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On the encounter with a divine presence during a near-death experience

Timothy West

pp. 387-405

Abstract

This chapter presents a phenomenological study of the experience of "encountering a divine presence during a near-death experience." As a result of my own near-death experience (NDE), I was inspired to investigate what I intuitively felt was the essence and defining element of the phenomenon: the meeting with an omnipotent, all-knowing entity or what many people commonly conceive of as "God." Although there exists a relatively large body of both empirical and speculative literature concerning near-death experiences, rigorous existential-phenomenological investigations, such as the study presented in this chapter, are rare. Since the nature of near-death experience defies "objective" measurement, qualitative or phenomenological methods seem best suited to describe the essence of this remarkable event.

Publication details

Published in:

Valle Ronald (1998) Phenomenological inquiry in psychology: existential and transpersonal dimensions. Dordrecht, Springer.

Pages: 387-405

DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4899-0125-5_19

Full citation:

West Timothy (1998) „On the encounter with a divine presence during a near-death experience“, In: R. Valle (ed.), Phenomenological inquiry in psychology, Dordrecht, Springer, 387–405.