Wisdom of Near Death Experiences: How Understanding NDEs Can Help Us Live More Fully

by Penny Sartori, Pim van Lommel (Foreword by)

Overview

Drawing on a 5-year clinical study of near-death experiences, a doctor presents riveting patient stories to explore how NDEs can empower us and society as a whole.

By trying to pathologize NDEs, are we missing out on what they can tell us about life?
 
Dr. Penny Sartori is a registered nurse who began researching Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) in 1995 after one of her long-term intensive care patients begged her to let him die in peace. Inspired by this encounter, she went on to research NDEs in a PhD program, where she learned profound spiritual lessons and made startling discoveries that she now shares in The Wisdom of Near-Death Experiences.

During her academic work, Dr. Sartori studied three samples of ICU patients during a five-year period. Here, she recounts the eye-opening stories of those patients who experienced NDEs and out-of-body experiences (OBEs). In one group, as many as 18% of patients experienced an NDE—though Patient #10 stood out among the others. After being unresponsive, he awoke to report he had experienced an OBE. He was able to describe what happened in the hospital room while he was unconscious and claimed he met not only his deceased father but a Jesus-like figure. Most shocking of all, he had regained the use of his hand—which had been paralyzed since birth.

When talking about the biggest takeaways from her research, Dr. Sartori shares how her findings have made her question the common belief that the brain gives rise to consciousness. Most importantly, she has gained a deeper appreciation for death—an experience she now views with less fear and anxiety.

In addition to detailing dozens of case studies, The Wisdom of Near-Death Experiences also discusses childhood NDEs, the differences in NDEs among different cultures, and the after-effects of NDEs.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781780285658
Publisher:	Watkins Media
Publication date:	02/18/2014
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	379,953
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Dr. Penny Sartori PhD, RGN is an expert in NDEs and undertook the UK's first long-term prospective study. She is the author of The Near-Death Experiences of Hospitalized Intensive Care Patients: A Five Year Clinical Study and lectures both nationally and internationally. She currently teaches two courses she has written entitled "Death and Dying as Spiritual Transformation" and "Science, Spirituality and Health" at Swansea University. The author lives in UK.

Table of Contents

Foreword ix

Introduction xv

1 The Near-Death Experience 1

2 The After Effects of the NDE 24

3 Childhood NDEs 53

4 The Cultural Variations of the NDE 70

5 End-of-Life Experiences and After-Death Communication 85

6 Proposed Physiological and Psychological Explanations for the NDE 111

7 A Five-Year Prospective Study of NDEs 127

8 A Brief History of the Medicalization of Death 144

9 Implications for a Greater Understanding and Acknowledgement of NDEs 149

10 Conclusion 173

Epilogue 187

Notes 193

References 207

Index 229

Editorial Reviews

Nurse Penny Sartori was driven by an experience with a traumatized dying patient to study near-death experiences, not to pursue what might happen in an afterlife but rather to improve what happens in this life.  Her goal was to learn all she could about the dying process in order to help her patients find meaning in their illness and restore a sense of well-being in their lives.  The Wisdom of Near-Death Experiences, the fruit of her labors, is an invaluable resource for health care workers, for dying patients and their families, and for all of us who will face death eventually.” 
- Bruce Greyson, M.D., Carlson Professor of Psychiatry & Neurobehavioral Sciences University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA

"With more than twenty years experience of nursing dying people in an intensive therapy unit ,  plus  a  Ph.D. in Near-death Experiences,  Dr. Sartori   is very well qualified to discuss issues of death and dying.   She believes that NDEs provide us with a  greater understanding of the dying process and that care of  terminally ill patients  could be enhanced  if NDEs would more widely studied.  A greater acceptance of the inevitability of death would help the situation of terminally ill people. At present they are increasingly  exposed to  invasive and burdensome treatments  even when  prospects for recovery are recognised as minimal.  This is an immensely  valuable contribution to current debates about patient care." 
 - Paul Badham PhD., Professor Emeritus of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Wales, Trinity, St. David

From the Publisher