About

I taught world religions at institutions of higher education for 23 years, including ten years at the University of Texas at Austin. My primary research interests are in the areas of:

  • Life after death and near-death experiences (NDEs) in world religions
  • Meditation
  • Positive psychology

Among my publications are five books: Life After Death: A Study of the Afterlife in World Religions, The Story of the Prophets, Divine Educators (co-authored with my husband, Bijan Masumian), The Divine Art of Meditation: Meditation and Visualization Techniques for a Healthy Mind, Body and Soul, and The Secrets of True Happiness (co-authored with my husband and our son, Adib Masumian).

My Life After Death book has so far been translated into Russian, Polish, and Indonesian and won first prize in the religion/spirituality category at the 1998 Beijing, China Book Fair. In October 2006, I presented a research paper, “Spirituality, World Religions, and NDE,” at the 30th anniversary conference of the International Association of Near-Death Studies (IANDS). The conference was held at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Research Center in Houston. In June 2009, the proceedings of that conference were published as a book titled The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation. My research appears in chapter 8 of that book.

In 2001, I was involved with the production of a CD called Meditations: Selections from World Scriptures, which features captivating selections from the sacred scriptures of six world religions (Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and the Bahá’í Faith) with original music composed and performed by two twins and musical prodigies, Danielle and Crystal Morales.

In 2014, my family and I launched the Cyber Temple, an interfaith, nonprofit website that makes ample use of passages from the scriptures of six different world religions to allow for deep meditation and contemplation on a variety of virtues and other topics.

In my spare time, I offer a variety of community services including workshops and presentations on meditation and positive thinking through different organizations. I also enjoy reading and gardening.