An introduction to religious and spiritual experience

Out of the Body Experience (OBE)
At times people feel themselves to be separate from their own body, usu-
ally watching it from the outside, often above. This is known as an Out 
of the Body Experience and tends to happen at times of stress or during 
accidents and traumatic situations. Such experiences lead to a consider-
ation of what human consciousness is, challenging the materialist para-
digm as the OBE seems evidence of some kind of mind-body dualism.
Near Death Experience (NDE)
This is often preceded by an OBE and takes place when the individual is 
clinically dead but has a coherent experience before being revived. An 
NDE can occur during an accident, cardiac arrest or in times of massive 
stress. Other phenomena around death are Death Bed Visions, End of Life 
Experiences and Post Death Appearances. All such experiences seem to 
indicate a continuation of consciousness after clinical death and to hint 
at an afterlife. First brought to the world’s attention in 1975 by Raymond 
Moody in 
Life After Life,
these experiences are still the subject of much 
research.
Perhaps these OBEs and NDEs may be thought of as psychical rather 
than spiritual, particularly if they are merely interpreted as being unusu-
ally different from day-to-day reality in a way which may be explained in 
the future. However, their lasting effect is often a spiritual one, as many 
people change their lives as a consequence of such an experience, becom-
ing more aware of others and often changing their profession and atti-
tudes. Many also begin a spiritual exploration, triggered by the event. 
OBEs and NDEs also seem to indicate that the mind or spirit can exist 
outside the body, which is very much part of a religious view of life and 
death, so they need to be included in the range of experiences to be 
considered.

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