Near-Death Experience

"A refreshing and stimulating look at a subject that has been trampled by hype and innuendo". -- Michael B. Sabom, M.D., Author, Recollections of Death: A Medical Investigation

According to researchers in the field, over 8 million Americans have undergone a near-death experience (NDE). Ms. Valarino, an expert in NDE history, presents this phenomenon in a probing multidisciplinary examination: a dialogue with distinguished investigators and scholars in the fields of psychology, biology, physics, neurophysiology, theology, and philosophy to explore different understandings of the NDE.

These six eminent personnel propose original and scientifically stimulating hypotheses on the NDE phenomenon: Professor Kenneth Ring, a world-renowned psychologist, presents a vast survey of the latest research; Professor Michel Lefeuvre, a philosopher, provides the first extensive philosophical analysis of the NDE phenomenon; Professors Louis-Marie Vincent, a biologist, Regis Duthiel, a theoretical physicist, and Paul Chauchard, a neurophysiologist, put forth highly interesting theories with respect to their scientific fields of expertise; and, Lord Bishop Jean Vernette, delegate of the French Episcopate and advisor to the Vatican, puts forth the views of the Catholic Church.

On the Other Side of Life is an unbiased exchange of ideas and knowledge on the near-death experience. Ms. Valarino infuses this book with disarming intellectual honesty, leaving a lasting impression on

Opinion has long been divided over Near-Death Experiences, or NDEs, some presenting them as evidence for the existence of the soul and life after death, others arguing that they are merely the chemical and physiological products of a dying brain. Susan Blackmore has interviewed many people who claim to have had NDEs, and after researching hundreds of case histories she offers an absorbing and detailed review of this fascinating and controversial phenomenon. While presenting clear physical explanations for the changes that take place within the brain, Blackmore argues that true spiritual transformation comes not from searching after a spirit or soul that survives death, but from reinterpreting the concept of "self" itself. Dying to Live succeeds in bridging the gap between the scientific and the spiritual points of view and shows how an understanding of NDEs can help us live our lives in the face of death and lead the way to genuine self-knowledge.

Unlike other books on the NDE (near-death experience), Lessons from the Light is written not so much about these life-changing encounters as such but for persons who have never had an NDE themselves yet wish to learn from those who have. Ring, a world-renowned authority on the NDE, makes a much needed effort to place this kind of information at the disposal of readers by presenting in clear language the practical lessons for living and dying that are to be found from the exploration of what many people have come to believe is a primal spiritual experience.

Lessons from the Light not only recounts many inspiring NDEs from persons of all ages -- including very young children -- and classes, but for the first time also discloses Dr. Ring's collection of cases where persons journey beyond the Light, as well as the NDEs of blind persons. Such remarkable testimony is then used as a basis to provide helpful guidance and practical exercises in order for readers to live a life of greater self-insight, self-compassion, and concern for others, as well as to be better prepared for death, dying, and bereavement.

This dramatic and sustained response to decades of research into near-death experiences (NDEs) is the first book to credibly bridge the gap between the competing factions of science and spirituality. Neither a religious argument touting NDEs as hard evidence for God, nor a scientific rebuke to religious interpretations, it balances investigation of these much-reported yet baffling phenomena, and brings fresh urgency to the study of our hopes for a life beyond.

Up until now, we have had little knowledge of what the state of unconsciousness was like from the patient's point of view. Surprisingly, in a state considered void of human experiences, Lawrence found that the events subjects reported were extraordinary. Her research in hospital units and in the literature reveals that more than 70% of the individuals who regain consciousness remember events during their unconscious period. They heard and understood conversations, had inner dialogues, recognized their emotions, and went out of their bodies. As would be expected, some of the patients' experiences are the now-recognized classic NDEs (near-death experiences).

How do doctors and nurses communicate with frightened patients who are dying, address the needs and concerns of the patients, and help the patients arrive at an acceptance of death? This work deals with the relationship that the health care team has with the dying and how well that team is prepared to address the fears of the dying. In addition, the health care team must learn to deal with their own emotions and ignorance concerning death. This work should be of interest to those professions that deal closely with dying people.

Psychic and other exceptional experiences are surprisingly common but opinions as to their causes vary widely. Can tricks of the mind such as hallucinations, mistaken perception and errors of judgement explain such phenomena or does some yet to be understood non-sensory means of communication come into play?In Parapsychology, leading researchers from both the UK and the USA combine their expertise to form a lucid account of research into the science of psychic experience. Beginning with an introduction to the methodology, Parapsychology addresses topics including coincidence, telepathy, precognition, psychokinesis, healing, apparitions, reincarnation and out-of-body experiences. Each chapter describes the phenomenon, outlines the main lines of research and discusses the merits of possible explanations for such anomalies of cognitive function. Extensive suggestions for relevant further reading on each individual subject are provided, along with a detailed glossary of terms.Parapsychology provides an accessible and succinct overview of the research and current thinking on the subject of psychic and allied experiences. This balanced account of work in this fascinating area will be of great interest to students and researchers in psychology as well as anyone with an interest in the field.

Critics of religion have argued that Christianity's success stems from its promise of eternal life, that people become Christian at bottom merely to cope with their fear of death. Contemporary theologians and philosophers, highly sensitive to this charge, tend to skirt the issue of life after death. To speak of the afterlife is at best to engage in wishful thinking, at worst to descend to the level of pop religion, encounters with angels, and UFO abductions. In The Life of the World to Come, however, Carol Zaleski asks the question, "Are we rationally and morally entitled to believe in life after death?" and answers with a spirited and emphatic "yes." Drawing on a rich and varied array of sources ranging from Plato to St. Augustine to Heidegger, from the samurai warrior code to New Yorker cartoons to conversations with her young son, Zaleski not only brilliantly defends the right of Christians to believe in a life after death, but she illuminates the real value of imagining what that life might be like. It is important to spiritual maturity, she says, for the believer to be able to imagine a state of complete fulfillment, of oneness with God. And a vision of the ideal society, the heavenly communion of saints, is essential to the ordering of both our own lives and the society in which we live. Zaleski organizes her defense into three parts corresponding to the three great hours of the Divine Office, the cycle of prayers that is the heart of monastic life: Lauds at dawn's first light, Vespers at twilight, and, with the coming of night, Compline. In this liturgy of darkness and light, sleeping and waking, Zaleski discovers a poignant awareness of the ever-presentness of death in life and life in death, an awareness that we sadly miss amidst the medical and technological wonders of modern life. The timeless prayers and rituals of classical Christianity, she finds, are not a distraction from life, but a way of orienting oneself to life. Zaleski stresses the importance of the testimony of near-death experiences for Christian thinking about the afterlife. While these experiences do not by themselves provide objective evidence of life after death, she says, neither should they be dismissed as wishful thinking merely because research shows them to be influenced by cultural expectations. Zaleski asks "If God, the unknowable, wishes to be known, what other recourse does God have but to avail himself of our images and symbols, just as he has availed himself of our flesh?" This book will inspire, challenge and console readers seeking to confront their own hopes and fears of death and the afterlife with dignity, rather than despair or denial. Candid, surprising, and profoundly wise, it will fascinate anyone intrigued by the strange and wonderful phenomena of near-death experience and the beauty and mystery of the unknown.