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1. Introduction to Extreme Meditation and NDEs
Extreme meditation, particularly in deeply altered states of consciousness, has been reported as a potential trigger for near-death experiences (NDEs) or NDE-like phenomena. While NDEs are traditionally associated with life-threatening events, some individuals who engage in prolonged or intense meditation practices describe experiences remarkably similar to those reported in near-death situations. These experiences may include sensations of leaving the body, traveling through a tunnel, encountering spiritual beings or a divine presence, and gaining profound insights into life, death, and the nature of existence.
In certain spiritual traditions, such as Tibetan Buddhism and Hinduism, advanced meditation techniques are believed to allow practitioners to access higher realms of consciousness, including states that closely resemble the experiences of those who have come close to death. These deep meditative states can sometimes blur the boundaries between the physical and spiritual realms, leading individuals to describe encounters with luminous beings, visions of otherworldly landscapes, or feelings of immense peace and unity with the universe.
The parallels between NDEs and extreme meditation suggest that the mind’s ability to reach heightened states of awareness or transcend the body’s limitations may not be confined to near-death scenarios. Instead, through meditation, individuals can potentially access these transformative experiences, offering insights into the nature of consciousness and the profound depths of human perception.
2. Joni Maggi’s NDE
The following is Joni Maggi’s NDE which was triggered through meditation. Her experience is not unique and there have been others who have had an NDE triggered by meditation. Her experience also appears in Kevin Williams‘ book, Nothing Better Than Death.
Close your eyes for a moment and try to imagine that you are face to face with the sun! What an extraordinary feeling! I thought to myself:
“How can I be face to face with the sun and not feel the burning heat?”
This first thought shocked and puzzled me – to be thinking in the way I would normally think.
It was literally so bright that I could not sustain the gaze so I turned away. At that moment I noticed a silver cord, attached around the navel area going down, down, down to a person I saw lying on my bed. It was me! I had a curious non-interest in it.
Suddenly, I was in dark outer space, floating as it were on my back, in what I can only describe as total “bliss” (one of a few words which I’ll explain later I had never understood before that point!)
I’m not sure how long this ecstatic feeling lasted but it was what I suppose is called Cosmic Consciousness or cosmic bliss. I knew that: the Universe is upheld by love (though if you ask me now I would not be able to explain that!)
I knew that the planets are alive and conscious. I knew that they would never bump into each other on purpose or cause any damage – there was no violence but rather a total harmony in their existence.
I then looked down and could see the Earth – far far away and down in this dark sky. I knew that it was a place of violence, a realm shrouded in darkness and difficulties, so to speak.
At one point I saw what I can only describe as a group of beings – perhaps Beings of Light would describe them best. I then zoomed over to them – literally willed myself over to them (swoosh!) and was there instantaneously.
They were seated (?) in an oval circle and there seemed to be a leader of some sort at the head of the group.
First of all, I felt the most overwhelming love coming from them! It cannot be compared to anything here on Earth. For one, I felt that it was an inclusive group – rather than an exclusive one. (Here on Earth we seem to have trouble letting new people into groups but there it was as if all of them at the same time were welcoming me!)
I heard them – in my mind – say, “Welcome home! You have been on such a long journey!”
I had the feeling that they were sharing life experiences and learning from each other, as if in a sort of classroom.
I didn’t have time to find out because at this point I said to the leader, again telepathically, “I cannot stay! I have to bring up my son!” with a real sense of urgency.
At the time my son was 4 years old and I knew somehow that I had the absolute obligation to bring him up and take care of him. Years later, when I thought of this, I understood that we live in a “moral Universe“.
I immediately started coming down again. And as I was coming down, I saw – as if written on the entire dark sky – this message:
“There is nothing worth worrying about! Not even death!”
And again I knew – or understood in an instant that death is exactly like falling asleep.
What happens is that you let go of daily consciousness and slip into another. Or for that matter, like waking up – you let go of sleeping consciousness and find yourself in our recognized reality. It was an incredible feeling of peace to know that there is no death!
All of a sudden, I was awake and I literally ran to my table to write everything down because I knew that the ‘veils’ (another new word for me) were going to fall and that I would forget or lose the feeling of the experience. I had the feeling that a shaft of light had come down through the top of my head. The top of my head was literally tender!
The third word I came to know was “grace” (which up to that point I thought meant the prayer that Christians say at the dinner table.)
I had been an atheist – or agnostic – up until my experience but after that, though the veils did fall down again, I have spent the last 20 years, trying to recapture that feeling, that absolute knowing. I feel closer and closer to it all the time now.
I felt that I had been given a gift of tremendous value! I could not, and can not to this day understand how that works or what that means. I only know that I had been in a state of emotional crisis – I was living at the time in South America and undergoing a painful separation from my husband so I found myself alone, depressed and with a very young child. I had also been asking myself the question:
“What one thought gives peace?” for a very long time.
Somehow, I feel that my earnest and extremely deep need to find an answer to the ups and downs of life was answered in that unspeakably profound experience.
This is the first time I am sharing my experience so openly with others because my family and friends, of course, at the time did not believe me or understand me. Plus the fact that I myself had lost contact with the light and only years later did I start to remember it and piece it together again coherently.
Now, it is probably the most important thing I can do – to remember it and to share it with others. If it hadn’t been for the experience I probably would not have pursued the spiritual path with such relentless passion as I understand that there is a spiritual need which cannot be filled by any other thing than … how shall I call it? The “spirit.”
I also know that it was real! Actually, I could say that it was the only real thing that has ever happened to me. At this point I cherish sharing my experience with others and hope to learn afresh from their experiences to continue to get a wider and wider appreciation and understanding of this phenomenon.
I still have many unanswered questions:
“Why was I blessed with this experience?” (I think it was because without it I never would have been able to go on, but even so, who “gave” it to me or how did I receive it?)
“Why are other people not given the same experience, though some search for it so longingly?”
And it has only whetted my appetite to know more – everything! – about our life purposes, life after death, etc!
Unfortunately I cannot – as I mentioned, retrieve the feeling of it and sometimes I still forget and find myself in darkness and pain. But just remembering it and sharing it helps me – and who knows maybe others – to know more and more about it, especially now that these phenomena are coming more and more to light!
