NEAR‐DEATH EXPERIENCES AND SPIRITUALITY

Near-death experiences (NDEs) often include a sense of separation from the body, encounters with religious figures, and a feeling of cosmic unity. Although prior religious belief does not predict NDEs, the depth of the experience is strongly linked to religious change afterward. Experiencers typically report decreased fear of death, increased empathy, a shift from ego-centered to other-centered consciousness, and a deepened spiritual outlook. These changes meet the definition of spiritual transformation: a dramatic shift in belief, attitude, and behavior. NDEs do not favor any particular religious tradition but foster general spiritual growth in individuals and society.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Abstract. Some individuals when they come close to death report having experiences that they interpret as spiritual or religious. These so‐called near‐death experiences (NDEs) often include a sense of separation from the physical body and encounters with religious figures and a mystical or divine presence. They share with mystical experiences a sense of cosmic unity or oneness, transcendence of time and space, deeply felt positive mood, sense of sacredness, noetic quality or intuitive illumination, paradoxicality, ineffability, transiency, and persistent positive aftereffects. Although there is no relationship between NDEs and religious belief prior to the experience, there are strong associations between depth of NDE and religious change after the experience. NDEs often change experiencers' values, decreasing their fear of death and giving their lives new meaning. NDEs lead to a shift from ego‐centered to other‐centered consciousness, disposition to love unconditionally, heightened empathy, decreased interest in status symbols and material possessions, reduced fear of death, and deepened spiritual consciousness. Many experiencers become more empathic and spiritually oriented and express the beliefs that death is not fearsome, that life continues beyond, that love is more important than material possessions, and that everything happens for a reason. These changes meet the definition of spiritual transformation as “a dramatic change in religious belief, attitude, and behavior that occurs over a relatively short period of time.” NDEs do not necessarily promote any one particular religious or spiritual tradition over others, but they do foster general spiritual growth both in the experiencers themselves and in human society at large.