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The After Death Experience
On the face of it, there should be no such thing as an after death experience. After all, when we die, surely that’s it? Or could there genuinely be something to the idea that the dead can continue to have experiences in some form of afterlife?
In this incisive and authoritative book, Ian Wilson explores all varieties of claimed evidence for a life beyond the grave. He has checked out -and found wanting - the ‘past life' memories produced by hypnotists and popularized by show-business personalities such as Shirley MacLaine. He has pondered the world’s many ghost stories. He has investigated mediums, such as the now world-famous Doris Stokes. He has inquired into the strange deathbed experiences reported by American researcher Elizabeth Kiibler-Ross. Not least, he has exhaustively researched the stories of those who, thanks to modern resuscitation methods, have almost literally come back from the dead, sometimes with a death certificate to prove it.
Yet, although Ian Wilson finds much that is both dubious and spurious, alongside this he presents compelling evidence that something of us really might survive physical death. And this single potentially provable fact could revolutionize both religious and political attitudes on many issues, not least abortions and organ transplants, during the years to come . . .
In this incisive and authoritative book, Ian Wilson explores all varieties of claimed evidence for a life beyond the grave. He has checked out -and found wanting - the ‘past life' memories produced by hypnotists and popularized by show-business personalities such as Shirley MacLaine. He has pondered the world’s many ghost stories. He has investigated mediums, such as the now world-famous Doris Stokes. He has inquired into the strange deathbed experiences reported by American researcher Elizabeth Kiibler-Ross. Not least, he has exhaustively researched the stories of those who, thanks to modern resuscitation methods, have almost literally come back from the dead, sometimes with a death certificate to prove it.
Yet, although Ian Wilson finds much that is both dubious and spurious, alongside this he presents compelling evidence that something of us really might survive physical death. And this single potentially provable fact could revolutionize both religious and political attitudes on many issues, not least abortions and organ transplants, during the years to come . . .
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1987
10 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
About the author
Ian Wilson
239 books27 followersAuthor of historical and religious books. He was born in Clapham, south London, but now lives in Brisbane, Australia, with his wife, Judith and their two sons, Adrian and Noel.
Wilson is most well known for his research on the Shroud of Turin.
Wilson is most well known for his research on the Shroud of Turin.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 23, 2023
Nooo cóż w zasadzie to co w tytule, jest pokazane jak wyglądały wierzenia w życie pośmiertne kiedyś w innych religiach i są opisane przypadki ludzi którzy wrócili do żywych po śmierci klinicznej, trochę wywoływania duchów i sprawdzania kim byli jacyś ludzie w poprzednim życiu, generalnie nic specjalnego i to co w tytule i tyle
August 14, 2024
THE FAMED WRITER TURNS HIS ATTENTION TO NDEs, REINCARNATION, etc.
Ian Wilson is a prolific author of books such as 'Life After Death - The Evidence, Past Lives: Unlocking the Secrets of Our Ancestors,' 'The Shroud: The 2000-Year-Old Mystery Solved,' etc.
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1987 book, "The purpose of this book is to explore the central question of whether death is quite unequivocally the end of our experience, or whether, just conceivably, something of us---consciousness, spirit, soul, call it what you will---carries on, to experience, and be experienced, after death... Unlike popular gurus [like] Shirley MacLaine... I cannot promise you slick, sure-fire answers. But neither will I necessarily scoff at what may seem at first sight incredible." (Pg. 6)
While discussing reincarnation, he observes, "An additional difficulty... is that hypnotic regressions to past lives reveal no consistent rules for the theoretical reincarnation process. No regular pattern emerges as to whether or not a person's soul goes immediately on death into another body, or stays temporarily removed from the earth-bound state, in some form or limbo; or as to whether a soul is likely to travel widely between one incarnation and the next. The reincarnation 'rules' seem in fact to vary from one hypnotist to another according to the hypnotist's own ideas on the way rebirth is supposed to operate." (Pg. 41)
He states, "The inevitable objection to such [Near-Death] experiences is that they are mere hallucinations of a dying person's last moments, perhaps the result of depletion of the oxygen supply to the patient's brain, or of some natural opiate in the brain that eases the final paroxysms of death. But although [NDE researchers] considered this possibility, all ended up rejecting it on the basis of specific cases which seemed to rule this out; these were instances when the dying saw, as if 'beyond the grave,' individuals who they had not been told were dead." (Pg. 104)
He argues, "Yet another explanation ... is that of wish-fulfillment, or prior expectation of an afterlife on the part of the religiously inclined. Since both Doctors [Michael] Sabom and [Maurice] Rawlings's patients derive from the so-called Bible Belt southern sector of the United States, this is a possibility that has to be treated with due seriousness. Furthermore, since all the modern researchers have conducted their enquiries after the publication and huge media attention accorded to Moody's book [Life After Life], it must also be considered that some subjects' stories have been influenced by this." (Pg. 127) However, he later notes, "One of the several indications against this possibility is the now well-observed fact that even very young children who have suffered clinical death, and are most unlikely to have read books such as 'Life After Life,' have reported experiences similar to adults." (Pg. 162)
He also notes, "Dr. Richard Blacher... [suggested] that the near-death experiences derive from hypoxia, a sort of delirium brought about by a diminishing oxygen supply to the brain at the onset of the death process... A rather more plausible suggestion has been that the effect of pain-killing narcotics administered to the patients, or some natural opiates released during the dying process, may act in a manner akin to hallucinogenic drugs." (Pg. 127-128) He admits, "Perhaps one of the most interesting features is that even those without any prior religious beliefs have returned believing in a life after death." (Pg. 145)
This an excellent, wide-ranging and critical survey of Near-Death experiences, and will be of considerable interest to anyone studying the subject.
Ian Wilson is a prolific author of books such as 'Life After Death - The Evidence, Past Lives: Unlocking the Secrets of Our Ancestors,' 'The Shroud: The 2000-Year-Old Mystery Solved,' etc.
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1987 book, "The purpose of this book is to explore the central question of whether death is quite unequivocally the end of our experience, or whether, just conceivably, something of us---consciousness, spirit, soul, call it what you will---carries on, to experience, and be experienced, after death... Unlike popular gurus [like] Shirley MacLaine... I cannot promise you slick, sure-fire answers. But neither will I necessarily scoff at what may seem at first sight incredible." (Pg. 6)
While discussing reincarnation, he observes, "An additional difficulty... is that hypnotic regressions to past lives reveal no consistent rules for the theoretical reincarnation process. No regular pattern emerges as to whether or not a person's soul goes immediately on death into another body, or stays temporarily removed from the earth-bound state, in some form or limbo; or as to whether a soul is likely to travel widely between one incarnation and the next. The reincarnation 'rules' seem in fact to vary from one hypnotist to another according to the hypnotist's own ideas on the way rebirth is supposed to operate." (Pg. 41)
He states, "The inevitable objection to such [Near-Death] experiences is that they are mere hallucinations of a dying person's last moments, perhaps the result of depletion of the oxygen supply to the patient's brain, or of some natural opiate in the brain that eases the final paroxysms of death. But although [NDE researchers] considered this possibility, all ended up rejecting it on the basis of specific cases which seemed to rule this out; these were instances when the dying saw, as if 'beyond the grave,' individuals who they had not been told were dead." (Pg. 104)
He argues, "Yet another explanation ... is that of wish-fulfillment, or prior expectation of an afterlife on the part of the religiously inclined. Since both Doctors [Michael] Sabom and [Maurice] Rawlings's patients derive from the so-called Bible Belt southern sector of the United States, this is a possibility that has to be treated with due seriousness. Furthermore, since all the modern researchers have conducted their enquiries after the publication and huge media attention accorded to Moody's book [Life After Life], it must also be considered that some subjects' stories have been influenced by this." (Pg. 127) However, he later notes, "One of the several indications against this possibility is the now well-observed fact that even very young children who have suffered clinical death, and are most unlikely to have read books such as 'Life After Life,' have reported experiences similar to adults." (Pg. 162)
He also notes, "Dr. Richard Blacher... [suggested] that the near-death experiences derive from hypoxia, a sort of delirium brought about by a diminishing oxygen supply to the brain at the onset of the death process... A rather more plausible suggestion has been that the effect of pain-killing narcotics administered to the patients, or some natural opiates released during the dying process, may act in a manner akin to hallucinogenic drugs." (Pg. 127-128) He admits, "Perhaps one of the most interesting features is that even those without any prior religious beliefs have returned believing in a life after death." (Pg. 145)
This an excellent, wide-ranging and critical survey of Near-Death experiences, and will be of considerable interest to anyone studying the subject.
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December 9, 2023nudne ale może dlatego że w ogóle nie moje klimaty
November 22, 2014
A very perceptive, entertaining and sometimes highly amusing survey of the gamut of claims that have been made about the afterlife, from near-death experiences to reincarnation, ghosts and more. Wilson's purpose isn't to debunk everything in sight but to try to find out if there are genuine supernatural phenomena behind all the layers of flimflam, fraud, illusion, delusion, self-delusion, hallucination . . . Time and time again he opened my eyes to rationalist explanations I hadn't come across before for standard items in the psychic literature (Ian Stevenson's work on reincarnation, for example). This book is an excellent place to start for anyone who's just assumed "there must be something in" the psychic without ever having had the chance to investigate it -- and, as I say, there's interesting stuff here even for folk who have read in the subject. Much recommended.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews