The AWARE study is a multi-medical center study of near death experiences, sponsored by the United Nations. The lead investigator is Sam Parnia.  Click here for my response.

Click here for my review of Our Undiscovered Universe as well as a discussion of scientific fundamentalism. 

1. I greatly admire Michael Shermer Ph.D., (www.skeptic.com) and contributer to Scientific American. 

2. Irresponsible Science refers to highly dangerous experiments designed for youngsters, and the efforts of rogue Lego designers who have designed Lego products that could easily put out an eye.

Click for Essay on Coping with the Fear of Death.

 Click Here for a full report of my recent visit to Brazil and my comparison of Controlled Remote viewing and the Brazilian Out of Body Superstars

Click here for a discussion and a documented case of a dead brain coming back to life

7A: Psi cards were never a good test for psi abilities.  They are a laboratory based test.  All laboratory base tests suffer from experimenter fatigue and the meaninglessness of the project.  This is why hundreds and thousands of trials have to be done to find small statistically significant results.  Not very attractive or exciting.

7B: Psi abilities are best tested and demonstrated when there is a rigorous protocol involved to follow.  This is to over-ride the left brain "whoops" phenomena.  What usually happens in psi is that the left brain doesn't know that psi is possible. So the first trials slip under its radar.  Then it asserts its role at creating the rational world view to live by and clamps down on further psi abilities.

This is why when you take a newbie to the track, bet your Mother's house on their first guess at a winner, but don't bet on that person's picks after that.  This is why, for example, my wife accurately predicted 24 straight cards off the top of a deck, then said "oh my, did I just do that" and never did it again.

Using a protocol will help to regiment the mind and overcome this.  For example,  the protocol of Controlled Remote Viewing.

7C: The best tests and examples of psi abilities are real time, meaningful and dynamic.  Since we have so many different types of possible abilities, you would have to find out for yourself what interests you and is fun.  Some examples:

1) Drawing a picture of something or someone you love.  Have someone tape it to the wall of a room so the picture can't be seen. Have someone blindfold you, twirl you around, and then walk to the wall and find your picture.  It's very easy, if you immediately walk after being twirled (if you don't get too dizzy). Or quickly point.

2) If you have a partner you love: Sit back to back, and simply draw a picture.  Pick a topic, like "a landscape", or "something that is red".  Then turn around and compare your drawings.

3) Learn a specific psychic skill, such as Reiki, (can be learned in a weekend) or Controlled Remote Viewing. (Shell out $2000 to Paul H Smith, but on the other hand, you will definitely get an answer)

4) Do something such as blind fold darts (soft-tip of course!)

5) Attempt to influence a naturalistic based true random number generator.  Unlike cards, these are based on natural chaotic phenomena such as the output of a leaky transistor and the resultant electronic noise.  You are in essence attempting to quiet the noise of chaos, which results in far more robust psi phenomena than simply predicting shuffled cards.  The Psyleron Device from Princeton is one of these.  Don't make the same mistake as the Princeton folk and use it as a laboratory test.  Instead, use it at home, while you are doing Reiki, or talking about something you love. Our Plant Physiologist Lance Beem can drive the Psyleron crazy just by talking about preparing roots for transplant.

Hope this is helpful. Marty Alsop, did I get it right? I will answer your other question tomorrow.

Answer:  This is a very complex question that I will answer in pieces and you can apply whatever piece seems to fit your situation:

8A: What is a "near death experience"?  Many experts would argue that a near death experience can only occur at the point of death.  Others, including myself, would define what you are calling a near death experience as a Right Temporal Lobe Experience.  Right Temporal lobe experiences, when perceived in the context of nearly dying, are considered near death experiences.  Right temporal lobe experiences, in the context of religious ritual are considered meditation or prayer.  Right temporal lobe experiences in the context of ingesting drugs such as NDMA or LSD are called drug induced hallucinations.

So, I will consider different types of repeatable such experiences:

1) Prayer and meditation can be induced at will, and have elements precisely the same as the near death experience.  There are many diverse reasons for prayer and meditation.  If this is your situation, a spiritual or religious leader might be the next step for you.

2) Temporal Lobe Seizures produce a experience similar or precisely the same as the near death experience.  Many temporal lobe epileptics perceive this as a gift and use them for seeing the future or religious ecstasy.  I know one woman who can reliably predict the future when she has her seizures.  However others are troubled by them.  They can be blocked or stopped with medication.

3) Direct stimulation of the right temporal lobe by a neurosurgeon would lead to creating these experiences at will.  If you have a stainless steel electrode in your head, and have simply left out that you are doing the re-creating with a remote control device,  I would see your neurosurgeon.  The most likely reason for this would probably be research of some sort.  Are your closest friends clad in white and write down everything you do? You may be involved in a project involving memory or inducing the out of body state.

4) A true Near Death Experience could then result in "flashbacks" or a post traumatic bliss syndrome.  The experience can often be triggered by a variety of seemingly trivial triggers, just as the Vietnam War Veteran will jump under a table when a firecracker goes off.  For many people, these experiences recur at will.  As one child, now grown up, told me, "I see pieces of the light wherever I go".

It is important to appreciate that when we remember something, for example, an "apple", our brain re-creates that exact same experience of seeing the actual apple.  So, when you are re-experiencing elements of your near death experience, you are shifting into a highly right brained mode of thinking.

As a general rule, in this society, right brained thinking is considered "spacey", "weird" and irrational.  Right brained people are often at a disadvantage in our current society, as this is a left brained world.

I would be concerned about you if you are re-creating your near death experience, simply because it is putting you into a right brain state.  The right brain is good at sorting, organizing, and mathematics.  It is a very concrete state of consciousness, meaning it sees details but can't assemble those details properly.  It often communicates in symptoms, and the use of language is difficult.  Right brain thinkers often miss "subtext" or read too much meaning into situations.  A chance meeting of a guy might result in irrational beliefs that it is destiny and "mean to be", and in turn being taken advantage of.

Furthermore, if re-creating the experience is pleasurable or even ecstatic,  it might be re-enforcing and not necessarily functional.

I would highly advise some left/right brained training so that you could control the process of when you want to be in your left brain (which is where ordinary consciousness usually resides) and when you want to be in your right brain.

You are probably highly psychic, as that is a right brained function, so I wouldn't worry too much about documenting it.  Instead, I would try to find a highly left brained life partner.  I would study courses such as "Drawing with the Right Side of the Brain" which will teach you to control your right brained functions.

 Frankly, I would probably shell out $2000 and go see Paul H Smith and take his Controlled Remote Viewing boot camp. It would be the best $2000 you ever spent.  The process of Controlled Remote Viewing is in fact learning to sort and organizing left and right brain functions.  If my theory about you is correct, and you don't fit any of the other categories, you may be having trouble NOT with the experiences, but blending and integrating the experiences into the seamless flow of life that ordinary consciousness demands.

Paul H Smith and a highly intensive CRV training course,, (NOT A BOGUS WORKSHOP) would help you to understand and blend right and left brain function.

I am certain there are many other ways to learn to blend right and left brain functions, but I am drawing a blank on them.  Perhaps the readers could email me others.

Hope this is helpful.  Please feel free to tweet me (@neardeathdoc) for more details.