I have seen this too. The term began with Dr Raymond Moody's Life After Life. The book is an easy read and shows the commonalities from a USA perspective. The accident, the tunnel to a light, the being of light who may identify as Jesus. And a life review, seeing one's whole life flash before ones eyes, and seeing and feeling the impact of your actions several places into others. With empathy.
The people also are asked, in thoughts that can be put to words, "Do you love me?" and "What have you done for your fellow man?"
They may be greeted by family who passed on before, young looking grandparents, and people who helped them get there. There is a point of no return as when venturing into a paradise, full of light, love and beauty. They feel it is one's real home. They want to stay but are compelled not to venture to the point of no return but are sent back to their ill bodies for perhaps to raise the young children they have. And then they are in pain, with a new perspective on life full of love.
Some see pets in Heaven. Some witness and give account of the hospital activities from a ceiling perspective, know nurses names and where they left things in draws... Or they see what is on the hospital roof. They can check later. One lady born blind, saw for the first time in her NDE.
NDE Accounts have become a genre and some are made up. So I look for certain things, like a face to face interview not read by a robot.
To verify an NDE I look for the above commonalities. For a changed life and Christian faith.
I also look for their revelation, or sight of God. One man I think was Peter Panagore, only saw God as a light coming through a cloth with holes in it. And only got some clever revelation of the secrets of the universe and on return became a kind of Hindu. He advocates the Kundalini awakening.
Some people see light beings, all such are somewhat off the truth. Some remember past lives and think there is re-incarnation, for others the opposite is confirmed. Many describe their guardian angels, as old friends. They recall a vast time spent as sons or daughters of God. Some have a faulty or incomplete revelation of God like Betty J Eadie who thought the Father was greater than Jesus.
Ian McCormack met Jesus and was filled with light and love the more he saw himself as unworthy. He described the being of light as being so bright that the whole universe derived it's energy from His face, which then he was allowed to see. He saw Jesus and Jesus then stepped aside and revealed the New Earth, a paradise. He also saw a river of life. Some see a river of life and the tree of life growing on it's banks.
Howard Storm responds to emails. He died as an atheist and saw his hospital room after he died but was led down a corridor by shadowy figures, who began to push him and delighted in tearing him apart. In a mess in a dark place he heard he was to pray, and tried and started to get there, they objected and that spurned him on. Then a light came down on him and picked him up, healed him and took him to the gates of Heaven, where he knew he was with Jesus and the angels. They showed him his whole life, and he was embarrassed. His questions on the universe were answered, he was loved, and was shown Heaven in it's richness but told he was not ready to enter. And he returned to his body. He became a Christian minister.
And a Hindu man, Santosh Acharjee had an NDE and was not able to enter Heaven, but observed the gates, there was only a narrow entry, but he also saw God and was told he needed to love his family. He had a revelation of God and returned a Christian.
I have never heard of anyone meeting another god. Not since 2002. I am sure some make up stories. And some come from Satan. One man saw him and he asked him to preach, reincarnation.
In the end, when we die, and have been there for says or even years, that will supersede what we now know. Then the knowledge and grace we have now will be attested and come to fruition, as worth a lot or but a little. The end result is salvation or it is not worth anything.
The rich man and Lazarus both learned the truth after they died, and the rich man would not otherwise listen, nor his brothers.
Some people have Hellish NDEs.
Most people remain asleep in their bodies, and I suppose they are buried that way. That is not a good fate. To be absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord.
NLT 2 Corinthians 5:1-10
1For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.
2We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing.
3For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies.
a 4While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life.
5God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.
6So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord.
7For we live by believing and not by seeing.
8Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.
9So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him.
10For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.