Table of Contents
ContentsBook Reviews
Dedication
Special Thank-Yous
Foreword
IntroductionPart 1: The Experience/The Experiencer
1. The Resurrected
A Brief History - What is the Near-Death Experience? - A Closer Look at Some Near-Death Scenario Features - But What's Typical? - The Birth of a Controversy2. Types of Experiences
To Each His Own - Problems in Communication - A Common Range of Patterns - Some Examples of Each Type3. Near-Death Look Alikes
Near-Death-Like Experiences - The Unpredictability of Near-Death-Like Episodes - Indirect Near-Death-Like Events - Empathic Experiences - Near-Death Scenarios as Guided Visualizations4. The Innocents
Child Experiences: A Breakthrough in Understanding - A Guide at Death's Door - Womb with a View - Choosing Genes and Physical Characteristics - Typical Behavior after the Experience5. Suicide Enigmas
A Picture Too Pretty - What Those Who Attempted Suicide Say - Depression and Suicidal Tendencies Afterward - The Challenge with Children - Trying to Cause a Near-Death ExperiencePart 2: Afterward
6. Lives Turned Upside Down
Feelings after Being Revived - A New You - A Strain on Relationships - Lifestyle Switcheroos - Deity Reigns7. The Undeniable Aftereffects
Connecting the Dots - Common Psychological Aftereffects - Common Physiological Aftereffects - The Need Factor8. Startling Differences between Child and Adult Experiencers
Don't Assume Anything - Jump-Starting Intelligence - Far Apart - Talking About It9. Blocking Out the Experience
Why Adults Tend to Remember and Kids Tend to Forget - You Be the Judge - A Child's View - Aftereffects Can Take a Backseat - Tips to Identify Child Experiences Who Can't Remember10. Medically Speaking: A Challenge to Health-Care Providers
Please Believe Me - So You Said You Wanted Evidence - Suggestions for Healthcare Providers - Unique Health Issues - Help at LastPart 3: Time Out for Questions
11. Are the Dead Really Dead?
Real Tales from the Crypt - The Newly Dead Who Greet the Newly Dead - As Dead as You Can Get - When Two or More Die Together - Symbols Surface
12. Heavy on Research
Russell Noyes, MD - Raymond A. Moody Jr., PhD, MD - Kenneth Ring, PhD - Michael Sabom, MD - Bruce Greyson, MD - Margot Grey, PhD - PMH Atwater, LHD - Melvin Morse, MD - Arvin S. Gibson, BSME - Peter Fenwick, MD, FRCPsych - Cherie Sutherland, PhD - Pim van Lommel, MD - Groundbreaking Early Projects13. Scientific Naysayers
It's All in the Brain: Biological/Physiological Causes - It's All in the Mind: Psychological Causes - Having an Experience Is Not Proof - A Lack of Agreement among Researchers - So, Where Are We?14. Debunking the Debunkers
It's All Subjective - But I Don't Want to Die - Who's That Knocking on My Head? - Mr. Sandman, Send Me a Dream - The Dying Brain Theory - A Few Extras - Hi-Ho, Forward We Go - Proposal for Research Instruction Packet15. Religion's Got a Gripe, Too
It's in the Bible - Repercussions - The Devil's Handwork - We Got Here First - The Forgotten and UnderreportedPart 4: Taking a Leap Beyond
16. Viewing Storylines in Different Ways
Sometimes We Can Mix Things Up - How We Can "Stage" Storylines - Another Look at the Need Factor - The Teachings of Swedenborg - A Back-Glance at Shared Experiences - Other CulturesA Major Challenge17. Some Striking Effects
Poof! Go Limitations - Poof! Go Illnesses - Poof! Goes Death's Sting - The Unexpected from Violence - The Unexpected from Death Dreams - Gustave Dore's Painting18. The Importance of Otherworldly Journeys
Exceptional Human Experiences - The "Other Worlds" of Myth and Legend - The Four Levels of Otherworldy Imagery - Feeling Alien19. The Possibility of Alternate Realities
Is There an Afterlife? - Is There Research on After-Death Communication? - I Came, I Saw, I Was Born - Why Do I Feel Like I've Been Here Before? - An Altered View of Reality - A Spectrum of Realities20. Transformations of Consciousness
A Larger Genre - Higher Consciousness - Turbulent Transformations - Tranquil Transformations - The Crown Jewel of Enlightenment21. The Lights of Enlightenment
Is God Light? - The Light of God/The Devil's Dark - Three Types of Subjective Light - "The Darkness That Knows" - More of Light's Mysteries - The Energy Charge of EnlightenmentPart 5: Back Down to Earth
22. Brain-Biology Link
Brain Shift - The Limbic System and Emotions - The Theories of Melvin Morse, MD - The Importance of "Future" - Adaption or Evolution?23. But Are All the Claims True?
Don't Rock the Boat - The Mighty Sword of Scientism - No Saints or Angels Here - "I Was God. God Was Me" - Testing the Spirits - What About the Ceiling?24. Integrating the Near-Death Experience
For Adult Experiencers - For Child Experiencers and their Parents - How a Family Transformed - For Significant Others - Integration's Four Phases - Creative Approaches to Therapy25. Redefining How Life is Viewed
Implications from Near-Death States - The Animating Force That Drives Us - The Reality of Spirit - The Big Picture - The Law of Grace - The Return to Things Spiritual26. Message for the Twenty-first Century
An Agent of Change - Evolution's Next Step - The Global Village - Social Justice and Human Rights - What's the Near-Death Experience All About? - Wrap-up: Thirty Years and GrowingAppendix A Glossary of New Words
Appendix B International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS)
Appendix C Further Reading
Appendix D Websites
Appendix E Getting in Touch
Index