Article offering a comparison of historical cases of Tibetan near-death experiences (NDEs) and contemporary Western accounts. A tradition of NDEs in Tibetan culture, the das-log experience, affords such a comparison. Modern NDEs differ from das-log experiences in ways that reflect their cultural context and may provide the foundation for a new Book of the Dead especially fitted to the...
As a dimension of privacy regulation, self-disclosure is the means through which individuals manage the psychological boundary area between the inner, private world and the outer, public world of interaction with others. In communication research, a gap has been noted between self-disclosure as defined by scientific method and self-disclosure as it is experienced by people in their daily life....
An advertisement in an Indian newspaper solicited accounts from people who had come close to death. Of 19 received, 7 reported no experiences, 4 reported dreamlike experiences, and 8 reported near-death experiences (NDEs). These NDEs were comparable to those reported by Raymond Moody, and included tunnels, dark spaces, and bright lights, contrary to previous reports of Indian cases. Many...
Near-death experiences (NDEs), transcendental experiences on the threshold of death with profound implications for both patient care and religious belief, have been hypothesized to be related to the awakening of a biological process known in Eastern traditions as kundalini. In a test of this proposed association between kundalini and NDEs, a sample of near-death experiencers acknowledged...
Abstract Near-death experiences (NDEs), profound mystical or transcendental experiences occurring on the threshold of death, have been reported to reduce fear of death and death anxiety. This study compared responses to the Threat Index, a widely used measure of the threat implied by one's personal death, of (a) 135 near-death experiences, (b) 43 individuals who had come close to death but not...
Most reported near-death experiences include profound feelings of peace, joy, and cosmic unity. Less familiar are the reports following close brushes with death of experiences that are partially or entirely unpleasant, frightening, or frankly hellish. While little is known about the antecedents or aftereffects of these distressing experiences, there appear to be three distinct types, involving...
In this paper I compare the phenomenology of near-death experiences to that of multiple personality disorder. The comparison reveals a number of similarities, including out-of-body experiences, the transcendental environment, encounter with the higher self, possible temporal lobe involvement, and antecedent child abuse. Rather than being disparate and unrelated experiences, I suggest that the...
Letter from John W. White to the editor responding to Allan Kellehear's idea (1991) that near-death experiences might provide insight to the pursuit of the ideal society.
Article discussing the results of a questionnaire distributed to clergy from Pennsylvania and Illinois, which showed the respondents had limited knowledge of the near-death experience (NDE) but had a moderately positive attitude toward the subject.