Available in Paperback and Kindle

Touched by the Light:

Exploring Spiritually Transformative Experiences

(2019) Dundurn Press, Toronto, ON, Canada

By Yvonne Kason, M.D.

How Peak Spiritual Experiences Transform Lives Today!

Dr. Yvonne Kason’s life was touched by five Near-Death Experiences (NDEs), the most recent in 2003.  Her dramatic Near-Death Experience in a 1979 plane crash propelled her as a young medical doctor to research and counsel people with diverse types of peak spiritual experiences.  In 1994, she coined the now widely used phrase “Spiritually Transformative Experiences” (STEs).  These include Near-Death Experiences, mystical experiences, spiritual energy or kundalini awakenings, diverse psychic experiences, other death-related spiritual experiences, and inspired creativity.

Touched by the Light is a synthesis of forty years of Dr. Kason’s research on STEs and their profound after-effects on body, mind, and spirit.  It is a substantially updated and expanded revision of her classic bestseller, Farther Shores. Filled with scores of fascinating case studies, Touched by the Light is inspiring to all, as well as a practical guide for STE experiencers, as well as their friends and counsellors.

Read the beginning of Touched by the Light here:

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Praise From Readers

“In the tradition of William James classic book, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Yvonne Kason’s might well be called The Varieties of Spiritually Transformative Experiences, and like its predecessor, it, too, is likely to become a classic.  For it is a brilliant treatment of these important spiritual experiences, both theoretically and empirically, and is chockfull of fascinating illustrative cases.  In addition, it contains many helpful and wise suggestions for how to deal with the challenging aspects of these experiences.  For my money, it is the single most valuable resource now available both for clinicians and for those who have undergone these life-changing transcendent encounters.”

Kenneth Ring, Ph.D.,

Professor Emeritus of Psychology, University of Connecticut,

Co-founder, International Association for Near-Death Studies,

Author of Lessons from the Light”.

This expanded version of Yvonne Kason’s “Farther Shores” is dramatically revised in the light of her decade of spiritual growth since that book’s last edition, with entirely new chapters and new and deeper understandings of how to nurture spiritual transformation.  While “Farther Shores” was a pioneering book in its day, this revision breaks new ground, reflecting Dr. Kason’s incredible journey and greater insights over the ensuing years.”

Bruce Greyson, M.D.,

Carlson Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry & Neurobehavioral Sciences, University of Virginia,

Co-Founder, International Association for Near-Death Studies.

“Dr. Yvonne Kason has offered an updated and expanded version of her important text, “A Farther Shore” (second edition titled “Farther Shores”). The core of her text, updated and aligned with recent research, offers an exploration of events often deemed edgy by therapists, clinicians, the medical profession, and many others: that of spiritually transformative experiences or STEs. These experiences are, in fact, quite common with many millions having one or more of these each year. However, as Dr. Kason notes, very few individuals are able to hear directly from someone within the medical profession, who has also had some of these experiences. Dr. Kason’s additions for this revised version offer important discussion of additional STEs which are increasingly reported by clients and therapists, patients and doctors, throughout the general public.

 

Dr. Kason starts “Exploring Spiritually Transformative Experiences” in Section One by sharing her own experiences as a way to explain the main elements of an STE. Section Two introduces important research which has been conducted, and Section Three delves into the actual work – what to do when certain experiences occur along the path. From the first edition, “A Farther Shore”, Kason has offered a key text for those struggling with experiences which may be difficult to understand, much less integrate into daily life. “Exploring Spiritually Transformative Experiences” continues this tradition, and with updated information and many case examples, offers experiences and those in the helping profession a holistic view of these problems, from spiritual emergency to kundalini awakenings. All of which has been framed within Dr. Kason’s yogic and Christian perspective, and further grounded through decades of experience leading others as a medical doctor and transpersonal therapist.

 

As President of the Board of Directors of ACISTE – the American Center for the Integration of Spiritually Transformative Experiences, an organization devoted to training professionals how to work with STEs – I believe Dr. Kason’s text should be required reading for all entering the field. I have personally recommended her prior texts to my doctoral students. I have also recommended it to clients with whom I have worked and who are struggling to stay present amidst difficult spiritual crisis. Finally, I have used her book in my own life, as a guide to working through my own spiritual development. Her newest version, “Exploring Spiritually Transformative Experiences”, will no doubt be a key read for the next generation of spiritual seekers and professional helpers alike.”

Ryan Rominger, Ph.D. ACSGC,

President, Board of Directors, American Center for the Integration of Spiritually Transformative Experiences

Associate University Research Chair, Center for Leadership Studies & Educational Research, University of Phoenix,

Adjunct Research Faculty, Sofia University, California Institute of Integral Studies

A lucid and illuminating compendium of spiritually transformative experiences by a wise and knowledgeable guide. Exploring these very common – yet poorly-understood — occurrences

Patricia Pearson,

Author of “Opening Heaven’s Door: What the dying may be trying to tell us about where they’re going.” 

Dr. Yvonne Kason has brought together in this book an astonishing gathering of information from quoted spiritual lines, clinical understandings and individual accounts of spiritual energies that open us to reconnect to our Divine source. Her writings will help individuals going through such dynamic experiences by giving them a way to understand and integrate happenings that are usually not understood by the main stream. Her information can help physicians and professional practitioners ground their practices in clearer protocols that will assist these individuals as midwifes in a transformative process. These individuals have been “cracked open” by the Divine and are the ones, that once reintegrated, will bring more conscious ways to benefit their local communities and the global community at large. This book is a jewel on the path to wholeness!!”

Jyoti Ma (Jeneane Prevatt, Ph.D.)

Spiritual Director, Center for Sacred Studies,

Founder, The Fountain for the Natural Order of Our Existence,

Author of “An Angel Called my Name”.