Abstract
In recent years, increasing number of studies on such %quot;anomalous%quot; phenomena as near-death experiences, cases of children with past-life and other related memories, mediumship, in which mediums apparently communicate with purported deceased people, and so on, have been suggesting that the mainstream scientific view of human nature, which downplays the spiritual aspects and regards consciousness as an epiphenomenon of the brain activities, is fundamentally wrong. These studies also pose a serious question to the materialistic point of view, according to which life is merely a matter of chance or coincidence and therefore without meaning. This mini-symposium outlines the emerging view of human nature, with special reference to cases of children with "life-between-life" memories, synchronicities surrounding birth, and other spiritual phenomena.
