San Diego IANDS | Yolaine Stout

1/7/2012 : Issues of Spiritually Transformative Experiencers

Yolaine discussed the challenges of STErs, which includes, but is not exclusively NDErs. She is the founding director of ACISTE (the American Center for the Integration of Spiritually Transformative Experiences) and a former President of IANDS. She also talked about ACISTE’s program to support STErs, latest results of survey about integration and support systems, plans for a conference in 2012 to educate mental health professionals, pastoral counselors and spiritual directors about these issues. There are also plans for training and enhanced support for STErs.

ACISTE’s website is: www.aciste.org. If you consider yourself to be an experiencer, you may join the online forum, which now has 238 participating.

We could not record the highlight of the talk: powerpoint presentation containing excerpts from her documentary about experiencers.

004_D_019_BEV B_120107_001_2012_01_07 Introductory remarks

004_D_020_BEV B_120107_002_2012_01_07 Concluding Remarks

Quotes Worth Pondering

“I am profoundly moved and persuaded by the near-death experience.” –- Huston Smith, author of The World’s Religions and Tales of Wonder: Adventures Chasing the Divine

"I have never interviewed anyone who had a near-death experience who told me that they came back to make more money or to spend more time at their jobs away from their families... Instead, they become convinced that they need to be more loving and kind. They react to their experience by living life to its fullest. They believe their lives have a purpose, even if that purpose is obscure to them. Invariably it involves concepts such as love of family or service to others. They seem to know that the love they create while living will be reflected and radiated back to them when they die." -- Melvin Morse, M.D., from his book, Parting Visions

“I went into this tunnel, and I came into this room that was just beautiful. God held me, He called me by name, and He told me, ‘Mary Jo, you can’t stay.’ And I wanted to stay. I protested. I said, ‘I can’t stay? Why not?’ And I started talking about all the reasons; I was a good wife, I was a good mother, I did 24-hour care with cancer patients. And He said, ‘Let me ask you one thing -- have you ever loved another the way you’ve been loved here?’ And I said, ‘No, it’s impossible. I’m a human.’ And then He just held me and said, ‘You can do better.’ ” -- Mary Jo Rapini, describing her near-death experience

Yolaine Stout

Quotes Worth Pondering

Important NDE Websites & Resources

NHNE NDE News Feed