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Question Title	Posted By	Question Date
Near Death Experiences	Robert	Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Question: Hello, I have been reading about Near Death Experiences and researchers who study them. As you may know, many people report seeing a "being of Light." This may be culturally-induced and such beings include Jesus, Muhammed, Buddha, etc. etc. etc. What is striking is that children who report NDEs and seeing a being seem to report the being similarly - for example, while many adults report Jesus as having white skin, most, if not all, children report Him with tan skin (which is likely more historically-accurate), and children report Buddha with yellower skin tone and Muhammed with darker skin tone. Since children all over the world are reporting the same things, wouldn't this lend a bit of credibility to such reports, and, if so, what would be the Catholic teaching? I suppose Jesus or Buddha or Muhammed could appear to ease a soul, right? Would this necessarily imply that all religions are equal, or no? Or could this just be coincidence? Thank you for your time.
Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM Dear Robert: There are many reports of Near Death Experiences. I believe they are real. What one rarely finds in the literature is that many people's Near Death Experience is of hell, not "the light". As for children, it makes sense that they may see Jesus with more accurate "skin tone" as they have not yet been culturally imprinted with a blue-eyed and white skin Jesus. Jesus, and Mary also in her apparitions, tend to appear in a way that relates to the person. Our Lady of Guadalupe appears as a Hispanic woman. Angels might appear with wings, even though they have no wings. This phenomena is an act of compassion -- to appear in a way the person expects so as not to frighten them and to comfort them. As for appearances of Buddha (Siddhārtha Gautama) and Muhammad in these near death experiences, there is no implication in any respect of an equality of religions. These people could only appear in the light of God if, and only if, they are in heaven and God permitted it. The Church does teach that it is possible for non-Christians to be saved under certain conditions of invincible ignorance or diminished capacity. Again, God is compassionate and may allow this initial visitation. Eventually, however, these persons will meet Jesus and our Blessed Mother and know the true God, who is Trinity. There are other possible explanations, however, for some of these experiences. In some cases the source of the experience may be psychological, with a probable biochemical element in the brain. Skeptics think the biochemical explanation is the only explanation. Also, we know from Scripture that the devil can appear as an angel of light. I think there is enough anecdoctal evidence, however, to suggest that many of these experiences are real spiritual experiences, expecially since not everyone sees "the light". The cases of those who have a experience of hell are not necessarily super bad people. Even otherwise good people, contrary to Hollywood, may go to hell. We do know for a fact that it is possible to be "out-of-body" and in the presence of heaven as St. Paul records in 2 Corinthians 12:2-5. There are reports of countless people who have had these experiences and as a result have converted to Jesus Christ. Others come back and involve themselves in New Age occultism. Those individuals, I think, met an angel of light that was the devil. These experiences do not happen to everyone or at least most do not remember them. My mother who was essentially dead on a respirator for about a week does not remember anything. As for any official statement from the Church on this, I am not aware of any. God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.

Question Title

Posted By

Question Date

Near Death Experiences

Robert

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Question:

Hello,

I have been reading about Near Death Experiences and researchers who study them.

As you may know, many people report seeing a "being of Light." This may be culturally-induced and such beings include Jesus, Muhammed, Buddha, etc. etc. etc.

What is striking is that children who report NDEs and seeing a being seem to report the being similarly - for example, while many adults report Jesus as having white skin, most, if not all, children report Him with tan skin (which is likely more historically-accurate), and children report Buddha with yellower skin tone and Muhammed with darker skin tone.

Since children all over the world are reporting the same things, wouldn't this lend a bit of credibility to such reports, and, if so, what would be the Catholic teaching? I suppose Jesus or Buddha or Muhammed could appear to ease a soul, right? Would this necessarily imply that all religions are equal, or no? Or could this just be coincidence?

Thank you for your time.

Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM

Dear Robert:

There are many reports of Near Death Experiences. I believe they are real. What one rarely finds in the literature is that many people's Near Death Experience is of hell, not "the light".

As for children, it makes sense that they may see Jesus with more accurate "skin tone" as they have not yet been culturally imprinted with a blue-eyed and white skin Jesus. Jesus, and Mary also in her apparitions, tend to appear in a way that relates to the person. Our Lady of Guadalupe appears as a Hispanic woman. Angels might appear with wings, even though they have no wings. This phenomena is an act of compassion -- to appear in a way the person expects so as not to frighten them and to comfort them.

As for appearances of Buddha (Siddhārtha Gautama) and Muhammad in these near death experiences, there is no implication in any respect of an equality of religions. These people could only appear in the light of God if, and only if, they are in heaven and God permitted it. The Church does teach that it is possible for non-Christians to be saved under certain conditions of invincible ignorance or diminished capacity. Again, God is compassionate and may allow this initial visitation. Eventually, however, these persons will meet Jesus and our Blessed Mother and know the true God, who is Trinity.

There are other possible explanations, however, for some of these experiences. In some cases the source of the experience may be psychological, with a probable biochemical element in the brain. Skeptics think the biochemical explanation is the only explanation. Also, we know from Scripture that the devil can appear as an angel of light.

I think there is enough anecdoctal evidence, however, to suggest that many of these experiences are real spiritual experiences, expecially since not everyone sees "the light". The cases of those who have a experience of hell are not necessarily super bad people. Even otherwise good people, contrary to Hollywood, may go to hell.

We do know for a fact that it is possible to be "out-of-body" and in the presence of heaven as St. Paul records in 2 Corinthians 12:2-5.

There are reports of countless people who have had these experiences and as a result have converted to Jesus Christ. Others come back and involve themselves in New Age occultism. Those individuals, I think, met an angel of light that was the devil.

These experiences do not happen to everyone or at least most do not remember them. My mother who was essentially dead on a respirator for about a week does not remember anything.

As for any official statement from the Church on this, I am not aware of any.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary

For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.