S1 Ep16: How Dying Changed My Life / Jonathan Ashford
What happened to Jonathan 3 years after he died? Watch Episode 17 here: • S1 Ep17: 3 Years Later He Died Again / Jon... Jonathan Ashford never expected to become one of the most compelling voices in the near-death experience community. Before his death, he was a successful technology executive living what he describes as a "James Bond lifestyle"—wealthy, ambitious, intensely driven, and openly dismissive of spirituality. Then, at just 46 years old, his body suddenly began shutting down – and Jonathan died. What followed completely shattered his understanding of reality. In this deeply moving conversation, Jonathan describes leaving his body, experiencing overwhelming unconditional love, witnessing a profound life review, encountering what he calls "Love Itself," and being given a choice: remain where he was... or return to help others. He also explains why he no longer fears death, why he believes consciousness survives the body, and how the man who came back bears almost no resemblance to the person who died. Whether you're skeptical, spiritual, or simply curious about what may await us beyond this life, Jonathan's story is one you won't soon forget. Jonathan Ashford https://www.jonathanashford.com/ 00:00 – Cold Open 01:22 – Meet Jonathan Ashford (And His "Significant Other") 02:32 – The East Coast Executive Who Had It All 03:44 – He Sold Everything and Moved to Idaho — Sight Unseen 04:26 – "I Had Life By the Neck" 05:29 – Raised Catholic, Turned Completely Anti-Spiritual 05:51 – The Joke He Made Before Moving: "I'm Going Out There to Die" 06:15 – Peak Physical Health... Then He Collapses in a Grocery Store 08:26 – Sent Home Twice While His Body Shuts Down 11:19 – He Turns Completely Yellow 12:04 – 4:28 AM: The Moment Everything Changes 13:22 – He Looks in the Mirror and Sees a Corpse 13:51 – "There's Something That Clicks — You Know How to Die" 15:32 – Death Itself Was the Easy Part 15:57 – The Darkness That Isn't Dark 17:00 – "The Long Blink" — Waking Up Somewhere Else 22:04 – The Being on the Rock He Calls "Love Itself" 24:06 – "I'm You. You're Me." — A Shocking Realization 24:36 – Flashing Through His Past Lives 26:01 – The Life Review: Feeling Every Person He Ever Hurt 29:05 – Was He Judged? The Surprising Answer 30:45 – Unconditionally Loved — Even at His Worst 31:33 – The Choice: Stay in Paradise, or Go Back to Help 33:46 – Why a Human Life Looks Like a Single Spark From the Other Side 34:35 – Part Two of the Experience Begins 37:49 – A Light Starts Growing — And Swallows Everything 39:07 – "There Was No Separation Between Me and the Light" 42:47 – The Tunnel Back 43:49 – Returning to a Body That Feels Like a Prison 44:38 – The Sand-in-a-Shoebox Sensation 44:59 – His Heart Tries to Beat Again 45:35 – The First Gasp for Air 45:52 – Three Hours Without a Pulse 48:32 – He Looks in the Mirror — And Laughs With Love for the Man He Used to Hate 49:29 – His Own Dog Doesn't Recognize Him 50:02 – Four Hours Staring at a Wall, Feeling Life in Everything 50:59 – Six Months of Doctors — Without Telling Them He Died 51:24 – The Diagnosis: He Went Septic 52:30 – Confirmed: His Heart Had Actually Stopped 53:12 – Coming Up in Part 2: It Gets Even Stranger
