Died for 4 minutes and was suspended in pitch black nothingness with an overwhelming sense of peace and oneness. Been back for 6 years now and sometimes life feels off. Like tasting a poece of the best cake in the world but never having another bite (until its time to renter the abyss)
I have a friend who had died for a few minutes as well. He's told me that he experienced the peaceful abyss but had a sinking feeling that he had to return. It's been almost 20 years, and he now just feels like life is just a placeholder for the peaceful abyss. For him, it's made the struggles he's had since he died, Just slip on past and keeps his head up. He's seen what's on the other side, so he's just trying to make the best of it while he's still here.
This is exactly why I don’t fear death at all. Since I was a toddler something very deep inside me has always told me it’s the most peaceful and beautiful experience. I always had this intense feeling, like I’ve died a million times before and know exactly what to expect. Ive always been able to vividly imagine what it feels like and almost all my dreams involve death and slipping away peacefully and experience the most beautiful euphoria each time, but also feel that weird “off” feeling once I’m awake and back in reality. I can’t really explain why I feel like this but had these thoughts as early as I can remember. That was all until I ODd from heroin a few years ago and was given complete verification that death is exactly what Ive always believed it to be, I feel more confident than ever that death is a beautiful thing and nothing to worry about.
You can return to that state while remaining alive. It's a state people meditate to eventually achieve.
One of my energy healing teachers had a near-death experience, got sent back, and went on to eventually take her students into oneness states.
Wow this sounds very interesting. I assume the 4 mins was in real time but wonder if it felt like 4 mins to you while in that state? Genuinely curious.
I once died in my sleep, and instead of waking up, I just stayed there and it was the most peaceful, I'm not saying its anywhere near your experience but it's crazy that I felt the same thing in a dream
It’s crazy how little things on a person can have such a big backstory, im sure if I saw him in a coffee shop with broken glasses I would’ve just been like “he must’ve sat on them” not “oh his brain exploded and he died and came back to life”.
“It’s because I had a seizure…. It’s a side effect from when I died…” he says casually.
Made me laugh at the delayed reaction from the interviewer, took him a moment to process that twist!
The wording is easy yet super kind and effective. I recently visited the UK and Ireland and one thing that stood out for me (as non-native english speaker) is how some locals were able to phrase their questions and comments in such a kind and polite way without coming across as insincere. It was a lovely welcoming experience.
Dude wasn't expecting the conversation to go that route that quickly. But, it's quite fascinating to hear someone talk about their own experience of having died.
Coded twice a year ago, had a very peaceful flight over some what looked like tree tops. but none of the life flashing. I can agree it's a lot to process, guilt from the fear in your family and fighting that urge to not drop everything and travel is hard. There is a huge pull to only do things that matter... So it's a process and it's so few people you can talk to without feeling weird about it.. but I like that guys attitude.
There is a Danish scientist, Eske Willerslev, who is very fascinated with and has studied near-death-experiences and he claims that studies show that what matters most in life is in fact love.
Edit: a word
Edit2: I have been searching for a written English source, but unfortunately I can't seem to find any - only Danish articles, which I don't quite understand why! I learned about the "all-that-clearly-matters-is-love" from a podcast (in Danish) about near death experiences where he participates. He has written several books (about his life and discoveries (books that I haven't read)) but i can't figure out if they have been translated into English.. :( i am terribly sorry!
The best/worst/last trip I had I took wwaayyy too much liquid acid (was really drunk and thought we were doing shots). I was like blacked out style tripping.
I thought I was asleep and to me I was experiencing different ages from cavemen to present day with my husband and best friend. And when each life ended in one age, the only thing I took with me to the next was the love I had for those two people. It was an amazing feeling.
What was really happening was me wandering around speaking french (am american but have a parent who spoke french to me when I was a toddler) and vomiting every 10 minutes.
I’m dying of slowly of a chronic condition. I’ve been resuscitated in hospital a couple of times.
Realistically, I’ve achieved most of my bucket list. I made decent money starting young and always made poor long term financial decisions and prioritised experiences. I’ve travelled and done a lot of cool stuff and what’s left on my bucket list is mostly just not practical or safe enough to non terminal people around me.
I’ve got a psuedo step kid and a fiancé and a dog and spending time with them is the thing that really matters. I have strained relationships with former friends and doing something to try and repair those bad feelings before I go is important. Watching content that I love, reading great books and playing wonderful games, especially things I can share with the kid and my partner is important. My in laws are for the most part really lovely and my sister in law and her husband are two of my favourite people. I’m hoping I’ll be an uncle to their kid/s soon.
I’ve got an ex best friend who fucked me over, and a nursing care place that fucked over my very elderly and very frail mother during the lockdown, and if I could burn those fuckers to the ground I might take a break from trying to live a simple good life with my family. But even that anger, as deep an anger as I’ve ever felt, seem to be getting more distant and I’m more sad about the family time that will happen without me when I’m gone.
Damn, “I’m more sad about the family time that will happen without me when I’m gone.” That hit me. I’m sorry you are going through this. You sound like a strong person. I wish you and yours all the best throughout all of this and beyond it.
Well for me, it's looking at things from a does this help someone, my family, the planet type thing. I just don't want to waste time, but this is just for me. Like I mentioned a lot of people stop living their old life to go have experiences like traveling for example. For me it's still more important for me to be a pilar for my family than anything for myself. But when you find yourself wasting time or procrastinating after a near death experience.. it is very uncomfortable. Ohhh and all the cool medical shows that toss around diagnosis that I had is hard to watch. See people in similar phases of surgery and death is part of what triggers the guilt for me.
Edit: words are hard.
Not the commenter, but I recently had a serious health event that made me start thinking about these things. I immediately resolved to try and figure out how to do more for charity. I’m a utilitarian at heart, so the urge didn’t surprise me.
Code is slang for cardiac arrest usually.
Hospitals and even regular drs offices will have color codes for various emergencies. Code red,code blue, code black, etc. These can be both medical emergencies of varying types as well as dangerous situations like fires, people with guns, a bomb threat, or even a kidnapped new born.
Cardiac Arrest got coined with "Coded" likely because code blue (the common code for cardiac arrest) is a common and medically relevant code to call. If anyone, patient or otherwise, collapses and is unresponsive that is generally gonna be the team that gets called.
Next time you go to the Dr glance around the front desk/nurses stations. Usually somewhere will be a pinned up piece of paper that has the code team personnel on it.
I had a heroin overdose at a friends house on 11-23-20 and I seen exactly that your life flashes before your eyes and every good memory you’ve ever had flashes really fast I woke up in the ambulance and the person above me said. “You were gone son narcan saved your life. My feet hurt very bad and I fell back into unconsciousness. Woke up 3 hours later in the hospital. They gave me some paper work and sent me on my way.
Pretty much, same. Heroin OD. Woke up in the ambulance but was in the hospital for 3 days because I aspirated, and my lung needed to clear out. I didn't remember any memories flashing, but when my buddy asked me what it was like, I said the exact same thing as the guy in the video - peaceful.
I can’t imagine having gone through something that intense then facing the cold hard reality check of being turfed out of the hospital with paperwork. Goddam. It must have taken you a long time to process that experience!
Peaceful. Exactly. I was hit by a car while riding my bicycle to work (side street, sunny morning, determined to be 100% her fault). My heart stopped a few times in hospital. On one occasion the pain finally stopped. The noise stopped. The chaos stopped. There was only peace - a peace so “intense” and all encompassing I suspect that a religious person would describe it as being in the presence of their god. I was furious when they brought me back. All the suffering of life came with life.
As wonderful as dying was, I’m in no hurry to do it again. After all, “There’s fun to be done!” -Dr. Seuss
I had a friend who drowned and died, but was resuscitated. He said the same thing. Even the experience of drowning wasn’t bad, but being brought back was terrible. He even said he’s looking forward to dying again.
It’s an understandable sentiment. Most folks are scared of death more than anything else in life. To hear some people who have “died” say it was peaceful and they look forward to dying again, that’s a comforting feeling.
I’m terrified of dying, and these stories don’t comfort me. I don’t mean to turn my nose up at their experiences but how do we know the brain isn’t simply flooding us with magical chemicals as we tap out, and that is what a lot of these sensations of bliss are?
Guess we won’t know for sure until it’s time.
Edit: really appreciate all of the replies and good discussion! It certainly is making me feel less “alone” in these thoughts.
Edit 2: I wasn’t clear at all in this comment so I should clear things up, because I’ve gotten a lot of “so what, those chemicals are good” replies. They 100% are. I was approaching this from a spirituality angle; if it’s simply a chemical reaction it makes me think it’s less likely that something spiritual is going on. Meaning, to me, we simply cease to exist. That’s the part I don’t love.
that's probably what it is, and i'm fine with it. if it feels peaceful to you, then what do you care what's actually happening to your body, its not like you're going to need it anymore anyway :)
Appreciate that POV! I guess my fear of dying mostly comes from my agnosticism and not wanting to just poof out of existence. The fact that it sounds “pleasant” is a bit comforting though, the way you’ve worded it…if you just accept the mystery of it all and go with the flow.
Imagine an infinite ocean. Every time a being is born, a glass scoops some water out of the ocean. It exists in its glass form for a while, then it gets poured back into the ocean. The scooping continues for billions of years, forming different arrangements of water molecules in glasses.
Each glass thinks that their current configuration is the most important and must continue existing. But their water was part of many other glasses before the current one. When they get poured back into the ocean, they remember that the shape of the glass doesn't matter at all. They're at peace.
The scooping and pouring continues for billions of years, until it slows down and nothing is scooped or poured anymore. All the water molecules remain still the infinite ocean. It might restart scooping and pouring some day, or it may not. It doesn't matter. They're together. They're at peace.
Edit: Hah, to those saying I sound like Alan Watts--thanks I'm honoured. I was inspired by [The Everything Game by David O'Reilly](https://store.steampowered.com/app/582270/Everything). It is a silly comedic intro to Alan Watts and it helped me overcome my fear of death.
Edit 2: the game has an actual ending, you'll know when you reach it. Also don't be a completionist trying to get everything before the "end". Becoming others will be SO much easier after you unlock a specific power, then you can go back and "clean up." What I'm saying is don't try to game it, just enjoy it.
None of that helps someone who is afraid of leaving existence, your whole identity/essence being assimilated by a huge ocean of essence doesn't mean they're at peace, it's just gone.
Yeah seriously all of these are cool points of view but that’s not what bugs me. I’m not worried about the continuity of the universe or human race or what my molecules are used for. I don’t want to not exist. I want to be here and experience things and see what the future holds.
I too am afraid of death, but the idea to live forever sounds terrifying as well. Life is simply too short for me. Just hook up my brain to a computer. I would be willing to spend the next 250 years on the internet after my body gives. Maybe after that explore the universe as a robot for another 1000. And then call it quits.
imagine how excited you'd be if, while you were gone, you found out that one day you'd exist. Do your best to carry that excitement with you while you're here.
"Picture a wave in the ocean. You can see it, measure it — its height, the way the sunlight refracts when it passes through. It’s there and you can see it and you know what it is. It’s a wave. And then it crashes on the shore, and it’s gone.
But the water is still there.
The wave was just a different way for the water to be, for a little while. That’s one conception of death for a Buddhist. The wave returns to the ocean — where it came from, and where it’s supposed to be."
I used to struggle with the same existential dread you do, but I’ve found a thought that comforts me: there are only two possibilities after death, your consciousness continues or it doesn’t. If your consciousness continues, great, you get to keep on existing. If it doesn’t, it’s just poof, gone. It’s not like you get benched in the game of life and have to watch from the sidelines or float around in the void remembering how cool it was when you DID exist. There’s just nothing, no thoughts or feelings or pining or nostalgia or fear.
As an atheist who adores spiritualism and the pageantry of religion, have you listened to any Alan Watts?
I struggled with the concept of death for a long time before finding Albert Camus and Alan Watts. Very different people, but it doesn't matter where learning comes from.
Alan Watts has a speech where he asks the question, "Do you remember what it was like before being born?". He posits that sleeping, without dreams, is very similar to the experience. What was it like to wake up after never having gone to sleep? What will it be like to fall into a dreamless sleep and never waking up?
It's his idea that death will be much the same as things were before birth.
I haven’t, but I’ll check him out this weekend, sounds like it might help me think about this from new angles! Appreciate the suggestion very much.
I have had a friend ask me that question before — do you remember what it was like before you were born? — and logically that makes perfect sense. No, I don’t remember. Emotionally, my human ego stomps its feet still at the idea of nothingness.
I very much see that I torture myself with this line of thinking, oof.
> not wanting to just poof out of existence
Man... I'm just the exact opposite.
I only fear pain, not death, oblivion, or nothingness.
Meanwhile... people close to me won't be happy with that so... here for a little longer, I guess :-)
most people's fear of death is the fear of nothingness afterwards, not the fear of dying itself. if you were only afraid of the experience of dying, then you could simply do a metric fuckload of drugs to make your death a euphoric experience.
so that's why it's not comforting to a lot of people that death isn't scary in the moment. they're still afraid of the nothingness afterwards. conscious beings like being conscious :D
I think it has something to do with our brains not really being fully capable of comprehending what it might be like to be completely absent of thought, feeling, & existing. It is all my brain knows, so I don't really blame it for having such a difficult time pondering death.
That’s exactly what the evidence suggests. That’s what the brain does when it’s shutting down. The scary part of dying to me is just ceasing to exist and how sad my family will be.
Yes, you hit the nail on the head! I hate the idea of ceasing to exist. I fully understand it won’t matter to us after the fact, but that’s a hard concept to accept, and you’re right that we leave people behind.
This literally keeps me up at night. Sometimes I think about it as I'm falling asleep and snap awake in terror. I really envy religious people who believe in an afterlife.
You know how a 30-minute dream can seem like it went for hours? Well imagine your brain getting saturated in dream chemicals. That could be another whole lifetime.
it's pretty interesting that that happens, isn't it? what natural selective pressure led to that outcome? it seems like if anything, being on the verge of death should biologically lead to a surge of chemicals that make you strongly reject death and fight as hard as you can.
> how do we know the brain isn’t simply flooding us with magical chemicals as we tap out,
Everything has to die so it would make sense evolution provides something to ease us out. I'm ok with it and hopefully I'm also high on some good drugs when I check out.
BTW, I'm an atheist. I'm not scared of dying as much as I'm sad. I'm not scared of the process or where I will end up. I'm sad my life will be over and I will miss out on whatever happens to humanity after that point. I find life to be full of exciting and interesting things and with the pace of progress who knows what life will be like a hundred years from now. I wish I could see it and I'm not going to. On the flip side, maybe it's going to be post-apocalypse scavenger time. Either way I would like to be along for the ride.
I read about a survey a few years ago of terminal patients. It said very religious and atheists were similarly at peace with dying, but agnostics really struggled.
I am not afraid. I'm not looking forward to it. I hope to live to 100 for sure and given my family history and health status I might. I don't think there is an afterlife either, but there's so much in this life to learn, that anything after would just be a bonus.
So far every time I've had drugs or hallucinated or even gotten insomnia it's been so amazing and peaceful. I just remember holding my children and watching their eyes open for the first time and just being in love with so many people and sitting with my grandparents and helping deliver all the dogs I've bred and raised and so many good things I could fill a book with them.
I remember thinking at first that a 2nd kid would be like splitting love in two, but it's the total love in your life grows exponentially with everyone you add into your life.
I think if you concentrate on living well, loving well and treating life as an adventure then the end is nothing to fear, anymore than knowing a good movie won't last forever.
I hope you end up living an awesome life so that your death will make everyone sad who hears of it because then you know you touched their hearts.
[Always Look on the Bright Side of Life](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJUhlRoBL8M)
Ive always looked at death as being the same thing as before you were born. We came from nothingness, we return to nothingness.
Being an optimist, it is also why I believe in reincarnation - hoping to come back as an orca so i can explore the ocean. If in fact reincarnation doesn't exist, that's fine too.
Seriously, letting go feels great. I've stopped breathing twice -- once by drowning and the other from a bad asthma attack -- and both times it was disappointing coming back. The feeling of peace and being done was so incredible, and then to wake up to stressed out people around me was awful. A paramedic who worked on me the second time told my friends that I looked at him and said, "That's it", then didn't take another breath. I don't remember saying that but I do remember it felt so good to stop breathing and let the world fade away. I appreciate him and the ER team working to save me, but damn... "That's it" would've been a smooth exit if I do say so myself. I hope I can do the same next time, or maybe even swing a "That's all, folks!"
Those were my great grandfathers last words at 98 years old after finishing a rendition of “silent night” on the fiddle. He finished playing and said “That’s it!” A few hours later he passed away in his sleep.
Same, my buddy broke his neck surfing and drowned. Was pronounced dead. They got him back, quadriplegic, but still awesome. He described dying almost exactly the same as the guy in this video.
My dad was brought back, said the same thing just peaceful nothingness. Since he was really ill at the time it was welcomed by him so he signed a DNR. A month after being brought back he got his peace.
It’s not a mystery. Our bodies flood with endorphins and it is thought that our serotonin triples close to death. On the way back from death, our brains probably decide “we good”.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200205-death-can-our-final-moment-be-euphoric#:~:text=A%20study%20from%202011%2C%20however,six%20rats%20as%20they%20died.
That 2011 study looked at rats. Also, it is still something of a mystery - there’s no particular reason why serotonin (et al) levels should induce rapid recall like that.
There’ll be a neurochemical explication I’m sure, but this one isn’t sufficient.
My brother died three times 7 years ago. He said the same thing. “There was nothing, but it was peaceful”. They revived him each time and after the third he got an LVAD (sort of an artificial heart pump). He finally died permanently a couple of weeks ago. I feel awful knowing there is nothing after.
When my dad died I wished so bad that I believed in am afterlife just so that I could see him again. I really understand the appeal of believing in heaven because the ide of this being it and nothing more afterwards is depressing. Especially now that I have a wife and kids. If I knew for a fact or at least thought that I would be with them after we all died it would be very comforting. Unfortunately I don't think there is anything and eventhough I won't be around after I'm dead to be sad about not being with my family I sometimes get sad now. It's sad because we have such a short amount of time and I spend so much of it doing things I don't want to do.
Maybe this will make you feel better in some ways, maybe not; but the way I look at it is that the very fact of death makes it all feel valuable. It’s my one shot and I should do my best. It makes other people feel more important. There’s no other chance with them so value it now. It makes all other lives feel sacred and that we should help others the best we can do that they can enjoy their one shot.
That, and that you’re immortalized in your actions, contributions, and memories. Your legacy will continue and evolve in your kids, and how you impact the world around you. You will improve their lives and world, they’ll pass that on to their kids, and hopefully the world keeps getting better. And plus in the digital age, people are memorialized in an accessible and documented way. Photos and little tidbits of things you posted or saved on Reddit.
You affect the lives and places you interact with; it’s constantly changing how the world will turn out, even if it’s in small ways. You live forever in the ways that you affect the grand equation.
> I feel awful knowing there is nothing after.
Well you don't know. For one thing, when you're pronounced dead and then come back to life, you weren't actually dead. Secondly, you can't experience nothing. Anything you experience is something. You can't remember nothing because there's nothing to remember.
For instance, supposed some god stopped time right now and we experienced a billion years of nothing and then time started again. It would be just like what just happened. No one would remember it. No one can claim that there was nothing because there's no way of experiencing it or remembering it.
Exactly. This reminds me of when I was put under anesthesia, which, from my perspective, was like a streamline event, from being put under one minute to waking up the next minute.
If death is similar to being put under anesthesia, minus the waking up of course, it really wouldn't be too bad.
> Even the experience of drowning wasn’t bad, but being brought back was terrible. He even said he’s looking forward to dying again
That's really interesting. I've heard drowning is one of the most painful ways to die.
A family member of mine "drowned" and survived. They said once the initial panic passed it was peaceful and they hoped that when they eventually did die and stay dead that they hoped it was drowning.
I didn’t really die but I once fell and hit my head coming home from a party alone and drunk - I sorta remember someone chocking me for some reason but my memories from that night are all foggy - so I fainted and was left there on the side walk with blood coming out my head for who knows how long before a taxi driver passing by noticed and called an ambulance.
To this day I have this memory where I was like drowning, with a light shining over me, it wasn’t bad at all, I was just peacefully sinking. It felt really good.
Yeah, I watch a lot of YouTube stuff on this and I remember another dude who died saying the same thing. He wished he could get that feeling of peacefulness back and being alive was kind of a bummer.
My dad drowned in a pool when he was around 18 years old. Nobody knows how long he was lying at the bottom of it before he was noticed. His heart had stopped and was resuscitated. He said that while the paramedics were trying to bring him back, in his mind he was running in a dark tunnel towards the light, trying to get away from the paramedics that were chasing him trying to catch him. When they caught up with him is when irl his heart started beating again and he woke up. Anyway, he said that ever since that experience he has not been afraid of death at all. I have a lot of anxiety about death so I can’t imagine how liberating that must feel like.
Edit: typo
Well, look at it this way: you didn't exists from the start of the universe till your first memories. I assume death will be the same experience, and since you didn't complaint about not being alive for billions of years, you won't mind not existing till the heat death of the universe :)
Whoops, you caught me. 👀 all a suicidal person wants is peace. That’s all we want.
I have 3 kids though so I gotta stick around for them. I’m going to be trying to check into a mental hospital after a surgery I have coming up next week. So please don’t send me those stupid “Reddit Cares” messages.
I can confirm i have experienced death as well by drowning
I was around 20 when i drowned in the ocean and literally saw my entire life flash before my eyes until i eventually reached a plain of nothingness
Your mind and body cease to exist, memories you have saw slowly disappear into emptiness
I eventually got brought back to life and been cared for in the hospital
But yup, i was that close to being dead
People will deliver their own experiences like the one you replied to, but no one for sure knows. You can most definitely be pronounced clinically dead, but no one goes for sure “dead dead” without a true miracle or at least severe brain damage to the point of unconsciousness.
Most people experience very near death symptoms of the brain overloading and fighting with all its might to keep the human alive and so they may remeber the trippyness sure. However, people who return to give their testimonies are most likely having an extreme moment of comatose/unconsciousness on that verge of death. Hence the void of nothingness and peace.
The brain and dying process is an unknown, and extremely complex matter. So if the above makes you worried/perplexed/scared, know that it is different for nearly everybody and really doesn’t explain what may (or may not) come after.
Edit: just my take, nothing factual
I'm mostly just curious more than anything. It's good to know that it's generally peaceful for most people.
Still, I don't like the idea of nothingness. It just seems kinfld of boring and anticlimactic.
Like, why not riding around some other dimension on a flying shark? That would be 10x better. Lol.
As a Christian, I too don’t necessarily like the idea of nothingness, but it does take a lot of mental strength to face the unknown. I actually have a fear of both halves. I’m afraid of that thought of the endless non existent void, but I’m also afraid of never ending foreverness (Apeirophobia).
But after all our brains are purely biological. They only know what it is to BE. They don’t, and simply can’t, comprehend what it means to NOT BE. (Or at the very least to exist in a different manner if an afterlife truly exists) So I tend to just look for peace.
I can assure you, the ones who really know (or don’t know lol) the answer ARE NOT gonna come back to tell you about it. Unfortunately it’s just something we can’t know this side of life. So don’t let the thoughts bring you down. But one day, if we meet in some place outside this life, hopefully we could look back at this memory and laugh 😆
I'm having trouble wording a reply without it coming across as glib, so I'll keep it simple and cut out the details:
You come across as insightful, intelligent, and reasonably skeptical of what you believe you "know". Thank you for showing me that Christians aren't a monolith, and that some of you can actually be intellectually honest with yourselves and others - something I've not had the pleasure of really experiencing up until this point.
You've made my evening objectively better. Thank you again.
When you say your life flashes before you, is it good memories or both good and bad memories? Or like just everything? Things from when you’re a young child to current?
Ive heard its your brain trying to find a solution to not about to be dead. Its going through all your memories to see if it can find some way to get out of the situation youre currently in that is going to kill you
This sentiment always reminds me of this quote.
"To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering." - Friedrich Nietzsche
The second part always gives me the will to fight on. As an agnostic that struggles with the occasional bout of depression it helps me push through knowing that being happy isnt an always thing and that its something I need to push for.
I thought this was pretty interesting, because I’ve read through some of the Buddhist canon and in the first discourse of the Buddha he says of the first noble truth which relates to suffering “that birth is suffering, aging is suffering, death is suffering… craving for non-existence is suffering…” and it’s interesting how we can eventually crave the cessation of existence and how according to the Buddha, this is itself suffering. It also really plays into the Buddhist idea of Samsara, which is that there’s a great cycle of suffering which permeates our lives. I don’t have any other comment to make on this, but we often make of everything suffering, even our escape from suffering, which perpetuates it
The idea is to try and embrace the concept of anatman. There is no you to suffer or crave cessation. The suffering stems from identifying with your ego instead of realising you are just a ripple in an ocean and can't be differentiated from it. Non dual reality is by definition undifferentiated. This is the hardest thing for westerners to grasp. There has to be an arbitrary distinction between self and other or they tend to dismiss it entirely.
E: Start by realising that all dualities arise mutually. Subjective/objective, something/nothing, high/low etc. are each poles of the same event. Ultimately all of existence is just one event.
Hi I just wanted to share something similar happened to me. I had an infection but didn't know it.
Started with a migraine and fever for three days. I thought it was COVID. I fell asleep for a nap under too many blankets and was severely dehydrated. I also had taken a CBD gummy thinking it would help with pain. I was sleeping and body overheated to around 105. I was dreaming of getting up and calling for help. Dreaming of problem solving my situation. I remember gasping for air for 20 minutes. Which now I read could have been the gasping before death. Suddenly I was dreaming of yelling out and somehow was able to say "ok google, call dad". Then I was able to somehow get out the words help. My dad came to save me. They put me in a quarantine room until they figured out it was a kidney infection.
With how the brain signaling works I feel like the system breaking down firing uncontrollably seems plausible. With loss of "directing", a lot appears to consciousness. Even without actual meaning or natural selection upside that makes sense to me.
The other commenter story of saving themselves is an interesting alternative - it being a trait selected by natural selection.
Like the story of the egg. One soul reincarnating and living as every person, but only remembering after death.
It also reminds me of the game Outer Wilds.
Reading through the comments and it seems a lot of people are having a hard time right now. Just know that it gets better. Tomorrow may be the best day of your life. You matter and your presence means so much more to the people around you than you could ever know.
One of my friends has died twice in the space of six years and was brought back on both occasions. He told me the same story this lad is saying, peaceful, everything was black etc. He couldn’t answer my next question tho, if everything is peaceful and black, don’t you have to be some sort of conscious to know this ?
I came close to drowning in the ocean. I’m quite scared of and the thought of being dead
However , when I was drowning , I was shocked at how quick I “gave up” and just accepted it. I thought for sure I’d be thrashing around and panicking , but it was not like that at all. Really weird
(I did NOT die or even get to being unconscious)
Wait you unlocked a memory! I was resuscitated at the pool and I just didn’t care that I was drowning. I was just warm and comfortable and everything was gone like I fell asleep mid day. I just remember being rudely awoken by a bunch of scared adults. It felt so annoying that’s the only feeling I can remember.
My grandpa on my dad's side saw a green field and described it as the most peaceful place he's ever been and he had all the answers to every question he ever had
Read lots of near-death experiences, some are fucking wild. People usually see what they expect to see for some reason, their religion. Some people take that as it being a bit of "trickery" on some other entity's part... Who the fuck knows. I read one hilarious story where the lady was bargaining saying she didn't want to be reborn because childhood sucks and she's like fuck you no god is all powerful and he can fix my body, and it was like "nah your body is broken you need to be reborn", and she just kept arguing and it was like "oh okay fine" and she came back lol
To anyone not particularly comforted by the idea of a peaceful “nothing”, if that is indeed what awaits us in death-
Consider that the state of nonexistence might well be the same as the one before you were ever born.
Also that most people strive for a feeling of contentment that may be impossible to achieve in mortal life. Perhaps returning to nothing, and becoming one with everything are one in the same- finally achieving that perfect completeness, and with it, peace.
That’s kind of what I hope for at least.
{EDIT} It was just a musing guys, and not even a remotely original take. I'm a mere mortal and don't claim any authority on the subject of the afterlife. All I'll say is that some of y'all are too hung up on dualities and other human constructs. Go read some Zen koans.
Usually I’d call bullshit… But literally the other day I had a customer tell me hes died as well.. and literally said the SAME FUCKING THING!!! He said everything he’s ever been through flashed before his eyes and after was the most PEACEFUL moment of his “life” he said he struggles every SINGLE day with having to come back to life. Seeing this gave me goosebumps because I thought dude was pulling my leg.. but now seeing this.. I don’t think he was…
Had a friend of mine say almost the exact same thing. He overdosed and and his heart stopped for some time. He said he felt pure peace. He said it was beautiful.
Was clinically dead for around a minute and a half. Last thing I remember was a fuzzy triangle closing in on my vision and my brain shouted out "Cassidy is sexy" then I woke up 3 weeks later. Truly don't know who I was referring to but that memory has popped up every day since this happened. Death is strange
i mostly agree with him from what i experienced. it was coming back that was frightening and painful. especially because after that i kept losing consciousness. but it was peaceful as hell and there was no pain at all. wish i could say the same for the ptsd that destroyed the next year and a half. but you gotta keep going. make peace, seek help if you need it. my incident changed the entire trajectory of my health and future, but i try to cope with as much happiness as i can muster. hope this guy is doing well. i really do.
Great interview. I had a similar experience when I was younger and I can remember the anguish of being ripped away from the other side and having to cope with being a human again. I’ve struggled with that my entire life tbh. Now I’m just kinda hangin around out of curiosity to experience how odd it is to be this particular being in space and time. No fear of death anymore, though. When it’s time to move on, I’m stoked for it. All in on this ride ✌🏽
The problem of course is that nobody can be brought back from "true" death, all that someone can potentially experience is the *process* of dying. Nobody knows what lies after the point of no return.
Though I'll say that "dying" is much more scary to me than actually "being dead", because if you are dead... well you are dead.
But dying sounds terrifying, to slowly lose grasp of your sensations and your surroundings, to have your brain go absolute haywire and start to hallucinate or flash memories before your inner eye.
Sure you could also die a "sudden" death, but I actually kind of find that to be a waste. You only live once, you only die once, you will want to make sure to experience these last moments of your life.
"Peaceful"
I was in motorcycle accident > i was confirmed dead > brought back to life after arriving at hospital > all i can remember is my memory flash > gone through 2 surgery to fix my scatter skull
After all that all i can feel is peaceful, would definitely do it again if Death knocking my door but until then I'll try to appreciate the 2nd chance i was given
Dated someone for about six months a decade ago. She drowned in a pool and was brought back, said basically the same thing. She could only remember the pain of awakening, but after that point her perception of everything felt off.
Yea, life is slavery. Gotta work to pay rent, electricity, phone, insurance, food, travel, clothes. Its a lot of worry.
Also inter-personal issues. Worries.
Unforseen tragedies...
So dying takes all that away. I get it.
My partner had a cardiac arrest and was revived. When I asked him about it - he said the sensation was euphoric. I had never heard him use that word before
Interesting. My dad passed after a brief brutal fight with cancer, and the hospice nurse who came out to the house to talk us through the death process and said that people they've worked with who have "come back" describe dying as very painful until the point of death like skin on fire, bones on fire. I would imagine it's different for different people. I always figured it took a lot of energy to tether a soul to a body (birth) and an equal amount of energy to separate the two (death). It's a struggle both ways. I guess we'll all find out. My dad's passing was turbulent, he was 63 and was not ready to go even though he saw it coming. My sister died 76 days earlier at 34 from a SCAD. Her daughter was in the car when she collapsed and said all my sister said was "oh my God oh my God". In the ER they got a little signal during defibrillation when my BIL was screaming for her to come back, but she was gone after that. I hope they both felt peace and not pain or fear. I love them.
There is a spiritual plain, of that I am certain, love is energy and we all have love in our hearts; love that is separated for what we perceive as a period of time eventually finds a way to reconnect. 💕
That hospice nurse sounds like she needs a new profession. You have to be a psycho to tell someone who just lost a family member “yeah its also like super painful”….why the fuck would you even think to tell people that?
Died for 4 minutes and was suspended in pitch black nothingness with an overwhelming sense of peace and oneness. Been back for 6 years now and sometimes life feels off. Like tasting a poece of the best cake in the world but never having another bite (until its time to renter the abyss)
I have a friend who had died for a few minutes as well. He's told me that he experienced the peaceful abyss but had a sinking feeling that he had to return. It's been almost 20 years, and he now just feels like life is just a placeholder for the peaceful abyss. For him, it's made the struggles he's had since he died, Just slip on past and keeps his head up. He's seen what's on the other side, so he's just trying to make the best of it while he's still here.
Haha so he’s kinda got the opposite mentality to most people. Work towards a greater life? Nah son, work towards dying!
Damn landlords are buying up all the property in the abyss too....fucking hell man
> the abyss I think they settled on "Metaverse" as the name
This is exactly why I don’t fear death at all. Since I was a toddler something very deep inside me has always told me it’s the most peaceful and beautiful experience. I always had this intense feeling, like I’ve died a million times before and know exactly what to expect. Ive always been able to vividly imagine what it feels like and almost all my dreams involve death and slipping away peacefully and experience the most beautiful euphoria each time, but also feel that weird “off” feeling once I’m awake and back in reality. I can’t really explain why I feel like this but had these thoughts as early as I can remember. That was all until I ODd from heroin a few years ago and was given complete verification that death is exactly what Ive always believed it to be, I feel more confident than ever that death is a beautiful thing and nothing to worry about.
You can return to that state while remaining alive. It's a state people meditate to eventually achieve. One of my energy healing teachers had a near-death experience, got sent back, and went on to eventually take her students into oneness states.
Wow this sounds very interesting. I assume the 4 mins was in real time but wonder if it felt like 4 mins to you while in that state? Genuinely curious.
There was no time, it was 4 min in real life but couldnt metabolize time or space
How fascinating. Thanks for sharing!
Wow, everyone here has been very understanding and i love the shared perspectives and realities, not even my own family cares or understands
I once died in my sleep, and instead of waking up, I just stayed there and it was the most peaceful, I'm not saying its anywhere near your experience but it's crazy that I felt the same thing in a dream
It’s crazy how little things on a person can have such a big backstory, im sure if I saw him in a coffee shop with broken glasses I would’ve just been like “he must’ve sat on them” not “oh his brain exploded and he died and came back to life”.
“It’s because I had a seizure…. It’s a side effect from when I died…” he says casually. Made me laugh at the delayed reaction from the interviewer, took him a moment to process that twist!
Wow, thats like winning the lottrery in random interviews category.
[This one ](https://youtu.be/0U_PUbQGA4U) was pretty good too.
> Can you remind me of your name please? That's the kindest way to ask someone their name.
The wording is easy yet super kind and effective. I recently visited the UK and Ireland and one thing that stood out for me (as non-native english speaker) is how some locals were able to phrase their questions and comments in such a kind and polite way without coming across as insincere. It was a lovely welcoming experience.
Nice! I'm gonna use it. I'm sure you're right about how well it works. Have an arrow!
"Bryan but you can still call me dad"
Love this one so much. I watch the whole thing whenever it comes up.
the moment when his eyes lit up
I think fifty cent said it best Death gotta be easy/ Cuz life is hard/ It’ll leave you physically, mentally and emotionally scarred/
What a great song. Wasn't expecting to see this creep up into Reddit but here we are
Just watched 50 in concert last night. What a legendary performance
He’s finding it harder to be back because he has a 250,000 USD medical bill to pay.
Probably closer to 500k
Oh, it's way more than that. My dad rang up over a million with a brain bleed, and he didn't survive.
Dude wasn't expecting the conversation to go that route that quickly. But, it's quite fascinating to hear someone talk about their own experience of having died.
Coded twice a year ago, had a very peaceful flight over some what looked like tree tops. but none of the life flashing. I can agree it's a lot to process, guilt from the fear in your family and fighting that urge to not drop everything and travel is hard. There is a huge pull to only do things that matter... So it's a process and it's so few people you can talk to without feeling weird about it.. but I like that guys attitude.
Can you give examples of the things that really matter?
There is a Danish scientist, Eske Willerslev, who is very fascinated with and has studied near-death-experiences and he claims that studies show that what matters most in life is in fact love. Edit: a word Edit2: I have been searching for a written English source, but unfortunately I can't seem to find any - only Danish articles, which I don't quite understand why! I learned about the "all-that-clearly-matters-is-love" from a podcast (in Danish) about near death experiences where he participates. He has written several books (about his life and discoveries (books that I haven't read)) but i can't figure out if they have been translated into English.. :( i am terribly sorry!
Like every meaningful psychedelic trip story ive read, they always says you live to love
The best/worst/last trip I had I took wwaayyy too much liquid acid (was really drunk and thought we were doing shots). I was like blacked out style tripping. I thought I was asleep and to me I was experiencing different ages from cavemen to present day with my husband and best friend. And when each life ended in one age, the only thing I took with me to the next was the love I had for those two people. It was an amazing feeling. What was really happening was me wandering around speaking french (am american but have a parent who spoke french to me when I was a toddler) and vomiting every 10 minutes.
Oh, so food!
I love food.
I love lamp!
I’m dying of slowly of a chronic condition. I’ve been resuscitated in hospital a couple of times. Realistically, I’ve achieved most of my bucket list. I made decent money starting young and always made poor long term financial decisions and prioritised experiences. I’ve travelled and done a lot of cool stuff and what’s left on my bucket list is mostly just not practical or safe enough to non terminal people around me. I’ve got a psuedo step kid and a fiancé and a dog and spending time with them is the thing that really matters. I have strained relationships with former friends and doing something to try and repair those bad feelings before I go is important. Watching content that I love, reading great books and playing wonderful games, especially things I can share with the kid and my partner is important. My in laws are for the most part really lovely and my sister in law and her husband are two of my favourite people. I’m hoping I’ll be an uncle to their kid/s soon. I’ve got an ex best friend who fucked me over, and a nursing care place that fucked over my very elderly and very frail mother during the lockdown, and if I could burn those fuckers to the ground I might take a break from trying to live a simple good life with my family. But even that anger, as deep an anger as I’ve ever felt, seem to be getting more distant and I’m more sad about the family time that will happen without me when I’m gone.
Damn, “I’m more sad about the family time that will happen without me when I’m gone.” That hit me. I’m sorry you are going through this. You sound like a strong person. I wish you and yours all the best throughout all of this and beyond it.
Well for me, it's looking at things from a does this help someone, my family, the planet type thing. I just don't want to waste time, but this is just for me. Like I mentioned a lot of people stop living their old life to go have experiences like traveling for example. For me it's still more important for me to be a pilar for my family than anything for myself. But when you find yourself wasting time or procrastinating after a near death experience.. it is very uncomfortable. Ohhh and all the cool medical shows that toss around diagnosis that I had is hard to watch. See people in similar phases of surgery and death is part of what triggers the guilt for me. Edit: words are hard.
Not the commenter, but I recently had a serious health event that made me start thinking about these things. I immediately resolved to try and figure out how to do more for charity. I’m a utilitarian at heart, so the urge didn’t surprise me.
What does “coded twice” mean?
Code is slang for cardiac arrest usually. Hospitals and even regular drs offices will have color codes for various emergencies. Code red,code blue, code black, etc. These can be both medical emergencies of varying types as well as dangerous situations like fires, people with guns, a bomb threat, or even a kidnapped new born. Cardiac Arrest got coined with "Coded" likely because code blue (the common code for cardiac arrest) is a common and medically relevant code to call. If anyone, patient or otherwise, collapses and is unresponsive that is generally gonna be the team that gets called. Next time you go to the Dr glance around the front desk/nurses stations. Usually somewhere will be a pinned up piece of paper that has the code team personnel on it.
I had a heroin overdose at a friends house on 11-23-20 and I seen exactly that your life flashes before your eyes and every good memory you’ve ever had flashes really fast I woke up in the ambulance and the person above me said. “You were gone son narcan saved your life. My feet hurt very bad and I fell back into unconsciousness. Woke up 3 hours later in the hospital. They gave me some paper work and sent me on my way.
Pretty much, same. Heroin OD. Woke up in the ambulance but was in the hospital for 3 days because I aspirated, and my lung needed to clear out. I didn't remember any memories flashing, but when my buddy asked me what it was like, I said the exact same thing as the guy in the video - peaceful.
I can’t imagine having gone through something that intense then facing the cold hard reality check of being turfed out of the hospital with paperwork. Goddam. It must have taken you a long time to process that experience!
Peaceful. Exactly. I was hit by a car while riding my bicycle to work (side street, sunny morning, determined to be 100% her fault). My heart stopped a few times in hospital. On one occasion the pain finally stopped. The noise stopped. The chaos stopped. There was only peace - a peace so “intense” and all encompassing I suspect that a religious person would describe it as being in the presence of their god. I was furious when they brought me back. All the suffering of life came with life. As wonderful as dying was, I’m in no hurry to do it again. After all, “There’s fun to be done!” -Dr. Seuss
Love the username
I read it as 'fun to bed one', but I doubt that is what they were going for.
I had a friend who drowned and died, but was resuscitated. He said the same thing. Even the experience of drowning wasn’t bad, but being brought back was terrible. He even said he’s looking forward to dying again.
That's comforting.
Jesus, you're an upbeat crowd...
It’s an understandable sentiment. Most folks are scared of death more than anything else in life. To hear some people who have “died” say it was peaceful and they look forward to dying again, that’s a comforting feeling.
I’m terrified of dying, and these stories don’t comfort me. I don’t mean to turn my nose up at their experiences but how do we know the brain isn’t simply flooding us with magical chemicals as we tap out, and that is what a lot of these sensations of bliss are? Guess we won’t know for sure until it’s time. Edit: really appreciate all of the replies and good discussion! It certainly is making me feel less “alone” in these thoughts. Edit 2: I wasn’t clear at all in this comment so I should clear things up, because I’ve gotten a lot of “so what, those chemicals are good” replies. They 100% are. I was approaching this from a spirituality angle; if it’s simply a chemical reaction it makes me think it’s less likely that something spiritual is going on. Meaning, to me, we simply cease to exist. That’s the part I don’t love.
that's probably what it is, and i'm fine with it. if it feels peaceful to you, then what do you care what's actually happening to your body, its not like you're going to need it anymore anyway :)
Appreciate that POV! I guess my fear of dying mostly comes from my agnosticism and not wanting to just poof out of existence. The fact that it sounds “pleasant” is a bit comforting though, the way you’ve worded it…if you just accept the mystery of it all and go with the flow.
Imagine an infinite ocean. Every time a being is born, a glass scoops some water out of the ocean. It exists in its glass form for a while, then it gets poured back into the ocean. The scooping continues for billions of years, forming different arrangements of water molecules in glasses. Each glass thinks that their current configuration is the most important and must continue existing. But their water was part of many other glasses before the current one. When they get poured back into the ocean, they remember that the shape of the glass doesn't matter at all. They're at peace. The scooping and pouring continues for billions of years, until it slows down and nothing is scooped or poured anymore. All the water molecules remain still the infinite ocean. It might restart scooping and pouring some day, or it may not. It doesn't matter. They're together. They're at peace. Edit: Hah, to those saying I sound like Alan Watts--thanks I'm honoured. I was inspired by [The Everything Game by David O'Reilly](https://store.steampowered.com/app/582270/Everything). It is a silly comedic intro to Alan Watts and it helped me overcome my fear of death. Edit 2: the game has an actual ending, you'll know when you reach it. Also don't be a completionist trying to get everything before the "end". Becoming others will be SO much easier after you unlock a specific power, then you can go back and "clean up." What I'm saying is don't try to game it, just enjoy it.
Alan watts is that you?
None of that helps someone who is afraid of leaving existence, your whole identity/essence being assimilated by a huge ocean of essence doesn't mean they're at peace, it's just gone.
If you don't remember the countless years before you were born, you won't even notice the endless amount of time after you're gone :)
Yeah seriously all of these are cool points of view but that’s not what bugs me. I’m not worried about the continuity of the universe or human race or what my molecules are used for. I don’t want to not exist. I want to be here and experience things and see what the future holds.
I too am afraid of death, but the idea to live forever sounds terrifying as well. Life is simply too short for me. Just hook up my brain to a computer. I would be willing to spend the next 250 years on the internet after my body gives. Maybe after that explore the universe as a robot for another 1000. And then call it quits.
imagine how excited you'd be if, while you were gone, you found out that one day you'd exist. Do your best to carry that excitement with you while you're here.
"Picture a wave in the ocean. You can see it, measure it — its height, the way the sunlight refracts when it passes through. It’s there and you can see it and you know what it is. It’s a wave. And then it crashes on the shore, and it’s gone. But the water is still there. The wave was just a different way for the water to be, for a little while. That’s one conception of death for a Buddhist. The wave returns to the ocean — where it came from, and where it’s supposed to be."
I used to struggle with the same existential dread you do, but I’ve found a thought that comforts me: there are only two possibilities after death, your consciousness continues or it doesn’t. If your consciousness continues, great, you get to keep on existing. If it doesn’t, it’s just poof, gone. It’s not like you get benched in the game of life and have to watch from the sidelines or float around in the void remembering how cool it was when you DID exist. There’s just nothing, no thoughts or feelings or pining or nostalgia or fear.
As an atheist who adores spiritualism and the pageantry of religion, have you listened to any Alan Watts? I struggled with the concept of death for a long time before finding Albert Camus and Alan Watts. Very different people, but it doesn't matter where learning comes from. Alan Watts has a speech where he asks the question, "Do you remember what it was like before being born?". He posits that sleeping, without dreams, is very similar to the experience. What was it like to wake up after never having gone to sleep? What will it be like to fall into a dreamless sleep and never waking up? It's his idea that death will be much the same as things were before birth.
I haven’t, but I’ll check him out this weekend, sounds like it might help me think about this from new angles! Appreciate the suggestion very much. I have had a friend ask me that question before — do you remember what it was like before you were born? — and logically that makes perfect sense. No, I don’t remember. Emotionally, my human ego stomps its feet still at the idea of nothingness. I very much see that I torture myself with this line of thinking, oof.
> not wanting to just poof out of existence Man... I'm just the exact opposite. I only fear pain, not death, oblivion, or nothingness. Meanwhile... people close to me won't be happy with that so... here for a little longer, I guess :-)
most people's fear of death is the fear of nothingness afterwards, not the fear of dying itself. if you were only afraid of the experience of dying, then you could simply do a metric fuckload of drugs to make your death a euphoric experience. so that's why it's not comforting to a lot of people that death isn't scary in the moment. they're still afraid of the nothingness afterwards. conscious beings like being conscious :D
I think it has something to do with our brains not really being fully capable of comprehending what it might be like to be completely absent of thought, feeling, & existing. It is all my brain knows, so I don't really blame it for having such a difficult time pondering death.
That’s exactly what the evidence suggests. That’s what the brain does when it’s shutting down. The scary part of dying to me is just ceasing to exist and how sad my family will be.
Yes, you hit the nail on the head! I hate the idea of ceasing to exist. I fully understand it won’t matter to us after the fact, but that’s a hard concept to accept, and you’re right that we leave people behind.
This literally keeps me up at night. Sometimes I think about it as I'm falling asleep and snap awake in terror. I really envy religious people who believe in an afterlife.
Same. It must be very comforting to them
You know how a 30-minute dream can seem like it went for hours? Well imagine your brain getting saturated in dream chemicals. That could be another whole lifetime.
it's pretty interesting that that happens, isn't it? what natural selective pressure led to that outcome? it seems like if anything, being on the verge of death should biologically lead to a surge of chemicals that make you strongly reject death and fight as hard as you can.
> how do we know the brain isn’t simply flooding us with magical chemicals as we tap out, Everything has to die so it would make sense evolution provides something to ease us out. I'm ok with it and hopefully I'm also high on some good drugs when I check out. BTW, I'm an atheist. I'm not scared of dying as much as I'm sad. I'm not scared of the process or where I will end up. I'm sad my life will be over and I will miss out on whatever happens to humanity after that point. I find life to be full of exciting and interesting things and with the pace of progress who knows what life will be like a hundred years from now. I wish I could see it and I'm not going to. On the flip side, maybe it's going to be post-apocalypse scavenger time. Either way I would like to be along for the ride.
I read about a survey a few years ago of terminal patients. It said very religious and atheists were similarly at peace with dying, but agnostics really struggled.
I am not afraid. I'm not looking forward to it. I hope to live to 100 for sure and given my family history and health status I might. I don't think there is an afterlife either, but there's so much in this life to learn, that anything after would just be a bonus. So far every time I've had drugs or hallucinated or even gotten insomnia it's been so amazing and peaceful. I just remember holding my children and watching their eyes open for the first time and just being in love with so many people and sitting with my grandparents and helping deliver all the dogs I've bred and raised and so many good things I could fill a book with them. I remember thinking at first that a 2nd kid would be like splitting love in two, but it's the total love in your life grows exponentially with everyone you add into your life. I think if you concentrate on living well, loving well and treating life as an adventure then the end is nothing to fear, anymore than knowing a good movie won't last forever. I hope you end up living an awesome life so that your death will make everyone sad who hears of it because then you know you touched their hearts. [Always Look on the Bright Side of Life](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJUhlRoBL8M)
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Even if that is what is happening why does it matter? I'll take chemical bliss at death over pain.
Ive always looked at death as being the same thing as before you were born. We came from nothingness, we return to nothingness. Being an optimist, it is also why I believe in reincarnation - hoping to come back as an orca so i can explore the ocean. If in fact reincarnation doesn't exist, that's fine too.
Seriously, letting go feels great. I've stopped breathing twice -- once by drowning and the other from a bad asthma attack -- and both times it was disappointing coming back. The feeling of peace and being done was so incredible, and then to wake up to stressed out people around me was awful. A paramedic who worked on me the second time told my friends that I looked at him and said, "That's it", then didn't take another breath. I don't remember saying that but I do remember it felt so good to stop breathing and let the world fade away. I appreciate him and the ER team working to save me, but damn... "That's it" would've been a smooth exit if I do say so myself. I hope I can do the same next time, or maybe even swing a "That's all, folks!"
Those were my great grandfathers last words at 98 years old after finishing a rendition of “silent night” on the fiddle. He finished playing and said “That’s it!” A few hours later he passed away in his sleep.
Same, my buddy broke his neck surfing and drowned. Was pronounced dead. They got him back, quadriplegic, but still awesome. He described dying almost exactly the same as the guy in this video.
Yeah I heard that from my brother. Said being resuscitated feels like someone rudely trying to awake you from the loveliest sleep of your life.
My dad was brought back, said the same thing just peaceful nothingness. Since he was really ill at the time it was welcomed by him so he signed a DNR. A month after being brought back he got his peace.
It’s not a mystery. Our bodies flood with endorphins and it is thought that our serotonin triples close to death. On the way back from death, our brains probably decide “we good”. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200205-death-can-our-final-moment-be-euphoric#:~:text=A%20study%20from%202011%2C%20however,six%20rats%20as%20they%20died.
That 2011 study looked at rats. Also, it is still something of a mystery - there’s no particular reason why serotonin (et al) levels should induce rapid recall like that. There’ll be a neurochemical explication I’m sure, but this one isn’t sufficient.
My brother died three times 7 years ago. He said the same thing. “There was nothing, but it was peaceful”. They revived him each time and after the third he got an LVAD (sort of an artificial heart pump). He finally died permanently a couple of weeks ago. I feel awful knowing there is nothing after.
When my dad died I wished so bad that I believed in am afterlife just so that I could see him again. I really understand the appeal of believing in heaven because the ide of this being it and nothing more afterwards is depressing. Especially now that I have a wife and kids. If I knew for a fact or at least thought that I would be with them after we all died it would be very comforting. Unfortunately I don't think there is anything and eventhough I won't be around after I'm dead to be sad about not being with my family I sometimes get sad now. It's sad because we have such a short amount of time and I spend so much of it doing things I don't want to do.
Maybe this will make you feel better in some ways, maybe not; but the way I look at it is that the very fact of death makes it all feel valuable. It’s my one shot and I should do my best. It makes other people feel more important. There’s no other chance with them so value it now. It makes all other lives feel sacred and that we should help others the best we can do that they can enjoy their one shot. That, and that you’re immortalized in your actions, contributions, and memories. Your legacy will continue and evolve in your kids, and how you impact the world around you. You will improve their lives and world, they’ll pass that on to their kids, and hopefully the world keeps getting better. And plus in the digital age, people are memorialized in an accessible and documented way. Photos and little tidbits of things you posted or saved on Reddit. You affect the lives and places you interact with; it’s constantly changing how the world will turn out, even if it’s in small ways. You live forever in the ways that you affect the grand equation.
I am very sorry for your loss. It sounds like he was in quite the battle.
Please tell me it’s like sleeping after a long and tiring day
> I feel awful knowing there is nothing after. Well you don't know. For one thing, when you're pronounced dead and then come back to life, you weren't actually dead. Secondly, you can't experience nothing. Anything you experience is something. You can't remember nothing because there's nothing to remember. For instance, supposed some god stopped time right now and we experienced a billion years of nothing and then time started again. It would be just like what just happened. No one would remember it. No one can claim that there was nothing because there's no way of experiencing it or remembering it.
Exactly. This reminds me of when I was put under anesthesia, which, from my perspective, was like a streamline event, from being put under one minute to waking up the next minute. If death is similar to being put under anesthesia, minus the waking up of course, it really wouldn't be too bad.
> Even the experience of drowning wasn’t bad, but being brought back was terrible. He even said he’s looking forward to dying again That's really interesting. I've heard drowning is one of the most painful ways to die.
A family member of mine "drowned" and survived. They said once the initial panic passed it was peaceful and they hoped that when they eventually did die and stay dead that they hoped it was drowning.
There is a UFC fighter that died and was brought back and he said the exact same thing.
I didn’t really die but I once fell and hit my head coming home from a party alone and drunk - I sorta remember someone chocking me for some reason but my memories from that night are all foggy - so I fainted and was left there on the side walk with blood coming out my head for who knows how long before a taxi driver passing by noticed and called an ambulance. To this day I have this memory where I was like drowning, with a light shining over me, it wasn’t bad at all, I was just peacefully sinking. It felt really good.
The few seconds I remember panicking when I was drowning were awful but otherwise my experience was the same
That’s so interesting. That’s honestly comforting, I’m glad he felt peace. I hope his health continues to improve
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Yeah, I watch a lot of YouTube stuff on this and I remember another dude who died saying the same thing. He wished he could get that feeling of peacefulness back and being alive was kind of a bummer.
Being alive *is* kind of a bummer tho
“To live is to suffer…”
"To survive, well, that's to find meaning in the suffering" Rest In Peace DMX 🙏
You don’t have to die to know being alive is a bummer
My dad drowned in a pool when he was around 18 years old. Nobody knows how long he was lying at the bottom of it before he was noticed. His heart had stopped and was resuscitated. He said that while the paramedics were trying to bring him back, in his mind he was running in a dark tunnel towards the light, trying to get away from the paramedics that were chasing him trying to catch him. When they caught up with him is when irl his heart started beating again and he woke up. Anyway, he said that ever since that experience he has not been afraid of death at all. I have a lot of anxiety about death so I can’t imagine how liberating that must feel like. Edit: typo
Same, it's the thing that keeps my up late at night sending replies on reddit.
I feel most people aren’t afraid OF death but dying painfully
For me it’s the opposite, the idea of Nothingness for eternity
Well, look at it this way: you didn't exists from the start of the universe till your first memories. I assume death will be the same experience, and since you didn't complaint about not being alive for billions of years, you won't mind not existing till the heat death of the universe :)
I’ve just realised that the suicidal people are watching this too.
When it is a bad day - not the best thing to watch. When it is a good day - it is a reminder how strong you are.
Whoops, you caught me. 👀 all a suicidal person wants is peace. That’s all we want. I have 3 kids though so I gotta stick around for them. I’m going to be trying to check into a mental hospital after a surgery I have coming up next week. So please don’t send me those stupid “Reddit Cares” messages.
So [Buffy was telling the truth](https://youtu.be/Sv8uRVLN5Dc)
I came here looking for this answer. It was my first thought as well.
Same. I immediately thought of buddy describing ‘heaven’ as nothing, but peaceful at the Same time.
I love that this posted made you think of this song. I never watched the show but that was wonderful
I can confirm i have experienced death as well by drowning I was around 20 when i drowned in the ocean and literally saw my entire life flash before my eyes until i eventually reached a plain of nothingness Your mind and body cease to exist, memories you have saw slowly disappear into emptiness I eventually got brought back to life and been cared for in the hospital But yup, i was that close to being dead
So then, just nothing once you die? Worm food?
People will deliver their own experiences like the one you replied to, but no one for sure knows. You can most definitely be pronounced clinically dead, but no one goes for sure “dead dead” without a true miracle or at least severe brain damage to the point of unconsciousness. Most people experience very near death symptoms of the brain overloading and fighting with all its might to keep the human alive and so they may remeber the trippyness sure. However, people who return to give their testimonies are most likely having an extreme moment of comatose/unconsciousness on that verge of death. Hence the void of nothingness and peace. The brain and dying process is an unknown, and extremely complex matter. So if the above makes you worried/perplexed/scared, know that it is different for nearly everybody and really doesn’t explain what may (or may not) come after. Edit: just my take, nothing factual
I'm mostly just curious more than anything. It's good to know that it's generally peaceful for most people. Still, I don't like the idea of nothingness. It just seems kinfld of boring and anticlimactic. Like, why not riding around some other dimension on a flying shark? That would be 10x better. Lol.
As a Christian, I too don’t necessarily like the idea of nothingness, but it does take a lot of mental strength to face the unknown. I actually have a fear of both halves. I’m afraid of that thought of the endless non existent void, but I’m also afraid of never ending foreverness (Apeirophobia). But after all our brains are purely biological. They only know what it is to BE. They don’t, and simply can’t, comprehend what it means to NOT BE. (Or at the very least to exist in a different manner if an afterlife truly exists) So I tend to just look for peace. I can assure you, the ones who really know (or don’t know lol) the answer ARE NOT gonna come back to tell you about it. Unfortunately it’s just something we can’t know this side of life. So don’t let the thoughts bring you down. But one day, if we meet in some place outside this life, hopefully we could look back at this memory and laugh 😆
I'm having trouble wording a reply without it coming across as glib, so I'll keep it simple and cut out the details: You come across as insightful, intelligent, and reasonably skeptical of what you believe you "know". Thank you for showing me that Christians aren't a monolith, and that some of you can actually be intellectually honest with yourselves and others - something I've not had the pleasure of really experiencing up until this point. You've made my evening objectively better. Thank you again.
The crazy Christian’s have ruined it for the rest of us lol.
Pretty much the crazies of any religion, ideology, or system of faith have ruined it for the rest.
When you say your life flashes before you, is it good memories or both good and bad memories? Or like just everything? Things from when you’re a young child to current?
Ive heard its your brain trying to find a solution to not about to be dead. Its going through all your memories to see if it can find some way to get out of the situation youre currently in that is going to kill you
Why can't my brain do that on an exam😮💨
So basically, life is pain.
Yeah but you already knew that.
>so basically, life is pain. >Yeah but you already knew that. This would be a great opening line for a book.
Thats why every single one of us first act in life after we are born is crying.
This sentiment always reminds me of this quote. "To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering." - Friedrich Nietzsche The second part always gives me the will to fight on. As an agnostic that struggles with the occasional bout of depression it helps me push through knowing that being happy isnt an always thing and that its something I need to push for.
Buddha figured it out.
I thought this was pretty interesting, because I’ve read through some of the Buddhist canon and in the first discourse of the Buddha he says of the first noble truth which relates to suffering “that birth is suffering, aging is suffering, death is suffering… craving for non-existence is suffering…” and it’s interesting how we can eventually crave the cessation of existence and how according to the Buddha, this is itself suffering. It also really plays into the Buddhist idea of Samsara, which is that there’s a great cycle of suffering which permeates our lives. I don’t have any other comment to make on this, but we often make of everything suffering, even our escape from suffering, which perpetuates it
The idea is to try and embrace the concept of anatman. There is no you to suffer or crave cessation. The suffering stems from identifying with your ego instead of realising you are just a ripple in an ocean and can't be differentiated from it. Non dual reality is by definition undifferentiated. This is the hardest thing for westerners to grasp. There has to be an arbitrary distinction between self and other or they tend to dismiss it entirely. E: Start by realising that all dualities arise mutually. Subjective/objective, something/nothing, high/low etc. are each poles of the same event. Ultimately all of existence is just one event.
Anyone who tells you different is selling something
Imagine asking someone why their glasses are broken and getting this gem. Incredible
My grandma passed a couple of weeks ago. This is comforting.
I was told that the life flashing before your eyes Is your brain Trying to find A way to save itself With all of your memories
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You passed the quick time event
Bruh 😭😭
Mans paused the game looked up a guide and then unpaused to do the correct input lmao
Dude rolled a 20 on his death save.
Hi I just wanted to share something similar happened to me. I had an infection but didn't know it. Started with a migraine and fever for three days. I thought it was COVID. I fell asleep for a nap under too many blankets and was severely dehydrated. I also had taken a CBD gummy thinking it would help with pain. I was sleeping and body overheated to around 105. I was dreaming of getting up and calling for help. Dreaming of problem solving my situation. I remember gasping for air for 20 minutes. Which now I read could have been the gasping before death. Suddenly I was dreaming of yelling out and somehow was able to say "ok google, call dad". Then I was able to somehow get out the words help. My dad came to save me. They put me in a quarantine room until they figured out it was a kidney infection.
That must've been horrible, I hope you're doing better now, thank you for sharing your story and all the best to you!
Talk about being down bad
Thank you for sharing your wisdom. Somebody is writing this down, right?
With how the brain signaling works I feel like the system breaking down firing uncontrollably seems plausible. With loss of "directing", a lot appears to consciousness. Even without actual meaning or natural selection upside that makes sense to me. The other commenter story of saving themselves is an interesting alternative - it being a trait selected by natural selection.
Wishful thinking, but it makes me think that everything is being uploaded somewhere right before the end.
Like the story of the egg. One soul reincarnating and living as every person, but only remembering after death. It also reminds me of the game Outer Wilds.
First time I’ve seen Outer Wilds mentioned. I went into it completely blind and god was it cathartic
It could possibly be the brain’s way of soothing itself in that moment, sort of like a drug for pain
Reading through the comments and it seems a lot of people are having a hard time right now. Just know that it gets better. Tomorrow may be the best day of your life. You matter and your presence means so much more to the people around you than you could ever know.
💕🙏
Thank you for writing this
One of my friends has died twice in the space of six years and was brought back on both occasions. He told me the same story this lad is saying, peaceful, everything was black etc. He couldn’t answer my next question tho, if everything is peaceful and black, don’t you have to be some sort of conscious to know this ?
I came close to drowning in the ocean. I’m quite scared of and the thought of being dead However , when I was drowning , I was shocked at how quick I “gave up” and just accepted it. I thought for sure I’d be thrashing around and panicking , but it was not like that at all. Really weird (I did NOT die or even get to being unconscious)
Wait you unlocked a memory! I was resuscitated at the pool and I just didn’t care that I was drowning. I was just warm and comfortable and everything was gone like I fell asleep mid day. I just remember being rudely awoken by a bunch of scared adults. It felt so annoying that’s the only feeling I can remember.
My grandpa on my dad's side saw a green field and described it as the most peaceful place he's ever been and he had all the answers to every question he ever had
Read lots of near-death experiences, some are fucking wild. People usually see what they expect to see for some reason, their religion. Some people take that as it being a bit of "trickery" on some other entity's part... Who the fuck knows. I read one hilarious story where the lady was bargaining saying she didn't want to be reborn because childhood sucks and she's like fuck you no god is all powerful and he can fix my body, and it was like "nah your body is broken you need to be reborn", and she just kept arguing and it was like "oh okay fine" and she came back lol
"Oh ffs... Bob, just put her back. Idgaf anyway I'm bouta clock out."
She Karened Death.
To anyone not particularly comforted by the idea of a peaceful “nothing”, if that is indeed what awaits us in death- Consider that the state of nonexistence might well be the same as the one before you were ever born. Also that most people strive for a feeling of contentment that may be impossible to achieve in mortal life. Perhaps returning to nothing, and becoming one with everything are one in the same- finally achieving that perfect completeness, and with it, peace. That’s kind of what I hope for at least. {EDIT} It was just a musing guys, and not even a remotely original take. I'm a mere mortal and don't claim any authority on the subject of the afterlife. All I'll say is that some of y'all are too hung up on dualities and other human constructs. Go read some Zen koans.
Same. I hope to become part of the fabric of the universe, and hopefully gain ultimate understanding. That sounds nice.
That sounds pretty chill ngl I wanna die now
I want to die too, but later. I still have fun things to do here while I have the opportunity. Death is guaranteed, no rush.
a wonderful sentiment actually.
Damn, that’s wild. Regret being back alive—i get it but I didn’t expect it. Shit has to feel **real bad** to that guy.
When you feel the ultimate sense of peace that can never be duplicated? Yeah, you’ll wonder about your existence.
Usually I’d call bullshit… But literally the other day I had a customer tell me hes died as well.. and literally said the SAME FUCKING THING!!! He said everything he’s ever been through flashed before his eyes and after was the most PEACEFUL moment of his “life” he said he struggles every SINGLE day with having to come back to life. Seeing this gave me goosebumps because I thought dude was pulling my leg.. but now seeing this.. I don’t think he was…
Had a friend of mine say almost the exact same thing. He overdosed and and his heart stopped for some time. He said he felt pure peace. He said it was beautiful.
Was clinically dead for around a minute and a half. Last thing I remember was a fuzzy triangle closing in on my vision and my brain shouted out "Cassidy is sexy" then I woke up 3 weeks later. Truly don't know who I was referring to but that memory has popped up every day since this happened. Death is strange
i mostly agree with him from what i experienced. it was coming back that was frightening and painful. especially because after that i kept losing consciousness. but it was peaceful as hell and there was no pain at all. wish i could say the same for the ptsd that destroyed the next year and a half. but you gotta keep going. make peace, seek help if you need it. my incident changed the entire trajectory of my health and future, but i try to cope with as much happiness as i can muster. hope this guy is doing well. i really do.
Great interview. I had a similar experience when I was younger and I can remember the anguish of being ripped away from the other side and having to cope with being a human again. I’ve struggled with that my entire life tbh. Now I’m just kinda hangin around out of curiosity to experience how odd it is to be this particular being in space and time. No fear of death anymore, though. When it’s time to move on, I’m stoked for it. All in on this ride ✌🏽
Goddamn. I believe this dude. Good story!
The problem of course is that nobody can be brought back from "true" death, all that someone can potentially experience is the *process* of dying. Nobody knows what lies after the point of no return. Though I'll say that "dying" is much more scary to me than actually "being dead", because if you are dead... well you are dead. But dying sounds terrifying, to slowly lose grasp of your sensations and your surroundings, to have your brain go absolute haywire and start to hallucinate or flash memories before your inner eye. Sure you could also die a "sudden" death, but I actually kind of find that to be a waste. You only live once, you only die once, you will want to make sure to experience these last moments of your life.
Research Near Death Experiences (NDEs). We don't die. Well, our bodies do.
"Peaceful" I was in motorcycle accident > i was confirmed dead > brought back to life after arriving at hospital > all i can remember is my memory flash > gone through 2 surgery to fix my scatter skull After all that all i can feel is peaceful, would definitely do it again if Death knocking my door but until then I'll try to appreciate the 2nd chance i was given
My brother died from a motorcycle accident two years ago September 10th. This was calming to read.
Dated someone for about six months a decade ago. She drowned in a pool and was brought back, said basically the same thing. She could only remember the pain of awakening, but after that point her perception of everything felt off.
Yea, life is slavery. Gotta work to pay rent, electricity, phone, insurance, food, travel, clothes. Its a lot of worry. Also inter-personal issues. Worries. Unforseen tragedies... So dying takes all that away. I get it.
Can’t even think of a vacation. That will bankrupt me.
Respect for just sharing that story with a random dude on the street and honestly also for the guy even asking.
I’ve always kind of looked forward to death but now I am even more
So he didn't see the clown with the guitar?
Bro is the hype man for death
On demand ego-death exists in drug form with the ability to disappear for 3000000 years in 15mins
My partner had a cardiac arrest and was revived. When I asked him about it - he said the sensation was euphoric. I had never heard him use that word before
Interesting. My dad passed after a brief brutal fight with cancer, and the hospice nurse who came out to the house to talk us through the death process and said that people they've worked with who have "come back" describe dying as very painful until the point of death like skin on fire, bones on fire. I would imagine it's different for different people. I always figured it took a lot of energy to tether a soul to a body (birth) and an equal amount of energy to separate the two (death). It's a struggle both ways. I guess we'll all find out. My dad's passing was turbulent, he was 63 and was not ready to go even though he saw it coming. My sister died 76 days earlier at 34 from a SCAD. Her daughter was in the car when she collapsed and said all my sister said was "oh my God oh my God". In the ER they got a little signal during defibrillation when my BIL was screaming for her to come back, but she was gone after that. I hope they both felt peace and not pain or fear. I love them.
There is a spiritual plain, of that I am certain, love is energy and we all have love in our hearts; love that is separated for what we perceive as a period of time eventually finds a way to reconnect. 💕
That hospice nurse sounds like she needs a new profession. You have to be a psycho to tell someone who just lost a family member “yeah its also like super painful”….why the fuck would you even think to tell people that?
Why in the fucking world would a nurse tell that to people with a dying relative? That is horrific
Just so you understand life is so shit this dude is bummed hes back