・DISCOVERING WHO AND WHAT WE ARE・
The International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS) is a non-profit educational organisation devoted to the understanding of NDEs, their personal effects and their spiritual implications. One of IANDS’s activities is an annual conference, and this year’s conference will take place on the weekend of 2-4 September 2011 (Labor Day weekend).
PHOTO: Telstar2000 @ Flickr
A recent survey of spiritual beliefs in the UK has led me to the fascinating research of Dr. Penny Sartori into near-death experiences (NDEs).
British rock star Phil Collins believes he could be the reincarnation of a 19th Century American town mayor and soldier who played a role in the Battle of the Alamo.
A recent New York Times article on the growing Western belief in reincarnation is causing a bit of a stir.
The article is called Remembrance of Lives Past and it originally appeared in the NYT on 27 August. It has since ‘reincarnated’ (sorry) in the San Fransisco Chronicle and elsewhere.
The author is Lisa Miller (left), the religion editor for Newsweek and author of the book Heaven: Our Enduring Fascination with the Afterlife.
Miller cites several indicators, both statistical and cultural, of a growing interest in reincarnation among Westerners (but primarily Americans):
Personal accounts of near-death experiences (NDEs) are wanted for the first large-scale study of the phenomenon in New Zealand.
The study is being undertaken by Massey University‘s Dr Mary Murray, a sociologist and senior lecturer, and Dr Natasha Tassell, a psychology lecturer. They have set up the Massey University NDE Research Group whose purpose is to investigate NDEs in New Zealand and is the first research group of its kind in the country.
This is a follow-up to my 22 January post: ‘Groundbreaking reality TV show features past life regression‘.
According to an article in the Hindustan Times of 25 July 2010 (‘Raaz Pichhle Janam Ka is back’), the second season of Raaz Pichhle Janam Ka will start filming on the 1st of August for broadcast in October.
Dr Trupti Jayin, the NDTV Imagine reality show’s regression therapist, says that it will “be a mix of interesting cases from India and abroad.”
University awarded $3.67 Million to study the nature of character.
The past 30 years have seen a resurgence of interest in character, particularly in the areas of psychology, philosophy, and theology. This work has given rise to a number of challenging questions, such as:
The goal of the Character Project, a research project funded by the John Templeton Foundation, is to address these questions and to foster new advances in the study of character.
A new organization has been founded to support research on reincarnation, past life regression and soul evolution — the Institute for the Integration of Science, Intuition and Spirit (IISIS).
The International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS) is a membership organization providing information about near-death and related experiences to experiencers, researchers, educators, health care providers, and the interested public.
IANDS’ purpose is “to promote responsible, multi-disciplinary exploration of near-death and similar experiences, their effects on people’s lives, and their implications for beliefs about life, death, and human purpose.” Among its various activities is a periodic conference in North America.
While clinically dead for three hours, a little boy spoke with “grandma Emmi” in the afterlife.
Paul Eicke [bild.de]
Three-year-old German boy Paul Eicke was in the pond at his grandparents’ house for several minutes before his grandfather saw him and pulled him out. His father gave him heart massage and mouth-to-mouth during the ten minutes it took a helicopter to arrive. Paramedics then took over and Paul was taken the ten-minute journey to hospital. Doctors tried to resuscitate him for hours. They had just given up when, 3 hours and 18 minutes after he had been brought in, Paul’s heart started beating independently.