Most of you who know me know that I'm a professed atheist. Let me simply say I'm skeptical about any anecdotal revelations of near death experiences with some putative afterlife. Documenting anecdotes is not research.
Two years ago I had the misfortune of having a back injury that required some serious surgery. On the day of the operation I went through a pre-op process and was wheeled into the operating theatre just after 08:00 am. Drips were hooked up to venous catheters on the back of my hands and after a short struggle with my gag reflex, the anesthetist managed to get a tube down my throat and within seconds everything went black. A "few seconds" later I woke up and found myself in the post-op room where the clock on the wall said 5:00 pm. I'd been under for over eight hours where I had felt nothing, heard nothing, dreamed nothing and experienced nothing (thankfully).
IMHO people who profess experiencing some near-death visions are either fabricating the event or are still experiencing, even if only for a fraction of the time, some form of active dream state influenced by their religious beliefs.
My experience wasn't a near death one, just one under properly controlled anaesthesia but it left me convinced that when your consciousness and sensation are suppressed (as they would be in death) there is simply no awareness.
Man! This is a morbid topic.

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