Hello all,
I'm new to this forum but by no means new to the subject of the 'Afterlife'. Over the years I've read so many books and articles on the subject and read people's views, theories, and opinions. Many people such as Robert Moody for one have touched on the issue with considerable insight, whereas others simple haven't had a clue (to put it politely). I don't claim to know all there is to know about the afterlife, and anyone who still remains within this earthly realm who does make such a claim is talking through his hat (so to speak). I can only speak from personal experience, nothing more.
When I was a young carefree man I didn't believe in a God, or an afterlife. As far as I was concerned death was it, the end of our existence and there was simply nothing beyond death but nothingness. Then without warning I developed double pneumonia at the age of 22 and was bedridden at home for 8 eight days. Initially I went to my local doctor and he told me I had the flu and prescribed antibiotics for me, but as each day passed I got worse and worse. Finally by the 8th day I was rushed to the emergency ward of the hospital at the brink of death. Both my lungs had completely collapsed. Most of the time I was unconscious and breathing only with the help of an oxygine machine. Then a strange sense of weighlessness came over me and I actually began to rise upward from the bed, continuing upward until I reached the ceiling about 9 or 10 feet from the floor then stopped. For the first time in more than a week I saw my own body which was laying on the hospital bed about 6 feet below me. It was truely a pathetic sight - nothing but palid grey flesh hanging off bone and deeply sunken eye sockets. Very calmly the thought came to me 'I'm dead', there was no fear or apprehension whatsoever. As a matter of fact, there was a beautiful sense of peace, calmness and an unexplainable feeling of wellbeing, that everything was going to be fine. BUT WASN'T I DEAD? I was also accutely aware of everything that was going on within the emergency ward, being in a high state of alertness that I'd never experienced before. It seemed I could see and hear everything. Hovering there just below the ceiling I gradually became aware of another entity nearby but couldn't see him. Then I was completely enveloped in an indescribable, unearthly love which can't to put into mere words. Then this invisible being of love called my name twice and said "It's not your time, go back now". The next thing I recalled was waking in the I.C.U. ward 2 days later. One of the nurses told me that I had 'clinically died' for approx. 32-34 seconds. However, during this half a minute or so there was no concept of time, it could've been 5 seconds or it could've been 5 months, it would not have made the slightest difference. It was as though I had a tiny glimpse of eternity; a place where time simply didn't exist, and where there is no time there is no beginning or end. Some of you may think I'm cuckoo (LOL) but I don't know how else to explain it. One thing I know is that the NDE/OBE I had changed my life forever. Furthermore, I have no fear of death whatsoever. I'm not saying I'm looking forward to it but when it comes I can welcome it calmly and resignately.
Regards: Malfunc
Edited: