Dec 04 2016 42 mins 1
Near death experiences have reentered pop culture in recent years with best-sellers like “Proof of Heaven” and “Heaven is for Real.” But are near death experiences legit? Are NDE’ers actually having out of body experiences and travelling towards a light at the end of the tunnel? Or are they merely illusions of the mind? Today we tell the harrowing, sometimes tragic, and extraordinary stories of three individuals who might just possibly have travelled to the other side. SOURCES Books for general reading: Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of Near Death Experience, Pim van Lommel (2011) God and the Afterlife: The Groundbreaking New Evidence for God and Near-Death Experience, Jeffrey Long & Paul Perry (2016) Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back, Todd Burpo (2010) Near-Death Experiences, The Rest of the Story: What They Teach Us About Living and Dying and Our True Purpose, P.M.H. Atwater (2011) Near-Death Experiences: Understanding Visions of the Afterlife, John Martin Fischer & Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin (2016) Passage, Connie Willis (2002) Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife, Eben Alexander (2012) What Happens When We Die?: A Groundbreaking Study into the Nature of Life and Death, Sam Parnia (2007) Wisdom of Near-Death Experiences: How Understanding NDE’s Can Help Us Live More Fully, Penny Sartori (2014) Vicki Noratuk’s story: NDE Stories: http://ndestories.org/vicki-noratuk/ Near-death and out-of-body experiences in the blind: a study of apparent eyeless vision., Ring K, Cooper S., J Near-Death Studies. 1997;16:101 –147. http://www.newdualism.org/nde-papers/Ring/Ring-Journal%20of%20Near-Death%20Studies_1997-16-101-147.pdf People Born Blind Can See During a Near-Death Experience, http://www.near-death.com/science/evidence/people-born-blind-can-see-during-nde.html Mr. A’s story: AWARE Study Initial Results are Published, IANDS https://iands.org/news/news/front-page-news/1060-aware-study-initial-results-are-published.html AWARE Study Results Finally Published: Does Not Prove Life After Death, http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2014/10/aware-study-results-finally-published-does-not-prove-life-after-death/ AWAREness Beyond Death?, http://www.dailygrail.com/Essays/2014/10/Awareness-Beyond-Death The Seven Ways to have a Near Death Experience, BBC http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150303-what-its-really-like-to-die Jeff Olsen’s story: I Knew Their Hearts: The Amazing True Story of a Journey Beyond the Veil to Learn the Silent Language of the Heart, Jeff Olsen (2012) Near death experiences at heart of Jeff Olsen's memoir, lecture in Colorado Springs, The Gazette http://gazette.com/near-death-experiences-at-heart-of-jeff-olsens-memoir-lecture-in-colorado-springs/article/1558025 Additional resources: IANDS, or the International Association for Near Death Studies, is an incredible resource for those who are just starting to learn about NDE’s or who are looking for a community of NDE’ers. http://iands.org Alex Tsakiris has a podcast called Skeptiko: Science at the Tipping Point where in episode 326 he critically interviews Professor Mitchell-Yellin about his co-authored book and findings. It’s worth listening too! http://skeptiko.com/latest-near-death-experience-research-hit-job-326/ Journalist Gideon Lichfield published an in-depth and interesting article about NDE’s for April 2015 issue of The Atlantic. The article is called “The Science of Near-Death Experiences: Empirically investigating brushes with the afterlife.” http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/04/the-science-of-near-death-experiences/386231/ Dr. Sam Parnia is one of several scientists (including Dr. Penny Sartori and Dr. Jeffrey Long, among others) who have been on the cutting edge of scientific research into NDE’s. Here is a blog post he wrote on HuffPo called “Erasing Death.” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sam-parnia-md-phd/resuscitation-science_b_2767935 [...]
