Divine Encounters Episode 123 | Near-Death Experience Story
Masati was a college student unloading rail cars when, he says, a half ton wall slid and crushed his jaw, and he found himself looking down at his own body. Later, he says, a second experience in a Belize river took him even further. In this Divine Encounters episode he tells Alex Ferrari about two life changing journeys, a life review he describes as 22 years in a minute or two, and what he came to believe about time, love and why we are here.
Key Takeaways
- Masati says that during a college job unloading rail cars, a stuck half ton wall gave way and crushed his jaw, and he found himself above his own body.
- He describes sadness for a split second, followed by so much joy and expansiveness that he stopped thinking about his body or his loved ones.
- He says he reviewed about 22 years of life in a minute or two, and that it was not a scorecard but a chance to see why things happened from a higher level of awareness.
- Masati says he cannot change what happened, but he can rewrite its meaning, an idea he now uses to help others.
- He describes a second experience in a Belize river, a void he calls a space of everything possible, and what he calls a Universal Database.
- He says he was told he could stay or go back, and that going back was as quick as thinking of it.
- His message: you are not your mistakes, you are a limitless being, and the aim is to walk through physical life with spiritual eyes.
| Guest | Masati |
| Episode | Divine Encounters 123 |
| Age at the time | College age, reviewing about 22 years of life |
| What Masati says happened | A stuck half ton wall crushed his jaw at work, and later a river current in Belize pulled him down |
| Where he says he went | A tunnel of light, layers of possibilities, a life review, then a void and a deep blue space |
| Who he met | A collective consciousness speaking with one voice |
| Time away | In Belize, about eight to ten minutes underwater according to his wife at the time |
| The message | You are a limitless being, and the meaning of your past can be rewritten |
A College Job and a Stuck Wall
Masati begins in an ordinary place. He was working a college job unloading rail cars. Inside each car, he explains, a wall holds the products in place, and one of those walls was stuck. He was supposed to climb up and release it. He forgot.
It was a half ton wall. His teammates were underneath, pulling. Then, all at once, the wall gave way.
The Wall Gives Way
Masati says he slid with the wall all the way across, and it stopped at his jaw. His jaw was crushed in between the wall and the metal roof members. He was stuck there, hanging.
Then comes the part he calls the coolest thing ever. He could actually see himself, from above. His first thought was that it did not look good at all. He says he did not realize he was dead. Then the conscious moment arrived: what am I doing over there, if I am over here? And then, oh. I’m dead.
Joy Instead of Fear
He says there was sadness for maybe a split second. After that, so much joy and expansiveness that he stopped thinking about his physical body or his loved ones at all. It was just, whoa, how beautiful that layer is.
Notice what he does not describe. There is no panic. No bargaining. He says that in that moment he simply felt the beauty of it. Many people who share experiences like his describe the same turn, from fear to a wide, surprising peace. Our glossary entry on the near-death experience covers the common themes.
The Tunnel of Light and the Layers of Possibility
From there, Masati says, he ascended into a life review. He mentions the tunnel of light, and he addresses a common objection head on. Some people say it is just the optic nerve. He says it really is not. In his words, you are in another consciousness, out of your body, and you only think you are in a tunnel. What it actually is, he says, is “just a space of just pure possibilities”, and pure white stands for exactly that.
He describes different layers of those possibilities. In the first layer, he says, people sometimes go to meet loved ones and pets who have crossed over, who introduce them around. Masati says he went to the fourth or fifth layer, where the life review took place. He says he felt presences but did not see anyone.
A Life Review From a Higher Level
This is the heart of his first story. Masati says it was not about someone keeping score, tallying what you did right and wrong and then sending you up or down. It was nothing like that. It was reviewing his life as a high level being and looking at it: oh, okay, that is why that happened.
He puts it like this. You start to see from a PhD level of consciousness rather than a kindergarten level of awakening. And he says you do not merely watch. You step into each moment and re-experience it. For him that meant about 22 years of life in what he thinks was a minute or two. When you are done, you step back out, like stepping off a ride.
If this sounds familiar, our glossary has a short entry on the life review that explains how other experiencers describe it.
Rewriting the Meaning
Here is the lesson Masati takes from it. You cannot change what happened. That is written, as he puts it, in the sands of time. But “you can rewrite the meaning of what happened, and that’s really key.” Changing the meaning changes your present focus, and it opens up different possibilities in the present moment.
He says that is what he uses today to help transform lives, including thousands of mothers. He believes the experience let him awaken much faster than another 20, 30 or 40 years, or maybe lifetimes, would have.
He also says the teaching was that “we’re just all running programs.” It was not his fault, or anyone else’s. A program runs, and the outcome shows up. Then he asked himself how he had just lived 22 years in a minute or two, which led to another realization: time and space can be edited, distorted and manipulated for your benefit.
You Are Not the Mistakes
Masati describes a deep love for yourself that arrives with the review. You look at the mistakes and realize you are not them. In his words, “you aren’t the mistakes, you aren’t the distortions”, and you are not the abuser or the successes either. You are a grand level being experiencing those things.
From that vantage, he says, you know yourself as an infinite being and feel an immense peace and joy, a brilliance of love he has never experienced in physical form.
He says a consciousness then spoke to him. It was a collective consciousness, many individuals speaking through one beautiful voice, with tones and inflections we cannot comprehend. He explains that in that state you do not have ears, but for us to understand it, you hear it as a voice. It told him he could stay if he liked, or he could go back.
Going Back With a Thought
Masati says there was not much of a choice, so to speak. As soon as they said he could go back, he had already created the experience of going back. There is no time and space there, so as soon as you think it, you are there. He says he slipped back into his body, felt the pain of his jaw being crushed, looked around and passed out.
That alone would be a lot for one lifetime. But Masati says there was a second.
The River in Belize
He tells Alex that he was on a rafting trip in Belize with his sons. The guide had told the group to stay interlocked with their feet, or they would get pulled into other tributaries. Something happened and Masati had to unlock his feet. The group went one way, and he and his sons went the other.
He says he was pulled into a cenote, a hole in the bottom of the river. He pushed his kids aside and got sucked in himself. He ended up in what was probably a lava tube, now filled with water. The water pressure was so great, he says, that he could not crawl out. At some point you give up, he says, and that is when the thought came: “I’ll never see my kids grow up.”
Then he saw his body float away into the depths of the earth. He felt expansiveness again, joy and beauty, and he could still feel the presence of water. He says he went through the rock, back through the river, and then up into higher realms.
The Void and the Universal Database
Masati says the tunnel of light gave way to what looked like a black hole or a void, a space of nothingness. That nothingness, he explains, is a space of everything possible. It had to be nothing for you to create or render anything without judgment. A blank slate.
In it, he says, he had access to all knowledge that ever was, is and shall be. “I call it the Universal Database,” he says. Because there is no time or space at that level, anything you need arrives faster. The void turned into a beautiful blue space, like deep ocean blue.
He says “the amount of love at that level is a million times greater than what you could handle here.” If you wanted to be in France, you were in France. He says it took him a while to understand the concepts, and that it felt like lifetimes. According to his wife at the time, he was underwater for about eight to ten minutes.
For more on how some people describe consciousness beyond the body, see our glossary page on consciousness.
What Changed Afterward
Masati says he blacked out and came back, and that this is where he “got downloaded all the information.” He calls it a connection point. He says his heart and circulatory system were revamped when he returned, that it took about a year, and that he is healthier now than ever. These are his own words about his own experience.
He also shares how he defines God, or pure source: the intelligence that created this reality and its physics principles. He says he means the science of trillions of years of evolution, not religion.
Finally, he describes the practice that grew out of it. Become the observer of your physical form. Most people see only the body. If you can look at yourself from the spiritual side, looking upon your physical form, you start to create more love, and you do it by letting go of the filters.
Placing Masati Beside Other Accounts
Researchers have studied these reports for decades. In 1983, psychiatrist Bruce Greyson published the 16-item NDE Scale, a questionnaire still used to describe the experience. A 2001 study in The Lancet by Pim van Lommel and colleagues reported that 62 of 344 cardiac arrest survivors, about 18 percent, said they had a near-death experience. What those reports mean is still debated.
Masati’s account touches several familiar themes: leaving the body, a tunnel of light, a life review, a loving voice, and a sense of choice about returning. What stands out is the way he frames the review as understanding, not judgment, and his emphasis on meaning. At Next Level Soul we share these as experiences in the person’s own words. You can start with our complete guide to near-death experiences.
Why We Are Here, According to Masati
Near the end, Masati says the ultimate purpose of life is about understanding space and time, the multi-dimensional space created here, so you can render yourself in physical form with all the possibilities of being a limitless being. At the spirit level, he says, you are limitless and all powerful. The question is how to render that, one moment at a time, and still realize it.
His simple summary is to walk here on physical earth, in physical form, through your spiritual eyes. If that idea speaks to you, our page on connecting with your higher self is a gentle next step.
Questions to Sit With
- Masati says you cannot change what happened, but you can rewrite its meaning. Which event in your past is ready for a new meaning?
- He says you are not your mistakes. How would your week look if you believed that for a day?
- If you stepped back and watched your life from a higher level of understanding, what do you think you would see first?
This week, choose one difficult memory and write two sentences about what it taught you. Then write one sentence about the meaning you want to carry forward.
Spiritual Takeaways
- Masati says the meaning of a past event can be rewritten, even if the event cannot.
- He describes the life review as understanding from a higher level, not a scorecard.
- He says you are not your mistakes, but a limitless being experiencing them.
- He describes time and space as something that can be edited and bent.
- He says to observe the physical form from a spiritual point of view and walk through life with spiritual eyes.
Please enjoy my conversation with Masati.
Guest Links: Connect With Masati
- Masati’s official site
- Masati on YouTube
- Masati on X
- Masati on Facebook
- Masati on Instagram
- Full NDE story with Masati
Listen to the Episode
- Watch this episode ad-free on Next Level Soul TV
- Download the MP3
- More episodes: Divine Encounters
- Listen to Divine Encounters on Apple Podcasts
- Listen to Divine Encounters on Spotify
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Masati?
Masati is the guest on this Divine Encounters episode. He shares two experiences: one at a college job unloading rail cars and one during a rafting trip in Belize.
What happened to Masati at the rail car job?
Masati says a stuck half ton wall gave way, slid across and crushed his jaw against the metal roof members. He says he then found himself above his body, looking at it.
What does Masati say a life review is like?
Masati says it is not a scorekeeping exercise. He describes re-experiencing his life from a higher level of consciousness, seeing why things happened, in what felt like a minute or two.
How long was Masati’s life review?
Masati says he reviewed about 22 years of life in what he thinks was a minute or two, and that this left him puzzled about how time works.
What does Masati mean by rewriting the meaning of what happened?
Masati says you cannot change events, but you can change the meaning you give them. He says that shifts your present focus and the possibilities open to you now.
What happened in Belize?
Masati says he was on a rafting trip with his sons when he was pulled into a cenote, a hole in the river bottom. He says he pushed his kids aside and was sucked in himself.
What is the Universal Database?
Masati uses the term for a state in which, he says, he had access to all knowledge that ever was, is and shall be, in a space that is nothing and also everything possible.
Who spoke to Masati?
Masati says it was a collective consciousness, many individuals speaking through one beautiful voice, who told him he could stay or go back.
How did Masati return?
Masati says there was no time and space there, so as soon as he thought of going back, he was in his body. He says he felt his jaw pain and passed out.
How does Masati define God?
Masati defines God, or pure source, as the intelligence that created this reality and its physics principles, and he says he means science, not religion.
Is this a medical claim?
No. Next Level Soul shares these accounts as lived experiences told in the guest’s own words, and nothing here is medical advice or proof.
Keep Exploring
- The complete guide to near-death experiences
- What a life review is
- Consciousness explained
- William J. Peters on a life review and what he learned
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- Donna Rebadow on drowning and meeting God
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- 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.
Masati 0:08
I was at work, and I used to unload rail cars for a college job, and the wall that was stuck, the wall in between to keep the products in place, that was stuck, so I forgot to climb up and release the wall, you know, it's a half ton wall, and in my teammates were, you know, pulling underneath, and then all of a sudden the wall just gave way, and I slid with the wall all the way across, and I got in, the wall stopped by my jaw, my jaw got crushed in between, yeah, so metal members, you know, roof members, just like, and I was stuck. I was just like hanging, and I could actually see myself, and that was the coolest thing ever. Above, and looking at myself, I'm going, that does not look good at all, you know. But I didn't realize that I was dead, which was really crazy, you know. Like, you know, it's like.. and then I.. and this is the conscious part.. it's like, it's like, what am I doing over there? If I am over here, and then I realized it's like, oh, I'm dead. And then it was sadness for maybe a split second, but then you have so much joy and so much expansiveness at that moment that you don't even think about your physical body anymore, you don't think about, you know, your loved ones, and so on, like that, because it's just like, whoa, it's just crazy, how beautiful that layer is. And then from there, I ascended into where I went into a life review. There's, you know, you see the tunnel of light, you go through a tunnel of light, it is brilliance, and some people go, well, it's the optic nerve, and all that, it really isn't. You're in another consciousness, one, I was out of my body, you know, to you know it's it's this thing that just consumes you, and you think you're in a tunnel, but in reality you're really not. It's just a space of just pure possibilities, that's what you know pure white is about, pure possibilities. There's different layers of possibilities. The first layer, sometimes people go where they, you know, go to their loved ones, meet, meet them, right? You know, their dogs, loved ones, whoever's crossed over, you know, they introduce them. I went into the fourth or fifth layer of that, where it was a life review, and that life review, it wasn't about, you know, somebody keeping score, where you know, you did this wrong, you did this right, and then they tally up the score, you know, and then you either go to heaven or you go down below to the other place. It wasn't like that at all. It was literally reviewing your life as a high level being and looking at it, and it's like, oh, okay, that's why that happened, that's why that happened, that's why this happened. So you start to see it from, say, a college grad level or a PhD level consciousness rather than, you know, a kindergarten level of awakening. There's you feel presences, but I didn't see anybody, and it's not like you're observing your life, you're in the life re-experiencing, like 22 years for me in maybe mere seconds, you were reliving yourself in that moment, from my point of view, reliving everything, but from a very high level state of consciousness. Well, you're you stepped into the moment, and then when you're done reviewing, you step back out. It's like you're in the ride, and you, and you go through life, and you go, "Oh, that's why this happened, oh, that's why this happened. So you can't really change what happened, because that's written in the sands of time. The important thing is, is that you can rewrite the meaning of what happened, and that's really key, because that's what I use today to transform not only my life, but 1000s of mothers around, where you can change, or you can edit what happens to you, you can change the meaning of what's happened to you. What changes your present focus, or the possibilities of where you can go into the present moment? It allowed me to awaken much quicker than taking another 20, 3040, years, or maybe lifetimes to transform.
Masati 3:55
So, in that perspective, I understood why things happen the way they do, and literally, it is a teaching experience, but the teaching experience for me was about, oh, we're just all running programs, and that's really the key. It's like, oh, it's a program, it's not like it was my fault or it was their fault or whatever. Just like you run a program and the outcome is right there for you. It's just that literally that simple when you step back out of the ride, and you know, again, still not in my body, and I'm going, okay, now, How did I just live 22 years in maybe a minute or two? You know, that puzzled me, even then, and that I think that was the teaching experience for me, is like, wait, time and space can be edited, it can be, you know, distorted, it can be edited, it can be manipulated for your benefit, there's a deep state of love you have for yourself, because you look at the mistakes and you realize that you aren't the mistakes, you aren't the distortions, you aren't the abuser, you aren't the successes or anything, you are a grand level being experiencing those things. Yes, although you know you can experience that you, who you are, is an infinite being, and you know yourself so solidly, and from that you get this immense peace and joy, and the brilliance of love that I've never experienced physical in physical form, although I, you know, you're in that state all the time, and then you know this consciousness, you know, starts talking to you, it's like, and it's a collective consciousness, so it's not just like one person, it's like many individuals talking through one voice, and it's like, oh, yes, I know you could stay here, it's like, because you have this choice, you can either stay here or you can go back, but as soon as they say it's a beautiful voice, it's crazy beautiful, and you know sounds and inflections and tones that you, we can't comprehend, but you heard the voice, you know, at that level, because well, in that consciousness there is, you don't have ears, you don't have, but for us, for me to understand it, you know, you hear it as a, you know, as a voice, but it's like, yeah, you can stay here if you'd like, you know, but you can always go back, but as soon as they go back, that you're just like, they push you back into your body, or as soon as you think of going back, you're probably in your body right away, and that's where I felt the pain of, you know, my jaws being crushed, I look around and then I pass out, so as soon as they say, "Oh, go back, it's not like you have a choice, so to speak. You already created that experience of going back. There is no time and space, so as soon as you think, you're there. So, I think that's where you just like go back in. It's like, "Whoa, I'm back. And you know, we were in Belize. We were in a rafting trip, and you know, we connected. The guide goes well. You know, you want to stay interlocked with your feet, otherwise you'll get pulled into other tributaries. Something happened to me where I had to unlock my feet with the other group. So the group went one way, my sons and I went the other way, and I got pulled into a snow cenote. It's basically a hole in, you know, the bottom of the river, so I pulled, you know, I pushed my kids aside, and I got sucked in, and that's where I was trying to crawl out, but I was in this lava tube back then, probably was a lava tube, now it's filled with water, but the water pressure was so great, you know, I was trying to crawl out, and then at some point you give up, that's when I go, gosh, I'll never see my kids grow up, and you know it's like, damn, I thought I had a great future, and all that. You know, it's like, and then all sudden, you see your body just..
Masati 7:28
I saw my body just float away into, you know, the bowels of the earth, and it felt this expansiveness again, and the joy and the beauty, and I could still feel the water, the presence of water. You went through, I went through the rock, and then back through the river, and then I sent it into higher realms. You transcend the tunnel of light, and it's just.. it's like a black hole or void, because it's a space of nothingness. That space of nothingness is actually a space of everything possible, because it had to be nothing for you to create or render anything without judgment, it's a blank slate, and it's beautiful up there, but you could, I could feel, you know, I have access to all possibilities here, and I had access to all knowledge that ever was, is, and shall be, and I'm going, "Whoa, it's like a huge, I call it the Universal Database, and you can have access to it, and anything that you need or want, it's even faster, you know, because there's no time, no space at that level, and so, and it's a beautiful.. it turned into a beautiful blue space, kind of like the deep ocean blue, it turned into that, and I'm going, "Wow, this is so beautiful. The amount of love at that level is a million times greater than what you could handle here. I don't think you could handle that much love here. You'd body would just like explode, you know. It's like an orgasmic state. Anything you wanted there, anything you could do, you, you know, you literally transform into it's like, oh, I want to go to France. It's like, oh, you're in France, it's like that. So it took a little bit, you know, to understand the concepts, and I don't know how long. According to my wife at the time, I probably was underwater, like 810, minutes over there. It was like life, like lifetimes, because it's forever, you know. There's no time, there's no space. And then I blacked out, came back. That's where I got downloaded all the information. So basically, it was a connection point. When I came back, my heart, my circulatory system, everything got revamped. It took me about a year, but I'm healthier now than ever before. My definition of God, or pure source, is the intelligence that created this reality, and the physics principles. If you follow that physics, the science, not religions or anything like that, but if you follow the science of trillions of years of evolution that would be that intelligence that I would define God. So you start to, you become the observer of your physical form. So the more you can do that, rather than the flip, most people see their physical form, and then some people go, "Well, there's a spirit out there, I don't even know what that is. But if you can see yourself from again a spiritual aspect of who you are, looking looking upon your physical form, you, you start to create more love. The way you do that is create more efficiencies of who you are by letting go of those filters. The ultimate purpose of life is about understanding your understanding space and time, or the multi-dimensional space that is created here again, the programming, so you can render yourself here in physical form with all the possibilities of being a limitless being. So, again, at a spirit level, you're limitless, you're all powerful. How do you render that each moment at a time and still realize it? So, basically walking here on physical earth on physical form through your spiritual eyes and experiencing that.
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