Recalled Experiences of Death (REDs)

The following are the criteria expounded by the 2022 scholarly article in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences and how we have simplied the categories for historical archiving.

1975 – Dr. Moody

  1. Ineffability
  2. Feelings of Peace and Quiet
  3. Noise of Emerging from Body
  4. Seeing a Dark Tunnel
  5. Out-of-Body Experience
  6. Dead Relatives & Acquaintences
  7. Beings of Light
  8. Life Review
  9. Reaching an Boarder or Obstacle

2019 Symposium

  1. Realization One Has Died
  2. Paradoxical Perception of Separating From and Observing the Body: External Visual Awareness
  3. Traveling or Moving Towards a “Destination”
  4. Review of Life Events Including Thoughts, Intentions, and Actions
  5. Encountering Luminious Being/s or Deceased Relatives
  6. Sense of Being “Home” Again
  7. Returning Back to Life
  8. Positive Transformation with a Greater Sense of Purpose and Meaning
  9. The Experience Feels Ineffable
  10. The Experience Has a Feeling of Being Transcendent

Project Katabasis1

  1. Out-Of-Body Experience
  2. Seeing Deceased Relatives / Acquaintences
  3. Traveling a Path
    • Tunnel
    • Road
    • River
  4. Life Review
  5. Being or Beings of Light
  6. Impasse or Obstacle
    • Need to turn back for some reason.
  7. Being “Home.”
  8. Mental Communication
  9. Paradoxical Lucidity
  10. Expanded Perception
    • Field of View
    • See in 360 Degrees
  11. Ineffability
  12. Joy/Bliss
  13. Impossible Knowledge
  14. Silence
Separation
  1. Separating From the Body.
    • “I left my body…I remember being in the hospital room and realizing that I was not in my body.”
    • “I remember leaving my body and rising up to the celing of the room.”
  2. Paradoxical Lucidity
    • “The thought was very lucid and came through immediate knowing. It was a different way of thinking from which I had experienced.”
    • “I still was completely lucid and aware of what was going on.”
  3. Initial Confusion
    • “I was intrigued. I tried to find an explanation but I couldn’t. I looked around stunned.”
    • “I didn’t know why I was there….”
  4. Realization of Having Died
    • “I knew that I had died and would be leaving behind a 5-6 month old infant and my husband.”
    • “I knew obviously my body still lay in bed, but I could not go back into it anymore. ‘Is this death?’ I contemplated.”
  5. A Sense of Liberation and Weightlessness
    • “I felt wonderful and light where I was. I had no pain and no problems.”
    • “While I was in this place, I was weightless.”
  6. Visual Awareness: Observing the Body or Events From Above
    • “I saw the whole room and everyone working on me from the ceiling of the room. I was watching the heart monitor machine and saw that my heart had flat-lined. I saw that the hospital staff were trying to get my heart to start again.”
    • “The first thing I experienced was that I could suddenly see my body from above.”
  7. A Birds Eye View: I Felt Like I Could “See” in all Directions
    • “I could see from the top of the room in 360-degrees.”
    • “I perceived and saw everything around me, like in 360 degrees.”
  8. Becoming Detached From the Events Below
    • “[I] recognized the body as mine but was no longer interested: I was not that body.”
    • “I didn’t identify, in any way, with the body or the people in the room. I was instead, a detached observer.”
  9. “I,” Myself Remains
    • “Iwas still alive but I didn’t have my body. I know for a fact that I am, that I exist. I sensed that I had left my body … I have died and left my body, yet I still exist.”
    • “I remember ‘me’ being pulled away, out of the bed, but my physical body was lying limp.”
  10. Shedding the Body
    • “I had shed the sense of my body very quickly.”
    • “I was amazed…that body there was just a coat I had been wearing. It felt good to be out of it.”
  11. Connected by a “Cord”
    • “I distinctly remember marveling at the thin, glowing, silver ‘cord’ leading…to the body on the table. It was stretched very thin.”
    • “I did see a silver cord attached to my body which had a luminescence to it.”
  12. Hovering or Floating in the Spa
    • “I hovered over the doctor who conducted the treatment.”
    • “I started floating. I barely glanced at the over packed surgery room, emergency bells were ringing for my doctor. I saw her looking at my body.”
Heading to a Destination
  1. Being Drawn Towards a “Destination”
    • “I began rising… I continued [moving] for some time before I became aware of a small bright light in the distance in the direction I was headed.”
    • “I knew where I was headed and I wanted to get there, fast. I can’t recall if I was moving myself towards it or if I was being ‘drawn’ to it somehow but it was a ‘need/desire’ within me.”
  2. Traveling Through a Tunnel
    • “I traveled through a kind of tunnel.”
    • “It appeared as though we were going through a tunnel of light.”
Reliving the Recording of my Life: Actions and Intentions Matter
  1. Review of the Recording of my Life: All My Thoughts, Intentions, and Actions Matter
    • “I saw myself on thewrong side…I was not as good as I thought I was… I was also shown the good things I had done.”
    • “I did not know [the being] is aware of everyone and everything every minute of each day, that each act, word, intention is duly noted.”
  2. The Indescribable: A Compassionate, Loving, “Perfect,” and Luminous Being
    • “[I saw a]…very strong and powerful [being], but yet it was gentle and filled with love. I remember having the thought that I could linger here forever, and just experience this joy, this beauty, and this love.”
    • “I was not alone; I could sense a presence with me… I felt a presence, and also felt complete trust in this company.”
  3. Not as Good as I Thought: Judging My True Worth as a Human Being
    • “I was shown every time I had been selfish, choosing for my own interests. I was shown every time I had been divisive or manipulative for selfish gains. I then felt that pain several folds over.”
    • “My whole life was viewed, analyzed and judged.”
  4. Reliving Life Events: I Re-Experienced Each Moment
    • “[In my life review] not only was I viewing moments [of my life], I was feeling them happen again as if I were there.”
    • “[In my life review] I was able to re-experience myself in all events in my life.”
  5. Being in Others’ Shoes: Experiencing the Perspective of Others
    • “I could examine [my experiences] from multiple perspectives, such as the people they affected.”
    • “Many events in my life I experienced, but not from how I remembered it, but from the point of view, I experienced it from how the people…experienced it around me.”
  6. A Glance at My Past and Prior Past
    • “My understanding is that we live numerous lives, each with a different ‘purpose’.”
    • “I knew this wasn’t my first time here.”
  7. The Domino Effect: Impact and Consequence of Actions
    • “I saw how my choices and behavior rippled through the lives of countless others.How the love I showed spread like wildfire. How the way I mistreated others, deeply hurt and affected them.”
    • “[I saw] how big an impact my seemingly small actions had on a large scale.”
  8. Human Dignity: Importance of Living with Morals and Ethics
    • “I received such an applaud and joy for a simple [selfless] act, that is unbelievable.”
    • “[The being] saw all of the good I had done in my life and whether or not I was truly good or if I was doing good things to get something, and how I truly felt at the time. He weighed the good and the bad in my life.”
  9. There is a Reson Underlying it All: Cause and Effect Rules
    • “[My life review] was like watching a mathematical equation, or sum, that makes perfect sense. Such event and such event create this kind of result. It was a simple portrayal of natural cause and effect, with a gentle understanding.”
    • “It was all there at the same time, all the details of all the cause and effect relations in my life, all that was good or negative, all of the effects my life…had had on others, and all of the effects…others that had touched me had had on me.”
  10. Embarrassment and Shame: I Could Have Done Better
    • “I had done so little with my life! I had been selfish and cruel in so many ways! I was truly sorry I had done so little.”
    • “When [my life review was over] my head was hung in shame for [what the being] had seen too. I was not happy aboutmany, many of my actions.”
  11. The Education: Need to Evolve into a Better Human Being
    • “I found out that… I had to improve as a human being.”
    • “I learned so many things about myself that I did not know.”
  12. A Higher Purpose: I Wish I Had Known
    • “I felt that there was something at stake, that we have a very important job to do.”
    • “I saw that I alone am in charge of my destiny.”
“Home Again”
  1. Returning “Home”: A Place I Had Been Before
    • “The traveling began to slow, and I had a sense that I was arriving somewhere.”
    • “I knew I was home.”
  2. Time is Not as it Would Seem
    • “There was no time. Everything happened, but without a measure. I don’t know how to explain.”
    • “Time had lost its meaning.”
  3. The Atmosphere: Permeated by Benevolence, Kindness, and Truth
    • “I was in a place of love, kindness, compassion, contentment, acceptance and joy – a place of ‘knowing’.”
    • “The first feeling [I had in this place] was a feeling of intense peace. It was so calm and serene with an incredible amount of tranquility. All of my…worries, thoughts, fears, and opinions were gone.”
  4. Being Assisted
    • “I was surrounded by my deceased relatives. I was feeling so much joy and lightness from seeing them. I felt they were there to help me.”
    • “There was a stream of beings guided me. They affirmed my answers, clarified my confusions, and comforted my bewildered heart.”
  5. Experiencing Others: An Image or a Light (With Differing Intensity)
    • “I felt very comfortable and I was being approached by a being – a being of light. As he came to me, I recognized that it was my grandfather.He had passed away about five years prior to that.”
    • “I can’t really describe how awesome, calm, and perfect [my father] looked.When he passed, he was 73 years old and all grey beard and moustache. As he appeared before me, he was much younger.”
  6. Communication: Thought is Everything
    • “No words were spoken and everything was communicated by thought.”
    • “[My mother and grandmother] communicated to me in some way, certainly without words or hearing, but clearly inside my mind.”
  7. Becoming Detached
    • “As strange as itmay seem, the more away I was … the more the existence of my family ceased to matter to me. I didn’t think of my son and that was very strange.”
    • “I thought of my family who I had left behind. But I didn’t feel upset or worry for them. I knew that they would be cared for in my absence, so much so, that I only thought about them briefly.”
  8. I Suddenly Knew So Much
    • “I knew that my awareness…was growing exponentially moment by moment.”
    • “I had way more knowledge than I normally did.”
  9. Life is Like a Dream by Comparison: Much More Real Than Anything Else
    • “Everything was hyper-realistic, perhaps more real than I have ever known reality to be.”
    • “Our daily life seems like a dream in comparison to my experience.”
  10. A Hierarchy Exists: Layers of Comprehension
    • “I felt sure that the person made of love was much, much, much more superior to me.”
    • “I understood they were beings in a much higher level.”
  11. My Position in the Hierarchy: A Matter of Comprehension and Wisdom
    • “My own awareness of this new dimension seemed much more limited than their awareness.”
    • “I was taken before more beings which seemed to be wiser than [others].”
  12. An Origin: A Source
    • “I saw the divine spark, that light that connects us to the creator, to the source where we return with unimaginable joy.”
    • “[I was going] back to my origin and the origin of everything.”
The Return
  1. Reaching a Point of No Return
    • “At one point, [I was] ‘told’ I wasn’t allowed to pass yet and had to ‘go back’.”
    • “I knew that there was a boundary behind me as I was looking down. I knew that I could have passed through…but crossing that ‘sensed’ boundary would have meant leaving my body permanently.”
  2. Really Want to Stay
    • “I felt more joy and contentment than even the brightest moments in this life ever provided, and I didn’t want to return.”
    • “I wanted to stay in the world of love, peace, and light, but they reminded me of my responsibilities back.”
  3. Must Return
    • “Hard as it was to leave this place of overwhelming unconditional love and indescribable peace, I knew I had to return.”
    • “I do remember that somehow it was conveyed to me that it was not my time yet, and I had to return.”
  4. Sensations During Return
    • “I was being sucked back into my body like it was a vacuum.”
    • “Being dropped back into my body wasn’t pleasant. I felt my body bounce and I still could not breathe. My blood pressure had plummeted.”
  5. My Mission
    • “That it was not my time and that I needed to return to my body, to complete my life’s mission.”
    • “I felt an obligation, a responsibility of sorts. I needed to finish what I had begun, to learn…”
Reported Effects After the Experience
  1. Ineffability
    • “There are no words to explain some of the things I saw, felt, experienced…There are no words for the feelings I felt.”
    • “It’s extremely difficult for me to find adequate words for those feelings and insights. It’s something which couldn’t, even remotely, be described or someway explained with…words.”
  2. Forgetting So Much
    • “I knew so much instantly, that I don’t remember anymore at this time. I can only speculate that I can’t know it in the physical state I’m in now. There was a flood of information, images, and knowledge.”
    • “All I can say is I knew so much then that I don’t now.”
  3. The Challenge of Personal Interpretation
    • “There was a great Royal figure I’m assuming was Jesus Christ, who briefly came to see me, even though I didn’t deserve to take up His time.”
    • “I believe this place was heaven.”
  4. Overall Positive Experience Despite Errors
    • “It was the most positive feeling I have ever felt.”
    • “I felt the most beautiful feeling of love and belonging.”
  5. Seeking Purpose and Meaning in Life
    • “I do not knowwhat my work … is. But, I amsure that I must do something. I believe that it is something important.”
    • “I believe every single person presently here, has a ‘mission’, has opportunities to grow and learn and that we can alter our choices to better our own lives and the lives of the future generations.”
  6. Loss of Fear of Death
    • “This experience has changed my life and my thinking. I am no longer afraid of dying, as I have experienced it once.”
    • “Since [my experience], I have not been afraid of death.”
  7. Reappraising the Role of Hardships
    • “All of life’s challenges have been chosen for a reason and each event teaches us something we need to learn in order to evolve to the next lesson.”
    • “I feel that our suffering is the greatest of all blessings…Each person’s hardships are directly related to the lesson that person must learn. It is our choice whether we accept the challenge or not.”
  8. Long-Term Positive Effects
    • “I have been much more mindful of others. It’s easier for me to put myself in other people’s shoes. It’s easier for me to act out of love and compassion. However, it’s still something I put work in.
    • “I’m more aware of how I affect those around me; I still get emotional, I still screw up, and I’m well aware that this experience has not made me perfect.…it has driven home the point of trying to be more mindful.”
  • Parnia, Sam, Stephen G. Post, Matthew T. Lee, Sonja Lyubomirsky, Tom P. Aufderheide, Charles D. Deakin, Bruce Greyson, et al. “Guidelines and Standards for the Study of Death and Recalled Experiences of Death––a Multidisciplinary Consensus Statement and Proposed Future Directions.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1511, no. May (February 18, 2022). https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.14740.
  • Moody, Raymond A, Eben Alexander, and Kübler-RossElisabeth. Life after Life : The Investigation of a Phenomenon : Survival of Bodily Death. London: Rider, 2016.
  1. Criteria subject to change contingent upon best practices for historical records. ↩︎