No NDEs but 3 or 4 “altered states of awareness” (without drugs) that I could easily describe as mystical if I wanted to, but I don’t. I think it’s just brain chemistry.

Every day is a "near death" experience.
Nothing mystical about it.

Yes, but like everyone who has a "near death experience," mine matched my beliefs with the exception that I was aware of what was happening. I attribute my awareness to the fact that I wasn't actually dead.

I came back from the experience with the feeling that I had been privy to the most esoteric secrets of existence and reality, but couldn't recall what they were. I think that could I recall them they'd be a lot like nonsense that I recorded myself saying while extremely drunk. I thought at the time that I'd just realized something brilliant and insightful. When I played it back it was barely comprehensible and absolutely ridiculous.

Yep. NDE, but I have not been conditioned in the religious sense so the only similarities to many I've heard about and a couple from folks in a group, was the tunneling of 'vision' and light at a distance. I tried to tell people about mine, but they said I was making it up because it didn't parallel what they'd heard. In mine there was considerable humor and nonsense along with colorful flashes and such (actually mirroring my daily life of fun, nonsense, and flashes of color). If I had told them about meeting relatives and ancestors along the way, maybe an angel or two replete with wings they would probably have been satisfied.

Anyway, in spite of the opinions from others, I know it was real because vitals were flat for a couple of minutes according to the docs, and they said the EEG was showing lots of activity. So, no, it wasn't the source of any major change in my life. I didn't start worshiping parking meters, getting visits from the Heavenly Hostesses, or hearing a wee voice in my mind guiding me to higher purpose. To tell you the truth, the whole experience just made me a lot more hesitant of going to doctors over anything, and at my age, that's not such a bad thing.

Just from mushrooms.

There are two main reasons for the near death experience.

1. As the body shuts down, one of the last organs to go is the eyes. With no stream of information coming in, the brain makes up some kind of input thus the bright lights, tunnel of light, etc.

2. Typically, if you're dying you're hurting and in exterme pain. The body's response to pain is to release endrophines. That activates the release of opiate receptors. If it's the "we going die for sure" level of pain, the body releases all of them at once. Now you have warm fuzzy hallucinations of everyone you have ever loved. If you're hearing what they're doing around you, those hallucinations can include floating around the room while the brain tries understand the last rites or why people are beating on your chest . . . .

If the brain doesn't understand what's going on, it'll make stuff up.

Although I live dangerously, I've never been injured seriously enough to get a near death experience. I've looked death in the face and it said "Like, later mon." In the short term is was things like panic over seeing how close an eight foot long bull shark can swim next to me.

While I have been close to death many times, I never had an NDE. A very good woman friend became extremely ill while in college. They took her to the infirmary. She reports she left her body & floated by the ceiling watching the medical personnel working on her. One of them said, "She's gone". They could not get her vitals for a long time.

They moved her body to a bright, sunny room. She watched what was going on from the ceiling. The realization came to her it was not her time to go. She struggled to get back into her body. Eventually she got back in & felt the illness she hadn't felt while she was up by the ceiling. She felt very peaceful & pain free up there.

Apparently this situation lasted for some time. Her parents got a call, "Your daughter died" & rushed to the college. The medical personnel said she reported accurately what happened.

I have taken LSD 4 times - 1 good, 2 amazing, the last really, really bad.
I have had my heart stopped while surgeons fixed a few blood vessels.
I have had a few situations where I was near death and fully expected and hoped to die.
Never saw a bright light, felt the spirit of a god or anything other than the pain of surviving

I experienced what you call an astral walk, while in hospital, after a couple surgical mishaps that almost killed me (according to the surgeon). Middle of the night vitals check - I was vaguely aware, but enjoying a ‘dream’ snuggle with my honey, so decided to stay in the dream and ignore the nurse. She got upset about something and left, then brought in the charge nurse. She tried to check my vitals too, then forcefully shook me - I felt yanked out of my lover’s arms and dumped in the hospital bed. Nurse seemed baffled, but glad to finally be getting my vitals. Apparently, while I clung to that ‘dream’, I had no vitals! I later learned my guy had a similar ‘waking dream’ from which I was suddenly yanked away. Too weird!

I had ‘something’ happen
I’m not willing to call it mystical
Near death/dead yup
Big rectangle door shape with white noise inside
Walked in lots of light
Then I was awake
Don’t know

Oh yeah I had a big one. The light in my room became blinding and his presence as so strong I dropped to my knees. I was on some pretty good LSD at the time though so I doubt it was real.

Every day... when I wake up I return to this plane.

I've had near death experiences before but they never included mystical experiences even with drugs.

1. It was a damn sight more peaceful & pain free than being strangled!
2. And after the stroke (many years later) it was also a better place than that hospital bed, where I had lost control of one eyeball, lost the ability to read/write/ speak clearly, and could not recognize anybody until they spoke. Mystical my ass! Do you think if you are dying everything is rainbows & soft music? That's hospice.........
   Just dark, quiet,peaceful,and no pain....really lovely.
   And anybody who blats on about how "it gave them purpose" or whatever, just wants your money!

No. but I once had an out of body experience. I was at a rock festival standing in front of the stage when suddenly I was 100ft up in the air looking down on the stage and crowd. I got such a fright that I immediately came back down again. Some mind altering substance had been taken but nothing substantial.

Can not say for sure what the state of chemicals were in my brain when some events occured. One of them was when I was 7 years old and there were too many details to explain about that one. There was another when I was a teenager I was the kid that did not smoke pot or do another mind altering things. I would have sworn at the time that I was remote viewing through a hawks eyes for several minutes. I have wondered a long time about the conditions that let my brain be in that state.

I've been terrified for my life 2 or 3 times. No flashes or anything mystical. Just an awareness of needing to do something quickly and hoping it worked. It did. Still here. Thank no one.

I've had a few "was nearly killed" experiences. Does that count? They certainly sharpened my perceptions of what was about to send me to my dirt nap and got me out of it. Nothing mystical though. Mostly terror, anger then immense relief.

of course its an altered brain state, the brain does very different things in response to its inputs/environment, and if you think being dazed and shocked during a car wreck is bad, imagine how youd feel as your life is slipping away.

anyhow, having done both, id say they are very different.

No.

Nope... Don't believe in them...

I've had near-death experiences in that I've been caught up in circumstances that might easily have killed me but there was nothing mystical about them.

Had a few patients who did

I have seen a lot of apparently brain dead people promoting magical sh!t. That's pretty damned mystical to me!!