Approved For Rel 2001/03/26 : CIA-RDP96-00787ROO0200080041-9 to c( temporary Arneric @an images of death On the contrary, lie asserts that 11 tl ic 1, ict ure ofthe cve tits of*dVill g wh icl I Life After Death? have lost limbs-and the cincipes from these accounts experience of corre- being greeted by previouslyspond.@@ in a striking decease(] way with that paint- The experience is a familiarloved ones. As it result ed in ory ancient in)(] one to of' such experi- esoteric writings many emergency-room medics.ences, she savs, "many totidIN unfamiliar to A pa- ofthcrn rcsented my subjects.- In tient who has been pronouncedour desperate attempts parti4 iplar, Moody finds dead and to bring them that the experi- unexpectedly recovers back to life. Death is ence:. offloating out later describes the feeling ofpeace ofthe body, inecting what happened to him and hope. Not one of thenispirit ual companions during those mo- has ever been and encountering it ments-sonictinics hours-wbenafraid to (lie again." bcjll@, oflight are remarkably his analagous body exhibited no signs In it series of' in-depth to iui,oL@cs found in oflife. Accord- interviews the Tibetan Book of ing to one repeated account,conducted independently the 1)4-ad. the patient of Kubler- feels himself rushing Ross's research, another As liart of' vet another through it long, physician has effort to track dark tunnel while noise discovered extraordinary (]own hics "tbat would rings in his cars. sirnilaritics suggest an itfler- Suddenly, lie finds himself'among 50 near-death experienceslile," psychologist Karlis outside his result- Osis of' the own body, looking down with curi- American Society for Psychical Re- oils detachmentat a medical team's efforts to resuscitate him. Ile hears what is said, notes what is happen- ing but cannot communicate with anyone. Soon, his attention is drawn to other presences in the room-spirits of' dead relatives or friends-who communicate with him nonverbally. Gradually, he is drawn to a vague "being offight." This being invites him to evaluate his hfcand shows him highlights of his past in panoramic vision. The patiel it longs to stay with the being of' light ])lit is reluctantly drawn back into his physical body and recovers. Clues: Once dismissed as noth- ing more than hall ucinatioDs, these "near dcath" experiences are now being seriously examined by several psychiatrists and psy- chologists for po@sible clues to what happens at the moment of death. One such researcher, Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, an interna- tionally respected expert on the psychiatric dinicusiom; of (lying, now clainis that she has proof that 11 there is 16C after death" oil the basis of'hundreds of'such stories. Although other psychologists bc- lieve that Dr. Kubler-Ross ]ends "o"IrCh in New York (ity has tabu- Ltted by computer interviews with @477 physician,,, who have reported leathbed visions by their patients. -Vlost of them involve (lying pit- oicrits who see belligil apparitions oming for their souls. Osis has leterinined, it least to his own ;ltisfactioll, that patients whose @lains were impaired by high filver 4, disease reported h1w(Ir visions 1ian those who were fidiv alert at leath. Moreover, he asserts, pow- rhil drugs such as inorphi-oc aod 1)cnierol actually decrease the co- herence ofsuch visions. sick- krain hypotheses we considered !o not explaill the visions," Osis ollCludes, "and so far it looks as if' oatterns are cuiergingr consistent ith survival after death." Waiting for Data: (,ritics ol'!ifterl i fil -1'sCarCh have held then in-(- until 0icy c@an sce th- data Chat Kublcr- Itoss publishes. Still, slivs Jos) ( il lit- @ v ist (,barles R-0 illwrg ofNew Yoi il 'Jniversity, "I don't scc how, Vol] an set ill) the control gTOUp 11CC(F d to examinc @ this sub.1cciscientifi- ItIly. The afterlife is a inatter of Ltith." Father P"ugene Kennedy, it Horrian Catholic priest and proi-Cs- .0rof psychology at (3ficago's Loy- too nuich credence to B(ItLy"allit A1( hive lit University, finds tales told by Kubler-Ross's the (lying, her outspokenfteenth-century woodcut ody '1o1w focus "it falling-off views Fi of soul leaving b fl,oln her have recently heightened i,revious work which related scholar- death 1v interest in near-deathing fi,oni accidents, to lh@ whole of' hunian phenonicna. illness and sudden ]if'(,." Kenncdy, What most impresses Kubler-Rosscardiac arrest. Accordingfor olle, believes that to Dr. Ray- "intiolations of, about the cases she has mond A. Moody.jr., who innnoFtality don't come assembled over holds a doctor- froin v-Lporous 1he last eight years ate in philosophy as wellcxpel@llccs at life's is the evidence of'out- its it inedical end bolt floln thc of-body consciousness-thatdegree, many suj@jccts love @01(1 cl-cativity is, the at)- cxpcrien'@@cd ell- we exercise to over- parent ability ofpcople hanced intellectual capabilitiesconi( the tragedies oflik,.- Who exhibit no and, respiration, heartbeat upon recovery, aniazed V\r@i if' Kub1cr-Hoss or braill-wave ac- doctors by their has not proved fivity to describe eventsunusually technical knowledgeher It. out, she has laid taking place of'r(,sijs- out plienotocna around them. She is currentlycitation procedures. that li,oderll science checking has ]lot Vct a(](,- out each case against Unlike Kubler-Ross, Moody(IllaWk (XplaillCd. "I medical records for does not don't at all agree a book she plans to publishclaini scientific 1)roof'ofallwith @@lisabetll When next year. "If afterlife. But shc savs that thc Vol[ have it Woman Who he does believe that mostexpe @-nccs she and I has becil dc- ncar-dcath have both [[it(] (!]ared dead in it hospitalexperiences cannot be workifig with the (lying and she (,,in tell readjIv explained absolutely gual'- You exactly how many away its delusions inducedantec @ife after dcath," people walked bv pain- says I)r. Chadcs into thc room and workedkilling drugs: the narratives,Garfit id of' the Guicer oil her, this he says,are Rescarch Insti- cannot bc hallucination,"too clear and too similartote ! tlic University she, argues. to oil(, another. of' (.alilornia. "I Although details ofnear-deathIn his popular paperback also (1,)n't take the iWCOMAS "Life, After extreinc scientific- vary somewhat, Kubler-RossLife," Moody also dismissesloatei I (list positioll says that ill] cultural that these are t1w her sllh@jects report conditioning as ill[ explanationliticritices ofdcrau@4cd certain coinnion ex- because jwrsons. I don't perictices: a pervasive the reported experiences 1-call, i..1low what is sense of calin do not conform happciling, and I itill wel 1-being, a feeling willjl,@@ to toh,rate of' pci-sonal Who]('- the alllhignitv@- o(1Ss___(1v(1 reporis 'A)PVtbV@d1e6V'tFkd1\6.e ZCF011=26. CfN,-RDP96-00787RO0020WBM41~g?~""""'~lL@ Newsweek, July 12, 1976 41