Near-death experiences and kundalini awakening: Exploring the link.
Journal of Near-Death Studies 1994 DOI: 10.17514/jnds-1994-12-3-p143-157. (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Near-death experience |
| Citations | 6 |
| Key points | Argues that the awakening of latent spiritual energy, known in yogic tradition as kundalini and by other names in various sacred traditions, is the biopsychospiritual basis of near-death experiences. Proposes that the modern kundalini hypothesis, first advanced by Gopi Krishna, can account for the physical symptoms and psychospiritual transformation associated with NDEs, and cites preliminary evidence from the author's own NDE and from research underway through the Kundalini Research Network. |
Abstract
This article explores the historical and research evidence that the awakening of latent spiritual energy is the biopsychospiritual basis of near-death experiences (NDEs).This spiritual energy is known in various sacred traditions as Holy Spirit, Vital Winds, chi, dumo fire, mana, and, in the yogic tradition, kundalini.I outline the modern kundalini hypothesis, as first proposed by Gopi Krishna; how this hypothesis can account for the physical symptoms and psychospiritual transformation associated with NDEs; and preliminary evidence from my own NDE and from research underway through the Kundalini Research Network.On March 27, 1979, I had a most extraordinary experience, which prompted me to research spiritual and paranormal states of conscious ness and which has, over the years, led me to the conclusion that kundalini awakening is the mechanism responsible for the phenomena currently known as near-death experiences (NDEs).On that day, I was a young medical doctor, a medical resident, completing my specialty training in family medicine at the University of Toronto.I was as signed that month to work at a remote northern Canadian community, Sioux Lookout, and that day I had been designated by the supervising staff physicians to accompany a critically ill Native Indian woman on a
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on near-death experience, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Otherworld Journeys: Accounts of Near-Death Experience in Medieval and Modern Times | 1987 | Historical analysis | |
| Neuroscience and the Near-Death Experience: Roles for the NMSA-PCP receptor, the sigma receptor and the endopsychosins | 1990 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Implications of near-death experiences for a postmaterialist psychology. | 2010 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Near-Death Experience as a Probe to Explore (Disconnected) Consciousness | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Near-death experiences between science and prejudice | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |