At the Hour of Death: A New Look at Evidence for Life After Death (Volume 3) [Paperback]

Karlis Osis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 25, 1997

The startling and comforting findings are based on a four year study involving almost 50,000 terminally ill patients observed by medical practitioners in the United States and India.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A major contribution to the scientific study of the question of postmortem existence. -- Raymond A. Moody, M.D., Author of Life After Life

The deathbed is the gateway to another existence. The visions of the dying are glimpses through the window of eternity. -- Alan Vaughan, Editor of New Realities magazine

About the Author

Karlis Osis, Ph.D., was born in Riga, Latvia, in 1917, and is one of the few psychologists to have obtained a Ph.D. with a thesis dealing with extrasensory perception (University of Munich, 1950).

He's well known for his long-distance ESP experiments - up to ten thousand miles - and for his research on the ESP channel - that is, an unknown energy which transmits ESP.

In the '70's, Osis conducted extensive laboratory experiments on out-of-body experiences. These involved perceptual, physiological (EEG), and physical measurements. Together with Dr. Erlendur Haraldsson, he conducted a large-scale survey of the experiences of dying patients in India, which provided data for cross-cultural comparison between India and the United States. They also studied psychic phenomena in selected Yogis, particularly Sri Sathya Sai Baba, in southern India.

Erlendur Haraldsson, Ph.D., was born in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1931. After finishing his studies at the gymnasium (college), he worked for some years as a journalist and writer, traveling extensively in western Asis and India.

Having studied psychology at the German universities of Freiburg and Munich, Haraldsson received the diploma of psychology, a degree equivalent to the M.A. in America.

Haraldsson has conducted numerous research projects, has published widely in scholarly journals in America and Europe, and written four books. At the Hour of Death, which he wrote with Dr. Osis, has appeared in over twenty editions. Over a period of ten years he made several journeys to India to study the famous "man of miracles" Sathya Sai Baba. Haraldsson's thorough study of Sai Baba resulted in Modern Miracles (the English edition is titles Miracles Are My Visiting Cards) which has been highly acclaimed by critics and appeared in fourteen editions.

Product Details

• Paperback: 263 pages
• Publisher: Hastings House; 3 Sub edition (March 25, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803893868
• ISBN-13: 978-0803893863
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,016,223 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

86 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Exhaustive research, murky conclusion, May 3, 2000

By 

"comtad" - See all my reviews

This review is from: At the Hour of Death: A New Look at Evidence for Life After Death (Volume 3) (Paperback)

Anyone interest in near death experiences or life after death should strongly consider reading this book. The research involved here is some of the most extensive, albeit exhausing I have ever read on any subject.

The authors, all MD's, have exercised the utmost diligence and honesty in researching, compiling, and analyzing data from both India and the U.S. on this very vital, but often abused subject.

The reading can be tedious at times and very much text book in nature. Also, don't expect any profound conclusions or revelations about the research from the authors either. They have opted for a very conservative and non-commital conclusion to their vast research. The reader must draw his or her own conclusions.

For those who desire a well-researched and documented book where the author expresses an opinion in no uncertain terms, read Tom Harpur's outstanding "Life After Death" ... .

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "Evidence for Life After Death" - is there?, June 28, 2007

By 

skyde_k (Tinley Park, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: At the Hour of Death: A New Look at Evidence for Life After Death (Volume 3) (Paperback)

I must say that I was a bit disappointed with this book. Perhaps I was looking for more real life experiences vs. statistical data comparison. Nonetheless it is a good book, giving you an idea what happens to people in their last moments on earth. But it doesn't really tell you what they see as in "how does the other world (if it exists) look", or can they hear the loved ones as they're "floating" away. I guess realistically, it's probably not possible to know those things but I guess that's what I was looking for in this book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A dry but compelling classic which provides strong proof of life after death, June 5, 2009

By 

Michael "Michael" (Hamburg, Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: At the Hour of Death: A New Look at Evidence for Life After Death (Volume 3) (Paperback)

This book was originally released over 30 years ago now, and the time tells. Researchers in parapsychology were still falling over themselves trying to stick as rigidly as possible to all aspects of academic procedure, one of which is to write dry, unemotive English. This book is a long way from the true dryness of academic literature, but readers of modern non-fiction may stumble in some parts, particularly the statistical ones. Having said all that, I think the authors made the right decision, as their thorough research and data analysis is pretty solid, and brings out some unexpected results. Not all experience death-bed visions. And if you're on medication, have any brain disorder or have previously experienced hallucinations, amongst other factors, then their analysis shows you probably won't. If you do though, you can be sure it won't be of someone living. That only happens to people having genuine, fantasy hallucinations under the influence of medication or a breakdown in brain functioning. The authors don't directly state their conclusions at the end as these are obvious, the results of their analysis speaking for themselves. And if they'd added any speculations beyond what patients actually reported, the book would've lapsed into fantasy. It sticks to facts, so if you're looking for science fiction, you should look elsewhere.

All in all, a fantastic work and a milestone in human research, but it may be centuries before its true significance is realised.