Mindsight: Near-Death and Out-of-Body Experiences in the Blind [Paperback]

Kenneth Ring (Author), Sharon Cooper (Author), Charles T. Tart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 20, 1999

Ring and Cooper explore evidence that even those blind from birth can "see" during near-death experiences. Their evidence reveals a unique type of perception. More than just "seeing", it involves a deep awareness and profound ability to know that the authors have called "Mindsight".

This volume is a ground-breaking work in the field of near-death studies. It investigates the astonishing claim that blind persons, including those blind from birth, can actually "see" during near-death or out-of-body episodes. The authors present their findings in scrupulous detail, investigating case histories of blind persons who have actually reported visual experiences under these conditions.

There is compelling evidence that the blind do "see" in those moments, but it is not sight as we think of it. Ring and Cooper uncover a kind of "transcendental awareness" they refer to as mindsight. It involves the strange experience of being able to perceive from all angles at once, from every focal depth at once, and a sense of "knowing" the subject, not just visually, but with a deep and inexplicable knowledge.

Human beings may be more complex than we thought, gifted with amazing abilities of perception. This book is an opportunity to assess the evidence for yourself.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kenneth Ring, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Connecticut and co-founder and Past President of the International Association for Near-Death Studies. He is also the author of several previous books about near-death experiences, including Life at Death, Heading Toward Omega, The Omega Project, and most recently, Lessons from the Light.

Sharon Cooper, M.A., is a Ph.D. candidate in counseling psychology at New York University. She has studied yoga, Eastern spirituality, and the field of near-death studies since the early 1980s.

Product Details

• Paperback: 217 pages
• Publisher: Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (August 20, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966963008
• ISBN-13: 978-0966963007
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,592,418 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kenneth Ring, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Connecticut, and an internationally recognized authority on the subject of near-death experiences on which he has written five books and nearly a hundred articles. He is also the co-founder and past President of The International Association for Near-Death Studies and the founding editor of its quarterly scholarly journal, The Journal of Near-Death Studies, now in its thirtieth year. Dr. Ring has appeared on many television and radio programs and been often interviewed in the press in connection with his work on near-death experiences.

Early in 2008, Dr. Ring became interested and then deeply involved in issues having to do with the situation of Palestinian people and in that connection traveled to the West Bank. His contacts with Palestinian people led to his work on his book, Letters from Palestine, on which he collaborated with a Palestinian friend, Ghassan Abdullah of Ramallah. Dr. Ring has also written articles about Gaza and continues to be actively engaged with issues having to do with Palestinian life and culture.

He currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has three children and four grandchildren.

Much more information about Dr. Ring and his books can be found on his website, www.lettersfrompalestine.com He is also on Facebook.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not perfect, but excellent, March 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Mindsight: Near-Death and Out-of-Body Experiences in the Blind (Paperback)

This is required reading for anyone interested in NDEs. It succinctly covers an aspect of the phenomenon not covered elsewhere. There are, however, a couple of disconcerting aspects: First, the authors' Acknowledgement makes clear that they received funding and support from the Theophosist to whom the book is dedicated and that the results of their research are generally in harmony with the doctrines of Theosophy. This is not necessarily a problem, but it is noteworthy in light of Theosophy's checkered past (i.e., founder Madame Blavatsky and her cast of "Ascended Masters"). Second, there is a pasted-in disclaimer telling you to ignore the Author's Note and Appendix because the case presented therein is now believed to be a fraud. They included this case without personally investigating it. It is to their credit that they included the disclaimer, which had to be embarrassing. The rest of the book is excellent. The cases are presented and discussed in a very matter-of-fact manner, and the authors' speculation as to what the explanation may be is interesting and credible. The authors also seem to be quite candid about acknowledging weaknesses in the evidence. As with any anecdotal evidence, the weight you attach to it will depend on how much faith you have that (1) the experiencers are reporting their experiences honestly and accurately, and (2) the authors are honestly and accurately reporting what the experiencers said. I was left with a reasonably high level of confidence in regard to both (1) and (2), although I would liked to have known more about the medical and psychological histories of the experiencers. Overall, I would highly recommend this. (Oh, there is also a short but excellent Foreword by Charles Tart which should be required reading for debunkers in which he explains the difference between true science and "scientism" -- i.e., scientific-dogma-as-religion -- about as clearly as it could be explained.)

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mindsight - Science with a Vision, March 12, 2000

By 

Scott O'Reilly (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mindsight: Near-Death and Out-of-Body Experiences in the Blind (Paperback)

In the current scientific framework the Near Death Experience is something of an anomaly. The accounts are intriguing, but science is by nature a skeptical enterprise and so, too often, NDE's are politely - and sometimes rudely - dismissed because they fail to accord with the prevailing materialistic paradigm. For those interested in the phenomena, however, a credible study that treats the NDE as worthy of serious scientific investigation is needed. For both the layperson and the professional scientist MINDSIGHT, by Kenneth Ring and Sharon Cooper, is by far the best book to start exploring this subject. Ring and Cooper's ambitious study involves NDE and Out of Body Experiences in the blind. After all, if evidence could be confirmed that blind individuals, particularly if they have been blind since birth, could see during a NDE the repercussions would be astounding. Ring and Cooper approach this study with great sensitivity, rigor, and ultimately reach conclusions that something more subtle, more profound may be involved than the experience of "physical sight" during an NDE. All aspects of this book are well handled from the description of the study, the first person accounts, and the scientific issues involved. But what I believe will the be the enduring contribution of this book is way Ring and Cooper articulate, in a clear and lucid fashion, a metaphysical framework that can account for such experiences. This includes grounded speculation on the quantum nature of consciousness, particularly as it is congruent with Eastern metaphysical traditions. Undoubtedly, many scientists will remain skeptical that such radical overhaul of our worldview may be called for. But the speculation Ring and Cooper engage in is philosophically sophisticated, and it has the added advantage that the latest research in quantum mechanics coincides so elegantly with the Eastern Wisdom tradition. Ring and Cooper are brilliant guides for the NDE, intrepid explorers really, determined to catch a glimpse of an undiscovered country so that they can, as Columbus did, confirm that the world is not quite as flat as the learned skeptics suppose.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars an important contribution to an evolving subject, July 21, 2001

By 

Christopher Carter (Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mindsight: Near-Death and Out-of-Body Experiences in the Blind (Paperback)

The book is an important contribution to the subject for a number of reasons, one of which is that some of the so-called skeptics have dismissed NDEs as evidence in favour of the survival hypothesis on the grounds that the NDEs of the blind differ from those of the sighted. This book firmly puts that myth to rest.

The book consists mostly of reviews of various cases of OBEs and NDEs in the blind, and one of the strongest concerns a woman blinded during surgery who apparently left her body while she was dying on a gurney with a breathing apparatus over her face. She seems to have seen her boyfriend and former husband standing speachless some distance away down the hallway. Seperate interviews with the two me support her story.

I predict more cases like this being made public in this decade. We could use a book on the cases of NDEs occuring during times when the patient's EEG recording was flat.