Iranian researchers Hamid Reza and Hamid Emami Far have presented a concept of near-death experience based on the perspective of Islamic philosophy. According to this concept, life-threatening situations cause people to experience “adventures” in which they, for example, see angels or deceased relatives or fly through a tunnel towards a light (this is a scenario used by lucid dreamers in a REMspace experiment).
The authors believe that in these situations, people disconnect from physical sensations and focus on the subtle world, where everything exists in the form of ideas and images. They divide this otherworldly realm into two dimensions:
1. The world of “connected idea” is something like an imaginary world consisting of one’s experiences, memories, and desires.
2. The world of “disconnected idea” is a world without personal distortions and fantasies.
To enter this second world, one must free oneself from the power of imagination. However, the authors state that very few people can do this.
Have you had a near-death experience? What signs indicate that it was (or was not) just your imagination?
The article was published in February 2025 in the Journal of Religious Thought.
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