Eben Alexander III, MD, FACS

Internationally recognized Neurosurgeon Eben Alexander III, MD, FACS will be speaking to the public March 14 about his Near Death Experience leading to his best selling book “Proof of Heaven. This lecture is in a series of NDE presentations by the Tucson chapter of IANDS. (International Association for Near Death Studies)

The presentation will take place at the Jewish Community Center in Tucson this Thursday evening at 6:30 PM.  Doctor Alexander served on the faculty of Harvard Medical School for almost 15 years, achieving the rank of associate professor by 1994. He has helped promote the development of stereotactic radio-surgery, intra-operative MR imaging and MRI-guided focused ultrasound surgery in neurosurgery.

In 2008, Dr. Eben Alexander contracted a rare form of acute bacterial meningitis that shut down parts of his brain, put him in a coma for seven days and nearly killed him. His doctors had told his family that his changes of survival were not good and if he did survive there were good changes of permanent brain damage.    During this time, he says, he saw heaven. He has written about the experience in his bestselling book, Proof of Heaven.  As he came out of the coma, Dr. Alexander didn’t recognize anyone — even his own son– and doctors didn’t expect him to survive.  ”Dr. Alexander likens coming out of the coma to being in a “deep hole” and “trying to come up.” Though he couldn’t remember his son’s face, he could sense a “deep connection of love” that made him realize he had to try to understand his circumstances to recover. Eventually he came back to total awareness and recovered fully. Shortly after, he began documenting his experience that became his best selling book.

His NDE experience has received world recognition and been featured in numerous publications such as the Washington Post, Newsweek , New York Times  and multiple television appearances including Oprah , Larry King Now, Katie Couric, Dr. Oz Show , ABC 20/20, ABC Good Morning America  and ABC World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer as well as ABC’s Nightline among many others.  He has also received radio coverage on numerous stations in America and the world.

This is a very rare opportunity for Tucsonans to have an opportunity to hear this extraordinary story from someone that faced death and experienced the knowledge there is life after death. Dr. Alexander will be available for book signings after the talk.

LOCATION: Jewish Community Center at 3800 E. River Rd.

DATE & TIME OF EVENT: Thursday March 14,  6:30 pm (Doors open at 5:30 pm)

ADMISSION: $5.00 – seats on a first come basis (come early).

For more information visit:

http://www.tucsoniands.org/

http://www.facebook.com/TucsonIANDS

http://www.iands.org/

To Heaven And Back by Dr. Mary Neal

This Thursday evening, October 11, Dr. Mary Neal, a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon, will talk about her near-death experience when she drowned while kayaking on a South American river.  She went to Heaven and back and has written a book by the same name: To Heaven and Back. She was featured on the Dr. Oz show recently (http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/do-you-believe-life-after-death) and was a guest on Katy Couric’s Show Monday October 8 on ABC   http://www.katiecouric.com/on-the-show/2012/10/08/to-heaven-and-back/

The lecture will take place at Unity of Tucson and is part of a monthly on-going lecture series on Near Death Experiences presented by Tucson’s IANDS. (International Association of Near-Death Studies)

Dr. Neal was born and raised in Michigan and graduated from the University of Kentucky before attending UCLA Medical School. She completed her orthopaedic surgery training at the University of Southern California and then lived in Sweden, Switzerland and Los Angeles while undergoing 1 ½ years of specialty training in spinal surgery before becoming the Director of Spine Surgery at USC. Five years later she left the University for private practice. She presently lives with her family in Jackson Hole, WY.

After Dr. Neal’s personal near death experience her life has changed forever. Listening to this woman’s  remarkable story perhaps will answer a lot of questions you may have about “is there life after death.” The Public is invited to attend and ask questions.

You can find out more about Dr. Mary Neal on her website: http://drmaryneal.com/

Below is a link to a PDF file that will give you the complete schedule of speakers at the upcoming IANDS events that you can print out.

http://www.spiritualexplorations.com/media/5f2d327091a94b18ffff8157ffffe905.pdf

What: TIES 2012 – 2013 Guest Speaker Series – the 2^nd Thursday of each month October, 2012 – May, 2013 (plus extras)

Where: Unity Church of Tucson – 6:30pm (south off of River Rd between Swan & Craycroft)   3617 North Camino Blanco  Tucson, AZ 85718

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Oct 11: Dr. Mary C. Neal –orthopedic spine surgeon drowned while kayaking; featured on the Dr. Oz show special entitled “Are NDEs Real?”

Nov 8: Dr. Pam Kircher – author, family physician & hospice doctor had a NDE at age six.  Dr. Kircher speaks and writes nationally on NDEs.

Dec 13: Jeff Olsen –had NDE during a car accident that kills wife and youngest son.  Meets them & is sent back in his gripping spiritual event.

Jan 10: Lono Ho’ala –crossed into a “river of light” during a NDE from accidental electrocution. Later adopted & ordained as a kahuna priest.

Jan 19: Gilles Bedard (Sat. workshop) – searched for over 25 yrs to find music like he heard in his NDE.  Come try this “journey to the light” through sound.

Feb 14: Dr. Lupita Kirklin – clinical psychologist; had first NDE in 1982 on family vacation; assists NDErs and specializes in Jungian dream work.

Mar 14: Dr. Eben Alexander – Harvard neurosurgeon has NDE during deep coma from meningitis,  reconciles spirituality & scientific viewpoints.

Apr 11: Michael Tamura – spiritually aware from childhood has had 3 NDEs, sees everyone the way they are… as immortal souls.

May 9: Mary Deioma – had a spiritually transformative experience of the Light while driving. She experienced Oneness & the Vast..

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All events (except workshops) are offered for a $5 suggested donation (no one is turned away).

Go to www.meetup.com/spiritual-explorations and check the calendar for the latest details on each event (in case of last minute, unavoidable cancellations, substitutions, etc.). Questions? Call 520-395-2365.

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The Tucson IANDS* Experience Sharing (TIES) group is affiliated with the International Association for Near-Death Studies (www.iands.org)

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The good news is that arts and entertainment are at the core of revitalizing downtown Tucson.

The bad news is that we’re in a recession, the number of people working downtown is insufficient to support revitalization, there are real or perceived problems with crime and parking downtown and ….

Let’s get back to the good news.

“The greatest strength of downtown Tucson is its arts community,” Glenn Lyons told a meeting the other night gathered to hear an overview of the Downtown Tucson Partnership’s revitalization strategy.

Glenn Lyons

As the Partnership’s chief executive officer Lyons is conducting a series of stakeholder sessions to brief people on the 96-page draft plan that will undergo modification through the summer before going to the Partnership board for a vote in the fall.

“If we’re going to win, we’re going to do it through the arts,” Lyons said.

Here’s a basic picture: A lively downtown magnet of arts, music, dining and entertainment in a well lighted, easily accessible setting featuring restored historic buildings at the center of an attractive business and cultural corridor stretching from A Mountain to the UA campus and beyond.

As the Partnership sees it, the starting point is playing to your strengths. Two big ones for downtown Tucson are its Old Pueblo heritage of historic sites and wonderful architecture and an arts and entertainment community that has emerged in the downtown area over the past few decades.

The vision is lofty – as well it should be. Lyons and the Partnership – a broadly based public/private coalition – are also practical. Forward steps will be made opportunistically. Think in terms of increments on a timeline of 10 to b15 years.

I’ll keep posting Partnership developments as I learn of them. The draft strategy document should be posted at the Partnership website later this month.