End of my rope Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 I just read a book by Dannion Brinkley called "Saved by the Light". Anyone out there read it? Anyway it's about his near death experience after being struck by lightening through a telephone. He was pronounced clinically dead and woke up in a morgue like half an hour later. He claims that in that time he went to a crystal city and 13 beings of light gave him knowledge of the future (many of which have since came true) and gave him a mission to complete here on earth. A few years later he then died again from his heart and once again returned to the crystal city and came back to life. My question is how many of you believe this? And what are your views on it? Do you think his soul did travel to some spiritual city or if it was something akin to a dream? We've had many discussions about heaven and hell on here and I'm interested in your views on NDE's... Link to post Share on other sites
HokeyReligions Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 Near Death Experiences----um, engaged but not yet married? LOL No, I don't believe it. Whatever the "experience" I think it existed only in his mind (if he did actually have two NDEs) and he rationalizes what happened in the context of what he has learned about in life (such a putting a religious connotation to the experience) Link to post Share on other sites
Patty Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 My father had a near death experience. Patty Link to post Share on other sites
Fedup&givingup Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 Originally posted by HokeyReligions Near Death Experiences----um, engaged but not yet married? LOL ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It sounds like this guy died twice and went to heaven (to coin a phrase). Seriously, I have never experienced anything like it, and I don't know of anyone that has. Link to post Share on other sites
faux Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 I have had two near-death experiences. One involves accidental ingestion of far too many sleeping pills, and the other was very much on purpose. I flatlined for a bit the first instance, as I was in an ambulance. The second time I was alone, but fully aware of how close death was looming. Although I was never officially pronounced dead, I can imagine that things would NOT get much better from what I went through. I saw no things even remotely resembling angels, a heaven, or a God. I felt no love, no kindness, and no overwhelming sense of happiness. I felt pain. I lay in my bed, forsaken and pained, feeling my life slip away. I would tell myself, "Your heart just stopped. There it goes again. You are not breathing. Try to breathe. BREATHE." I could feel my heart beating so hard I was certain it would burst. I saw flashes of light as my vision failed, and heard nothing but ringing in my ears, and then finally silence. Try to imagine, for a moment, laying in your bed, blind, deaf, paralyzed and screaming, yet unable to hear it at all. I do not wish to continue remembering much more, but I ended up finally saying "If I am to die then I am to die.", and giving up. I awoke the next morning convinced that I had died and was now forever doomed to repeat the mistakes I had made in my life. My heart beat was so faint that I was not sure I was still alive until a few days later. So far as these visions of heaven or hell that some see when they die, it is all in the mind. The brain, when threatened, creates its own internal world for it to reside in. Believe me that death is not pretty. And for anyone worried, please don't be. This was a long while ago and I certainly have no intention of attempting this ever again. Life is good and such Just... bad memories. Link to post Share on other sites
ladyangel Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 Originally posted by Patty My father had a near death experience. Patty Tell us about it, Patty. Link to post Share on other sites
Author End of my rope Posted March 30, 2004 Author Share Posted March 30, 2004 Wow, faux, thanks for sharing that with us. Link to post Share on other sites
morrigan Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 Faux, it's great that you're still alive and are a stronger person. Patty, I'm glad your father is still with you. Several years ago, a friend of mine overdosed on methamphetamine. He was clinically dead for 3 minutes, but he doesn't remember seeing or hearing anything. He has been drug free since that time. I've read accounts of NDEs, many of them seem to be valid, some may be hallucinations induced by the dying brain. But whether they really occured or not, if someone reevaluated their life and became a better person due to it, that's the best experience. Link to post Share on other sites
Author End of my rope Posted March 30, 2004 Author Share Posted March 30, 2004 In the book by Dannion Brinkley, he says that these "beings of light" showed him future events. These were documented by a medical doctor shortly after Mr. Brinkley "came back". I don't remember the exact number but it was like 97 of 117 came to be. It included things like the fall of the Berlin Wall, Operation Dessert Storm, he even mentioned that a war would be fought over oil in the middle east in 2004. This book was published before that time. If his brain created these hallucinations, how did he "see" these things? Link to post Share on other sites
fredrolin Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 When I was 16 I almost drowned. I remember struggling and panicking under water for a few minutes but just before I slipped into unconciousness I felt a strange calm wonderful feeling come over me and I thought "this is it". Next thing I knew some dude was giving me CPR and I was puking up water. My body was so sore, I felt like I got hit by a truck. Link to post Share on other sites
Tony T Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 I think what people mistake for a near death experience is just a process of shutting down that the brain goes through, if it has time. If you drop from a building and get smashed, the brain is pretty much gone. But if the method of death permits the time, there are chemicals and neurotransmitters that mimic all sorts of light patterns and euphoric feelings to make the transition easier. There is scientific research to support this type of scenario. I don't think there is anything particularly spiritual about the experience...but I would very much like to believe it is if I could be presented with facts to support that beyond mere speculation. Link to post Share on other sites
fredrolin Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 I just believe there is more to life than 80 years of walking on this planet suffering. I mean life sucks. You start out as a stupid kid, then go through the awkwardness of being a teenager. sure the 20's and 30's are somewhat fun but they go by too quickly and you wish you did things differently. Next thing you know you are 40 and you realize your youth is gone. Medical problems start and you still have to work another 25 years. Then you are 65 and are too tired to enjoy life and your damn close to death. There has got to be more to it all. Link to post Share on other sites
tattoomytoe Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 i almost died once, i was really sick and in the ICU, they told me that my heart rate dropped to 20 beats a minute, but slowly rose, so they didn't have to intervine. i was sleeping most the time i was in there, i do not remeber the first couple days. i have had out of body experiences. Link to post Share on other sites
Samantha16 Posted April 26, 2004 Share Posted April 26, 2004 I took a class in college and we talked a lot about near death experiences. My teacher told us about a woman who was declared dead. They measured her brain activity and there was nothing. So I'm talking dead. But she woke up, and when she woke up she told them about everything she saw. So the question was, for the doctors, scientists, my teacher, the students...what could she have possibly seen, when there was nothing alive about her. Some say the brain shutting down causes images or whatever...your life passing in front of you....but what happens when your brain has been shut down for about 5 minutes? Everything's possible. I think the world has a specific number for the amount of energy in it. We are part of that energy. When we die, the number stays the same. Where does that energy go? It certainly doesn't die. Link to post Share on other sites
sweetbilly Posted April 26, 2004 Share Posted April 26, 2004 Read a book called "too hell and back" it scared the he double hockey sticks out of me, so i stoped reading it before i could finish it. i don't know if i believe in the whole nde experience, however, it is quite convenceing sometimes. Like, how can someone in an operating room laying on a gurney dying, see what was on the back side of the light above them? or how about he one where the guy was pronounced dead for three days and when he came out of it he told everyone what his family, who were sitting at home crying and doing other things at the time, did every minuite he was in the hospital. there's simply got to be more to this thing. no one wants to admit that something is actually happening not the religous community, not doctors, no one. I've had some friends that have had some really interesting experiences after death and come back to tell. I think they should do some real studys on the whole thing. Link to post Share on other sites
nikkilove Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 I just read a book about "after death communication" and I'm not saying it's NOT true, I'm just saying it didnt happen to me or anyone in our family..........the first was my dad dying after being in an altered state for 20 years.......the second was my sister in law committing suicide leaving us with her kid and her mess, and noone in the family did she communicate with.......my husband thought he heard something one night.....but never concrete.........never for sure...... death and the unknowing sucks. Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts