ComingBackTo Life

SecondRevisedEdition

Examining theAfter-Effects of theNear-Death Experience

P.M.H. ATWATER, L.H.D.

To Terry Young Atwater who taught me themeaning of tomorrow while lighting my path

with gentleness and love.

Copyright © 2013 P.M.H. AtwaterHer website is www.pmhatwater.com. For information about her blog,free monthly newsletters, YouTube Playlist, NDE Cases, and numerous other features, refer to her website.Unattributed quotations are by Kimmie Rose ZapfCopyright © 2008 by Kimmie Rose ZapfCover and Text Design by Mark Lorenzo Editors: Heather Froeschl, Sandy Beaver and Luanna Myers

Second printing, second edition January, 2008 First printing, first edition: July, 1988 ISBN: 978-1-929661-31-2 (soft cover edition) Library of Congress Control Number: 2008903858

Transpersonal Publishing exists in name only. All rights to this book have reverted to P. M. H. Atwater, L.H.D., including that of copyright, publication, royalties, and distribution. For questions or queries, direct thhem to Dr. P. M. H. Atwater, P. O. Box 7691, Charlottesville, VA 22906.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, without prior written consent from the author, with the exception of brief quotes used in reviews.

A FRESH LOOK AT THE NEW PAST

Coming Back to Life was my initial attempt at writingabout my research of the near-death phenomenon. What Inever admitted until decades later was the reason why I didthis work. During my third near-death episode (I had threein three months in 1977), I was told by what I came to call“The Voice Like None Other” to: “Test revelation. You areto do the research. One book for each death.” I was shownwhat that meant; books two and three were named but notbook one. I was also told what was to be in each book, butnot how to do the job or how long it might take me.

Thanks to an invitation from Kenneth Ring, whodiscovered quite by accident what I was doing, I joined thenewly formed International Association For Near-DeathStudies (IANDS) and began writing a column for them intheir mini-magazine called Vital Signs. My column wasentitled “Coming Back;” its material formed the basis to thisbook. The columns themselves were eventually put into aCD called “A Book of Columns” which is available throughIANDS. The last I heard the CD is still selling pretty well,which is surprising considering that I started writing themin June of 1982.

Coming Back to Life is distinguished internationallyby the fact that it was the first in-depth study of near-deathstates that examined the whole experience: suicides, hellishepisodes, the expansion of psychic abilities afterward, brainchanges, what happened with children, the spread ofaftereffects (both positive and negative) - and how they couldbe a challenge to integrate, plus the specter of involuntarypsychiatric institutionalization.

I took a huge risk in writing the book and revealingwhat I had discovered at that point in my research. That’sbecause none of my work was based on the “Moody Model,”as espoused by Raymond A. Moody, Jr., M.D. in his bestselling book, Life After Life. I had never heard of Moody norhis book during the early years, so what I did was trulyoriginal (and still is). I was “hung” for writing it, in the sense

Forward to theSecond Revised Edition

that the fury of attacks against me was overwhelming. Hadthe general public objected or maybe a fuss arose fromconservative Christians, I would have understood, but therancor came from people I trusted and admired most. Someof what I went through appears in the final chapter to Beyondthe Light (the next book of mine that Transpersonal Publishingwill reprint).

Really, there’s no way to describe the impact of whatit is like to be a pioneer in this or any other field, and thencome out with observations and findings that either differfrom what has been established or challenges it. Severaldecades passed before the schism that occurred finallyhealed. Additionally, my original publisher, Dodd, Mead &Company, was liquidated in a hostile takeover, the first of aseries that toppled many old-line New York publishinghouses. I lost everything. The two loans my husband and Itook out to help promote the book morphed into a third so Icould buy back my world rights. This almost toppled us.

Today, Coming Back to Life is considered a classic, someof the research in it has been verified in the largest clinical,prospective study yet done about the phenomenon andpublished in Lancet medical journal (the Dutch Study by Pimvan Lommel, M.D. and Associates, 12-15-01). It is impossiblefor me to know how many people this book has touched.For years afterward I was inundated by thousands of peoplewho claimed “your book saved my life.”

How does one judge the “curve balls” life can aimyour way? After a period of depression following thedebacle, I hunkered down, worked harder, and did more.Beyond the Light came next, followed by Future Memory,Children of the New Millennium, The Complete Idiot’s Guide toNear-Death Experiences, The New Children and Near-DeathExperiences, We Live Forever, Beyond the Indigo Children, Runesof the Goddess Kit/CD (plus two other rune books—as runecasting with these ancient symbol-signs became the“therapy” I used to retrain my brain after my near-deathexperiences), and The Big Book of Near-Death Experiences. Iam now working on completing my theoretical modellinking near-death states to the larger genre oftransformational experiences and why they occur.

You could say that faith kept me going all the yearssince 1978 when I began doing research, but really it wasthat Voice, echoing in my head during moments of quiet,breathing me when I needed extra energy. Negatives turnedto positives. I did what was mine to do, and I have no regrets.Thank you, God.

Other Books by the Author

www.PMHAtwater.com

Beyond the Light: The Mysteries and Revelations of Near-DeathExperiences (reprints spring, 2009)

Future Memory

We Live Forever: The Real Truth About Death

The Big Book of Near Death Experiences: The Ultimate Guide ToWhat Happens When We Die

Children of the New Millennium

Beyond The Indigo Children: The New Children and the Coming of theFifth World

The Complete Idiots Guide to Near-Death Experiences

The New Children and Near Death Experiences

The Magical Language of Runes

Goddess Runes

I Died Three Times in 1977

Frost Diamond

Life Sounds