Ring, Kenneth
Life at death A scientific investigation of the near-death experience Kenneth Ring - New York Coward, McCann & Geo 1980 - 310 p.
Contents:
The near-death experience
The Connecticut study
Stages of the near-death experience
The decision to return to life
Qualitative aspects of the near-death experience
Does it matter how one (nearly) dies?
A search for correlates
Aftereffects I : personality and value changes
Aftereffects II : attitudes toward religion and death
The principal findings and some comparisons
Some possible interpretations of the near-death experience
Beyond the body : a parapsychological-holographic explanation of the near-death experience
Implications and application of near-death experience research
"What is it like to die? Despite the poet's plaint that no one has returned from that dark land to tell us, there is a growing body of information about the nature of death. Its common, basic features have been confirmed and are presented in this extraordinary book, the first scientific investigation of the near-death experience. From interviews with more than a hundred men and women who have come very close to death or have experienced "clinical" death -- a state in which vital signs such as heartbeat and respiration are entirely absent -- and have survived, Dr. Ring shows that certain elements are common. He confirms that findings reported by Raymond Moody concerning the near-death experience -- a sense of floating out of one's body, of entering a dark tunnel, of experiencing a panoramic life review and of encountering a brilliant golden light. In this book Dr. Ring elaborates on what happens at the threshold of death. He tells of the frequency of these experiences, discusses whether the manner in which one almost died --illness, accident, suicide -- changes the nature of the experience, and probes what role religion has in shaping the approach to death. He shows that the near-death experience is not affected by an individual's ages, sex education, race or religion. He found, however, that the typical near-death experience -- which he calls the "core experience" -- tends to unfold in a series of five stages. the "deeper" the stages, the fewer the people who reach it. The experience tends to end with an encounter with what is described as a "voice" or "presence" that asks whether the person wants to return to life. The aftereffects of the core experience are dramatic and profound. The fear of death tends to vanish, and the total impact is akin to a spiritual rebirth."-Publisher
0698110323
Death --Psychological aspects
Near-death experiences
155.937 Rin 7
Life at death A scientific investigation of the near-death experience Kenneth Ring - New York Coward, McCann & Geo 1980 - 310 p.
Contents:
The near-death experience
The Connecticut study
Stages of the near-death experience
The decision to return to life
Qualitative aspects of the near-death experience
Does it matter how one (nearly) dies?
A search for correlates
Aftereffects I : personality and value changes
Aftereffects II : attitudes toward religion and death
The principal findings and some comparisons
Some possible interpretations of the near-death experience
Beyond the body : a parapsychological-holographic explanation of the near-death experience
Implications and application of near-death experience research
"What is it like to die? Despite the poet's plaint that no one has returned from that dark land to tell us, there is a growing body of information about the nature of death. Its common, basic features have been confirmed and are presented in this extraordinary book, the first scientific investigation of the near-death experience. From interviews with more than a hundred men and women who have come very close to death or have experienced "clinical" death -- a state in which vital signs such as heartbeat and respiration are entirely absent -- and have survived, Dr. Ring shows that certain elements are common. He confirms that findings reported by Raymond Moody concerning the near-death experience -- a sense of floating out of one's body, of entering a dark tunnel, of experiencing a panoramic life review and of encountering a brilliant golden light. In this book Dr. Ring elaborates on what happens at the threshold of death. He tells of the frequency of these experiences, discusses whether the manner in which one almost died --illness, accident, suicide -- changes the nature of the experience, and probes what role religion has in shaping the approach to death. He shows that the near-death experience is not affected by an individual's ages, sex education, race or religion. He found, however, that the typical near-death experience -- which he calls the "core experience" -- tends to unfold in a series of five stages. the "deeper" the stages, the fewer the people who reach it. The experience tends to end with an encounter with what is described as a "voice" or "presence" that asks whether the person wants to return to life. The aftereffects of the core experience are dramatic and profound. The fear of death tends to vanish, and the total impact is akin to a spiritual rebirth."-Publisher
0698110323
Death --Psychological aspects
Near-death experiences
155.937 Rin 7