Near Death Experience

In his autobiography, Carl Gustav Jung - the famous Swiss psychologist and founder of Analytical psychology - says that he had a mystical experience right when he hung on the edge of death, after a heart failure. This is how he describes what he felt with his own being during this instance of near death experience (NDE):

"“It seemed to me that I was high up in space. Far below I saw the globe of the earth, bathed in a gloriously blue light. I saw the deep blue sea and the continents.... From below, from the direction of Europe, an image floated up. It was my doctor, Dr. H.... Dr. H. had been delegated by the earth to deliver a message to me, to tell me that there was a protest against my going away. I had no right to leave the earth and must return. The moment I heard that, the vision ceased...."

“During those weeks I lived in a strange rhythm. By day I was usually depressed. I felt weak and wretched, and scarcely dared to stir. Gloomily, I thought, ‘Now I must go back to this drab world.’ Toward evening I would fall asleep, and my sleep would last until about midnight. Then I would come to myself and lie awake for about an hour, but in an utterly transformed state. It was as if I were in an ecstasy. I felt as though I were floating in space, as though I were safe in the womb of the universe — in a tremendous void, but filled with the highest possible feeling of happiness. ‘This is eternal bliss,’ I thought. ‘This cannot be described; it is far too wonderful!"

Dr. Jung continues describing this feeling of floating above the earth, and standing in front of a temple, surrounded by flame and experiencing the illusion of human earthly existence.

Spiritual seekers of all times have believed that death is just a change, a transition into somewhat different state of existence. Recorded experiences of people who went through Near Death Experience after an accident, or during surgical procedure often support the claims of the spiritualists.

A typical experience consists in leaving the physical body behind and watching it quite objectively for without. This is often accompanied by a feeling of traveling, sometimes in familiar environment where they meet known people and events, but sometimes also unfamiliar people and unfamiliar worlds. Other phenomena that are common are (i) passing through a tunnel, experiencing huge expansion of consciousness, state of coma, and finally, waking up to the everyday reality.

In many cases their returning to this physical existence is more painful than leaving the physical world. Even if we disregard the belief systems of many spiritual traditions and religions, the reports of near death experience should interest psychologists, and official science should take more interest in these types of phenomena, since they reveal how the human mind faces these extreme situations.