Life at Death: A Scientific Investigation of the Near-Death Experience

by Kenneth Ring

A scientific and anecdotal report on the near-death experience features interviews with more than one hundred people who have come very close to death or have experienced "clinical" death and analyzes the five stages of the near-death experience

Genres: Spirituality, Death

310 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1980

Reviews

[Jean Marie Angelo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I attended the University of Connecticut when Kenneth Ring was a young professor doing research on near death experiences. A later interview with him profoundly changed my views on life, it's meaning, and spirituality. His books were the first in what would become a slew of such material. Throughout he maintains an openness about experiences and what they mean to those who survived death, while keeping the practices of a research scientist.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believe this is the book I read in 1982. The one experience that someone related to the author was when a surgical patient's heart stopped for a short time. Obviously the patient was revived. He/she viewed his/her body from the ceiling of the operating room. He had trouble accepting the experience as real, but asked someone later who was in the O.R. if anyone ever got the sneaker from the top of one of the cabinets. That person was amazed that after climbing on a ladder found the sneaker right where the patient said it was. Simply incredible!

[Else Byskov · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an indispensable study of the near-death experience. A must read for all those who want to understand why death is an illusion.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the best, most thoughtful book I've read on the subject. Ring works hard to be objective and scientific.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE FIRST BOOK BY A PROMINENT NEAR-DEATH RESEARCHER

Kenneth Ring (born 1936) is Professor Emeritus of psychology at the University of Connecticut, and has written other books such as 'Heading Toward Omega,' 'The Omega Project: Near-Death Experiences, Ufo Encounters, and Mind at Large,' etc.

He wrote in the Preface to this 1980 book, "Beginning in May 1977, I spent thirteen months tracking down and interviewing scores of people who had come close to death... Most near-death experiences seem to unfold according to a single pattern... What to make of this common set of elements associated with the onset of death is the central challenge of this book. Whether this experience ... can be interpreted in naturalistic terms is the overriding scientific issue raised... As a psychologist interested in altered states of consciousness, I have been interested in near-death experiences for some years. My curiosity was further kindled by reading Raymond Moody's book Life After Life... [But] Were it not for certain personal considerations that were presented in my life at the time of reading 'Life After Life,' I would probably have only speculated on what the answers to these questions might be... I entered a time of sorrow and inward emptiness in my life... I found that I simply did not know what to DO... During the thirteen months of interviewing near-death survivors, I received my answer..." (Pg. 15-17)

He states that 48% of his cases "recounted experiences that conform in an obvious way... to the core experience as delineated by Moody." (Pg. 32) He added, "Significantly, NO person in our sample---including, of course, all our suicide attempt cases---recounted an experience that could be regarded as 'a journey to hell'... Although some death experiences did include frightening aspects or moments... none was characterized by predominantly unpleasant feelings or imagery." (Pg. 44-45) He later criticizes the findings of Maurice Rawlings [e.g., To Hell and Back] because he "presents no statistics and relies on selected case histories... He is also vague about just how many cases his conclusions actually rest on... it is not really an objective survey of near-death experiences but is essentially a proselytizing Christian tract." (Pg. 193-194)

He admits that "we did not incorporate a question relevant to this interpretation [i.e., whether the experience was "like a dream"] until our study was already underway... of those who addressed this issue, 94.7% stated that their experience was NOT like a dream." (Pg. 82) He concludes that "our findings offer an impressive degree of independent corroboration for [Moody's]. And while we have somewhat different conceptions of how these near-death phenomena are organized... there is no substantive disagreement over the form of the core experience itself." (Pg. 188)

He asks, "Do near-death survivors BECOME more religious afterward? ... [while] prior religiousness is not a DETERMINANT of the core experience... indeed they do---but only if they have had a core experience on approaching death." (Pg. 159) He asked Moody why some people have the experience and others do not, and Moody replied, "Ken, I haven't got a clue!" (Pg. 202) He admits, "I do believe... that we continue to have a conscious existence after our physical death... I am, in fact, convinced... that it is possible to become conscious of 'other realities' and that the coming close to death represents one avenue to a higher 'frequency domain.'" (Pg. 254)

Ring's books are "must reading" for anyone seriously studying near-death experiences.

[D.B. Barton · Rating 5 out of 5]

After losing my daughter of 4 years old to a kidney disease, I was so thirsty to hear about the after life. Ring's book, along with others about the NDE, saved my life. For anyone who has lost a loved one, please know that there's a heaven and a God, and your separation is only temporary. I was so moved by the way Kenneth Ring approached the subject, I wrote him a personal letter, which he responded to promptly. I still have that letter and although my daughter, Ariane, has been gone a long time, I still treasure Ring's insights and look forward to the day Ariane will greet me in that loving light.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine book of Ring's early research in near-death experiences.