I had two NDE-like experiences, one main one and a bonus. Both happened while asleep but seemed much more real than any dream. They occurred during a long bout of depression, drug and alcohol abuse, and lack of direction. I've been sober now 16 years, but still look for direction. 

The first, and most powerful one, began in a desert setting, far outside of a town. I was there with a few friends of mine. I looked up and saw a gigantic inverted-pyramid-shaped swirling mass of reddish-brown smoke. The pyramid came down slowly, and we were scared. When the pyramid's point touched the ground, there was something akin to a nuclear explosion. Then I was in a black tunnel and ended up in a bright light.

All I could see was this white light. A male voice said to me, "You're dead now. You have no life; you're life itself." I still had my awareness, but no sense of a body or personality. In this light I sensed that within it was every being, every life, every object, every time and place that ever existed or that would exist. It was peaceful. I was there a while, and then was sent back down into my corpse in the desert. 

As I lay there in my destroyed body, my bones started reforming and repairing. Then my muscles, as well, very slowly. I lay like this for quite a while. Days. It wasn't painful. I was just aware that it was a process. My blood vessels and nerves slowly regrew and wound themselves through my flesh. How long I was like this, I couldn't say. But around the time my bones, muscles and blood vessels were fully repaired, I stood up on the desert floor and began walking back towards the small city. As I walked, my skin was regrowing. By the time I reached the city, most of my body was covered with skin. There was a gate to the city and people welcomed me in, though they didn't know me. The people there gathered around me because they knew there was something special about me. I knew that I had returned to help them.

The second experience I had began like this: I was a woman with a man, and the planet was being destroyed. We were on the last remaining ground. This ground we were on was being swallowed up by lava. We tried to run out of instinct, holding hands and balancing on slabs that were floating on the lava. We knew it was useless. Soon, we fell into the lava. There was no pain though.

Immediately I went through a dark tunnel and ended up on a planet that was paradise-like. There was a perfect beach, beautiful water. There were two suns so there was never darkness. There were trees with ripe, delicious fruit if we were hungry, though I sensed we didn't need to eat. My loved ones were there, on the beach. I walked on the sand and scooped some into my hand and saw that the sand had sparkling precious gems in it.

I hope you enjoyed these experiences. They are still vivid to me, thirty-some years later. I still don't know exactly what they mean or if there is a particular message. My life has been a long, very winding road, and now I find myself on a spiritual journey, but only after I was made to rest, recuperate, and look within myself. Now, finally, I have understanding of what life is and why we're here. I hope that I can be of help. <3