Psychology of Religious & Spiritual Experiences - Dr. Ken R. Vincent's Guide on Resources
A guide to recent books and websites on transpersonal experience compiled by Dr. Ken Vincent, an expert in the field of transpersonal experiences. Dr. Vincent has given annual Halloween lectures, organized by Psi Beta - HCC Chapter, on various issues of paranormal psychology since 1992.
WEBSITES:
The Alister Hardy Society Religious Experience Research Centre
And
the premier center for research into Mystical Religious Experience and the Society that supports it.
the premier facility for research into life after death
BOOKS
An Introduction to Religious and Spiritual Experience by Marianne Rankin (2008)
This book is an overview of research into spiritually transformative experiences across time and culture.
Religious Experience in Contemporary China by Xinzhong Yao and Paul Badham (2007)
In this survey of 3,196 Chinese, 56.7% report having had a religious experience, despite the fact that religion is discouraged in China.
The Spiritual Brain: A Neuroscientist's Case for the Existence of the Soul by Mario Beauregard and Denyse O'Leary (2007)
The authors present data to counter the claims of materialist/atheist/reductionist theories.
Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century by Edward F. Kelly, et al (2007)
This book covers 100+ years of research into psychosomatic medicine, hypnosis, reincarnation, NDEs, automatism, out-of-body experiences, apparitions, mediumship, and mystical experiences.
The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation by Bruce Greyson, Janice Miner Holden, Debbie James (2009)
This book is an overview of the major research on the NDE. It is based on reports presented at the 30th International Association of Near-Death Studies Conference at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in 2006.
Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of Near-Death Experiences by Jeffrey Long with Paul Perry (2010)
This book is based on 1,300 cases from Jeff and Jody Long’s http://www.nderf.org/.website
Glimpses of Eternity by Raymond Moody with Paul Perry (2010)
This book deals with the rare phenomenon of 'shared death experiences’ when loved ones at the bedside of a dying person share in the first moments of their journey into death.
The Art of Dying: A Journey to Elsewhere by Peter and Elizabeth Fenwick (2008)
This is an outstanding book on phenomena related to near-death experiences (NDEs), including death-bed visions (DBVs) and after-death communications (ADCs).
Reincarnation Beliefs of North American Indians: Soul Journey, Metamorphosis, and Near Death Experience by Warren Jefferson (2009)
This book is a hodge-podge of afterlife beliefs and, more importantly, experiences (NDE, ADC, DBV, and reincarnation memories) of a variety of Native American tribes.
Conceptions of Afterlife in Early Civilizations: Universalism, Constructivism, and Near-Death Experience by Gregory Shushan (2009)
Shushan asserts that mystical experiences are the basis of religion and that the ancient texts of the five independent civilizations discussed and the NDE all share William James’ core aspects of religious experience. This is an academic but well written book.
A Measure of Heaven: Near-death experience data analysis byVince Migliore (2009)
This book analyzes 787 case reports collected by the International Association of Near-Death Studies (IANDS). The cases include NDEs and NDE-like mystical experiences.
Life Before Life by Jim B. Tucker (2005)
This book presents a scientific analysis of 2,500 + cases of children’s memories of past lives.
The Fifth Dimension: An Exploration of the Spiritual Realm, 2nd Ed. by John Hick (2004)
This book provides an excellent overview of mystical experience in world religion.
The New Frontier of Religion and Science: Religious Experience, Neuroscience, and the Transcendent by John Hick (2006)
This is a continuation of the author’s previous study on mystical religious experience.
Religion, Spirituality, and the Near-Death Experience by Mark Fox (2002)
This book is a scholarly overview of the research on NDEs. The chapter on mysticism compares the experiences of mystics with those of NDEs taken from the files of the Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre.
Spiritual Encounters with Unusual Light Phenomena: Lightforms by Mark Fox (2008)
This book is about Spiritually Transformative Experiences with Light and Beings of Light (including NDEs and other mystical experiences). The cases were taken from the files of the Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre.
At the Hour of Death by Karlis Osis & Erlendur Haraldsson (1997)
This is a cross-cultural study of death-bed visions and NDEs from the US and India.
The Departed Among the Living, An Investigation of Afterlife Encounters by Erlendur Haraldsson (2012)
This is an excellent analysis of 449 cases of after-death communication in Iceland.
Blessing in Disguise by Barbara Rommer (2000)
This book is based on 300 cases of hellish NDEs.
Dancing Past the Dark: Distressing Near-Death Experiences by Nancy Evans Bush (2012)
This book is an analysis of research to date on hellish NDEs. Bush is the world’s foremost authority on negative NDEs.
Making Sense of Near-Death Experiences: A Handbook for Clinicians by Mahendra Perera, Karuppiah Jagadheesan & Anthony Peake (Eds)(2012)
This book is a collection of articles from researchers all over the world, including India, Srilanka, Netherlands, U.K., and U.S.A.
The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James
This is THE classic study of transpersonal experiences. It is still relevant 100+ years later.