On the evening in question I was arguing with my friend about whether I should return to England or not.  He thought I shouldn't: 'It'll just be boring in England, you'll have a much better experience travelling on to Burma' he said.

'How can you say that?' I questioned' 'You can't judge one month in the future against another! It's like people saying that a month when you're young is better than a month when you're old!... Or saying that a month when you're alive is better than a month when you're dead! It's because you're afraid of death!' I was practically raging at him, but now I stopped, I had realized a 'blockage' in my own mind, I detected a little fear.  Hold on, I thought, I'M afraid of death... What's it like when you die? 

I asked myself the question in a completely honest, open and vulnerable way, and then it was as if I tapped at a paper-thin barrier in my mind (as a group we had become very good at identifying psychological barriers and breaking them down with sometimes ruthless honesty). I tapped.

Instantly my vision was filled with a blinding light - nothing else - I was in it.  It was whooshing past me, wanting to draw me up; a tunnel of light.  At the top were angels around the rim of the top of the tunnel - beautiful, formed of the light almost, and they were beckoning softly, insistently, welcomingly 'Come up, come up'. 

But I couldn't, the time wasn't right, I still had things to do.  They faded, but not before I got a sense of garden that lay beyond the top of the tunnel of light - heaven maybe, or somewhere on the way there, perhaps? The vision lessened in intensity, becoming now 2 dimensional - I wasn't in it, I was looking at it, a wall of colorful bricks... I was both elated and traumatized, now I was crying (in real life that is) and a voice of God spoke comfortingly to me 'Acha, Acha' it said - Hindi for 'There, there'.

Before that I saw order but no God; since then I have believed in God.  That was 35 years ago, I haven't written about it since and have only rarely discussed it, but it stays with me as though it were yesterday.

With hindsight, and having read many other accounts of visions and Near Death Experiences, I think my experience was unusual in that it was provoked by simply the asking a question, a question that presumably anyone in the right frame of mind could ask, and so anyone could answer.

At the time of your experience was there an associated life-threatening event?   No 

Was the experience difficult to express in words?  No    

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness?         The whole thing, really.  It peaked with the tunnel of light, but God speaking to me was hardly insignificant!

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 was an intense young man on a spiritual journey, this was the peak of a relentless build-up that had been going on for weeks.

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience.   Ha!  It WAS a vision!  Brilliant bright light filled my sight, my consciousness, completely.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience.   Not sure, I was kind of in a world of my own... I heard angels, I heard God.  Unsurprisingly that was unprecedented for me.

Did you see or hear any earthly events that were occurring during a time that your consciousness / awareness was apart from your physical / earthly body?   No  

What emotions did you feel during the experience?   Heightened.  It felt super-important.  Kind of traumatic, but also elated.  

Did you pass into or through a tunnel?   Yes   A vertical, comfortably wide tunnel of whooshing light; Bright and wanting to draw me upwards.

Did you see an unearthly light?   Yes   A vertical, comfortably wide tunnel of whooshing light; Bright and wanting to draw me upwards.

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
Angels around the top rim of the tunnel, drawing me up, saying 'Come Up, come up'

Did you encounter or become aware of any beings who previously lived on earth who are described by name in religions (for example: Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, etc.)?   No  

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings?   No  

Did you become aware of past events in your life during your experience?   No  

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world?   A clearly mystical or unearthly realm
Well sort of, I was aware of a 'garden' of sorts beyond the angels, but couldn't go there.

Did time seem to speed up or slow down?   No


Did you suddenly seem to understand everything?   Everything about myself or others
Well not really everything, but it was certainly a big thing:  There is life after death; there is God.

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure?   Yes
There was a top to the tunnel that seemed to go on to Heaven.

Did you come to a border or point of no return?   I came to a definite conscious decision to return to life
I still had important things to do on Earth, my time was not yet.

Did scenes from the future come to you?  No 


During your experience, did you encounter any specific information / awareness suggesting that there either is (or is not) continued existence after earthly life (“life after death”)?   Yes   My consciousness was being beckoned towards Heaven by angels.

During your experience, did you encounter any specific information / awareness that God or a supreme being either does (or does not) exist?   Yes   This was the legacy of the experience;  an awareness of the presence of God.  He spoke to me (in Hindi, but I believe God had multiple facets) and said 'There, there' in that language (Acha, acha).  Perfectly happy that God can present as female too, by the way!!

During your experience, did you encounter any specific information / awareness that you either did (or did not) exist prior to this lifetime?   No  

During your experience, did you encounter any specific information / awareness that a mystical universal connection or unity/oneness either does (or does not) exist?   No  

During your experience, did you encounter any specific information / awareness regarding earthly life’s meaning or purpose?   No  

During your experience, did you encounter any specific information / awareness regarding earthly life’s difficulties, challenges, or hardships?   No  

During your experience, did you encounter any specific information / awareness regarding love?   No  

During your experience, did you encounter any other specific information / awareness that you have not shared in other questions that is relevant to living our earthly lives?   No  

Did you have a sense of knowing special knowledge or purpose?   No  

What occurred during your experience included:   Content that was entirely not consistent with the beliefs you had at the time of your experience   Prior to the experience I had my suspicions that life after death existed, these were confirmed by the experience.

Prior to the experience I did not believe in God, since the experience I do.

How accurately do you remember the experience in comparison to other life events that occurred around the time of the experience?   I remember the experience more accurately than other life events that occurred around the time of th   It was 35 years ago, but its like it has just happened.

Discuss any changes that might have occurred in your life after your experience:   I wasn't sure what to do with my new found awareness.  In India I tried Christianity, but too many problems there, Back in the UK I tried Christian Spriritualism, then Spiritualism, then eventually nothing.  Now I just content myself with filling in the census with the word 'Theist' once every ten years and reading the odd book on the subject!

My experience directly resulted in:   Large changes in my life

Did you have any changes in your values or beliefs after the experience that occurred as a result of the experience?   Yes   I believe in God, Life after Death and that there is purpose in life.

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience?   Yes   I'm better at tuning in to 'spooky stuff'... anything a bit mystical.

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you?     Th whole thing remains tthe single most special thing in my life.  Yes, marriage, kids, personal achievements and career etc... but that vision in India... Nothing else remotely like it.

Have you ever shared this experience with others?   Yes  I was with people at the time. They respect the experience to this day, I think. Most people don't really know how to react, although I've told relatively few.  My wife thinks i was very lucky.

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience?   Yes   Well I'd read about them, but only in the context of out-of-body experiences on the operating table etc., nothing like my experience though.

What did you believe about the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened:   Experience was definitely real   100% real... But what to do with it?  It was at once a great gift and a bit of a problem, I suppose.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience at the current time:   Experience was definitely real   I suppose there's a possiblity that the whole thing was neurological, and in a sense my whole world view hangs on this one event.  If the world is material and consciousness is just an illusion born of random evolution of chemistry (Richard Dawkins world view) then my experience was all poppycock and illusion.  But all I did was ask the question 'What's it like when you die?' and the answer that came - my Vision - seems to 'prove' (to me at any rate) that Consciousness exists apart from matter.

Have your relationships changed specifically as a result of your experience?   Uncertain   It was a long time ago, but I'm now more allied to the believers of my acquaintance than the skeptics.  It used to be the other way around.

Have your religious beliefs/spiritual practices changed specifically as a result of your experience?   Yes   I believe in God and the afterlife now.

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience?   No  

Is there anything else that you would like to add about your experience?   Not really. I was sort of messed up at the time by it all, it was an awful lot to take in all at once and I had trouble assimilating it for a year or two afterwards whilst getting on with my life.  All positive though.

Did the questions asked and information that you provided accurately and comprehensively describe your experience?   Yes