Near Death Experience

Children Who Remember Previous Lives: A Question of Reincarnation

by Ian Stevenson

Average Rating:

"This is not a starry--eyed, dreamy retelling of tales of dubious authenticity. Rather, Stevenson, drawing from 40 years of carefully documented and researched case histories, adopts an academic approach and cool, detached tone in his analysis. He is not interested in convincing anyone of the truth of reincarnation; but he does want to force the reader to seriously consider the evidence. The detailed evidence is not in this book, but in his scholarly publications, although accounts of 12 cases are provided for purposes of discussion. After presenting these cases, Stevenson outlines his methodology and draws out some recurring patterns. He concludes with a thought--provoking, speculative chapter on the explanatory power of the reincarnation hypothesis, and considers some objections of those who are reluctant to accept rebirth. Stevenson's cool, transparent discussion presents the sceptical reader with a dilemma: either accept that these are serious cases which deserve careful scrutiny on their own merits, or claim fraud or delusion. The latter begins to appear wildly improbable given the apparent thoroughness and care of Stevenson's research, and this reader felt that he had been relentlessly backed into a corner. A book well worth reading for anyone who is interested in the mind--body relationship, death, or how personality is formed."

Publisher: McFarland & Company | More reviews: amazon.com

Echoes from Eternity: Near-Death Experiences Examined

by Arvin S. Gibson

Average Rating:

Echoes from Eternity extends the research work commenced with the best-selling book Glimpses of Eternity into new areas. More than twenty new firsthand accounts of persons who dies, entered the Spirit World, and returned are reported. Scientists call such events near-death experiences (NDEs). Sixty-eight case studies are dicumented and analyzed for unusual patterns and parallels with LDS scriptures. The author's continuing research confirms previous findings and also reveals new and unexpected insights. Several of those who experienced NDEs tell of having seen themselves in a pre-mortal environment making choices about their future life on earth. Some children't experiences are recorded, and their innocence and candor sheds additional light on the subject of death and the hereafter. Some of the interviewed individuals went through extensive NDEs, and their vivid recollections are described in detail. The first part of the book documents recorded interviews of the persons who traveled beyond the veil of this life and returned. Their accounts are recorded in full, without editorial comment. In the second part of the book, those experiences are analyzed by the author, based on his extensive previous research in this area and in the context of LDS scriptures and teachings. These two approaches combine to make a powerful witness that life after death is not to be feared. One lady, whose account is typical of many of the responses, said, "I don't think people should be afraid of dying. I've lost all fear of death since my experience." This book makes a major contribution to the field of near-death research, and it answers many questions about this life and the life to come. Questions about pre-mortal choices, the role of pain in mortal experience, the effect improper choices made in this life have on one's post-mortal existence, the healing power of the Savior's love, and the continuation of family life in the hereafter are thoughtfully examined. What emerges with clarity is a strong message of love, hope, and eternal growth.

Publisher: Horizon Publishers & Distributors | More reviews: amazon.com

Life Beyond: Compelling Evidence for Past Lives and Existence After Death

by Hans Holzer

Average Rating:

"As usual, Holzer has taken a hard subject and made sense out of it through evidence he has gathered through his years as a professor of parapsychology. Scientific and unbiased, his accounts of the paranormal are detailed and very believable... much better than some other authors in the field."

Publisher: McGraw-Hill | More reviews: amazon.com

Mindsight: Near-Death and Out-of-Body Experiences in the Blind

by Kenneth Ring

Average Rating:

"This is required reading for anyone interested in NDEs. It succinctly covers an aspect of the phenomenon not covered elsewhere. There are, however, a couple of disconcerting aspects: First, the authors' Acknowledgement makes clear that they received funding and support from the Theophosist to whom the book is dedicated and that the results of their research are generally in harmony with the doctrines of Theosophy. This is not necessarily a problem, but it is noteworthy in light of Theosophy's checkered past (i.e., founder Madame Blavatsky and her cast of "Ascended Masters"). Second, there is a pasted-in disclaimer telling you to ignore the Author's Note and Appendix because the case presented therein is now believed to be a fraud. They included this case without personally investigating it. It is to their credit that they included the disclaimer, which had to be embarrassing. The rest of the book is excellent. The cases are presented and discussed in a very matter-of-fact manner, and the authors' speculation as to what the explanation may be is interesting and credible. The authors also seem to be quite candid about acknowledging weaknesses in the evidence. As with any anecdotal evidence, the weight you attach to it will depend on how much faith you have that (1) the experiencers are reporting their experiences honestly and accurately, and (2) the authors are honestly and accurately reporting what the experiencers said. I was left with a reasonably high level of confidence in regard to both (1) and (2), although I would liked to have known more about the medical and psychological histories of the experiencers. Overall, I would highly recommend this. (Oh, there is also a short but excellent Foreword by Charles Tart which should be required reading for debunkers in which he explains the difference between true science and "scientism" -- i.e., scientific-dogma-as-religion -- about as clearly as it could be explained.)"

Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. | More reviews: amazon.com

Where Reincarnation and Biology Intersect

by Ian Stevenson

Average Rating:

"This is basically the "Reader's Digest" version of a much longer, more technical work. Thus, the descriptions of some of the cases are very sketchy. Nevertheless, Stevenson's reputation is impeccable after something like 40 years in this field, and you can be pretty confident that he isn't seriously skewing the facts. He seems to be more up-front than in earlier works in acknowledging that reincarnation is really the only plausible explanation for many of these cases. The book focuses primarily on cases where birthmarks and other physical anomalies match up with injuries suffered in the prior life. The book is well-illustrated with photographs, and some of the cases are truly weird. Put this book together with something like his Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation, and your theology will be sorely challenged if it denies the reality of reincarnation."

Publisher: Praeger Paperback | More reviews: amazon.com

A Soul Remembers Hiroshima

by Dolores Cannon

Average Rating:

"The persistent memory of a horrible death that reached across time and space and caused a young American woman to seek past-life therapy, revealed the dramatic story of a Japanese man who was killed in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. There have been many stories of pain, death and destruction told by survivors of the Hiroshima bombing. But this is the eyewitness account of one of the people who did not survive! This case reveals startling information about the Japanese side of the war. Research into the bombing also revealed terrible truths that the American public was not aware of at the time of this dramatic ending to World War II."

Publisher: Ozark Mountain Publishing Inc | More reviews: amazon.com

How to Uncover Your Past Lives (Llwellyn's How to Series)

by Ted Andrews

Average Rating:

"This is a helpful book written in a very straight-foward manner. In addition to offering a number of insights into the meaning of various aspects of the standard reincarnation model, the author presents a current perspective on the psychology of using these methods and on the necessity of pointing the insights so gained towards helping with the management of current-life circumstances. One thing the author does not mention is that there is a great deal of time that must be spent by a person, more or less in solitude, in implementing the techniques to obtain an effect. Another thing is that although many of the procedures point to ways in which information can be obtained about past-lives the resulting effect is quite different from actually entering into those lives (instances of the higher-self as it were. To give it its due however, some differentiation is made using the left-brain right-brain model to posit intellectual as opposed to emotional "facts". The work is really about "opening doors" rather than "going through them". On the whole however, this is a very useful book and well worth the very modest sum of money required to buy it. There are a lot of books priced very much higher that deliver much less."

Publisher: Llewellyn Publications | More reviews: amazon.com

Psychic Gifts in the Christian Life: Tools to Connect

by Tiffany Snow

Average Rating:

"This is a book that may actually be written before its time. Ms. Snow speaks from personal experience - but also draws from numerous other sources in her successful attempt to bridge religion and spirituality - all in a context of Love of God, Self, and Others. No matter what your religion, the information presented here is sure to open your eyes a bit wider, with an acknowledgement of "I get it!" on several points. The word "Psychic" may not be appropriate in the title - perhaps "Divine" or "Supernatural," for the fundamentally squeamish; rest assured there are ample well-cited Biblical texts for the Christians, without any reader feeling uncomfortable. Especially interesting - training the Five Senses to sense God via unusual games and exercises; learning to distinguish our inner voice from outside "Others." Also many thought-provoking concepts, such as "What Religion is God?" If I was to title this book, it would be "Commonsense Christianity.""

Publisher: Spirit Journey Books | More reviews: amazon.com

Voyages into the Afterlife (Exploring the Afterlife Series, Vol. 3)

by Bruce Moen

Average Rating:

"Ok, having voraciously read the first book, Voyages into the Unknown, and sort of plodded through the second one, Voyage Beyond Doubt (a slight mis-lead, as Bruce continues to doubt on occasion), all I can say is WHOW about this book.Bruce continues his mechanistic perceptions of what happens "over there." As a mechanical engineer, I would expect him to describe in certain details the machine-like aspects of the various functionalities of how things work, in reference to The Coordinating Intelligences, the Entry Director and the Planning Center. What this gives me, is a mechanistic approach to how things are done. But what I am wondering is if this is how certain spiritual things which are beyond our comprehension are brought into comprehension for Bruce. What I am saying here is that these spiritual "functions" may not be as they appeared to Bruce, but in order for Bruce to understand what he was experiencing, it was made to appear as he experienced it...thus, if it were you or me experiencing these things...would we experience them just as Bruce did? Just because our experience is "different" does not lessen the value of how Bruce perceived these things. What is important, is that they DO exist, however they are truely carried out in whatever reality they really exist in.God continuously makes for us what is incomprehensible, comprehensible to the extent that we may perceive in some fashion, at our own level of spiritual development, what IS. Therefore, I do not doubt what Bruce experienced, I only wonder if a different individual would perceive the same functionalities differently, depending upon level of understanding and level of spiritual development in context of soul development.What I did find very tedious was the jumping exercizes with White Bear, which gave me little relevance and sort of bored me to death. Bruce could have shortened his extensive discourse on this, and gotten down to the facts a little bit quicker.What I found most strange, was The Earth Core Crystal thing, and the necessity to boomerange one's soul into a higher focus level (readers who are unfamiliar, read book 1!). This was so that Bruce and others could contact the aliens who didn't know what emotion was. I found this part to be incredulous, considering that I believe God creates everything as a reflection of God, including aliens...though I cannot say for sure that God has not experimented with creating alternate beings NOT of God's personal image and likeness who may not possess the essential qualities of emotion. I am one of those people who believe God in God's Absolute Condition is Pure Unconditional Love. Therefore, its very hard for me to imagine God creating beings who lack any concept whatsoever of emotion and need to learn it from us earthbound souls.The alien races were here to witness a massive deathkill of humanity...so we are lead to believe, but instead, came away stunned with first contact with the experience of LOVE! Bruce calls this, the GroupGathering...a group of alien races gathered here to witness the massive deathkill (so they think) or massive reduction of the human race. I cannot say that this will not happen in my reality of experience here as the future is yet to unfold, and obviously, our world is headed for serious ecological turmoil as portended by the Climatologists.I am a little doubtful that its necessary to boomerang ourselves to get to higher spiritual levels. TM in purest form of "I" allows for migration to the higher spiritual planes. I am thinking that the entire Monroe Method is designed to investigate the low and medium level astral planes immediately adjacent to Earth...while not being able to explore the higher relms of purer, lighter spirit.I knew all along that Bruce was going to discover that the other lady was merely his feminine self expressed...what took so long Bruce for you to realize that Spirit can express as either male of female? There was no mention of reincarnation in this series...once again, a serious lack of interpretation in regard to the Divine and the purpose of the development of the Soul. While I consider these three books to be highly valuable in terms of their contribution to the enlightenment of who we are, I find the lack of context to the Divine and to the Soul to be a drawback. Bruce, you need to get into these areas to fully explain what its really all about that you are doing and experiencing! In Spirit, there is no room for agnosticism. I look forward to Book 4, I hope it leaves out the tedious exercizes of jumping and other such things, and gets more into what is actually SEEN.My grade is A- for this book, A+ for effort"

Publisher: Hampton Roads Publishing | More reviews: amazon.com

Love from Both Sides: A True Story of Soul Survival and Sacred Sexuality

by Stephanie Riseley

Average Rating:

"This is a truly incredible book. Stephanie Riseley describes the experience of suddenly, unexpectedly channeling her husband after his death. In the process, she realizes the true depth of the spiritual bond between them and gains new insights into the multi-layered complexity of the life of the soul.

Her light-hearted playful style makes you wish the book would last forever. I recognized so much of my own life in its pages. I also gained new insights into the whys behind many of the things that had happened in my life and many of the choices I had made.

This book is a must - not just for people who are struggling to make marriages work before they lose a soulmate it took them forever to find - but for anyone who has ever felt depressed or angry or simply doesn't enjoy life to the fullest. I definitely indentify with Stephanie's former husband Dan when it comes to not having made the most of my life. Love from Both Sides has helped me to change that."

Publisher: Findhorn Press | More reviews: amazon.com