Astral Projection vs. Near Death Experience

To live in this world is not an easy thing, but it sure is a pleasure to have an opportunity to live. However, there also exists a fact of life called death. The inevitable truth is, all of us will die at some point. Some people who had close brushes with death even had a glimpse of the afterlife, something we call as 'Near-Death-Experience'. Based on studies, people who experienced this have a changed viewpoint in life; they are more spiritually engaged.

Just recently, some people showed interest on my topic and put forth a question, "Is Astral Projection just like Near Death Experience?" Even though I was able to give them answers, I still wasn't satisfied. I thought I have to research further and juxtapose those two concepts. 

Astral Projection and Near Death Experience are two concepts which are often misunderstood by people. Near Death Experience was defined by Steve G. Jones as "an instance when a person comes really close to the point of dying. In fact, the person may be pronounced clinically dead for a few minutes or seconds before being revived again." 

According to Steve Jones, Astral Projection and Near Death Experience have their own distinct characteristics. He mentioned it in his article entitled "Near Death Experiences and Astral Projection: How They Are Related and What We Can Learn." In the said article, he stated the key characteristics of Near Death Experience or NDE as following:

• People usually have NDEs when they are clinically dead, or on the verge of it, but finally resuscitated. As a result, the recorded incidents of this happening often occur in a hospital or a similar setting.

This experience is very unlikely to be Astral Projection since Astral Projection can be achieved without having a  near encounter with death. 

•  There is usually a light, usually white, which seems to beckon the person towards it. This theme is found throughout religious and cultural history.

From what I know, the white light are rarely spoken of by Astral Projectors. In Astral Projection, you wouldn't have to go through a white light or a tunnel. You have an option to go wherever you want to go as long as it's within the limits.

• Also common to NDEs is an experience of the events of one’s life passing in your mind’s eye, or before you, in an instant, and an understanding of all of the triumphs and tragedies, and some kind of understanding, sometimes akin to a feeling of forgiveness, or wholeness, afterwards.

Astral Projection can be controlled - it could be at will; whereas, in Near Death Experience, it is something beyond your control. 

I have never experienced Near Death Experience and I think people who have experienced both Astral Projection and Near Death Experience are only the ones who are qualified to make factual statements. Anyway, based on the stated facts, NDEs are far more esoteric. Once your life is over and when you cross over the tunnel or white light, what's there on the other side? Moreover, NDEs are closer to reality than Astral experiences, but both are considered anecdotal. In conclusion, the two aren't quite the same but they are related; both are forms of spiritual travel.

Let me end this post with an interesting story I've read from News Monster

Jeanette Atkinson is surprisingly relaxed about the time she died and went to the edge of heaven.

“I do not want to die again in the near future because I still have too much to do,” she says. “But I have no fear of death.

“People see the pain and suffering of dying and equate that with death - but they’re not the same. Death is the progression of life.”

Jeanette, a 43-year-old student nurse from Eastbourne, had a near-death experience in 1979 when she was just 18-years-old. It was triggered when a blood clot in her leg broke up into seven pieces and clogged the main vessels in her lungs, starving her body of oxygen. The doctors were certain that she would die. She did – but then returned to tell the tale.

“The first thing I noticed was that the world changed,” says Jeanette. “The light became softer but clearer. Suddenly there was no pain. All I could see was my body from the chest downwards and I noticed that the time was 9:00pm. 

“In an instant I found myself looking at the ceiling. It was only a few inches away. I remember thinking it was about time they cleaned the dust from the striplights!

“I then went on a little journey around the ward and along the corridor to see what the nurses were up to. One was writing on a notepad. It never occurred to me that I was dying. It was a lovely experience and very, very serene.”

Jeanette then began the journey that many others before her have reported – being drawn into a long dark tunnel suffused with light.  “Everything went fuzzy,” she says. “I found myself being drawn into a tunnel shaped like a corkscrew.

“All I wanted to do was reach the beautiful lights at the bottom. The longing was so powerful but so gentle. I knew I desperately wanted to be there. But then a voice bellowed at me: ‘Come on you silly old cow it’s not your time yet!’

“I then shot back into my body – it’s all a little unclear – all I can say is that I remember seeing the clock again and it was 9:20pm. The next thing I was aware of was waking up a few days later, surrounded by equipment and feeling terrible. Later on I realised that the voice I’d heard was my grandmother’s. She’d died when I was three years old.”

“There is no doubt in my mind that there’s life after death because I’ve seen the other side,” says Jeanette. “I don’t believe in a benevolent God. I’ve seen too much suffering for that but I’m very spiritual."