Near-Death Experiences of the Hollywood Rich and Famous

By Kevin Williams  Blogger Ref http://www.p2pfoundation.net/Multi-Dimensional_Science The article here comes from an intriguing website http://www.near-death.com/index.html#.VW7u3GDbLL8   Incidently, when I went to a talk about Astral Projection by Dr. Douglas Baker many moons ago in Slough he mentioned his friendship with Peter Sellers, and also recounted some of his NDE experiences RS/Blogger The near-death experiences of rich and famous people are particularly interesting. They are rolling in the money. They are known all over the world. They are often beautiful, articulate and very talented in what they do. With this in mind, why would such a person reveal to everyone that they were dead and came back to life? Money? They already got that. Fame? They are already famous. In fact, by telling everyone they came back from the dead, they may be risking their own reputation. People who reveal such things to others often become the butt of jokes or thought to be crazy. Why would anyone rich and famous subject themselves to this when it might result in lost fame and fortune? The only rational reason that such people who have nothing to gain is that it really happened to them and they want to share it with the world. The following are rich and famous people who risked it all to tell the world about their near-death experience. Some of these accounts are documented in Jean Ritchie's excellent book, Death's Door. Some of these celebrity NDEs occurred as the result of a drug addiction. If you suffer from an addiction, please seek help from a reputable rehab center such as the treatment centers for celebrities. Jane Seymour is an actress most noted for the cult classic movie, Somewhere in Time, with actor Christopher Reeves, and the television series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. When Jane Seymour was 36 years of age, she had a severe case of the flu and was given an injection of penicillin. She suffered an allergic reaction which led to a near-death experience. "I literally left my body. I had this feeling that I could see myself on the bed, with people grouped around me. I remember them all trying to resuscitate me. I was above them, in the corner of the room looking down. I saw people putting needles in me, trying to hold me down, doing things. I remember my whole life flashing before my eyes, but I wasn't thinking about winning Emmys or anything like that. The only thing I cared about was that I wanted to live because I did not want anyone else looking after my children. I was floating up there thinking, "No, I don't want to die. I'm not ready to leave my kids." And that was when I said to God, "If you're there, God, if you really exist and I survive, I will never take your name in vain again." Although I believe that I "died" for about thirty seconds, I can remember pleading with the doctor to bring me back. I was determined I wasn't going to die." Then Jane suddenly found herself back in her body.   Peter Sellers was the comic genius of a generation of actors. He brought brilliant characterizations to numerous films, including "The Mouse That Roared" (1959), "Dr. Strangelove" (1964), "The Pink Panther" (1964), and "Being There" (1979). He was known for his enthusiastic way of totally absorbing himself in his characters, even carrying roles offstage. He also suffered from sad moods between films. While he knew his characters thoroughly, he said that he really did not know who he was. Then Peter Sellers, the brilliant, confused actor, had a near-death experience. Seated in a Hollywood mockup of a limousine's back seat while shooting his last great film, "Being There", he told Shirley MacLaine about his near-death experience, astonished that she did not consider him "bonkers." In 1964, during the first of a rapid series of eight heart attacks, when his heart stopped and he was clinically dead, he had an out-of-body experience and saw the bright, loving light: "Well, I felt myself leave my body. I just floated out of my physical form and I saw them cart my body away to the hospital. I went with it ... I wasn't frightened or anything like that because I was fine; and it was my body that was in trouble." (MacLaine,172) The doctor saw that he was dead and massaged his heart vigorously, Meanwhile: "I looked around myself and I saw an incredibly beautiful bright loving white light above me. I wanted to go to that white light more than anything. I've never wanted anything more. I know there was love, real love, on the other side of the light which was attracting me so much. It was kind and loving and I remember thinking 'That's God'". (MacLaine, 172) Peter's out-of-body soul tried to elevate itself toward the light, but he fell short: "Then I saw a hand reach through the light. I tried to touch it, to grab onto it, to clasp it so it could sweep me up and pull me through it." (MacLaine,172) But just then his heart began beating again, and at that instant the hand's voice said: "It's not time. Go back and finish. It's not time." As the hand receded he felt himself floating back down to his body, waking up bitterly disappointed. (MacLaine,173) What effect did his near-death experience have on Sellers? His biographer says that "The repeated act of 'dying' became for Peter Sellers the most important experience of his life." (Walker,158) Sellers said of death: "I'll never fear it again." Family and friends found him more spiritual and reflective than before: "The experience of resurrection intensified Sellers' spiritual concern and friends discerned the start of a new introspectiveness, a sense of his not 'being there' in spirit, though present in body." (Walker,158) His wife Britt Ekland found it unnerving that her previously restless husband had now become so quiet. He was now "sitting still over lengthy periods, saying nothing, but staring at her with his thoughts turned inward." (Walker,158) He returned to England for an extended convalescence, but soon reverted to old habits and bought his 84th car, an expensive Ferrari. A couple of years before the nde, Peter had played an earnest priest in "Heavens Above", and developed a serious interest in Christianity (although he was born Jewish). During this time, following his father's death in 1962, Sellers was drawn to long, serious discussions about life's meaning with a neighboring vicar in London, the Rev. John Hester, "to try to reconcile the world of plenty he inhabited with the emptiness of soul that oppressed him." (Walker,143) After his near-death experience he deepened his quest for spiritual truth, continuing his discussions with Rev. Hester, coming close to joining the church. In later years he practiced yoga, saying once that "Yoga has given me a tranquility I wouldn't have thought possible." (Walker,217) The near-death experience strengthened Sellers' conviction that he was a reincarnated soul whose power of mimicry sprang from memories of past lives. But in this incarnation, at least, he felt lost. He did not know who he was and why he was on this earth. He explained to Shirley MacLaine: "I know I have lived many times before ... that experience confirmed it to me, because in this lifetime I felt what it was for my soul to actually be out of my body. But ever since I came back, I don't know why I don't know what it is I'm supposed to do, or what I came back for." (MacLaine,174) Spirituality gave Sellers some peace, but did not still his restless drift. In 1977 he complained that his yoga practice did not stop his heart disease: "After all, what did it do for me? I obeyed all the instructions. I said my prayers regularly. I did all the exercises for peace, tranquility, and happiness. And all that happened was that I got steadily worse." (Walker,227) Peter Sellers' near-death experience awakened him to a deepened spirituality, but it did not usher in a major, lasting change in his soul's makeup. This brilliant actor still felt lost. A final heart attack struck Peter Sellers - only this time it was his time to go. British actress Elizabeth Taylor spoke about her experience of having died on the operating table while undergoing surgery, and of passing through a tunnel towards a brilliant white light. Interviewed by Larry King on CNN's Larry King Live, the legendary Hollywood star related how she had died for five minutes on the operating table. Ms. Taylor said that while she was clinically dead, she had encountered the spirit of Michael Todd, one of her former husbands, whom she referred to as her great love. She had wanted to stay with Todd, she said, but he had told her that she had work and life ahead of her, and he "pushed me back to my life." Following her resuscitation, the eleven-person medical team - including doctors, nurses, etc. - witnessed Taylor's testimonial of this event. "I was pronounced dead once and actually saw the light. I find it very hard to talk about, actually, because it sounds so corny. It happened in the late '50s, and I saw Mike (Todd, Taylor's third husband, who was killed in a plane crash in 1958). When I came to, there were about 11 people in the room. I'd been gone for about five minutes - they had given me up for dead and put my death notice on the wall. I shared this with the people that were in the room next to me. Then after that I told another group of friends, and I thought, "Wow, this sounds really screwy. I think I'd better keep quiet about this." "For a long time I didn't talk about it, and it's still hard for me to talk about. But I have shared it with people with AIDS because if the moment occurs and you're really sharing, it's real. I am not afraid of death, because I have been there." In an interview with America's AIDS magazine, Liz described her NDE again: "I went to that tunnel, saw the white light, and Mike [Todd]. I said, Oh Mike, you're where I want to be. And he said, ‘No, Baby. You have to turn around and go back because there is something very important for you to do. You cannot give up now.' It was Mike's strength and love that brought me back." The late Robert Pastorelli was most noted for his starring role in the television series, Murphy Brown. At the age of 19, he had a car accident which caused a near-death experience that literally changed how he was living, in a very dramatic way.   "It smashed right into the driver's door. It hit me so hard it actually knocked the shoes off my feet. My car rolled over about four times on this big highway and the next thing I knew I was in intensive care with a collapsed lung. Every one of my ribs was shattered. I had lacerations to my head and face, and my kidneys, spleen and gall bladder were all ruptured. I was a mess.   "I was in excruciating pain. Then, in the next second, there was no pain. Suddenly I realized I was out of my body. I was floating above myself, looking down at my unconscious body lying in the hospital emergency room with my eyes closed. I could see tubes down my nose and throat. I knew I was dying and I thought, "Well, this must be death." I even saw a priest giving me the last rites. But it was the most peaceful feeling in the world. Then I saw my father starting to faint out of grief. Two nurses grabbed him and sat him down in a chair across the room.   "When I looked down and saw my father's pain it had an effect on me. I firmly believe that at that moment I made a decision to live, not die. The next thing I knew I was waking up back in my body. Later, in the recovery room, when I was fully conscious, I told my father what had happened, his fainting and all. He was astounded." Basic Instinct star, Sharon Stone, has told how she had a white light experience during her brain scare. Stone says she almost died after internal bleeding caused by a tear in an artery at the base of her skull. Sharon was interviewed by Katie Couric about her journey into the afterlife. “When it hit me I felt like I'd been shot in the head. That's the only way I can really describe it. It hit me so hard it knocked me over on the sofa. And Phil was out of town and I called him and said, "I think I had a stroke." But in all fairness, I'm a person who's always saying, "I think I've had a stroke, I think I've had a heart attack, I think I've had a brain hemorrhage ... I had a real journey with this that took me to places both here and beyond that affected me so profoundly that my life will never be the same ... I get to be not afraid of dying and I get to tell other people that it's a fabulous thing and that death is a gift. And not that you should kill yourself, but that when death comes to you, as it will, that it's a glorious and beautiful thing. This kind of giant vortex of white light was upon me and I kind of - poof! Sort of took off into this glorious, bright, bright, bright white light and I started to see and be met by some of my friends. But it was very fast - whoosh! Suddenly, I was back. I was in my body and I was in the room.” Gary Busey, once Hollywood's bad boy, was nominated for an Oscar for the movie, The Buddy Holly Story. Busey, who fought addiction with drugs and alcohol for several years, was nicknamed Gary Abusey by his wife. Busey has had supernatural encounters in which he nearly died three or more times in his life ...a drug overdose, cancer, and an accident west of Albuquerque, New Mexico. But the most tragic experience, and one that changed his life, was a motorcycle accident in 1988. Gary was going about 40-50 miles per hour riding on 750 pounds of cold steel. He was not wearing a helmet when he crashed. He was flung over the top of his cycle, head first into the curb and he cracked his skull. Busey had an NDE while he was dying on the operating table after having brain surgery. During his NDE, he was surrounded by angels. Busey stated that they didn't appear in the form that people see on Christmas cards. The angels he saw were big balls of light that floated and carried nothing but love and warmth - and this love is unconditional. As a result of his NDE, he recently dedicated his life to Jesus and has been a prominent speaker at many Christian Promise Keeper rallies. He is no longer the "bad boy" of Hollywood. Larry Hagman, of "Dallas" and "I Dream of Jeanie" fame, underwent a liver transplant in 1995. Years of heavy drinking resulted in cirrhosis and cancer of the liver. He was only weeks away from certain death at the time of his liver transplant and near-death experience. Larry describes what he experienced: "I was able to look over the edge. I got a little glimpse of what was the next step. I didn't see a light some people see, but I had a wonderful feeling of bliss and warmth. The bottom line is love, that sounds corny, but it was just lovely, uplifting." Read Larry Hagman's entire experience here. Actress Sally Kirkland has impressive film credits which include Bruce Almighty, The Sting, JFK, and Anna for which she was nominated for an Oscar as best actress. In 1966, Sally was participating in legal psychedelic experiments with doctors whereby she would have experiences of cosmic consciousness. Unfortunately, these experiences were followed by her life spinning out of control. The pain of life had just become more than she could bear. This led to a nervous breakdown and several suicide attempts. Eventually, she overdosed on Nembutal and Seconal during a suicide attempt and was found with her heart and lungs stopped. Last rites were even administered. It was during this suicide attempt that Sally had an NDE. She states, "A miracle happened, I was given a second chance and this has been a way to stay on the straight and narrow for 30 years, with the exception of a period in 1975 where I went off the track prior to ordination. When people hear the hell I went through on drugs, they listen to how to get off them." Today, Sally is a yoga teacher and serves as an ordained minister in the Church of the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness for the last decade, where she helps others to become drug free. When she is on stage, she uses the emotional recall of her own near-death experience as a source for bringing light to the roles she plays. William Petersen, the star of the TV show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, had a near-death experience which he described in an interview for Playboy magazine (March 2004, page 139). "Years ago, doing a play in Chicago, I cut my finger in half onstage. We obviously had to stop because, well, I didn't have a finger. By the time they got me to the ER I had lost a lot of blood and passed out. I could hear the doctors working on me, saying that they had lost my vital signs. I was on the "All That Jazz" escalator with a long tunnel and a lot of white light. Then I specifically remember a dominant male voice saying, "It's not your time. Get off the escalator. You've got shit to do." I came to, and got sewed up. Something in me changed, a sort of knowledge that somewhere on the other side, its good. For weeks, the more I talked about it, the more freaked out people got. Some of them were like, "Okay, whatever: You took too many drugs." By the late 1970s, Tony Bennett and his career were ailing. He had no record label, no manager, and he was performing almost exclusively in Vegas. Living in Los Angeles, he had a drug habit, a disintegrating marriage, and mounting debts. When the IRS started proceedings to take away his home, he nearly overdosed, and had a near-death experience.   "A golden light enveloped me in a warm glow," he wrote in his autobiography. "I had the sense that I was about to embark on a very compelling journey. But suddenly I was jolted out of the vision ... I knew I had to make major changes in my life."   After this experience, Tony Bennett did make the changes he needed to make and his life and career turned around. With the help of his manager/son Danny, he decided to attempt to appeal to younger audiences with his music. Beginning with scheduled concerts at colleges and small theaters, he eventually got re-signed to Columbia Records in the mid-1980s although he hadn't recorded an album in 11 years. Bennett also appeared on hip shows like The Simpsons and MTV's Unplugged. His Unplugged disk won Tony Bennett a Grammy. Donald Sutherland, who played the character, Hawkeye Piece, in the movie version of Mash, had a near-death experience when ill with meningitis in 1979. "Suddenly the pain, fever and acute distress seemed to evaporate. I was floating above my body, surrounded by soft blue light. I began to glide down a long tunnel, away from the bed ... but suddenly I found myself back in my body. The doctors told me later that I had actually died for a time." Eric Estrada became famous for his starring role in the television series, Chips. While filming an episode of Chips, he had a terrible motorcycle accident that led to a near-death experience. "Suddenly I was in a long corridor with bright lights, beautiful music, and a feeling of great peace. But something seemed to be blocking my progress. A voice told me, 'You've got to go back. You've a lot still to do. You've achieved success and stardom but you haven't achieved personal happiness and peace of mind.'" After hearing this voice, Estrada returned to his body. Burt Reynolds, the star of Smokey and the Bandit, and many other movies, went into a coma when trying to kick a sleeping pill addiction. He stated, "I went into a coma for about eight or nine hours. At one point they tell me that the doctors brought Loni in to say goodbye to me. And I had the whole out of body experience. I heard the doctor say, "We're losing him." And I was going..." Actor James Cromwell became internationally known from his role as Farmer Hoggett, the owner of a piglet in the hit movie Babe. At the age of five, James fell into the ocean which resulted in a near-death experience. Since then, James describes his whole life as a mystical event. After his NDE, James has recurring images in his dreams that are connected to previous incarnations. He states that he has memories of a past life in the days of King Arthur during the Middle Ages. Chevy Chase became famous when he was one of the Not Ready For Prime-Time Players for Saturday Night Live. While working on the film called Modern Problems (1981), Chevy Chase was nearly killed by electrocution when a stunt went awry during the sequence in which he is wearing landing lights and dreams that he is an airplane. The current in the lights short-circuited through his arm, back, and neck muscles which caused him to lose consciousness and have a near-death experience. Now, he sees such accidents as a warning to "cut it out and save his skin." After his experience, he went through a period of deep depression as many experiencers do when they don't want to return from their NDE. Accomplished actor Lou Gossett Jr., famous for his role as a drill sergeant in An Officer and a Gentleman, has had five near-death experiences. Lou's most intriguing encounter occurred at the age of twelve. While playing baseball, he fell into a deep hole and experienced a brilliant tunnel of light. He also recalls a past incarnation as a pirate with a harem off the coast of Morocco. Internationally renowned actor Eric Roberts has starred in more than 70 films, including the Dannion Brinkley movie, Saved by the Light. Eric has traveled all over the world encountering many colorful experiences. One of Eric's most dramatic moments took place in Westport, Connecticut. He was driving along, became distracted by his dog, and crashed. He was hospitalized in a coma and almost died. It was this state that Eric claimed to have had a surreal out-of-body experience. Rebecca DeMornay starred in the movie thriller, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle. When she was 7 years old, she was in Mexico City, Mexico, when she got ill from a peptic ulcer and had what she believes was a near-death experience. "One night the doctors told my mother that there was only a fifty-fifty chance that I'd make it. I remember that I was tied to three IVs but I recall getting out of bed and looking out of the window: it was snowing. There was an old-fashioned lamppost and barefoot children were dancing around it, singing. I went back to bed and the next morning the crisis was over. In 1983 I started thinking about it: "Does it ever snow in Mexico City? Do they have these strange kind of lampposts there?" I went back to Mexico and I didn't see those lampposts anywhere. Nor does it ever snow there." George Lucas is the creator of the blockbuster movie, Star Wars. Lucas is not conscious of having a near-death experience, yet he behaves as if he'd had one. As a youngster, Lucas was considered a punk - a non-achiever, romantic, unathletic, unassertive, and not studious. According to his father, he was good at only two things: cruising and hanging out. Wanting to race cars seemed to be his only ambition. Then, three days before he was to graduate from high school, without warning or advance-behavior cues, Lucas was involved in a spectacular car crash. For three days he hung between life and death and was hospitalized for two weeks more. About the crash, Lucas stated, "You can't have that kind of experience and not feel that there must be a reason why you're here. I realized I should be spending my time trying to figure out what that reason is and trying to fulfill it." Rock star Ozzy Osbourne "died twice" after a bike accident which left him in a coma for eight days. The accident happened when he hit a pothole which was covered in leaves. It catapulted him over the handlebars and he tumbled down a hill with the bike landing on top of him, crushing his chest. His bodyguard rushed to his aid and gave him mouth to mouth when he twice stopped breathing. "If it wasn't for Sam I probably wouldn't be here. He had to bring me back to life twice." Ozzy said. He described his confusion he had felt on gradually coming round from his coma. "I didn't know where I was or how long I'd been there. I would drift in and out of consciousness. Other times there would be a white light shining through the darkness, but no f---king angels, no one blowing trumpets and no man in a white beard." Ozzy, who has battled addictions to drink and drugs, said the crash finally made him "grow up.". Ozzy stated, "You are bopping along through life and have your ups and downs, but it is amazing how two or three seconds can totally change your life." People having near-death experiences are often greeted by someone - usually someone they deeply love or the so-called "Being of Light." When Elvis Presley died, it seemed like the whole world mourned. He was truly loved by many people the world over. Since then, many people have reported having Elvis sightings where the spirit of Elvis appears as an apparition to people much in the same way that Jesus appeared to people after his death. Not only that, many near-death experiencers find themselves greeted, not by a "Being of Light," but by Elvis Presley himself. According to Dr. Melvin Morse in his book on near-death experiences entitled Transformed by the Light, a 45-year old Mid-western teacher saw Elvis Presley in an intense light during her near-death experience. The woman had met Elvis when she was a child. The following is her near-death account: "I entered into a dark tunnel and suddenly I was in a place filled up with love and a beautiful, bright light. The place seemed holy. My father, who had died two years earlier, was there, as were my grandparents. Everyone was happy to see me, but my father told me it was not my time and I would be going back. Just as I turned to go, I caught sight of Elvis! He was standing in this place of intense bright light. He just came over to me, took my hand and said, "Hi, Bev, do you remember me?" (Mauro,1992) Dr. Raymond Moody wrote an entire book on Elvis sightings, including near-death experiences, entitled Elvis After Life. Because of the large number of devoted Elvis fans, it should not be a surprise that people having NDEs should be greeted by the King of Rock and Roll.     "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science." - Albert Einstein

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Psi in the News

David Metcalfe  writing on Reality Sandwich, a fascinating blog   RS.

Ethnography of the afterlife, skeptics issue UK psychics a scientific challenge, presentiment, premonitions and a heaping helping of NDE, in this edition of Psi-in-the-News:

• Healing Touch therapy, the role of memory in precognitive dream experience and a replication of Dean Radin’s presentiment studies are the subjects of study for 2012 PARE winning grant proposals. (Parapsychological Association)
  http://www.parapsych.org/articles/37/154/2012_pare_awardees_announced.as...
• The latest issue of Edge Science, the journal of the Society for Scientific Exploration, featuring contributions from William F. Bengston, Larry Dossey, Kenneth Smith, Michael Grosso and Rafael Locke, is now available. (SSE)
  http://www.scientificexploration.org/edgescience/
• The October issue of Paranthropology is available as well, featuring contributions from Hillary S. Webb, Mark A. Schroll, Matt Cardin, Andy Letcher and Eugene Burger. (Paranthropology)
  http://paranthropologyjournal.weebly.com/free-pdf.html
• Fiona Bowie, director of the Afterlife Research Center, presents some interesting ideas for ethnographic explorations of the afterlife. (ARC)
  http://www.academia.edu/2020967/Towards_a_Methodology_for_the_Ethnograph...
• Dr Tony Jinks from the Australian Institute of Parapsychological Research discusses that often asked question, “Parapsychology what is it?” on the Afternoons podcast with James Valentine. (ABC News Sydney)
  http://blogs.abc.net.au/nsw/2012/10/parapsychology-what-is-it.html
• 20/20 is featuring a segment on ‘premonitions,’ which will air on Friday, October 26th. (ABC News)
  http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/10/22/do-you-believe-in-premonit...
• The National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, and the Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana, of the Vivekananda Yoga Research Foundation, published a paper in 2008 on an FMRI study looking for the ‘telepathy center’ of the brain. (Science 2.0)
  http://www.science20.com/beachcombing_academia/search_telepathy_center-9...
• Guardian UK blogger, Grrlscientist gets personal with a diatribe against Nobel laureate Brian Josephson, presenting him with the Nobel Prize for Quakpottery for his work in parapsychology and advanced physics. (Guardian UK)
  http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/grrlscientist/2012/oct/09/nobel-prize-...
• Ben Radford reiterates his belief that results in parapsychological research remain inconclusive. (LiveScience)
  http://www.livescience.com/23852-esp-psychic-powers.html
• Skeptics Chris C. French, Michael Marshall , and Simon Singh challenge UK psychics to put their abilities under the lense of scientific scrutiny with an experiment just in time for Halloween. (Guardian UK)
  http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2012/oct/16/psychics-prove-powers...
• Chris C. French further outlines the reason for the experiment, in an expose on how lucrative fraud can be when you pretend to be psychic. (Guardian UK)
  http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/oct/22/psychic-sally-morgan-invit...
• Researcher Marjaana Lindeman, at the University of Helsinki, Finland, discovers that skeptics suffer from a measurable perceptual bias. (Secular News Daily)
  http://www.secularnewsdaily.com/2012/10/sceptics-subconsciously-repress-...
• Can we rely on honest reporting from the media and academic critics of parapsychology? Michael Tymn discusses paid debunkers, and some of the problems with getting accurate information about psi studies into the public sphere. (White Crow Books)
  http://whitecrowbooks.com/michaeltymn/entry/paid_debunkers_how_the_publi...
• In a two part article for Psychology Today Scott A. McGreal makes the unsubstantiated claim that parapsychologists think psi is supernatural, and reduces 130 years of psychical research to an awkward critique of Daryl Bem’s 2010 paper on presentiment. (Psychology Today)
  http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/unique-everybody-else/201210/precogn...
• http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/unique-everybody-else/201210/precogn...
• To highlight just how short sighted McGreal’s critique is, The Frontiers in Perception Science journal has published a meta-analysis of presentiment studies co-authored by Julia Mossbridge, Northwestern University, Patrizio Tressoldi, University of Padova, and Jessica Utts, University of California, which shows that Bem’s hypothesis is in line with results from a number of other studies in different areas. (Frontiers in Perception Science)
  http://www.frontiersin.org/Perception_Science/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00390/f...
• For those who aren’t ready to wade into the full depth of the paper, Greg Taylor provides a nice overview with additional links. (The Daily Grail)
  http://www.dailygrail.com/Mind-Mysteries/2012/10/Feeling-the-Future-Roun...
• Pramod Pathak reviews the latest anthology from Sudhir Kakar and Jeffrey J Kripal , Seriously Strange. (Daily Pioneer)
  http://www.dailypioneer.com/sunday-edition/sundayagenda/books-reviews/10...
• Bill Ellis reviews Jeffrey Kripal’s previous publication Authors of the Impossible.
  http://www.academia.edu/2022951/Book_Review_-_Jeffrey_J._Kripal_Authors_...
• Michael Cocks reviews Rupert Sheldrake’s new book, Science Set Free. (White Crow Books)
  http://whitecrowbooks.com/michaelcocks/entry/sheldrakes_the_science_delu...
• Jon Murray reviews Matmos’ Ganzfeld EP, the musical experiment which reportedly used experimental precognition as a creative source, and provides a video preview of Very Large Green Triangles, one of the songs from the EP. (LA Snark)
  http://www.lasnark.com/matmos-very-large-green-triangles-video
• Scott Morrow adds his two cents with another review of the Ganzfeld EP, and an audio preview of Very Large Green Triangels. (Alarm Magazine)
  http://alarm-magazine.com/2012/review-matmoss-the-ganzfeld-ep/
• Sydney Brownstone goes straight to the source in an interview with Drew Daniels from Matmos about the inspiration and experimentation that lead to their latest release. (Mother Jones)
  http://www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2012/10/interview-matmos-ganzfiel...

Neuroscientist Eben Alexander’s new book, Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife, has drawn a lot of commentary in the mediasphere. Here is a round-up of some of the back and forth pro, con and undecided. 

On the skeptical side:

• Sam Harris thinks that Alexander’s NDE sounds more like a case of confabulated memory and DMT. (SamHarris.org)
  http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/this-must-be-heaven
• Christian Jarrett gets stuck on the word heaven, and discusses how NDEs don’t prove we have what he calls a soul. (Psychology Today)
  http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brain-myths/201210/near-death-episod...
• Colin Blakemore muses on how “the brain does funny things when it's running out of oxygen.” (DNA)
  http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report_a-neurosurgeon-s-account-of-the-a...
• Peter Stanford decides to stick with the heaven bit as well, and discusses how NDEs represent a longing for an afterlife. (Guardian UK)
  http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/11/dr-eben-alexander-pr...
• P.K. Myers gets straight to the point and chalks Alexander’s experience up to pure delusion. (Scienceblogs.com)
  http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/10/09/newsweek-panders-to-the-de...

On the more open side: 

• Bernardo Kastrup discusses the differences between NDE experiences and psychedelic experiences in light of Sam Harris’ comparison to DMT.
  http://www.bernardokastrup.com/2012/10/sam-harris-critique-of-eben-alexa...
• Greg Taylor, who currently writing a book on NDEs, is  talks about some of the complications that come from using terms like “heaven” when discussing these areas of experience. (The Daily Grail)
  http://www.dailygrail.com/Spirit-World/2012/10/Near-Death-Experience-Com...
• Robert McLuhan continues the examination of why using terms like “heaven” complicates the conversation around NDEs. (Paranormalia)
  http://monkeywah.typepad.com/paranormalia/2012/10/proof-of-heaven.html
• Lucien de Pourtales discusses the archetypal nature of NDEs. (Pijama Surf)
  http://pijamasurf.com/2012/10/las-pruebas-del-cielo-cientifico-de-harvar...
• John Koessler brings a Christian perspective to the issue. (Christianity Today)
  http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/october-web-only/why-its-easy-t...
• Billy Cox provides an interesting commentary on the way stories like Alexander’s are used by the media. (Herald Tribute)
  http://devoid.blogs.heraldtribune.com/13343/near-death-but-no-ufos/
• Matthew Brown opens up the issue of hell, and puts Alexander’s book side by side with the documentary Hellbound. (Deseret News)
  http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865564803/Heaven-and-hell-making-head...
• In a similar vein there is even an invocation of C.S. Lewis famous Screwtape Letters in light of Alexander’s experience. (Conscious Entities)
  http://www.consciousentities.com/?p=1246
• Finally, Eben Alexander himself discusses his experience, and confronts some of the critiques he has received from skeptics. (Skeptico)
  http://www.skeptiko.com/sam-harris-wont-debate-eben-alexander-on-near-de...
  http://www.skeptiko.com/eben-alexander-the-medical-mystery-of-near-death...

Special thanks to Tom Ruffes, of the Society for Psychical Research, for the heads up on the FMRI ‘telepathy center’ study. 

http://www.realitysandwich.com/psi_news_2

Near Death Experience

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For other uses, see Near-death experience (disambiguation).

"NDE" redirects here. For other uses, see NDE (disambiguation). "Near-death" redirects here. For other uses, see Near-death (disambiguation).

A near-death experience (NDE) refers to a broad range of personal experiences associated with impending death, encompassing multiple possible sensations including detachment from the body; feelings of levitation; extreme fear; total serenity, security, or warmth; the experience of absolute dissolution; and the presence of a light.
These phenomena are usually reported after an individual has been pronounced clinically dead or otherwise very close to death, hence the term near-death experience. Many NDE reports, however, originate from events that are not life-threatening. With recent developments in cardiac resuscitation techniques, the number of reported NDEs has increased.^[1] The experiences have been described in medical journals as having the characteristics of hallucinations,^[2][3][4] while parapsychologists, religious believers and some mainstream scientists have pointed to them as evidence of an afterlife and mind-body dualism.^[5][6][7][8]
Popular interest in near-death experiences was initially sparked by Weiss's 1972 The Vestibule, followed by Raymond Moody's 1975 book Life After Life^[9][10] and the founding of the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS) in 1981.^[11] According to a Gallup poll, approximately eight million Americans claim to have had a near-death experience.^[12] Some commentators, such as Simpson,^[13] claim that the number of near-death experiencers may be underestimated. People who have had a near-death experience may not be comfortable discussing the experience with others, especially when the NDE is understood as a paranormal incident.
NDEs are among the phenomena studied in the fields of psychology,^[14] psychiatry,^[15] and hospital medicine.^[16][17]

Contents [hide] 1 Characteristics 2 Research 2.1 Variance in NDE studies 2.2 Biological analysis and theories 2.3 REM state 2.4 Lucid dreaming 2.5 Computational psychology 2.6 Van Lommel studies 2.7 Effects 3 Afterlife viewpoints 4 Personal experiences (Self-reported) 5 In popular culture 6 See also 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External links

[edit] Characteristics

Ascent of the Blessed by Hieronymus Bosch is associated by NDE researchers with aspects of the NDE^[18][19]

The earliest accounts of NDE can be traced to the Myth of Er, recorded in the 4th century BC by Plato's The Republic (10.614-10.621), wherein Plato describes a soldier telling of his near-death experiences.
Researchers have identified the common elements that define near-death experiences.^[20] Bruce Greyson argues that the general features of the experience include impressions of being outside one's physical body, visions of deceased relatives and religious figures, and transcendence of egotic and spatiotemporal boundaries.^[21] The experience may also follow a distinct progression, as illustrated below.
The traits of a classic NDE are as follows:

• A sense/awareness of being dead.^[20][22]
• A sense of peace, well-being and painlessness. Positive emotions. A sense of removal from the world.^[20][22][23]
• An out-of-body experience. A perception of one's body from an outside position. Sometimes observing doctors and nurses performing medical resuscitation efforts.^{[20][22][23][24]}
• A "tunnel experience". A sense of moving up, or through, a passageway or staircase.^[20][22][24]
• A rapid movement toward and/or sudden immersion in a powerful light. Communication with the light.^[22][23]
• An intense feeling of unconditional love.^[23]
• Encountering "Beings of Light", "Beings dressed in white", or similar. Also, the possibility of being reunited with deceased loved ones.^[20][23][24]
• Receiving a life review.^[20][22][23]
• Receiving a "life preview" in the cases of George Ritchie and Betty Eadie, which Ring calls an NDE "Flash Forward".^[25]
• Receiving knowledge about one's life and the nature of the universe.^[23]
• A decision by oneself or others to return to one's body, often accompanied by a reluctance to return.^[20][23][24]
• Approaching a border.^[22]
• The notice of unpleasant sound or noise (claimed by R. Moody).^[9]
• Connection to the cultural beliefs held by the individual, which seem to dictate the phenomena experienced in the NDE and the later interpretation thereof (Holden, Janice Miner. Handbook of Near-Death Experiences. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publishing Data, 2009.).
• Hearing music. According to a study conducted by Dr. Joel Funk, Psychology professor at Plymouth State College in New Hampshire, close to fifty percent of people who have had a NDE remember hearing music.^[26]

Kenneth Ring (1980) subdivided the NDE on a five-stage continuum. The subdivisions were:^[27]

1. Peace
2. Body separation
3. Entering darkness
4. Seeing the light
5. Entering the light

He stated that 60% experienced stage 1 (feelings of peace and contentment), but only 10% experienced stage 5 ("entering the light").^[28]
Clinical circumstances associated with near-death experiences include cardiac arrest in myocardial infarction (clinical death); shock in postpartum loss of blood or in perioperative complications; septic or anaphylactic shock; electrocution; coma resulting from traumatic brain damage; intracerebral hemorrhage or cerebral infarction; attempted suicide; near-drowning or asphyxia; apnea; and serious depression.^[29] In contrast to common belief, Kenneth Ring argues that attempted suicides do not lead more often to unpleasant NDEs than unintended near-death situations.^[30]
The distressing aspects of some NDEs are discussed more closely by Greyson and Bush.^[31] Karlis Osis and his colleague Erlendur Haraldsson argued that the content of near death experiences does not vary by culture, except for the identity of the figures seen during the experiences;^[32] however Yoshi Hata and his team reported NDEs with substantially different contents than those described above.^[33]

[edit] Research

Contributions to the research on near-death experiences have come from several academic disciplines, among these the disciplines of medicine, psychology and psychiatry. Interest in this field of study was originally spurred by the research of such pioneers as Jess Weiss, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, George Ritchie, and Raymond Moody Jr. Moody's book Life After Life, which was released in 1975, brought public attention to the topic of NDEs.^[20] This was soon to be followed by the establishment of the International Association for Near-death Studies (IANDS) in 1981. IANDS is an international organization that encourages scientific research and education on the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual nature and ramifications of near-death experiences. Among its publications are the peer-reviewed Journal of Near-Death Studies and the quarterly newsletter Vital Signs.^[11]
Later researchers, such as Bruce Greyson, Kenneth Ring, and Michael Sabom, helped to launch the field of Near-Death Studies and introduced the study of near-death experiences to the academic setting. The medical community has been reluctant to address the phenomenon of NDEs, and grant money for research has been scarce.^[11] Nevertheless, both Greyson and Ring developed tools usable in a clinical setting. Major contributions to the field include Ring's construction of a "Weighted Core Experience Index"^[34] to measure the depth of the near-death experience, and Greyson's construction of the "Near-death experience scale"^[35] to differentiate between subjects that are more or less likely to have experienced an NDE. The latter scale is also, according to its author, clinically useful in differentiating NDEs from organic brain syndromes and nonspecific stress responses.^[35] The NDE-scale was later found to fit the Rasch rating scale model.^[14] Greyson^[36] has also brought attention to the near-death experience as a focus of clinical attention, while Melvin Morse, head of the Institute for the Scientific Study of Consciousness, and colleagues^[24][37] have investigated near-death experiences in a pediatric population.
Neurobiological factors in the experience have been investigated by researchers in the field of medical science and psychiatry.^[38] Among the researchers and commentators who tend to emphasize a naturalistic and neurological base for the experience are the British psychologist Susan Blackmore (1993), with her "dying brain hypothesis",^[39] and the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, Michael Shermer (1998). More recently, cognitive neuroscientists Jason Braithwaite (2008)^[40] from the University of Birmingham and Sebastian Dieguez (2008)^[41] and Olaf Blanke (2009)^[42] from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland have published accounts presenting evidence for the brain-based nature of near death experiences.
In September 2008, it was announced that 25 U.K. and U.S. hospitals would examine near-death studies in 1,500 heart attack patient-survivors. The three-year study, coordinated by Sam Parnia at Southampton University, hopes to determine if people without heartbeat or brain activity can have an out-of-body experience with veridical visual perceptions.^[43] This study follows on from an earlier 18-month pilot project.^[44] On a July 28, 2010 interview about a recent lecture at Goldsmiths,^[45] Parnia asserts that "evidence is now suggesting that mental and cognitive processes may continue for a period of time after a death has started" and describes the process of death as "essentially a global stroke of the brain. Therefore like any stroke process one would not expect the entity of mind / consciousness to be lost immediately". He also expresses his disagreement with the term 'near death experiences' because "the patients that we study are not near death, they have actually died and more over it conjures up a lot of imprecise scientific notions, due to the fact that [death] itself is a very imprecise term".^[46]
Researcher Lakhmir Chawla at George Washington University medical centre in Washington D.C. argues that near-death experiences are caused by a surge of electrical activity as the brain runs out of oxygen before death. Levels were similar to those seen in fully conscious people, even though blood pressure was so low as to be undetectable, and could generate vivid images and feelings. The gradual loss of brain activity had occurred in the approximate hour before death, and was interrupted by a brief spurt of action, lasting from 30 seconds to three minutes. Sam Parnia refuted this explanation, claiming that Lakhmir Chawla had not provided proof that the electrical surges he recorded were linked to near-death experiences, saying: "Since all the patients died, we cannot tell what they were experiencing".^[47]
Among the scientific and academic journals that have published, or are regularly publishing, new research on the subject of NDEs are Journal of Near-Death Studies, Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, British Journal of Psychology, American Journal of Disease of Children, Resuscitation, The Lancet, Death Studies, and the Journal of Advanced Nursing.

[edit] Variance in NDE studies

The prevalence of NDEs has been variable in the studies that have been performed. According to the Gallup and Proctor survey in 1980-1981, of a representative sample of the American population, data showed that 15% had an NDE.^[48] Knoblauch in 2001 performed a more selective study in Germany and found that 4% of the sample population had experienced an NDE.^[49] The information gathered from these studies may nevertheless be subject to the broad timeframe and location of the investigation.
Perera et al., in 2005, conducted a telephone survey of a representative sample of the Australian population, as part of the Roy Morgan Catibus Survey, and concluded that 8.9% of the population had experienced an NDE.^[50] In a more clinical setting, van Lommel et al. (2001), a cardiologist from Netherlands, studied a group of patients who had suffered cardiac arrests and who were successfully revived. They found that 62 patients (18%) had an NDE, of whom 41 (12%, or 66% of those who had an NDE) described a core experience.
According to Martens^[51] the only satisfying method to address the NDE-issue would be an international multicentric data collection within the framework for standardized reporting of cardiac arrest events. The use of cardiac-arrest criteria as a basis for NDE research has been a common approach among the European branch of the research field.^[17][52]

[edit] Biological analysis and theories

The first formal neurobiological model for NDE was presented in 1987 by Chilean scientists Juan Sebastián Gómez-Jeria and Juan Carlos Saavedra-Aguilar from the University of Chile.^[53] In the 1990s, Rick Strassman conducted research on the psychedelic drug dimethyltryptamine (DMT) at the University of New Mexico.^[54][55][56] Strassman advanced the theory that a massive release of DMT from the pineal gland prior to death or near-death was the cause of the near-death experience phenomenon. Only two of his test subjects reported NDE-like aural or visual hallucinations, although many reported feeling as though they had entered a state similar to the classical NDE. His explanation for this was the possible lack of panic involved in the clinical setting and possible dosage differences between those administered and those encountered in actual NDE cases. All subjects in the study were also very experienced users of DMT and/or other psychedelic/entheogenic agents. Some speculators consider that if subjects without prior knowledge on the effects of DMT had been used during the experiment, more volunteers would have reported NDE.
Critics have argued that neurobiological models often fail to explain NDEs that result from close brushes with death, where the brain does not actually suffer physical trauma, such as a near-miss automobile accident. Such events may however have neurobiological effects caused by stress.
In a new theory devised by Richard Kinseher in 2006, the knowledge of the Sensory Autonomic System is applied in the NDE phenomenon. His theory states that the experience of looming death is an extremely strange paradox to a living organism; as a result whereof, during the NDE, the individual becomes capable of "seeing" the brain performing a scan of the whole episodic memory (even prenatal experiences), in order to find a stored experience comparable to the information of death. All these scanned and retrieved data are permanently evaluated by the mind searching for a coping mechanism of the potentially fatal situation. Because people who experience NDEs report the experience of memories long considered lost, this theory necessarily depends upon a theory of memory in which all memories are indefinitely retained.
The theory also states that out-of-body experiences, accompanied by NDEs, are an attempt by the brain to create a mental estimation of the situation and the surrounding world. The brain then transforms the input from sensory organs and stored experience (knowledge) into a dream-like idea about oneself and the surrounding area. This, in turn, depends on a subconscious function of the sensory organs, rather than a total sensory loss.
Whether or not these experiences are hallucinatory, they have a profound impact on the observer. Many psychologists not necessarily pursuing the paranormal, such as Susan Blackmore, have recognized this, and seek its biological cause.^[57]
According to Engmann,^[58] near-death experiences of people who are clinically dead are psychopathological symptoms caused by a severe malfunction of the brain resulting from the cessation of cerebral blood circulation. An important question is whether it is possible to "translate" the bloomy experiences of the reanimated survivors into psychopathologically basic phenomena, e.g. acoasms, central narrowing of the visual field, autoscopia, visual hallucinations, activation of limbic and memory structures according to Moody's stages. The symptoms suppose a primary affliction of the occipital and temporal cortices under clinical death. This basis could be congruent with the thesis of pathoclisis—the inclination of special parts of the brain to be the first to be damaged in case of disease, lack of oxygen, or malnutrition—established eighty years ago by C. and O. Vogt.^[59] According to that thesis, the basic phenomena should be similar in all patients with near-death experiences. But a crucial problem is to distinguish these basic psychopathological symptoms from the secondary mental associated experiences which may result from a reprocessing of the basic symptoms under the influence of the person's cultural and religious views.
Research released in 2010 by University of Maribor, Slovenia had put near-death experiences down to high levels of carbon dioxide in the blood altering the chemical balance of the brain and tricking it into 'seeing' things.^[47] Of the 52 patients, 11 reported NDEs. ^[60][61]
An article by Netherlands researchers Pim van Lommel et al., argues, "With a purely physiological explanation such as cerebral anoxia for the experience, most patients who have been clinically dead should report one."^[17] Accordingly, a lack of predictable experiences should cast doubt on wholesale explanations of NDEs. According to Southampton University researcher Sam Parnia, "Death starts when the heart stops beating, but we can intervene and bring people back to life, sometimes even after three to four hours when they are kept very cold. It could be that a far higher proportion of people have near-death experiences but don't remember them."^[47]

[edit] REM state

It is suggested that the extreme stress caused by a life threatening situation triggers brain states similar to REM sleep and that part of the near death experience is a state similar to dreaming while awake.^[62] People who have experienced times when their brains behaved as if they were dreaming while awake are more likely to develop the near death experience. Further stimulation of the Vagus nerve during the physical and/or psychological stress of a life threatening situation, or the product of the imperiled brain, and may trigger brain conditions where the person is in a dream-like state while awake.^{[63][64][65][66]}

[edit] Lucid dreaming

Some sleep researchers, such as Timothy J. Green, Lynne Levitan and Stephen LaBerge, have noted that NDE experiences are similar to many reported of lucid dreaming, wherein the individual realizes he is in a dream. Often these states are so realistic as to be barely distinguishable from reality.
In a study of fourteen lucid dreamers performed in 1991, people who perform wake-initiated lucid dreams operation (WILD) reported experiences consistent with aspects of out-of-body experiences such as floating above their beds and the feeling of leaving their bodies.^[67] Due to the phenomenological overlap between lucid dreams, near-death experiences, and out-of-body experiences, researchers say they believe a protocol could be developed to induce a lucid dream similar to a near-death experience in the laboratory.^[68]
Other similarities include seeing oneself from the outside (an out of body experience), floating or flying, heightened awareness, and feelings of joy or peace. Some researchers believe this is caused when the mind is deprived of the majority of its senses and relies on the expectational processing. In this regard one experiences what one would expect to happen in their current circumstance. This could explain experiences caused by mental trauma such as a near miss accident in which the mind may close itself off at least partially to the senses and ones caused by physical trauma in which again the mind closes itself off to the world.^{[citation needed]} At present, there exists no clear physiological or psychological basis for any relationship between lucid dreaming and NDEs.

[edit] Computational psychology

Modeling of NDEs using artificial neural networks has shown that some aspects of the core near-death experience can be achieved through simulated neuron death.^{[69][70][71][72]} In the course of such simulations, the essential features of the NDE, life review, novel scenarios (i.e., heaven or hell), and OBE are observed through the generation of confabulations or false memories, as discussed in Confabulation (neural networks). The key feature contributing to the generation of such confabulatory states are a neural network's inability to differentiate dead from silent neurons.^[73] Memories, whether related to direct experience, or not, can be seeded upon arrays of such inactive brain cells.

[edit] Van Lommel studies

The first clinical study of near-death experiences (NDEs) in cardiac arrest patients was by Pim van Lommel, a cardiologist from the Netherlands, and his team (The Lancet, 2001).^[17] Of 344 patients who were successfully resuscitated after suffering cardiac arrest, approximately 18% experienced "classic" NDEs, which included out-of-body experiences. The patients remembered details of their conditions during their cardiac arrest despite being clinically dead with flatlined brain stem activity. Van Lommel concluded that his findings supported the theory that consciousness continued despite lack of neuronal activity in the brain. Van Lommel conjectured that continuity of consciousness may be achievable if the brain acted as a receiver for the information generated by memories and consciousness, which existed independently of the brain, just as radio, television and internet information existed independently of the instruments that received it.^[16]
Van Lommel et al., reported that 62 of the 344 patients with cardiac arrest reported a near-death experience. Of these 62, 50% reported an awareness or sense of being dead, 24% said that they had had an out-of-body experience, 31% recalled moving through a tunnel, whilst 32% described meeting with deceased people. Moreover, while near-death experiencers commonly report feelings of peace and bliss, only 56% associated the experience with such positive emotions. No patients reported a distressing or frightening NDE.^[22]

[edit] Effects

NDE subjects have increased activity in the left temporal lobe.^[3] NDEs are also associated with changes in personality and outlook on life.^[20] Kenneth Ring has identified a consistent set of value and belief changes associated with people who have had a near-death experience. Among these changes one finds a greater appreciation for life, higher self-esteem, greater compassion for others, a heightened sense of purpose and self-understanding, desire to learn, elevated spirituality, greater ecological sensitivity and planetary concern, and a feeling of being more intuitive. Changes may also include increased physical sensitivity; diminished tolerance of light, alcohol, and drugs; a feeling that the brain has been "altered" to encompass more; and a feeling that one is now using the "whole brain" rather than a small part.^[20] However, not all after-effects are beneficial^[74] and Greyson^[75] describes circumstances where changes in attitudes and behavior can lead to psychosocial and psychospiritual problems.^[76] Often the problems are those of the adjustment to ordinary life in the wake of the NDE.

[edit] Afterlife viewpoints

Many view the NDE as the precursor to an afterlife experience, claiming that the NDE cannot be adequately explained by physiological or psychological causes, and that the phenomenon demonstrates that human consciousness can function independently of brain activity.^[77] Many NDE-accounts seem to include elements which, according to several theorists, can only be explained by an out-of-body consciousness. Michael Sabom reports a woman who underwent surgery for an aneurysm, and who reported an out-of-body experience that she claimed continued through a brief period of the absence of any EEG activity. ^[78][78] In another account, from a prospective Dutch NDE study,^[17] a nurse removed the dentures of an unconscious heart attack victim, and was identified by him as the one who removed them, although patient was in a coma and undergoing cardio-pulmonary resuscitation at the time.
Many individuals who experience an NDE see it as a verification of the existence of an afterlife.^[79] This includes those with agnostic/atheist inclinations before the experience. There are examples of ex-atheists, such as the Reverend Howard Storm,^[80] adopting a more spiritual viewpoint after their NDEs. Storm's NDE may also be characterized as a distressing near-death experience.^[81]
Jeffrey Long, a scientist practicing the specialty of radiation oncology, has claimed after his own study that life does indeed unequivocally exist after death, arguing that medicine simply cannot account for the consistencies in the accounts reported by people all over the world having experiences, which he cites as "generally lucid" and "highly organized", and saying that his work is an important step toward bringing science and religion together.^[82] Likewise, individuals who do not experience an NDE after cardiac arrest lost interest in spirituality, although their fear of death also decreased.^[17] Both processes, like most of the psychological transformations associated with a close brush with death, take place over several years.^[17]
Greyson claims that: "No one physiological or psychological model by itself explains all the common features of NDE. The paradoxical occurrence of heightened, lucid awareness and logical thought processes during a period of impaired cerebral perfusion raises particular perplexing questions for our current understanding of consciousness and its relation to brain function. A clear sensorium and complex perceptual processes during a period of apparent clinical death challenge the concept that consciousness is localized exclusively in the brain."^[83]
A recent study by Sam Parnia suggests that such patients are "effectively dead", having no neural activity of those necessary for dreaming or hallucination; additionally, to rule out the possibility that near-death experiences resulted from lack of oxygen, Parnia rigorously monitored the concentrations thereof in the patients’ blood, and found that none of those who underwent the experiences had low levels of oxygen. He was also able to rule out claims that unusual combinations of drugs were to blame because the resuscitation procedure was the same in every case, regardless of whether they had a near-death experience or not. According to Parnia, "Arch sceptics will always attack our work. I’m content with that. That’s how science progresses. What is clear is that something profound is happening. The mind – the thing that is ‘you’ – your ‘soul’ if you will - carries on after conventional science says it should have drifted into nothingness." ^[84][85]
A few people feel that research on NDEs occurring in the blind can be interpreted to support an argument that consciousness survives bodily death. Kenneth Ring claims in the book Mindsight: Near-Death and Out-of-Body Experiences in the Blind that up to 80% of his sample studied reported some visual awareness during their NDE or out of body experience.^[86]
The NDE is often cited as evidence for the existence of the human soul, the afterlife, and heaven and hell, which appear in religious traditions. On the other hand, skeptical commentators view NDEs as neurological and chemical phenomena occurring in the brain, and thus the result of purely physiological and neurobiological mechanisms. The imagery in the experiences also varies within cultures.^[87][88][89]
Recent research into afterlife conceptions across cultures by religious studies scholar Gregory Shushan ^[90] analyzes the afterlife beliefs of five ancient civilizations (Old and Middle Kingdom Egypt, Sumerian and Old Babylonian Mesopotamia, Vedic India, pre-Buddhist China, and pre-Columbian Mesoamerica) in light of historical and contemporary reports of near-death experiences, and shamanic afterlife "journeys". It was found that despite numerous culture-specific differences, the nine most frequently recurring NDE elements also recur on a general structural level cross-culturally, as if to suggest that the authors of these ancient religious texts were familiar with NDE or similar. Cross-cultural similarity, however, can be used to support both religious and physiological theories, for both rely on demonstrating that the phenomenon is universal. Others dispute in favor of cultural similarities; ^[91] and others suggest that the experience is essentially universal, but altered in detail by cultural bias.^[92]

[edit] Personal experiences (Self-reported)

• Return from Tomorrow by George G. Ritchie with Elizabeth Sherrill (1978). George G. Ritchie held positions as president of the Richmond Academy of General Practice; chairman of the Department of Psychiatry of Towers Hospital; and founder and president of the Universal Youth Corps, Inc. He lived in Virginia. At the age of twenty, George Ritchie died in an army hospital. Nine minutes later he returned to life. Ritchie's story was the first contact Raymond Moody (who was studying at the University of Virginia, as an undergraduate in Philosophy, at the time) had with NDEs. It inspired Moody to investigate over 150 cases of near-death experiences, in his book Life After Life, and two other books that followed.
• In 1990, Australian media tycoon Kerry Packer suffered a heart attack while playing polo, leaving him clinically dead for six minutes. He later said of the incident, "I've been to the other side, and let me tell you son, there's fucking nothing there."^[93][94]
• Embraced by the Light by Betty Eadie (1992). One of the most detailed near-death experiences on record.
• Saved by the Light by Dannion Brinkley. Brinkley's experience documents one of the most complete near death experiences, in terms of core experience and additional phenomena from the NDE scale. Brinkley claims to have been clinically dead for 28 minutes and taken to a hospital morgue, but that claim and other claims by him are disputed.
• Placebo by Howard Pittman (1980). A detailed record of Pittman's near-death experience.
• The Darkness of God by John Wren-Lewis (1985), Bulletin of the Australian Institute for Psychical Research No 5. An account of the far-reaching effects of his NDE after going through the death process several times in one night.
• Two have associated their experiences with their decision to join the Bahá'í Faith. Reinee Pasarow has presented her experiences and an extended talk which was filmed Part 1, Part2, with a partial transcript, analyzed from a religious point of view in a commentary and analyzed as part of the paper The Exploration of Life After Death. Pasarow was interviewed by Kenneth Ring. The second is Ricky Bradshaw whose story has been reviewed in several books.^[95][96][97]
• Anita Moorjani, an ethnic Indian woman from Hong Kong, experienced a truly remarkable NDE which has been documented on the Near Death Experience Research Foundation (NDERF) website as one of the most exceptional accounts on their archives. She had end-stage cancer and on February 2, 2006, doctors told her family that she only had a few hours to live. Following her NDE, Anita experienced a remarkable total recovery of her health.^[98]
• Goldie Hawn, while giving a speech at the Buell Theater in Denver, Colorado, reflected upon her near-death experience. When she was younger, and starting out as an actress, she and a group of friends were in a severe car crash together. While she was unconscious, she remembers looking over herself while the paramedics were trying to revive her. She also mentioned seeing a bright light and being told it was not her time soon before she awoke.
• Kiki Carter, a.k.a. Kimberli Wilson, an environmental activist and singer/songwriter, reported a near-death experience in 1983. The day after the experience, her mother, Priscilla Greenwood, encouraged her to write it down. Priscilla Greenwood published the story in September 1983 in a local metaphysical journal. For 24 hours after the experience, Kimberli had an aftervision which was a catalyst for her interest in quantum physics and holograms.^[99]
• 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper, is Piper's account of his own near-death experience. EMTs on the scene determined Piper had been killed instantly after a tractor-trailer had swerved into his lane, crushing his car. Piper survived, however, and later claimed that he saw loved ones and friends as well as magnificent light; he felt a sense of pure peace. Piper had a very difficult and painful recovery, undergoing 34 surgeries.^[100]
• Heaven Is for Real by Todd Burpo, is a father's account of his son, Colton, and Colton's trip to heaven and back. After discovering that Colton's appendix has ruptured, he was rushed to the hospital. Unconscious, Colton alleges to have met Jesus, God, his great-grandfather whom he had never met, and his older sister lost in a miscarriage.^[101]
• Parallel Universes, a Memoir from the Edges of Space and Time by Linda Morabito Meyer is a NASA scientist's account of several near death experiences at the hands of her parents and William Franklin Mosley of the Temple of the More Abundant Life in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The author claimed that during these experiences, she visited Heaven, saw Jesus, and was in the presence of God. ^[102]

[edit] In popular culture

• The 1990 film Flatliners dramatizes the attempts of five medical students (acted by Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon, William Baldwin and Oliver Platt) to find out what lies beyond death. They conduct clandestine experiments that produce NDEs.

• The 2001 novel Passage (hardcover, ISBN 0-553-11124-8), by Connie Willis, follows the efforts of Joanna Lander, a research psychologist, to understand the phenomenon of NDEs by interviewing hospital patients after they are revived following clinical death. She becomes the partner of Dr. Richard Wright, a neurologist who has discovered a way to chemically induce an artificial NDE. Their studies lead Joanna to the discovery of the biological purpose of NDEs.

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[edit] See also

• After-death communication
• Beyond and Back
• Embraced by the Light
• Flatliners
• Form constant
• Hereafter
• Induced after-death communication
• Lazarus phenomenon
• Near-birth experience
• Near-death studies
• Neurotheology
• Premature burial
• Pseudoscience
• Resurrection
• Resurrection (1980 film)
• Sheol
• Superconsciousness
• Suspended animation
• Third Man factor

[edit] References

Notes

1. ^ Beauregard, Mario; Denyse O'Leary (2007). "Toward a Nonmaterialist Science of Mind". The Spiritual Brain. New York: HarperOne. pp. 368. ISBN 978-0-06-085883-4.
2. ^ Buzzi, Giorgio. "Correspondence: Near-Death Experiences." Lancet. Vol. 359, Issue 9323 (June 15, 2002): 2116-2117.
3. ^ ^{a b} Britton, Willoughby B. and Richard R. Bootzin. "Near-Death Experiences and the Temporal Lobe." Psychological Science. Vol. 15, No. 4 (April 2004): 254-258.
4. ^ Blackmore, Susan: Dying to Live: Near-Death Experiences (1993). London, Grafton.
5. ^ Grossman, Neil (Indiana University and University of Illinois), Who's Afraid of Life After Death? Why NDE Evidence is Ignored, Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), 2002
6. ^ Fontana, David (Cardiff University and Liverpool John Moores University), Does Mind Survive Physical Death?, 2003
7. ^ London Telegraph, 10/22/2000 article: Soul-searching doctors find life after death, about Drs. Peter Fenwick and Sam Parnia studies of heart attack survivors
8. ^ Carter, Chris: Science and the Near-Death Experience: How Consciousness Survives Death (2010). Toronto, Inner Traditions. ISBN 1-59477-356-4
9. ^ ^{a b} Moody, R. (1975) Life After Life: The Investigation of a Phenomenon - Survival of Bodily Death. New York: Bantam
10. ^ Duane S. Crowther (2005). Life Everlasting Cedar Fort, p. 19.
11. ^ ^{a b c} IANDS. "Near-Death Experiences: Is this what happens when we die?" Durham: International Association for Near-Death Studies. Informational brochure available at www.iands.org
12. ^ Mauro, James "Bright lights, big mystery".Psychology Today, July 1992.
13. ^ Simpson SM. (2001) Near death experience: a concept analysis as applied to nursing. Journal of Advanced Nursing. Nov;36(4):520-6. PubMed abstract PMID 11703546
14. ^ ^{a b} Lange R, Greyson B, Houran J. (2004) "A Rasch scaling validation of a 'core' near-death experience". British Journal of Psychology, Volume: 95 Part: 2 Page: 161-177
15. ^ Greyson, Bruce (2003), "Near-Death Experiences in a Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic Population", Psychiatric Services, Dec., Vol. 54 No. 12. The American Psychiatric Association.
16. ^ ^{a b} van Lommel, Pim (Hospital Rijnstate),"A Reply to Shermer: Medical Evidence for NDEs" in Skeptical Investigations, 2003. [1]
17. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} van Lommel P, van Wees R, Meyers V, Elfferich I. (2001) "Near-Death Experience in Survivors of Cardiac Arrest: A prospective Study in the Netherlands" in The Lancet, December 15; 358(9298):2039-45. PDF version of article
18. ^ Pim van Lommel (2010). Consciousness Beyond Life: The science of the near-death experience. HarperOne. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-06-177725-7.
19. ^ Evelyn Elsaesser Valarino (1997). On the Other Side of Life: Exploring the phenomenon of the near-death experience. Perseus Publishing. p. 203. ISBN 0-7382-0625-3.
20. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Mauro, James. "Bright lights, big mystery", Psychology Today, July 1992.
21. ^ Greyson, Bruce (2003) "Near-Death Experiences in a Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic Population". Psychiatric Services, December, Vol. 54 No. 12. The American Psychiatric Association
22. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} van Lommel P, van Wees R, Meyers V, Elfferich I. (2001) "Near-Death Experience in Survivors of Cardiac Arrest: A prospective Study in the Netherlands," The Lancet, December 15; 358 (9298):2039-45. Table 2.
23. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} [www.iands.org IANDS] Near-Death Experiences: Is this what happens when we die? Durham: International Association for Near-Death Studies.
24. ^ ^{a b c d e} Morse M., Conner D. and Tyler D. (1985) "Near-Death Experiences in a pediatric population. A preliminary report", American Journal of Disease of Children, n. 139 PubMed abstract PMID 4003364
25. ^ Ring, Kenneth (1982). Life at Death: A scientific investigation of the near-death experience. p. 67.
26. ^ "The NDE and Music " by Kevin Williams
27. ^ Ring, K. (1980). Life at death: A scientific investigation of the near-death experience. New York: Coward, McCann, & Geoghegan., p. 40
28. ^ Kenneth Ring, quoted in Ketamine - Near Death and Near Birth Experiences Dr Karl Jansen
29. ^ van Lommel P, van Wees R, Meyers V, Elfferich I. (2001) "Near-Death Experience in Survivors of Cardiac Arrest: A prospective Study in the Netherlands" in The Lancet, December 15; 358(9298):2039-45. Page 2039
30. ^ Ring, Kenneth. Heading toward Omega. In search of the Meaning of Near-Death Experience, 1984, p. 45. "Subsequent research on suicide-related NDEs by Stephen Franklin and myself [Ring] and by Bruce Greyson has also confirmed my earlier tentative findings the NDEs following suicide attempts, however induced, conform to the classic prototype."
31. ^ Greyson, Bruce & Bush, Nancy E. (1992) "Distressing near-death experiences". Psychiatry, Feb; 55(1):95-110.
32. ^ Culture and NDEs
33. ^ The Natural Death Handbook - Varieties of NDE
34. ^ Ring, K. "Life at death. A scientific investigation of the near-death experience." 1980, New York: Coward McCann and Geoghenan.
35. ^ ^{a b} Greyson, Bruce (1983) "The Near-Death Experience Scale: Construction, reliability, and validity". Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 171, 369-375
36. ^ Greyson B. (1997)"The near-death experience as a focus of clinical attention". Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. May;185(5):327-34. PubMed abstract PMID 9171810
37. ^ Morse M, Castillo P, Venecia D, Milstein J, Tyler DC. (1986) "Childhood near-death experiences". American Journal of Diseases of Children, Nov;140(11):1110-4.
38. ^ Mayank and Mukesh, 2004; Jansen, 1995; Thomas, 2004; Fenwick and Fenwick 2008
39. ^ Bassham, Gregory (2004). Critical Thinking: A Student's Introduction. McGraw-Hill, p. 485. ISBN 0-07-287959-9
40. ^ Near death experiences (NDEs): The dying brain:[2].
41. ^ NDE REdux:[3].
42. ^ Leaving Body And Life Behind:[4].
43. ^ Jane Dreaper, Study into near-death experiences, BBC News, 18 September 2008. Accessed 2008-09-20.
44. ^ Anthony Carroll, Hospital to study near-death experiences, EDP24, 19 September 2008. Accessed 2008-09-20.
45. ^ Anomalistics Psychology Research Unit - Invited Speaker Series 2009-10 Abstracts and biographies
46. ^ AWARE - Update from Dr. Parnia
47. ^ ^{a b c} Fiona Macrae [5], Near-death experiences 'explained': Scientists believe it's the last gasp of a dying brain, Daily Mail, 31 May 2010. Accessed 2012-08-15.
48. ^ Gallup, G., and Proctor, W. (1982). Adventures in immortality: a look beyond the threshold of death. New York, McGraw Hill, pp. 198-200. "Have you, yourself, ever been on the verge of death or had a "close call" which involved any unusual experience at that time?". Nationally 15% responded "yes".
49. ^ Knoblauch, H., Schmied, I. and Schnettler, B. (2001). "Different kinds of Near-Death Experience: a report on a survey of near-death experiences in Germany",Journal of Near-Death Studies, 20, 15-29.
50. ^ Perera, M., Padmasekara, G. and Belanti, J. (2005), "Prevalence of Near Death Experiences in Australia". Journal of Near-Death Studies, 24(2), 109-116.
51. ^ Martens PR (1994) "Near-death-experiences in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survivors. Meaningful phenomena or just fantasy of death?" Resuscitation. Mar; 27(2):171-5. PubMed abstract PMID 8029538
52. ^ Parnia S, Waller DG, Yeates R, Fenwick P (2001) "A qualitative and quantitative study of the incidence, features and aetiology of near death experiences in cardiac arrest survivors". Resuscitation. Feb; 48(2):149-56. PubMed abstract PMID 11426476
53. ^ J.C. Saavedra-Aguilar and Juan S. Gómez-Jeria. "A Neurobiological Model for Near-Death Experiences". Journal of Near-Death Studies, 7(4) Summer 1989. Pp. 205-222. http://200.89.70.78:8080/jspui/handle/2250/14775
54. ^ Rick Strassman (with Slawek Wojtowicz, Luis Eduardo Luna and Ede Frecska), "Inner Paths to Outer Space: Journeys to Alien Worlds through Psychedelics and Other Spiritual Technologies", 376 pages, Park Street Press, 2008, ISBN 978-1-59477-224-5
55. ^ Rick Strassman, DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor's Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences, 320 pages, Park Street Press, 2001, ISBN 0-89281-927-8
56. ^ Rick Strassman, Hallucinogens (chapter), in Mind-Altering Drugs: The Science Of Subjective Experience, 402 pages, Oxford University Press, 2005, ISBN 0-19-516531-4
57. ^ Bruce Greyson, Kevin Nelson, Susan Blackmore, webpage:News-wdeath11-2006-04.
58. ^ Engmann, Birk: Near-death Experiences: A review on the thesis of pathoclisis, neurotransmitter abnormalities, and psychological aspects. MMW-Fortschr.Med.Nr.51-52/2008(150.Jg.)p.42-43. PMID 19156957
59. ^ Vogt C, Vogt O: Erkrankungen der Großhirnrinde im Lichte der Topistik, Pathoklise und Pathoarchitektonik. Journal für Psychologie und Neurologie; Bd. 28. Joh.- Ambr.- Barth- Verlag. Leipzig. 1922 (German)
60. ^ [6], Carbon Dioxide May Explain 'Near Death Experiences, Science Daily, 08 April 2010. Accessed 2011-08-25.
61. ^ James Owen[7], Near-Death Experiences Explained?, National Geographic, 08 April 2010. Accessed 2011-08-25.
62. ^ Young, Saundra (2009-10-16). "Doctor says near-death experiences are in the mind". CNN. http://articles.cnn.com/2009-10-16/health/cheating.near.death_1_geraghty-cardiac-arrest-school-bus/2?_s=PM:HEALTH. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
63. ^ "The Science Of Near-Death Experiences". CBS News. April 18, 2006. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/18/health/main1505530.shtml.
64. ^ Near-death experiences confuse the brain by Ami Norton
65. ^ "At the Hour of Our Death". Time. August 31, 2007. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1657919,00.html.
66. ^ < ""Spiritual Doorway in the Brain": The science of near-death experiences". Salon. January 12, 2011. http://www.salon.com/books/int/2011/01/12/near_death_experience_interview<.
67. ^ Lynne Levitan; Stephen LaBerge (1991). "Other Worlds: Out-of-Body Experiences and Lucid Dreams". Nightlight (The Lucidity Institute) 3 (2-3). http://www.lucidity.com/NL32.OBEandLD.html.
68. ^ Green, J. Timothy (1995). "Lucid dreams as one method of replicating components of the near-death experience in a laboratory setting". Journal-of-Near-Death-Studies 14: 49. "A large phenomenological overlap among lucid dreams, out-of-body experiences, and near-death experiences suggests the possibility of developing a methodology of replicating components of the near-death experience using newly developed methods of inducing lucid dreams. Reports on the literature of both spontaneous and induced near-death-experience-like episodes during lucid dreams suggest a possible protocol."
69. ^ Yam, P., "Daisy, Daisy" Do computers have near-death experience, Scientific American, May 1993.
70. ^ Strok, D., Dying by design, IEEE Expert, Dec.1993.
71. ^ Thaler, S. L. (1995). Death of a gedanken creature, Journal of Near-Death Studies, 13(3), Spring 1995.
72. ^ The death dream and near-death darwinism, Journal of Near-Death Studies, 15(1), Fall 1996.
73. ^ "Virtual Input Phenomena" Within the Death of a Simple Pattern Associator, Neural Networks, 8(1), 55–65.
74. ^ Orne RM. (1995) "The meaning of survival: the early aftermath of a near-death experience". Research in Nursing & Health. 1995 Jun; 18(3):239-47. PubMed abstract PMID 7754094
75. ^ Greyson B. (1997) "The near-death experience as a focus of clinical attention". Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. May; 185(5):327-34. PubMed abstract PMID 9171810
76. ^ The diagnostic label of "Religious or spiritual problem" is included in DSM-IV under the category of "Other conditions that may be a focus of clinical attention". See American Psychiatric Association (1994) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association (Code V62.89, Religious or Spiritual Problem).
77. ^ Rivas T. (2003). "The Survivalist Interpretation of Recent Studies into the Near-Death Experience." Journal of Religion and Psychical Research, 26, 1, 27-31.
78. ^ ^{a b} Sabom, Michael. Light & Death: One Doctor's Fascinating Account of Near-Death Experiences. 1998. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House
79. ^ Kelly EW. (2001) Near-death experiences with reports of meeting deceased people. Death Stud. Apr-May;25(3):229-49
80. ^ Rodrigues, Linda Andrade. Ex-atheist describes near-death experience. Standard Times, Page C4, January 31, 2004. www.southcoasttoday.com
81. ^ The distressing aspects of some NDE's are discussed more closely by Greyson & Bush. Greyson, Bruce & Bush, Nancy E. (1992) Distressing near-death experiences. Psychiatry, Feb; 55(1):95-110.
82. ^ Is There Such a Thing as Life After Death? TIME
83. ^ Greyson, B. (2003). Incidence and correlates of near-death experiences in a cardiac care unit. General Hospital Psychiatry, 25(4), 269-276.
84. ^ Near Death Experiences are Real and We have the Proof, say Scientists News Monster
85. ^ The Trigger of Seizure
86. ^ Ring, Cooper, 1999
87. ^ Near-Death and Out-of-Body Experiences in a Melanesian Society by Dorothy E. Counts]
88. ^ Varieties of NDE
89. ^ Eleven Thai Near-Death Experiences
90. ^ Shushan, Gregory (2009) Conceptions of the Afterlife in Early Civilizations: Universalism, Constructivism and Near-Death Experience. New York & London, Continuum. ISBN 978-0-8264-4073-0
91. ^ Cultural Differences
92. ^ "Do religion and culture affect a Near Death Experience ( NDE )?" Horizon Research Foundation
93. ^ Out there with Madonna - The Sydney Morning Herald - (23 November 2002) - Retrieved 13 Jan 2012.
94. ^ Obituary: Kerry Packer - The Economist - (5 Jan 2006) - Retrieved 13 Jan 2012.
95. ^ Atwater, PMH (2001). Coming Back to Life; The After-Effects of the Near-Death Experience (2001 Revised and Updated ed.). Kensington Pub Corp. pp. 111–112. ISBN 978-0-8065-2303-3.
96. ^ Atwater, PMH (2007). The Big Book of Near-Death Experiences; The Ultimate Guide to What Happens When We Die (2nd, illustrated ed.). Hampton Roads Publishing. pp. 59–60. ISBN 978-1-57174-547-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=cWQwZPptIWUC&lpg=PP1&pg=PT59#v=onepage&q&f=false.
97. ^ Barnes, Linda L.; Sered, Susan Starr (2005). Religion and Healing in America (illustrated ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 399–400. ISBN 978-0-19-516796-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=Uo5iIkzuSfEC&lpg=PA399&pg=PA399#v=onepage&q&f=false.
98. ^ "Anita M's NDE" NDERF
99. ^ Kimberli Wilson
100. ^ 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper
101. ^ Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo
102. ^ "Parallel Universes, a Memoir from the Edges of Space and Time" by Linda A. Morabito

[edit] Further reading

• Atwater, P.M.H. (2007) "The Big Book of Near-Death Experiences: The Ultimate Guide to What Happens When We Die". Hampton Roads Publishing. ISBN 978-1-57174-547-7
• Blackmore, Susan (1993) Dying to live: Science and Near-Death Experiences. London: Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-87975-870-7
• Blanke, Olaf; Ortigue, Stéphanie; Landis, Theodor; Seeck, Margitta (2002) Stimulating illusory own-body perceptions. The part of the brain that can induce out-of-body experiences has been located. Nature, Vol. 419, 19 September 2002
• Britton WB & Bootzin RR. (2004) Near-death experiences and the temporal lobe. Psychol Sci. Apr;15(4):254-8.PubMed abstract PMID 15043643
• Carter, Chris (2010) Science and the Near-Death Experience: How Consciousness Survives Death Toronto, Inner Traditions. ISBN 1-59477-356-4
• Corazza, Ornella (2008) Near-Death Experiences: exploring the mind-body connection. London & New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-45519-0
• Cowan, J. D. (1982) Spontaneous symmetry breaking in large-scale nervous activity. International Journal of Quantum Chemistry, 22, 1059-1082.
• Father Rose, Seraphim (1980) The Soul after Death. Saint Herman Press, ISBN 0-938635-14-X
• Fenwick, Peter and Elizabeth (2008) The Art of Dying. Continuum Books, ISBN 978-0-8264-9923-3
• Greyson, B. (2000) Some neuropsychological correlates of the physio-kundalini syndrome. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 32, 123-134.
• Holcroft, Christopher J. (2011) Finding Thomas. Infinity Publishing, ISBN 0-7414-6475-6
• Jansen, Karl L. R. (1995) Using ketamine to induce the near-death experience: mechanism of action and therapeutic potential. Yearbook for Ethnomedicine and the Study of Consciousness (Jahrbuch furr Ethnomedizin und Bewubtseinsforschung) Issue 4 pp55–81.
• Kübler-Ross, Elizabeth M.D. (1991) On Life After Death. Celestial Arts, ISBN 978-1587613180
• Moody, R. (1977) Reflections on Life After Life: More Important Discoveries In The Ongoing Investigation Of Survival Of Life After Bodily Death. New York: Bantam
• Moody, R. (1999) The Last Laugh: A New Philosophy of Near-Death Experiences, Apparitions, and the Paranormal. Hampton Roads Publishing Company
• Morse, Melvin & Perry, Paul (1992) Transformed by the Light. New York: Villard Books, ISBN 978-0679404439
• Morse, Melvin, & Paul Perry (1990) Closer to the Light: Learning From the Near-Death Experiences of Children. New York: Villard Books, ISBN 0394579445
• Peake, Anthony (2006) Is There Life After Death? Chartwell Books in USA & Arcturus in UK, ISBN 978-0785821625
• Pinchbeck, Daniel (2002) Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism. Broadway Books, trade paperback, 322 pages. ISBN 978-0767907422
• Pravda (2004) Reanimators try to grasp the afterlife mystery. Pravda article 21.12.2004. (Article translated by: Maria Gousseva)
• Raaby et al. (2005) Beyond the Deathbed. Norwich: Jarrold Publishing.
• Rivas T. (2003). The Survivalist Interpretation of Recent Studies into the Near-Death Experience. Journal of Religion and Psychical Research, 26, 1, 27-31.
• Rodrigues, Linda Andrade (2004) Ex-atheist describes near-death experience. Standard Times, Page C4, January 31, 2004
• Shushan, Gregory (2009) Conceptions of the Afterlife in Early Civilizations Universalism, Constructivism and Near-Death Experience. New York & London, Continuum. ISBN 978-0-8264-4073-0
• Strassman, Rick (2001) DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor's Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences, 320 pages, Park Street Press, 2001, ISBN 0-89281-927-8
• Thomas, Shawn (2004) Agmatine and Near-Death Experiences. Article published at www.neurotransmitter.net
• Thondup, Tulku, Peaceful Death, Joyful Rebirth: A Tibetan Buddhist Guidebook with a CD of Guided Meditations",Publisher: Shambhala; Pap/Com edition (December 12, 2006), ISBN 1-59030-385-7 (10), ISBN 978-1-59030-385-6 (13)
• Gómez Jeria, Juan Sebastián: A Near-Death Experience Among the Mapuche People. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 11(4) Summer, 1993. http://200.89.70.78:8080/jspui/handle/2250/14861
• Gómez Jeria, Juan Sebastián: A Near-Death Experience in Pu Songling's 8trange Stories from Liaozhai's 8tudio. Journal of Near·Death Studies, 25(2), Winter, 2006. http://200.89.70.78:8080/jspui/handle/2250/14883
• Gómez Jeria, Juan Sebastián and Saavedra Aguilar, Juan Carlos: A Neurobiological Model lor Near-Death Experiences:The Problem of Recall of Real Events. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 13(2), Winter, 1994. http://200.89.70.78:8080/jspui/handle/2250/14887.
• Saavedra Aguilar, Juan C. and Gómez Jeria, Juan Sebastián. Response to Commentaries on "A Neurobiological Model for Near-Death Experiences". Journal of Near-Death Studies, 7(4) Summer 1989. http://200.89.70.78:8080/jspui/handle/2250/14776

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Near-death experiences

• International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS)
• University of Virginia Health System - Division of Personality Studies
• USA Today March 2009 story about CEOs who have experienced NDEs
• Play and the Paranormal A Conversation with Dr. Raymond Moody
• abc's "20/20" interview with Matthew Dovel, (July 13, 2007), Touching Heaven and Hell
• Audio interview with NDE researcher Dr. Jeffrey Long
• Video interview with NDE researcher Dr. Steven Laureys

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