 "Shedding Light on 'Near-Death': Doctors, Nurses, Public Tackle the Phenomenon at M.D. Anderson"
(October 25, 2006) (Houston Chronicle)
Facing surgery for a tumor behind her eye, Kathi Beasley felt weak and frightened one night in 2004. Standing in her bathroom, she noticed "little shimmering lights." Suddenly, she said, something came rocketing toward her like a comet. It approached so fast, the Bellaire resident expected to be "incinerated." Instead, it shot right through her — and suffused her with a sense of euphoria. "It's like all the love in the universe from all the mothers of all time focused on you," said Beasley, 50, whose operation to remove the benign tumor was successful. "It was the most extraordinary feeling a human being can have." - http://tinyurl.com/wrnyt --- ONLINE VIDEO: "Shedding Light on Near-Death Phenomenon" - http://tinyurl.com/y8276g
--- REFERENCE: IANDS Conference Information - http://tinyurl.com/qwqlk
"Conference Probes Near-Death Experience"
(October 25, 2006) (KTRK)
Near-death experiences have been the subjects of movies and books, but not usually a topic at medical conferences. That is changing. Dr. Pam Kircher is a physician who practices family medicine in Houston. She had a near death experience when she was dying of meningitis at age six. "What I remember next is being out of my body and being wonderfully free of pain," she said. "Having the vantage point of being in the corner of the room and I was not frightened by it, though I just turned six." - http://tinyurl.com/y2f3ul --- ONLINE VIDEO: "KTRK Show on IANDS Conference" - http://tinyurl.com/yb8jxy
--- REFERENCE: IANDS Conference Information - http://tinyurl.com/qwqlk
--- WEBSITE: The Official Site of Pam Kircher - http://www.pamkircher.com/
--- BOOKS: "Love is the Link: A Hospice Doctor Shares Her Experience of Near Death and Dying" - http://tinyurl.com/y6bk8q
"Researchers, Medical Workers Debate Near-Death Experiences"
(November 7, 2006) (KLTV)
Oncologist Dr. Jeffrey Long says details made him believe. "Is what they saw reasonable? Does it look like reality? And the answer is 98-99 percent, yes, including things they see which are astonishing," he says. Long has spent the last eight years operating an online forum for those who say they've had an out-of body experience. The postings are anonymous and descriptive. Many say they saw themselves from above, as doctors tried to bring them back from the dead. That is the point in time when people are seeing and hearing things about them during their resuscitation. That is absolutely medically inexplicable," Long says." - http://tinyurl.com/yg7agm --- ONLINE VIDEO: "Back From The Dead: Woman Says She Visited Heaven's Doorstep" - http://tinyurl.com/ylf3ze
--- WEBSITE: Near-Death Experience Research Foundation - http://www.nderf.org/
"Delving Into Near Death Experiences: Questions Are A Plenty As Researchers Attempt To Understand Phenomenon"
(October 25, 2006) (CBS 11)
Cordray says two life-changing questions were asked of her: "What did you learn?" and "How did you learn to love and forgiveness was a very big part of the love component." "NDEs have a lot to tell us about the nature of consciousness and the experiences have a lot to tell us about what they are convinced is the nature and purpose of life," [Jan] Holden says. Cordray says she received a message that everything she were to do to others from that moment forward she would experience herself. "I always have a feeling I'm never supposed to do harm to others." Holden says research has shown that many people report the same feeling. "They review and re-experience every moment of their lives and experience actually being on the receiving end of their own actions," she explains. - http://tinyurl.com/yd2c84 --- ONLINE VIDEO: "North Texas Scholar Studies NDEs" - http://tinyurl.com/ycdg2s
--- WEBSITE: IANDS Biography of Jan Holden, EdD - http://tinyurl.com/ltymm
"Death: A Last Spark Before the Gasp? Can Science Explain Near-Death Experiences?"
(October 28, 2006) (The Australian Times)
Peter Fenwick recently found himself at the centre of a lively spat when delegates to Britain's premier science forum objected to his views on death and the afterlife ... Why were those people – his peers in the science community – so vituperative? "Fear," he says. "Fear that magic will come back into science, and an inability to tolerate ambiguity" ... Fenwick has been badgering hospital ethics committees for years to let him rig up cameras and monitors around the beds of cardiac patients to observe what might happen in the few crucial minutes between arrest and resuscitation ... "If when all brain functions are down, the patient is able to receive information, then it follows that the mind can act independently of the brain," Fenwick says. "We must be able to demonstrate this objectively if we are to move forward; it's vital for neurological science and our understanding of human consciousness." - http://tinyurl.com/uccoz --- BIOGRAPHY: IANDS Biography of Dr. Peter Fenwick - http://tinyurl.com/phdzm
--- ARTICLE: "Science and Spirituality: A Challenge for the 21st Century - http://tinyurl.com/8upsm
--- BOOKS: All Titles by Peter Fenwick at Amazon.com - http://tinyurl.com/y3sk9b
"Southeast Kansas Center Explores Near-Death Experiences"
(October 4, 2006) (The Girad Press)
Many people who have undergone an NDE, Hoyer said, lose their fear of death, become more spiritual and less religious, more generous and charitable, convinced that they have a purpose in life, less stressed, have an increased hunger for knowledge and learning and are more creative and inventive. Hoyer believes that most anxiety people face is rooted in the fear of death. "If you're no longer afraid of dying, what else can scare you?" he said. "If you can get over your fears, you can live the life you want to live." "I believe that one of the biggest changes is from believing to knowing," Lloyd said. "Many people who have had an NDE may not just believe in God, they know that God exists." - http://tinyurl.com/yaopmm --- WEBSITE: Free Spirit Center - http://www.freespiritcenter.org/
--- ARTICLE: Dr. Stephen Hoyer's Faculty page - http://tinyurl.com/y4ywu4
--- BOOK: "Fireweaver: The Story of a Life, a Near-Death, and Beyond" - by Dr. Stephen Hoyer - http://tinyurl.com/ybman5
"Near-Death Experiences As Children Change Lives"
(November 8, 2006) (KLTV)
Linda Jacquin recalls the view from above her body: "I saw blond hair floating on water, which was my blond hair. I was perfectly happy where I was. I felt safe, I felt loved, and I didn't want to go back in my body -- back in the place where I was." Linda spent moments, she says, with her grandmother. Also with Jesus amid colors she says were more beautiful than any rainbow. "The closest thing that I could say is that it looked like is when light hits an icicle and it refracts for that brief second, and you see all colors at one time, but they're crystal clear," Jacquin says. "I can remember how sad my mom and dad were and I could tell how panicky they were and then my gaze went to my brother Bobby. And I said I have to go back for Bobby -- he's going to be in a lot of trouble if i don't go back," she says. She chose to go back. - http://tinyurl.com/y9jxsf --- ONLINE VIDEO: "Near-Death Experiences As Children Change Lives" - http://tinyurl.com/yj85bs
"The Near-Death Experience"
(October 2006) (Mind Body Spirit Magazine)
If brain tissue has been assumed to die when deprived of oxygen for more than 8 minutes, how can we account for the revival of persons 30 or more minutes after their clinical death, exhibiting enhanced rather than diminished mental powers? Once a person's brainwaves have ceased, indicating that all mental activity has stopped - perceiving, thinking, and remembering - how do we explain her accurate perception of events going on around her 'deceased' body (both sight and sound), and her accurate reporting of events taking place even at significant distances from her clinically-dead body? If we regard experiencers' perceptions of dead relatives as just imaginary "wishful thinking", how can we explain their accurate description of relatives previously unknown to them, yet later verified by living relatives and by civil documents? If the spiritual component of the near-death experience could be explained away as just an extension of the person's pre-existing belief system, why have confirmed atheists come back after their NDE convinced there is a God? And why have religious believers returned from their NDE with un-orthodox changes to their prior dogmas? - http://tinyurl.com/y7yumb --- WEBSITE: The current Board of Directors of IANDS - http://iands.org/board.html
--- MAGAZINE: Mind Body Spirit Magazine - http://www.saskworld.com/
"Back From The Dead: Woman Says She Visited Heaven's Doorstep"
(November 6, 2006) (KLTV)
Her heart stopped. Richter says that was where the journey began. "I went up. It was very, very, very dark. There were no stars. And I don't know if there was wind, that I cannot tell you. But before I became frightened, there was a tunnel there." She wasn't walking, not floating. She says she was carried toward a place she says was real and heavenly. "I went through the tunnel like 'shwoosh,' and at the end of the tunnel was a light. I followed it. I had no choice. I came out by the light. There was no sun. It was all in a golden, warm, loving light," she says ... "The reason you couldn't go is that your time is not up, you have more work to do. And then I was content, because I know what it is, and it is simply helping people." - http://tinyurl.com/ye5cqe --- ONLINE VIDEO: "Back From The Dead" - http://tinyurl.com/ylf3ze
"Couple Say Near-Death Experiences Give Hope After This Life"
(November 13, 2006) (KLTV)
"It is the most wonderful, most peaceful place, there's no way to describe it. You don't talk with your lips. Whatever you think, [God] communicates with you. You know you're talking to God," she explains. She says medical help arrived just in time, and she was brought back ... "How wonderful. It's such a peaceful feeling that I can't tell you how wonderful it was." And the urge to stay in that heavenly place was overwhelming. "If I ever do that again, don' t bring me back," says Darlene. - http://tinyurl.com/yz3hu3 --- ONLINE VIDEO: "Couple Say NDEs Give Hope After This Life" - http://tinyurl.com/ydjx52
"From the Brink of Death, a Mission is Born"
(October 28, 2006) (The Gainsville Times)
In 1992, Matthew Botsford had the shock of his life. "I just felt a hot pierce in the back of my head and I was in a black cell," Botsford said. "It was void of all things good and went forever in all directions; then I saw a finger coming toward me and then a hand; it looked ancient like it was created before time. Then I heard, "It's not your time." Botsford had just been shot in the head waiting for a taxi late in the evening in Midtown Atlanta. "The hand that came toward me brought warmth and brilliant white light and I was being pulled upward," he said ... Today, the events of that night are the roots for the message of the Botsfords' nonprofit Seeds of Love foundation. The couple, neither of whom were Christian or regular churchgoers in the early '90s, today share their story of beating the odds and overcoming hardship. "Our purpose is to bring heaven to earth," said Nancy Botsford. "Whatever comes our way to help extend God's kingdom is what we plan to do." - http://tinyurl.com/ym7l2j --- WEBSITE: "The Seeds of Love" website - http://www.seedsoflove.net/
--- ARTICLE: "Matthew Botsford: To Hell and Back" - http://tinyurl.com/yzrxo2
--- BOOK: "Johnny Rocket and His Comrades in Faith" - http://tinyurl.com/y5kkpy
"Dead Man Lives at Heaven's Gate"
(October 2006) (CBN.org)
Don found himself standing in front of a divine portal, surrounded by familiar faces. Don Piper recovering in the hospital "I did not see a single person that I did not know," he says. "They were relatives, they were friends that died in high school, they were teachers - they were people I had seen and known all my life who had gone to glory. They were smiling; they were embracing me; they were welcoming me' they were in the process of taking me through the gate of heaven." Looking over the heads of his friends, Don saw a looming pearl gate. "The gate of heaven was a magnificent edifice, the one that I saw. It looked no less like a giant gate that had been sculpted from mother-of-pearl," Don explains. Peering through the gate, Don saw an incredible light. "Behind that portal was such a light that I don't conceive of how you could see it in an earthly body. It could only be envisioned in a heavenly body because it was too bright." And, says Don, there was music, that of a literal, angelic choir. "In all honesty, as awesome as the sight was, the sound was more amazing," he says. - http://tinyurl.com/ybvec3 --- WEBSITE: Don Piper Ministries - http://www.donpiperministries.com/
--- ONLINE VIDEO: "90 Minutes in Heaven" - http://www.90minutesinheaven.com/
--- BOOK: "90 Minutes in Heaven" by Don Piper and Cecil Murphey - http://tinyurl.com/actkl
--- AUDIO CD: "90 Minutes in Heaven" by Don Piper and Cecil Murphey - http://tinyurl.com/nguh4
--- BOOK: "Daily Devotions Inspired by 90 Minutes in Heaven" - http://tinyurl.com/yn5qhw
"He gave me life twice": Andy Holcomb Shares His Near-Death Experience
(November 8, 2006) (WKYZ)
"Last thing I saw was the light before that happened," Holcomb said. "First thing I thought to do was to say the Lord's Prayer. There's a real comforting presence the whole time It was there. It was almost as if like, God had taken me from my body, because I could like see me. "As soon as I closed my eyes, I opened them and I was in this train. I had no legs and I was searching around me frantically looking for my phone. So I could call my family and tell them goodbye." At one point, rescuers believed Holcomb was gone, but he says his journey was just beginning. "This angel stopped me and she looked at me. She wore a white gown and she told me that I couldn't go where everyone else was going and I said 'well why not?' and she said 'because you're not dead yet. "I asked her if I could keep my legs and she was like 'Well I talked to Him (God), and He said you can't keep your legs but you'll have something much better than that when you get back.'" Holcomb says he was swept away by the amazing sounds of an angelic choir. "It's indescribable," he said. "Hearing it as loud and as graceful and as peaceful as it was. That's kind of the sound when no one else is around. That kind of sound in the background." - http://tinyurl.com/ymlae4 --- ONLINE VIDEO: An Extended Interview of Andy Holcomb - http://tinyurl.com/y3qrwf
"From Near Death to Renewed Devotion"
(October 01, 2006) (Lexington Herald-Leader)
She says she was near death. She recalls seeing the white light that people talk about if they've been there. Karla Wolfson, wife of Florida-based horse trainer Marty Wolfson, regained her life and recovered from serious injuries a few years ago ... Now, she has come to believe that horses were the reason she was meant to recover. "When you have a near-death experience," she said, "you end up knowing what you're here for." The meaning was clear to her: she was to give something back to horses. Anyone who's seen Karla's emotional visits to the winner's circle after stakes races ..." - http://tinyurl.com/jjcuf
"Don't Be Afraid - I Know There is Life After Death"
(Fay Weldon, a famous atheist and feminist, has a NDE and is transformed)
(September 21, 2006) (Daily Mail)
I had an out-of-body experience when I was in my mid-20s, under anaesthetic. Lots of people have these, and psychologists take pleasure in telling us: "Oh, that's nothing but an excitation in the pleasure centre of the brain" ... That's not how it seemed to me. Doors opened on both sides as I travelled, and people came out to me. Some I knew well, others I scarcely recognised. They were all in perfect form, and at their best, not their worst, so I was truly pleased to see them. I had a sense that we were all in this together. At the end of the tunnel was a bright light, which was my destination — and then it faded and I woke up in my hospital bed. But it was enough to convince me that 'the other side' existed, and I haven't worried about death since." - http://tinyurl.com/ylhrrb --- ARTICLE: "Lie Back and Think of Jesus" - http://tinyurl.com/oflo7
--- REFERENCE: Wikipedia listing for Fay Weldon - http://tinyurl.com/qk566
--- WEBSITE: The (un)Official Site of Fay Weldon - http://tinyurl.com/m3wzk
--- BOOKS: All Titles by Fay Weldon - http://tinyurl.com/rhn6m
NDEs and Internet Multimedia
(a) Toward The Light Radio - hosted by Rev. Juliet Nightingale
--- SCHEDULE: Every Monday evening at 11P -12M ET (-5.00 GMT)
--- WEBSITE: http://www.bbsradio.com/bbc/toward_the_light.shtml and http://www.TowardTheLight.org/
(b) Talk Radio Show Launched, Dedicated to Exploring Evidence of Life After Death
--- WEBSITE: http://www.foreverfamilyfoundation.org/
(c) NDE Radio Program on NPR Now Available to Listen
--- WEBSITE: http://tinyurl.com/ydovay
(d) UC Berkeley Offers FREE Courses and Symposia Through Google Video
--- ARTICLE: http://tinyurl.com/k3gz6
--- WEBSITE: UC Berkeley on Google Video - http://video.google.com/ucberkeley.html
--- EXAMPLE COURSES:
(1) Consciousness, Creativity and the Brain: http://tinyurl.com/y4nnlw
(2) Science and the Soul: http://tinyurl.com/y7jzxr
(3) Physics courses: http://tinyurl.com/yeqzj2
(4) Human Anatomy courses: http://tinyurl.com/vj9mn
Miscellaneous Science News
(a) "Are Scientists Afraid of Ghosts?" - http://tinyurl.com/lg9jm
(b) "Is There Room for the Soul?" - http://tinyurl.com/y5ulcr
(c) "Everyone Has a Ghost Story" - http://tinyurl.com/yn9x34
(d) "The Proof! Will Modern Technology Prove Proof of Survival?" - http://tinyurl.com/vuysm
(e) "Case For The Afterlife: Best-Selling Mind-Body Guru Argues Death is Not the End" - http://tinyurl.com/y9kzl3
(f ) "Consciousness: The Intelligent Designer" - http://tinyurl.com/ylos4q
(g) "Latest Research Reveals That Beliefs Control Our Genes" - http://tinyurl.com/yx8f4c
(h) "Spooky Steps to a Quantum Network" - http://tinyurl.com/o4p37
(i ) "Science Finally Tackles Hypnosis: Neuroimaging Studies May Domesticate the Long Controversial Practice" - http://tinyurl.com/yx62f8
(j ) "MIT Looks to Give 'Group Think' a Good Name" - http://tinyurl.com/z2k4j
(h) "Animal Apparitions: Stories of Paranormal Pet Activity Spark Some Spirited - Discussion" - http://tinyurl.com/ygwwvw | 
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