International review of psychiatry (Abingdon, England)
January 1, 2025
Gregory Shushan
3 citations
Near-death experiences (NDEs) appear across cultures and historical periods, yet descriptions differ widely. Scholarly debates often frame NDEs as either a universal human phenomenon or entirely culturally constructed. This article examines how the apparent universality of NDEs has been used to support both survival and materialist hypotheses. It also explores what kind of afterlife might be philosophically conceivable if NDE narratives are taken as genuine reflections of afterlife experiences, especially given their diversity.
Oxford Scholarship Online
July 3, 2018
Gregory Shushan
Near-death experiences (NDEs) occur across cultures and throughout history, but how people experience and interpret them is shaped by their cultural background. This book examines historical reports from explorers, missionaries, and ethnologists about traditional indigenous societies in Africa, North America, and Oceania, showing that while NDEs are universal, their content and meaning vary by region. Shamanic practices across different cultures often involve elements similar to NDEs, such as leaving the body, traveling to other realms, meeting deceased relatives, and returning with new insight. The book draws on anthropology, philosophy, psychology, and cognitive evolutionary science to explain the similarities and differences between these phenomena, presenting dozens of previously unrecognized NDE accounts and exploring themes like possession, burial practices, lucid dreams, religious revitalization movements, and out-of-body experiences.