Hi Everyone,

If I may, I'd like to chip in a few thoughts of mine own, not just to the original posters question, but in response to some of the replies given. These are not criticisms, just alternative viewpoints.

Let's begin by defining what we might mean by 'belief' and 'faith', as you cannot have one without the other. "Belief, to my mind, is the 'accepting' of a premise having no veridical proof of its reality; and faith, is the 'expectance' that one's belief will at some time be proved. Both belief and faith are thus wedded by this mindful percept, and as well as forming a self-instructing mechanism, they also become self-reinforcing...", and contribute to the (dis)colouring of experiences and the meanings we garner from them. (**)

This leads me into the first potential discolouring of meaning  from experience:

Berserk wrote: " The one most significant common constant is the role of Jesus.  He often appears to atheists (e.g. Howard Storm) and sometimes even to Muslims.  Conversely, Muhamad and Buddha (Siddartha Gautama) almost never appear to their devotees.  Clearly, Jesus is the major player in the afterlife."

This I feel is wishful thinking deriving from one's belief system. I agree that Jesus plays a significant role, even in my mind as I perceive Him as a fictional character given profound spiritual understandings which He sought to inspire mankind with. Most Muslim encounters with a spiritual being during their NDE have been reported as an encounter with either Allah or Mohammed. I have yet to come across an NDE experient whom was given identification as to whom the spiritual being they encountered is. Usually, it is the experient whom assesses the Being's identification. One's own cutural inculcation plays a significant role in the experient's understanding of their NDE, for prior to the experience, cultural inculcation was the only parallel upon which they could draw for meaning.
The common global themes of the NDE are the core elements of oobe, peaceful feelings, journey through a tunnel, encountering a bright loving light, meeting deceased friends and relatives, encounter with a higher spiritual being, a life review, and a return to one's physical body. Not all the elements are experienced as in one linear experience, it all depends upon the depth of the experience.

Bruce Moen wrote:"But I guess since we go out of body at death there really isn't much difference except the return to the body with an OBE."

I beg to differ, Bruce. The NDE is vastly superior to a simple oobe experience. However, to make a response from you easy, I will tell you that I have had no NDE or oobe experience. I do not, nor ever have wandered off into the other frequency realms in exploration. I will not deny that others believe that they do. I dream. Very lucidly as a matter of fact. I dream in colour and in sound, and I am able to motivate myself through active tasks as I interact with the characters that people my dreams, but I know that I am dreaming lucidly, and I know that it is in my head.

Recoverer wrote:" Add Robert Monroe's third book into the mix (even if you're not a fan). He makes it sound as if his previous incarnations still existed when he met them."

I accept post-mortem consciousness. I accept that when we die physically, we move onto other realms of frequency. With this acceptance, I must acknowledge that the potential for reincarnation for the spirit must be probable. Thus, my own thoughts on this have lead me into the concept that previous incarnations are stored as memories in their own disparate resonant orbits. So in a sense, I can quite agree with Recoverer's statement concerning Monroe. Only the 'Over-Soul' (the conglomeration of all previous incarnations?) would have access to those memories, the 'selfs' residing in those separate resonant life memories will not have correspondence with each other. They will be as different to each other as you and I are.

(**) The lines quoted are what I wrote elsewhere.

Regards All