Davor Pranjic's Near-Death Experience

I thought, okay, something's going to happen now that's not good. I said to my friend, something is going to happen to me, I don't know what. I'm always joking. He said, yeah, sure, you and your jokes. I remember getting up from my chair and seeing a picture from above. The bar was here. I looked from above and saw someone lying down there and lots of people around them. Mr. Branić, when you were 16 years old, you had a near-death experience that still haunts you today, and you thought long and hard about whether you should talk about it in public. Thank you for deciding to do so. I believe that every experience report helps to break the social ice, so to speak. For many people who have experienced similar things, it makes it easier to categorize their experiences and talk about them. So, please tell us about the circumstances under which this experience occurred. Thank you very much. It's a bit difficult. I thought about it for a long time, as you said, whether I should tell it or not. But in the end, I put the fear aside and decided to tell it. How did that come about? I have to go into a little more detail. As you said, it was in 2016, early 2017, in Bosnia. I was born in Bosnia and was there until the first grade. My parents and I fled to Germany because of the war in Yugoslavia, and we were in Germany until the end of the war, until I was 13 years old. Then my parents and I returned home to Bosnia. That was the post-war period. My circle of friends and I wanted to be cool and try everything, one thing after another. And then there were also drug contacts. That was normal back then. I was 14 and we all smoked and drank. As I said, drugs were added. It was cool at first. It was at the weekend. Now we're having a ball. Exactly. That seemed great to us. Of course, when you grow up in an environment like that. Our parents had problems with us. I have to say something about that. It's almost a miracle that I'm still sitting here giving you this interview. Because before my near-death experience, there were many accidents. Car accidents? Exactly. Car accidents. A car accident happened about four months before my near-death experience. It was a miracle what happened. I have to explain briefly. There were three of us, my best friend and another mate. We decided to fetch alcohol in the car before the disco. To cut a long story short, we left the road, flew off the bend and crashed straight into a wooden pole at around 120 km per hour. A head-on collision? That is correct. Back then in Bosnia, the telephone lines were on wooden poles. They probably still are. We drove straight into one and rolled over several times. The driver flew 100 meters out of the car. He had no shoes on. Miraculously, all three of us were only slightly injured. Everyone who saw the car thought there was no chance of anyone getting out alive. Five minutes before we got into the car, before the accident, something very strange happened for me. We were just about to drive off. My best friend was always such a quiet guy. He always sat in the back. He never had any problems, he never cared where he sat. I, on the other hand, always wanted to sit at the front. But that night, he wanted to sit in the front. I said, no, I'll sit at the front. But he really wanted to sit in the front and I pulled him away from the front seat. Then I got in and he pulled me out. He wouldn't give in. We argued. We spent 20 minutes arguing. We were drunk anyway. The driver was angry too. What are you doing? We have to keep going. I realized that the situation was about to escalate. Before it escalates any further, let's both get in the back seat. He didn't want to, but then he agreed. We both sat in the back so that nobody was sitting in the front. We drove off and two minutes later we flew out of the bend and crashed into this wooden post with the front right side of the car. When the car was pulled out and we saw what had happened, we realized that the car had been compressed from the front seat to the rear as a result of the impact. Nobody would have survived that. No, no one sitting in the front on the right. And it was the first time that nobody was sitting in the front of the car. And this episode had a significance for the later experience, right? Until then, I didn't care about anything about all the problems. I also never had any specific faith. I didn't have much to do with religion, although I am a Catholic through my parents. But after this accident, I thought, what's happened? It couldn't have been a coincidence. Something or someone didn't want anyone to sit at the front. I had always secretly believed in something like a god, even though I wanted nothing to do with religion. But now, for the first time, I seriously asked myself, is there something? But after the accident, I carried on as before. And about four or five months later, I had my near-death experience. How did this come about? It wasn't an accident. It was around half past eight, nine in the morning. We should have been at school, but as so often, we didn't go. Back then, it was normal to skip school, go to your favorite cafe and wander around the city. I went to our favorite cafe with a few friends. I sat on the barstool and my friend sat to my left. He was drinking coffee and smoking a cigarette, as usual. Then I realized that my finger was starting to tingle. It was nothing special. But then I realized that my left foot, my toes, were also starting to tingle. I thought that was normal. Then it went on. Like when you get pins and needles, when everything goes numb. The hand was numb. It started to go through the hand and up through the foot at the same time. I thought, what's going on now? I didn't want to panic. Lack of sugar? You need to eat something. It's nothing. It'll pass in a minute. Just like you tell yourself, everything will be fine. Then I started pinching myself. Everything felt numb. I couldn't feel anything. I thought, this is not good. And it went on and on. When it got here, I thought, now something is happening. This is not good. I said to my friend, something is going to happen to me, but I don't know what. I'm always joking. You and your jokes. I remember getting up from my chair. Then I saw a picture from above. The bar was here. I looked from above. I saw someone lying down and lots of people around them. There was a stool and a whole bar. I saw it from the side. I didn't know what it was. The next moment, I felt like I was in the universe. The best way to explain it is like a film. It was like I was in the universe, flying to the right at tremendous speed. There were no stars or galaxies in front of me. There were just countless points of light with loops. That's why I felt like I was flying. But I don't think I was flying. It looked like something out of a Star Trek film. The stars were connected with loops. I thought, if I'm flying, then the lights are flying. Then I asked myself, what is this now? What is happening now? Then came the thoughts and the answers. You ask questions and immediately get answers, knowledge. I asked myself, what is this now? And the answer came, you have died. So, I died. So then it was over. Did you realize beforehand that you were seeing your own body? No, I didn't know that. I saw the picture. Someone is lying there. I recognized a friend. He was in the pub. He had long hair. He was bent over the body, so I saw his hair. I didn't realize it was me. It was only when I saw myself in the universe that I thought, what's happened now? Then the image came back. I was gone. But that seemed insignificant to me. A small thing. You would think, wow, great. It was just okay for me. No stress, no problems. Everything was fine. But then I realized, I can't go yet. I had a lot of unresolved issues with my parents. Suddenly, I realized all these problems, a hundred, a thousand problems, I was now consciously aware of them all. But that was okay too. It was okay. So, you have simply become aware of problems within your family or your circle of acquaintances? Everything I thought back then as a teenager aged 16. This, that, no, I still have to sort that out, lots of little things. I was aware of all the problems, but they didn't matter. They weren't important. Then I looked ahead again. The stars and the loops were still there. I felt that I still had hands. Then I lifted my hands up. I felt that I had hands, but there were none to be seen. That was strange. Then it occurred to me to look at my body. I still felt that I had a body. I looked down, and there was nothing there either. Then I asked myself, if I'm not there now, there was no body to be seen, but I was there, more aware than ever, then what am I? The answer came immediately. Everything that is. I was everything that was and everything that will be. It sounds strange when I say that now, but at that moment it was clear. I am the whole. The entirety. Then I felt something from the top right. I can't describe it as light. It was more of a feeling. A brightness. I wanted to turn to the top right, and then this feeling came, which I am describing now. When you do something good or help someone, it can be little things. When you can be proud of yourself because you've done something good, when you hold the door open for a woman. You know the feeling. Pride, joy, goose pimples. That's exactly the feeling I got. It then doubled, tenfold. It was like a balloon. I started to expand. The feeling increased a hundredfold. I just thought, what is this now? And where were the other feelings, like fear? Where are they? It was like my problems. They were like gone. Pain, fear. I knew these feelings, but they had no meaning. Then I heard my name at the top left. Once, twice, three times, four times, and then a sound. I stood on my feet in the bar with twenty people around me, staring at me, all shocked. I thought, no, no, why? I suddenly felt a great sadness, like I'd never felt before in my life. Everyone said, you're alive, we thought you were dead, we couldn't wake you up, we tried everything. Had they undertaken resuscitation measures? Yes, it took five minutes. They thought I was already dead. They slapped me, splashed me with water, tried everything. Then the colleague with the long hair stood in front of me, looked at me, said, I thought you were dead, I couldn't get you back. I only had one thought. I don't want to be here anymore. No, I don't want to be here, I don't want to be here anymore. Then an ambulance came and took me to hospital. What happened medically? After the examination, it turned out that I was suffering from iron deficiency. The doctor was shocked. He had rarely seen so little iron in anyone's blood. He was shocked that I was still alive. Then I had to take these Ferrum tablets for a few months. After the hospital, I came home. But this sadness stayed for months. I couldn't get rid of it. During the experience, did you never feel like you had to make a decision to stay here or return? No. I heard my name at the top left. Then I woke up. But the worst thing was this, this all that is. I couldn't do anything about the fact that I am everything that is. Then I thought, there are two possibilities. Either all the people walking around here, my parents, my friends, all of humanity are holograms or computer games. If I exist alone, then what are these people? But that was out of the question. It couldn't be. Of course they are people. The second possibility was that I was interacting with myself. All this is me. I am interacting with myself. But I thought, that can't be. How can I be the other? How can I be all the others? All the cruelty in the world. I could never be cruel. Then that was out of the question too. Both possibilities were out of the question. No, I said to myself, it can't be. You can't exist alone. That's impossible. You must have been hallucinating. You fell over. It was a hallucination. Can you summarize it like this? You have experienced something, a so-called unity experience, which was completely natural for you in this state. But in thinking about it, there was simply no way to explain it to yourself. What I experienced was that only I exist, that I am everything that is. I couldn't explain it to myself. I couldn't tell anyone either. Who was I supposed to tell? They would say, you're crazy, what are you talking about? So the easiest thing for me to do was to say it was a hallucination. It couldn't be. But this experience caused me problems for 20 years. For a few years, that was your own solution to dealing with it. It was a hallucination. Exactly. That was the end of the story for me. I was able to talk myself into it. But what has stayed with me is the happy feeling when you do something good for someone. I have found that this feeling comes quickly when I do something good for someone. When I stand up for someone, for example, as a professional colleague. Why should someone break themselves at work if they don't have to? If I have the opportunity to stand up for someone, I will. Many people don't do it because they're afraid of their boss. But if you free yourself from preconceptions and expectations, I do something good without expectations. I don't expect anything in return. And then I feel rewarded. As a gift. Not as strong as in my near-death experience. But it's there. I can still feel it. That was the most important thing for me. Can you summarize it like this? The experience has inspired you to be a better person. Yes, I would say so. To this day, this feeling is the greatest reward I can get. Just like the interview now. I thought long and hard about whether I wanted to do the interview. And then the fear immediately came back. No, you can't do it. If friends or family see this, they'll say, what's wrong with you? Then I ask myself, will I feel this happy feeling if I decide to do the interview and perhaps help other people as a result? And then I thought, okay, if the feeling says it's right, then I'll do it. That's why I contacted you. So, you lived for a long time with a contrived explanation that you were just hallucinating. What made you change your mind? Did you find someone who had experienced something similar? The last 18 years have been a tough time. I realized very quickly that it was important for me to feel this happy feeling again. For many people. But if someone has the opportunity to receive 200 euros, for example, instead of doing something that evokes this feeling, then they will opt for the 200 euros. I have also recognized this danger. Looking only at yourself and having your advantage in mind instead of endeavoring to do something good that triggers this feeling. Of course, this puts me in danger when the boss asks, what's wrong with you? I have had many difficulties and have also been dismissed for standing up for others. But I know exactly why the world is the way it is at the moment. Why there are wars. Why it is the way it is. Because we are afraid. The fear of losing your job or not being able to pay your mortgage. So be careful. Don't do anything. This realization has weighed on me. Why can't people see that? It's so obvious. The world is the way it is because we are afraid to tell the truth. There is always fear behind it. Exactly. That's what I suffered the most from. With friends and at home. But there are no more problems for me. I live the way I want to live. And I'm happy with everything. For me, I've achieved everything. You have become fearless. Not completely, but I recognize the fear. When I'm afraid, I want to know exactly what it is, where it comes from. Then I find it, treat it as secondary and feel a little freer again. It's a challenging process, but a lot has changed in my life. I often just hear from people, no, we can't do that. I came across Thanatos TV on YouTube by chance about two years ago and saw an interview with someone. After that, I thought, OK, so that's a near-death experience. Until then, I hadn't looked into this topic. So you didn't even know the term near-death experience? Not directly. I lived in Bosnia, then in Croatia. Things like that. I tried to talk to someone about it a few times, but I realized that people are afraid of death. I'm not afraid of death. I said, no, it's not like that. We're not what we think we are, just this body. But they didn't want to know. I couldn't explain to anyone what I had experienced. I was no longer afraid of death. People who hadn't experienced anything like that were afraid. That was understandable. But then I looked at stories of other near-death experiences and realized, I'm not crazy. What I experienced was not a hallucination. Over the past two years, I've read all sorts of things on the subject and on ideological issues. I wanted to know about quantum mechanics, about the theory of relativity, about all sorts of things. I wanted to find out what information is, what energy is. We all talk about energy, but I don't think it's… A simple explanation for this. Exactly, yes. After the car accident you mentioned, were you already thinking about how the world works back then? No, not in that way. I simply orientated myself on what I needed. I want this, I want that. Before the near-death experience, I wanted everything that was normal for me. Afterwards, the blissful feeling became the most important thing for me. How do I experience it again? I was almost addicted to it. What can I do to make it come back? It's still there. And two years ago, I also began to deal with the experience that I was everything. That unity experience. Exactly. I delved deeper into the matter. Today, how would you say this experience has changed you as a person? I've thought a lot about my experience. I always tell people I was at home. Everyone can imagine the most beautiful place they want to be, be it the sea or the mountains, just the most beautiful place. There are no problems there, just the most beautiful experience. But there is a small catch. There is no other child who comes and says let's experience something together. You're all alone. But there are lots of children here to play with. And that's wonderful. The exchange with others is important. When we're alone, we can be in the most beautiful place imaginable. We can live happily, without worries, without fear. But there's no one to say let's do something together. We have a lovely kindergarten which has been very valuable to me since my near-death experience. So also that life here on earth is very important. Very important, exactly. Only here can we experience the relationship with each other. About my experience that I was everything that is, I realized that it's not me interacting with myself all the time, but rather that everything that exists mutually interacts. The real life is in the interaction. Everything lies in this interaction. Do you have the impression that there is also a kind of guidance in this interaction? In the sense that everyone has to experience certain qualities of experience. Definitely, yes. I believe there is help, but no direct interference. I believe in free will. We have free will. We can do this or that every second, every millisecond. For me, free will exists as it is. But after my experience, even with the car accident, I've had several more accidents, I believe that there is help, but gentle help. If you are on the right path or have the right approaches, then you will definitely get help. That's my opinion. Has your experience changed, deepened your religiosity, your spirituality? Would you say today that you are more religious or, generally speaking, more spiritual? More spiritual. Not really more religious. Looking back, have you managed to harmonize your near-death experience with your everyday life? Are you at peace with yourself? Oh, yes. I've achieved everything I set out to do, both professionally and personally. For the last five years, I've felt that everything is going very well for me. I get up in the morning and am very, very happy. And when I come home in the evening, I'm just as happy. I have everything I've ever wanted. I've been saying for years that I don't need anything more. Life is beautiful the way it is. I also advise many people to simply say, life is beautiful and it's good the way it is. It doesn't have to get any better. You don't always have to chase after something even bigger. Precisely so, yes. I think that was a very nice closing statement. Thank you very much for the interview. I thank you. I'm the one who has to give thanks.