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1. Introduction to NDE Homecomings
One of the most profound and universal features reported by individuals who undergo near-death experiences (NDEs) is a deep sense of “homecoming.” This aspect of the NDE is often described as a feeling of returning to a familiar, loving, and peaceful place, one that feels like home in a way that transcends earthly life. For many, this experience is transformative, leaving them with a heightened sense of belonging, purpose, and connection to something greater than themselves.
The homecoming aspect of near-death experiences provides a powerful, emotionally charged glimpse into what many believe is the ultimate destination of the soul—a return to a realm of peace, love, and belonging. Whether understood in religious, spiritual, or personal terms, this sense of homecoming speaks to a deep-seated human yearning for connection, comfort, and unity with something beyond the physical world. For many, it is the most transformative and reassuring part of the NDE, offering a profound sense of purpose and hope for what lies beyond death.
2. Examples of NDE Homecomings
The following are some examples of the homecoming that people have during their near-death experiences:
a. Betty Bethards
“When you die you are greeted by loved ones first so that you may understand what has happened. There is a big celebration, like a birthday party, heralding your arrival. Family and friends who have gone on before you are there to celebrate your arrival. There is always good at the time of your cross-over. Even people who have lived lives of selfishness will know and understand the rejoicing. Whatever you have sown you are going to reap in terms of structuring your experiences and lessons which continue on the other side. But the first few days of cross-over (as you know time on the earth plane) you are allowed to be with your teachers, and those who have loved you in the past. You are able to see those you left behind and to hear their thoughts and words. The first six weeks we stay very close to our loved ones on the earth plane … After the first six weeks the soul meets with what may be called a loving board of directors. It is composed of teachers and other higher beings who have walked with you. These beings help you review your past life, to begin to look at what was learned and not learned, and what you wish to work on or do from this point.” (Betty Bethards)
b. Ned Dougherty
“I turned to my right, realizing that a group of spiritual beings had joined us on the celestial field. This event was indeed a homecoming for me. Among the group of spiritual beings, I recognized deceased friends and relatives from my life. I also recognized other friends from my spiritual life prior to my birth on earth. I was filled with joy when I recognized my grandparents, aunts, and uncles who had died during my life. However, I was disappointed because I did not see my Dad among the group. I then recognized other friends from my life, including a girl from high school. I did not know she had died. The feelings of love and joy that I shared with these relatives and friends were far beyond the emotions I had shared with them during my life. As the child of an alcoholic and broken home, I did not communicate feelings to relatives or friends very well. In fact, I wasn’t aware that I had many feelings. Most of my feelings were hidden inside. Now that I was at my homecoming as a spiritual being, the greetings were the kind that I had imagined took place in a healthy family. It seemed as if we were celebrating every major holiday, every birth and birthday, every wonderful event in all of our lives in a manner that we could never celebrate as mortal human beings. I wanted this celebration and homecoming to continue forever, but a silence suddenly fell across the crowded amphitheater.” (Ned Dougherty)
c. Sylvia Browne
“Most people, who go through the heavenly process, go through a tunnel and towards the light of God. They return home to the place they came from on the other side. Here, they have a reunion with family and friends who have departed before them. After the reunion, most of us are lead by our spirit guide to a building on the other side called the Hall of Wisdom. In a sacred room, we see our lives flash before us … Once a person has adjusted to the transition, they can visit a place called the Hall of Records where historical data is stored such as the charts of everyone’s past lives. Another beautiful structure is the Hall of Justice where people go before the Council of Elders who are highly advanced spokespersons of God who help us decide how we are to progress further into the spirit realm. Sylvia describes seven levels of advancement and they are: (1) The reunion and homecoming previously discussed, (2) The orientation process previously discussed, (3) Becoming skilled in a particular vocation, (4) Becoming creative in the arts, (5) Researching areas of progress and passing the knowledge to earth through a process of infused knowledge, (6) Becoming a teacher or leader, (7) Forfeiting your identity as a personality by willingly absorbing into the light of God.” (Sylvia Browne)
d. Betty Eadie
“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)
e. Michelle Dillon
“And then I was Home and I knew it was Home and I wasn’t afraid. I saw lots of people I knew, some of whom I’ve since met, and a lot of whom I knew were ‘related’ but that wasn’t what mattered. What mattered was that I KNEW them and they KNEW me and we hadn’t said a word. Or, well, we had, sort of, only not SAID. But I have never since been involved in such a joyful welcome, being loved, totally loved.” (Michelle Dillon)
f. Randy Gehling
Randy could hear beautiful music playing somewhere off in the distance. “Just a little ways off I could see a bridge with someone standing on it. Beyond the bridge, I saw a golden city with towers like European castles. The whole city seemed to be shining with light that shot up into the sky like a giant searchlight. I could see that some of the domes of the city were red, others were gold, and a few were blue. The gates and walls of the city seemed to be made of bright blue, red, and violet lights.” Randy asked Areo if they were going to visit the city. The angel nodded. “That’s to be your new home, Randy.” They began walking toward the bridge to the city, and Randy saw that the man standing awaiting them was his Grandpa Hansen. Randy ran to his grandfather and felt his strong arms close around him. Grandpa Hansen had been a farmer all of his life in Minnesota. He had died, still a powerful man, when Randy was six. Randy asked his beloved grandfather if he would now be living with him in heaven. “One day,” Grandpa Hansen told him. “But not just yet.” When Randy questioned his grandfather, he told him that he still had things to learn on earth. (Randy Gehling)
g. Laurelynn Martin
“As I admired the beauty of the light, I was drawn closer, feeling the radiant warmth, infinite love and lasting peace. I felt as if I were home in the light. Before I became further engulfed in the light, I became aware of many spirits. They surrounded, embraced and supported my journey with their gentleness, knowledge and guidance. I felt one of them approach from my right upper side. This familiar presence came forward and my feelings changed to sheer joy when I discovered my thirty year old brother-in-law, the one who had died seven months earlier from cancer. My essence moved to meet his essence. I couldn’t see with my eyes or hear with my ears, yet I instinctively knew that it was ‘Wills.’ I heard his smile, saw his laughter and felt his humor. It didn’t make sense, but it made complete sense. We were separate but we were also one. It was as if I had come home and my brother-in-law was here to greet me. I instantly thought how glad I was to be with him, because now I could make up for the last time I had seen him before his death. I felt sad and a bit guilty for not taking the time out of my busy schedule to have a heart-to-heart talk with him when he had asked me to. I realized I was not being judged by him but by myself. I was in his position dying, wanting to say goodbye to those I loved, and then meeting people like myself not ‘getting it’ not getting that all the achievement, money or recognition in the world cannot be taken with you when you die. The only thing you take with you is the love you give away.” (Laurelynn Martin)
h. Karen Schaeffer
“Immediately I was in the most beautiful serene place I had ever been. My grandfather, another person whom I had known in a previous life, and a guardian were ready to help me with the transition. They told me of the accident, showed me the site. It was my time to come home they said. The overwhelming love and happiness of that place was so inviting.” (Karen Schaeffer)
i. Barbara Springer
“I then became aware of a bright heavenly being. I felt as if I was in the presence of God. This being had light radiating from him and he embraced me. And when he embraced me, I could feel the most powerful love. It is the greatest love that there is in the universe. There is no greater love. It was absolute, total, real, great, engulfing love. I felt the love surrounding me. I felt it flowing through me. There really are no words. I can’t find words to explain how I felt. The amount of joy I felt. The amount of love I knew I was being given. I felt as if I had come home. I knew this is where I actually belonged. Even though I love earth and I love living here. But when I was encountered by that being, I knew I had come home.” (Barbara Springer)
j. Barbara Marie
“And then there was a period of being embraced by this love and peace and serenity and knowing I had reached my final destination, that this was truly a home. It gave new meaning to the word “home.” This, she realized, was where she actually belonged. This is where she wanted to permanently be.” (Barbara Marie)
k. Arthur Yensen
“As the heaven-people gathered around, the oldest, largest and strongest-looking man announced pleasantly, ‘You are in the land of the dead. We lived on earth, just like you, till we came here.’ With unbounded enthusiasm I shouted, ‘This is wonderful!’ ‘It’s marvelous!’ they answered. Then with delight they told me how I could swim around in the lake as long as I pleased and when I came out, I’d be dry! Another one said, ‘You can run, jump, dance, sing and play as much as you want to and you’ll never get tired!’ Then I noticed that the landscape was gradually becoming familiar. It seemed as if I had been here before. I remembered what was on the other side of the mountains. Then with a sudden burst of joy, I realized that this was my real home! Back on earth I had been a visitor, a misfit, and a homesick stranger. With a sigh of relief, I said to myself, “Thank God I’m back again. This time I’ll stay!” (Arthur Yensen)
l. George Anderson
George Anderson’s psychic revelations: “Well, according to what they say, we go through the different levels of consciousness. We’re working our way up. It’s like, to go up to the twelfth grade, you’ve got to pass the first through the eleventh. When we pass on, we do go into the tunnel, we can go through these little darker levels, which can represent a form of hell or purgatory, because these are the two negative levels, or the darker ones. But if we’ve been a good person, we generally just seem to pass through them very quickly and then we go on through the third and fourth levels of consciousness, where average people such as ourselves go – not everybody can be a Mother Teresa, who would probably go higher up. When we go through these levels we meet our relatives and friends greeting us at the end of the tunnel, much as in the movie Resurrection, where they’re waiting and they lead us into the light. And there’s like a form of spiritual rejuvenation, like a reunion, like a party, ‘Hey, it’s great to see you again.’ We recognize each other by personality. As we all have individual, unique fingerprints, we each have a very singular personality.” (George Anderson)
3. Insights from NDE Homecomings
a. Returning Home
“God was with Me and I felt whole and complete in Him. It was a like a homecoming because I had been here before. I knew things without being told.” (Catherine)
“Everything became familiar as it was happening. Not in the ambulance but in the Void. It was a sense of a great homecoming, reunion, or return.” (June S.)
“I was in a warm and very comfortable place. I was not on this Earth, but in dark space. I had the feeling that I had been here before, like I was home at last.” (Tazell)
“This was the most grand welcome back home. Tears of joy and laughter are all of the words I can sum up from this experience. I had been completely bathed in white light. God held me lovingly in his embrace for a time.” (David H.)
“I felt that I had returned HOME! And I thought; thank God, I am back! I knew I was right, I just knew I was from heaven!” (Jennifer V.)
“In front of me, there is a large group of people, looking so good and happy, all welcoming me. I feel right at home, as if returning to my real family after a long trip away.” (Therese B.)
“I realized I was standing on a narrow sandy path and started walking along it. I didn’t know where I was going but felt compelled to follow it. It felt like I was home and had lived there for a very long time.” (Tommy Lee Thomason)
“The closer I got to the light, the more I understood what was going on. I knew that I had left my physical body and was passing on. I also knew I had been here before and that I was ‘home.'” (Will S.)
“Everything was bathed in a golden light. There were many others around me. They were all known to me, and me to them. My return was met with overwhelming rejoicing. I was home.” (Doug F.)
“Then God called me by my real name, not the name that my birth parents had named me, but a name that was as ancient and eternal as the universe itself. Funny, I didn’t remember the name very long afterwards, but when he called me by my real name, I recognized it instantly and knew that I was home, and I’d been there before.” (John K.)
“[I entered] a clearly mystical or unearthly realm. I was HOME! I had come from there and had actually ALWAYS been there. Without beginning or end, I was as eternal as the universe itself. I was ALL OF IT and yet still simply, perfectly me.” (Jeffrey Olsen)
“At first I thought, ‘What happened?’ But things around me took the attention off myself and I focused on things around me. I felt like I was home OR I never left in the first place.” (Brian)
“At the height of the pain I left my body. I saw my body on the bed and tried to communicate to those tending to it but finally gave up and left out of the roof of the hospital… There was no tunnel or light or anything, I just knew where to go and went. Like going home.” (Alise)
“Soon after reaching heaven, many NDErs think: ‘I’m home! I know I’ve been here before. This is where I belong, and I never want to leave!’ The spirit mind is surely the only type of consciousness that can make such claims.” (John F. Newport)
b. Homecoming and the Being of Light
“When I came into the light, there was a Being of Light. It was the most peaceful feeling I have ever felt. More peaceful than I can put into words. The Being told me I was HOME but I needed to go back because he had some work for me to do.” (Karen B.)
“Then I emerged from the tunnel into an indescribable place of peace and tranquility. There was the most beautiful Being of White Light there… The feeling of being in his presence was something that felt like I was ‘home’ – in a sense that I had never known.” (Teri R.)
“I remember communicating that this place was incredible. One of the light Beings responded, ‘Yes, this is home. This is consciousness. This is source.'” (Valeska K.)
“Being in Its Presence felt so good, like peace, and like calm, and like home, and like belonging, and like safety and wellness. I could have stayed there forever and my contact with the Being of Light was somehow outside of time, although there was communication that I barely recall now.” (Heron S.)
“I knew this was home. Then there was the Entity of light, which was incomparably bright, alive, powerful, loving and understanding. This glorious, wonderful entity recognized me, understood perfectly every minute aspect about me, and poured love into me.” (Brian T.)
“There stood a being with a beautiful face and everything around him was bright light, but the being didn’t have wings. I knew it was an angel and he emanated so much love. The whole area was beautiful, bright, and warm. I knew I was back home again.” (Renate)
“I was HOME. That is what it felt like, the ultimate homecoming. I was where I was meant to be. I fit perfectly there. I was so glad to be there, loving with that being. ‘It was where I was meant to be’ is as close as I can put it. To be together with that other, loving self was the perfect place for me to exist.” (D. W.)
c. Homecoming with Jesus
“He (Jesus) touched my forehead with two fingers of His left hand and said, ‘It’s not your time. You cannot stay, you have things to do for Me.’ I said that I was home and didn’t want to leave. He said, ‘You have to go. When it is your time I will call for you so, be ready.'” (Chris M.)
“I left the area of my body and there was Jesus; he put out his hand, I grabbed it, and we start walking to this light. All communication between us was not speaking with our mouths, but with our minds. He said my child you have a choice. You may come with me into the light and go home or you may return.” (Deborah G.)
“I saw what I believe to be Jesus. He was in a white robe that was dripping in pure gold. It was so real to me then and even now, I see all of the details of how he looked to me. I felt so safe, so warm and I did not want to ever leave His presence. I felt like I was home.” (Joel B.)
“I had reached my true home. I turned to Christ and said, ‘This is beautiful. I am home. This is where I want to be. I want to stay.’ And Christ answered, ‘You can stay for a little while and then you must return.'” (Linda S.)
“The next thing I know, I woke up in heaven or what I like to call ‘home’. I had no body but I was me. I was surrounded by angels, loved ones, Jesus, Mother Mary and God. We were all part of this radiant, warm and beautiful light. We were all connected and we were all one.” (Heidi C.)
d. Indescribable Homecoming
“I knew I was in my ‘real’ home, and I knew that my life on Earth was important, but it wasn’t the most important part of my life. There were things I was embarrassed about. There were feelings I don’t think I have ever had before, deep emotional feelings. And there was a sense of homecoming that I still can’t explain.” (Deborah Le)
“When I fainted, my spirit rushed out of my body and I went to a place. It was my home. Although I cannot really describe it. It was like a place of ideas. There was no landscape or colors. I just existed and there were other beings there also.” (Nancy C.)
“I was somewhere I knew and it was where I belonged. I was VERY HAPPY… We talked and from what I can remember discussed that this was where I was from and that I was home. I cannot describe the feeling. Joy, elation, and happiness. No words that I know can describe it. Everything made perfect sense!” (Karen)
“I’ve never found adequate words for what to call it, except for ‘HOME.’ I just knew it was HOME, my real HOME… To express what HOME was like has been impossible for me to do. Everything HOME is connected. It is all One. It’s Light. Light is love.” (Carl D.)
“I was in the presence of sort of a field of love that was totally wonderful. I felt like I was really ‘HOME’. There were no beings that I can recall. There was only peace, love, tranquility, and in at-home-ness feeling. Words cannot truly describe it.” (Keith R.)
“Words are inadequate to describe Heaven, as it is fantastic. I KNEW I was HOME. I knew this was where I’d come from to Earth.” (Diane C.)
“No words can possibly do justice to describe the energy we felt. Oddly, I immediately recognized this feeling. It was home. It was so familiar, that it felt more familiar than anything I’ve ever known.” (Sanna F.)
“It’s so hard to explain to a person that hasn’t been there what it’s like, because it’s inconceivable. It’s like explaining the color blue to a blind person. But, wherever this place was, it was home.” (Kristen G.)
e. Belonging in the Homecoming
“A feeling of happiness, peace, harmony and belonging beyond description. It was not necessary to needlessly worry or be careful. I was home with my people.” (Alejandra M.)
“I instantly feel I’ve been freed from all the limitations of physical bondage. You feel that you are finally home, where you belong. Now, I never had a memory that this place was home. It was more of an instinctive and intuitive knowing that this is where I belonged.” (Bobbi D.)
“I could see without eyes, hear without ears, communicate without a mouth or other body parts. I knew everything past and present. I felt that I was in my natural state and the body was the temporary unnatural state. I was home where I belonged. Where I wanted to be.” (Sylvia W.)
“I saw an intense warm light and heard pleasant music, which was in absolute harmony. It was a place of palpable tangible love. A place of welcome, of feeling absolutely at home. I understood what it meant to be home. No question, just absolute acceptance. Belonging.” (Attila P.)
“I felt this total love and acceptance of me and I felt the same with the light. I knew I was part of this light; I belonged to this light. I was home. I then realized there was a presence in this light and I realized I was light, too.” (Barbara S.)
“All I remember is seeing a bright light, which was a thousand times brighter than the sun. The feeling I had as the rays shone down on me was of peace, love, serenity, like I was safe, I was home, and I belonged. It was awesome!” (Sheree F.)
“I don’t know where I was, but I felt like I was home. It was a feeling of complete belonging, of being a part of something greater than myself. Not just emotionally but spiritually and physically. It was like that thing we are all searching for had found me, was now a part of me, and I felt complete.” (Steve P.)
f. Oneness in the Homecoming
“I was ‘one’ with everything. I was home. My personal identity disappeared but my essence continued to exist.” (Jill D.)
“I died and drifted into a safe black Void of comfort and ease, no pain and no fear. This was a place where I felt right at home. Off in the distance I saw a very small light. It was drawing me to it… I felt like this was my real home, this place where I was with this beautiful light which was God. I felt surrounded by the light and was one with it.” (A Child’s NDE)
“I could see not with eyes but through sensing. I was enveloped in the Light. I felt unconditional love, peace and joy to an extent that can never be felt or experienced here. I was one with the Light. I was whole. I was home.” (Cara A.)
“The Light also knew everything that I have ever done or will do, and the Light loved me without conditions… Only warmth, peace, joy, happiness, forgiveness and love in the Light. I was one with the unconditionally loving Light. I was home. I was home forever.” (Andrew Petro)
“I realized I was not just inside the Love but rather, one with ‘It’, this Universal Body of Love, of God. This was completely natural to me, as flame is to fire because it is fire. This was Home and I wanted to be here forever.” (Mira S.)
“I was filled with a truly indescribable feeling of pure LOVE. I was one with this spirit, filled with love and the knowledge of the universe. I knew I was home.” (Christopher H.)
g. In the Light of the Homecoming
“I saw a portal of sparking white light, and the feeling of Unconditional Love coming from the portal… I was Home in the Unconditional Loving White Light, that renewed my spirit.” (Michael G.)
“The Light loved me unconditionally. I felt I was ‘Home’… I have no fear of dying. I firmly believe we will all go Home.” (Anita E.)
“I had no memories of my life or earthly associations at that moment. All I wanted was to stay forever in the presence of His light and love. I was so happy to be home!” (Loni S.)
“The light was bright, warm, pleasant, and loving. It didn’t have any source, but was everywhere. When I arrived, I felt loved and endlessly happy. I knew, here is my real home.” (Sybille K.)
“I stepped into the light. When I did it hit me like a ton of bricks!!! The first thing I felt was overwhelming LOVE!!! The next thing I felt was true peace and contentment, it seemed like I was home!” (Martin C.)
“My soul might have come into contact with the soul music of the light. It was light and it was Love at the same time. There was hidden and encoded Heavenly music in the whole thing. It wasn’t important. The main thing was that here I felt Welcomed and Loved. I came ‘Home.'” (Maria T.K.)
“At the end of the tunnel, was a pinpoint of light that was growing larger and larger. My emotional state was that I was experiencing a very relaxed and loving feeling; in fact, I felt like I was a Prince coming home.” (Joel H.)
“Then all at once a feeling of comfort overwhelmed me and I thought, ‘It’s over at last.’ Then I was home and all around me was pure white light and total love and caring and a comfort I’ve never known nor will I forget… All the time, there was this overpowering feeling that I had made it home at last. After a life-long wait, everything was perfect and my life was now complete.” (Corbin)
“I was instantly in this place of golden light and pure love. I was standing in this area of light without boundaries. The love was incredible! I saw a group of people made of light… Then I realized that I was home. I knew everyone and they knew me.” (Timothy V.)
“As I entered the light, I was surrounded by an immediate feeling of ultimate peace. I was home. I was surrounded by pure love and acceptance. I was fully connected to this peace and love. The closest I have come to feeling this sensation again has been at the birth of my two children.” (Kathi B.)
“The light emanated warmth, love and happiness. It was a living light. I heard beautiful music. I went directly into the light. Once inside it felt as though I was home again. Everything was white and full of love.” (Lorraine J.)
“Standing at the light, that is not really a light like we know on Earth, I felt I finally was home after a long, long journey… I still cry to go home into the light, I do not want to be here on Earth anymore, but know that I have no choice not even suicide.” (Shirley R.)
“The light was love and understanding. It was outside of me, through me, and in me. It was home. I’ve never felt a love like this since.” (Jeff H.)
“Then I was home. The light surrounded me and I was in eternity, every question I asked had an instant clear response, even if I didn’t understand every answer.” (Stella)
“I was surrounded by love, warmth, light and felt happier than I ever have before or since. Everything and all that is good was in this light. In the light was a seemingly uncountable crowd of people who are my ancestors and relatives that have left here over the ages and are now there… I felt absolutely that they were family that I had known forever and were there to bring me home.” (Christian D.)
h. Bliss in the Homecoming
“I remember quite distinctly knowing that it was for them that I returned and not because life on Earth was so much fuller and more important than where I was. I felt at home and complete where I was and unlimited. One could say blissful.” (David O.)
“It was at this time I was given a choice, not through words, but telepathically, just KNOWING. I could continue in this bliss and come back Home, across some sort of barrier I could sense was very close by, or I could return to my body, with all its pain and uncertain future.” (Deborah K.)
“I was in total bliss and happiness. I was home. I didn’t want to go back. I had a life review where I saw every single event from my life.” (Melinda G.)
“I instantly realized the most peaceful, pain free, contented, euphoric state that I can imagine. I never felt so good and at home in all my life experiences on Earth.” (Larry L.)
“I was in a state of euphoria and a sense of perfect peace and being. I had no pain, wants, or needs of any kind. I had a sense of being home.” (Wayne H.)
“I had a sense of this intelligence that I felt very comfortable with, a sense that I was at home, a feeling of total acceptance, compassion and total love, almost euphoric.” (LaVall M.)
“The next thing I felt was that I was home. I didn’t have eyesight, but I could see perfectly. It was like seeing with your mind. I felt perfect and I knew that I was where I was supposed to be.” (Jamie B.)
“What I thought were tree branches, were not tree branches at all. They were the people that I loved who had passed before me. They were surrounding the tunnel while holding, guiding, and welcoming me home. I was so content and so complete. I felt the most incredible combination of feelings one could ever imagine.” (Rob N.)
i. Acceptance in the Homecoming
“I entered a field. Vivid green grass and blue sky, all of it rendered with such ethereal brightness, yet it was the feeling while there that is indescribable. Pure love, contentment and complete acceptance. This was home, I wanted to stay. I was at peace. But for whatever reason, I was sent back, it was not my time.” (Holly P.)
“I felt completely accepted. Totally whole and loved. Loved beyond comprehension. Loved in my entirety. Loved with a Love I have not felt here. Loved with the purest love there can be. I felt I was ‘home.'” (Rachel F.)
“The rosy glow drew me and filled me with a marvelous sense of total love and acceptance. This was home, and I wanted to be there completely.” (Rhea V.)
“For the first time in a long time, I felt accepted and at home and I didn’t want to leave. My [deceased] mother and grandfather told me to go back that I didn’t belong here yet.” (Kendra)
“I was overcome with an emotional blend of relief, love, and acceptance, that I was ‘coming home’ and that everything was going to be alright.” (Jeffrey B.)
j. Love in the Homecoming
“I knew instantly where I was and understood that this reality (Home) was where I had come from and had now returned. There came sensations of boundless love and boundless understanding. I was everywhere and everything in the universe.” (Roger F.)
“It felt like getting home; more THIS WAS HOME. The person in the light and I were totally equal; there was only love without any boundary. And then I was told to go back.” (Willem)
“On the other side of life, I was enveloped in warmth and love such as I had never before experienced. I felt safe, free, and limitless. Although I cannot recall any visual images, I knew that I was home.” (Bobbie K.)
“It was like being home again. Everyone hugged and embraced. There was an overwhelming feeling of love. It was like a reunion.” (Pam C.)
“I felt extreme love, which I cannot describe. It felt right, like I was home.” (David Oakford)
“My vision was made clear from an all knowing love. I felt like I was home.” (Ashley M.)
“I could see all around, front, back sideways. Wherever I placed my attention is where I saw. Whomever I saw, I felt as though I was in love with that being. There was no distinction as to gender, only a being. I knew that I was home.” (Tony D.)
“An exquisite overwhelming feeling of love poured through me. It was so intense I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to bear it. I was feeling safe and loved for the first time in my life. Somehow, I knew that this was God and that I was Home.” (Lillian K.)
“People refer to this as Heaven but when I arrived, I knew instantly that I was Home! It isn’t a place; it’s a vibration of Unconditional Love. There is NO Earthly terms to describe the Ecstasy felt upon arriving.” (Flora O.)
“I heard them say that I was going to be just fine, that I was home. Everything would be told to me now. They were speaking by way of mental powers and I was able to understand them and I remember telling them that I was glad to be home where such love lived. The kind of love that could not be felt on Earth.” (Michael D.)
“It was the best feeling I ever felt. Love and peace. I felt like I was home.” (John F.)
“Within an instant moment of ecstasy, the Light surrounded and pervaded everything I knew as me… I was spontaneously in love with and in need of this familiar place. I recognized it as a deep yearning within my heart and now I had returned. I knew I was home. I was finally, blessedly home.” (Peg A.)
k. Earth and the Homecoming
“I recognized this place as home and knew home was just to the left of me, somewhere beyond the fog. I was aware that being on Earth was a mission, not the end-all reason for being. I was so relieved to be home.” (Chuck B.)
“He (God) reminded me of my home and the reality that really exists and the beauty behind all of it is so indescribable and amazing. Till this day, pretty much every day, I crave my home – because Heaven truly is my home – this Earth is very temporary and time is simply an illusion to further understand being human.” (Elisa R.)
“I have felt that I was ‘shown’ more than I can remember. Also, I feel that where I was, was home, and that I am only visiting Earth for a purpose. I feel that I know the purpose but that I just cannot remember it.” (Sue V.)
“Then, I was Home. Earth and this life were a bad summer camp, in comparison, and I knew I wanted to stay. I didn’t want to go back to camp… That was my focus. I was Home, I liked being Home, just let me be Home. God was holding me tighter (in the best of ways), and showing me the life to which I must return.” (V.’s NDE)
“I am not afraid anymore because where I was felt like my real home and this reality on Earth is just some sort of school to learn life lessons.” (Glenda H.)
“Love, being God, is too immense and profound to ever be fully understood or experienced in the physical world. To have an abundance, do what you do with Love, and Love what you do. In search for truth and understanding, all paths lead to Love. The only thing that lives forever is Love. God’s paradise for us is Love. We can create paradise again if we learn to Love another as ourselves. Life is a road full of lessons teaching Love. When Love is learned, you will forever be home.” (Sandra Rogers)
“We leave paradise not just for the sake of our own spiritual potential but for God as well, and assuring us, his children, that his perfect, unconditional, eternal life will light our way through all our days on Earth and right back through the tunnel that will someday bring us safely home again.” (Sylvia Browne)
l. Expanding in the Homecoming
“I felt as if I was an awareness, a being without a name or identity, and I was expanding to the size of the cosmos. I was home. I realized home was where I wanted to remain forever.” (Angela B.)
“I was home. Time and space fell away as the constructs they are, and I expanded into a sense of connection and simultaneous awareness of the inner intentions of every energetic body there.” (Cami R.)
“My perception increased on levels I didn’t think existed on a conscious level, although always knew them on a deeper level, locked inside of me! HOME! That was HOME! That’s the word that rang in my ears so loud and so clear!” (Jesse N.)
m. Miscellaneous Homecoming Insights
“That is the feeling I felt on the other side. I was remembering and it felt so good to be there and to understand, to know – it was home, where I really lived.” (Michelle M.)
“It seemed I knew everything. In a profound way, I had no body weight, no emotional attachments, only the ultimate Peace. I had no questions, no wonders, no fears, no regrets; I was home.” (Tatyana R.)
“There was ABSOLUTE KNOWLEDGE when I was out of my body. I am surer of what I saw there than I am sure I am sitting here writing this. You KNOW you are home there and you KNOW everything is as it should be.” (Charles T.)
“I felt totally relaxed, calm, peaceful and knew in that moment that everything about my life, existence and love was comprehendible and totally reachable. I was home in God’s arms and I was being given a peek behind the veil at Universal Knowledge through the eyes of God.” (Stacy S.)
“I called the ‘place’ I had experience ‘home’ and was homesick for the next twenty years… My homesickness turned into suicidal feelings at thirteen, but the same presence of ‘home’ comforted me and I dedicated my life to the pursuit of wisdom.” (Colleen J.)
“I knew I was home; I knew I was in heaven.” (Devon B.)
“I felt like I was home. More than anything like this I have ever felt.” (Gary J.)
“Where was I? Where was I being welcomed to? The best that I can explain it is that I was home. This awareness was primarily due to what I was feeling.” (Joseph S.)
“Then my father came out to see me and he held me. It was so right, like I was home. My father had died when I was 6.” (Haley A.)
“I’M HOME AT LAST!!! I was so happy! It was such a pure relief. Just as I was about to settle into being ‘Home’ again, there came this calm, steady, male-like voice which said Quote: ‘You must go back, you have more lessons to teach.'” (Chrissie B.)
“I was in a vast field, more beautiful than anything I’ve ever seen… After seeing all that, the only thing I could say was ‘I’m finally home'” (Jon J.)
“The entity was continuing to repeat to me that it was okay and I was home. I turned and started walking toward the light in total peace with my decision to cross over and go home. Then, I felt myself sucked backward and back through the veil.” (Michael M.)
“The point to incarnating in a physical body is so that once we are done, we can then explore the many worlds and places of wonder within [heaven]. However, each of us is allowed a sacred space there, where we can make a home for our Soul, if we desire to.” (Christian Andreason)
“It was then that I saw the tunnel and knew with absolute assurance that I was on my way home, certain that the home I had long yearned for was in the light at the other end of this passageway.” (Lynnclaire Dennis)
“What people call heaven is really our true home and destination. It is where we go for recess or to be rewarded by assessing our progress as a soul, evaluating our lives, and to remember all truths, including our real identity. We stay there for however long best serves our development.” (Nora Spurgin)
“There is a sense of benefit here, as if one has found their true home. In heaven, we have the opportunity to assess our progress as a soul, to evaluate pros and cons and outcomes, to remember all truths including our real identity. We experience the glory of love and the power of forgiveness.” (P.M.H. Atwater)
4. NDE Homecoming Research
Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
“His entire family had piled into a family van and were on the way to pick him up when this tragic accident occurred which burned his entire family to death. He shared the shock and the numbness, the utter disbelief of suddenly being a single man, of having had children and suddenly becoming childless, of living without a single close relative. He told of his total inability to come to grips with it. He shared how he changed from a money-earning, decent, middle-class husband and father to a total bum, drunk every day from morning to night, using every conceivable drug and trying to commit suicide in every conceivable way, yet never able to succeed. His last recollection was that after two years of literally bumming around, he was lying on a dirt road at the edge of a forest, drunk and stoned as he called it, trying desperately to be reunited with his family. Not wanting to live, not even having the energy to move out of the road when he saw a big truck coming toward him and running over him. It was at this moment that he watched himself in the street [sic], critically injured, while he observed the whole scene of the accident from a few feet above. It was at this moment that his family appeared in front of him, in a glow of light with an incredible sense of love. They had happy smiles on their faces, and simply made him aware of their presence, not communicating in any verbal way but in the form of thought transference, sharing with him the joy and happiness of their present existence. This man was not able to tell us how long this reunion lasted. He was so awed by his family’s health, their beauty, their radiance and their total acceptance of this present situation, by their unconditional love. He made a vow not to touch them, not to join them, but to re-enter his physical body so that he could share with the world what he had experienced. It would be a form of redemption for his two years of trying to throw his physical life away. It was after this vow that he watched the truck driver carry his totally injured body into the car. He saw an ambulance speeding to the scene of the accident, he was taken to the hospital’s emergency room and he finally re-entered his physical body, tore off the straps that were tied around him and literally walked out of the emergency room. He never had delirium tremens or any aftereffects from the heavy abuse of drugs and alcohol. He felt healed and whole, and made a commitment that he would not die until he had the opportunity of sharing the existence of life after death with as many people as would be willing to listen. It was after reading a newspaper article about my appearance in Santa Barbara that he sent a message to the auditorium. By allowing him to share with my audience he was able to keep the promise he made at the time of his short, temporary, yet happy reunion with his entire family. (Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross)
Aziz Khabirpour
“Meeting others during an NDE is not uncommon, and often has great effect upon the person’s being afterwards. The people they meet are either family members or very close friends. These people, in form of spiritual beings, are usually there to either protect or guide the person. It is not always common for the person to be seen, but usually they are more felt’. One woman who met her family when she died states, I felt that they had come to protect or guide me. It was almost as if I was coming home, and they were there to greet or welcome me. All this time, I had the feeling of everything light and beautiful. It was a beautiful and glorious moment (Moody, 55). Accounts have also been reported where the dead person is guided around by his/her pet, that he/she used to have. The people one encounters with are usually people that played an important role in ones life. The people that were seen could often be described as soul mates. So this shows how only people that we have a special bond with in this life, will we encounter in the next.” (Aziz Khabirpour)
Dr. Michael Newton
Dr. Michael Newton’s Regression Research: “After physical death, a soul’s journey back home ends with debarkation into the space reserved for their own colony, as long as they are not a very young soul or isolated for other reasons. The souls represented in these cluster groups are intimate old friends who have the same awareness level. Members of the same cluster group are closely united for all eternity. These tightly-knit clusters are often composed of like-minded souls with common objectives which they continually work out with each other. Usually they choose lives together as relatives and close friends during their incarnations on earth.” (Dr. Michael Newton)
5. Conclusion
This article explored the phenomenon of reunions with deceased loved ones and spiritual beings during NDEs. It presented various accounts and research findings that describe these encounters as a “homecoming” – a joyful and comforting return to a familiar spiritual realm. Examples have been presented including Betty Bethards’ description of being greeted by loved ones in a celebratory manner, Ned Dougherty’s reunion with deceased relatives and friends in a celestial setting, and Sylvia Browne’s insights on the transition through a tunnel toward divine light. Other contributors, like Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and Aziz Khabirpour, share stories of individuals meeting family members or spiritual entities, often leading to profound emotional healing or a renewed sense of purpose. The article emphasizes that these experiences frequently involve feelings of unconditional love, peace, and a sense of returning “home,” regardless of the individual’s prior beliefs or life circumstances. It suggests that such homecomings are a common thread in NDEs, offering a glimpse into an afterlife where souls reconnect with those they’ve lost and with a greater spiritual presence.
