I mean the “light at the end of the tunnel” commonly reported in NDEs. I’ve had hundreds of NDEs, and never once experienced that scenario or anything even close. Tho there were some common themes, it was a novel experience every time. We were running training simulations for the real thing under all possible scenarios.
Personally, I find any claim to have “seen the light” suspect at best. Rather than being a hallmark of a genuine NDE experience, it’s become the trademark of every charlatan wanting to claim “enlightenment” as the secret ingredient in whatever spiritual snake oil they’re peddling. It’s the number one claim of every self appointed guru for a reason… scammers are lazy.
I know where the idea behind it comes from tho, and that’s the seed model used in ascension based religions. It’s what a kundalini activation looks like from the inside. The germ of the seed is coming to Life, rising up thru the internal layers of the seed until it breaks thru the shell. It sees a bit of sunlight peeking thru the dirt and breaks thru the earth to reach it. “Let there be light!”
So every seed in nature ascends and attains enlightenment when Spring comes. Any “enlightenment” prior to that is going to be short lived when the risen Buddha pokes his proud head up over a frozen landscape. As the folly of his foray dawns on him, he can hear the voices below “we tried to tell you!”.
What happens to our expiring Buddha after that? He’ll become part of the soil that houses and feeds his upcoming kin who will then produce new seed to start the cycle all over again. The soul lives on, but returns to the back of the line of opportunity. This tells us something about claims of enlightenment.
One, it didn’t happen if you’re still around to talk about it. Two, when it does happen it is an unintended and undesired consequence of knowledge without understanding. The soul is moving out of a newly built dwelling it should be moving into. The only thing of value to be gained is the lesson of the Buddha… “patience grasshopper” 🙂