Kenneth Ring

Near-Death and Out-of-Body Experiences in the Blind: A Study of Apparent Eyeless Vision

This article reports the results of an investigation into near-death and out-of-body experiences in 31 blind respondents. The study sought to address three main questions: (1) whether blind individuals have near-death experiences (NDEs) and, if so, whether they are the same as or different from those of sighted persons; (2) whether blind persons ever claim to see during NDEs and out-of-body experiences (OBEs); and (3) if such claims are made, whether they can ever be corroborated by reference to independent evidence. Our findings revealed that blind persons, including those blind from birth, do report classic NDEs of the kind common to sighted persons; that the great preponderance of blind persons claim to see during NDEs and OBEs; and that occasionally claims of visually-based knowledge that could not have been obtained by normal means can be independently corroborated. We present and evaluate various explanations of these findings before arriving at an interpretation based on the concept of transcendental awareness.

Further Evidence for Veridical Perception During Near-Death Experiences

We briefly survey research designed to validate alleged out-of-body perceptions during near-death experiences. Most accounts of this kind that have surfaced since Michael Saboms work are unsubstantiated self-reports or, as in claims of visual perception of blind persons, completely undocumented or fictional, but there have been some reports that were corroborated by witnesses. We briefly present and discuss three new cases of this kind.

Do Suicide Survivors Report Near-Death Experiences?

Interviews with thirty-six persons who had been close to death as a result of a suicide attempt were conducted to determine whether such persons report Moody-type near-death experiences. Seventeen persons, or 47 per cent of the sample, related such experiences which were more common for men than women (p <.05). Although suicide-related near-death experiences do not appear different from near-death experiences in general, three distinct patterns were found here. The findings are discussed with reference to the concept of ego-death and their therapeutic implications are explored.

The Omega Project: An Empirical Study of the NDE-Prone Personality

Seventy-four near-death experiencers (NDErs) and 54 persons interested in near-death experiences (NDEs) participated in a mail questionnaire survey to assess the role of psychological factors in influencing susceptibility to NDEs and to measure aftereffects stemming from such events. NDErs, while not more fantasy-prone than control subjects, reported greater sensitivity to nonordinary realities as children and a higher incidence of child abuse and trauma. NDErs also scored higher on a measure of psychological dissociation. We discuss the implications of these findings for the concept of an NDE-prone personality. In addition to substantial shifts in values and beliefs, NDErs described far more psychophysical changes, including symptoms of kundalini activation, following their NDEs than did controls. We then discuss the implications of these findings with respect to their possible significance for human transformation and the emergence of a more highly evolved human being, the Omega Prototype.

Amazing Grace: The Near-Death Experience as a Compensatory Gift

This paper illustrates the apparently providential timing and the healing character of near-death experiences (NDEs) and NDE-like episodes, through four case histories of persons whose lives, prior to their experiences, were marked by deep anguish and a sense of hopelessness. Spiritually, such case histories suggest the intervention of a guiding intelligence that confers a form of “amazing grace” on the recipient. Methodologically, these reports point to the importance of taking into account the persons life history as a context for understanding the full significance of NDEs and similar awakening experiences. The article ends with a retrospective account of a childhood NDE in which “the big secret” of these experiences is disclosed.

Performance styles in interpersonal relations: a typology.

Based primarily on the dramaturgical perspective of Goffman (1959), an approach to the study of interpersonal behavior, using the construct of performance style, is advanced. Focussing on actor-related sources of variance in interpersonal behavior, a typology of three performance styles is presented, together with a description of the prototypic individual associated with each style. A number of hypotheses are proposed relating performance style variables to interpersonal behavior.

Prophetic visions in 1988: A critical reappraisal

This paper reviews the research into a specific aspect of neardeath experiences (NDEs): the prophetic vision (PV). PVs are subjectively compelling flashforwards of planetary-wide cataclysms and eventual regeneration that sometimes occur during or in the immediate aftermath of an NDE. Previous research has shown that the most frequently mentioned year for the culmination of the geophysical calamities foreseen in PVs was 1988. I argue that PVs should be understood as manifestations of a collective prophetic impulse that historically tends to arise during periods of cultural crisis. PVs are thus expressions of the felt need for cultural renewal and therefore should not be taken literally as prognostic of drastic physical changes on Earth.

Religious Wars in the NDE Movement: Some Personal Reflections on Michael Sabom's Light & Death

After a short personal glance at the early days of the field of near-death studies, I offer an “open letter” to Michael Sabom in response to his book, Light & Death (Sabom, 1998). This letter is in effect both a reply to certain criticisms Sabom has made of my work and an attempt to make public certain significant changes in my own view of near-death experiences (NDEs) since the publication of Heading Toward Omega (Ring, 1984), particularly in regard to their being a catalyst for higher consciousness. The second part of this essay presents a personal perspective on the ideological role of religion in the NDE movement, which I see as corrupting the original vision that prompted the formation of the field of near-death studies. I end with an ecumenical call for a return to the values of nontheologically driven inquiry with which near-death studies began.

Performance styles in interpersonal behavior: an experimental validation of a typology ☆

Abstract An experiment was conducted primarily in order to test some hypotheses relating performance style to interpersonal behavior. Three performance styles were analytically distinguished; they were labelled, p, r, and c. In general, ps are conceived to be persons whose interpersonal behavior is inept and unpolished; rs are viewed as interpersonally skilled and poised; cs are persons whose behavior is conventional and conforming—in the manner of chameleons. Eighty-seven male subjects, whose performance styles had been determined by a paper-and-pencil test, participated individually in the experiment in which they were required to imagine that they were salesmen whose task it was to sell to another subject (actually an experimental confederate) a fictional encyclopedia. The subjects were given beforchand one of three communications to read concerning their product: a highly favorable one, a mildly favorable one, or an unfavorable one. They were to use this information in any way they wished in devising a sales pitch. After a private rehearsal, subjects actually interacted with the customer (confederate) in the role of a salesman. The major findings of this experiment were the following: (1) On the basis both of self-ratings and of behavior ratings, rs were the most effective salesmen, cs were next, ps were poorest. (2) rs felt most comfortable during the interaction, cs were next, ps felt least comfortable; this rank-ordering held even with effectiveness differences partialled out. The results were interpreted as supporting a conceptualization of individual differences in interpersonal behavior based on the construct of performance style.

Guest editorial: Paradise is paradise: Reflections on psychedelic drugs, mystical experience, and the near-death experience

Article discussing the relationship between psychedelic drugs, mystical experience, and the near-death experience.