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Have you ever had a mystical or near death experience?

Some people say such experiences gave them tremendously expanded perceptions & awareness.

If you have had such an experience, do you feel you became aware of anything real, or was it just an altered brain state, like taking LSD

Remiforce 7 Sep 19
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33 comments

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0

No, but I had a couple blizzard experiences on the road where I fully expected I would die out there in the storm.

Expecting to die is not the same as an NDE

@Remiforce I know that. I am allowed to state my comment. Quit being so controlling and critical.

5

No NDEs but 3 or 4 “altered states of awareness” (without drugs) that I could easily describe as mystical if I wanted to, but I don’t. I think it’s just brain chemistry.

skado Level 9 Sep 19, 2019

It doesn't matter what you call them. The experience is the thing, not the name.It sounds like you had heightened awareness

5

Every day is a "near death" experience.
Nothing mystical about it.

What do you mean by that? Do you have a dangerous job or something?

@Remiforce It's got nothing to do with a job. It's about accepting that
life is finite. Not dwelling on it, but just accepting it, and not living in denial,
or fearing death.

Every single day holds the potential for being your last.
It's not mystical, it's not anything but reality.
Eating, drinking, etc. Everything we do during the course of a day could
conceivably take a turn, and we could die.

I also don't believe the stories people tell about NDE.
Whatever they believe they've experienced is all just whatever their brains conjured.

@KKGator True, In life we are in the midst of death, but it's best not to think of it too much

@Remiforce Which is why I said not to dwell in it.

4

Yes, but like everyone who has a "near death experience," mine matched my beliefs with the exception that I was aware of what was happening. I attribute my awareness to the fact that I wasn't actually dead.

I came back from the experience with the feeling that I had been privy to the most esoteric secrets of existence and reality, but couldn't recall what they were. I think that could I recall them they'd be a lot like nonsense that I recorded myself saying while extremely drunk. I thought at the time that I'd just realized something brilliant and insightful. When I played it back it was barely comprehensible and absolutely ridiculous.

JimG Level 8 Sep 20, 2019

It is said true mysticism involves experiencing realities that cannot be communicated in language, for language is based on duality & is inadequte to express that experience

4

I was able to communicate telepathically with my Dachshund while on LSD. I did tests witnessed and confirmed by my friends present (also on LSD).

We were hiking and when we came to the clearing, I let Willy (my dog) wander around on his own. I was able to call him to return using only my thoughts. Varied the time intervals of the "calls", and would even dismiss him to go back to exploring using only thought communication. Was very scientific.

"There is more between heaven & earth, Horatio, than is drempt of in your philosophy" Shakespeare. I believe telepathy is possible, even without the heightened awareness of LSD,

I hope I don't lose my Agnostic Member Card for saying that

@Remiforce

I like to explain that there are many things we are skeptical of (with good reason), but also point out that it only needs to be true once to be true.

@WilliamCharles NDE's are reported all over the world by people who have no reason to lie. Apparently something is going on.

Are these actual deaths? Some very experienced meditators can go into a state of suspended animation that appears to be death, Some speculate even if the person has flatlined and there is no discernable electrical activity in the brain, there may be residual activity that causes NDE's

But this theory doesn't explain the cases where people apparently saw things remotely, such as being able to report accurately what their grieving relatives & friends were doing & saying in the waiting room

3

Yep. NDE, but I have not been conditioned in the religious sense so the only similarities to many I've heard about and a couple from folks in a group, was the tunneling of 'vision' and light at a distance. I tried to tell people about mine, but they said I was making it up because it didn't parallel what they'd heard. In mine there was considerable humor and nonsense along with colorful flashes and such (actually mirroring my daily life of fun, nonsense, and flashes of color). If I had told them about meeting relatives and ancestors along the way, maybe an angel or two replete with wings they would probably have been satisfied.

Anyway, in spite of the opinions from others, I know it was real because vitals were flat for a couple of minutes according to the docs, and they said the EEG was showing lots of activity. So, no, it wasn't the source of any major change in my life. I didn't start worshiping parking meters, getting visits from the Heavenly Hostesses, or hearing a wee voice in my mind guiding me to higher purpose. To tell you the truth, the whole experience just made me a lot more hesitant of going to doctors over anything, and at my age, that's not such a bad thing.

3

Just from mushrooms. 😉

2

There are two main reasons for the near death experience.

  1. As the body shuts down, one of the last organs to go is the eyes. With no stream of information coming in, the brain makes up some kind of input thus the bright lights, tunnel of light, etc.

  2. Typically, if you're dying you're hurting and in exterme pain. The body's response to pain is to release endrophines. That activates the release of opiate receptors. If it's the "we going die for sure" level of pain, the body releases all of them at once. Now you have warm fuzzy hallucinations of everyone you have ever loved. If you're hearing what they're doing around you, those hallucinations can include floating around the room while the brain tries understand the last rites or why people are beating on your chest . . . .

If the brain doesn't understand what's going on, it'll make stuff up.

Although I live dangerously, I've never been injured seriously enough to get a near death experience. I've looked death in the face and it said "Like, later mon." In the short term is was things like panic over seeing how close an eight foot long bull shark can swim next to me.

In the death experience, the body goes into cardiac arrest. The brain is deprrived of oxygen & shuts down. This shock produces the release of endorphins & many other hormones & neuro transmitters. There may be electrical activity in the neurons too subtle to be picked up on an EEG (Electroencephlegram).

People who are dying frequently report floating our of their bodies. They also mention a "life review" where they instantaneously experience their past with heightened awareness. They feel intensely the pleasure & pain they gave others

This situation may produce a temporary hallucinatory state which involves very high suggestibility. Typically people report a tremendous experience of light, which may be white light but may involve psychedelic colors. They often report going through a tunnel where they hear a sound that has been described as buzzing or the singing of heavenly choirs. they often have a tingling sensation like an electric shock.

When they get through this tunnel, they often report meeting a "spiritual being" that seems to fit their cultural conditioning. A christian may meet christ, a hindu rama, a buddhist buddha, & so on. They also frequently meet a "reception committee" of people they cared about who passed over.

They report a tremendous sense of peace & security. They also frequently report tremendous insights into the nature of themselves & reality they can't express in words.

Often the "spiritual being" or one of their loved ones tell them it is not their time yet & they must go back, Often they resist because it is so pleasant over there, much better than here

2

While I have been close to death many times, I never had an NDE. A very good woman friend became extremely ill while in college. They took her to the infirmary. She reports she left her body & floated by the ceiling watching the medical personnel working on her. One of them said, "She's gone". They could not get her vitals for a long time.

They moved her body to a bright, sunny room. She watched what was going on from the ceiling. The realization came to her it was not her time to go. She struggled to get back into her body. Eventually she got back in & felt the illness she hadn't felt while she was up by the ceiling. She felt very peaceful & pain free up there.

Apparently this situation lasted for some time. Her parents got a call, "Your daughter died" & rushed to the college. The medical personnel said she reported accurately what happened.

2

I have taken LSD 4 times - 1 good, 2 amazing, the last really, really bad.
I have had my heart stopped while surgeons fixed a few blood vessels.
I have had a few situations where I was near death and fully expected and hoped to die.
Never saw a bright light, felt the spirit of a god or anything other than the pain of surviving

Sounds like you had a bad acid trip. The stuff is very unpredictable.

Many people, when they are in extremis, want to die, & surviving can be a bitch.

2

I experienced what you call an astral walk, while in hospital, after a couple surgical mishaps that almost killed me (according to the surgeon). Middle of the night vitals check - I was vaguely aware, but enjoying a ‘dream’ snuggle with my honey, so decided to stay in the dream and ignore the nurse. She got upset about something and left, then brought in the charge nurse. She tried to check my vitals too, then forcefully shook me - I felt yanked out of my lover’s arms and dumped in the hospital bed. Nurse seemed baffled, but glad to finally be getting my vitals. Apparently, while I clung to that ‘dream’, I had no vitals! I later learned my guy had a similar ‘waking dream’ from which I was suddenly yanked away. Too weird!

Sounds like you had an astral walk & an astral snuggle. I too experienced the "rapture of the deep" & almost died. Wierd things happen

2

I had ‘something’ happen
I’m not willing to call it mystical
Near death/dead yup
Big rectangle door shape with white noise inside
Walked in lots of light
Then I was awake
Don’t know

Many people describe going through a sort of tunnel or portal with white light & a sort of buzzing noise. Often the light & noise become one--synestesia

@Remiforce
The light entered my body felt like electricity and then I was awake.

@darthfaja Sounds like you had the beginnings of an NDE. People often describe a tingling sensation like an electric shock as part of the light & sound

2

Oh yeah I had a big one. The light in my room became blinding and his presence as so strong I dropped to my knees. I was on some pretty good LSD at the time though so I doubt it was real.

Too bad your consciousness was clouded by the acid. What presence did you see?

@Remiforce I didnt see it just the light. I felt it and that feeling was probably oxytocin

2

Every day... when I wake up I return to this plane.

Some say dreams are astral walks, but the trick is to do it while you're awake

2

I've had near death experiences before but they never included mystical experiences even with drugs.

Well,you can't win all the time

2
  1. It was a damn sight more peaceful & pain free than being strangled!
  2. And after the stroke (many years later) it was also a better place than that hospital bed, where I had lost control of one eyeball, lost the ability to read/write/ speak clearly, and could not recognize anybody until they spoke. Mystical my ass! Do you think if you are dying everything is rainbows & soft music? That's hospice.........
    Just dark, quiet,peaceful,and no pain....really lovely.
    And anybody who blats on about how "it gave them purpose" or whatever, just wants your money!
2

No. but I once had an out of body experience. I was at a rock festival standing in front of the stage when suddenly I was 100ft up in the air looking down on the stage and crowd. I got such a fright that I immediately came back down again. Some mind altering substance had been taken but nothing substantial.

Many people have astral walks. When you are out there again, you might stay & enjoy it. If it is not your time to die, you'll come back

@Remiforce Hope so

1

Can not say for sure what the state of chemicals were in my brain when some events occured. One of them was when I was 7 years old and there were too many details to explain about that one. There was another when I was a teenager I was the kid that did not smoke pot or do another mind altering things. I would have sworn at the time that I was remote viewing through a hawks eyes for several minutes. I have wondered a long time about the conditions that let my brain be in that state.

When we are a child, I believe our imagination & the doors of perception are open. When we become an adult, they often close

1

I've been terrified for my life 2 or 3 times. No flashes or anything mystical. Just an awareness of needing to do something quickly and hoping it worked. It did. Still here. Thank no one.

Being in a risky situation where one might die is not an NDE

@Remiforce I guess I'm unclear of the definition

1

I've had a few "was nearly killed" experiences. Does that count? They certainly sharpened my perceptions of what was about to send me to my dirt nap and got me out of it. Nothing mystical though. Mostly terror, anger then immense relief.

Dangerous situations can definitely raise awareness, with all the terror, anger, & relief, but they are not NDE's. You have to actually die

1

of course its an altered brain state, the brain does very different things in response to its inputs/environment, and if you think being dazed and shocked during a car wreck is bad, imagine how youd feel as your life is slipping away.

anyhow, having done both, id say they are very different.

Being in a very dangerous situation, say a car wreck, is different from an NDE, where you are actually clinically dead, from all appearances

1

Too bad

1

Nope... Don't believe in them...

Too bad

1

I've had near-death experiences in that I've been caught up in circumstances that might easily have killed me but there was nothing mystical about them.

Senex Level 5 Sep 19, 2019

But did you actually die?

@Remiforce No. And neither did anyone else who can still talk about it.

@Senex I've met many people who have been clinically dead for long periods--no heartbeat or pulse, no respiration, often flatline on the EEG. They often say death doesn't scare them anymore--they felt such a sense of peace & realization. They often don't talk about it with civilians, because they fear people won't understand it & will think they're crazy

@Remiforce Yes, I'm aware that many people say those things.

1

Had a few patients who did

bobwjr Level 10 Sep 19, 2019

Did they talk about them? Many people who had NDE's are afraid to talk about it because they're afraid people, including doctors, will think they're crazy

1

I have seen a lot of apparently brain dead people promoting magical sh!t. That's pretty damned mystical to me!!

To have a genuine NDE, you have to be brain dead, a flatliner, so I guess that's why so many of them promote mystical s**t

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