tumor. Both later died within about the time suggested during the experience. May was told that she would survive because she still had children to have and a purpose to fulfill. She recovered and lived for many more years. These events are evidence that Eulitt’s group NDE included real knowledge of the future.
Eulitt’s group NDE also shows one of the strongest aftereffects of NDEs: lasting personal change. James spent much of the rest of his life and wealth helping young people in India. Rashad chose a simple spiritual life as he prepared for death. May Eulitt spent the rest of her life teaching compassion, tolerance, and the spiritual unity of all people. These changes match the long-term effects often reported by NDErs, including less fear of death, greater concern for others, and a stronger sense of spiritual purpose.
From a scientific point of view, one strength of Eulitt’s group NDE is that it involves several people who reported sharing an extraordinary experience after a well-documented lightning strike. Similar experiences reported by more than one person are harder to explain as private hallucinations.
Overall, Eulitt’s group NDE is one of the most fascinating shared NDE reports ever published. Its shared awareness, different cultural views of the same spiritual reality, message of love and acceptance, apparent knowledge of future events, and lasting life changes make it an important contribution to NDE research. It is also evidence that consciousness survives death. Eulitt’s group NDE challenges simple explanations and encourages a deeper study of consciousness and spirituality.
