Here's my sincere question: Is there a real science of spiritual effects? Now, before you say, "nope, it's all bullsh*t", I'm convinced that a number of truly weird/psychic things have happened in my life. They seemed to be related to my prayers/deep meditations. Yet, I still can't find a fully sensible explanation for all this. Everywhere you go, somebody wants to recommend some personal fixational framework on you "I prayed to Allah/Jehovah/Jesus/Mary/Saint Jude/My Higher Self and I got what I prayed for - so Islam/Catholicism/New Age Crap is obviously the Truth!" I once intensely prayed that somebody would get hit by a car. This was followed almost immediately by a series of out of the ordinary, strange problems I encountered with my two vehicles, as well as me getting violently ill. Karma? (excuse the pun) Psychic Backfire? Do you think I'm gonna pray like that again? ( I don't enjoy puking, either) I once prayed to be 'invisible' to the police since I had a little - ah - temporary problem with my auto registration. I stopped praying as soon as the problem was fixed legally and was pulled over the next day by a cop who thought my inspection was overdue although it visibly WASN'T! She gave up because she couldn't find anything illegal. A cosmic reaction to wearing off? A psychic force that swung back like a pendulum? I do think that prayer often works - but not because a Hairy Patriarch on a Heavenly Throne is listening. Heck, even Jung wondered greatly about synchronicity! Intuition? Psychic insights? Meditation helps a lot but they seem will o the wisp? I get great bursts of useful ideas in my work but NEVER any good lottery numbers. It's only there when you don't think about it. What a perverse universe. Surely somebody has tried to figure all this out with some logic attached. I tried reading Rudolph Steiner and got no where fast ( you can't figure out what the heck he's talking about). I swear there's a science to all this somewhere. Why should I have to suffer figuring it all out if somebody out there has already got it down in writing. metatron
Is there a real science of spiritual effects?
by metatron 36 Replies latest jw friends
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SixofNine
I once intensely prayed that somebody would get hit by a car. This was followed almost immediately by a series of out of the ordinary, strange problems I encountered with my two vehicles, as well as me getting violently ill. Karma?
You were enough of a believer to pray. You made yourself sick, by my guess. Perhaps the more interesting science is the science behind concience, placebos, etc. The dark side of the moon that makes the believer get the holy spirit in a group setting and makes the JW sure he's annointed and going to go live with Jesus and Jehovah.
The cop thing? Nothing there to even talk about.
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blackout
check out theosophy a mix of science, religion and philosophy. Do a search on google.com.
What is Theosophy?
Theosophy is "A synthesis of science, religion and philosophy", and its motto is: "There is no religion higher than Truth". Practically, Theosophy presents itself today as a vast spiritual and cosmological system which seeks to investigate and explain Cosmos and man's role herein, both on the basis of occult research (research based on extrasensory perception, be it clairvoyance, visions, telepathically received messages or memories or visions retrieved through hypnotic regression, i.e. from higher states of consciousness) which is taught by a number of Theosophical groups around the world. Apart from the teachings about the structure of the universe and the function of the Earth's Hierarchy, Theosophy describes in great detail a number of universal laws which govern our lives, as well as the lives of lesser and great beings. One of them is the law of reincarnation which simply says that human beings (as well as many other life forms) go through many cycles of physical incarnations in order to evolve, gain experience and grow, until a state of perfection is achieved. When we have learnt all there is to learn in the physical realm, we become a Master of wisdom and graduate from the Earth school, free to continue our service and evolution here or at another place in the universe. Connected with the law of reincarnation is the law of evolution, a basic universal law, which describes how every unit of consciousness evolves towards and strives for higher states of being, experience and self-expression. These two link with the law of Karma (or the law of cause of effect) which states that whatever any life unit sends out through its actions and thoughts, it will receive again - "as you sow you shall reap". These laws govern our personal lives as well as the life of cosmic, together with other cosmic laws such as the law of love, the law of mercy, the law of periodicity and the law of contrasts -
DannyBear
There is something to the power of prayer. If nothing more it allows one to go outside of himself, formulating thoughts in a manner not usually mulled over in one's own thinking process. Kinda of like writing your fears on the paper of express spiritual mail.
Maybe just the process of expression allows the brain to more freely process and act upon the request, desire, or will ones prayer's plead for.
Imo prayer offers the supplicant a release, almost an unburdening of the minds clutter, allowing vocus on an important issue.
If God hears these supplications, it just makes the whole process seem so much more an exercise worth the effort.
Danny
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Satanus
Small sections have been explored by robert monroe http://www.monroeinstitute.org/ http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/ref=s_sf_b_as/103-6155135-6090213
, andrija puharich together w a few other scientists did a lot at the sanford research institute (sri), including remote viewing research. Some of his associates, like ingo swann, did some experimenting for the govt.
An atheistic psychologist named lawerence leshan did some experiments, and wrote two books http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/ref=s_sf_b_as/103-6155135-6090213
There are other nonreligious psychic researchers. But there is a lot of flakery.
SS
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Abaddon
The answer is no.
This is either because they don't exist and are anecdotal accounts of ideation or synchronicity, or because we haven't developed experimental models that would allow conclusive testing of these experiences.
Almost all attempt to observe the paranormal scientifically fail to find observable effects, or any effects found are at the limits of significant (i.e. they might just be chance). The tests that do seem to show something are typically found to be flawed in some way (not double blind for example, i.e. the experimenter knew what was going on and could thus effect the experiment accidentally or deliberately), or have not proved to be duplicable.
There's one instance of a woman whose body had been cooled to the point of the brain stopping to allow surgery on a tumour in her brain stem actually recalling activity in the room whilst she had no brain activity. All other NDE (Near Death Experiences) studied were explicable. A study into NDE showed the nature of the NDE was effected by the psychological profile and beliefs of the person that experienced them. There's hosts of anecdotal stuff about ghosts and prayer and healing and seeing things and foretelling the future.
But essentially speaking there is no science known about such things.
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Mary
A study into NDE showed the nature of the NDE was effected by the psychological profile and beliefs of the person that experienced them.
Perhaps, but IMHO, this doesn't explain how someone who flatlines on an operating table, and who has an NDE, can accurately describe what's going on in the operating room, or see people and/or hear conversations going on in other rooms at the hospital, or accurately read tags off the lights above the operating table. Many doctors and nurses will relate stories like this that can't just be dismissed as imaginative thinking.
Psychologists have debated for years as to whether a persons mind is separate from the brain, or intricately linked to it. Some think it is separate (which would explain alot of NDEs), some think it's not. It's one of those things that you can't either prove or disprove, but one things for sure: we'll all find out on our own one day..................
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Francois
No connection at all. Spirituality exists outside the realm that yields its secrets to determinism, reductionism, logic or any other function of the left brain; nor is it measurable. It's just one of those "faith" things.
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metatron
The events that followed immediately involving my vehicles were utterly unpredictable. Likewise, getting pulled over by the cops
( who find NOTHING wrong) is not a common event in my life or anyone else's I know of. Even if a subconscious influence
exists because of belief, that in itself is bizarre - we analyse and think and react yet, somehow events we consciously
reject happen because of programming we can't discern.
I'm very tempted by the thought ( Seth Speaks) that we do create events out of our consciousness - but fail to notice
because of a time lag.
I think we too quickly accept certain mundane phenomena without really thinking about how mysterious they are.
Consider that the difference between intuition and outright psychic ability is simply a matter of degree - it isn't black
and white.
I have wondered for some time if consistent success in business or the stock market in some people should be
investigated more thoroughly as strong practical application of paranormal ability. Many claim "gut feeling", "intuition"
and in the face of "random markets" still rack up profits. I'm not the first to observe this.
I also observe in wonderment how men with simple reasoning and ridiculed judgement can produce success
against the loud opinions of contrary academics - as with Presidents like Bush or Reagan. The guy in
charge is an 'idiot' but somehow Communism gets defeated. This all the more dramatic when you re-read intellectual
predictions of disaster in editorials that now appear foolish.
Can an instrument like consciousness really examine itself critically? I'm not so sure.
metatron
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sf
Met,
I can totally relate to what you are putting down here, yet there is no way I could ever write down all that IS.
Yet, if you care to sometime hear (edited to correct 'here') some of 'it', you can find me in yahoo chat ('wturls'); most likely jw room. Right now though, I am in the atheist/ christian room. Remember...YOU DO NOT NEED MESSENGER TO CHAT OR PUT SOMEONE ON YOUR FRIENDS LIST. Just go through regular yahoo chatpage.
I experience daily occuranes of what you relate here. Most of the time it is word-relations that I experience: I willsay a word and either the person online, tv or radio will then say same word two seconds later. Or thinking of someone that has not been on my mind for sometime and then when they enter my thoughts, invariably the next day or so I hear from them. My daughter experiences this too and she and I relate on that level alot too. We are both very observant and intuitive. I taught her how to pay attention to both what you see and hear, think and feel.
A few other occurances were when I uttered outloud that something was going to happen in certain situations...and they did. (i'll tell ya in chat)
Thanks for sharing Met and hopefully I'll see ya in yahoo sometime.
sKally