Is there an afterlife? Here’s what he saw while he was ‘dead’ | Bruce Greyson for Big Think

What if death isn’t the end? NDEs may complicate what science teaches us about death and consciousness.

Thousands of people across the world and throughout the centuries have reported near-death experiences (NDEs). Most NDEs share one common trait: an overwhelming sense of spirituality and connection with the Divine.

NDEs strongly hint at the existence of an afterlife, but not everyone agrees.

NDE research has raised more questions than answers. For example: Are we just physical machines, spiritual beings, or both? Does consciousness survive brain death?

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About Dr. Bruce Greyson:
Dr. Bruce Greyson is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the UVA School of Medicine. He served on the medical school faculty at the Universities of Michigan, Connecticut, and Virginia. He was a co-founder and President of the International Association for Near-Death Studies, and Editor of the Journal of Near-Death Studies. His award-winning research led him to become a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and to be invited by the Dalai Lama to participate in a dialogue between Western scientists and Buddhist monks in India.

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Read more of our stories on the afterlife:
No Afterlife? No Problem! How to Face Oblivion Like a Pro
Do near-death experiences prove that an afterlife exists?
Psychopomps: Gods of the liminal who wait for you when you die

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[nickstaffieri]

When my wife was 15 years old, she had cancer. During an emergency treatment, she had a NDE. She said she hovered above the doctors working on her body, and then floated towards a bright light. It was so peaceful. She then saw a woman she did not recognize who told her the doctors saved her. My wife didn't know who this woman was until some time later when her and her mother were looking through an old photo album. My wife pointed at a photo and said that was who she saw. Her mother said it was her aunt who past away before my wife was born. Yes, I believe every word she said. PS my wife is now 52 and we are celebrating 25 years of marriage.

[anniebieb]

I had an NDE 56 years ago. I did not talk about it until society began sharing these experiences in the media. Recently I have been interested in physics and came upon a discussion of worm holes as part of Einsteins theory. The description of a wormhole sounds so much like a description of the tunnel I saw with a light at the end. It really has me thinking about this explanation of my experience and how amazed I was at the absence of a feeling of time and space. I only experienced being. I was telepathically told it was not my time and to return to my body. I have never forgotten this experience and lost a fear of death. I am now 84 and waiting.

[angelabryant]

When my Father was in his last week of life, dying from small cell cancer at the age of 59, he said his younger brother came and visited him at his bedside. His younger brother was 23 when he was tragically killed in the early 60's. He told my father to not be frightened, that they were gonna see each other soon! I'm a believer in life after death for sure...

[kathykay]

"They are not gone forever, they are just away."

We are triune beings, body, soul, and spirit. When death is imminent, our

spirit leaves our body but we can still see our physical body and the state
it is in. We feel none of the trauma or pain the physical body may have
experienced. I knew I was drowning because I was trapped in the water
but after my spirit left my body I felt no attachment to my body at all. I
was just a kid at the time but after my spirit left my body I felt no oxygen
deprivation, no pain, and I was not afraid even though I knew my body was
in the process of dying. I was in perfect peace. I felt another being to my right
side and I knew that Spirit was there to keep me safe and to watch over me no
matter what happened to my body swirling below me. I knew that my Savior
was there and I had nothing to fear. I had a life review and my life flashed before
my eyes as if I was reliving it in earth time but the review couldn't have lasted more
than a few seconds. Then, a friend named Sonny noticed that I hadn't resurfaced
and he jumped in and pulled me out just in time. They revived me and I didn't experience any long-term damage even though I went through the survivable stages of drowning.

Animals survive bodily death also. I had a cherished pet come to me in my sleep after
she had died during the night. When I woke up I knew she had died and we went out
and found that she had in fact passed over. She was young and healthy and her passing
was not due to ill health.

I had another pet appear in a photo of another dog that was taken seven years after the other dog had died. Animals are pure spirit and they also survive the death of the physical body. This fact has brought me a lot of comfort through the years, I hope it brings others comfort after the loss of beloved family members and friends. This world is not the end,
it is just one phase of our existence.

I wish you all peace and happiness always...In His Name...

[selcukakyuz_marcom]

When an apple falls on the ground we see it decay but it's actually the becoming of a new tree.

[fabiocaetanofigueiredo]

Interesting how people rarely ask "is there a beforelife"?

[mumheravi]

When my dad passed away from cancer about 20 years ago I was very sad. Three days later I woke up in the middle of the night and saw something like a very fine fog hovering in the room and it gave me such a feeling of overwhelming love and peace which I had never experienced before. Life goes on!

[paulmartos]

Never had an NDE myself but a friend did. What convinced me of the afterlife was what I experienced at the funeral of my mother. Obviously it was devastating -- until I felt like I was looking down from a high corner of the room and "heard" her voice saying "Why are all these people so unhappy?" She sounded both confused and amused.

That changed everything. It was a sunny but cold day in late January with snow on the ground and I thought it was beautiful. I even told my wife, "It's going to be okay".

On our way to the graveyard I explained what had happened and felt a deep chill. Every time I talked about it and about her for the next several weeks I felt that chill. And it came from inside. Once I was feeling it when my furnace kicked on, initially sending a blast of cold air. I felt that cold on my skin but the other from deep inside me. Also, I could fell that deep chill enter me, from the back or side or front, as if some force was entering my body from a particular direction.

That was nearly 40 years ago, but I still occasionally get that chill when I think about her.

[danielwilliamson]

I had a NDE when I was 15 years old. I was being hospitalized and had a severe reaction to a medication the doctor had given me. I felt an incredible peace and warmth, then I could see the doctor and nurses trying to revive me from above. There was open space all around me, or my spirit, rather. I couldn't see my physical self, only my body in the hospital bed. It's affected me profoundly. Especially my understanding of a divine being

[o.h.guzman]

My mother had a similar experience, she had an accident and momentarily passed away. She then found herself at what she describes as a beautiful bridge, but at the entrance of the bridge she found relatives that had passed away many years ago, many of them when she was a young child and could not have met them, they stopped her at the bridge an told her to turn around, that she was not supposed to be there. Next thing she remembered was waking up. There is definately something else when we pass, another realm, another life, reincarnation maybe? Who knows. But I find comforting to know there is more, and that your long past loved ones will wait for you there.

[batfink]

My Grandmother was killed in a car crash and came back to life a completely different person. She went out a miserable old cow that bought everyone's down around her. she was not my friend, she had insane jealousy about my grandfathers relationship with me and would make my life pretty miserable to say the least. which wasn't good when my brother and I were trapped there for between 2 and 4 weeks at school holidays, and our parents were 5 hours away. Anyway, when she finally ot out of the hospital months later, she became the loveliest, most loving woman i've ever met. it was like she'd been replaced by an angel.

[ronilda]

My mom died and I desperately want to know she is still out there watching me and that I can meet her one day

[daloony]

There seems to be a specific "welcoming" for everyone. My dad got covid, he was dying in the ambulance, I was riding in the passenger seat up front I'm still grateful they let me go. My dad said he could hear and see everything happening inside the ambulance. It was bad, we met up with a second ambulance before we reached the hospital because they thought they were going to have to trach my dad (go through the trachea). When we finally reached the hospital I vividly remember him laid out on the stretcher and a swarm of people around him and my mom didn't show up yet so I was by myself outside staring at my dad until the doors closed.. he later explained his NDE. He did die, he heard the doctor mentioning if he closes his eyes again he wouldn't wake back up. My dad did fall to sleep, but when he awoke he was in a large movie theater, when looking around the screen was sputtering and everyone in the theater was sucked up against the wall and my dad wasn't able to make anyone out. He felt a hand larger than himself (my dad is a big man capable of taking up a doorway) and was shoved forward where he met gigantic beings similar to a description of a grim reaper. He asked them who they were, they explained they were the "watchers" and with a snap of one's fingers he was back. In the span of what felt like several moments was seconds and he sat back up in front of the doctors and just said "hey everybody." Like it was nothing.
He later explained to me personally that the afterlife is like a secondary plane of existence parallel to ours, and when we are ready we're essentially born in that new existence. We all have a purpose in life and in death, he didn't really go into full details but I know he saw a lot. Honestly hearing everything he did tell me, I'm not so scared of death anymore, or the concept of a "what if."

[JPrice]

I'm here mourning the loss of my son getting killed 2 years ago, still no justice. Losing my big sis 3 months after my boy. I'm a frickin mess and they say time heals is bs! God help me and God bless you all

[PraveenaMallarkandy]

When my dad was in the terminal stage of cancer, when he woke up from his sleep he would say his aunt (who passed away several decades ago) came to see him. We used to get anxious since we didn’t want our dad to die and we were trying hard to save him.

[freddie]

Shortly before my mom died, as she was laying in bed, she started raising her arms as if reaching for the sky. It was sporadic and each occurrence lasted about a minute or two. We’ll never know who or what she was reaching for. I can only hope it was my grandparents and other family members and friends welcoming her into heaven.

[rockk]

I pray and hope there is a beautiful after life. I just lost my beautiful wife of cancer at 42. I keep begging her to show me a sign . I feel I am getting some but other times I think it's my mind playing tricks. This is so difficult I can't stop thinking about her last breath. Fck cancer.😊

[kevinbonner]

My brother made contact with me after his death. RIP Brother.

[wanguirhods]

In the last year 2021 Feb, I was seriously sick with a heart disease that left my heart rate at 43 and very scary. One night, I saw a woman come for me, we were standing on a savanna, then we started climbing this huge mountain that took us a while. At the top, a door opened and I realized that I was entering heaven meaning I was dying. I refused to enter, but the woman did. Suddenly, I saw hailstone coming down from the sky, surprisingly, I knew it was gonna kill me anyway and so I shouted ''OK I will ENTER'' Instead of the very top door opening, a door lower than that opened and I entered. There, I found everyone wearing the same clothes, singing, and clapping. A man came over and said ''please come with me, I want to show you how things work here'' I told him'' I don't want to die! My family will be very sad and crying, I haven't finished everything I wanted to do on Earth, God please I don't want to die now'' That's when I regained consciousness and came back to life.

[thesjkexperience]

I’m not any religion so I was surprised that there was something there when I had my NDE. For me it was good, but nothing like any religion. I asked to go back because I had young children that needed me and here I am. 6000 pound truck drove over my torso. It’s amazing what the body can endure.