NDEs & Hyperconsciousness

Wayne Bush

NOTE: All of these quotes are taken from NDEs at the NDERF.ORG web site.

The NDERF survey asked, “How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal, everyday consciousness and alertness?” Of 1,122 NDErs surveyed, 835 (74.4%) indicated they had “More consciousness and alertness than normal”; 229 (20.4%) experienced “Normal consciousness and alertness”; and only 58 (5.2%) had “Less consciousness and alertness than normal.

The NDERF survey also asks, “If your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience was different from your normal everyday consciousness and alertness, please explain.” In response to this question, NDErs commonly reported that consciousness during their experiences was “clear”, “more aware”, and often associated with heightened awareness. -- Jeffrey Long

My consciousness was clear, acute, this is a hyper-consciousness, ultra clear Everything that has been told to me has been perceived and understood as being the TRUTH. This consciousness ENCOMPASSES ALL, just all. This is INSTANT consciousness. It is also different in the sense that communication is also realized through telepathy.. -- Catherine D

I was in a state of hyper lucidity. I even had the impression that I was the world, of being conscience of everything, and understanding the ALL. -- Aubaud V

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? Sense of expanded consciousness was immediate. Full expansion and understanding followed within an eternal instant. How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal every day consciousness and alertness? More consciousness and alertness than normal -- Roger F

I know my identity is an eternal existence now. I would no longer call it consciousness, it is a self identity separate from consciousness...more like a super consciousness.-- Jeff C

More consciousness and alertness than normal. I felt hyperaware of things, as if I would be aware of everything around me if the mist wasn't blocking or buffering me. -- Jeri W

More consciousness and alertness than normal Everything I describe except the rather mundane out of body experiences involved a much, much higher level of awareness and exquisite alert sensitivity than ever before. -- Cami R

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? The whole time was a heightened level. -- Gary S

Consciousness remained, totally alert, linked to this luminous flow to such an extent that it dissolved in it. I was this refined, sublime consciousness. It bathed into cosmic energy, and simultaneously was wide open, limitless, as if it had contained the universe space. It perceived, felt, had all properties of a living being, but acted in a dimension located out of matter and out of time. The feeling was tender, peaceful. The light I saw, through non sensorial perception, located at another level, was intense, radiant but not blinding, not dazzling. A golden color illuminated the immensity and allowed my consciousness to embrace the whole scope of it, making everywhere visible in the universe. I had a feeling of lightness. Never mind the ill body because there was nobody who could suffer… Fullness, freedom, instant out of time. My consciousness had left space-time limits, it had entered another plane of reality, extending infinitely, whence this feeling of openness towards universe, up to wholly containing it. In that moment, my consciousness was this bright space. The light freely went through my consciousness which had found its source, it was its very substance, nourished it, plunged it in bliss. I immediately felt loved by this supreme Consciousness. I understood that this light was the absolute Love I felt. It was very beautiful, very sweet. True tenderness came from this light. I felt pure love, unconditional acceptation, great compassion too... -- Mathilde M

If your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience was different from your normal every day consciousness and alertness, please explain: It was a totally different type of consciousness, it was without any constraints. -- Bruce C

More consciousness and alertness than normal. I'll explain in terms of my experiences as a Buddhist with states of jhana. About eight years ago, I started practicing a Buddhist meditation, one of those that the Buddha himself taught. The one I practice is not a one-pointed-concentration meditation. It is like that, but in this one, you relax any stress and tension that arise in both your mind and your body by following the flow of whatever in your consciousness calls your attention. Using that approach, as your mind becomes more and more calm and relaxed, you will enter the first jhana. It will be an "aware jhana." In an aware jhana, if someone touches your shoulder (for example) you will know your shoulder is being touched. But if you use a one-pointed-concentration meditation, when you enter a jhana, (using the same example) you will not be aware of someone touching your shoulder. I practice an "abiding in awareness" jhana when sitting and I try to carry that jhana state right into my active life. My NDE experience was way deeper than either of the jhana states I have just described. But if I go deep into one of the jhanas, into the "formless jhanas," say – the realm of infinite consciousness, which is the sixth level of the jhanas – that's the level that matches my NDE pretty good, in terms of alertness and consciousness. Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. I didn't see during the experience. There was no seeing; I was aware only of the pure consciousness of beings melding with each other, directly communicating, I suppose, by a sort of intuition. -- Zachary G

The reality of being there was more real than ordinary everyday reality. I don't know how to say this without sounding hyperbolic, but the whole experience really was super-real or hyper-real. Capacity to experience nuances of emotional states expanded; capacity to communicate expanded even beyond anything that I would regard 'telepathy' to be; general awareness expanded - Peter N

How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal everyday consciousness and alertness? More consciousness and alertness than normal I felt real and overwhelmingly loved and joyous. -- Carol V

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience? Yes I did have some knowledge of how powerful our soul or spirit is and that it has no limits, but no amount of bodily consciousness could equal the freedom of this experience. -- Jan S

AS A PART OF DIVINE CONSCIOUSNESS, YOU ARE DIVINE... Do you see the problem here? How simple questions like “How are you?” can become a trap if you're trying to be painstakingly truthful? Not one of those words can be parsed unambiguously. There was no longer a perspective from which to solidly answer innocent questions. One. Everything we ever need to know comes straight from that one inescapable thing. Call it the Tao, the unity, collective consciousness, or God. Labels only confuse the situation. - Cami R

I realized I was pure energy, spirit, and part of a flowing consciousness; while still remaining 'Denise'. -- Denise

I was in a dark void, I was not scarred, it was like I was a pair of eyes and ears with pure consciousness, it was so real. -- Rebecca D

More consciousness and alertness than normal I was free of the fears, ideas and limitations of this earth. I had total peace and could give all my attention to what was happening. -- Tamara J NDE

I only know that everything is eternal, pure consciousness and that we are in a mental dream that is permanently being constructed as a dynamic of consciousness that knows itself and recreates itself through each one of us. ... We are all God. Our own super-lucid consciousness is what judges us with love. The kind of human love that most resembles divine love is: infinite tenderness. What we think or want to think is what is, come what may. In this way the universe is constructed. It is like a game of consciousness that recognizes itself and recreates itself through each one of us, and at the same time we are the "point of nothingness" in which life becomes self-aware. -- Hafur

This White Light wasn't capable of anything but Love because that was truly the essence, 100% the vibration of what it was. To create fear of punishment would have reduced the vibration of love and that was impossible for this Being of True Love to do. -- Teri R

It was two entirely different types of alertness and consciousness. When I struggled to come back as I was presumably moving back inside my physical experience I began to re-experience the immediacy of physical consciousness, like everything suddenly got very immediate and took on a different timbre. I became aware of feelings, distress, striving, pain, fear and sadness, of the massive physical weight of the condition that I was in. But the previous experience was totally different in nature. It was a very, very grounded feeling, unshakeable, like a deep knowingness. I knew who I was, I knew and recognized instantly the existence that was coming towards me -- JH

The best way that I can describe it is that this state was beyond the need for thoughts or senses. Thoughts and senses are things that in my view pertain to consciousness. Where I was, it was a state of pure awareness-beyond consciousness and therefore the need of thoughts or senses... As stated earlier, what I experienced was the passing through of the space between my thoughts, which led me from the state of consciousness that comes with being in my body to the state of infinite awareness that lies behind consciousness, a state in which the body, consciousness, and all other attachments are surrendered and seemingly left behind. When you ask if there is life "after" this life, the answer is no because there is no "before or after" there is just now. Now either exists in awareness with consciousness covering it up (consciousness imprinted on awareness), or awareness in its purest state beyond consciousness. -- Victor C (other non-NDE)

The other surprising thing was the feeling of being part of a "collective consciousness". I sensed that everything alive and that had ever lived was part of this consciousness. It retained the experiences of each being in its collective memory. This is why I knew everything, the knowledge of this collective became mine. It is a different kind of knowledge though. It is not intellectual but experiential. Furthermore, it was not limited just to human experiences, I "knew" what it felt like to be a flower and to be a stone. I realized that life and consciousness are synonymous and that inanimate objects also have consciousness. They are made of atoms and particles just like humans are. -- Chantal L

I was simply a form of consciousness with my ego intact. I did not have to breathe, nor did I have any difficulty thinking, as though I was experiencing some sort of "super consciousness". -- Tony M

I realized that the real goal of the mind created ‘life game’ in life, was to remove the veil of delusion and ignorance and reach the Ultimate Truth of one's reality in life itself. This Truth, this Self I was bathing in and which had encompassed my Being, was nothing but Love, Love, pure, unconditional, Universal Love, that is almost non-achievable in human terms, and which was the fabric of this Consciousness I was a part of. Yes, because Love is God and God is Love. It was very clear that the Cosmic composition was made up of nothing but Love! Love is the God-glue that is holding All… together. And I realized I was not just inside It but rather, one with It, this Universal Body of Love, of God. It was completely natural to me... as flame is to fire... because it is fire! -- Mira S

As I was struck, I realized that my consciousness was in two places simultaneously. One part, very scared and animal-like, was firmly inside of my broken body that was stuck on the vehicle's axle and being dragged under the truck. The other part, a very calm, dispassionate observer, hovered out in front of the truck and off to the south, watching the whole scene unfold from a distance. This dual consciousness seemed quite normal to the observer part of me. The observer was calm about the whole thing, and I remember the feeling that this was all happening for a reason, that there was nothing to fear. The observer-me watched as witnesses stopped, called for help, and as the paramedics arrived. When the paramedics started working on me, my two selves came back together. -- Nancy R

Experience was definitely real the reality of the experience I had is the true state of consciousness that exists after we all die in the body of flesh that we are wraped within.The state of my being during the episode is the state we will all be in after we die except of course for the scary things that happened to me. -- Gabe G

In that instant, total knowledge of reality appeared to me and I saw the multi-dimensionality of the universe. My consciousness expanded so far beyond the physical plane that I was no longer aware of it, nor of my self. I was so much a part of it all, there was no distinction. It was a brilliant flash of light and I was allowed to see into it for a brief moment and experience a feeling of love so profound, powerful and overwhelming that I can only describe it as pure Bliss (even though that doesn't begin to describe it). And, suddenly, I was whisked away and found myself traveling rapidly through a vortex toward a beautiful white light in the far, far distance. I continued to experience an overwhelming feeling of love within me and around me. -- Diane G

Duluth airport, middle of winter with a raging northern, temperatures -25 and winds howling. On a juniper branch a nearly dead chrysalis is encased in a lifeless motionless shroud clinging to a limb. That is human existence. That dead lifeless creature is "Normal every day consciousness and alertness" compared to NDE. -- Robert B

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? I have to answer that in two parts. First, my level of alertness did not change after it expanded dramatically once I was thoroughly infused with the Light. Second, my level of consciousness continued to evolve through higher and more expansive levels until I was about to fully merge into Source/God. At that point, I felt as though I had the same level of consciousness as Source/God, which is the level of awareness/vibration necessary in order to merge directly into it...
The only “locations,” in the physical sense, that I visited were those I consciously manifested myself. I did, however, evolve through numerous “levels” of awareness/consciousness/beingness until I was no longer a being at all. Nothing was identified to me as a “dimension.” -- Nancy D

All I can say was that I went to sleep as one distinct consciousness and when I awoke as another consciousness completely. I was still me, but suddenly a much more enhanced version, detached from my human condition of pain and suffering. ... -- Sara A

This experience has shown me something that I would like to attempt to describe in words. What I believe is that while we are in this body, we are equipped with the consciousness that comes with it. The difference between how I view what this consciousness is, in relation to my view of what awareness is it is two different things. Awareness for me is what is behind the consciousness that comes with the functioning of mind and body. The awareness behind it however is of a much broader, infinite nature. The thoughts that we all have in our consciousness appear to be a constant stream that is continuous and linear in nature. However, upon intense concentration on what is an iota of time between our thoughts, I believe that what I have experienced was a gateway leading out of consciousness and into the hidden spectrum of pure awareness that lies beyond. While in this state, I have no memory of breathing, or any other bodily functions that would be obvious in a normal state of consciousness. ." -- Victor C (non-NDE other experience)

I entered the black void I realize my body was no longer with me. I could see but only with my minds eye like dreaming but everything w as clear and I was pure conscious having retaining all knowledge of my life and memories. I was not any smarter..
.I felt intense joy and happiness in the disembodied state in the white light. There was a sense of "I", but I was also a part of a group consciousness, and that was blissful. I don't recall a lot of other emotions. Certainly no sorrow, guilt or regrets. ... Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice?....I encountered a definite being, or a voice clearly of mystical or unearthly origin No voices or sounds. Mind to mind communications. Beings encountered were intelligent points of consciousness with which I seemed to have had a prior long-term relationship. We seemed to be like a group mind, but yet separate individuals. More like we were united in a common purpose and came to decisions by consensus. It was wonderful to experience the reunification. Yet looking back, the setting where we existed was very simple. There was only the white light everywhere. No other additions to the backdrop except the beings. We were highly intelligent and had vast stores of knowledge, but were as uncomplicated (and as incomplete????) as our environment. I'm not sure that we had "free will". Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? The conscious recollection of two distinct disincarnate states. Knowledge (not just a suspicion or belief) that "I" don't end with this body. -- Gillian M

From the second experience I got the impression that we are baby beings in the universe. That our bodies are sheaths for our consciousness. They protect us from perceiving "All That Is". We have five senses and they are dampers on our perceptions. Giving us only the amount of information that we are able to assimilate and react to. - Pat P

We humans don't understand and feel the connectedness while living on earth. The other side is the world of the quantum, where thoughts are things, and where consciousness creates reality. It is also totally holographic in nature. That's why many NDEs say that they went into a "hall of learning" or "place of knowledge" and it seemed like to them the building was "made of knowledge." We don't live for just ourselves, but for all the consciousness in the entire universe. The knowledge and memories and feelings that we are learning and storing do not belong to us alone, but will be available for everyone to use after they cross over so they can create a reality and learn on the other side. (There are no judgments towards others in Heaven). Everything is shared on the other side. It's a place where there is no separation. We all joined in on this experience before being physically born on earth. -- Patricia D

Alas, I was pure consciousness, embodied in a light and ethereal form, travelling aboutï¿½or being still and observing intentlyï¿½and always in a state of awe. It was such a glorious sensation where I experienced such calm and a profound sense of peace and constant trust. I also experienced no blindness, (as I do with my physical eyes being legally blind), and what a sense of awe and wonderï¿½to be able to see! -- Juliet N

I remember that immediately upon regaining some sense of what we know as normal waking consciousness I felt loved, immersed in love, carried by love. I perceived that I was made from Love and that everything else was made of the same stuff. ... I sat there in the chair for some period of time that seemed very short to me based upon what was happening in the shop and then I came back to normal waking consciousness. I was not “paralyzed” this time nor did I have an out of body experience. The shift from the state of pure subjectivity and unity to normal waking consciousness was smooth and apparently instant – just like it was when I went from material reality into the non-physical One. -- James W

I consider this light to be myself, my eternal part, permanent, immortal, outside space and time...a tiny piece of God, my higher consciousness, etc.... It's difficult to define, but I am a part of the light and permanently connected to it. I can communicate with it. I find it difficult to give a definition because I neither have nor have had any religious belief. I'm looking for a scientific explanation. I believe it is closer to the concept of a Matrix or an ultra-supercomputer, than to Christ or Buddha... Experience was definitely real Always, from the first moment, I experienced it as "real." I had complete consciousness. I could see everything, move, go through walls, make decisions. The only thing I couldn't do was "manifest myself" to other people by any physical method. -- Julio M

More consciousness and alertness than normal Throughout....Pure awareness, open awareness. Not focused on body or personal history. -- William H

I felt light, happy, and blissful. I also felt like God had picked me up by the scruff of my neck and shook the nonsense out of me. I was AWAKE! -- Anita E

The next moment, I traveled to space. My spirit was taken in an instant to outer space and exploded into pure consciousness! I was acutely aware in my mind that I was traveling and had become an astral being. I was taken into the sky and into space. -- Jennifer W

I felt "God" did exist as a collective consciousness and much more beyond that. -- Michael Joseph

We have spent that time, being so separated from love and our truth that we have taken it from others, because we can’t stand that they may have it and we don’t. I saw that we have created false truths and realities because we loathe what we think is the truth. We have nearly, if not completely, ruined our lives, hearts, minds, and souls to keep feeding the illusions. We keep this false love and realty alive, just to do it. -- Scott W

In that instant, total knowledge of reality appeared to me and I saw the multi-dimensionality of the universe. My consciousness expanded so far beyond the physical plane that I was no longer aware of it, nor of my self. I was so much a part of it all, there was no distinction. It was a brilliant flash of light and I was allowed to see into it for a brief moment and experience a feeling of love so profound, powerful and overwhelming that I can only describe it as pure Bliss (even though that doesn't begin to describe it). -- Diane G

Although my body looked unconscious, my mind/spirit was hyper-aware. -- Nancy H

This "Person" appeared only as a huge presence that was perceivable only as waves of distortion, shielded from my consciousness so that I could not see him/her directly. (For an example of this look at the movie Predator with Arnold Swartzenegger and pay attention to how the alien looks when it is "cloaked". That is the effect that I was seeing. I was not "Threatened" by this and don't want to influence the reader utilizing my movie example of a dreadful, cutthroat alien, but only wanted to provide a reference to the visual distortion used. There were were no feelings of "danger", only a realization of this presence.) -- Brian S

Often, the ego pretends to be God, all-knowing, or the center of the universe. It can be identified by its negative and fearful nature. The ego is a false self that can only dominate if it is unconscious—if there is a lack of awareness. It is not who we fundamentally are. It has no foundation in reality. Although some stages of healthy human development are ego-centered, the ego is ultimately an illusion of the mind... I was not seeing with my eyes, but with the core of my being. I saw our universe, all physical space, all other universes, and everything that changes as one tiny dark finite speck surrounded by an infinite sea of life and light. I saw even more clearly life’s nature of pure love, bliss, creativity, and wisdom. This sea of pure life is formless and spacious, and yet it is fully conscious and intelligent. It is the only true experiencer, the only true “I.” The Source is present everywhere and in every moment whether we are aware of it or not. As this great being showed Him/Herself to me, I could see that the pure divine life that is Him/Her is the same life that is the essence of every being through all space and time... An image of a meditating Buddha came to me, and I knew that I was the spacious consciousness--the luminous light of presence--permeating the cosmos and coming through the Buddha... Though, we can create whatever illusions we want in our minds for as long as we wish and act on them too. -- Phoebe STE

(spiritually transformative experience)
Our unconscious mind holds information that our conscious mind interferes with. Having a near death experience allows the unconscious mind to be accessed and once the conscious mind is not blocking our unconscious mind, we are able to see the truth more clearly. It is like having the third eye awakened or a spiritual awakening. -- Jenneane E

I knew it had not been any sort of dream. In fact it was far more real than normal waking consciousness. This aspect is so hard to explain. I -- Brian T

I want to tell you what it felt like when I entered my body. I have never felt such joy. I was enthralled with this wondrous body I had created. I could feel the consciousness of each cell in my body. I could feel the joy of the blood as it rushed through the veins and the sharing of the creation of new life as each cell sang its energy. I truly knew what the phrase "I sang the body electric" meant. I was so captivated by this wondrous creation which all of me had created and the loving cooperation that existed between all the cells that had joined together to create this marvelous body called Patsy. -- Patsy D