Notes And Queries About The NDE
Nov. 27th, 2011 08:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poliphiloHere's the case of a group of friends who were struck by lightning and shared a NDE (which is rare). They were approached by a Being of Light. One saw it as a female Guardian Angel, one saw it as his father and the third (who was Indian) saw it as the Buddha.
It appears that the imagery of the NDE is culturally determined- and tailored to the individual.
Most of the witnesses on the site are American- with a sprinkling of Europeans. Jesus appears a great deal- as do perfect gardens and meadows and cities made of jewels. The imagery can be sourced to the Bible, the western tradition of landscape painting and so on and so forth. There is nothing particularly surprising about any of it- and sometimes it feels rather kitsch. It would be interesting to have examples from non-western sources. I wonder what a Japanese NDE is like. Or an Australian aboriginal one.
In almost every case the witnesses come back having learned that "God" is Love. Are we touching a universal here or is this also culturally specific?
It appears that the imagery of the NDE is culturally determined- and tailored to the individual.
Most of the witnesses on the site are American- with a sprinkling of Europeans. Jesus appears a great deal- as do perfect gardens and meadows and cities made of jewels. The imagery can be sourced to the Bible, the western tradition of landscape painting and so on and so forth. There is nothing particularly surprising about any of it- and sometimes it feels rather kitsch. It would be interesting to have examples from non-western sources. I wonder what a Japanese NDE is like. Or an Australian aboriginal one.
In almost every case the witnesses come back having learned that "God" is Love. Are we touching a universal here or is this also culturally specific?
