What really happens when we die? Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? A surprising number of people have died and lived to tell the tale—an estimated 15 million Americans and 4 to 5 percent of the global population have had a near-death experience. The Big Book of Near-Death Experiences is the encyclopedia of this phenomenon, including crucial research regarding the experience, its aftereffects, and the implications for all of us who someday will shed this mortal coil. This book explores the possibility of the soul, God, other worlds, heaven and hell, the afterlife, religion, and the purpose of life. It investigates and reports on the power of changed lives, the expansion of normal faculties, and the importance of spirituality. With drawings, cartoons, and sidebars from experts, The Big Book of Near-Death Experiences is also simple and accessible, designed for the busy reader who wants quick little nuggets of wisdom. If you want to know what lies ahead, this book gives you a road map while exploring and affirming the presence of a spirit and the ultimate power of love.

Table of Contents:

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