ABSTRACT
Many people, when they come close to death, go through a profound experience in which they feel they leave their bodies and enter some other realm or dimension, transcending the boundaries of the ego and the ordinary confines of time and space. Such experiences are partially or totally disconnected from the mainstream of the individual’s conscious awareness. Raymond Moody, the psychiatrist who named this phenomenon the “near-death experience,” (NDE) (Moody, 1975), described it as an ineffable experience that may include: feelings of peace, unusual noises, sensations of being out of the physical body, movement through a dark tunnel, meeting other spiritual beings, a life review, a border or point of no return, a return to the physical body, and profound changes in attitudes and values. Once thought to be rare, the NDE is now acknowledged to be reported by at least a third of people who come close to death (Ring, 1980; Sabom, 1982). A Gallup Poll (Gallup & Proctor, 1982) estimated that about 5 percent of the American population, or about 13.6 million Americans in 1996, have had NDEs.
