About Upstate NY IANDS

The International Association for Near Death-Studies (IANDS) mission is to build global understanding of near-death and near-death-like experiences through research, education, and support. Upstate NY IANDS (UNYI) offers this research, education and support to the Upstate NY area through central regional meetings and local discussion/interest groups. The UPSTATE NY IANDS mission is to respond to needs for information and support concerning near-death and similar experiences.

IANDS has evolved in the past 30 years from an organization serving mainly researchers to a much more inclusive one. Today IANDS serves individual needs in five distinct areas:
    •    Experiencers -- those people who have had a near-death or near-death-like experience. We provide publications, contact with other experiencers, and the opportunity to explore their experience in a local small group setting.

    •    Those close to experiencers -- benefit from the same information as experiencers, in terms of learning how to adjust to the changes in the experiencer they know. How to use this understanding to help themselves, the experiencer and others.

    •    Professional caregivers and volunteers -- access to the latest educational materials on experiencer needs and how to recognize the symptoms that ARE NOT from dreams, hallucinations, fantasies, reactions to medications and the like. Explore a wide range of information supporting the needs of the terminally ill.

    •    Researchers -- access to the world's foremost team exploring this phenomenon and the opportunity to contribute by providing corroboration through a multi-disciplinary approach.

    •    Interested seekers -- many individuals have come to look and stayed to contribute, often from finding a sense of purpose and a satisfying outlet for the basic need to have meaningful relationships with others of a similar interest.
 
Here in Upstate NY we are trying to create a safe environment where experiencers and those interested may exchange ideas through open discussions and presentations. Everything that is shared in the meetings is safe and in confidence. No one is pushed to say more than they are comfortable sharing.

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Come out to the Holiday Inn in Liverpool for our next Discussion/Interest Group meeting.

Friday: May 13, 2011 ~ bring all your friends.

We are planing something different for our next meeting. Virginia Waldron has been working diligently with many of our experiencers on a research project. Come listen to her and a panel of experiencers that have participated in the research project as they share their transformative experiences.

Research Study on Spiritually Transformative & Extraordinary Human Experiences: Their Effect on Change in Perception of Self and Personal Spirituality (with an Experiencer Panel). Presented by Virginia Waldron

The purpose of this study is to explore the inner experiences known as Spiritually Transformative Experiences and the impact these types of experiences has on one’s life.

There are two sections to this study - the first one is how much of the Spiritually Transformative Experiences was part of life’s blue print or Master Plan? Virginia will explore the planning process that took place before birth, to find out how much was arranged and for what reasons. The second part of this study is the impact this experience has had on participants life's since it occurred. She will compare life before and after the experience.

At the meeting Virginia will be the moderator of an experiencer panel to discuss the results of the research and share some of the transformative experiences. This is sure to be one very exciting meeting with a lot of information and stories shared.

Registration starts at 6:00 pm.
Meeting begins promptly at 6:30 pm.
A $5 donation is requested.
No advance sales

At the Holiday Inn
441 Electronics Parkway
Liverpool, NY 13088

For more information contact Dave Bennett at Dave@unyi.org or go to the website - www.unyi.org

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What are NDEs and Spiritually Transformative Experience?

Spiritually Transformative Experiences are experiences that cause the subject to  perceive themselves and the world profoundly differently: by expanding the individual’s identity, augmenting their sensitivities, and thereby altering their values, priorities and appreciation of the purpose of life. This may be triggered by surviving clinical death, or by otherwise sensing an enlarged reality.

Near-death experiences are profound psychological events with transcendental and mystical elements typically occurring to individuals close to death or in situations of intense physical or emotional danger.

There are many types and many names for experiences that can share common features and be catalysts for spiritual transformation: near-death experiences (NDEs), near-death-like experiences (NDLEs), out-of-body experiences (OBEs), visions, spiritual emergencies, awakenings, kundalini experiences, enlightenment, exceptional human experiences (EHEs), pre-birth memories, past-life experiences, nearing death awareness (NDAs), after-death communications (ADCs), empathic or shared near-death experiences, peak experiences, etc.  STEs include or may be called transcendent, transpersonal, mystical, anomalous, religious, paranormal, parapsychological or ecstatic experiences. These experiences can happen at any time, to anyone, under any circumstance.  Some experiences are sought after through meditation, yoga, drugs, religious practices, dance, drumming, sensory deprivation or prayer.  Other experiences can happen spontaneously without expectation.

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Experiencer Only Sharing Group.

Experiencer Meeting is every third Friday night of the month from 6:30 - 8:30 PM.  We ask for a $5.00 Heart donation. All Experiencers are Welcome.  The meeting is held at the RoseHeart Center 

Apr & May Experiencer Only Sharing Group meetings will be:
Friday Apr 15, 6:30 - 8:30 pm
Friday May 20, 6:30 - 8:30 pm

In this group we create an opportunity for experiencers to sit and share just with other experiencers, so that we may discuss how our experiences changed our lives, what obstacles we overcame, and what obstacles we are now facing. This is focused towards helping us all through the integration to healthier lives.

When we say experiencer, we are talking about any Spiritually Transformative Experience (STE). That includes NDEs, NDLEs, OBEs, Kundalini Experiences, or any form of Spiritual Awakenings.
Our definition of a spiritually transformative experience or STE:
"An experience is spiritually transformative when it causes people to daily perceive themselves and the world profoundly different: by expanding the individual’s identity, augmenting their sensitivities, and thereby altering their values, priorities and appreciation of the purpose of life."
A STE can occur at any time, to any person, under any circumstance.