Near-Death Experiences

The Society for the Phenomenology of Religious Experience invites submissions of high quality abstracts of 150-300 words for its group meeting at the Central APA. The APA is currently planning the Central Division meeting at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, IL, on February 23-26, 2022, with virtual backup plans. Abstracts should be anonymized and sent by email to apacentral@sophere.org before August 15 with the subject line “Central APA Submission”. Notifications of acceptance will be emailed by Aug 25. Paper presentation time should be no more than 20-30 minutes.

Religious/Spiritual Experience and Metaphysics
Sessions Co-Chairs: Olga Louchakova-Schwartz (UC Davis) and Andrew Oberg (University of Kochi)

In these two panels, we seek to address relationships between religious or spiritual experience (RSE) and metaphysics.
RSE are associated with interruptions in ordinary language/common sense experience of the everyday (cf. Dahl; Barber; Heidegger). RSE interruptions create specific changes in perception, but it is not clear if and how RSE phenomena as described by i.e. mystics (such as internal perception of light, sound, altered perception of the body (re: spatiality, density, depth, other parameters), internal stillness, motion, presence or disconnect, etc.) impact one’s beliefs and/or attendant metaphysical (pre)suppositions. Do RSE change empirical realism of the natural attitude, religious attitude, or one’s metaphysics of the self? In the first panel, we invite concrete empirical and textual investigations of relationships between the perceptual and conceptual aspects of RSE across different traditions. The papers can include both first person and second person descriptive phenomenological researches or an intertwining of different phenomenological analyses.
The second panel seeks revisionist metaphysical proposals that include a reference to formal phenomenological analyses of consciousness in RSE. By contrast with the ordinary experience of objects, originary self-giving in RSE can be non-associative, open-ended, undetermined; in other words, excluding mental or "real" (empirically so) objects. Therefore, a descriptive metaphysics of such consciousness needs to be non-object related (cf. Ladyman, French). What is the nature of reality “displayed” by RSE? Besides covering the metaphysics of consciousness, the panel welcomes speculative extensions of such phenomenologically grounded metaphysics into realist contexts, such as e.g., metaphysics of the quantum world or Minkowski space-time.
Contact: olouchakova@gmail.com

The research in the field of Near-Death-Experiences (NDE) shows us various reports of the process of dying which contradict the widely shared medical opinions in the past. Based on these observations, Raymond Moody developed and differentiated specific stages in the process of dying. Although these stages cannot be empirically proven, for some of the described stages scientific explanations can be found. For example, NDE have been reported in the terminal phase of life-threatening diseases, which can be explained by neurobiological changes of transmitter substances in dying person's brains. Further explanatory models fall back on other influences, e.g. side effects of sedative medication, psychedelic drugs, meditation, epilepsy, migraine or oneiroid psychosis. The large number of different visual experiences (tunnel vision, encounter with close relatives, bright lights, God, flowering gardens etc.) which appear in the course of a NDE, can be interpreted as visual hallucinations or oneiroid dreams as a consequence of medication or endogenous opioid production; in addition, a genetic predisposition could play an essential role. A NDE possibly is a final protective mechanism of the brain in agonizing patients, which leads to feelings of euphoria and experiences of hallucinations, caused by the explosive release of neurotransmitters. Positive emphasis should be given to the fact that in periods of increasing secularization the investigations of NDE have provided new hope of a life after death in the past 30 years. For many patients, caregivers, physicians and nurses, Moody's book was a great help in overcoming fears of dying and death. In spite of all legitimate criticism, the " nine elements of the Near-Death Experiences " , still inspires researchers to have a different look on the process of dying.

Article in Dutch about the unfounded upheaval surrounding the paper "Electroencephalographic Recordings during Withdrawal of Life-Sustaining Therapy until 30 Minutes after Declaration of Death"  by Loretta Norton et al., of 2017. Published in Terugkeer naar Levenslicht, Vol. 1, Nr. 1/2, Spring/Summer 2017, pp. 32-33.

Storm, an avowed atheist, was awaiting emergency surgery when he realized that he was at death’s door. Storm found himself out of his own body, looking down on the hospital room scene below. Next, rather than going “toward the light,” he found himself being torturously dragged to excruciating realms of darkness and death, where he was physically assaulted by monstrous beings of evil. His description of his pure terror and torture is unnerving in its utter originality and convincing detail.

Finally, drawn away from death and transported to the realm of heaven, Storm met angelic beings as well as the God of Creation. In this fascinating account, Storm tells of his “life review,” his conversation with God, even answers to age-old questions such as why the Holocaust was allowed to take place

From the foreward by Anne Rice

Altered states of consciousness (ASC) induced by meditation, psychedelic drugs, or impending death are quite a fascinating but challenging field of investigation.

By proposing an original model for hallucinations as a breakthrough, we develop a whole new theoretical framework centered on perception to interpret ASC.

At the meantime, we discover the correlation between Buddhism and ASC. Thereupon we introduce time dimension and reveal the science behind Buddhism.

In the 40 years since the Maimonides studies (1,2) it has become clear, through both scientific research and first hand reports, that individuals can become telepathically linked in dreams, and can even experience one another in a consensual way in a shared intersubjective dreamspace. However, considering the fact that many animals dream physiologically just as humans do, it should not surprise us that, given the strong bonds between humans and their animal companions, that psi-dreaming might connect humans with other species as well. This presentation will explore human-animal psi-dreaming, and invites participants to share their own interspecies dreams.

Psychopompic Dreaming: Visits With Those Who Have Passed On? by Ed Kellogg, Ph.D. ©2004. Presented at IASD's Third PsiberDreaming Conference, September 19 - October 3, 2004.

What does it mean to have a psychopompic dream, a dream in which we encounter someone who has died? Two possibilities immediately spring to mind: one can dream OF someone who has died, and one can dream WITH someone who has died.

How can dreamers tell the difference?

This presentation will explore this question.

Physically, reality is all, known and unknown, that exists within a system. It ‘is the totality of all things, structures (actual and conceptual), events (past and present) and phenomena, whether observable or not. The author has explored this subject and mysticism in general from the scientific and the Quranic perspectives. Whatever reality we observe, it is through our brain.  The author has explored the realties we experience or will experience through our brain.

The study suggests that there are five dimensions to the reality we experience. The baseline reality, the reality of the external world, is the reality we deal with in the waking hours. It is the representation in the mind developed by fully integrating perceptions from tertiary association areas of our brain based on the signals received from our senses. In addition to this, dream is a reality which most of the human experience during sleep. Instead of sensory signals, it is triggered by the internal stimuli originating from the memory. Its content, however, is unique to the individuals experiencing it.

Though the baseline reality and dreams are common to all, individuals practicing meditation experience another kind of reality which is called the mystical reality. Meditation causes deafferentation in certain portions of mind resulting in the person experiencing a sense of attaining absolute reality, union with God or the Absolute, a sense of either bliss or utter tranquility.

At times of severe physical trauma such as near-drownings or major surgery people experience a reality which is called Near-death experiences (NDE). Typically the experience includes: a sense of being dead; a feeling of peace and painlessness; hearing of various non-physical sounds, an out-of-body experience; a tunnel experience; encountering "beings of light" and a God-like figure or similar entities; being given a "life review", and a reluctance to return to life. Along with many other factors, the NDE is activated by the stimulation of the lower part of temporal lobe (including amygdala and hippocampus). These regions are involved in eliciting vivid memories, complex hallucinations, dream like states, and other sensations in states of markedly decreased input into these regions. A subset of the NDE is the out of body experiences (OBE) which results in a sense of being detached from the body. It can also happen independently. It is due to illusory reduplications of one’s own body due to interference with the temporo-parietal junction in the brain.

The fifth reality is the Ultimate reality, which the whole humanity will experience on the Day of Judgement. The Quran calls it ‘Al-Haqqah’ (the Sure Reality) and Al-Waqiah (the Event or the Inevitability). It will be experienced on the day when people will be raised again and will be judged. Some will be experiencing a permanent blissfulness and some a permanent misery.

The brain is thus a multifaceted instrument. It is normally used to observe the baseline reality, but can also be used to have other experiences.

Reviews:
Joseph Azize, in Numen 66 (2020), 5-6, 611-5

Egil Asprem, in Journal of Contemporary Religion 34 (2019), 382-4

Markus Altena Davidsen, in Reading Religion (2019), http://readingreligion.org/books/what-it-be-dead;

Gregory Shushan, in Journal of Near-Death Studies 38, 2 (2020), 101-131; Simon Cox, in Aries, 20, 2 (2020), 299-302

Bruce Wollenberg, Theology and Science, 2020, DOI: 10.1080/14746700.2020.1825198;

Michael Nahm, Journal of Parapsychology 84, 2 (2020), 314-317

Носачев Павел (Pavel Nosachev), НАРРАТИВНЫЙ ПОДХОД К ИЗУЧЕНИЮ ОКОЛОСМЕРТНОГО ОПЫТА. Рец. на: Schlieter, … (Narrative Approach to the Study of Near Death Experience: Review of …); 162-168

Die Wissenschaft schreitet voran. Mit der Kartographierung der kosmischen Hintergrundstrahlung wurden Signale aus der ganz frühen Zeit des Universums sichtbar gemacht. Die Entdeckung des Higgs-Bosons im Jahr 2012 hat unsere Kenntnis der Elementarteilchen vervollständigt. Schon Anfang des neuen Jahrtausends ist die Sequenzierung des menschlichen Genoms gelungen; erste Versuche, künstliches Leben zu schaffen, folgten. Gewachsen ist auch die Fähigkeit, Gedanken allein aus der Beobachtung neuronaler Aktivitäten abzulesen.
Viele Fragen aber bleiben trotz des wachsenden Wissens unbeantwortet. Schauen wir nur auf uns selbst: Was ist der Sinn meines Lebens? Gibt es überhaupt so etwas wie bleibende Bedeutung? Oder verlieren wir uns im endlosen Universum?
Wodurch haben wir Menschen in der Evolution die eindrückliche Fähigkeit erworben, die Welt so weitreichend entdecken zu können?
Zu solchen Fragen nach den eigenen Ursprüngen und nach unserem Standort in der Wirklichkeit möchte das Buch ermuntern und nimmt dabei die Gottesfrage mit in den Blick. Dem Leser werden fundierte Einführungen in essentielle Fragestellungen des Dialogs zwischen Theologie und Naturwissenschaften geboten.

Altered states of consciousness (ASC) induced by meditation, psychedelic drugs, or impending death are quite a fascinating but challenging field of investigation. By proposing an original model for hallucinations as a breakthrough, we develop a whole new theoretical framework centered on perception to interpret ASC. At the meantime, we discover the correlation between Buddhism and ASC. Thereupon we introduce time dimension and reveal the science behind Buddhism.

Our study starts from summarizing four essential phenomena (hallucinations, mystical experiences, enhanced awareness and paranormal phenomena) in ASC.

Firstly, we develop a unique model to interpret hallucinations which are extremely miraculous and perplexing in ASC: When false internal stimulations and external objective stimulations affect perception together, the changes in their relative strength will result in the consistence, breakdown and re-consistence of the five senses, leading to three basic states of hallucinations (one can distinguish reality from illusion, one cannot distinguish reality from illusion, and reality and illusion are totally reversed). As an inference of this model, the inconsistence of the five senses can explain various marvelous hallucinations in ASC in combination with the amplifying function of enhanced awareness discussed later. Moreover, it can also explain the mechanisms of out-of-body experiences (resulting from the inconsistence of vision and touching) and synesthesia (resulting from the mismatch of the two pairs of five senses) well.

Secondly, we point out that mystical experiences occur in Samadhi. From a psychological perspective, we argue that the essence of Samadhi is perception shutting down to activate a new mode of apperceiving, one totally different from the usual five sense mode of perception. That’s why one feels that everything in daily life disappears and he and the universe assimilate each other in Samadhi. Hallucinations also disappear in Samadhi because perception shuts down.

Thirdly, enhanced awareness is emphasized in ASC and explained by a perception-filtering hypothesis: In ordinary conditions, perception has a natural threshold for its sensitivity for the purpose of biological survival; but in ASC, awareness becomes more sensitive because the perception-filtering function gets weakened to allow the influx of more details, resulting in various unusual capabilities, one of which is Vipassana. That is to say, enhanced awareness makes contemplating the five skandhas possible, just like watching a slow-motion film. This would lead to the insight that no Self could be found in each skandha, which is also known as enlightenment in Buddhism. That there is a fixed entity underlying all skandhas is just an illusion resulting from that all these happen so quickly in ordinary conditions.

Fourthly, the existence of paranormal phenomena is always controversial. As an implication of above model for hallucinations, the third state of hallucinations suggests a novel hypothesis to interpret extrasensory perception: When one is in deep hallucinations, false internal stimulations are mistaken as external objective stimulations which enter through sensory organs, while real external objective stimulations are mistaken as perceptions which do not result from sensory organs. It indicates that paranormal phenomena are delusions that happen along with deep hallucinations.

On the basis of above analysis, we argue that the nature of ASC is a story about perception. Finally, we introduce time dimension to figure out the relationship among these essential phenomena in ASC, bringing the long-standing mystery of Buddhist tranquility and insight to light: Enhanced awareness after Samadhi is the path to attain enlightenment.

In the field of Science of Religion and associated fields of the Human Sciences revisions about the limits of reality have begun, in response both to intercultural encounters as well as to a rising awareness of research on the complexity of reality in the natural sciences. These have elicited proposals that the perspectives of the "religious" and the "para-normal" should be distinguished. This resonates with traditions of empirical and theoretical research often marginalized by the prevailing Positivist ideology and by Cognitivism. It also resonates with suppressed cultural traditions. A cautious movement towards a wider and differentiated assessment of reality and of phenomena, to be approached in these two perspectives, can however be observed in scholarship of religion, and even in the fold of Cognitivist Psychology.
This presentation, held at the conference of the German Association for Science of Religion / DVRW in Potsdam in 2018 explores the field and argues for the validity and heuristic power of this distinction.

Are near-death experiences (NDEs) just elaborate hallucinations produced by a dying brain? Or the exuberant fantasies of attention-seeking narcissists? As the accounts in this book abundantly demonstrate: Neither!

This book contains over 100 reliable, often firsthand accounts of perceptions during NDEs that were later verified as accurate by independent sources. These near-death experiencers were everyday people from all over the world—many of whom were clinically dead, unable to see or hear, and yet able to perceive new vistas of a world beyond the senses and even beyond death.

The Self Does Not Die is a trailblazing effort to present the most confirmed cases of consciousness beyond death ever compiled. - (There now is a paperback and a kindle version.)

The twentieth century saw an unprecedented spike in the study of altered states of consciousness. New ASCs, such as those associated with LSD and psilocybin mushrooms, were cultivated and studied, while older ASCs were given new classifications: out-of-body experiences, near-death experiences, psychokinesis, extrasensory perception.  Altered Consciousness in the Twentieth Century analyses these different approaches and methodologies, and includes exciting new research into neglected areas.

This volume investigates the representation of ASCs in the culture of the twentieth century and examines the theoretical models that attempt to explain them. The international contributors critically examine a variety of ASCs, including precognition, near-death experiences, telepathy, New Age ‘channelling’, contact with aliens and UFOs, the use of alcohol and entheogens, analysing both the impact of ASCs on the culture and how cultural and technological changes influenced ASCs. The contributors are drawn from the fields of English and American literature, religious studies, Western esotericism, film studies, sociology and history of art, and bring to bear on ASCs their own disciplinary and conceptual perspectives, as well as a broader interdisciplinary knowledge of the subject. The collection represents a vital contribution to the growing body of work on both ASCs and the wider academic engagement with millennialism, entheogens, occulture and the paranormal.

When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes, they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home. - Tecumseh

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven do not want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. - Steve Jobs

This is the introduction to my book "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" volume one, which includes interviews with Dr. Bruce Greyson (UVA) Mario Beauregard PhD, Gary Schwartz PhD. It includes an interview with NDE survivor David Bennett, former Navy science officer who saw some unusual events in his near death experience, including that he would survive cancer in the future. He's been studied at DOPS at the University of Virginia. Again, not a scientific paper, but because it's an interview, I offer it as another stone dropped in a pond, to see where the ripples might land.  I've filmed 25 deep hypnosis sessions, compared the results to Dr. Helen Wambach's research, Michael Newton's research, and further, filmed people who had a near death experience, and could recall events and details while fully conscious, bypassing hypnosis altogether.

After the death of a close friend or a loved one, the grieving process often takes years, even decades, to accomplish.  Although we may believe that they have "passed on," most people still doubt, and without a way to confirm that those they care about still exist "somewhere," deaths often cause emotional wounds very difficult to heal.

Can we really visit with those who have died through our dreams? For myself, from a factual perspective, considering the unexpected correspondences that have showed up in my own dreams, I'd answer this question with an "I think so, but other explanations - such as telepathy, etc., might account for the unexpected, and accurate, information obtained." On the other hand, from an emotional perspective, judging the experiences based on the astonishing degree of emotional resolution that I've felt following many psychopompic lucid dreams, I find myself obliged to say, despite my personal attachment to the phenomenological attitude, "Yes, almost certainly."  And as far as the proverbial "chasm between life and death" goes, for those who have the requisite skills, I believe that lucid dreaming can provide an effective way of bridging the gap.

In the moments following orgasm, it is common to enter a transcendent state and experience a brief loss of self awareness. Romantically referred to as La Petite Mort — this can be an ideal portal to a lucid dream.
Orgasm alters consciousness and acts as a powerful analgesic, it has been associated with the deactivation and activation of certain key brain regions. Some regions are responsible for modulating the perception of our relationship with reality. In the deep sense of peace that unfolds throughout our body post-orgasm, we are in a unique position to practice the art of lucid dreaming without falling asleep.

It is one of the fundamental questions that everyone will ask themselves, but in an age of global pandemics, with the increasing challenge to once universal religious certainties and the growing partisan stranglehold on information, the question ‘what happens to the human personality after death?’ takes on renewed urgency to seek answers from every discipline of knowledge, from history to computer science. This volume aims to bring together the different strands of that wide inquiry with contributions from experts in their fields to provide a uniquely valuable reference book, reflecting the state-of-the-art of research. To this end, contributions are invited from historians, sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists, parapsychologists, philosophers, physicists, medical researchers, computer scientists and others.

This book project is being conducted under the auspices of the Society for Psychical Research. Established in 1882, the SPR is the world’s oldest, largest and most reputable organisation for the scientific study of what we now call the ‘paranormal’. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to contribute to a project of fundamental importance and a unique chance to join the SPR’s long tradition of open-minded inquiry.

¿Cuánto tiempo pasé en ese mundo? No tengo ni la menor idea. Cuando vas a un sitio en el que no percibes el tiempo como lo experimentamos en el mundo normal, describir su transcurrir es prácticamente imposible. Era como ser un topo o un gusano, una criatura enterrada en la tierra pero, a pesar de ello, capaz de ver la enmarañada matriz de raíces y árboles que la rodea. Por eso, lo bauticé como el «reino de la perspectiva del gusano». Poco a poco, aquella sensación de profunda, eterna e ilimitada inmersión fue dando paso a otra: la de que en realidad yo no formaba parte de aquel mundo subterráneo, sino que estaba atrapado en él. Entonces, en el centro mismo de la luz apareció algo. Enfoqué mi percepción sobre ella, tratando de adivinar lo que era. Una puerta. Ya no estaba mirando la luz giratoria, sino a través de ella. En cuanto lo comprendí, comencé a ascender. Me encontré en un mundo totalmente nuevo. El más extraño y hermoso que jamás hubiera contemplado. Brillante, extático, asombroso… Me percaté de que ya no estaba solo. Había alguien a mi lado: una chica preciosa de ojos azules y cabello dorado que enmarcaba su hermoso rostro. Volábamos juntos a bordo de una superficie cubierta por unos dibujos enormemente intrincados, el ala de una mariposa.Sin utilizar palabras, me habló: «Te aman y aprecian, profunda y eternamente». «No tienes nada que temer». «Nada de lo que hagas puede ser malo». Esas esperanzadoras palabras hicieron que me inundara una vasta y alocada sensación de alivio. «Aquí te mostraremos muchas cosas —anunció la chica, de nuevo sin utilizar estas palabras exactas, sino transmitiéndome directamente su esencia conceptual—, pero al final regresarás».

In the last 150 years, a number of scientists, medical doctors, and other highly qualified investigators have diligently collected a wide variety of data pointing to the continuing existence of some portion of human consciousness after death of the body. This essay lays out the most pertinent elements of that accumulated data and argues that they strongly support the hypothesis of survival of human consciousness after permanent bodily death. Part I lays out the third-person evidence for survival, from phenomena such as apparitions of the dead, dreams, mediumship, and poltergeists. Part II looks at first-person evidence, not only from people who have had near-death experiences but also from those who remember living previous lives in other bodies and/or being conscious in a disembodied state between lives. The essay argues that the extensive cross-validation between the third-person and first-person evidence cripples the strongest skeptical arguments that have been brought against each category considered alone and makes the hypothesis of survival of permanent bodily death the best explanation for the evidence considered as a whole.

This book arrives with a reputation. Apparently, it is the first book on psi and other anomalous human experiences to be published by the rather traditionalist APA (American Psychological Association). If this is true, this is likely due to the fact that much of the book relies on carefully monitored and repeated experiments to demonstrate the statistical veracity of such things as precognition, remote viewing, clairvoyance, mental telepathy, and even psychokinesis. This is the key to the authors' claim of empirical testing and scientific proof. This is not a long book, consisting of only eight self-contained chapters that work in concert to lead toward the implication of a kind of idealist ultimate reality. Despite its size, it seems they manage to cover all aspects of psi, including post-mortem communication with 'discarnate entities', and they cite nearly all the well-known authors in this field over the past decades and earlier.

In 1990 Columbia Pictures presented the Oscar (Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing) nominated film ‘Flatliners’ (directed: Joel Schumacher, script: Peter Filardi). Nelson, the hero in ‘Flatliners’, and four of his fellow medical students test how long they can re- main brain-dead, ‘quite simply to see if there is anything beyond death. Philosophy failed. Religion failed. Now it’s up to physical science. Mankind deserves to know.’ (DVD 16:45) What mankind deserves to know is nothing less than the answer of physical sciences to the ancient question: What happens after death?
It is significant and surprising that this theme is the explicit leitmotiv of a film, since no such leitmotiv can be found even in the genre of Jesus films. As far as one can see there is no genre: ‘life after death films’, although this question and answer is part of ‘all sto- ries [...] known collectively as The Hero’s Journey.’ (Vogler 1992, 1) In Christopher Vogler’s model of twelve stages they (Heroes) ‘experience a RESURRECTION, and are transformed by the experience’ (stage eleven, 26). How far does Vogler’s model work on a film that not only has an element of resurrection in it, but whose leitmotiv is to find out what – if anything – exactly happens after death?
What at first looks like a modern enlightened scientific approach becomes understand- able only with the Christian teaching of the resurrection. In ‘Flatliners’ it is not so much the obvious discourse about resurrection, but their ‘fruits’ such as atonement and for- giveness and the truth, that one cannot redeem oneself. In the first part I will focus on possible answers to the question ‘What happens after death?’ and especially on what is probably its most influential – and uniquely Christian – answer. That will provide us with the grid for our film analysis and interpretation in the second part.

Ogni religione ci assicura che qualcosa sopravvive alla morte, un qualcosa che possiamo chiamare anima. Ma le religioni fondano la credibilità dei loro dogmi su un atto di fede, e a molte persone questo non basta. La nostra mente deterministica e materialista richiede sempre e costantemente una sola ed unica cosa: prove. Dove sono le prove dell’esistenza dell’anima e della sopravvivenza alla morte? Per molti, se la Scienza non può dimostrare l’esistenza dell’anima, allora l’anima non esiste. Ma può davvero essere la Scienza il metro di misura della dimensione spirituale dell’essere umano?

A broad pattern of correlations between mechanisms of brain function impairment and self-transcendence is shown. The pattern includes such mechanisms as cerebral hypoxia, physiological stress, transcranial magnetic stimulation, trance-induced physiological effects, the action of psychoactive substances and even physical trauma to the brain. In all these cases, subjects report self-transcending experiences o en described as ‘mystical’ and ‘awareness-expanding,’ as well as self-transcending skills o en described as ‘savant.’ The idea that these correlations could be rather trivially accounted for on the basis of disruptions to inhibitory neural processes is reviewed and shown to be implausible. Instead, this paper suggests that an as-of-yet unrecognized causal principle underlying the entire pattern might be at work, whose further elucidation through systematic research could hold great promise.

Spiritual emergence is a natural part of the human developmental experience. The process is unique to each individual and may gradually unfold or suddenly arise. Yet, because there is no mainstream cultural framework to provide context for the broad spectrum of anomalous experiences that may occur within it, there can be resistance to the process. The purpose of this exploratory study was to elucidate the phenomenon of spiritual resistance within the spiritual emergence process. Using the heuristic method, 18 participants who self-identified as having experienced spiritual resistance were interviewed. Based on data gathered through this research, 5 types of spiritual resistance and 11 ways of overcoming it were named. Spiritual resistance has both a protective and inhibiting function. Although at times it may serve to stifle the progression of spiritual development, it may also be the intermediary in protecting the ego from the tumultuous process experienced during spiritual emergency.

Sogenannte Nahtod-und Reinkarnationserfahrungen gehören zu denen, die allergrößte Beachtung verdienen, denn sie gehen, so sie denn tatsächlich solche sind, einen jeden Menschen an. Sie haben das Potential, unsere gesamte Auffassung von der Welt grundlegend zu verändern. Das, was bisher nur private Ansichtssache war-die Unsterblichkeit der Seele-, würde zur objektiven Gewissheit. Neue Wege der Forschung müssen beschritten werden, denn allein mit den naturwissenschaftlichen Methoden, die sich am Leblos-Mechanischen herausgebildet haben, lässt sich das Lebendige nicht begreifen.

This paper beams a bright light on the theory of Authenticity as espoused by Martin Heidegger in his existential philosophy. In this discourse, the philosophical conceptions of existentialist scholars on authenticity are brought to the fore via the concept of Dasein in relation to man. We examine the complementarity of authenticity and inauthenticity, while showcasing the possibility of near-death experiences to push the individual in the path of authentic life. The methodology implored herein is narrative and critique laden. This paper is expository with citations from prose narratives and human experiences to showcase an aesthetical display of the notion of Heidegger’s authenticity.