Hello Everyone! Personally knew some NDErs.

[Pirius]

To introduce myself, I was an atheist for much of my life for several reasons. Then, a number of years ago I became interested in researching NDEs (as well as children who had memories of past lives) to determine whether there really is existence beyond a single life. My research seemed to indicate that as far as I could ascertain, there is existence beyond a single life. I then began a journey of seeking, and shortly thereafter came into contact with someone who had two NDEs. He turned out to be a spiritual mentor to me, although things with him didn't end in the best possible way.

Even though he told me he had two NDEs, something about him didn't feel fully right to me from the first day I met him. But he pursued me and said that "The Ascended Masters wanted him to". I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt as much as I possibly could, but the longer I interacted with him the more traumatic his behavior become. For the first year or so when I was interacting with him, most of the discussions he had with me were positive, but then he began telling me false prophecies, trying to control many aspects of my life, wishing bad things to happen to me, and outright taking glee in that I attempted suicide when I was in my in teens. He also callously refused to temporarily allow me to stay with him when I desperately needed it, and mocked me at the same time.

I finally stopped speaking to him for good when this one prophecy he pushed on me and said that "The Ascended Masters" had wanted him to tell me since when he first met me failed. Then I wondered whether he truly had NDEs, or if he did whether they had changed him at all. From the research I had done earlier, it appeared as though most people who had an NDE were changed dramatically by it, regardless of whether it could be construed more positively or negatively. But for him, he seemed to take pleasure in the things he did that traumatized me. It was as though he and I could have deep spiritual discussions very frequently, but he would always seem to enjoy traumatizing me by threatening me spiritually among other things. Some of the things he said were so traumatic that I became convinced he was aligned with dark forces because I couldn't understand why someone who was supposedly involved in positive spirituality would derive so much pleasure from being so terrible to me.

He is gone now, at least, so if NDErs who say that you review your life after you pass are correct (and I have every reason to believe they are), he will finally have seen how much he traumatized me after initially helping me.

Later, I met the person who would turn out to be the closest friend I had in my entire life. She had also had an NDE, but the difference between her and my mentor is that she was a very positive person. It seemed that her NDE changed her entirely for the better, even though it caused her physical issues that hadn't fully healed after the NDE. I could talk to her about anything, spiritual or otherwise, but she seemed to typify the changes of most NDErs I had read about after their experiences, in that she changed profoundly for the better. With her, there was no threatening me of any sort or trying to control my life. I eventually stopped speaking to her for different reasons than I did my mentor, but she is still the closest friend I have had in my life to this point.

I also met another person who had an NDE after I had met her. It eliminated any and all fear of death she had beforehand. I have since lost contact with her, but I was grateful to have met her as well.

Even though I met these people who have had NDEs, I still feel an almost insatiable need to keep researching the accounts of other people who have had them. I used to essentially put people who had an NDE on a pedestal in a sense, because I consider NDEs the most powerful spiritual experiences that can be had, although I've learned as of late that not every NDEr necessarily has all the answers, which is probably why I feel the need to do more research about them.

I have had some STEs as I think they would be classified, so perhaps an NDE is something I'll never personally experience. But I'm sure I'll always be fascinated by them and by people who had them.

[DTR1975]

Thank you for your introduction and welcome! I have never had an NDE either. But I was always fascinated by them, and that led my to do years of research and join NDERF. NDERF has hundreds of documented NDEs going back years. I always post an update when they come out with new ones.
You said that you used to be an atheist. After having spent some time developing spiritually, what are your beliefs now?

[Pirius]

Thanks for welcoming me. Now I am definitely not an atheist any longer. I believe in reincarnation as well, and basically that the soul is infinite, always has existed, and always will exist. And that we are intended to have a different experience each time we incarnate on Earth.

I don't believe in some God of judgment and punishment. I don't even really believe in karma either even if it exists, since that could be used to justify all kinds of suffering (which is something my former mentor did to me) by insinuating that I was a terrible, evil person in past lives and as such it somehow justified the extreme level of suffering I experienced in this lifetime, which led me to attempt suicide once and brought me to the brink of it on two other occasions.

I do believe in the Christ consciousness, which is to treat everyone else the way you want to be treated. As long as you do that, I figure karma is irrelevant because even if karma exists then you wouldn't be at risk of incurring negative karma at all.

[ADMINDiane]

A very warm welcome to the Forum Pirius!