Near Death Experiences: Blissful and Distressing
Raymond Moody, the author of Life After Life, who coined the phrase near death experience, and the first medical doctor to compile hundreds of shared near death experiences in Life after Life, gives us this succinct definition of what he believes about the afterlife, “What I think happens, when we die is that we enter into an extraordinarily different from the spatial temporal frame of reality in which we exist in the physical world that the language we have is not yet adequate to describe this other state of existence or consciousness. Watch the documentary Life After LIfe.
Thanks to the donation of a friend and supporter of Circle Community, I will attend the International Association of Near Death Studies Conference. See more about International Association for Near Death Studies The organization rose from its humble beginnings to an international association that attracts the best researchers and supporting staff. See IANDS history
In the past few years, more people have come forward to talk about their extraordinary experiences. Many wrote books, appeared on talk shows and wowed audiences in lecture halls. There are too many authors to name here but more information is available here, Information about NDEs
The universality and characteristics of near death experiences entices one to consider their implications for our life in the physical existence. Before NDEs entered popular culture, Emanuel Swedenborg wrote extensively about experiencing another dimension of life. Raymond Moody noticed unmistakable parallels between Emanuel Swedenborg's near-death experiences the afterlife as described in Swedenborg’s writings and those of NDE experiencers.
Well-known NDE researcher and experiencer, , P.M.H. Atwater, calls near death experiences “a brain shift”, a transformation of consciousness. In Heaven and Hell, in his most popular book, Swedenborg writes, “We are only separated from physical nature that was useful to us in the world. The essential person is actually still alive. I say that the essential person is still alive because we are not people because of our bodies but because of our spirits. After all, it is the spirit within us that thinks, and thought and affection together make us the people we are.” Many experiencers would agree with Swedenborg, that death is merely a passing from one world into another or moving into a new state of consciousness.
I am privileged to attend the International Association for Near Death Studies (IANDS), IANDS 2012 Conference beginning August 31st in Scottsdale AZ, a mere 2 and half hour drive from my home.
Circle Community will host a two part discussion on Near Death Experiences: Blissful and Distressing will focus on recent studies of NDEs and the “myths” perpetuated in the media surrounding NDES. Experiencers are welcome. A question and answer session will follow each meeting.
Part One, on Sunday August 26 will be at the Murphy-Wilmot Public Library, 530 N Wilmot in Tucson. Join us for refreshments at the Paradise Bakery, 6129 E Broadway, just West of Wilmot.
Part Two, September 9 will be at the Kirk-Bear Canyon Public Library at 8959 E Tanque Verde Rd in Tucson, 3 PM – 4:30PM. Join us for refreshments Le Buz, Caffe/Espresso 9121 E Tanque Verde Rd, around the corner from the Library. This meeting will focus on the integration of NDEs, from the perspective of researchers and experiencers. I plan to share new knowledge I gained from the speakers at the Conference. It is not too late to for you to register.
