ConnectIONS Live!
Co-produced by the Institute of Noetic Sciences and the Scientific and Medical Network
What Do Near-Death Experiences Suggest About Life, Death, and Beyond?
Near-death experiences (NDEs) are profound experiences that frequently occur on the threshold of death. They include phenomena that are difficult if not impossible to reconcile with a materialistic view of the mind, such as enhanced thinking and perceptions while the brain is severely impaired, accurate perceptions from outside the physical body, and encounters with deceased persons not known to have died. Dr. Bruce Greyson has been studying NDEs for almost half a century. In this presentation, he shares some of his most important findings on the nature of life and death, illustrating his research data with captivating examples.
After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal about Life and Beyond
Friday, April 23, 2021
11:00am – 12:30pm Pacific
Dr. Greyson will discuss challenges in researching NDEs, establishing the reality of NDEs, the most common features of the experience, various models that have been proposed to explain NDEs, and the dramatic transformations that usually follow NDEs. Finally, he will discuss the implications of NDEs for our understanding of mind and brain, for our understanding of the possibility of post-mortem survival, and for our understanding of the relationship between biological and spiritual events and what that implies about what it means to be human.
HOST
David Lorimer is a writer, lecturer, poet and editor who is a Founder of Character Education Scotland, Programme Director of the Scientific and Medical Network, and former President of Wrekin Trust and the Swedenborg Society. He has also been editor of Paradigm Explorer since 1986 and completed his 100th issue in 2019. He is the author and editor of over a dozen books, including Survival? Death as Transition, Resonant Mind (originally Whole in One), The Spirit of Science, Thinking Beyond the Brain, and Radical Prince about the ideas and work of the Prince of Wales. He is the originator of the Inspiring Purpose Values Poster Programmes, which has reached over 350,000 young people. He is also Chair of the Galileo Commission which seeks to widen science beyond a materialistic world view.
SPEAKER
Bruce Greyson, MD is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He was a co-founder and President of the International Association for Near-Death Studies and Editor of the Journal of Near-Death Studies. His research for the past four decades has focused on near-death experiences and particularly their after-effects and implications. His academic work has been translated into 20 languages and used in hundreds of studies worldwide. Dr. Greyson has published more than 100 scholarly articles about near-death experiences and gives regular addresses at international conferences on the matter. After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal about Life and Beyond is his first book to bring his ground-breaking research to general readers.
Nina Fry-Kizler, MA, is Senior Designer of Experiential Programs at IONS. She has worked for years with the Science team at IONS and continues to be a liaison between the Experience and Science departments, infusing cutting-edge research into our experiential programs. As a former professor at John F. Kennedy University in the Holistic Health Education Masters Program for a decade, Nina taught classes on the psychology and physiology of stress, the challenges of change/transformation, energy models of healing, and mind-body medicine. She was trained in the Mind-Body Medicine Professional Training program at the Center for Mind-Body Medicine and as a Birth Doula through Doulas of North America.
Kerstin Sjoquist is the Director of Experience & Engagement at the Institute of Noetic Sciences. A long-time IONS member, a series of synchronous and magical events led Kerstin to a staff position at the Institute in 2014, where she now spends her days in support of the creation of IONS programmatic offerings to benefit those who seek a deeper engagement with potential and fulfillment. Prior to joining IONS, Kerstin was the founder and CEO of Consciousness Arts, Inc., specializing in psycho-spiritual products, classes, and services to assist people in expanding and enhancing their lives.
Garret Yount, PhD, is a Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences. Dr. Yount’s primary interest is bridging molecular neurobiology with aspects of consciousness and the nonmaterial mind. He has conducted carefully controlled laboratory experiments with spiritual healers and biofield practitioners from around the world, including China, Brazil, Canada, USA, Japan, India, Russia, Hungary, and Sri Lanka. He has evaluated a variety of mental influence models, ranging from human brain cells in petri dishes receiving distant healing intention to hospitalized children experiencing Expressive Arts Therapy.
Joshua Weiss, MD, is an IONS Fellow and Assistant Clinical Professor at McMaster University, where he teaches medical residents and medical students. In addition to teaching, Dr. Weiss has been the lead investigator for the Institute of Noetic Sciences’ Spontaneous Remission Annotated Bibliography (SRB) project since 2012. This IONS project has been ongoing since its initial publication in 1993 as the standard text on cancer and chronic disease spontaneous remission.
Pat McCabe (Weyakpa Najin Win, Woman Stands Shining) is a Diné (Navajo) mother, grandmother, activist, artist, writer, ceremonial leader, and international speaker. She is a voice for global peace, and her paintings are created as tools for individual, earth, and global healing. She draws upon the Indigenous sciences of Thriving Life to reframe questions about sustainability and balance, and she is devoted to supporting the next generations — Women’s Nation and Men’s Nation — in being functional members of the “Hoop of Life” and upholding the honor of being human. Her primary work at the moment is: