When an individual is nearing physical death, there is often a bizarre range of experiences that may be encountered that are collectively entitled Near Death Experiences, or simply NDE. Here are some of the characteristics of near death experiences that are commonly reported by the soon to be deceased:

- Feelings of detachment from the physical body;
- Levitational feelings;
- Unjustifiable, but powerful fear;
- Extreme serenity;
- Feelings of security and warmth;
- Total disillusionment;
- A consistent presence of light;
- and many more

 

Most of the time, these experiences are reported from the near dead or those who have been pronounced clinically dead and then return to life. However, there are more and more reports of these experiences from patients of modern medical techniques, such as advanced cardiac resuscitation procedures. Paranormal researchers and advocates claim these experiences to be proof of an afterlife - a glimpse of what's to come. Most mainstream scientists write them off as hallucinations.

A Gallup poll based on near death phenomena researched from hospitals, psychiatrists, psychologists and parapsychologists reports that over 8 million Americans believe that they have had near death experiences. Opponents to the concept state that most individuals that claim NDE’s are simply stating their own personal belief systems - offering no supernatural insights. There are merely finding ways to prepare their minds to let go and are trying to vanquish their fears of dying. They state further that people who lack any particular belief system report seeing only disjointed images of familiar persons, objects, and the like.

 

Near death experiences are said to follow a quite distinctive, predictable pattern. Those who have been pronounced dead and have returned, some having been dead for several minutes, report certain commonalities pertaining to the death experience. They are as follows:

- Unpleasing sounds or noises are heard;
- There is a sense of being dead;
- Tranquility and serenity are experienced;
- Levitation or floating above one's own body, astral projection;
- Upward movement through a bright, narrow passageway;
- Reunification with deceased loved ones;
- Meeting a being of light, often belief-based;
- Having one's life reviewed (judgment);
- Reaching a crossroads;
- A reluctant return to the physical body;
- Feelings of warmth even though nude.

 

Near death experience stories abound and there are certain commonalities that are noticed between people of all faiths and all locations. If they are simply compensatory hallucinations or profound glimpses of the afterlife is, of course, only able to be fully determined by those who do not return. Near death experiences are reported by millions of people on a worldwide level and therefore are not to be so simply written off as invalid.

No one of us can say for certain what happens when we die. That question has perplexed the human race since the very beginnings of time. Countries are controlled by and destroyed for their particular belief systems concerning the afterlife. Nations war and individuals murder in the name of their belief systems every day all around the planet. We should all give thought and careful consideration to the near death experience stories form those who offer them. To simply ignore these possibly powerful visions of the unknown can only lead to self-induced ignorance.