Big Book of Near-Death Experiences

Contents Book Reviews Dedication Special Thank-Yous Foreword Introduction Part 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 Controversy 2. Types of Experiences To Each His Own - Problems in Communication - A Common Range of Patterns - Some Examples of Each Type 3. 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 Visualizations 4. 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 Experience 5. 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 Experience Part 2: Afterward 6. Lives Turned Upside Down Feelings after Being Revived - A New You - A Strain on Relationships - Lifestyle Switcheroos - Deity Reigns 7. The Undeniable Aftereffects Connecting the Dots - Common Psychological Aftereffects - Common Physiological Aftereffects - The Need Factor 8. Startling Differences between Child and Adult Experiencers Don't Assume Anything - Jump-Starting Intelligence - Far Apart - Talking About It 9. 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 Remember 10. 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 Last Part 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 Projects 13. 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 Packet 15. Religion's Got a Gripe, Too It's in the Bible - Repercussions - The Devil's Handwork - We Got Here First - The Forgotten and Underreported Part 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 Cultures--A Major Challenge 17. 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 Painting 18. The Importance of Otherworldly Journeys Exceptional Human Experiences - The ""Other Worlds"" of Myth and Legend - The Four Levels of Otherworldy Imagery - Feeling Alien 19. 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 Realities 20. Transformations of Consciousness A Larger Genre - Higher Consciousness - Turbulent Transformations - Tranquil Transformations - The Crown Jewel of Enlightenment 21. 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 Enlightenment Part 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 Therapy 25. 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 Spiritual 26. 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 Growing Appendix 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