Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the Near-Death Experience

by Pim van Lommel

Overview

In Consciousness Beyond Life, the internationally renowned cardiologist Dr. Pim van Lommel offers ground-breaking research into whether or not our consciousness survives the death of our body. If you enjoy books about near-death experiences, such as those by Raymond Moody, Jeffrey Long, and James Van Praagh; watch televisions shows like Ghosthunters, Touched by an Angel, and Ghost Whisperer; or are interested in works that explore the intersection of faith and science, such as Spiritual Brain, Signature in the Cell, and When Science Meets Religion; you’ll find much to ponder in Consciousness Beyond Life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061777264
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	08/09/2011
Pages:	448
Sales rank:	233,856
Product dimensions:	7.78(w) x 5.40(h) x 1.08(d)

About the Author

Pim van Lommel is a world-renowned cardiologist and medical expert on near-death experiences. For more than twenty-five years he worked as a cardiologist at an eight-hundred-bed teaching hospital in the Netherlands where he began studying near-death experiences in patients who survived a cardiac arrest. In addition to his sensational study published in the distinguished British medical journal The Lancet, van Lommel has authored chapters in several books about near-death experiences and also published many articles about the subject. Over the past several years, van Lommel has been lecturing all over the world on near-death experiences and the relationship between consciousness and brain function. In 2005, he was granted the Bruce Greyson Research Award on behalf of the International Association of Near-Death Studies. In 2006, the president of India awarded him the lifetime achievement award at the World Congress on Clinical and Preventive Cardiology in New Delhi.

Table of Contents

Introduction v

1 A Near-Death Experience and Its Impact on Life 1

2 What Is a Near-Death Experience? 7

3 Changed by a Near-Death Experience 45

4 Near-Death Experiences in Childhood 71

5 There Is Nothing New Under the Sun 81

6 Research into Near-Death Experiences 105

7 The Dutch Study of Near-Death Experience 137

8 What Happens in the Brain When the Heart Suddenly Stops? 161

9 What Do We Know About Brain Function? 179

10 A Comprehensive NDE: Monique Hennequin 205

11 Quantum Physics and Consciousness 225

12 The Brain and Consciousness 259

13 The Continuity of the Changing Body 283

14 Endless Consciousness 303

15 Some Implications of NDE Studies 329

16 Epilogue 347

Appendix: The Practical Significance of NDE in Health Care 351

Acknowledgments 361

Art Credits 363

Notes 365

Glossary 399

Bibliography 413

Index 435

What People are Saying About This

Raymond A. Moody

“Dr. Pim van Lommel’s Consciousness Beyond Life is an exciting, informative, and thorough overview of near-death experiences. As one of the foremost experts in the field, his work moves us closer to rational comprehension of human kind’s deepest mystery— life after death.”

Bruce Greyson

“Consciousness Beyond Life confronts the apparent enigma of clear thinking, accurate perception, and enhanced memory in people who are clinically dead. This rigorous and provocative book may change our ideas about the mind and how we practice medicine.”

Ervin Laszlo

“Pim van Lommel shows that the symphony of human consciousness does continue… [even] at the portals of death. His evidence is robust, and can no longer be ignored either by the science community, or by society at large.”

Kenneth Ring

“Most books on NDEs only touch on some of the ideas that are presented, but the distinctive contribution of this book is that it presents and defends a complete theory of consciousness.... What a brilliant, erudite and magisterial book. A magnificent achievement, clearly a landmark book. ”

Larry Dossey

“In Consciousness Beyond Life, cardiologist Pim van Lommel constructs a model of consciousness that courageously builds on all we know. The resulting view is… bright and hopeful… and has the redeeming feature of being consistent with scientific data, which in our era makes all the difference.”

David Lorimer

“The most significant contribution to the field to appear in many years, containing as it does [van Lommel’s] mature philosophical reflections on the implications of the findings of his study on near-death experiences in survivors of cardiac arrest.”

Charles T. Tart

“I highly recommend Consciousness Beyond Life. Van Lommel is convinced that NDEs are real experiences, not just some sort of brain malfunction. He... has studied NDEs for more than 20 years and this is an authoritative look, with solid medical background. ”

Editorial Reviews

Dr. Pim van Lommel’s Consciousness Beyond Life is an exciting, informative, and thorough overview of near-death experiences. As one of the foremost experts in the field, his work moves us closer to rational comprehension of human kind’s deepest mystery— life after death.” — Raymond A. Moody MD,PhD, author of Life After Life

“In Consciousness Beyond Life, cardiologist Pim van Lommel constructs a model of consciousness that courageously builds on all we know. The resulting view is… bright and hopeful… and has the redeeming feature of being consistent with scientific data, which in our era makes all the difference.” — Dr. Larry Dossey

“Pim van Lommel shows that the symphony of human consciousness does continue… [even] at the portals of death. His evidence is robust, and can no longer be ignored either by the science community, or by society at large.” — Dr. Ervin Laszlo

“Most books on NDEs only touch on some of the ideas that are presented, but the distinctive contribution of this book is that it presents and defends a complete theory of consciousness.... What a brilliant, erudite and magisterial book. A magnificent achievement, clearly a landmark book. ” — Dr. Kenneth Ring, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, University of Connecticut

“Consciousness Beyond Life confronts the apparent enigma of clear thinking, accurate perception, and enhanced memory in people who are clinically dead. This rigorous and provocative book may change our ideas about the mind and how we practice medicine.” — Bruce Greyson, M.D., Carlson Professor of Psychiatry & Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine

“I highly recommend Consciousness Beyond Life. Van Lommel is convinced that NDEs are real experiences, not just some sort of brain malfunction. He... has studied NDEs for more than 20 years and this is an authoritative look, with solid medical background. ” — Dr. Charles T. Tart, Ph.D.

“There have been several books published which explore consciousness, the near-death experience, or the brain, but van Lommel’s book is the most comprehensive.... Human beings are something more than physical bodies. There is life after death. Read Consciousness Beyond Life and expand your mind with hope.” — Basil & Spice

“The most significant contribution to the field to appear in many years, containing as it does [van Lommel’s] mature philosophical reflections on the implications of the findings of his study on near-death experiences in survivors of cardiac arrest.” — David Lorimer, editor of the Network Review

From the Publisher

Pim van Lommel shows that the symphony of human consciousness does continue… [even] at the portals of death. His evidence is robust, and can no longer be ignored either by the science community, or by society at large.

Dr. Ervin Laszlo

Consciousness Beyond Life confronts the apparent enigma of clear thinking, accurate perception, and enhanced memory in people who are clinically dead. This rigorous and provocative book may change our ideas about the mind and how we practice medicine.

Bruce Greyson

Dr. Pim van Lommel’s Consciousness Beyond Life is an exciting, informative, and thorough overview of near-death experiences. As one of the foremost experts in the field, his work moves us closer to rational comprehension of human kind’s deepest mystery— life after death.

Raymond A. Moody MD

I highly recommend Consciousness Beyond Life. Van Lommel is convinced that NDEs are real experiences, not just some sort of brain malfunction. He... has studied NDEs for more than 20 years and this is an authoritative look, with solid medical background.

Dr. Charles T. Tart

There have been several books published which explore consciousness, the near-death experience, or the brain, but van Lommel’s book is the most comprehensive.... Human beings are something more than physical bodies. There is life after death. Read Consciousness Beyond Life and expand your mind with hope.

Basil & Spice

The most significant contribution to the field to appear in many years, containing as it does [van Lommel’s] mature philosophical reflections on the implications of the findings of his study on near-death experiences in survivors of cardiac arrest.

David Lorimer

Most books on NDEs only touch on some of the ideas that are presented, but the distinctive contribution of this book is that it presents and defends a complete theory of consciousness.... What a brilliant, erudite and magisterial book. A magnificent achievement, clearly a landmark book.

Dr. Kenneth Ring

In Consciousness Beyond Life, cardiologist Pim van Lommel constructs a model of consciousness that courageously builds on all we know. The resulting view is… bright and hopeful… and has the redeeming feature of being consistent with scientific data, which in our era makes all the difference.

Dr. Larry Dossey