Near Death Experience

The near-death experience (NDE) occupies a pivotal position in the depth-psychology corpus as a liminal phenomenon that forces reconsideration of the mind-brain relationship, the nature of consciousness, and the ontological status of transcendent states. McGilchrist marshals clinical and psychiatric evidence to argue that NDEs produce enduring value transformations — increased compassion, heightened meaning, persistent spirituality — that cannot be dismissed as mere neurological epiphenomena, particularly given that cognitive functioning proves markedly superior in those who approach death most closely. Strassman engages the phenomenon from a neurochemical angle, proposing that endogenous DMT release constitutes the biological substrate of NDE phenomenology, which he regards not as a coincidental side-effect but as a purposive mechanism by which consciousness navigates its departure from the body. A significant tension runs between reductive and expansive readings: is the NDE a brain-generated hallucination of dying, or a genuine encounter with a transpersonal domain? Both McGilchrist and Strassman resist simple reductionism, the former invoking psychiatric after-effects as evidence, the latter arguing that DMT-induced states phenomenologically mirror NDE reports so precisely that the parallel demands theoretical explanation. Keltner tangentially associates the NDE with the ‘nekyia’ — mythological descent and dissolution of the self — situating it within a cross-cultural grammar of awe and transformation. Grof’s perinatal-level work provides an important structural analogue, even when not explicitly naming the NDE.

In the library 18 passages

Typical emotions reported during the NDE [near death experience] include an overwhelming sense of peace and well-being, a sense of cosmic unity or being one with everything, a feeling of complete joy and a sense of being loved unconditionally

McGilchrist catalogues the canonical phenomenology of NDEs — peace, cosmic unity, unconditional love, panoramic life review — and foregrounds their psychiatrically significant after-effects, especially the durable, measurable shift in values and spiritual orientation.

McGilchrist, Iain, The Matter with Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions, and the Unmaking of the World, 2021thesis

Dig deeper with Sebastian →

Near death experiencers report overwhelmingly that they’re ‘more spiritual’ after the experience, they have more compassion for others, and a greater desire to help others, a greater appreciation for life, and a stronger sense of meaning or purpose in life

This passage argues that the measurable, persistent post-NDE transformation in values constitutes evidential weight against purely reductive neurological accounts of the phenomenon.

McGilchrist, Iain, The Matter With Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions and the Unmaking of the World, 2021thesis

Dig deeper with Sebastian →

Near-death brain products are psychedelic because those are the properties consciousness requires at that time. Psychedelic compounds released near death mediate consciousness exiting the body. This is their function and this is what they do.

Strassman advances the bold thesis that endogenous DMT release is not a coincidental neurochemical side-effect of dying but a purposive biological mechanism enabling consciousness to exit the body.

Strassman, Rick, DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor’s Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences, 2001thesis

Dig deeper with Sebastian →

Near-death brain products are psychedelic because those are the properties consciousness requires at that time. Psychedelic compounds released near death mediate consciousness exiting the body. This is their function and this is what they do.

Strassman’s parallel edition text restates the functional-teleological argument that psychedelic neurochemistry at death is not accidental but constitutive of consciousness’s transition out of embodiment.

Strassman, Rick, DMT: The Spirit Molecule, 2001thesis

Dig deeper with Sebastian →

The near-death encounter spells what seems to be the end of those concerns by simulating or foretelling what it’s like once our individual bodies fall away. Near-death experiences seem to have the greatest impact on those who take the next step within that mysterious experience—the leap to a mystical level of awareness.

Strassman argues that DMT-induced near-death encounters represent a threshold experience whose transformative power is maximized when the experiencer crosses into mystical awareness, mirroring classical NDE phenomenology.

Strassman, Rick, DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor’s Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences, 2001thesis

Dig deeper with Sebastian →

Near-death experiences seem to have the greatest impact on those who take the next step within that mysterious experience—the leap to a mystical level of awareness.

This passage establishes that the NDE’s deepest psychological impact follows from its capacity to catalyze transpersonal, mystical levels of consciousness beyond ordinary ego dissolution.

Strassman, Rick, DMT: The Spirit Molecule, 2001thesis

Dig deeper with Sebastian →

Many descriptions of the bardos echo unerringly reports gathered from those who have had an NDE. Sean … made this remark … I think I’ve learned what it’s like to die, to be completely helpless in the throes of something.

Strassman draws a structural parallel between Tibetan bardo phenomenology and NDE reports, suggesting cross-cultural convergence that lends weight to the experiential reality of the dying process.

Strassman, Rick, DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor’s Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences, 2001supporting

Dig deeper with Sebastian →

Many descriptions of the bardos echo unerringly reports gathered from those who have had an NDE.

The passage maps NDE phenomenology onto the Tibetan Buddhist bardo framework, situating near-death states within a pre-modern cartography of dying and rebirth.

Strassman, Rick, DMT: The Spirit Molecule, 2001supporting

Dig deeper with Sebastian →

I’ve been reading books about the near-death experience: Saved by the Light and Embraced by the Light. They really do a good job describing the DMT state. I’m reading them in such a familiar manner.

A research participant’s direct testimony establishes experiential equivalence between canonical NDE literature and the DMT state, corroborating Strassman’s hypothesis through first-person phenomenological recognition.

Strassman, Rick, DMT: The Spirit Molecule, 2001supporting

Dig deeper with Sebastian →

Her consciousness separated from her body, she moved rapidly through a tunnel, or tunnels, toward a warm, loving, all-knowing white light. Beings helped her on the way, and some even threatened to drag her down.

The case of Willow provides clinical phenomenological evidence of a full NDE sequence — out-of-body exit, tunnel, luminous destination, encountered beings — induced by DMT.

Strassman, Rick, DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor’s Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences, 2001supporting

Dig deeper with Sebastian →

naturally occurring psychedelic states, such as contact with nonmaterial beings, and near-death and mystical experiences, resemble those induced by outside-administered DMT in our volunteers.

Strassman summarises his overarching research argument: spontaneous NDE and mystical states share phenomenological identity with exogenous DMT experiences, implying a common endogenous neurochemical substrate.

Strassman, Rick, DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor’s Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences, 2001supporting

Dig deeper with Sebastian →

naturally occurring psychedelic states, such as contact with nonmaterial beings, and near-death and mystical experiences, resemble those induced by outside-administered DMT in our volunteers.

This passage reiterates Strassman’s programmatic claim that NDE phenomenology and DMT-induced states form a coherent experiential class, justifying research into pineal DMT as the mediating mechanism.

Strassman, Rick, DMT: The Spirit Molecule, 2001supporting

Dig deeper with Sebastian →

DMT is about death and dying. I had a near-death experience on it. It’s not a blank death, it’s full. I liked it really. I no longer fear death.

A participant’s testimony reveals that the DMT-induced near-death experience produces an enduring reduction in death anxiety — an after-effect convergent with classical NDE outcomes documented in clinical literature.

Strassman, Rick, DMT: The Spirit Molecule, 2001supporting

Dig deeper with Sebastian →

A nekyia journey, like a near-death experience, involves decay—the dissolution of the self; a distillation—celestial feelings of ascent found in surrender, chaos, and death

Keltner aligns the near-death experience with the mythological nekyia pattern of descent and dissolution, embedding NDE phenomenology within a cross-cultural, archetypal grammar of death and transformation.

Keltner, Dacher, Awe The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can, 2023supporting

Dig deeper with Sebastian →

Andrea was terrified when the spirit molecule pulled her toward a near-death experience. However, she used her initial fear as a catalyst for some

This case illustrates that the near-death encounter induced by DMT can be met with active psychological engagement rather than passive surrender, suggesting volitional participation in the dying process.

Strassman, Rick, DMT: The Spirit Molecule, 2001supporting

Dig deeper with Sebastian →

Andrea was terrified when the spirit molecule pulled her toward a near-death experience. However, she used her initial fear as a catalyst for some

Strassman’s account of Andrea’s session demonstrates that the near-death encounter, even when terrifying, can serve as psychological catalyst, linking NDE phenomenology to transformative depth work.

Strassman, Rick, DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor’s Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences, 2001supporting

Dig deeper with Sebastian →

the encounter with death on the perinatal level takes the form of a profound firsthand experience of the terminal agony that is rather complex and has emotional, philosophical, and spiritual as well as distinctly physiological facets.

Grof’s account of perinatal death-encounter in LSD sessions provides a structural analogue to NDE phenomenology, framing confrontation with death as a multi-dimensional, transformative experience with spiritual dimensions.

Grof, Stanislav, Realms of the Human Unconscious: Observations from LSD Research, 1975aside

Dig deeper with Sebastian →

Related terms