Commentary taking remarks previously made about frightening near-death experiences and the possibility of near-death being a kundalini breakthrough as license to ask for a reconsideration of near-death research.

Article discussing current research into what are now termed "distressing" or "unpleasant" near-death experiences (NDEs) and the author's findings from interviews of over a hundred such cases.The article compares this information with earlier reports from Maurice Rawlings, mythological traditions about the concept of hell, and renderings from The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Finally, it details four types of NDEs - initial, hell-like, heaven-like, and transcendental - and what seems to be an attitudinal profile characteristic of each type.