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open access

Changes in Religious Beliefs, Attitudes, and Practices Following Near-Death Experiences: An Australian Study

Description: Abstract: This study examined changes in religious beliefs, attitudes, and practices in the lives of 50 near-death experiencers. I attempted to clarify whether these changes were to greater religiousness or to a deeper spirituality. I found that before the near-death experience (NDE), my respondents were no more religious or spiritually inclined than the general Australian population. Following the NDE there was a statistically significant shift towards spirituality on most items investigate… more
Date: Autumn 1990
Creator: Sutherland, Cherie
open access

Community Attitudes Toward Near-Death Experiences: A Chinese Study

Description: Abstract: In a survey of Chinese attitudes toward near-death experiences (NDEs), 197 respondents were read a hypothetical description of an NDE and asked to choose from a range of explanations and social reactions that might approximate their own. Fifty-eight percent of respondents believed that NDEs were probably hallucinations or dreams. Less than nine percent believed the NDE was evidence of life after death. Rural and younger persons were more likely to react positively to NDErs. The re… more
Date: Spring 1990
Creator: Kellehear, Allan; Heaven, Patrick & Gao, Jia
open access

Extrasensory Perception, Near-Death Experiences, and the Limits of Scientific Knowledge

Description: Article discussing the following issue: If mental state can influence the external world, or if alternate dimensions of reality are accessible only in certain mental states, then important aspects of the universe are unknowable with current scientific tools. Near-death studies suggest that both those conditions may occur. Thus the exploration of NDE-like phenomena requires a radically new scientific paradigm.
Date: Autumn 1990
Creator: Becker, Carl B.
open access

Five Minutes After Death: A Study of Beliefs and Expectations

Description: Abstract: This paper examines the beliefs and expectations that a sample of 508 people hold about the first five minutes after death. A substantial minority believed that they will experience the main elements of the near-death experience (NDE). In general these elements were cited more frequently than were Biblical images. Six percent of the sample said that postmortem survival for them will be a negative and disturbing experience. We discuss these results in terms of their methodological … more
Date: Winter 1990
Creator: Kellehear, Allan &
open access

Guest Editorial: The Near-Death Experience: An Ancient Truth, a Modern Mystery

Description: Article discussing the near-death experience (NDE) as an experience of wholeness, an adventure in consciousness, and a metaphoric encounter with light. It links theoretical physics with the occult, the Primordial Tradition, and various religious belief systems. Where science sees mystery, religion sees metaphoric truth; the NDE as spiritual quest and physical encounter beckons to both disciplines for explanation.
Date: Spring 1990
Creator: Fenske, Elizabeth W.
open access

Guest Editorial: Thomas Kuhn Revisited: Near Death Studies and Paradigm Shifts

Description: Article purporting that near-death studies can be viewed within a theoretical framework of "paradigms" and "paradigm shifts" as explicated by Thomas Kuhn. Assuming the validity of Kuhn's model, it hypothesizes that the paradigm of today's "normal science" is shifting to a new paradigm to accommodate data from near-death studies.
Date: Autumn 1990
Creator: Serdahely, William J.
open access

Historical Perspectives on Near-Death Phenomena

Description: Abstract: The authors present an introductory overview of the history of near-death phenomena, followed by a synopsis of near-death research representative of three historical eras: 1880s-1930s; 1930s-1960; and 1960 to the present.
Date: Winter 1990
Creator: Walker, Barbara A. & Serdahely, William J.
open access

Near-Death Encounters with and without Near-Death Experiences: Comparative NDE Scale Profiles

Description: Abstract: In a retrospective study contrasting the near-death encounters of 183 persons who reported near-death experiences and 63 persons who reported no near-death experience, the two groups did not differ in age, gender, or time elapsed since the near-death encounter. Near-death experiencers reported all 16 items of the NDE Scale significantly more often than did nonexperiencers.
Date: Spring 1990
Creator: Greyson, Bruce
open access

The Near-Death Experience and the Taoism of Chuang Tzu

Description: Article comparing excerpts from Chuang Tzu's writings and the descriptions of near-death experiencers (NDErs). Similarities between the beliefs of NDErs and those of Taoist patriarch Chuang Tzu suggest that NDErs have experienced a kind of awakening that leads them to reject conventional attitudes toward life and death.
Date: Spring 1990
Creator: Hermann, E. J.
open access

Near-Death Experience by Proxy: A Case Study

Description: Abstract: A recent interview with a 34-year-old man, currently serving a life sentence for murder, revealed a remarkable case of "near-death experience by proxy." The phenomenological features of the experience unfolded typically, with some slight variation in content. The immediate drastic changes in attitude and belief following the experience are described.
Date: Summer 1990
Creator: Sutherland, Cherie
open access

The Near-Death Experience of a Nonverbal Person with Congenital Quadriplegia

Description: Abstract: This article describes the near-death experience (NDE) a 39-year-old man born with severe spastic quadriplegia had when he was two and one-half years old. Nonverbal because of cerebral palsy, the man was able to communicate about his experience after he heard a therapist talking to another person about NDEs. The man experienced a fairly typical NDE and has had seven subsequent out-of-body experiences, the latter hypothesized as temporary relief from his physical pain resulting from … more
Date: Winter 1990
Creator: Serdahely, William J. & Walker, Barbara A.
open access

Near-Death Experiences and the Measurement of Blood Gases

Description: Abstract: Although cerebral anoxia is not thought to be responsible for triggering near-death experiences (NDEs), the issue is not so clear in the case of hypercapnia. Detection of normal blood gases in Michael Sabom's (1982) case study seems to be the major reply to suggest that hypercapnia may have a causal role in NDEs. We argue, however, that routine arterial measures of blood gases are not a reliable indicator of cerebral levels.
Date: Autumn 1990
Creator: Gliksman, Michael D. & Kellehear, Allan
open access

Near-Death Experiences: Perception Is Reality

Description: Article proposing three etiologies responsible for the near-death experience, which are referred to as an altered state of consciousness: physiologic, pharmacologic, and psychologic. It recommends research to determine what developmental factors influence the emotionality of the experience and how in-depth understanding can be used to provide better patient care.
Date: Winter 1990
Creator: Schnaper, Nathan & Panitz, Harriet L.
open access

Near-Death Verdicality Research in the Hospital Setting: Problems and Promise

Description: Study of near-death verdicality in the hospital setting. The paper describes problems, both anticipated and unanticipated, that were encountered. Based on the successes and failures of this undertaking, recommendations for future research of this type are presented.
Date: Autumn 1990
Creator: Holden, Janice Miner & Joesten, Leroy
open access

The Omega Project: An Empirical Study of the NDE-Prone Personality

Description: Article discussing a questionnaire given to near-death experiencers (NDErs) and persons interested in NDEs, assessing the role of psychological factors in influencing susceptibility to NDEs and to measure aftereffects stemming from such events.
Date: Summer 1990
Creator: Ring, Kenneth & Rosing, Christopher J.
open access

Pediatric Near-Death Experiences

Description: Article reviewing one previously reported and three new pediatric near-death experiences (NDEs), in which the experiencers were interviewed as children, and which suggests that the childhood core NDE as described by Melvin Morse and colleagues may be expanded to include feeling pain-free, seeing a light at the tunnel's end, entering the light, and time alteration.
Date: Autumn 1990
Creator: Serdahely, William J.
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