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open access

The Tibetan Book of the Dead: Its History and Controversial Aspects of its Contents

Description: Abstract: In recent decades, the Tibetan Book of the Dead (TBD) has attracted much attention from Westerners interested in Eastern spirituality and has been discussed in the literature on dying and near-death experiences. However, the history of the TBD has practically been ignored in that literature up to now. This history has been elaborated in detail by Tibetologist Bryan Cuevas (2003). To bring this history to the attention of scholars in the field of near-death studies, I present in this p… more
Date: Spring 2011
Creator: Nahm, Michael
open access

Could Pam Reynolds Hear? A New Investigation into the Possibility of Hearing During this Famous Near-Death Experience

Description: Abstract: The well-known Pam Reynolds near-death experience (NDE) occurred at the Barrow Neurological Institute during a medically well-documented period, which is why many people regard it as proof of the reality of a separable immaterial conscious mind. In this article, I use information from related publications from the Barrow to fill in lacunae in the published medical documentation of this apparently amazing NDE. Furthermore, I present the case that the four veridical auditory perceptions… more
Date: Autumn 2011
Creator: Woerlee, Gerald M.
open access

Guest Editorial: Setting the Record Straight: Correcting Two Recent Cases of Materialist Misrepresentation of My Research and Conclusions

Description: Abstract: In two recent publications, one by Dean Mobbs and Caroline Watt and the other by Kevin Nelson, I was surprised to find my and my colleagues' 2001 article in the Lancet misrepresented. In this Editorial, I attempt to correct those misrepresentations and to discuss them with regard to responsible scholarship in the ongoing debate in the professional literature about the relationship of mind and brain.
Date: Winter 2011
Creator: van Lommel, Pim
open access

Response to "Corroboration of the Dentures Anecdote Involving Veridical Perception in a Near-Death Experience"

Description: Abstract: In this article, I address some of what I consider the inaccuracies and false assumptions in a recent article in this Journal entitled "Corroboration of the Dentures Anecdote Involving Veridical Perception in a Near-Death Experience" (Smit, 2008). I provide a medical explanation of how it was possible for the man reporting this remarkable NDE to have survived his period of cardiac arrest and how it was possible for him to have undergone an NDE. More importantly, I discuss how it was p… more
Date: Summer 2010
Creator: Woerlee, Gerald M.
open access

Near-Death Experiences, Deathbed Visions, and Past-Life Memories: A Convergence in Support of van Lommel's 'Consciousness Beyond Life'

Description: Abstract: This review supports cardiologist Pim van Lommel's continuity claim for human existence in his recently published book 'Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the Near-Death Experience' (2010). Van Lommel and colleagues (van Lommel, van Wees, Meyers, & Elfferich, 2001) studied NDEs among 344 Dutch hospital patients who had been resuscitated following cardiac arrest. From their and others' NDE research findings (e.g., accurate perceptions during the arrest period), van Lommel and co… more
Date: Winter 2010
Creator: Gibbs, John C.
open access

Online Resources for the History of Out-of-Body Experiences and Death-Related Phenomena

Description: Abstract: Google Books is a digital library covering out of print publications about a variety of topics, among them materials relevant for a history of discussions, observations, and collections of cases of out-of-body experiences and death-related phenomena such as near-death experiences, deathbed visions, and apparitions. In this article, I provide examples of copyright-free and cost-free sources from Google Books that investigators of near-death and related phenomena can download and change… more
Date: Spring 2010
Creator: Alvarado, Carlos S.
open access

Panoramic Memory, Affect, and Sensations of Detachment in the Dying: Discussions Published in France, 1889-1903

Description: Abstract: Between 1889 and 1903, several authors published papers in the French journal "Revue Philosophique de la France et de l'Etranger" and in a few other publications in which they discussed panoramic memory, changes of affect, and a sense of detachment from the body in dying persons. With a few exceptions these publications have been ignored in modern discussion of the phenomena of the dying. Whereas philosopher Victor Egger postulated the psychological explanation that panoramic memory r… more
Date: Winter 2011
Creator: Alvarado, Carlos S.
open access

Spirituality Scale Ceiling Effects and Near-Death Experiences: An Exploratory Study

Description: Abstract: A common theme noted among near-death experiencers (NDErs) is the affirmation of increased spirituality after their near-death experiences (NDEs). This study focused on the question of whether the Human Spirituality Scale (HSS), a commonly used spirituality measure, would exhibit a ceiling effect among NDErs. Thirty-seven participants from eight countries participated in the online study. HSS scores were compared with NDE Scale (Greyson, 1990) scores and demographic information. Resul… more
Date: Winter 2011
Creator: Rominger, Ryan A.
open access

Guest Editorial: NDE as a Threshold Experience

Description: Abstract: My investigation has shown me that near-death experiences (NDEs) are not some kind of anomaly but, rather, are part of the larger genre of transformations of consciousness. The clue I believe most researchers have missed is stress -- specifically, the intensity that comes from that stress (known in shamanism as "high stress"). I believe the entire pattern of aftereffects and the degree to which people change can be traced to that factor. It's the intensity that shifts experiencers int… more
Date: Summer 2011
Creator: Atwater, P. M. H.
open access

Guest Editorial: The Search for God and Afterlife in the Age of Science

Description: Abstract: Near-death experiences (NDEs) and other transpersonal experiences -- those that transcend the usual personal experiential limits of space and/or time -- point to the existence and nature of God and ongoing personal consciousness following physical death. In this article, I review the history of these experiences prior to 1850 and of their study during three periods of scientific research between 1850 and the present. I conclude that (1) a large percentage of the population has experie… more
Date: Spring 2010
Creator: Vincent, Ken R.
open access

Rejoinder to Responses to "Could Pam Reynolds Hear?"

Description: Abstract: In this article I provide a rejoinder to Stuart Hameroff's and Chris Carter's responses to my article, "Could Pam Reynolds Hear?" (2011, this issue). I address some specifics of anesthesiology and neurosurgical technique to maintain my contention that Reynolds could hear through normal physical processes during her near-death experience.
Date: Autumn 2011
Creator: Woerlee, Gerald M.
open access

Near-Death Experiences and the Mind-Body Relationship: A Systems-Theoretical Perspective

Description: Abstract: In this paper I support the view that NDEs provide empirical support for mind-body substance dualism and argue that a systems-theoretical analysis of the evidence is required to obtain valid insights into the nature of the mind as a substantial object existing in addition to the body. Without such an approach, systems phenomena such as property emergence and property masking could lead to mischaracterization of both the nature of the mind itself and the ways in which the mind and body… more
Date: Spring 2011
Creator: Rousseau, David
open access

Response to "Could Pam Reynolds Hear?" [#2]

Description: Abstract: The near-death experience (NDE) of Pam Reynolds is one of the most impressive and medically well-documented NDEs in the literature. It took place during an operation to remove a brain aneurism, and it included almost all the aspects of a classic NDE, including accurate visual perception of the operating theater. Furthermore, parts of the experience would seem to have occurred when no brain activity whatsoever was possible. Despite testimony to the contrary by the medical personnel inv… more
Date: Autumn 2011
Creator: Carter, Chris
open access

Response to "Could Pam Reynolds Hear?" [#1]

Description: Abstract: In this article, I reply to Gerald Woerlee's (2011, this issue) claim that during Pam Reynold's near-death experience (NDE), she actually could hear through normal means. I respond in terms of my 35 years experience as a clinical anesthesiologist, researcher into mechanisms of anesthesia and consciousness, and proponent of a theory of non-local consciousness put forth by mathematical physicist Sir Roger Penrose and me.
Date: Autumn 2011
Creator: Hameroff, Stuart
open access

Rejoinder to "Response to 'Corroboration of the Dentures Anecdote Involving Veridical Perception in a Near-Death Experience'"

Description: Abstract: In this article we rejoin Gerald Woerlee's response in this issue to Smit's (2008) article, "Corroboration of the Dentures Anecdote Involving Veridical Perception in a Near-Death Experience." We show the untenability of his claim that the man whose dentures were lost before his resuscitation in the hospital was initiated had been conscious virtually all the way from the moment he was found in the meadow up to his transport to the hospital's cardiac care unit. Also, we question Woerlee… more
Date: Summer 2010
Creator: Smit, Rudolf H. & Rivas, Titus
open access

"The Dying Mother:" Historical Citations of Mary Goffe's Seventeenth-Century Near-Death Apparition

Description: Abstract: Traditionally, certain cases have been of particular importance to students of near-death phenomena. Such cases are more than mere examples or research data; they are resources that are generally used to defend particular theoretical ideas, such as the projection of the spirit or of some subtle body from the physical body around the time of death. One such case was that of Mary Goffe, a seventeenth-century apparition of a dying woman that Richard Baxter reported in his book "The Certa… more
Date: Autumn 2010
Creator: Alvarado, Carlos S.
open access

Essential Features of Eight Published Muslim Near-Death Experiences: An Addendum to Joel Ibrahim Krep's "The Search for Muslim Near-Death Experiences"

Description: Abstract: Among other authors, Joel Ibrahim Kreps (2009) has recently published accounts of Muslim near-death experiences (NDEs). With the present paper, we aim to contribute to the growing number of non-Western NDE reports by providing summaries of eight additional Muslim NDEs, seven translated from the original Italian source (Giovetta, 2007) and one from an English source (Lerma, 2009), and to provide references for further reading. In addition, we highlighted noteworthy features of these ei… more
Date: Autumn 2010
Creator: Nahm, Michael & Nicolay, Joachim
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