Near-death experiences (NDEs) are still an under-researched field but evidence of such occurrences has been collected by scientists for some time now. One of the most extensive databases of such accounts is maintained by the Near-Death Experience Research Foundation (NDERF).
The Daily Express newspaper has recently reported such a case, where a woman who introduced herself as Maria described her personal feelings about the NDE in which she met Jesus.
Maria was sleeping next to her partner when she suddenly “woke up” and found herself hovered over her own body. Warm light surrounded her from all sides. She does not remember moving her legs, but she found herself flying through the air. At the end of her flight, Maria found herself in an otherworldly realm, where there were about ten-twenty souls: they communicated with her telepathically. The place was filled with a feeling of love and warmth, which brought Maria to tears. And then she saw Jesus Christ: he was an exact representation of the image on the shroud of Turin.
The article describing this case adds that medical experts are skeptical about such stories. Scientists suggest that there are certain chemical and physical processes that can explain these kinds of phenomena. For example, researchers from the University of Michigan recorded a spike in brain activity in laboratory mice in the last 30 seconds before death.
One of the popular theories claims that vivid near-death experiences (such as Maria’s) are hallucinations caused by insufficient oxygen supply to the brain. Moreover, the woman herself added that she had been suffering from apnea for many years (a dangerous condition that causes people to stop breathing in their sleep, which can lead to death).
The Phase Research Center conducted experiments on the deliberate reproduction of classical visions from NDEs, such as flying through a tunnel, in the phase state. Similarly, you can recreate a meeting with Jesus. Phase states (lucid dreams, sleep paralysis, false awakenings, near-death, and out-of-body experiences) belong to the same group of phenomena in which the centers of awareness are activated in the human brain during the REM sleep phase. It is noteworthy that Maria’s story took place when she was in bed, confirming that this was yet another phase state experience mistaken for a miracle.
