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 paper a summary of the TBD's development based primarily on the work of Cuevas (2003). The summary shows that the TBD was gradually elaborated within a specific Tibetan Buddhist context, the Dzokchen tradition. In comparing features of first-hand reports of the death and dying process as reported in the TBD with those reported in four other categories -- Tibetan délok, near-death experiencers, mediums, and children who remember previous lives -- I find that some features are consistent but that other key features are not. Because it seems likely that inconsistent features of the TBD reflect idiosyncratic dying and afterlife concepts of the Dzokchen tradition, scholars in the field of near-death studies and others should be careful about adopting the contents …

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 Reynolds reported can be explained by her ability to hear during periods of conscious awareness while under the influence of the combination of drugs employed to provide general anesthesia during the operation on her giant basilar artery aneurysm.

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.

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 possible for this man to have undergone the truly unusual perceptions of feeling pain in his chest due to cardiac massage at the same time as his consciousness was displaced out of his body during an out-of-body experience.

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 colleagues concluded that mental activity can take place even in the absence of cerebral function. Extrapolating from this conclusion, van Lommel claimed in 'Consciousness Beyond Life' a fundamental continuity for individual human existence: that death and birth mark not final limits but instead the transition from one state of consciousness to another. In the course of making his continuity claim, van Lommel referred to other topics such as deathbed visions and past-life memories. In addition to reviewing NDE research, this article reviews research and illustrative responses pertaining to these related phenomena. A convergence of corroborative evidence is consistent with van Lommel's continuity claim.

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 into plain text; in many cases, I include passages that give readers a sense of the richness of these sources for both a historical and a contemporary understanding of near-death and related phenomena. Examples of books include Johann Engelbrecht's "The Divine Visions of John Engelbrecht" (1780), Augustine Calmet's "The Phantom World" (1850), Henri Roger Gougenot de Mousseaux's "Les hauts phénomènes de la magie" (1864), Edward H. Clarke's "Visions" (1878), William H. Harrison's "Spirits Before Our Eyes" (1879), and Frederic W. H. Myers's "Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death" (1903). Examples of articles include those written by such authors as Ernesto Bozzano, Francis Power Cobbe, James H. Hyslop, Duncan MacDougall, Frank Podmore, and A. S. Wiltse.

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 results from the dying person's thoughts of imminent death, physicians Paul Sollier and Charles Féré and psychologist Henri Piéron proposed that it, as well as changes in affect, result from physiological changes in the body sensibility and in the brain. Like many authors today who speculate about near-death experiences, the authors in question did not have much evidence for their explanations. These ideas, and their physiological aspects, were part of a general interest in unusual phenomena and states of consciousness during the 19th century.

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. Results revealed no ceiling effect but revealed a positive correlation between the HSS and the NDE Scale. Additionally, exploratory post-hoc analysis was conducted on participant subgroups, comparing males and females and participants from India and the United States. Finally, preliminary findings regarding four NDErs self-identified as atheist/agnostic are described.

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 into what I call a "threshold experience" -- one that straddles the boundary between this world and other worlds, between brain and that which lies beyond what the brain can access, between reality and miracles, mind and spirit, life and death, heaven and hell, sanity and insanity. Once we humans understand this shift, we can begin to unravel how the transformation process works. At the threshold of who we think we are and what lies beyond body and brain is the core of ancient mysteries. We are transformed by the Oneness we find there.

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 experienced NDEs and other transpersonal experiences, (2) the overwhelming majority of these experiencers are mentally healthy, and (3) these experiences change people's lives for the better. I contend that although NDEs and other transpersonal experiences cannot prove the existence of a personal God and afterlife, they definitely point to them.

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.

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 work together holistically. Applying a systems-theoretical perspective, I show that some psychic abilities are emergent capacities of the mind-body system, that ordinary faculties such as emotional perceptiveness can be understood within the same framework as extraordinary faculties such as telepathy, and that NDE evidence favors a naturalistic form of Substance Dualism.

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 involved, Gerald Woerlee has attempted to explain Reynold's experience as a result of auditory impressions combined with an anesthesia-induced fantasy. I argue here that Woerlee's attempted explanation is simply unsupported by the documented facts of the case. I also invite Woerlee to accompany me to the Barrow Neurological Institute to participate in an empirical test under the exact auditory conditions Reynolds experienced.

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.

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's claim that the patient constructed an accurate mental picture of objects and persons in the resuscitation room simply by listening to the sounds caused by the actions around his body. In all, we question Woerlee's materialistic explanations of the out-of-body experience that occurred in this patient's near-death experience. Our conclusion is straightforward: We consider Woerlee's claims to be wrong.

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 Certainty of the Worlds of Spirits" (1691). This paper includes a reprint of the original case report and a discussion of how later writers used the case to defend the idea that something may leave the body during near-death states.

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 eight summarized NDE accounts. Although the documentation standard of the available cases is generally low, these accounts indicate that the structure and contents of NDEs from many non-Western Muslim communities are largely similar to those reported in the Western NDE literature. In his report, Kreps concluded that Muslim NDEs are rare and that Muslims have fewer NDEs than do non-Muslim Westerners and non-Muslim non-Westerners such as the Chinese. However, we found that the number of Muslim NDE accounts available today seem to indicate that Muslim NDEs are not as rare as Kreps concluded.

Results of a study to compare and extend Walker and Russell's (1989) study of psychologists' knowledge of and attitudes about near-death experiences (NDEs), using their Near-Death Phenomena Knowledge and Attitudes Questionnaire (NDPKAQ).

Brief report describing data collected about Iranian Muslims who had near-death experiences (NDEs). It outlines various information collected including demographics of participants and characteristics of the NDEs.

Abstract: Nursing faculty across the United States were surveyed about their knowledge, attitudes, and perspectives of near-death experiences (NDEs) and deathbed visions (DBVs) through web-based administration of the Near-Death Phenomena Knowledge and Attitudes Questionnaire (Thornburg, 1988). Of the approximately 550 responses, 13% of respondents indicated that they personally had experiences an NDE, 48% that they have cared for a patient reporting an NDE, and 46% that they have cared for a patient reporting a DBV. Item-level ordinal logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the two attitude components of the survey, revealing a complex set of relationships between attitudes, experience, and other individual-level characteristics. The results underscore the importance of ongoing research into near-death phenomena and inclusion of NDEs and DBVs as content areas in nursing curriculum.

Abstract: This article reviews professional nursing's philosophical and professional mandates that direct nurses to acquire accurate knowledge and skills in order to care competently for near-death experiencers (NDErs). In addition, the article briefly describe the NDE phenomenon and aftereffects, discusses the author's NDEs in the professional context of her status as a nurse, and addresses the challenges NDErs encounters because of a lack of knowledge by nurses about NDEs. It concludes with a review of the current state of nursing education relevant to NDEs, suggestions for and resources available to faculty to create NDE curricula for nursing students, and continuing education opportunities for nurses and other medical professionals.

Abstract: In this article, I respond to a critique by Michael Rush of a 2006 article from this Journal in which I and my co-authors described a case of a near-death experience with veridical components and an inexplicable healing. I address each point from the critique in the order in which it was raised. Overall, I found most of the criticism to have been points I had already addressed in previous publications, and the critique also provided my an opportunity to clarify a few points I had not previously detailed. For me, this professional exchange has served to underscore the difficulty of conducting methodologically sound prospective research on near-death experiences.

Abstract: Previously in this Journal, Holden and Christian (2005) profiled patterns in the field of near-death studies through an analysis of the scholarly publications from Near-Death Experiences: Index to the Periodical Literature through 2001. In this article, we provide an updated analysis of a similar type through 2011. The body of literature on which we based this analysis included 892 scholarly articles by 629 authors spanning more than a century. We report on patterns related to publication dates and venues, experts and their most cited articles, and most and least published topics in the field - both with regard to current status and in comparison to 2001. We discuss limitations of our analysis and implications of it for the future of scholarship in the field of near-death studies.

Article describing the methods and results of research to explore spontaneous mediumship experiences (SMEs) that occurred during and after near-death experiences (NDEs).