When someone encounters a near-death experience, they seem to pass through a dark tunnel towards an incredibly bright light. Then they may feel great peace and comfort. Once they reach the light, they may become aware of the presence of their relatives and friends who already died. Next, they may have an out-of-body experience and see emergency workers or medical personnel working on their bodies.

That is the "near-death experience" Dr Raymond A. Moody described in his recent visit to Songtang Hospice in Beijing.

The globally renowned US psychiatrist and best-selling author has a unique perspective of near-death experience, or NDE, a term he coined, after decades of interviews with thousands of people who almost died. "The NDE of people all over the world is similar, despite their different religious beliefs and different languages in their descriptions," he said. "It is all related to a journey out of their body to some place and then come back."

Moody said the writings of the ancient Greek philosophers inspired his pioneering research on NDE. Plato, his favorite philosopher, wrote about the account of a soldier's NDE after the warrior was nearly killed on a battlefield about 2,400 years ago.

Moody then stumbled upon two NDE accounts from a university professor and a student. "I was impressed how similar their stories were to what I have read from Plato. At that time, I realized there had to be many more of these stories," said Moody.

In the following years, Moody traveled around the world and interviewed people who had been to brink of death and had been resuscitated back to life. His work gave birth to his best-known book "Life After Life," first published in 1975. It sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. The book has been translated into several languages and was published in 25 countries. It is also to be published in China very soon, according to Moody.

This book inspired a worldwide exploration of near-death experiences afterwards.

Chinese research

In 1978, the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS) was established to provide a platform for information exchange between NDE researchers worldwide.

Two psychiatrists at the Tianjin Anding Hospital, Feng Zhiying and Liu Jianxun, began their own NDE research in 1987. Feng said when he was studying psychiatry, he read many NDE research articles, but could not find any records of NDE in China.

Feng and Liu interviewed 100 people who survived the 1976 great earthquake in Tangshan, which killed more than 240,000 people. The doctors collected 81 valid cases. Nearly half of the survivors said they underwent an out-of-body experience. The survivors felt themselves floating above their own bodies as they were being crushed under the ruins. About one third reported the feeling of passing through a tunnel.

About one quarter said they felt their bodies did not belong to themselves any more, and felt all the parts of the body dispersing into a dark space.

According to Feng, these NDE descriptions were very similar to accounts from their international colleagues.

In Songtang Hospice, a charitable hospital caring for the elderly and terminally ill patients, many elderly people also reported near-death experiences, according to Li Wei, head of the hospital.

Doctors have collected about 300 reports of NDE at the hospital over the past few years.

"The patients told us that they saw bright light, heard some strange sounds never heard before, and later entered into a dark tunnel. After an initial period of fear, they reported that they became relaxed, calm and even comfortable," said Li.

More common than ever before

According to Moody, near-death experiences were rare because it was uncommon for someone to come close to death and survive. However with the advent of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, which enabled persons pronounced "dead" without heartbeat and respiration to be brought back to life, millions of people around the world have been resuscitated back to life. "So many more people have had a NDE and like to talk about it," he said.

A 1997 poll by the US News and World Report indicates 15 million Americans have had such an experience. According to Moody, the closer one came to death, the more likely one would later report a near-death experience. Patients who have been hospitalized at the time of their near-death crisis, who had been unconscious for long periods of time and required resuscitation, were much more likely to report NDE.

Moody admitted he still did not know why some people on the brink of death had the experience while others did not. He believed much more study was needed before this question was answered.

Moody also believed extensive NDE research encouraged patients to openly talk about their experiences. In the past, people who had a NDE often thought they were unique, and were very reluctant to talk about it for fear of being judged harshly.

Clinical significance

Moody said his own clinical practice was helping terminally ill patients. "Occasionally, they ask me how it feels when they are approaching death. I can tell them about how those who came back from the brink of death accounted of their experience. That will relieve their fear for death," he said.

For older people who are approaching the end of their lives and have had the near-death experience, it was important to listen to their stories because the experience touched them so deeply, according to Moody.

Feng believed NDE research could be applied to help people who attempted suicide. Near-death experiences are commonly life-altering events and can change people's primary focus of life interests, he said.

(China Daily September 21, 2006)