Julie Hambleton

Julie Hambleton

January 8, 2024

You Can Meditate Yourself Into A Near-Death Experience (And If You Practice, You Can Get Better At It)

Science shows that you can meditate yourself into a near-death experience. These meditation-induced near-death experiences (MI-NDE) can help us better understand what the body goes through in the moments just before we die. (1)

Meditation-Induced Near-Death Experiences

Beautiful of lotus flower and buddha image put together look like art . On the face of buddha has a little smiley. Buddhism in Thailand is popular. The culture of Thailand involved buddha.
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There are several Buddhist texts written by those who achieved MI-NDE and who became masters of it in order to help spiritual practitioners gain insight into the processes of death and dying. (1) In 2018, a three-year longitudinal study was done on MI-NDE. The study compared 12 advanced Buddhist meditators’ MI-NDE to two other meditation practices. (1)

The study found that the participants (1):

Light at the end of the tunnel
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  • Were consciously aware of their near-death experiences
  • Retained volitional control over the content and duration of NDEs
  • Elicited a wide variety of other-worldly and spiritual experiences

The study also shows that using MI-NDE makes it both ethical and feasible to study the neurological activity changes that occur during near-death experiences in real-time. (1)

What Does a Near Death Experience Feel Like?

Man walking alone towards the light
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Near-death experiences have been reported by people all around the world, however, it can be difficult to quantify because self-reporting is highly unreliable. (1) Typically, however, these events have been described in a similar manner with only minor differences in the vocabulary used to describe them due to cultural and religious differences. (1)

In general, when someone has a near-death experience, they report (1):

Gravity
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  • An out-of-body experience
  • Seeing or moving through a tunnel
  • Speaking with a being of light
  • Observing a celestial landscape
  • Meeting with deceased persons
  • Their life in review
  • Loss of sense of time and space
  • A conscious return to the body at the end

Often these experiences change the person that they happen to. People report having increased self-understanding and a different outlook on their life afterward. (1)

Read: The Best Things You Can Do to Optimize Brain Function Now

Difference Between a Near Death Experience and an MI-NDE

The man is flying in dreams through the cloudy night sky. The opened arms. Freedom and dreaming concept
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The main difference between a near-death experience and an MI-NDE is that the meditator has control over both what they experience and how long they experience it. (1)

Study participants reported that during their MI-NDE, they (1):

  • Visited other-worldly realms
  • Experienced what happens during life and after death
  • Experienced a state of existence known as “emptiness”

They experienced five times more “mystical experiences” and four times higher feelings of non-attachment.

Kaza, Himachal Pradesh, India - May 2012: A novice Buddhist monk with large bronze cymbals in his hands at a traditional ceremony inside the ancient monastery at Kaza in the Spiti Valley.
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Over the three-year study period, the participants experienced increasingly profound MI-NDEs, which shows that this is a practice that can be worked on and perfected over time. (2) Assessment of the participants was done via a variety of means, including a battery of psychometric scales within 24 hours of a completed meditation. (3) As this phenomenon is studied further, scientists will be able to perhaps understand better what happens to the human spirit after we die.

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