Near Death Experiences Books

American psychiatrist Dr. Ian Stevenson is especially renowned for his world wide reincarnation research among young children. Most of Stevenson's publications deal with non-Western subjects, especially in Asia. This is related to the frequency in which memories of previous lives among such children are reported. But also to this quest for cases with birthmarks and birth defects that often seem to refer to the death at the end of the previous incarnation. For these reasons, dr. Stevenson needed about 30 years to finish this latest book, dedicated to European cases.
The subjects of investigation in this book live(d) in Great Britain, Hungary, Iceland, Finland, Belgium, Italy, Germany, France, Austria and the Netherlands. Apart from young children with spontaneous memories, Stevenson also discusses recurrent dreams, and curious cases among adults, namely Ruprecht Schulz, Edward Ryall, Peter Avery and the Dutch lady Henriette Roos. The latter appeared to have been possessed by Goya's spirit while making what seemed like automatic paintings. A spiritualist medium told Henriette she would have taken care of Goya in her previous life during his long stay in France. There really turned out have been such a woman and the story even seemed to shed light on inclinations and talents of Henriette.
There are also two remarkable cases of possible memories of the Holocaust, that remind one of the books of Reb Yonassan Gershom and the Dutch case of Shai Simpson-Baikie.
A relatively large part of the cases concern reincarnation within the same family or circle of friends, but this does not mean that they should be dismissed as worthless. It seems clear that they usually show the same structure as cases involving memories of the life of a deceased person who did not belong to the child's direct social environment.
The book's main message reads that there are classical cases of the reincarnation type in Europe, even among children of parents who had not believed in reincarnation before their cases developed. The cases are characterised with the same age category and show many other resemblances to non-Western cases. For instance, many European children recall a violent death, just like children in Asia and Brasil or among North-American native tribes. Some of them act out their memories of a previous incarnation by specific playing patterns. A number of them suffer from phobias and some have birth defects that correspond with the cause of death, or they show skills that they have never learnt in the present life-time. All of these children show noteworthy behavioural patterns which relate to the life they remember.

Ian Stevenson concludes that the information supplied by some of this children is paranormal, because they could not have gathered it in a normally way. The most impressive example of this, is probably the case of Helmut Kraus who recalled the life of a General Werner Seehofer and was even able to mention his exact address in Vienna.
More generally, Stevenson also regards the children's behaviour as paranormal, because it is impossible to give a mundane developmental explanation for it and because the behaviour is connected to the child's statements. The author certainly realises that most European cases are not as strong evidentially as many non-Western cases, but he does conclude that the reincarnation hypothesis is the best hypothesis for some of these European cases.
Whether deliberately or by accident some well-known sources about European reincarnation research have been left unmentioned, notably the work by Peter and Mary Harrison (although strangely enough their case Carl Edon is discussed in this book), the book Destiny by Martin Heald and the books by Jenny Cockell, a subject thoroughly studied by Mary Rose Barrington.

This book cannot be judged separately from the rest of Stevenson's monumental production. As such it can hardly serve as a general introduction to reincarnation research. Considering the increase of reported Western cases, European Cases of the Reincarnation Type is clearly essential reading for anyone who wishes to study the phenomenon. Let us hope that this 21st Century will bring the breakthrough in studies of spontaneous European memories of previous lives and that many books about this topic will follow. L'éminence grise of reincarnation research Ian Stevenson has doubtlessly laid a solid foundation for such developments.

This book is a bit of a surprise, if you've read any of Dr. Stevenson's other books on reincarnation. He is usually so strict as to what cases he puts in his books. In this book, he is anything but...he has cases I would not have included, he has cases he says he really didn't want to include. :) It's like because there is so little scientific research of reincarnation cases in Europe, he used stories told to him and even dreams! Seeing possible past life dreams in a Stevenson book was a real shocker! Everything I had read from him, or about him, in the past rated dreams right up there with past life regression--past life fantasies, nothing more! And not only does he include dreams, he even states past life hypnotism is all right, as long as the person has come up with that specific past life before in some other manner. He sees it as a useful tool to possibly acquire more details of that life.

My favorite story in the book was the one the front cover painting comes from...the possible reincarnation of the daughter of artist Goya's mistress. Very fascinating story. It's good it was put in the back of the book, too...because it made all the other stories in the book seems quite dull in comparison.

True stories written with exciting detail and knowledgeable and logical assessment of how to avoid problems and what to do should you find yourself involved in a dangerous situation. An easy to read book with one true story as engaging as the next! No chapter is without excitement and tips. Even the Introduction is a worthwhile read, which I find unusual. I also enjoyed reading his compliation of true bear stories in Bear Attacks of the Century.

An outdoor writer and a newspaper writer team up to explore where some people get the strength to survive horrific wilderness disasters.Twenty true stories are told. A good book for a winter night.

The book gave long descriptions of most of the experiences and not enough of them.

Having read multiple books on this topic of near death experiences and what transpires at the moment of death I found these stories to be very concise. Numerous accounts that get right to the point. What happened to cause their NDE and what they saw and experienced. This book offers an extensive collection of stories a few pages each. (Just the way I like it.)
definitely not boring and very thought provoking.

What author Hazel Denning calls "guilt" in this book, some modern day authors like to refer to as "limited beliefs". We all have certain beliefs that led us to behave a certain way that others may find unsuitable or unacceptable. According to Ms. Denning most of us try to correct in our present life wrongs we committed in our past life. However, the way we go about it may be wrong. Past Life Regression (hypnosis) can identify source of the behavior that can help individual assess more easily how to correct such behavior. Book gives scripts from specific hypnosis sessions that helped individuals improve their life, health and relationship with people around them. As guilt is a feeling that is self imposed and self inflicted one must thread gently when trying to resolve such conflict. Easy and quick read that seems more like a series of confessionals. Book will not offer specific trance scripts or recommendations for the hypnosis professionals one can turn to. It is almost a self congratulatory book about Ms. Denning's successful hypnosis
practice.

In this remarkable book Dr. Denning expresses herself clearly, which is good for the reader, since her subject of reincarnation is a boggling mystery to most of us. She states her case early saying that knowledge of our past lives affects our behavior favorably in some ways and destructively in others. In a nutshell, we each have a personal ancient history locked in our psyche, a kind of mental foundation with the power to both lift us up and screw us up. As a psychologist she uses regression techniques that her clients discover help them solve here-and-now personal problems by awakening experiences from prior lives. The implications of this concept are stunning. As are her vividly recounted case studies, which she uses to illustrate her point. Clearly a lot of people endorse her premise, yet it's certainly a tough call for anyone to say she is right. This is precisely why "Life Without Guilt" is so compelling.

While any story about Edgar Cayce is fascinating, this falls short for me. It is interesting, but when the author (Hugh Cayce) quotes his father, I can't understand a word he's saying. Most of the book is done in a question and answer format between Edgar Cayce and his client, in quotations (his own words). For instance : "(Q) What form of consciousness does the spirit entity assume?" He is asked by the client.
"(A) That of the subconscious consciousness, as known in the material plane, or the acts and deeds, and thoughts, done in the body, are ever present before that being. Then consider what a hell digged by some, and what a haven and heaven builded by many." HUH ??? The whole book is like this......impossible to decipher and understand. Reading this was more frustrating than enjoyable. I didn't finish it.

This revision of Hugh Lynn's 1958 48-page booklet, "God's Other Door," is brimming with a wondrous collection of readings and stories. The original material is there, but Graham has added masses of new research. As the preface indicates, Hugh Lynn, when he wrote it, didn't have much time for research. He was on the road constantly, speaking in any state on any Cayce topic, trying to build and keep alive the A.R.E., which then had only a few thousand members. Graham's dream of a conversation with Hugh Lynn is the first choice gem in a book full of Cayce wisdom, insight, and comfort. The 22 chapters range widely around the central fact, as Cayce put it, "you are a soul, you have a body." And the soul does not die. Out-of-body travel, the finer body, the silver cord, the light, the inter-between, soul communication, angels, reincarnation, love, wonderful and awesome aspects of being -- all of these and more -- are arranged and presented with skill by a master sotryteller. The final chapter is Edgar Cayce's 1934 lecture, "The Continuity of Life."

Reminds us that we are spiritual beings having a relatively brief human experience before returning to our real & eternal home. Reinforces that spirituality is truely present in everyone and transcends all earthly religions. Many wonderful stories throughout the book to support the love and freedom that our beloved deceased have found. Death will kill the body but not the soul. We can grieve the ugliness of earthly disease and death, but we cannot grieve about the love present in the hereafter. EN

Parting Visions was originally published in 1992 and parts of it are seriously out of date with current studies. For example, the author writes about Therapeutic Touch, the so-called ability of a practitioner of such to manipulate a person's aura. Several years ago, a nine-year-old girl created a science fair project that thoroughly debunked this practice as mere wishful thinking.

The beginning of this book was more interesting and veritable in that it focused more on visions experienced by people very close to death, a common and well-respected phenomenon of the dying process. The author, a pediatrician with no overwhelming religious beliefs, had sufficient experience from witnessing the deaths of many children (the topic of his earlier book) to understand that there are too many similarities in the visions the dying related for them to be mere hallucinations or the products of brains starving for oxygen. And he also believes that these visions form a purpose in relieving the fears of both the dying and their loved ones. No one, least of all me, can argue with this.

But then the book devolves into religious gobbledygook and affirmations that these visions, especially shared ones and premonitions of death, are proof of God's existence, rather than a phenomenon that exists irrespective of any religious beliefs. Many of his later examples of empirical testing leave much lacking in the area of scientific scrutiny.

The book also suffers from far too much repetition of ideas and examples and an outpouring of too much eagerness in the effort to "prove" a scientific basis for near-death experiences. Eventually, I had to give up on attributing too much veracity to the entire book.

This is not at all what I was expecting: well written, accommodating to sceptics and, all in all, a very practical tool for exploring the subconscious. Jolly well done, Mr. Talbot! The book could do with a decent cover though...and is it really necessary to include "PhD" after the name of one of the reviewers (as if this were a guarantee of authority and intellectual weight)?

I have been learning about and exploring the topic of reincarnation for a long time now. In the past, I have only read books that were full of documentation. Some of these had a little bit on how to discover your own past lives. However, I always wanted more. This book provided that for me. Contrary to the other books that I had read in the past, this book talks about various methods and how to utilize them for your own self discovery. Michael Talbot not only explains how to use these methods in a way that anyone can follow, but he backs it up with some documentation of his own experiences as well as others. I feel that if anyone wants to learn more about their past lives and themselves as a whole, this would be an excellant starting point. I recommend it to anyone who can find a copy, and hope that it will one day come back into print.

I'm always interested in people who are interested in ME, so I was interested in this book. It's humorous! It's hilarious! It's funny! That hacks me off, since I am a very morbid kinda guy. I had to go watch MEET JOE BLACK to bring myself back down. You living mortals would probably like it though.

The book was a quick and enjoyable read. Grace seems very sincere and believable. I like her writing style. She is very discriptive and to the point. She seems most interested in sharing the precise details of her experience as well as the lessons learned from it. I would highly recommend this book. In an age where people will do or say anything to make a buck I find grace's story fresh and reashuring.

When do anecdotal experiences become fact? Is a researcher more qualified to say what is factual, or the people who experience a phenomenon first hand? Who better to answer these questions than a writer who is both the experiencer and the researcher? P. M. H. Atwater has been a fearless pioneer in the field of near-death experience precisely because she herself desperately needed the answers to the many questions she posed in her research. Ms. Atwater states that the three near-death experiences she survived in 1977 changed her to the point that ". . .life `as usual' became impossible." It becomes clear when reading the autobiographical portions of the book that near-death can be a rewarding experience, but only if it is fully understood and successfully integrated into the lives of the experiencer and their loved ones.

Many current books discuss the phenomenon, but few actually aid the survivor in dealing with both the experience itself, and the aftermath of the catastrophic changes involved. Ms. Atwater's second revision demonstrates her determination to work tirelessly in aiding her fellow survivors to cope with the "surprises" that appear to be inevitable after such an event. After speaking with hundreds of survivors, she has discovered a pattern of major after-effects that include the inability to personalize emotions, a changing sense of time and physical reality and difficulty communicating and maintaining relationships. Ms. Atwater also goes into detail regarding the spiritual aspects of such an experience (imagine being confronted by spiritual beings you have previously refused to believe existed) and alterations in brain function. Although many survivors are categorized as brain damaged, Ms. Atwater explains why these changes should be more accurately understood and treated as, "brain shifts." The book also contains a chapter explaining how the friends and relatives of survivors can best help their loved ones, and an extensive resource guide.

One of the aspects of this book that may be overlooked is the fact that it can be of benefit to other besides near-death survivors. In the introduction, researcher Kenneth Ring, Ph.D. points out, "[the book] deals with the much larger question of the effects of transformative experiences in general, many of which, like the near-death experience, involve a death and rebirth motif." In our experience, many on the spiritual path find themselves confronted with similar issues as transcendental events bump them into states that are considered outside the norms accepted by society in general.

The book maintains a very personal and conversational style that will either endear the reader to Ms. Atwater, or be off-putting if the reader's taste tips toward more academic reading. The reading process could be made more pleasant by eliminating the bold print used throughout the body of the book. Readers may not agree with everything Ms. Atwater has to say, the author's sincere interest in aiding survivors and her years of extensive experience make this book a classic in the field. Lee & Steven Hager are the authors of Quantum Prodigal Son: Revisiting Jesus' Parable of the Prodigal Son from the Perspective of Quantum Mechanics