Divine Encounters Episode 113 | Near-Death Experience Story
Jason Janas says April 2 was the day of his death. After an ordinary evening at home turned into a medical emergency, he woke in a hospital bed, and, he says, found himself at the top of the ceiling, flooded with unconditional love and then met by a presence he knew as Yeshua. In this Divine Encounters episode he tells Alex Ferrari what he says he saw, what he was told, and the moment months later when he argued with God and heard a three-word answer.
Key Takeaways
- Jason says a sudden emergency at home left him in the hospital, and that his cause of death was acute respiratory failure.
- He recalls a phone call in which his ex-wife, a nurse, told him not to lie down. Jason says he is grateful for how that conversation went.
- He says that in the hospital he called out to God for the first time since the late 1970s, begging to see his children again.
- Jason describes rising to the top of the ceiling, young and free of pain, feeling “loved unconditionally” and seeing every blade of grass as if through the wall.
- He says Yeshua came to him, placed warm hands on him and guided his soul back into his body.
- Jason says he then understood there is no heaven or hell in the way he was taught, and that we are one with the Father.
- His message to everyone: “go within, because that is where you are.”
| Guest | Jason Janas |
| Episode | Divine Encounters 113 |
| Life before | A job he did not like and a long gap in his relationship with God |
| What Jason says happened | A medical emergency at home, then a stay in the hospital in which he says he left his body |
| Where he says he went | The top of the ceiling in his hospital room, with a view through the walls to a field of grass and trees |
| Who he met | Yeshua, whom he describes as Jesus, and what he calls the Father |
| The message | Go within; we are all exactly where we need to be |
| After | He lost 75 pounds, forgave himself, and later argued with God |
April 2: The Day of His Death
Jason does not need much of a lead-in. “April 2 was the day of my death,” he tells Alex Ferrari. He had come home from a job he did not like, made a bagel sandwich, taken a shower and sat down in front of the TV.
He took a couple of bites and threw up. It did not even taste like eggs. For the last couple of weeks he had been waking with a taste of blood in his mouth and finding it hard to breathe. Then he went to take another bite, coughed, and up came bright red blood, pink and light, nothing like a cut finger. He kept coughing every two or three seconds.
He says he was actively dying while life went on around him. He could not breathe and began to panic.
The Phone Call
Jason grabbed his phone to reach his ex-wife. She is a registered nurse, and he figured that if anyone could help, she could. She did not answer. On the fourth or fifth try he got her on FaceTime. He had made it to the kitchen sink, and he tried to speak, but he says blood covered the phone.
One of the last things he remembers is her saying his name. He told her he did not feel good and that he was sorry to bother her. He said he was going to go lie down. She told him, “if you lie down, you’re going to die.” He said he was tired. She told him again: please don’t lie down. Then she hung up.
Jason laughs a little at this. He says he wondered why their conversations in the marriage could not have been like that one. He believes she must have called 911, though he has no memory of the ambulance.
Waking Up in the Hospital
Jason says he woke in a hospital with a tube down his throat, an IV in his neck, and his hands and feet strapped to the bed. Doctors surrounded him, asking whether he knew his name and where he was. He had no idea what day it was or how long he had been gone. With a two inch tube in his throat he could not answer.
He calls it the most brutal experience of his life, and says dying was very painful. His cause of death, he says, was acute respiratory failure, and he drowned. The doctors, he says, pumped about 2.8 liters of blood from his lungs. All he remembers of that moment is blackness.
In the days that followed, he says, he was given fentanyl for the pain. His mind was fully active, he says, and he had horrific hallucinations, like being kidnapped and dragged away. The nurses worked out that he was not going to pull his tubes, and he communicated by scratching and writing small notes.
A Presence by the Television
From the moment he woke, Jason says, there was an undeniable presence up in the corner of the room, where the TV was. It was strong, and it was loving, and he wanted to go there. He kept trying to look past the many doctors to see it.
One day a nurse asked whether he wanted the TV turned on. He said no. How, he asks, do you tell someone that somebody is standing right there? They would think he was nuts. So he kept staring at the TV.
Eventually the tubes and the IV came out, and one early afternoon nobody was around. He was so weak, having lost 75 pounds, that he could barely lift himself on his elbows and he shook uncontrollably.
The First Prayer in Decades
This was the first time since 1977 or 1978 that he had talked to God. He says he had abandoned God and “threw Jesus out like garbage.” He felt he had no business asking for anything, given the things he had done in his life. He felt unworthy.
Still, he called out. “Please don’t let me die.” He said he loved God and had never stopped believing, only stopped having a relationship. He said he was truly sorry. And then he asked to see his children again. He also asked not to lose the person he calls his twin flame, whose name he keeps private for now.
He says he knew he was still dying, and that something inside told him he was not done.
At the Top of the Ceiling
In that moment, Jason says, he was at the top of the ceiling. He could see the nurses’ station and the 30 other patients on ventilators. The pain was gone. He felt young again, juiced, vibrating at a very high frequency in constant love and light. He says he knew that was God.
He knew he had done nothing wrong, he says, and for the first time in his life “I was loved unconditionally.” There were no ifs or buts. He was at peace, and he knew exactly where he was. A thought came in an instant: I am home.
If you are curious how others describe leaving the body, see our complete guide to near-death experiences.
Seeing Through the Walls
Jason says he was looking out from perhaps the third or fourth floor and could see the whole floor and through the wall. “I could see every blade of grass in the field,” he says, including the serrations along each blade and the colors moving through its veins.
Then the grass turned toward him and sent him unconditional love. He says he could see the souls of the trees, each one with a small halo of white light, like Obi Wan Kenobi returning. They were so happy to see him. The colors, he says, do not exist in this realm.
“It was as warm as the sun, and it flowed through me like a river.” The next thought that came was, “What a beautiful day to die.” It felt, he says, like an absolute knowing that he had done this before.
He cannot say how long it lasted. “Time ceased to exist, because time doesn’t exist.” It could have been ten seconds or five hours. He felt what he describes as 360 degree vision, looking down at the body on the bed that he had no love for.
Yeshua
Then he felt another presence. He says “that’s when Yeshua showed up,” and he recognized the energy instantly. Jason says Yeshua gave him a love beyond anything possible here. He felt the Father’s love too, so much that he calls the word for it stifling. He says he felt adored without condition.
His first thought, he says, was that he should not be there. He felt he had been lied to. Then Yeshua came close, and “he placed his hands on me, very gently and loving.” The hands seemed huge and so warm. Jason says it was warmth and love, and that Yeshua guided his soul back and laid him gently on the bed. He went out like a light.
You can read more about this figure in our glossary entry on Jesus of Nazareth.
Doctors Shaking Him Awake
Jason says he woke to doctors shaking him, saying his name over and over. They told him they had been trying to wake him for hours. The presence was gone. He had no way to tell them what happened. He asked all of them to leave, and they did.
Alone, he asked himself why he had gone there. That was not the place he thought he should have gone. In that moment, he says, it became clear: “there is no heaven, there is no hell.” No good, no bad, no right, no wrong. “Everything I was taught my entire life was a lie.”
He says that in whatever time he was on the other side, he was one with everything. Within a trillionth of a second he knew all there was to know. “In that moment, I became one with the Father.” He says he became the light, and that this means he understood himself to be God. When he realized it, he says, he knew he had a mission: to tell the world they had been duped.
These are Jason’s own conclusions, and he offers them as such. Many will hold them differently. If the idea of unity interests you, the glossary has an entry on oneness.
“You Picked the Wrong Person”
Jason is honest that the glow did not simply carry him through. A couple of months after he got home, he says, he was still feeling unconditional love, but it was easing off, and he got mad at the Father. He was pacing, shaking his fist. He says he told God, “You picked the wrong person.” He knew he had not been the nice person. He said God should have picked the Pope or a bishop.
He says that is when the Father spoke to him. He explains that God speaks to us through our emotions all the time, and we have learned to tune it out. This time the words were plain. “Why not? You are my son.” Jason collapsed on the floor at the end of his bed.
He says he looked up and forgave himself for everything. He knew he had done nothing wrong, and “I wiped the altar clean of all the false idols.” On his altar, he says, is the Father, and that is it.
His Message: Go Within
Jason wants one thing understood. He says you are all exactly where you need to be. He does not want anyone to think he is better than they are. He says he is just further along his journey. “Anything that I can do you can do as well.”
His advice is plain. “Do not seek anything outside yourself.” He says you will find pain, misery and death out there. “Go within, because that is where you are.” That is where everything God gave you is, he says. And then his last words: “It is all an illusion and a dream.”
Where His Story Sits Beside Other Near-Death Accounts
Many people who share near-death experiences describe leaving the body, seeing the room from above, unconditional love, and a meeting with a being of light. Jason’s account has all of these, and many also say the experience changed their view of religion. What stands out in his story is the honest aftermath: a few months of struggle, anger, and then a quiet answer.
Jason also describes heavy medication and vivid hallucinations in the days before this. We share accounts like his as lived experiences, in the person’s own words, and we do not make medical claims. For more context, see the glossary entry on near-death experience.
Questions to Sit With
- Jason says he had not spoken to God in decades, and he called out anyway. What have you been avoiding saying to something larger than yourself?
- He says God speaks to us through our emotions and we tune it out. What emotion have you been tuning out lately?
- Which “false idols” are on your own altar, and what would it be like to wipe it clean?
Sit quietly for five minutes this week and ask one honest question inward. Then write down the first plain sentence that arises, without editing it.
Spiritual Takeaways
- Jason says unconditional love is real, and that he felt it with no ifs or buts.
- He says time does not exist on the other side.
- He says the Father speaks through our emotions, and we have learned to tune it out.
- He says forgiving himself came when he heard the words “You are my son.”
- He says to go within, because that is where everything is.
Please enjoy my conversation with Jason Janas.
Guest Links: Connect With Jason Janas
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Jason Janas?
Jason Janas is a near-death experiencer who shares his story on Divine Encounters. He says April 2 was the day of his death, and that he had not spoken to God since about 1977 or 1978 before his experience.
What happened to Jason Janas before his near-death experience?
Jason says he came home from work and became suddenly and seriously ill at home. He reached his ex-wife, a nurse, by phone, and she told him not to lie down. He woke later in the hospital.
What was the cause of death Jason describes?
Jason says it was acute respiratory failure, and that he was told about 2.8 liters of blood was pumped from his lungs. We share this as his account only.
What did Jason see at the top of the ceiling?
Jason says he saw the nurses’ station and about 30 other patients on ventilators. He says his pain was gone, he felt young, and he was filled with love and light that he understood to be God.
What did Jason see in nature?
He says he could see through the wall and observe every blade of grass in the field, and the souls of the trees, each with a small halo. He says the colors do not exist in this realm.
Who is Yeshua in Jason’s story?
Jason uses the name Yeshua for the presence he met. He says he recognized his energy instantly, and that Yeshua placed warm hands on him and guided his soul back into his body.
What does Jason say about heaven and hell?
Jason says he came to understand there is no heaven and no hell, and no good or bad, in the way he had been taught. He says everything he was taught as a child felt like a lie after the experience.
What did God say to Jason?
Jason says that when he argued and told God he had picked the wrong person, he heard the words “Why not? You are my son.” He says he then forgave himself.
What is Jason’s message?
He says you are all exactly where you need to be, and that you should go within. He says anything he can do, you can do as well.
Did Jason say he was God?
Jason says that in the experience he became one with the Father, and he understood himself to be God. These are his own words and conclusions about what he experienced.
Is a near-death experience proof of an afterlife?
Next Level Soul shares near-death experiences as lived experiences told in the person’s own words. Researchers continue to study and debate what they mean. Nothing here is medical advice or a medical claim.
Keep Exploring
- The complete guide to near-death experiences
- What is a near-death experience? (glossary)
- Oneness explained (glossary)
- Brian Hoyland, a veteran clinically dead ten minutes, on meeting Jesus
- Sheila Gillette on a divine meeting with Jesus after childbirth
- Stephanie Kraft, an atheist who saw Jesus and learned life’s purpose
- Nancy Rynes on being shown love, with no dogma or religion
- Vincent Tolman on meeting God after 45 minutes clinically dead
- Browse more free masterclasses and the Divine Encounters podcast.
Follow Along with the Transcript
Alex Ferrari 0:00
Tell me what your life was like before you died.
Jason Janas 0:08
April 2 was the day of my death. I came home from this job I didn't like I made a sandwich, took a shower, made a sandwich, sat down. It was a bagel sandwich. I turned on the TV, and I was watching TV, and I took a couple bites, and also I threw up. And I'm like, that was the most wretched taste. It didn't even taste like eggs. And what I was eating, and I'm like, God, what was that, you know? And I was having difficulty breathing, and I was waking up for the last couple weeks with a taste of blood in my mouth. And then I went to take another bite, and I coughed and up came bright red blood. And I'm like, not, you know, when you cut your finger and it's dark red, this was pink. And I'm like, and I cough again, and I kept coughing, like every two or three seconds, and I filled up my plate full of blood. This pink blood, it was horrible tasting. I remember that. And I'm like, next thing I know, I'm going, I can't breathe, and I'm starting to panic, like life is going on around you, and I'm actively dying. And I grabbed my cell phone, and I'm trying to get a hold of my ex wife, and because she's a nurse, an RN, if anybody can help me, she could. And I'm like, she wouldn't answer the phone. And finally, on this, you know, fourth or fifth try, I was FaceTiming, and I had made it to the kitchen sink, because now I'm filling up the kitchen sink with this blood. And she's like, What do you want? And I tried to speak, and blood covered the phone. And I just remember her. One of the last things I remember was like, Jason. And I said, I don't feel good, you know, and I'm, you know, and I'm trying to breathe and, you know, coughing. And she goes, I said, I'm sorry. I'm gonna go lay down. And she said, Jason, if you lie down, you're going to die. And I said, I don't feel good, I'm tired. I said, I'm just, I'm sorry to bother you, and I'm still coughing up this blood. She says, Jason, if you lay down, you're going to die. Please don't lay down. And I said, I and she hung up the phone, and that's the last thing. I'm like, wow, why couldn't our why couldn't our conversations be like that in our marriage, you know? And I was like, and next thing I know, I wake up in the hospital, and I She must have dialed 911, and they came in. I'd have no clue of the ambulance or anything, and there was a tube down my throat, IV in the carotid artery. My hands and feet were strapped to the bed. I couldn't move them more than an eighth of an inch. Stuff up my nose in a myriad of doctors. Now it's dark out. I have no idea what day it is, what what had taken place? How long I was gone or out? And I have these doctors trying, do you know, you know, who are you? Do you know your name? And I'm, I can't even move my you know? And you like, Do you know where you are? Like, trying to answer questions, but I have a two inch tube, you know? And I'm, like, that was the most brutal experience of my life. It was when you see actors going through this on stage, and they just jump up, and they're what, no, no, you don't do that. It's brutal. It was the most excruciating pain I've ever been in. Dying was very painful. I was drowning. Basically my cause of death was acute respiratory failure, hypoxia. So I basically they pumped out 2.8 liters of blood from my lungs. That's 11.8 cups of blood. So I drown. So all I remember then was blackness, just blackness. And I woke up in the hospital, and this is where the nd took place. What when? I don't know, I'm assuming, a few days later, I was trying to say something, and I was like, she goes, You won't pull the tubes and stuff out. And I said, you know? So I made this, like, you want to write something, I'd write, I itch just, you know, because they were giving me, uh, fentanyl for the pain. When you see somebody in like a coma state, their mind is fully active, okay, you're, I mean, I was having horrific hallucinations. Or, you know, like I was being kidnapped and dragged and all these kind of, it was horrific. It was the most horrific experience of my life. So I'm like, I itch, and I just started scratching my body. And they like, okay, he's not going to do it. And I just laid there, and I the moment I awoke, though, up in the left hand corner of where's the TV? And I didn't know that the ICU was room, so they put me in a different room, but right where that TV was, there was an undeniable presence. I could feel it, you know, and it was strong, and it was loving. And I just wanted to go there. And I kept trying to peek through the myriad of doctors. And one day a nurse came in and said, Jason, do you want me to turn on the TV for you? And I'm no. I mean, how do you tell somebody, somebody standing there, there's somebody right there, okay, they're gonna think I'm nuts, right? And I'm like, I just kept staring at the TV. So the nurses were gone. Everything was gone. They had finally taken the tube out and the IV and stuff like this. And it was some like early afternoon. I don't know what day it was, and I'm staring at the TV. There's nobody around. And by this time, I was so lethargic. I'd lost 75 pounds. So I was very weak. I couldn't move my hands very much, but I got up on my elbows, and I just began shaking uncontrollable because I had no strength. Now this is the first time since 1977 78 that I talked to God. I abandoned him. I threw him out like garbage. I threw Jesus out like garbage, and I stared at that TV because that presence was there. And I just I called out to God, please don't let me die. Please don't let me die. I had no. Business talking to him, you know, with the things that I have done in my life, I knew I was unworthy of him, and I called out to him, and I said, Please don't let me die. I love you. I said I'd never stop believing in you, but I quit having a relationship with you, and I'm trying. I'm truly sorry. I said, I love Jesus. I said, I love you both. And I said, Please don't take my babies from me, please. And I'm feeling unworthy of him. And I said, Please, let me see them again. Please, let me see them again. Because I knew I was still dying, something inside told me that I was not done with this, and I wasn't. And I said there was somebody in my life that which is a twin flame, but I won't mention her name yet. I said, Please don't take her from me. Please, please. Let me hold her hands. Let me kiss her. Let me smell her breath. Let's make love again. And in that moment, I was at the top of the ceiling, and I was in constant and I could see everything around me, the nurse's station, all 30 other patients on ventilators, dying. Pain is gone. I was young again. I was juiced, and I was vibrating at such a high frequency in constant this love and this light. And I knew that was God, that I that was there when I was at constant, this love, and I knew that I had done nothing wrong and that I was loved. For the first time in my life. I was loved unconditionally. There was no if ands or buts, nothing. I was at peace, utter piece, and I knew exactly where I was, exactly where I was. And the thought came into my mind. It was an instant I was like, I'm home, and I'm just looking outside, and I could see I was up on the, like, third or fourth floor. I could see the entire floor. I could see through the wall. So I was seeing through the wall, and I could see every blade of grass in the field, every blade of grass independently. I could see the serrations in each blade of grass. I could see the veins, and I could see the colors moving through and then they turned towards me and sent me all of this unconditional love. I could see all the trees souls, and it looked like Obi Wan Kenobi when he came back, he had the little halo right, this little white light around it, all their souls and they were so happy to see me, and the colors that I was witnessing were just magnificent and beautiful. They just don't exist here in this realm. They don't. And I am just feeling this unconditional love flow through me. It was as warm as the sun, and it flowed through me like a river, right? And then the next thought that came in before I could get it formed, was like, what a beautiful day to die like it was absolute, like I have done it before. That's exactly what it was. It was just an absolute knowing that I had done this before. It was absolutely normal, and that was that. And then how long this took? I don't know. It could have been 10 seconds. It could have been five hours. Time ceased to exist, because time doesn't exist. And I felt another presence come to me, and my gaze, which isn't a gaze, because I'm looking down at a body on the bed that I had no love for, but it was like at 12 o'clock, because I was looking that way, and then all of a sudden, I still looking that way. It's hard to describe you have you know what I'm saying, 360 degree vision, so I'm facing forward, and that's when Yeshua showed up, and I instantly recognized his energy, and he bestowed love upon me that is unimaginable to anyone here. So I'm feeling Father's love. I'm feeling this love, and it's almost the best word to describe. It would be stifling. It was so much love, and I was adored unconditionally, and it was just the most profound and beautiful experience. And I'm thinking, I shouldn't be here, right? I, you know, I was lied to, right? So again, how long? How long this took? I don't know, but I'm, you know, then I felt Yeshua come up to me, and he What was my soul? Yeah, he placed his hands on me, very gently and loving, and they seemed so huge, and they were so warm. It was everything. Was warmth and love. And, you know, he played, and he guided my soul back. And then I felt him on my body, and then he lay gently, laid me down on the bed, and I was out like a light, like gone. And then I woke up at how long again, I don't know, but a myriad of doctors shaking me, Jason, Jason, Jason, and we've been trying to wake you for hours. You know? What would it seem like? You know? And I'm like, and the presence was gone. And I'm like, looking they're like, You okay? And I'm like, I can't tell them just what happened. I mean, what was that? What? What just happened? I came back because they pushed my my soul back into my body, and I woke up. And, you know, the doctors were there to bring in medical equipment and stuff, and the like, are you okay, you know? And I'm like, Yeah, I'm fine. They were like, what happened? And I'm like, I can't tell you that, you know, I felt something. I knew that they would think I was nuts, and, you know, and all that. And I'm like, I need you all to leave. Are you all right? I said I'm fine. I need you all to leave. And I'm raspy voice because I can't really talk. I'm not taking any meds. I want you all out of the room now. And they all left. And I'm like, what happened to me? That's not the place that I should have gone to, right? And then, well, in that moment, you know, it, became abundantly aware that, you know, there is no heaven, there is no hell, there is no good, there is no bad, there is no right, there is no wrong. Everything I was taught my entire life was a lie. And within that time frame of whatever. That, you know, however long I was on the other side that was shown to me and given to me, I was one with everything. Within a trillionth of a second, I knew everything there was to ever know I am, everything that has ever existed or will ever exist. In that moment, I became one with the Father. I became the light. I was the light. That means I became God. I am God. And when I realized that, I was like, I have a mission. I have to let the world know that they have been duped, lied to horrifically, right? And sure enough, when I finally got back home, there was that nudge, you know, I got mad at father, and I was, this is a couple months later, because I'm still feeling this unconditional love, you know. And it was kind of an ease off process, you know? And I'm like, I'm shaking my fist. Look, you picked the wrong list. Look, pal, you picked the wrong person, right? Because I knew I wasn't the nice person, and I've done bad things in my life, you know. And I'm like, You picked the wrong person. I said, No, and I'm pacing back and forth. And I finally got into my bedroom, and I was in my bathroom, walking out, I said, You picked the wrong person. You should have picked the Pope or a bishop. And this is when I heard my father speak to me. Now he speaks to you through your emotions all the time. We've just learned to tune him out, right? But this is when he spoke to me, and these were his exact words. He's kind of little on the myth side. And when I said that again, I said, You picked the wrong person. And he said, why not? You are my son. I collapsed on the floor at the end of my bed, and I looked up and I said, for all that I am I am you, I forgave myself for everything. I knew I had done nothing wrong, and I wiped the altar clean of all the false idols that I had put up there. And on my altar is my father, and that is it. So you are all exactly where you need to be I want you to understand that don't feel like, oh, Jason's better than no, I'm not better than anybody. I'm just further along than on my journey than you are. That's it. Anything that I can do you can do as well. And I'm telling you this, all of you go within. Do not seek anything outside yourself. You will find pain, misery and death go within, because that is where you are. That is where everything is that God gave you. On this journey, you will find nothing outside yourself. It is all an illusion and a dream.
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