From: gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us (Gary S. Trujillo)
Subject: Re: reading / FAQ projects (was Re: Silver cord)
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 03:12:47 GMT

As I indicate at the end of this article, I'm afraid that some of the
recent "debates" about the nature of the OBE experience might have
caused those who once freely offered accounts of their OBE experiences
to be bashful about posting.  In fact, some of my own articles might
have contributed to the creation of an atmosphere that might seem non-
conducive to a simple sharing of experience.  I hope it is possible to
both get honest accounts of experiences and to have some discussions
about what is going on, but I don't feel it serves any good purpose to
spend a lot of time and energy at this point debating whether "something"
leaves the body or whether the experience is purely mental, and I regret
somewhat my own participation in such discussions.  I also apologize to
anyone who feels that I have been too quick to jump on people for being
off-topic, but I don't want too much peripheral stuff to distract us
from the subject of OBE experiences themselves.

Anyway...

In <hawleylm-181192165458@hawley.apple.com> hawleylm@apple.com
	(Lorin Hawley) writes:

> Unfortunately I likely have little to contribute as regards reading
> recommendations. Besides Ring's two books, I've read Moody's popular books
> Life After Life, Reflections on Life After Life, and The Light Beyond...

> ...Of Susan
> Blackmore I've only read some journal articles and her review article -
> recommended reading - in the Skeptical Inquirer several issues back. 

> There are a number of other "classic" books and papers referenced in the
> above books, and anyone who can especially recommend any should do so!

I have a list derived from what I found in a bookstore recently, and I got
a list from one of the FAQ volunteers.  Since it may be a while before we
get the FAQ itself together, I'll send out a combination of these two lists
to give us something with which to start.  However, I think perhaps we need
to get some recommendations first and create a process whereby we can jointly
decide on what to actually begin reading together.

About the books by Ring, Moody, Kubler-Ross, and the others who have written
about NDEs (near-death experiences), I suggest that perhaps that's really a
different subject.  We may as individuals decide that NDEs and OBEs are
strongly linked with one another (i.e., that a NDE is an OBE induced by some
trauma), but I don't think we have enough evidence for such a position yet
as a group, and there may turn out to be some evidence that these two kinds
of phenomena are different enough in important ways that they deserve to be
considered separately from one another.

Having said the above, however, it would seem that alt.out-of-body is as
good a place as any (and probably better than most other Usenet newsgroups)
for a discussion of NDEs.  I just suggest that it's probably best to start
our discussion of the subject with the OBE experience proper.  What do
others feel?

Also, I'll be posting copies of a couple of items sent to the now-deceased
"alt.oobe" newsgroup a few months back submitted by Angela I in hopes that
they might stimulate further discussion.  And one of our number will soon
be writing to some folks who have submitted accounts of their own OBE ex-
periences in hopes that they might be encouraged to provide updates on
their current experiences.  I fear that some of the analytical discussion
may have so turned off these people that they have given up on the news-
group as a forum that doesn't feel friendly enough for them to talk about
their very personal experiences.  I hope at least some of them will return.

Thanks.

Gary
--
    Gary S. Trujillo                            gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us
Somerville, Massachusetts              {wjh12,bu.edu,spdcc,ima,cdp}!gnosys!gst