By RICHARD SMOLEY The spiritual, the occult, the paranormal – these things have never sat well with the mainstream press. If they pay attention to such things, it is usually only briefly and with an eye to ridicule. Not surprisingly, the majority of writers on these topics are arrogant ignoramuses. This situation may be changing. A small cohort of writers has been developing who are willing to look intelligently, objectively, and engagingly at levels of reality that consensus opinion would … [Read more...]
Where Does Consciousness Reside? Eben Alexander & the Brain-Mind Problem
February 19, 2016 By
By RICHARD SMOLEY Why has Eben Alexander’s story caught the public imagination so intensely? Admittedly, not everyone has looked favourably upon his revelations. Much of the materialistic press has groped around to find holes in his arguments (usually by casting aspersions upon his good faith), but their attempts to rebut him have been someplace between weak and nonexistent. As we shall see. To begin with, here is one of the most important challenges that Alexander makes to current … [Read more...]
A Neurosurgeon’s Journey to Worlds Beyond: An Interview with Dr. Eben Alexander
February 19, 2016 By
By RICHARD SMOLEY Today the intellectual world is facing an insurrection. It has nothing to do with politics or economics. It is about worldviews. Contemporary intellectual thought is hidebound by a materialistic view of the universe that automatically shuts out anything of the “spiritual,” or, God forbid, “mystical.” More and more evidence is coming to light that refutes this narrow view of reality. And more and more intellectuals are standing up against it. Eben Alexander is one of the … [Read more...]
Helping Stuck Souls Crossover
November 3, 2015 By
By REV. GARY W. DUNCAN, M.S., M.A., CSM/OCP When I was twelve years old, my brother – a Funeral Director – began introducing me into the business. Over the next several years, he taught me anatomy and physiology, principles of mortuary science as well as other aspects of the profession. By the time I was twenty-one, I had completed my mortuary apprenticeship, but decided to leave the profession and pursue a degree in psychology. Working in the funeral business gave me a rich understanding of … [Read more...]
Embraced by the Light: Journeys to the ‘Other Side’
November 15, 2014 By
By REV. GARY W. DUNCAN, M.S., M.A., CSM/OCP— Ancient religions including the shamanic traditions are replete with myths regarding the dying and death process. It was believed within these traditions that when a person died their soul was escorted into the afterlife by a special being called a psychopomp. In Greek psycho means soul and pomp means guide, so a psychopomp is a guide of the soul. In our modern world, the psychopomp tradition has changed to not only helping the dying, but also … [Read more...]
The Life After Death Project: Interview With Paul Davids
July 10, 2013 By
PAUL DAVIDS is the author of widely-released books and acclaimed writer and director of highly original films including the controversial 2008 documentary film Jesus In India, discussed by Len Kasten in New Dawn Special Issue Vol 6 No 3. He is a leading expert on the history of science fiction cinema and the Hollywood connection to extraterrestrial-related phenomena. Davids was executive producer and co-writer of the Showtime film Roswell, starring Martin Sheen and Kyle MacLachlan. Paul … [Read more...]
Is the Afterlife What We Think It Is? A Challenge from Near-Death Studies
November 10, 2012 By
By P.M.H. Atwater, L.H.D. There are millions of stories now of near-death experiences from around the world; each a snippet, a teaser, of what appears to exist on the other side of death. No other human drama carries quite the power this phenomenon does to unmask traditions of a “grim reaper,” and reveal instead an aliveness that continues after our bodies take their last breath and our brains cease to function. This aliveness we call an “afterlife,” because in most cases, what near-death … [Read more...]
Ouija: How the Spirit World Helped a Pulitzer Prize-Winning Poet
November 10, 2012 By
By John Chambers Sois sage dear heart & set my teachings down If you do not your world will be undone & heaven itself turn to one grinning skull.1 These lines appear in the poem “The Will,” by James Merrill (1926-1995), arguably the greatest American poet of the latter half of the twentieth century. Critics rarely mention that for most of his life Merrill was deeply involved with discarnate entities on a Ouija board, and that the poet’s 550-page masterpiece, The Changing Light at … [Read more...]
Cheating the Ferryman: A New Paradigm of Existence?
December 1, 2010 By
By ANTHONY PEAKE — What happens when we die? This is the ultimate question and one that we still have no real answer. From the first few moments that man became a self-aware being he has pondered upon this mystery. Every culture has attempted an explanation, and it is reasonable to conclude that all religions exist to give an account of what happens at that moment and, more importantly, where does the person go after their body dies. One of the most enduring myths is that of the Ancient … [Read more...]
What Lives On? Investigating Life After Death
July 6, 2010 By
By ROBERT M. SCHOCH, Ph.D. — Do we survive the death of our physical bodies? Is there such a thing as a postmortem continuation of the individual? If there is survival, what survives? Does everyone survive? What does it even mean to survive? Answers to these questions are central to the dogmas of many religions. These same issues are amongst the most refractory when addressed using the techniques of scientific inquiry: data gathering, hypothesis formulation and testing, logical analyses. … [Read more...]
