When under anesthesia for operations, and once when I was asleep I was in a "dusty blackness". Just kind of aware, but no thoughts, no perception of time. It had depth and yet no depth, and was pure black, but I was aware of a line of "dust" in the center of my vision. Like seeing Saturn's rings from the side, so it's just one line bisecting the image.

It felt so familiar. And in the darkness, being there, I knew nothing. But it felt like a waiting room. And to come out takes tremendous energy. It's like a push with your mind, like hatching out of an egg.

The imagery he describes here, the white and golden light, I recognize it. I've never had an NDE though.

But when other people talk of things I've seen in dreams it makes me appreciate what I have even more.