The near-death experience (NDE) is not a new phenomena. Individuals have been experiencing what it's like to die and come back to life even before Christ resurrected Lazarus and Christ himself. The prospect of immortality has fueled human fancy since the dawn of time, and has found various expressions in the worlds of religion, art, mythology, philosophy, and folklore.

Detailed stories of what is now known as the near-death experience have been written down through the centuries. While we in the West have been busy ordaining our new clergy, spiritual values in the East have remained unchanged. There, the person is still taught and encouraged to devote himself to the development of a rich inner life, and that understanding one's own relationship with the infinite is the most important endeavor.

According to new modern scientific thought, a large percentage of Americans, in particular, are conditioned from childhood to value the acquisition of wealth from outside themselves, and as a result, many today have very little, if any, internal resources on which to fall back when their material world falls apart. This is especially true when a loved one passes away, or perhaps even more so as these people approach their own mortality. The NDE appears to be a "seed experience" that germinates and unfolds in the life of the individual as he gets ready for it upon his "return". This trait alone would suggest that the NDE has the potential to be a catalyst for significant personal development, not least the full eradication of the fear of death.