Near-Death News

Q and A with P.M.H. Atwater

Books on the NDE

IANDS in the Spotlight

Odds and Ends

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Near-Death News

The registration deadline for this retreat was March 27. IANDS is sponsoring a truly unique time for NDErs to share experiences and gifts in a peaceful and beautiful environment. The purpose is to help NDErs integrate their experience, understand the aftereffects, and find their spiritual purpose. In addition, tools will be utilized to help NDErs better understand their needs, as well as establishing a network to share their gifts and wisdom with the world. This retreat was open for all NDErs - those who struggle with the aftereffects - as well as “seasoned” experiencers. The focus will be about the struggles and joys that the integrative process entails - all in a loving and supportive setting. There will also be time and space for meditation, quiet, and communion in truly beautiful surroundings. [Read more]

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Be sure to attend the October 25 - 28, 2006 IANDS Conference to be held at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX. The IANDS Conference web page states: "This entire project is, as Dr. Peter Fenwick termed it, a “grand retrospective” of the field of near-death studies in the three decades since 1975 when Raymond Moody published "Life After Life," introducing the term and the phenomenon of near-death experiences (NDEs) to public -- and most professionals' -- awareness. The 2006 theme of the International Association for Near-Death Studies conference will be a celebration of “30 Years of Near-Death Experience Research: Integrating the Past, Anticipating the Future.” [Read more]

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The three types of experience: (1) Deathbed visions – seen by the person who is dying. The most common are "take away" visions, where the person sees figures who have apparently come to take them away on a journey through physical death. May be a dead relative or religious figure. It is often a joyful experience for them. (2) Experience of light – seen by either the patient, the carers and sometimes by both. The light is often radiant and described as being infused with love; it may envelop the body and spread through the room. Sometimes something interpreted as a soul or essence of the dying person is seen leaving the body. (3) Deathbed coincidences – reported by family or friends of the dying. They suddenly become convinced a loved one is dying or dead, even though they are far away and may not know the person is ill. The dying person may "visit", as though saying goodbye, or the relative may awaken at the moment of death. [Read more]

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He also discusses children who have had NDEs. One young boy, Andrew, flummoxed his mother when he said he wanted to go back to "the sunny place with the lady that floats", who turned out to have been his late grandmother. His mother was astounded when later a much healthier Andrew looked at a picture of his gran as a young woman and said: "That's the lady who floats." This is a book that you will want to give friends who have had similar experiences, or who have lost someone and are hoping to somehow find out where they are and what they would like us back on Earth to know. Parnia includes enough medical data about the brain and our minds to give his account substance and to enable readers to do their own research. [Read more]

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There is now a concerted effort with researchers of near-death states to "set the record straight" as to percentages of occurrence. Most surveys conducted by various magazines and organizations in the past were not scientific or even reliable. The problem is ambiguous questions which slant answers. The result: overestimates, that are based more on wishful thinking than anything close to verifiable facts. The poll used today, giving an estimate of 15 million near-death experiencers in the United States (or 5% of the population), was conducted by U. S. News & World Report in 1997. However, the figure more in keeping with actual case reportings in the United States, Holland, and Germany is 4% (which makes 11 million in the U.S.). What is of keen interest to researchers is that the 4% figure for general populations is showing up in other countries worldwide. Because of this, researchers are down-scaling the percentages they quote. Some references: Random inquiry in Germany (Schmied, et al) conducted in 1999 and the original Gallup Poll done in 1982. For those people who were near death, nearly died, or who did die but later revived or were resuscitated, the estimate of one-third that was previously used to indicate how many would have a near-death experience is also over-inflated. The number is closer to between 12 to 20 percent. The real problem here, though, is with children. There has never been any survey of any kind that addresses child experiencers of near-death states. A given assumption in poll taking is that an individual's near-death experience occurred in adulthood. Preliminary work by Melvin Morse, M.D., a pediatrician in the State of Washington, suggests that with child experiencers the figure is closer to 70% - more than double that of adults. Since Morse's work has yet to be duplicated, especially in other countries, no conclusions can yet be drawn as to what this difference might mean. It can be said that near-death cases are on the rise. What cannot be said with any real degree of confidence is by how much. -- P. M. H.

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Nelson, now a neurophysiologist at the University of Kentucky, published one of the few studies on the subject in today's issue of the journal Neurology. The study compares the sleep patterns of 55 people who have reported unusual sensations during a during near-death experience to 55 people who haven't ... He and his team of researchers discovered that the near-death study group had a significantly higher rate (60 percent compared with 24 percent) of a sleep disorder known as rapid eye movement, or REM, intrusion. This disorder causes one of the most active dream states of sleep — REM — to intrude into wakefulness, causing a person to sometimes wake up and feel paralyzed, experience leg muscle weakness or wake up to hear sounds other people didn't. This may explain why some people have near-death experiences after undergoing a traumatic event that causes unconsciousness, Nelson said. When a person is under the threat, their fight-or-flight nervous system is evoked. But as they come out of unconsciousness, some mental wires may be crossed. [Read more]

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Over the years I have conducted several experiments such as attempting to move or alter a physical object. I have also observed several physical people and events from the out-of-body state. When I attempted to communicate with awake individuals they didn't seem to notice my presence. On two occasions when I contacted people during their sleep they recalled my interaction as a dream state perception. Based on my experiences and the feedback I have received from my online OBE survey I feel that during an out-of-body experience we are communicating with the subconscious mind of the person we contact. The best way to obtain personal proof is to self-initiate an out-of-body experience for yourself. Only then will you fully appreciate the reality and potential of the experience. This is the reason I present over forty different techniques in my books. [Read more]

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Consensus reality in the "real world" is founded upon corporeal entities beholding three-dimensional space. When out-of-body explorers or UFO abductees claim that they passed through solid walls during their experiences, they are contradicting perhaps the most fundamental perceptions of human observers. Scientism condemns such assertions as either fraudulent or hallucinatory because if they were accepted as legitimate, our entire conception of reality would collapse - an appalling prospect, challenging the credibility of all self-appointed official observers. Nevertheless, when faced with such an abundance of anomalous data any fearless spectator might suggest that our concepts of dimensional location need to be re-evaluated and clarified. [Read more]

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It doesn't take someone like me to point out that there's something remarkably different about the children in today's world. Parents and grandparents, school teachers, counselors and therapists, anyone who knows a child – all of them – say the same thing: our kids know more than we do. And they're right. The kids do. “Two key brain-building genes, which underwent dramatic changes in the past that coincided with huge leaps in human intellectual development, are still undergoing rapid mutations, evolution's way of selecting for new beneficial traits,” so said Bruce Lahn and his University of Chicago colleagues in a study published in the journal Science, dated 9 September 2005. Not everyone has both of these genes, yet reports of mutation are increasing at an unprecedented rate: 70% of the world's population now evidences one of them, 30% both ...  [Read more]

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  Here is a list of some of the best internet radio interviews you will ever hear on the internet:

People have dreamed of heaven, dedicated their lives to the promise of heaven, even martyred themselves - committing heinous acts of terrorism - for the promise of paradise. Is heaven simply a myth dreamed up to give lives meaning, or is it a real place? Anchored by Barbara Walters, this documentary explores the meaning of heaven with religious leaders of the major faiths, scientists, people who say they believe in heaven because they've been there, celebrities who are vocal about their beliefs and even with terrorists. The DVD version contains extended interviews with the Dalai Lama, Richard Gere, Imam Feisal, Abdul Rauf, and Rabbi Neil Gilman. [Read more]

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The film centers on a suicidal college student and his doctor who enter a twisted world of supernatural horror in Stay. Henry Lethem (Ryan Gosling) plans to kill himself in three days, unless psychologist Sam Foster (Ewan McGregor) can stop him. Henry's been hearing disturbing voices and experiencing horrifying visions, but where does imagination end and reality begin? Sam suddenly finds he's losing his own grip on reality, as he, too, is thrust into a hellish place between life and death. With the help of his girlfriend (Naomi Watts), Sam races to unlock the terrifying secret behind Henry's waking nightmare before it's too late. [Read more]

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   The following are this month's listing of celebrity near-death experiences in the news:

  I recommend www.TV.com or tv.yahoo.com as your online TV guide to search for NDE and NDE-related cable programs scheduled for your area. For online video searches, I recommend the awesome mega-search engine www.blinkx.com.

The science and study of consciousness offers important pieces to the puzzle of global sustainability. This day-long conference brings together pioneers at the frontiers of conscious change -- scientists, spiritual leaders, environmentalists, and social change activists -- to expand the dialogue about how we create global sustainability. After a vision-expanding morning and a heartfelt, inspiring lunch, we'll move into specific action projects in the afternoon, finishing the day with a bold, integrative vision and celebration. The Global Consciousness Conference will chart the path to a spiritually fulfilling, ecologically balanced, and socially healthy worldview. It will also serve as the official book launch for Entangled Minds, the new book by Dean Radin, IONS Senior Scientist. Book signing with Dean will take place during the afternoon reception. Presenters include Duane Elgin (Awakening Earth); Mark Plotkin (Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice); Andrew Beath (Consciousness in Action); as well as IONS leaders James O'Dea (President); Marilyn Mandala Schlitz (VP); Dean Radin (Sr. Scientist); and Belvie Rooks (Board Member). Afternoon forums will feature various community activists, with an opportunity to engage with their projects. [Read more]

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It is one of the great mysteries. But science has been able to discover some things. This conference brings together leading scientists and physicians in this area of research to present their findings, under the auspices of The Rhine Research Center, in Durham, North Carolina. Presenters include: Bruce Greyson, Jim Tucker, Gary Schwartz, Larry Dossey, Stephan Schwartz, Dianne Arcangel, Loyd Auerbach, Ginette Nachman, and Mary Occhino. Learning Objectives: By the end of the conference, participants will: (1) Have a good understanding of research findings related to near-death experiences, children's memories of previous lives, afterlife encounters, mediumship communication, and apparitions. (2) Have a context in which to understand these experiences. (3) Understand what the research is telling us about the nature of consciousness. (4) Understand the implications of nonlocal awareness. (5) Clinicians will be better equipped to support patients who report these experiences.  [Read more]

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The International Remote Viewing Association (IRVA) was organized March 18, 1999, by selected scientists and practitioners meeting in Alamogordo, New Mexico in conjunction with the first professional conference on Remote Viewing in Ruiduso, New Mexico. The concluded objective was to create an organization that would provide a mechanism for evaluating the discipline called "remote viewing", encourage scientifically sound research, propose ethical standards and provide overview educational information to the public. Presenters include: Russel Targ, Ingo Swann, Dean Radin, William Tiller, Jessica Utts, Stephan Schwartz, Jeffrey Mishlove, George McMullen, Elias Merhige, Noreen Renier, Lyn Buchanan, and Paul H. Smith. [Read more]

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"I've always thought that I have something going on," said Rogers, 61, of Cantonment, who has taken the workshop. "Things would hit me and they would come true. Off and on this would happen." But Rogers, like many people, was too busy with career and family to pay much attention. Then in December 2003, she had a near-death experience and lay in the hospital for 48 days -- 21 of those days in intensive care on a respirator, given a 20 percent chance to live ..." "The majority of scientists meet the subject with prejudice despite hundreds of studies documenting extrasensory perception beyond a reasonable doubt," said Charles Tart, an instructor at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto, Calif. "We have no idea what the mechanism is that makes this happen," Tart said. "If we ever do understand, it will bring a new understanding to the universe." [Read more]

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This Library is C-FAR's (Centre for Fundamental and Anomalies Research) online library of research literature on anomalies and controversies in science and the humanities. It currently contains the complete Journals and Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research (1884-present), the complete Journal of Parapsychology (1937-present), and a selection of rare books in the field. They are steadily adding more of the leading research literature in the field. You can register for FREE to explore the open access sections of the library. For an inexpensive subscription fee, you can access the full library. In my opinion, this is one library whose time has certainly come and is certainly worth checking out. [Read more]

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Professor Gary Schwartz's findings are backed up by Dr. Paul Pearsall, author of The Heart's Code, a book dealing with the same phenomenon. Their casebook also includes: (1) A woman who was terrified of heights until she was given the lungs of a mountain climber. Dottie O'Connor, from Massachusetts, is now a climber. (2) A seven-year-old girl had nightmares about being killed after being given the heart of a child who had been murdered. (3) Paul Oldam, a lawyer from Milwaukee, received the heart of a 14-year-old boy and inherited his craving for Snickers. (4) And a man of 25 received a woman's heart and, to his girlfriend's delight, now wants to go shopping all the time. [Read more]

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There is a debate over whether ESP is a real phenomenon. Dr. Dean Radin, senior scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, a nonprofit organization conducting and sponsoring leading-edge research on all facets of consciousness, believes it is. “The reality of psychic phenomena is now no longer based solely upon faith, or wishful thinking, or absorbing anecdotes. It is not even based upon the results of a few scientific experiments,” according to his book, “The Conscious Universe.” “Instead, we know that these phenomena exist because of new ways of evaluating massive amounts of scientific evidence collected over a century by scores of researchers.” ESP has a very old history, going back to the Delphic Oracle in ancient Greece. Throughout history, many cultures have believed some people possessed special powers. [Read more]

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Anyway, in reading one of these Web sites - a message board for fans for the magicians Penn & Teller, who are outspoken skeptics - I was struck by some of the comments. I thought I would reproduce them here, along with my own remarks. The messages begin with the expected good wishes for Mr. Randi. Then a gadfly named Musico pipes up: "Hi, has James now qualified for an "NDE" (near death experience)? Would he admit to seeing "lights in tunnels" or "angelic beings"?? Perhaps he might admit he actually prayed when he was going through his recent experiences. If he has had an NDE he might now have to pay himself the million dollars because he has just proven the existence of paranormal phenomena!! I don't want to seem cold hearted, just realistic about his whole existence." [Read more]

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We should all be so lucky. Art Buchwald can abbreviate a relentless loss of body, mind and function because he has a life-saving treatment to refuse. His death will be peaceful, painless and humane. Refusal of medical intervention is legal everywhere. Compassion & Choices' counselors can often tell callers that they already hold the key to peaceful dying. But what about those who cannot choose – those stuck in a dying process that is neither peaceful nor painless? They cannot stop their suffering or hasten their death by refusing treatment. We believe, and the Second Circuit Court agreed, that they and Mr. Buchwald have a constitutional right to equal protection of their choices. As we all know, in 1997 the Supreme Court disagreed and punted to state lawmakers to correct the injustice. We also help people not on life-sustaining treatment with aid in dying. This is why we fight for its legalization in California and Vermont today, and will fight in every state tomorrow. Because, as Art Buchwald says, “If you have to go, the way you go is a very big deal.” [Read more]

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This BBC documentary aired on March 30, 2006 and explored the world of palliative care in Britain's hospitals. At their website, you can find out more information about this documentary and about end of life care in Britain. You can also download their free ebook "Planning for a Good Death." You can also watch a video clip of the show and check out all their resources about preparing for this important transition. The Planning a Good Death booklet covers areas such as care during illness, putting your affairs in order, wills and planning a funeral, as well as information to help you deal with the emotional aspects of dying and bereavement.  [Read more]

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"Society just can't accept the idea that 50 percent of the population could die. And I think we have to face that possibility," Webster said. "I'm sorry if I'm making people a little frightened, but I feel it's my role." Most scientists won't put it that bluntly, but many acknowledge that Webster could be right about the flu becoming transmissible among humans, even though they believe the 50 percent figure could be too high. Researcher Dr. Anne Moscona at New York Weill Cornell Medical Center said that a human form may not mutate this year or next -- or ever -- but it would be foolish to ignore the dire consequences if it did. "If bird flu becomes not bird flu but mutates into a form that can be transmitted between humans, we could then have a spread like wildfire across the globe," Moscona said. [Read more]

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One of the most fascinating natural phenomena on Earth is the flipping of its magnetic field, which has occurred hundreds of times in the last 160 million years. When the magnetic field flips, the North Pole becomes the South Pole and vice versa. The last time this happened was some 780,000 years ago, so we could be heading for another reversal soon. Now, physicists in Italy have found that the frequency of these polarity reversals is not random as previously thought but occurs in clusters, revealing some kind of "memory" of previous events. Although a full geomagnetic polarity reversal can take thousands of years to complete, the implications could be enormous. As well as affecting the migration trajectories of birds and other animals, the disruption to the Earth's magnetic field could expose the Earth to hazardous cosmic rays -- a scenario that some researchers have linked to mass extinction events like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs around 65 million years ago. Geoscientists believe that our planet's internal magnetic dynamo is responsible for pole reversals, but the actual mechanism is not well understood.  [Read more]

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Schwartz, a University of Arizona professor of psychology and neurology, believes passionately that 21st-century science provides clues to G.O.D. -- the "Guiding, Organizing, Designing" process animating the universe. With the fervor of an evangelist, he draws on quantum physics, psychology, mathematics and evolutionary biology to convert unbelievers to the idea that this G.O.D. exists. He underwent his own conversion after testing the claims of a man who said that his dreams could foretell the future. In a kind of double-blind 10-day experiment, Schwartz found that the man's dreams accurately described locations, randomly selected, for them to visit each day. [Read more]

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The author has studied near-death experiences for over twenty years and collaborated with Ken Ring on "Lessons from the Light: What We Can Learn from the Near-Death Experience" (2000). She is also the author of "On the Other Side of Life: Exploring the phenomenon of Near-Death Experience" (1997). "Talking With Angel" is the moving story of a young girl battling leukemia. She realizes she is going to die and receives hope and comfort through nightly conversations with her favorite doll "Angel", who helps her embrace a new perspective on dying and the possibility that consciousness may survive after death. Her fear of death is ultimately lifted by new-found spiritual wisdom and by the account of a near-death experience told to her by a young companion. [Read more]

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Do animals have souls? What happens when they die? This subject has been the author's lifelong passion, and she has made it her personal quest to find the answers. Along with her own experiences, she has compiled the extraordinary experiences of ordinary people that provides overwhelming evidence that their does exist an afterlife for pets and animals. Today she is a highly respected and sought after expert on this subject. Much of her time is devoted not only to animals but to those who are left behind when they pass. Kim's book provides reassurance to anyone who has ever lost a beloved pet and provides insight into the animal kingdom's place in the larger scheme of things - both on Earth and in the spirit realm. [Read more]

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In a series of illuminating tales, Lanigan takes us through the incredible ways in which angels have brought her family and friends to a greater awareness of the unseen world. Lanigan shares her own near-death experience, the miraculous cure of her brother who was in perilous circumstances but narrowly escaped, and a visit from the afterlife by her grandmother, along with other tales of ghosts and angels. Through these experiences, we learn we are not alone and we are always protected. Be they angels, or loved ones who have become angels, these forces in our lives renew our faith in the divine. [Read more]

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This book is a unique examination of an often-neglected subject: psychic music. The book was originally titled "NAD: A Study of Some Unusual "Other World" Experiences." What is NAD? It's a Sanskrit term signifying transcendental, astral, psychic, or paranormal music - music heard from no apparent source. This book is Vol. 1 of "Paranormal Music Experiences." Vol. 2 is entitled "A Psychic Study of the Music of the Spheres." Also recently released is another book by Rogo called "The Search for Yesterday" which offers a critical and scientific examination of reincarnation. [Read more]

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NDE skeptic Susan Blackmore began conducting interviews with leading figures in the study of consciousness for a proposed (but never realized) radio series. Here in book form, organized alphabetically, are 20 transcripts with scientists such as the late Francis Crick, Daniel Dennett, Roger Penrose, David Chalmers, Stuart Hameroff, and others. Blackmore asks, What's the problem with consciousness? Why does it differ from other targets of scientific inquiry? Blackmore also asks them why they chose to study consciousness. Several refer to a fascination with altered states of consciousness. Many abandoned fruitful research careers in other areas to pursue these questions. Perhaps the most extreme case is that of Francis Crick, a physicist who won the Nobel Prize by decoding DNA's structure and then at age 60 turned his attention to consciousness work for a quarter of a century. Crick's interview by Blackmore was his last; he died shortly thereafter, in July 2004. [Read more]

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IANDS in the Spotlight

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Odds and Ends

Last modified on July 10, 2006

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