Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
New Visions
Life After Near Death: A Journey Beyond the Physical Plane

Life After Near Death: A Journey Beyond the Physical Plane

Last updated on: January 2, 2025 at 3:46 pm by Tom Rapsas

0 Comments

Life After Near Death: A Journey Beyond the Physical Plane 2025-01-02T15:46:58-07:00 Tom Rapsas

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

After the vehicle she was riding in was blown up by an IED, Nicole Sudman had a near-death experience. Where did she go? Photo via Mads Schmidt Rasmussen & Unsplash.

I was blown up in a roadside bomb attack in Iraq … when the explosion occurred, I immediately left my body. I didn’t experience the classic tunnel of light that others have reported. I simply blinked to another place, one that was familiar in essence.

So begins the preface of Natalie Sudman’s book Application of Impossible Things. It’s a fascinating tale of her near-death experience (NDE) while serving as a civilian employee of the Army during the Iraq War. The Humvee she was riding in was blown up by a roadside bomb. The blast killed one person and seriously injured herself and two others. And then something strange happened.

Sudman’s book was originally published in 2012, though I only recently stumbled across it while researching NDEs. In the intervening years, Sudman has kept a low profile, making the occasional podcast appearance. These days, she devotes her time to creating expressionist art that is definitely worth checking out.

Application of Impossible Things is a slim book, but it’s full of complex details. I’ve taken Sudman’s most compelling observations and placed them into two categories, one about her NDE, the other her musings about how life works. The words below are Sudman’s, lightly edited. I’ve added comments that appear in italics.

What her near-death experience was like.

When the bomb went off, Sudman instantly went somewhere else in the blink of an eye. She was no longer in the military vehicle she had been riding in. She was in what she calls “the Blink Environment,” a very different place that is strangely familiar to her. She says that her memory of this experience is as vivid as if it happened in waking life.

The Blink Environment is less a physical location than a frequency or parallel dimension. It exists within our reality, but beside and between the reality we perceive.

In the Blink Environment, the being that I am is perpetually healthy. I feel flexible and comfortable. My physical body is around thirty or thirty-five years old. This detail matches a recent account of “the other side” from my cousin.

I found myself standing on an oval dais … addressing thousands of white-robed beings or energies. I knew the gathering to be a meeting of many groups representing a wide variety of interests and personalities.

I transferred to them information from my life in the form of an inexplicably complex matrix. When the matrix had been absorbed by everyone, which took but seconds, discussions proceeded among the various groups within the gathering.

I communicated that I was tired and had no interest in returning to the physical plane. The entities gathered in front of me requested that I return to my physical body to accomplish some further work. I agreed, though the decision was entirely up to me.

Many with near-death experiences describe some entity or figure telling them they were required to return to the physical world. This didn’t happen to me. I had a choice.

I next moved to another vibrational location where there were nine personalities, all intimately familiar to me. Some might refer to them as guides or guardian angels; to me they are equals, friends and colleagues. These personalities were able to project trajectories my life would take when I returned to earth and assist me with connecting with the will of the Whole Self. Sudman’s “Whole Self” sounds much like the soul.

From the perspective of the Whole Self, I chose these experiences with a sense of joy and excitement. Then I simply took a deep breath and popped back into my body.

My physical problems were just scratches. What can seem long, painful, difficult and unpleasant in the physical world are little scratches to the Whole Self. Note: Sudman had a serious leg injury from the blast and nearly lost sight in one eye.

Existence beyond the physical is utterly lovely, infused with love and richly fulfilling. I’d honestly prefer to be there.

Her take on life and its meaning.

The NDE that Sudman experienced is a little less surprising when you hear how the supernatural has permeated her life from the time she was young. It makes you wonder if Sudman might be an advanced soul who has lived many lives.

Since I was a child, I’ve had precognitive dreams and waking visions. Ever since I can remember, I’ve been acutely aware of the energy of buildings and old battlefields and have often interacted with spirits. I’ve had out-of-body experiences … and journeyed through worlds and dimensions as shamans do.

I believe that the tools offered through books, training programs, individual teachers and gurus (including scientists and clergy), are valuable only up to the point that they’re left behind, and students become their own teachers.

The enjoyment of your experience is a central criterion for the value of your life. Joy is destroyed when you believe outside circumstances can affect it. Sometimes joy can be found even within and between difficult experiences.

I have crafted my physical experiences. I’m fully responsible for everything that I experience in my physical life. Things don’t happen to me without my consent. They happen because my conscious self and Whole Self created them and agreed to experience them.

The exploration of probable realities is a constantly occurring activity for all of us. Optional paths of experience are perpetually created, formed, and chosen or discarded. This creative exploration goes on all the time, but our tight focus on our current reality blinds us to the process.

It’s absolutely necessary to adopt a comprehension of the body and physical life as temporary and the soul or consciousness as enduring and real.

The Whole Self is not dependent on the physical body for sight—or hearing, feeling, taste, or scent. It is not dependent on the ability to think logically, fit into a cultural norm, or any other perceived necessity.

If you do nothing but enjoy a day, no matter how small and petty it may seem, you’ve accomplished something valuable. Everything you do, everything you imagine, has value and purpose. Every existence has meaning. Every experience contains the potential for joy.

Life after Death

Near Death Experience (NDE)

Application of Impossible Things

Natalie Sudman

Previous Post

December 20, 2024

Matthew vs. Luke: Which Christmas Story Got It Right?

Next Post

January 5, 2025 Will You Win the War for Your Attention?

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"Heart is central in the 'Wake Up Call: Daily Insights for the Spiritually Curious' - ..."

Dr.Cajetan Coelho

16 Spiritual Touchstones for a More ..."

"How?"

Craig

The Amazing World of Non-Speakers: Are ..."

"WoW Trey! This is a fabulous article just chock full of great insights and wisdom! ..."

I_Am_SheilaING

What a Guy Who Interviewed 500+ ..."

"I participate in a blog which reads theological works one chapter at a time before ..."

glen smith

The Amazing World of Non-Speakers: Are ..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 50+ Spirituality 60 Second Inspiration Activism Adversity Afterlife agape aging Aliens Angels Angels and aliens anger animism Astrology Atheists Attention Attitude Authenticity Awareness Awe Ayahuasca Balance Beginnings Being Present Belief Bhagavad Gita Bible birth of Jesus Blessings Bliss Bono Breathing Buddha Buddhism Calling cats Centered Centering Prayer Chakras Change Character Character and Aging Christ consciousness Christianity Christmas Church Civility commencement speeches commitments compassion Connecting with God Consciousness Contemplation Contemplative Prayer Contentment Conversations with God Coping Coping mechanisms Corinthians Coronavirus Covid creativity Daily practice Dalai Lama David Brooks David Frenette Death Deathbed visions Decisions determinism Discernment disconnecting Donald Shimoda Dreaming of the Dead dreams Drinking Easter Eastern religion Eckhart Tolle ego Elders Emerson Engagement Enlightenment everyday magic Everyday Spirituality Evil Spirits Expectations experience Faith fate Fatima Fear Feel Finding God Fitness Fulfillment Gandhi Gary Zukav Generosity Giving Gnostic gospels Gnostics God God's will Golden Rule Good & Evil Gospel of Thomas Gospels Grace Gratitude Grief Growing Older Guardian Angels gumption Gurus Halloween Happiness health health and happiness Heaven Helping others High Strangeness Hinduism Holiday Season honesty Honor Hope Humility impostor syndrome inner music Inner Work Insights insomnia Inspiration Inspirational intuition Investing Jeff Bridges Jesus Jesus Christ John Templeton joy joy of life Justin Bieber Kaballah Kabbalah Karma Kindness koans Law of Attraction Life Life after Death Life and death Life Balance Life Hacks Life Lessons Life Path Life Philosophy Life Plan life purpose Life Rules Life Tips Life's Big Questions Lindsay Lohan Listening Living Intentionally Loneliness Love Magic Mark Twain Marriage Meaning of Life Meditation mentor Mentors Mid-Life Crisis Mindful Mindfulness Money Monks Multiverse Mysterious World mystical experience Mysticism Mystics Mythology Napoleon Hill Near Death Experience (NDE) New Thought New Year New Year's resolutions Noise Oprah Otherworldly out-of-body experience Parables Peace of mind philosophy Plant Intelligence Pope Francis Positive Thinking Prayer prayers for the spiritual Preachers Premonitions presence Prophecies Prophecy Prophets Psalms Purpose Purpose of Life quietude Quotes Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Trine Reconnect Recovery reincarnation Relaxation Religion resolutions Resurrection Ritual Rituals Rules to Live By sadness Sam Harris Sandy Second Act Seeking self Self Mastery self-help self-improvement Seneca sermon sex shamans Sickness Silence Silence of God sleep small voice Smiling Social Activism solitude Soul Soul and Spirit Soul Awakening Spiritual Awakening spiritual beliefs spiritual guidance spiritual journey spiritual living spiritual path Spiritual philosophy Spiritual Practice Spirituality Spirituality and work Spooky Spirituality Stillness stoicism stoics Storytelling Stress Relief Success Suffering Suicide Surrender tao Thanks Thanksgiving the afterlife the bardo the Bible the Blues The Election the Kingdom the secret the self The Soul Thomas Keating Thomas Merton Thomas Moore Time Tony Robbins tradition UFOs Uncategorized Universe Values visualization Voice of God Wake Up Call Wake Up Call book Walls Walt Whitman Well-being Winter Blues Wisdom words to live by Work work/life balance worry Yogananda Zen

Select a Month November 2026 October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 July 2012 April 2012 March 2012 January 2012 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 December 2009 November 2009

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In 1 Peter, what does Peter say Sarah called Abraham?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Father My beloved Master Lord

Books by This Author Books by Wake Up Call

See All Titles »