Near-Death Experiences and the Afterlife: Why People See Different Things

In testimonies I’ve read, it seems that the experience of the afterlife during clinical death (near-death experiences) often depends on a person’s religion. For example, some Christians report seeing Jesus, while Jews describe a form of judgment. I’ve also heard of Japanese, Buddhists, and others having different types of visions. Why isn’t there one universal truth?

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Clinical death is a phenomenon that has been studied by leading psychiatrists and neurologists, who concluded that it is real and cannot be fully explained by brain activity alone. Among the most well-known researchers in this field are Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and Dr. Raymond Moody.

As for the question of why some people report seeing Jesus, Muhammad, or other religious figures, serious research books in the field do not generally mention people talking to Jesus, angels, or prophets. In fact, most people who experienced near-death reported something much more universal such as an encounter with a Divine or heavenly presence, often described as a Being of Light, who asked them whether they wanted to return to their bodies. Almost everyone described traveling through a tunnel, often meeting deceased relatives, but very few said they saw specific religious figures. Since isolated testimonies are not enough to establish a scientific truth (because they can be distorted or misunderstood), researchers focus on the majority experience.

Near-death experiences have been documented in more than 10 million cases worldwide, with statistics estimating over 30 million people having gone through clinical death. This makes it a global scientific phenomenon, not only a personal story. When we look at the collective evidence, people consistently describe leaving their bodies, floating upward, entering a tunnel of light, meeting a higher Being who communicates telepathically, and sometimes seeing loved ones who had passed away. This is the “classic” near-death experience that repeats across cultures and religions.

In the rare cases where people claim to see Jesus, Muhammad, or Elijah the Prophet, we must remember two points:

1. Interpretation of the vision: No one truly knows what Jesus, Muhammad, or Elijah looked like. It’s possible that the person actually saw an angel or righteous soul, but their own cultural and religious framework led them to interpret it as their religious figure. A Christian may call it Jesus, a Muslim may call it Muhammad, while a Jew might say it was Elijah.

2. Different levels of near-death: Not everyone who experiences clinical death fully separates from their body. Sometimes, the brain is still partially active. In such cases, the genuine spiritual experience can mix with brain activity, memories, and imagination. This is similar to what Jewish sages said about dreams — even true spiritual dreams contain “idle matters” from the subconscious. In other words, a person’s mind can color or distort the pure spiritual encounter.

The scientific significance

For this reason, a single near-death experience cannot prove the afterlife. What proves it is the overwhelming similarity of millions of cases across the world. It’s hard to dismiss as imagination when so many unrelated people report leaving their body, traveling through a tunnel, meeting a Being of Light, and being given the choice to return. The sheer scale and consistency make it clear that near-death experiences reveal something real — the first stage of the soul’s departure from the body at death.