I had an out of body experience many years ago when I was 22. It happened when I was conscious, but my BP had dropped sharply due to my being ill and also being highly anemic at that time.
The experience that I wish to share now is a very recent one that happened to me in my sleep. It was not an NDE, but an out of body experience. After my OOB experience at age 22, which left me with a feeling of "everything is ok" and with a sense of heightened awareness and sensitivity to people's thoughts and feelings, I was curious to learn more about what had happened to me. I did not share my experience at that time with anyone, thinking that no one would believe me. Since then I have been researching NDE/OOB experiences.
In the past few months, I had been wondering how human consciousness could merge with universal consciousness and how a person could feel "one" with the universe. One day I went to bed thinking the same thought and it was as if the answer was given to me in my deep sleep.
I was asking the same question, and at that moment, I felt what was my consciousness shift up slowly within my head little by little, almost as if one were going up the elevator at a very slow pace. My consciousness reached the very top-most part of my head and at that point, I felt my consciousness merging with an external plane of consciousness. As though I had earlier been seeing everything using a small light, but now when I reached the highest level, I had no body and my consciousness had become vast and limitless. I could see that I was in space. It was extremely quiet and peaceful, almost as if it was the beginning of time. I did not see a bright light or beings or any heavenly bodies. I felt very peaceful and my consciousness had expanded to be able to see all across space. I said to myself, "Oh, this is how...You just merge with this beautiful consciousness when you die."
This did not feel like a dream. It was so real and I felt peaceful and happy afterwards to have received an "answer" to my question. I had a feeling of gratitude. I look up at the sky and feel like I am in love with everything in it. I also feel God is not somewhere far away, but all around us and in us and we are a part of this huge and limitless loving consciousness with which we will merge in the end.