Dr. Raymond Moody on Life and the Afterlife

My name is Raymond Moody and I’m a former philosophy professor and medical doctor forensic psychiatrist. And since 1962, I have been studying cases of people who almost died and returned—what we today call near-death experiences. 

I think the most important thing I’ve learned in my studies is that whatever we happen to be chasing in life, whether knowledge or power or fame or whatever, that the most important thing we can do while we’re alive is to learn how to love. And I’ve also learned that there’s nothing to fear in death. Really, it’s a transition into some other world. 

And I’ve also learned that these experiences seem the same all over the world. Wherever I’ve traveled, I hear the same things from people. I have also learned that at the point of death, we get to engage in a fascinating holographic, panoramic review during which we review all the things we’ve ever done while we’re alive from the point of view of those with whom we’ve interacted. 

People say that with the review of their life, they often review their lives in the company of a being of light and of complete love and compassion, who sees everything you’ve ever done in this panorama of your life. And yet, still loves you. 

People I know who’ve returned from death say that it was the most wonderful experiences of their life. And I would say to people there’s nothing to fear in death, that the fearful things are here in this life. 

I was not raised in a religious environment when I was a little kid. And the idea of an afterlife just never occurred to me. I always assumed that when you die, it’s the end. And so it’s been a long process for me to come to terms with the fact, as I gather, that when we die we do go into this other state of existence. So now I’m confident, actually, that what we call death is a transition into another world.