This site uses affiliate links to Amazon.com Books for which IANDS can earn an affiliate commission if you click on those links and make purchases through them.
1. Introduction to Death and NDEs
People having near-death experiences (NDEs) unanimously report losing their fear of death upon return. Many NDErs actually look forward to their own death, a time when they can return to the beautiful realm they experienced. The NDE changes people‘s ideas of death forever. This is true even for many people who only read about the NDE. Some experiencers temporarily are not even aware they died at the time of their NDE. This demonstrates how insignificant death is really is. It reveals that death is only a very brief transition from the physical to the spiritual – like walking through a door. It has also been described by some experiencers to be similar to the process of waking up from a dream – the dream being the physical world.
2. Life After Death Is Rational
One unanimous aspect involving people who have NDEs is that they know absolutely there is life after death. They no longer believe in an afterlife. They know there is an afterlife. The idea that NDE testimonies provide this knowledge has nothing to do with religious faith. Faith implies the possibility of doubt. Knowledge implies certainty. NDEs are based on solid knowledge and facts – not faith. If a million astronauts go to Mars and return to Earth saying that there’s Martians living there, it is then that I would know for sure that there’s Martians living on Mars. In the same way, millions of people have returned from death saying that there is life after death. Can millions of people experiencing the same thing all be wrong? Isn’t it easier to believe they are right? For this reason, the only rational conclusion is that there is life after death. Skepticism then becomes irrational.
3. When Is Death Really Death?
The term “near-death” is a misnomer because the evidence suggests that people actually journey beyond death during NDEs. Philosophically, to say that such experiences are “near-death” is like saying a woman is “near-pregnant.” Either a woman is pregnant or they are not. Philosophically, it would seem that a person is either dead or they aren’t.
The medical definition of “death” has been debated for centuries depending on the culture, social conditions, and the role of the medical profession. The newest definition (i.e., “brain death”) may not yet be adequate for encompassing all of death’s meanings. There is no consensus within the scientific community concerning when conscious life begins. In the same way, there is no consensus within the scientific community concerning when physical life ends. Determining the precise time of death is, in fact, medically and scientifically impossible according to cardiologist Dr. Michael Sabom who states, “It used to be thought that the point of death was a single moment in time. But it is now thought that death is a process, not a single moment.”
But because doctors need something to go by, they have come up with various legal and social definitions over the years for the sake of finality. Here are the terms we’re most familiar with:
4. The Classifications of Death
The following are the classifications of death:
- Heart-Lung Failure: This was the traditional definition of death until advances in medical technology made it possible for people to survive this condition.
- Clinical Death: The patient’s breathing and heartbeat stops but they might still be able to be resuscitated with CPR or other means, depending on why the vital signs ceased and under what conditions it occurred
- Lower brain death: The brain stem controlling the automatic functions of the body stops working. The length of time which the brain stem must be inactive before a person is declared legally dead varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Complicating the issue, the same person can be considered legally dead if about to become an organ donor, but legally alive if not.
- Higher Brain Death: The brain stem still functions, keeping the heart, lungs and digestive system working, but the sensing, thinking part of the brain has shut down. When such a “person” is dead, the body might still be functioning. But for all practical intents and purposes, there is no ethical reason to keep the body alive.
- Whole Brain Death: Both lower and higher brain functions have ceased. This definition was first developed by the ad hoc committee at Harvard Medical School in 1968. In 1980, hospitals were permitted to begin using it as a determination of death in patients. But even though a person might suffer from whole brain death, they can still have a heartbeat which only ends due to the failure of the lungs. If the lungs are forced to keep breathing, such people can continue to digest food, excrete waste, and even bear children. Whether or not such people are “dead” is currently up for political debate.
- Biological Death: This is when permanent cellular damage occurs to the brain due to a lack of oxygen. By definition, this process is irreversible and final. By definition only, nobody has ever returned to life from this condition.
- Metaphysical Death: This occurs when the silver cord breaks during th death process. The silver cord is the “umbilical” which connects the physical body to the spirit body. Once this cord is broken, returning to the physical body is impossible.
Whichever definition science ultimately agrees on will influence how people are treated in hospitals, how people get organs for transplant, whether women have abortions, and when doctors perform stem-cell research – not to mention the implications within religious, philosophical and metaphysical circles.
5. Perhaps the Best Case of a Person Surviving Death
Pam Reynolds met all the criteria for surviving whole brain death. While in this state, she experienced an extraordinary NDE. Because her death was not final, it cannot be said that she survived “biological” death. However, her case provides an excellent example of how there is nothing “near” about the so-called “near-death” experience.
Pam’s extraordinary NDE occurred while undergoing a rare surgical procedure to remove a brain aneurysm. The procedure required her to be:
- Put unconscious using an anesthetic.
- Her body temperature lowered to 60 degrees.
- Her heart and breathing stopped.
- Her brain waves allowed to flatten
- The blood drained from her head.
While in this condition, she floated out of her body and watched the doctors operate on her lifeless body. Later, she was able to describe the surgical instruments, the conversation, and the procedures performed during her surgery.
6. NDEs Are Not Exactly Identical But Common Elements Can Be Found
Some skeptics claim NDEs are not real afterlife experiences because they are not identical. On the other hand, other skeptics claim NDEs are not real afterlife experiences because they are “hard-wired” in the brain which explains the similarities. Which is true? In my opinion, neither. Here is why:
a. No Experience on Earth is Exactly Identical
Think of the near-death experience as you would any Earth experience. Everyone’s perspective is unique from everyone else. Yet, there are similarities to Earthly experiences. People go to work, go to school, live in homes, have sex, eat, sleep, practice religion, travel, visit family and friends, etc. Despite these similarities, no two Earth experiences are identical.
b. No Near-Death Experience is Exactly Identical
Some people travel back in time, meet a worshipped religious figure, travel the universe, view their past lives, meet future children, etc. Everyone has a unique perspective. Yet, common aspects can be found in NDEs.
7. Common Elements Found In NDEs
Within a number of NDEs a pattern becomes evident. This pattern can be found in children’s NDEs as well. The pattern (and any single experience) includes one or more of these things:
(1) Feeling that the “self” has left the body and is hovering overhead. Sometimes a “silver cord” is seen connected to the body. Sometimes the person may later be able to describe who was where and what happened, sometimes in detail. Some people who were born blind can see while out of their body.
(2) Moving through a dark space or tunnel and having a sense of timelessness. Sometimes the Earth can be seen from outer space.
(3) Experiencing intensely powerful emotions, ranging from bliss to terror. Sometimes heavenly music is heard.
(4) Encountering a light. It is usually described as golden, or white, and as being magnetic and loving; occasionally it is perceived as a reflection of the fires of hell.
(5) Receiving some variant of the message, “It is not yet your time” from a heavenly being by means of mental telepathy.
(6) Meeting others; may be deceased loved ones, recognized from life or not; sacred beings; pets; guides; angels; orbs; unidentified entities and/or “Beings of Light“; sometimes symbols from one’s own or other religious traditions.
(7) A life review, seeing and re-experiencing major and trivial events of one’s life, sometimes from the perspective of the other people involved, and coming to some conclusion about the adequacy of that life and what changes are needed.
(8) Having a sense of understanding everything, of knowing how the universe works.
(9) Reaching a boundary – a cliff, fence, water, some kind of barrier that may not be crossed if one is to return to life.
(10) In some cases, entering a city or library or receiving station.
(11) Rarely, receiving previously unknown information about one’s life – i.e., adoption or hidden parentage, deceased siblings. Some bring back scientific discoveries. Some bring back knowledge concerning the future. Some bring back knowledge of past lives. Some bring back information concerning astrology.
(12) Decision to return may be voluntary or involuntary. If voluntary, it usually associated with unfinished responsibilities.
(13) Returning to life and to the body. Afterward, an increase in spirituality may be found. Often, dramatic changes within the person are discovered.
(14) Some interesting facts concerning NDEs are: A group of people can die together and share the same NDE. Some NDEs have occurred when the brain is verified to be dead. NDEs have been occurring throughout recorded history. They happen to people of all backgrounds (see below).
(15) Most NDEs are pleasant, but others are deeply frightening. For additional information about frightening NDEs, contact the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS) for a special publication.
8. Unusual Facts About NDEs
(1) Many Hollywood stars have reported experiencing an NDE.
(2) A group of people can die together and share the same NDE.
(3) A woman born blind was able to see during her NDE.
(4) Many people see deceased pets in heaven and communicate with them telepathically.
(5) One man in particular had thousands of NDE-like experiences.
(6) A man observed events on Earth occurring hundreds of miles away from his body.
(7) Infants and children have NDEs that are similar to adult NDEs.
(8) Scientific discoveries are brought back from NDEs.
(9) One man was dead for three days and returned to life.
(10) A man traveled back into time and lived in the past.
(11) Some people discover reincarnation during an NDE.
(12) One woman had an NDE due to a sexual orgasm.
(13) One woman saw all three of her bodies: physical, soul, spirit.
(14) A woman saw her children’s’ future.
(15) One woman met a man during her NDE who was her future son yet unborn.
(16) A woman saw her baby in heaven during her NDE – a baby that was previously miscarried.
(17) A woman saw the “Angel of Death” during her NDE.
(18) One particular child saw an angel turn into a mermaid during her NDE.
(19) A man saw Jesus on a cross in heaven. Another man traveled back in time to witness the actual crucifixion of Jesus. Another man traveled back into time and momentarily lived in the minds of Jesus and his disciples. All three of these occurred during an NDE.
(20) A man saw the Being of Light change into many different religious characters such as Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, etc.
(21) NDEs happen to people of all backgrounds:
9. NDE Researchers’ Comments on the NDE
Life after life, the NDE testimonies differ – but their message is the same. NDErs report afterlife journeys colored by their beliefs, cultures, ages, and abilities, yet threaded with striking commonalities. Researchers note that people tend to integrate what they encountered into the worldview they brought with them, which helps explain the wide range of descriptions and symbols. Children’s testimonies echo adults’ experiences. Those born blind describe seeing for the first time during their experience, even if their sight does not remain on returning. Many liken death to changing the station on a radio – shifting to a frequency that matches one’s inner state. Across narratives, thresholds appear: a point beyond which return is impossible, and a realm where earthly limitations – physical or mental – fall away. Taken together, these testimonies suggest not chaos but coherence: diverse doorways opening into a consistently transformative reality.
“One of the near-death experience truths is that each person integrates their near-death experience into their own pre-existing belief system.” (Jody Long)
“There are so many different descriptions of NDEs because there are so many different perceptions, perspectives, beliefs, biases, backgrounds, and afterlife realms to fit them.” (Kevin Williams)
“Childhood NDEs are similar to adult NDEs.” (P.M.H. Atwater)
People born blind have NDEs which are similar to sighted people. However, people born blind see for the first time in their lives during their NDEs, but they do not retain their sight when they return to their bodies. (Dr. Kenneth Ring)
“Our life on Earth can be thought of as one channel on a radio. At death, it is as if someone spins the dial on the radio to a different channel. The previous channel is still there, but we are now experiencing a different channel. That is all death is – a change to another channel. We go to that particular channel where our speed of vibration fits a particular channel on the radio dial.” (P.M.H. Atwater)
“There exists a point of no return during the NDE and once this barrier is crossed, returning to our body is impossible.” (Dr. Kenneth Ring)
“All physical and mental handicaps are corrected immediately after death.” (Dr. Kenneth Ring)
10. Near-Death Experiencers’ Comments on Death
Death is not an end point but a doorway – less a failure of biology than a change of address. Across NDE testimonies, the message is startlingly consistent: when the body falls away, awareness opens. People describe stepping through “an open doorway” into a homecoming of light and love; identities remain, fear disappears, and what’s real becomes vividly more real. Time loosens into an eternal now. Communication is mind-to-mind. The Light has many names and no requirement for one – what matters is its unmistakable signature of absolute love and truth.
These testimonies also challenge our assumptions about judgment and value. No earthly wealth crosses over; what travels with us is the love we gave. Life reviews – if they occur – are not tribunals but mirrors, where we experience our choices from the inside out and often discover that we are our own most honest judge. For some, separation softens: children appear in the prime of life; prayer registers across the veil through the simple physics of connection. Even hell is framed not as punishment but as distance from love – and a distance we are free to close.
If death is an awakening, then living becomes a preparation for clarity. We practice love now so we can recognize it then. Those who’ve crossed that threshold and returned, offering a coherent picture: death changes our state, not our essence – and invites us to live this life with the light in mind.
“If I lived a billion years more, in my body or yours, there’s not a single experience on Earth that could ever be as good as being dead. Nothing.” (Dr. Dianne Morrissey)
“Death makes us more alive. We are more dead now while alive on Earth than we are when we are physically dead.” (P.M.H. Atwater)
“Death is just a body problem.” (Chuck Griswold)
“Life does not end when we die. Death is a rebirth into a spirit world of light and love, a transition from the physical to the spiritual that is no more frightening or painful than passing between rooms through an open doorway. It is a joyful homecoming to our natural home.” (Betty Eadie)
“Death means losing your physical body. Nothing else is lost.” (P.M.H. Atwater)
“Death is leaving your physical body and facing God. We then become pure Mind. Our minds become naked in that our thoughts are there for all to understand perfectly.” (Dr. George Ritchie)
“Birth is a sleep and a forgetting. Death is an awakening and a remembering.” (Josiane Antonette)
“Birth in the physical is death in the spiritual. Death in the physical is the birth in the spiritual.” (Edgar Cayce)
“Death is a process similar to waking up from a dream.” (John Star)
“Death is like falling asleep or like waking up. We leave one state of consciousness and enter another.” (Joni Maggi)
“Death means dying to the physical world. It also means being born into the spirit world. When we are born into this physical world, we fall asleep and forget who we really are. When we are born into the spirit world, we awaken and remember who we really are.” (Edgar Cayce)
“Death is actually a rebirth into a greater life of understanding and knowledge that stretches forward and backward in time.” (John Star)
“Life and death are one, and only those who will consider the experience as one may come to understand or comprehend what peace indeed means.” (Edgar Cayce)
“The memory of an NDE is more real than the memory of what one did yesterday.” (Dr. Rene Turner)
“I knew with total certainty that everything was evolving exactly the way it should and that the ultimate destiny for every living being is to return to the Source, the Light, Pure Love.” (Juliet Nightingale)
“Immediately after death, the connection to our humanity begins to wear off and an experience of being light as air, extremely happy and in love begins to happen.” (Karen Schaeffer)
“The Being of Light can be called Jesus, Buddha, Yahweh, the Great Spirit, our Higher Self, etc. which can be a feedback of our own religious perspective. The name of the Light Being does not matter. Only the recognition of absolute love and truth is important.” (Mellen-Thomas Benedict)
“In the light of God, there are no opinions, conclusions or beliefs – only being. It is being in a state of total harmonic perfection.” (John Star)
“From the light we come to Earth and to the light we will return.” (Josiane Antonette)
“The only thing we take with us at death is the love we have given away while on Earth.” (Laurelynn Martin)
“Death means breaking through the barrier of space and time.” (Beverly Brodsky)
“Our senses and our sense of awareness are tremendously greater when we are outside of our physical body.” (Thomas Sawyer)
“The last to be overcome is death, and the knowledge of life is the knowledge of death.” (Edgar Cayce)
“You grow to heaven. You don’t go to heaven.” (Edgar Cayce)
“Time stops when we die. Past, present and future become the eternal now.” (Dr. Gerard Landry)
“When children die, they are not children after death. They appear to be as they would in the prime of their life.” (Ruth Montgomery)
“There is nothing worth worrying about – not even death.” (Joni Maggi)
“Getting back into your body from an NDE is like jumping into a swimming pool.” (Pam Reynolds)
“Death is one of the most important lessons that must be learned by those who are affected by it.” (Karen Schaeffer)
“Death, as the end of life, is an illusion. Death is only a change from one state of existence to another. After death, you take with you what you are, not what you own. When you die, everything you have said, thought, or done will be known by all. There are no secrets in the afterlife. You will eventually know the motivation of others who have touched your life. You will be judged as you judge others. Your prosecutor will be yourself. Communication in the spiritual world is telepathic. Your thoughts are answered as rapidly as your mind can send and receive them. Souls with like thoughts are drawn to each other in the afterlife. Souls with evil thoughts avoid the light because they are too ashamed to have their life revealed. Hell is a state of being we create by being away from God until we choose to return to him. It is a state totally devoid of love. That which controls you in the physical world (such as an addiction) will control you in the spiritual world. We can help a deceased loved one’s spiritual transition through prayer. Prayer helps because our connection of love with that person. Grief for a deceased loved one is like the pain felt by mothers who experience “the empty nest syndrome.” It is only a temporary loss, because they have only gone to their next stage of life.” (Sandra Rogers)
11. Conclusion: What NDEs Invite Us to Remember
Taken together, these testimonies point to a simple but sweeping insight: death is not an ending to be feared but a passage into clearer life. Whether we approach it through medical debates about “when death is death,” through carefully documented cases like Pam Reynolds, or through the striking regularities in people’s reports – the out-of-body vantage, the welcoming Light, the boundary, the life review – the picture that emerges is consistent. Death is a process of transition, not annihilation; consciousness continues; love and truth become unmistakably primary.
If even a fraction of these testimony are accurate, the rational response is to live as if our choices are seen, felt, and measured by love – because NDErs say they are. The life review described again and again is not divine judgment but a compassionate education in empathy: we feel what we gave. In this light, preparing for death is simply learning to love now – honestly, courageously, and in deed.
NDEs also reframe our grief. Separation is real, but temporary; relationships continue; prayer and loving intention still matter. Disabilities are healed, perspective widens, and time gives way to an eternal now. The many forms and symbols that people meet – Jesus or Buddha, a Being of Light, a city or library, even beloved animals – seem less like contradictions and more like translations of one reality into the language a soul understands.
So the invitation is practical: live awake. Tell the truth. Repair what can be mended. Choose love over cynicism, curiosity over fear, service over self-importance. If death is a doorway and love is the measure, then every ordinary day is sacred coursework – and the rewards are simply becoming more loving than we were yesterday.
