A critique of Kellehear's transcendent society

Allan Kellehear argued that the otherworld society envisioned in near-death experiences (NDEs) is similar to utopian societies. However, his cultural analysis, based on 9 Mormon NDEs, did not reflect the diversity of near-death visions from other cultures. I suggest that these Mormon NDEs were neither as utopian as Kellehear assumed nor representative of contemporary NDE reports, and that a more complete analysis would reveal a variety of NDEs and otherworld visions reflecting the experiencers' sociocultural back-ground. Robert Bellah's model of religious evolution provides a model for charting the NDE's change over time and cultures, and allows us to differentiate the perennial features of the NDE from the transient culturally-determined ones — a first step in understanding the role of NDEs in the quest for an ideal society.Howard Mickel, Ph.D., formerly Chairman of the Department of Religion at Wichita State University, is currently Director of the Theta Project, an educational and research effort focusing on near-death and related experiences.     

Near-death experiences and religion: A further investigation

The relationship between religion and near-death experiencers (NDEs) was examined by interviewing 40 near-death experiences who were given a series of instruments to measure religious orientation and religious change. No relationship was found between religious orientation prior to the NDE and the depth of the NDE. However, a significant correlation was found between the depth of the NDE and a subsequent increase both in the importance of religion and in religious activity. Various theoretical explanations of NDEs were examined to account for these findings.     

A comparison of retrospective accounts of childhood near-death experiences with contemporary pediatric near-death experience accounts

I compared five childhood near-death experiences (NDEs) reported by adults and another five NDEs reported by minors, in terms of Ring's five NDE stages, Greyson's four NDE components, Moody and Perry's 12 NDE traits, Sabom's 16 general characteristics, and Gallup and Proctor's 10 basic positive experiences. In this combined pool of 47 NDE characteristics (which were interdependent), only two relating to time sense showed significant differences between the adults' retrospective reports of childhood NDEs and the children's contemporary NDE reports, and that number of differences would be expected by chance. This study therefore supports the claims of previous researchers that adults' retrospective reports of childhood NDEs are not embellished or distorted.     

The Near-Death Experience: Knowledge and Attitudes of College Students

There is a considerable literature documenting the effects of a near-death experience (NDE) on persons who actually undergo the experience, in terms of their attitudes and opinions about NDEs. However, investigations of how much nonexperiencers know about NDEs and their attitudes towards them are in short supply. This study examined the relationship in people who have not had an NDE between attitudes toward and knowledge of near-death experiences. Subjects were undergraduate students, with a mean age of 32 years. The Near-Death Phenomena Knowledge and Attitudes Questionnaire was employed to assess attitudes toward and knowledge of NDEs. Results indicated that both knowledge and attitudes were relatively normally distributed, and that level of knowledge significantly predicted attitudes towards NDEs, accounting for 34 percent of the common variance.     

Angels in near-death experiences

The literature on near-death experiences (NDEs) contains no substantive discussion of angels in NDEs, even though there are references to angels in several studies of these experiences. In this article I identify angels in NDEs and describe their functions in the NDE based on published NDE accounts. I conclude that angels are personages with whom the NDEr does not usually recall having previous acquaintance. Angels, serve as guides, messengers, or escorts in the NDE.This research was supported by a sabbatical leave granted by the Sabbatical Leave Commitee of Western New Mexico University.     

University Professor Lecture: Near-Death Experiences: The Stories They Tell

I argue that we can interpret the stories told by near-death experiences (NDEs) in a naturalistic way. Thus, the profound significance of NDEs need not come from a supernaturalistic conception of them, according to which in an NDE the individual is in touch with a heavenly realm. We can respect the sincerity of NDE reports, but we can capture their meaning in a naturalistic framework.     

An Israeli account of a near-death experience: A case study of cultural dissonance

The text of an Israeli near-death experience (NDE) is presented in translation from the Hebrew. This account is contrasted with the traditional Hebrew sources on NDEs or their equivalents, which formed part of the NDEr's native subculture. In the present case, the lack of congruence between the reported NDE and the expected cultural form led to intense confusion described by the NDEr. Further study is needed of folk traditions of NDEs.     

Near-death experiences: A neurophysiologic explanatory model

Prior hypotheses as to the etiology of near-death experiences (NDEs) have been limited to psychiatric explanations or brief discussions of endorphins as causative agents. We present a neurophysiological explanation for NDEs based on their similarities with lysergic acid-, ketamine-, and hypercapnia-induced hallucinations. We believe the core NDE is genetically imprinted and triggered by serotonergic mechanisms.     

The Near-Death Experience: An Integration of Cultural, Spiritual, and Physical Perspectives

The near-death experience (NDE) has been studied extensively from two conflicting perspectives: that the NDE is a glimpse into an after-death state and that it is the result of a dying brain. Of late a third perspective has emerged, that of NDEs being culturally determined. I propose an integrated model in which all three perspectives are viewed with equal weight.     

The Evidential Value of Near-Death Experiences for Belief in Life After Death

In this paper, I explore the issue of what evidential value near-death experiences (NDEs) offer for belief in life after death. I survey the major positions on this issue, ranging from writers who believe that NDEs already offer convincing evidence for life after death, to physicalists who believe that they offer, at best, a very weak case. I argue that the present NDE evidence does suggest the possibility of life after death; however, such evidence is not yet overpowering or convincing. However, I go on to argue that NDEs do offer persuasive evidence for life after death for the individual who has the NDE. I end by suggesting that further research should be done on the most impressive type of NDE evidence for life after death, veridical perceptions during an NDE.     

Life after life-after-life

This essay is a first-person account describing the profound impact of my near-death experience (NDE). I surrendered everything in response to a spiritual mandate to do something different with my new life after the NDE. Researchers may find that such intensive responses contain credible data of interest in evaluating the question of why we have NDEs.     

Near-death utopias: Now or later?

By viewing near-death experiences (NDEs) in the context of the quest for an ideal society, Kellehear offered hope for positive social change and insight into the social, rather than purely personal, meanings of the NDE. However, his approach raised issues of the interpretive research process generally. As with any research, near-death studies are influenced by investigators' questions, interests, and assumptions. Despite the reasoning behind Kellehear's position, he grounded his analysis not in the data, but rather in his typology of ideal societies. I suggest we look first for indications of ideal social order in near-death narratives and only later compare them with types of utopias.     

Near-death experiences and self-transformation

The near-death experience (NDE) may be one of many mechanisms that may activate renewal and transformation, fundamental tendencies of the psyche. An examination of three successive NDEs in one individual suggests that such alterations of consciousness weaken ego control and foster transcendence of the ego, promoting transformation and regeneration.     

The myth of the near-death journey

I examine in this article the meaning and developmental potential of the near-death experience (NDE) as a stimulus to inner exploration. The NDE as a prototype of the transcendent contact encounter offers a model for an evolutionary theory of religion. My own experiences and contemporary portrayals of NDEs suggest that the experience is a vehicle for the mythic renewal of our idea of death as a journey rather than as a termination, and may be a stimulus for spiritual revolution.     

The devil in heaven: A near-death experience with both positive and negative facets

Although the considerable majority of reported near-death experiences (NDEs) are associated with positive affect, there are occasional cases of so-called negative NDEs that are dominated by fear and anguish. The phenomenological status of the negative experiences and their relationship to the more typical positive NDEs have been the subject of increasing speculation. In that light, the NDE described in this paper is of interest because it began to unfold as a positive experience but then changed course to become a negatively toned one. We present the details of this case and note its principal theoretical implications.     

The popular appeal of the near-death experience

In this article I argue that as scientific research provides an ever-more-complete physiological explanation of the near-death experience (NDE), popular interest in NDEs will wane, because the transcendental interpretation, which holds that the NDE provides proof of an immaterial soul, an afterlife, and assorted paranormal phenomena, has always been the magnet that has attracted widespread attention to the subject. Since the transcendental interpretation resonates with our culture's deepest wishes, dreams, and fears, the television and newspapers have tended to focus on that model almost exclusively. This unbalanced presentation of near-death research has reinforced the traditional image of science as a cold, heartless enterprise. I speculate that, in terms of its popular appeal, future near-death research may well have more impact on the field of psychotherapy than that of religion or the paranormal.He has taught at Stanford University and at Villa Maria College.     

The near-death experience of a nonverbal person with congenital quadriplegia

This article describes the near-death experience (NDE) a 39-year-old man born with severe spastic quadriplegia had when he was two and one-half years old. Nonverbal because of cerebral palsy, the man was able to communicate about his experience after he heard a therapist talking to another person about NDEs. The man experienced a fairly typical NDE and has had seven subsequent out-of-body experiences, the latter hypothesized as temporary relief from his physical pain resulting from muscular spasticity.