My wife, Janelle Barlow, collects antique, Chinese "bound feet shoes" such as those shown above. These particular ones, incidentally, are about three inches long (approximately the same size as the image on your screen) -- and were worn by adult Chinese women. The practice continued for many hundreds of years.

Make no mistake about it. Foot-binding was tortuous. It involved the breaking of the bones. It was an action performed by mothers upon their daughters -- in the sincere (and, no doubt, justifiable) belief that this crippling would enhance their marriage prospects.

This type of destructive behavior is not an isolated example..

In India, today, there are castes of beggars who deliberatly mutilate their children -- severely -- in order to enhance their prospects for receiving coins from strangers.

And, in western culture, we are only a few generations removed from corsets that caused distortion and, often, harm to the internal organs. And today I wonder about the psychological and physical effects of such things as neckties for men and high-heeled shoes for women.



For me, the interesting question here is to look at the more subtle ways in which we, as a culture, do damage to our own psychological and spiritual potentialities.

I believe that there are hundreds of ways in which this occurs, every day. I also maintain that this happens at all levels of society -- and in all cultures. I would even go so far as to say that the most enlightened among us -- even the Buddha himself -- is not/was not free of these crippling influences.

As a parapsychologist, the evidence is very clear to me in terms of the enormous resistance that people (even parapsychologists themselves) express concerning the integration of the paranormal within their world views. But this is just one example.

I think that modern equivalents of corsets and foot-binding can be found in the modern diet, in the drugs that we take, in the habits we form around our computers, in our consumption patterns, in our energy utilization, and in our relationships. It also occurs in terms of the psychological numbing that we experience with regard to war, poverty and environmental destruction.

It is not hard to look about us to find such destructive patterns. It is harder, however, to notice -- or to do anything to correct -- the destructive patterns within. Nevertheless, techniques do exist that allow us to correct the imbalances in our lives. And, these will be the focus of a future blog.

Back in the mid-1980s, I was a trainer for a company called Omega Seminars -- founded by a man named John Boyle. The program ran for two days, and was largely based on the positive power of "affirmations" in our lives -- as a way of programming our superconscious mind. Of course, there is no substitute for taking the entire program, but (as a response to yesterday's blog), I would like to summarize the essence of it. Twenty years later, I am still using these six, basic affirmations -- and I find them very helpful in my life:

Affirmation One
I really enjoy the way that I love myself unconditionally. I love myself no matter what anyone else does or says or thinks or feels. I love myself no matter what I do or say or think or feel.

Affirmation Two
I really enjoy the way that I am easily able to monitor my own stream of consciousness, replacing all negative thoughts with positive affirmations.

Affirmation Three
I really enjoy the way that I have warm, positive regard for all people at all times.

Affirmation Four
I really enjoy how, every day and with every affirmation, I am feeling greater health and wellness in both mind and body.

Affirmation Five
I really enjoy the way that I am completely self-directed -- and I enjoy the fact that I allow all other people the same right.

Affirmation Six
I really enjoy the way that I assume full responsibility for all of my actions.

Initially, in working with these affirmations, I had a rather involved process -- putting them on a tape cassette, with special music, that I listened to every day. I also combined this with beautiful mental images (as represented by the National Geographic photo I have included above). Now, they seem like second nature to me. Although I find that it is always useful to return to them periodically. The affirmations work, based upon the power of suggestion. They can be amplified through the use of a mildly altered state of consciousness.

The truth is, whether or not you consciously practice the discipline of affirmations, you are using them all of the time -- anyway. This is because every thought we have is, in effect, an affirmation -- and, as such, serves to "program" the subconscious and superconscious minds. The discipline of using affirmations is a way of making this process conscious.

In my blog of March 22, I discussed my link with the great American psychologist William James on an archetypal or reincarnational level. William James is particularly relevant to our understanding of the psychology of affirmations. This method developed in the context of the American "New Thought" movement, of which James was a participant. He, himself, used these methods to cure himself of a debilitating case of psychological depression. He believed that the greatest discovery of his generation was that people had the power to control the thoughts that pass through their stream of awareness.

I would like to highlight the comment by Jeffrey Keene to my blog post titled "Behind Enemy Lines.



Jeffrey Keene's own case of an apparent past-life recall, dating back to the civil war is quite remarkable. Among many other points of correspondence, Jeff Keene has birthmarks that correlate with wounds incurred by General John B. Gordon in a Civil War battle.

In his comment, Keene suggests that the two of us may have been behind enemy lines together in WWII. The details that he provides to substantiate this supposition are fascinating in that they interlace with my image of the 303rd bomb group.

Incidently, the photo above was taken from Dr. Walter Semkiw's website where he discusses the Jeffrey Keene past-life recall case. Semkiw maintains that physical features remain similar from lifetime to lifetime. He like to post upside down photos as a way of emphasizing similarities in facial architecture -- independent of normal facial recognition.

The beautiful lady in the photo above (taken from the website of the James Randi Educational Foundation) is Brenda Dunne, Laboratory Manager, of the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Laboratory (i.e., PEAR LAB) at Princeton University in New Jersey. Today, I received a lovely, unsolicited e-mail from her commenting on an essay I wrote -- endorsed by the board of directors of the Intuition Network titled, A Manifesto For Psychic Liberation. Here's what she wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Jeffrey,

A colleague just brought my attention to your Manifesto for Psychic Liberation and, as the recipient of James Randi's 2005 Pigasus  Award <http://www.randi.org/jr/2006-03/033106mccrea.html>, I feel entitled, nay, obligated to endorse your mission wholeheartedly!  Keep up the good work.

Love,
Brenda
-------------------------------------------------------------



Now, I feel obliged to return the favor by saying something about the many ironies surrounding James Randi's "Educational Foundation" and his "Pigasus Award." You see, the "Award" was intended to insult and embarass Brenda Dunne. But, to any educated reader, the satirical award is actually an embarrassment to James Randi and his cult-like followers.

The very symbol of Pigasus is suggestive of the impossible and unbelievable. After all, everyone knows that pigs don't fly -- and anybody who proposes that they do fly is clearly a crank or a simpleton. That is the simple-minded approach taken by James Randi in using this symbol for his satirical award. Typical of the arch debunkers (or, should I say Archie de Bunkers) of this world, the selection of this symbol displayed an ignorance of its deeper mythological meaning and heritage.

For example, the City of Cincinnati used the "flying pig" as an unofficial symbol expressive of the role played by the Wright Brothers, in nearby Dayton, of pioneering the entire field of aviation. The statue, below is displayed in the Cincinnati Airport.



Also, the Nobel and Pulitzer prize-winning novelist, John Steinbeck used a winged pig that he called "Pigasus" in his signature and his exlibris. His wife Elaine relates his sentiment that "Man must aspire though he be earth-bound". 

Even more to the point, author Lewis Carroll, in Chapter 9 of Alice in Wonderland, portrayed the flying pig metaphor being used in an effort to stifle the human function of critical thought:

----------------------------------------------
"Thinking again?" the Duchess asked, with another dig of her sharp little chin.
"I've a right to think," said Alice sharply, for she was beginning to feel a little worried.
"Just about as much right," said the Duchess, "as pigs have to fly...." 
----------------------------------------------

The irony, with regard to the James Randi Educational Foundation is that, while it claims to encourage critical thinking, it actually functions in some ways to stifle exactly that!
  


In attempting to lampoon Brenda Dunne, Randi criticized her for claiming that the PEAR LAB experiments showing the direct influence of mental intention upon quantum mechanical random event generators did not involve an attempt to prove the "paranormal." Randi's superficial argument was that direct mental influence is, by definition, "paranormal." However, Brenda Dunne (and her co-author Robert G. Jahn) had written a detailed, scientific book called Margins of Reality: The Role of Consciousness in the Physical World -- explaining how many different lines of scientific inquiry suggest that direct mental influence can be understood as a natural phenomena.

This is precisely the point that I made in my Manifesto For Psychic Liberation where I stated: "The abilities of the human psyche are natural - even though they may be labeled 'supernatural' or 'paranormal.'" (And, I assume that this is why Brenda chose to send me her lovely e-mail at this particular time.)

The other point made by Brenda, to which Randi took particular umbrage, is her (well-justified) claim that Randi's publicity stunt offer of $1,000,000 to anyone who can demonstrate paranormal phenomena to Randi's satisfaction is a "scam."

But, I believe Randi's offer is a scam. And, I will say why I believe it to be so, in very simple terms.

First of all, there is no doubt that Randi has used his alleged offer -- over a period of many years -- to generate enormous publicity for himself and his cult of debunkers.

Second of all, Randi's offer sets himself up as judge and jury. And, of course, he has not the slightest interest in losing the very game that he has created. A true prize would have an independent panel of neutral judges -- and these judges, not Randi, should be in control of prize money, to determine if and when it shall be released.

So while James Randi and his cult go around accusing the general public of falling for a wide variety of psychic scams, they themselves are engaged in perpetrating a scam of an equal and opposite sort. The final irony is that they are the very near a mirror image of the phonies they try to expose.

As long as they set about exposing the true frauds and schemes in the psychic world, they do the world a service. And, I applaud Randi and his ilk for that. But, in their fanatical zeal, they sometimes endeavor to put a stop to legitimate scientific and academic inquiry. (I know this, first hand, as they attempted to interfere with my own doctoral degree program in parapsychology at the University of California, Berkeley.) When they go this far, as they did with Brenda Dunne, they simply reveal the philosophical and moral emptiness of their position.

The great shame is how many people -- even reputable scientists -- have been duped by their publicity-seeking shenanigans.

Probably the oldest human document describing the afterlife journey is found in what we call today, The Egyptian Book of the Dead.The image shown above is from a papyrus, created by a contemporary artist, that I purchased in Cairo in 1995. It is, of course, based upon ancient surviving texts.

As we examine different historical periods in Egypt, one can observe the evolution of the Book of the Dead. Originally, it was only for the pharoah. Only after centuries did the Egyptians consider that the afterlife would also include other citizens.

The scene that is portrayed above is actually one that is found in the eschatology of virtually all cultures that have looked into this matter: the judgment of the deceased. In each culture, the judgment seems to take a different form. But, the common element is this: one's journey through the afterlife is somehow contingent upon an evaluation of one's deeds, and even one's thoughts, while alive.

The Egyptian version is particularly interesting in that the emphasis is on purity of heart. In a sense, this requires stripping away of the various parts of the personality until all that is left is the pure heart. Only this can enter the paradise of Osiris. All other aspects of what we think of as the soul follow their own unique destinies. 

So, in the upper left, we see the deceased individual (Ani) entering the realm where he encounters fourteen dieties. They question him about his deeds in life and ask him whether he committed a wide variety of sinful acts. To pass through this realm, Ani must respond that he did not. To the ancient Egyptians, whether he actually committed those acts was not relevant -- only his response, as this symbolized the purity of his heart.

In the famous scene below the fourteen deities, Ani's heart is inside a small urn and is placed on a scale. On the other side of the scale is the feather of Maat, the goddess of truth. Ani's heart must not be heavier than this feather. If it is, he will be eaten by Ammit, the crocodile-headed devourer who waits patiently at the base of the scale. The Ibis-headed god, Thoth, the god of wisdom records the results.

To the right, we see that Ani has passed the test. He is being escorted by Horus, the hawk-headed god of light and rebirth, into the paradise of Osiris -- the green, mummy god. The myth of Osiris is central to ancient Egyptian culture. See this my earlier blog for the poem about this myth that came to me in a dream.

Horus, incidentally, is a fascinating deity because he is both the son of Osiris and also representative of the rebirth of Osiris. It has been suggested that, as the original god of death and rebirth, Horus is the prototype diety for what evolved into Christianity.

I once had a visionary experience in which Horus manifested to me as the most beautiful of all dieties. It was as if I were in an ancient temple, worshipping him with utter devotion. His beauty, of course, is related to his capacity for rebirth -- and thus triumph over the evil deity (Set, possibly a prototype of Satan) who killed and dismembered his father, Osiris. The story is a saga in which, as one reads the details, Set and Horus, while enemies, also become lovers.

The photo above is the corner grocery store, owned by my great uncle Harry Schwam, in Sheboygan, Wisconsin (about 40 miles from my home town of Fond du Lac). As a child, I remember visiting Uncle Harry with great fondness. Uncle Harry, who lived in the humble apartment above his store, seemed like the richest man in the world to me -- because he had a freezer full of Eskimo Pie ice-cream bars. And, every time I came to visit, he reached in and handed me one.

It was only after his death in 1972, that I came to fully appreciate the depth of his soul. By that time, I was a graduate student in Berkeley, California, and had not seen Uncle Harry in many years. However, I can never forget the day I awoke from a dream I had of him of such emotional power that I was crying and singing at the same time. The song I was singing was a Jewish melody, Avinu Malkeinu, that is generally sung only on the Jewish high holidays of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kuppur.

I was so moved by this experience that I immediately wrote home, asking "How is Uncle Harry? I had a dream about him." Three days later, after my letter had arrived, my mother phoned, with a question of her own, "How did you know that Uncle Harry had just died?"

That was the beginning of a very profound journey for me. I puzzled over that experience. It moved me so greatly, that I knew I had to understand it more deeply -- and my entire life's work exploring spirituality, metaphysics and the paranormal has been the result.

I asked my relatives if I could have some momento from Uncle Harry. And, within a few weeks, my aunt Jeanette sent me a Yiddish book with a note saying that it had been Uncle Harry's favorite book. I took it to the local Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi in Berkeley for some translation. And, to my surprise, I discovered that it was the Tales of the Baal Shem Tov, the mystical founder of the Jewish Chassidic movement.

This was a revelation to me. I always knew that Uncle Harry was a very pious Jew. But, growing up in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, I was taught nothing, whatsoever, of the mystical side of Judaism. To the contrary, I was always taught that Judaism was a very rational religion. One god.

Actually, Uncle Harry was born near the town of Lubavitch, and -- undoubtedly -- was raised in a very Chassidic environment. The word "Chassidic" refers to righteousness. He and my father's mother, Anna Schwam, were orphaned as children and raised separately.

Only later did I learn that my father's mother, Anna Schwam Mishlove, had actually studied torah with Joseph Isaac Schneersohn, the man who became a great Lubavitch rabbi (or rebbe) in the town of Lubovitch, where she was raised. It's an unusual story, since women were not permitted to do this. But, she was allowed to sit outside the door while the rebbe taught the boys.

My aunt Jeanette told me the story of how, on one occasion in the 1940s, she and her mother took a train from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, to Chicago, to attend a gathering where Rabbi Schneersohn was scheduled to speak. It was held in a kosher restaurant, and they waited patiently outside the banquet room for the great rabbi to emerge. When he came out and saw my grandmother, he gave her a big hug. This was quite unusual, Aunt Jeanette explained, for the Chassidic rabbis were not allowed to touch women.

Several years ago, in Los Angeles, I had another experience of contacting Uncle Harry. I was attending Yom Kippur services at UCLA, conducted by Rabbi Zalman Schachter who had been ordained by rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneersohn. I was fortunate to be seated with Rabbi Schachter's family, since I was a close friend of his mother-in-law, Sheba Penner. On that occasion, during the singing of Avinu Malkeinu, Zalman actually had the whole congregation dancing in the aisles (a major contrast to the somber occasion of this moment in most synagogues). It was then that I had an experience of the heavens opening up to me briefly. I felt surrounded by a white light. I felt then, once more, the blessed presence of Uncle Harry and my other Chassidic ancestors. It was as if they, in their own dimension, were also worshipping with us.

In academic discourse, there is a word that captures such experiences. It is called numinous. It is not a word well understood in our culture -- yet. But, I think it is a word we should all endeavor to learn more about.



As an undergraduate student at the University of Wisconsin, I learned that the school's motto, inscribed on the seal of the University, is "Numen Lumen." The official meaning of this motto is: "The divine within the Universe, however manifested, is my light." It's a wonderful motto -- and I hope that it is taken to heart by scholars everywhere.

As the executive director of two different, but related, companies engaged in management training and consulting, I am proud to announce the newest release of our newsletter!

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From my team at TMI US and Branded Customer Service

Throughout the course of my career as a radio and television interviewer, that began in 1972, people have regularly asked me which of the many people I have met had the greatest influence upon me. Who did I think was the most brilliant, the most enlightened? Who had the most important message? I can look back now and say that I have interviewed well over 1,000 people during this period -- all of them leaders in the field of consciousness exploration, metaphysics and human potential. And, clearly, no single person can possibly have the impact that would match the combined wisdom of all of these people. Nevertheless, there is one individual whose work I have found to consistently rise head and shoulders above the others. I am referring to Jean Houston.

Before I ever met Jean, while I was an undergraduate psychology student, at the University of Wisconsin, I was exposed to the brilliant book, co-authored with her husband, Robert Masters, Varieties of Psychedelic Experience. It was originally published in 1966, and undoubtedly on the cutting edge of a very important social movement within which I, as a college student, was embedded.

I first met Jean in 1973, in Montreal, Canada, at the annual convention of the Association for Humanistic Psychology. At that time, she gave a reading of a play she had written called Inside Out. In my opinion, it was a tour de force, brilliantly combining insights from literature, psychology and esoteric traditions -- in a way that other psychologists dared not to do. I was so impressed that I invited her to come to Berkeley, California, that fall to give another performance there. She did so on Halloween 1973, under the sponsorship of KPFA-FM radio, where I was producing the Mind's Ear series.

In the summer of 1975, just as I had completed writing my first book, The Roots of Consciousness, I attended a month-long program in New York state, with Jean, that she called "Dromenon." It was a total immersion into her world. It combined body movement, meditation and trance states, music, literature, philosophy, psychology -- and throughout all of this a deep sense of joy, punctuated with Jean's exquisite humor. Earlier in my career, I had studied psychodrama -- and had aspired to combine the fields of drama and psychology. In this endeavor, I discovered that Jean was already a grand master.

In 1977, Jean was elected president of the Association for Humanistic Psychology. That year, my wife to be, Janelle Barlow, and I attended the AHP annual conference and heard Jean deliver her presidential address in Zellerbach Auditorium at U.C., Berkeley. I remember it vividly because on the large screen behind the stage, Jean had projected one of the most brilliant pieces of art ever created -- The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymous Bosch. And, her oratory was a match to the artwork itself as she expounded on its relevance to our own day and age. To this day, I think it may be the finest speech I have ever heard.

For a number of years, as I completed my own doctoral degree program at Berkeley and fought other battles, I drifted away from Jean Houston's work, until about 1991 when I chanced upon some audiotapes from her new Mystery School. Listening to Jean once again, after so many years, awakened deep yearnings within me. For she has always had the capacity to touch that part of my soul that feels its own connection with the divine. I could refrain no longer and, at Jean's invitation, I began the process of reconnection -- attending her programs both in Colorado and in New York. By then, I was hosting and producing the Thinking Allowed television series. And, this new immersion in Jean's work was, for me, preparation for a series of new videotapes with her.

I attended Jean's mystery school programs for two years. My wife, Janelle, once described them as "the ultimate in adult education."

I could go on for a long time describing the many exquisite facets of Jean Houston's work: her many excellent books, her childhood relationship with Teilhard de Chardin, her friendship with Margaret Mead, her work with ex-president Jimmy Carter, her work in the White House with Hillary Clinton, her father's career as a humorist and joke-writer, her husband, Robert Masters' studies of the Egyptian goddess Sekhmet, the many friends I have made through Jean, her work with Joseph Campbell, her pioneering contributions to the psychology of the "inner child," her personal collection of antiquities, her library of over 30,000 volumes, her work with indigenous peoples around the world, the many topics she has explored in depth during her 21 years of Mystery School, etc., etc., etc.

But, as I think of my time with Jean, one numinous moment stands out for me especially that captures much of the essence of her work. It occurred one morning, in Mystery School. Jean had just delivered a lecture on the Kabbalah -- based upon the writings of Carlo Suares, author of The Cipher of Genesis. She was explaining the first Hebrew sentence in the bible, which -- when translated into English -- reads, "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth." Her explaination showed that when examined letter by letter, the meaning hidden in each letter actually revealed the very process by which the world was created. During this lecture, Jean asked those present to pay utmost attention to her words. And, I found that I was listening fully.

After the lecture, I found myself in a most unusual state of consciousness. I was literally rolling on the floor in laughter. I could see that the creation of the universe was just about the funniest thing imaginable. Then, a few minutes later, I was in tears. For it dawned upon me that nothing could be more poignant than the love and generosity with which the creator was imbued. A few minutes later, I was rolling in laughter again as I transcended the sentimentality of my previous state and entered, once more, into creation itself as a cosmic joke. Again, however, in a few more minutes, I found myself in tears as I grasped the deep passion involved in the universal story. This continued for about a half hour as I alternated between tears and laughter. Eventually, Jean noticed this and walked over to me. She looked at me and winked. Then she said, "Oh, you're having an epiphany, eh?"

Nothing could have been more perfect than that moment.

In 1997, the Intuition Network presented Jean Houston with its "In Awe Award." That was the last time this award was offered to anyone. Needless to say, I highly recommend any of Jean Houston's program to those who may be reading this blog.

Last night, I saw a marvelous, new play at the Nevada Conservatory Theatre here in Las Vegas. I went with a very magical person, Lynne Morris, whose picture is shown above. Lynne has become my closest friend here in Las Vegas -- and we met through a unique synchronicity (that I only learned about some time after our friendship had formed).

I actually met Lynne in Cairo, Egypt. She attended a tour co-sponsored by the Intuition Network and the Philosophical Research Society back in about 1998. Leading the tour group with me was trance channel Kevin Ryerson. There were about 30 people on the tour, and Lynne and I did not really speak with each other until the last evening, when we happened to sit next to each other on the bus taking us to our final dinner on a Nile River barge. As we began talking, I had the uncanny feeling that this was a person whom I had known for lifetimes -- and we have been good friends ever since.

I only learned some months later about the unusual synchronicity that prompted Lynne to attend this tour in the first place. Some weeks before the tour, she had been browsing in a metaphysical bookstore in Ojai, California, when my book, The Roots of Consciousness, fell off of a shelf and landed on her head! That got her attention. So when she saw the flyer, shortly thereafter, that I was leading a tour to Egypt -- she decided to come along.

The more I get to know Lynne, the more remarkable I find her to be. By profession, she has been a dancer, choreographer and theatrical director. Her career in these endeavors has taken her virtually everywhere. At one time, she was a "Golddigger" dancer on the Dean Martin variety show for television. During her career as a showgirl, she even dated Frank Sinatra. In Las Vegas, she worked with Ann Margaret. As a child, growing up in Los Angeles, May West was a family friend. Later Lynne founded a dance school and worked with Tony Tenille.

At the time I met Lynne, she had just retired from an eighteen year career as the Creative Director of a non-profit organization known as Up With People. During that time, she was responsible for directing six simultaneous touring groups, each with an international cast of 150 teenagers, traveling around the world -- performing for kings, presidents and popes. On several occasions, she directed Superbowl halftime shows. At the same time she held this job, she was also directing shows on Broadway.

There are many more stories to tell about Lynne in this life. But, one of the most interesting actually concerns a past life. Kevin Ryerson has a "spirit guide" called Athun Re (with a fantastic sense of humor) who says that he was a member of the priesthood during the reign of the revolutionary, monotheistic pharoah Akhenaton. On one occasion, during a session Lynne had with Kevin, in trance, Athun Re, claimed that he remembered Lynne from a past-life in ancient Egypt in which she had been a captured slave who eventually became a temple dancer. This story resonated with Lynne in a deep archetypal way, as she has always had a deep interest in metaphysics.

Lynne's great great grandfather, incidentally, was John Humphrey Noyes, the founder of the Oneida Community, a famous early American experiment in communal life. He was a metaphysical thinker whose ideas about sexuality were not in tune with the standards of his time. He ended up fathering many children within the community.

I understand that Lynne has had a few hypnotic regression sessions with our mutual friend, Chuck Tramont, MD, in which she has explored some past-life connections that involve me. To the credit of both Lynne and Chuck, neither has said anything to me about these sessions. I think Chuck is waiting to see if he can find some independent confirmation in a future session with me.

However, as I indicated in a previous blog, I discontinued hypnotic regression with Chuck Tramont because, while exploring a possible William James past lifetime, I experienced consistent physical discomfort associated with the feeling of being in his body. Perhaps, in the future, I'll feel ready to continue this exploration. (Even so, I am much more inclined to an interpretation of "archetypal synchronistic resonance" rather than reincarnation.)

Several years ago, Lynne Morris moved from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. And, I have served -- believe it or not -- as her realtor. This is something I only do, on occasion, for friends -- as I became licensed primarily for purposes of my own real-estate investing.

Now, Lynne serves with me on the board of directors of the Intuition Network.

I'm afraid that the title of this book, Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes on the Cosmos, promises more than it delivers. I was excited in purchasing the book. I know that quantum computing is a hot topic. And, I liked the idea that the author could demonstrate the universe itself was a large computer. I was I was just too naive, however, in expecting that this book would contain actual instructions (or even hints) for programming the universe. I guess I was hoping to discover another hidden treasure, like John Lilly's classic, Programming and Metaprogramming of the Human Biocomputer. And, because my expectations were unrealistically high, I found the book to be a disappointment.

To begin with, author Seth Lloyd was a colleague and admirer of Nobel Laureate physicist, Murray Gell-Mann. Well, I have interviewed Gell-Mann, and I know him to be an active (and ignorant) skeptic regarding my own academic speciality, parapsychology. Seth Lloyd, while not professing to be an active skeptic himself, nevertheless writes in a manner that is completely consistent with the (mistaken) Gell-Mann tradition of scientific materialism. As far as he is concerned, consciousness is an epiphenomenon of the universe's complexity -- merely the product of some fancy computations.

That, of course, is the mainstream argument within science today. But, I don't buy it -- and neither do philosophers of science and consciousness such as David Chalmers who point out, pointedly, that proponents of this viewpoint are not able to state, even in principle, how consciousness can arise from mere information, or from the interactions of particles that, themselves, are lacking in consciousness. The alternative viewpoint has been articulated elegantly by quantum physicist Amit Goswami, in a manner consistent with sacred texts from the world's cultures: consciousness itself is fundamental to the universe. It is at least as basic as matter, energy, time and space (if not moreso). This perspective has been echoed by a variety of other great physicists including Wolfgang Pauli, John von Neumann, Erwin Schrodinger and Eugene Wigner.

Seth Lloyd proposes in his book that it will be an advance for us to consider the universe as an information processing machine -- rather than merely a machine. No doubt, he is correct. But, in this blog, I have provided testimony regarding numerous synchronicities that have provided significant meaning and direction to my own life. Therefore, I propose that for a theory of the universe to be useful to me is has to have some power to begin to explain the operation of such synchronicities. I'm inclined to think that the information processing metaphor lacks this power -- whereas a metaphor that places consciousness within the universal computer (and, for a little spice, also adds in some higher-dimensional mathematics) seems to do the trick. That's why I highly favor the theoretical writings of my friend Saul-Paul Sirag (another of my magical friends who should receive a future blog essay about his interesting life journey).

One thing that I did find fascinating in Seth Lloyd's book were some of the personal stories concerning another of his mentors, a man whom I have met and admired, Heinz Pagels. Pagels was a great scientist who died tragically in a mountain climbing accident. And, it turns out -- as revealed in an appendix titled "Personal Note: The Consolation of Information" that Seth Lloyd was with alone with Pagels on that mountain at the time Pagels plummeted to his death. It is here that Seth Lloyd finally allows himself to speculate (in a very sentimental and superficial manner) on the very subject I had hoped would be the focus of the whole book. He writes about Pagel's death:

"Heinz's body and brain are gone. The information his cells processed is wrapped up in the earth's slow processes. He has lost consciousness, thought and action. But we have not entirely lost him. While he lived, Heinz programmed his own piece of the universe. The resulting computation unfolds in us and around us: the vivid thoughts and outrageous behavior he impressed on us still flourish in our thoughts and behavior and have their own vivid and outrageous consequences. Heinz's piece of the universal computation goes on."

Frankly, in spite of my disappointment that his book did not go as far as I would have wished, it is hard to really fault Seth Lloyd. In truth, his approach does constitute a brilliant new synthesis. He has shown the capacity to think deeply, in detail and in large terms about the universe. I would only like to encourage him to apply his talents just a little further -- to see if he can grapple with what David Chalmers has called "the hard problem of consciousness."

He might begin, for example, by asking himself if Heinz Pagel's untimely death was in any way programmed or prefigured in Pagel's own classic text, The Cosmic Code, in which Pagel uncannily described dreaming of a mountain climbing accident virtually identical to his own. Perhaps, however, I am simply asking too much from a professor of (quantum) mechanical engineering. Nevertheless, my challenge to Seth Lloyd is to take up this subject in future writing.

(Incidentally, I met Heinz Pagels through Seth Lloyd's own agent, John Brockman, who also happened to be the agent of my friend, physicist Fred Alan Wolf. Pagels was also very close to another friend, physicist Nick Herbert. Both Wolf and Herbert have written more deeply about the physics of consciousness. Bright thinkers, such as Seth Lloyd would do well to pay more attention to this literature.)

The main section of Programming the Universe ends with this modest thought:

"There's nothing wrong with thinking of the universe itself as some kind of gigantic intelligent organism, and more than it is wrong to think of the Earth itself as a single living being (an idea known as the 'Gaia hypothesis')....In the final analysis, to say that the universe is alive, or that the universe thinks, is only a metaphor. After all, what are these thoughts of the universe?"

I was disappointed that Seth Lloyd took such a condescending, dismissive attitude to such a great and profound thought. His position is one that fails to distinguish at all between thought and information processing. It is an error that has been highly criticized by historian Theodore Roszak in his book The Cult of Information.

I'm afraid to say that such attitudes are all too common in this dark age in which the scientific findings of parapsychology and related fields are virtually taboo when it comes to mainstream academic consideration. In future ages scholars will very likely look back and notice how potentially brilliant scientists such as Seth Lloyd were intellectually crippled by this prejudice. Others, however, may suggest that this crippling (like Chinese foot-binding) was part of the universal programming instructions. Somehow, even the crippling served a purpose. After all, how many metaphysical thinkers trouble themselves to build quantum computers?

Let me make one thing perfectly clear from the outset: Neither I nor Saul-Paul Sirag (pictured above on the right) would claim that he was Sir Isaac Newton (pictured on the left above) in a previous lifetime. For my part, as I have written about often, I prefer the model of "archetypal synchronistic resonance" to that of reincarnation.

Yeah, but....

Walter Semkiw, M.D., an iconoclastic reincarnation researcher -- working with Kevin Ryerson's spirit guide "Athun Re" in trance -- suggests he has confirmed that Sirag was Isaac Newton in a past-lifetime. And, Sirag admits to being intrigued with this conjecture. Sirag explained to me that when visiting Isaac Newton's former study at Trinity College, Cambridge (which was actually a storeroom by the time Sirag arrived a few centuries later), he experienced a strong feeling of "familiarity." 

In fact, Sirag took this conjecture a step further on the occasion of his own trance session with "Athun Re." Sirag suggested that if, indeed, he had been Isaac Newton in a past-life, was it possible that I, Jeffrey Mishlove, had been Newton's colleague and publisher, the noted astronomer Edmond Halley. "Athun Re" confirmed that, from his perspective, this was, in fact, the case. Sirag's reasoning in developing this hypothesis is that, but for Halley, it is likely that Newton's works would never have been published. And (to a much lesser degree) I have played a similar role in publishings Sirag's hyperspace model of consciousness.

(For my part, I have never had any inkling of having been Edmond Halley. But, at about the age of 10, astronomy was my big passion -- so much so that my grade-school friends took to calling me "the professor.")

Saul-Paul Sirag has been one of my very best friends and closest colleagues since we met on my 25th birthday, as I recall, in 1971. At that time, he had established a syndicated column (generally published in college newspapers) called "The New Alchemy." He made a point of covering all of the leading-edge stories in science. When I visited him, I saw that he had a collection of Science magazines going back to 1946. And he managed to convey the impression to me that he had memorized virtually every issue (although this was not really true). To this day, I do not believe that I have met anyone more knowledgable about science than Saul-Paul. (And, I have met and interviewed several Nobel laureate scientists.)

But, science was not his only forte. Sir Isaac Newton considered himself a biblical scholar and a student of alchemy. And, Sirag had similar interests. He was raised by missionaries -- and, in his formative years, had literally been taught to memorize sections of the bible.

Here's an interesting story. His given name was actually Paul. However, as a teenager, he had a revelation -- that science, and religion, could both be paths to true wisdom. And, like Saul of Tarsus in reverse, he consciously changed his name to Saul-Paul.

Saul-Paul's missionary parents took him to Borneo. When the Japanese invaded during WWII, they were placed in a POW camp, where his father died. Saul-Paul believes that his very survival was the result of his being assigned to clean latrines. There he was able to find slugs to eat, which were a source of protein and nourishment.

In 1973, both Saul-Paul and I were invited to take up residence in the newly established Institute for the Study of Consciousness in Berkeley, California, under the directorship of cosmologist and helicoptor inventor, Arthur M. Young. Young became a mentor to both of us, and it was under Arthur Young's direction that Sirag transformed himself from a science journalist to a brilliant scientific theorist.

There are many other things I could say about my friendship with Saul-Paul and our days together in Berkeley in the 1970s. We shared many adventures together. Students of his career will be interested in learning about his incredible, semi-autobiographical novelette called Jumped by Jesus. For a while, he was also an actor (with the San Francisco Mime Troup). He also worked with pioneer electronic music synthesizer manufacturer, Don Buchla.

But, at this point in the story, I will refer you to the summary of Sirag's work from my book, The Roots of Consciousness. (Scroll down the past to find the section called "Unified Field Theory and Consciousness.")

I believe that nobody alive today has a better handle on "hard" problem of consciousness (i.e., the mind-body problem) than does Saul-Paul Sirag. His is a work of mathematical and philosophical precision that deserves to be better known and studied.

Recently I had a little brainstorm in which I saw a potential solution to the present social and political impasse concerning illegal immigration in the United States. On the one hand, there are those who insist that lawbreakers must be punished. We cannot reward them with U.S. citizenship. On the other hand, are those who believe that -- given the numbers of illegal aliens in this country -- amnesty and citizenship opportunities are the only realistic solution.

My proposal offers something of a compromise. It would include these elements:

(1) The borders must be secured. Without secure borders, no reform policy at all is possible. However, this will require funding.

(2) The possibility of U.S. citizenship and legal status will be offered to all undocumented workers. However, in order to achieve this, they must go through a special registration process in which they admit to entering this country illegally.

(3) As a fine for illegal entry into the U.S., and a requirement for obtaining legal status, undocumented workers will agree to pay a special tax as long as they remain working in the United States. This tax will be approximately equivalent to what is currently deducted for social security and medicare -- or about 7.5% of their income. 

(4) Businesses who have been illegally employing undocumented aliens, as determined through this new program, will also be required to pay an additional special payroll tax equal to approximately 7.5% of their payroll for those newly legalized aliens who remain on their payrolls.

(5) Revenues from this new tax will be used to fund the manpower and technology necessary to secure U.S. borders -- as well as for other costs associated with this program.

To my way of thinking, this proposal serves the following functions. It penalizes those who have broken the law -- in the form of a new, special tax. It provides necessary new funding for border security. It recognizes the reality, and the contributions, of the millions of undocumented workers currently living productive lives within the United States.

Here is a photo of Ted Owens, "The PK Man," that I took in 1976, when I met him at a conference sponsored by the Parascience Foundation at the University of London. I spent over a decade studying his unusual abilities, until his death in 1987. He is the individual who is the subject of my book, The PK Man.

During this period, Owens liked to specialize in large-scale effects involving hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, power blackouts, volcanos, etc.

Owens also referred to himself as "The UFO Prophet" -- because many of his "demonstrations" seemed to entail UFO sightings.

Here is a link to a summary of my findings on Owens.

Below is a sworn affidavit from Philadelphia attorney Sidney Margulies regarding Ted Owens' ability to cause lightning strikes. I have interviewed Margulies twice about this event. He stands by the events as described.



For those who are interested, I host a discussion group about "The PK Man." You can sign up for it by clicking here and scrolling to the bottom of the page.

There has always been some ambiguity as to whether the events described in my book were the result of Owens' psychokinesis, or the actions taken by the hyperdimensional "Space Intelligence," or perhaps just pure coincidence. Now, I am wondering if they might not be best explained ar "archetypal synchronistic resonance."

Professor David Fontana's book is certainly the best, single volume available today on the question of survival after death. It is written from the perspective of one who accepts that the available evidence does, indeed, point toward the existence of an afterlife. But, he did not come to this conclusion easily. He carefully weighs and balances all of the available competing arguments. And, he also acknowledges that, even after 150 years of investigation, the evidence is not scientifically complete. In fact, he does not hesitate to share the frustrations of researchers working in this field.

At one point, when discussing a particularly frustrating situation (George Meek's "Spiricom," at one time an excellent source of ITC data, that ceased functioning) he refers to William James, suggesting that "the Almighty may have decreed that we are never going to receive the final element of proof for which survival researchers have been looking, and that Spiricom was in danger of giving this proof." (Note: William James, of course, died decades before the development of Spiricom.)

As a past president of the British Society for Psychical Research, the oldest organization in the world continuously devoted to exploring the question of human survival, Fontana is eminently qualified to write about this subject. (Within the last few weeks I, myself, have joined this organization -- upon learning about their excellent online library.) Fontana is also a specialist in the areas of EVP (electronic voice phenomena) and ITC (instrumental transcommunication) that are now a particular interest of mine. See my earlier blog on White Noise. I am inclined to think that if this area continues to show progress, as it seems to be doing, than it will -- indeed -- result in the major breakthrough that survival researchers have been seeking for 150 years.

Regular readers of my blogs will know that I have been fond of an alternative hypothesis that I call "archetypal synchronistic resonance." I think that it may have the potential to sufficiently explain the existing data for human survival after death, without actually requiring an afterlife.

There is currently another alternative hypothesis, known as Super Psi. The tricky question here, from a philosophical perspective, is that there is no test that can absolutely distinguish between "survival" and "super psi."  This is why many parapsychologists have simply stopped considering the question of survival after death. Nevertheless, Fontana does an excellent job of looking at the Super Psi hypothesis and showing why it seems highly implausible as an explanation in many of the cases he cites. In general, I am convinced by his arguments.

However, I am not yet convinced that "archetypal synchronistic resonance" would be so easily dismissed. But, there is no blame that David Fontana does not address my alternative explanation. The argument in behalf of "archetypal synchronistic resonance" has yet to be made in any academic journals (although one paper has been submitted). In fact, to date, my blogs on the subject are probably the most extensive place in which the topic is discussed.

In 1978, this photo of me was taken by my new wife, Janelle Barlow, in the San Francisco apartment on Lake Street where we lived with a magnificent view out our bay window of the Golden Gate Bridge. Life seemed very promising back then. We had been married only a few months. I think I look like I was ready to eat the world alive (and I believe that's how I felt.)

I was a graduate student working on my doctoral degree in parapsychology. It would be two more years before I would receive my unique degree.

My book, The Roots of Consciousness, had been out for three years. And, I was working on my doctoral dissertation, which would eventually become my second book, Psi Development Systems. I had been hosting regular radio programs on KPFA-FM in Berkeley, California, and KSAN-FM in San Francisco - but I discontinued that work in order to focus on the completion of my doctoral degree.

The major distraction from my academic work, at that time, was my ongoing observation of and relationship with an irritable, outrageous psychic named Ted Owens who purported to have powers greater than any other human being since Moses. It would be more than twenty years before my book about his demonstrations would see publication.

Working with me in this investigation was my distant cousin, fellow parapsychologist, D. Scott Rogo. (My mother's maiden name is Rogow.) It would still be another twelve years before Rogo's murder in Los Angeles.

At this time, I was teaching parapsychology at John F. Kennedy University in Orinda, California. I did not imagine, at this time, that the parapsychology program there would be closed down within just a few years.

Here are some interesting facts taken from the Wikipedia:

First Susan B. Anthony dollar enters circulation.  It never really caught on as successful currency.

The People's Republic of China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens.

Rhodesia's prime minister Ian Smith and three black leaders agree on the transfer to black majority rule.

The first computer bulletin board system is created (CBBS in Chicago, Illinois).

US porn publisher Larry Flynt is shot and paralysed

Israeli forces invade Lebanon in Operation Litani.

The United States Senate approves the Panama Canal neutrality treaty; votes to turn the canal over to Panama by the year 2000.

The tanker Amoco Cadiz splits in two off Brittany spilling 50,000 metric tons of crude oil.

The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan is proclaimed, under pro-communist leader Nur Mohammed Taraki.

Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds gets his 3000th major league hit.

Soviet dissident Yuri Orlov is sentenced for seven years hard labor for distributing counterrevolutionary material.

Californians in referendum approve Proposition 13 for a nearly 60% slash in property tax revenues.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints extends the priesthood and temple blessings to "all worthy males," ending a general policy of excluding blacks from priesthood and temples since 1849.

Serial killer David Berkowitz, the "Son of Sam," is sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

King Hussein of Jordan marries 26-year-old Lisa Halaby who becomes Queen Noor.

Comic Strip Garfield debuts in newspapers.

United States President Jimmy Carter declares a federal emergency at Love Canal.

Camp David Accords: Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat begin peace process at Camp David, Maryland.

Cardinal Karol Wojtyła becomes Pope John Paul II.

Jonestown mass suicide: In Jonestown, Guyana, Jim Jones leads his Peoples Temple in a mass murder-suicide; 913 die, including 276 children.

In San Francisco, California, city mayor George Moscone and city supervisor Harvey Milk are assassinated by former supervisor Dan White.

Massive anti-Shah demonstration in Iran - 2 million demonstrators.

The Spanish Constitution is approved in referendum officially ending 40 years of military dictatorship.

Deaths

Hubert H. Humphrey, U.S Vice President and Senator (b. 1911)

Kurt Gödel, Austrian-born mathematician (b. 1906)

Charles Boyer, French actor (b. 1899)

Norman Rockwell, American artist and illustrator (b. 1894)

Margaret Mead, American anthropologist, instrumental in the decision of the American Association for the Advancement of Science to formally affiliate with the Parapsychological Association (b. 1901)

Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1898)

I guess I've lost a little hair in the last 28 years.

It's 7:30 pm, now on Thursday, April 13. I have just returned from a session with Senator Harry Reid, sponsored by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce. Reid, as the Senate Minority Leader, is one of the most prominent people in the Democratic Party today. However, since he was speaking in front of the Chamber of Commerce, he made a point of holding to the high road and keeping his remarks as non-partisan as he could in this very partisan era.

My first impression of the man (whom I have heard speak before) is that he is a genuinely nice person. He began his presentation by talking about the importance of friendship. And, I might say, also, that for such a powerful senator, his physical appearance is that of a small, elderly man who is slightly stooped over with age, although he is only 66 years old. He definitely spoke with a soft voice. He had a good sense of humor. And, there was little or no sense that this was a man accustomed to wielding power. On the other hand, there was a clear sense that he had command over many issues.

After some brief remarks, people asked questions concerning various interests of concern. There were veterans, nurses and teachers. In every instance, Reid expressed strong concern for their issues and conveyed a sense that he, and his fellow Democrats, were fighting to keep those issues alive in the federal budget.

One questioner posed a very good question: with so much negativity in the country today, what are the things that Reid feels particularly positive about? And, I found the answer quite interesting. First, Reid enumerated the various ethical scandals that have surfaced. Rather than dwell on these he pointed to the fact that the congress has passed legislation enacting new, tougher ethical standards.

The biggest surprise to me was Reid's citing the 2000 election as something we could all be proud of. When I consider the disastrous decisions that have emerged from this Republican administration, it is hard for me to think of the 2000 election -- in which the winner received fewer votes than the loser -- as a high point in our country's history. But, Reid couched the matter this way: Even though Bush won with fewer votes than Gore, "not a single window was broken." Once the Supreme Court made its decision, people abided by he law even though most probably disagreed with the content of the decision. Ultimately, it was a triumph for our constitution. And, it was clear that Reid highly valued the constitution itself.

I actually got in line and had the opportunity to pose my own question to Senator Reid. I asked him about the U.S. dollar. To me, our economy is in great jeopardy. We are now dependent upon borrowing money from foreign countries. I don't know how long this can last before we are faced with a financial collapse of some sort. Reid's response was very frank. He said that he had hoped nobody would ask this question -- because he really does not have an answer.

Then, he apologized to the Chamber of Commerce audience -- saying he knew that many of them were not fond of President Clinton. But, he reminded them of the government surplus during the Clinton years. And, how it had turned into a huge deficit under the George W. Bush administration. Reid posed the matter this way: the Republicans are supposed to be the party of fiscal responsibility. "For the life of me," he said, "I don't understand how they could have allowed this degradation of our economic position to accelerate so much." The audience broke into applause at this remark.

Reid closed his presentation by talking about what a great country this is. He believed that he, himself, exemplified this. He grew up in the small mining town of Searchlight, Nevada. The town was so small that they did not even have a church. Nor did they have indoor plumbing. Nor had either of his parents completed high school.

All of this was very heartening to me. I left the presentation feeling that, in spite of the many problems we face today, I could be very proud to be represented in the U.S. Senate by Harry Reid. Certainly, this is not because I agree with all of his policies. I do not. It is because I had the opportunity tonight to take the measure of the man. And, there I found the sort of nobility that I had thought was long-gone from American politics.

Member E-News An IANDS Member Service

2006 IANDS Annual Conference October 25-28 University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Houston, TX 30 Years of Near-Death-Experience Research: Integrating the Past, Anticipating the Future The IANDS 2006 annual conference will be unprecedented. For the first time, it will be cosponsored and held at one of the world's largest medical complexes, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Most of the world's leading NDE researchers and experts will be speaking, including Raymond Moody, Peter Fenwick, Pim Van Lommel, Janice Holden, Bruce Greyson, PMH Atwater, Sam Parnia, Pam Kircher, Maggie Callanan, and many, many more. This gathering will be unparalleled since Raymond Moody's Life after Life was first published 30 years ago. The four-day conference will be divided into two separate segments. The first 2 days will be a comprehensive and critical review of 30 years of NDE research, recommendations for future research, and applications for palliative, end-of-life, and other clinical and educational settings. The second two days will include specialized presentations on the past 30 yers of near-death studies as well as panel discussions of recent developments and future directions. In addition, there will be sessions in the latter two days devoted to the needs and interests of experiencers. Registration for each two-day segment will be separate, though interested participants are encouraged to attend all four days. The first two-day segment is especially designed for anyone seeking in-depth knowledge of NDE research and its applications, and is ideal for physicians, psychologists, nurses, counselors, social workers, emergency medical technicians, clergy, chaplains, and any other physical, psychological, or spiritual health-care providers. Continuing education credits (CEs) are already approved for nurses, National Certified Counselors, and various Texas healthcare professionals. We are seeking CEs for additional ategories of health providers. Visit the IANDS website for the most current developments. Registration materials will be available in May so please mark your calendars now. For a more detailed description, go to http://www.iands.org/ and click on the Conference tab. Please forward this notice to those who would be interested. We hope you can join us at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston for this extraordinary event.

Last February, in my blog about Martin Jack Rosenblum, "The Holy Ranger," I promised to write a future blog about Daniel Statnekov, the mutual friend who was instrumental in reconnecting me with Martin Jack after a quarter century. Today, I am fulfilling that promise.

Daniel Statnekov (then known as Dan Stat) is the man who introduced me to the ancient Peruvian Whistling Pots, shown above, back in the late 1970s. As I recall the story, Dan had purchased one of these items at an antique auction. A whistle is created when you blow on the spout of these ceramic pieces. Dan told me that he took one blow on the pot and that triggered a dramatic life change.

Dan had been living the life of a wealthy country farmer (whose family owned a large, industrial concern). He was a collector of antique racing motorcycles (which is how he eventually met Martin Jack Rosenblum, who is the Harley Davidson historian). But, upon hearing the whistle, Dan left his wife and his farm, and went on the road to explore the mystery that had called him to a new adventure.

Dan grasped that there was something very profound about the whistling sound that he heard. It seemed to create an altered state of consciousness. It seemed to have a purifying and centering effect upon the mind. And his journey eventually led him to me. Dan suspected that I, as the newly published author of The Roots of Consciousness, might be able to help him understand the mystery he was researching.

One of the amazing things about these whistles is that when a group of people play them together, it is possible to hear a low rumbling sound. This is known as the "binaural beat effect" and it is a sound that is created within the human brain itself. (Dan pointed out that oscilloscope studies did not show this low frequency in the room when the whistles were played.) In effect, it is the frequency between the frequency of the whistles themselves. My own supposition was that corpus callosum brain tissue linking the two hemispheres becomes activated in this process -- thus causing a "centering" of consciousness within the brain.

Anthropologists maintained that these ceramic pieces were strictly water vessels, and that the whistle was a novelty unrelated to any purpose associated with shamanism or consciousness. Dan was convinced they were wrong. And, eventually, after much investigation he wrote several articles on the subject, plus a fascinating book (now out in a new edition) called Animated Earth.



Dan even went so far as to begin manufacturing replicas of the antique whistles he had been collecting. And, in his travels, he began giving them away. I still have a set myself. Every now and then, Dan would visit -- and would end up replacing one of the replicas (that he found unsatisfactory) with a new one. He would insist upon destroying the old one.

Dan has now authorized another individual to manufacture and sell these replicas. You can buy them at www.entheosound.com.

Scientists claim pyramid discovered in Bosnia

Updated Fri. Apr. 14 2006 11:32 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Europe may seem like an unlikely place to find an ancient pyramid, but a group of scientists believe they've found one -- or possibly three -- in Bosnia.

Scientists investigating a hill near the town of Visoko said it matches the triangular dimensions of similar structures in Latin America, with the same flattened top.

It also has 45 degree slopes and corners matching the four points of the compass.

The precise shape of the hill, called Visocica, seems to indicate that nature had little to do with its formation. Satellite imagery also revealed two other similar mounds in the Visoko Valley.

"In the lack of other processes that would affect their existence, we consider them to be anthropogenic structures," geophysicist Amer Smailbegovic told a news conference.

If the scientists are right, the pyramids will be the only ones found in Europe. Bosnia would join other countries famous for the ancient structures, like Egypt and Mexico.

In fact, archeologist Semir Osmanagic said the suspected pyramid hidden underneath Visocica is even larger than one of the most well-known pyramids in the world.

"(The) Bosnian 'Pyramid of the Sun' ... is the highest known pyramid with a height of 220 metres," he said.

"It is about 80 metres highter than the Great Pyramid in Egypt."

Visocica itself measures 650 metres in height, but digging into the hill, the scientists said they hope to find stones marking the surface of the pyramid, explaining the smooth 45 degree slopes.

They have already found what they think is a man-made tunnel system.

"The notion is that the tunnel connects all the pyramids in the valley, and now we are at the start of the mapping and excavation process of the tunnel," said Osmanagic.

The first to enter the tunnel entrance was a group of rescue workers from a local coal mine, who explored the network on Friday. They travelled about 260 metres and found two intersections.

Experts from Egypt are scheduled to join the scientist in May.

Visocica is located about 30 kilometres northwest of Sarajevo, Bosnia's capital.

During the Middle Ages, Visoko was Bosnia's capital. Experts say human settlements existed in the Visoko Valley 7,000 years ago.

I have now received a complete set of back issues for the ITC Journal. It is not, strictly speaking, a scientific research journal. But, it is a very serious forum for individuals, worldwide, who are exploring Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) and Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC). The more I read, the more it strikes me that this is a very promising area for those interested survival research. Perhaps, it will eventually lead to ongoing, reliable electronic communication with other dimensions of reality. For some, it seems that this goal has already been achieved. If this is really true, then the reality of survival would -- in many instances -- invalidate (or supercede) my hypothesis of "archetyal synchronistic resonance." At this point, I am personally not quite convinced. But, I am very intrigued.

Abstracts of the papers are online.

The Second International Conference on "Scientific Investigation of Survival of Physical Death, with Special Reference to Instrumental Transcommunication" will be held in Vigo, Spain from 28 to 30 April 2006 under the auspices of the ITC Journal. The Conference will include presentations by leading experts in Instrumental Transcommunication and in other areas of survival research. In addition guidance will be given on how to conduct experiments in ITC and samples of ITC communications will be played and viewed. The latest results obtained by experimenters all over the world will be discussed and analyzed.

Final Definitive Programme

Friday April 28rd

12.15 - 12.30 Dr. Anabela Cardoso. Welcome to the Conference.
12.30 - 13.15 Sylvia Hart Wright. Lights, Radios and Telephones that Misbehave.
13.15 - 14.00 Dr. Sinesio Darnell and Marian Casademont. Research into Presumed Paranormal Images and Voices.

15.45 -17.15 (double session) Hans-Otto König. Psychic Structures as Connections to Other Realities.
17.15 - 18.00 Dr. Mario Varvoglis. Some Cases Suggestive of Survival Investigated by the Institut Métapsychique de Paris.

18.30 - 19.15 Professor Ernst Senkowski. A Historical Overview of ITC Developments in Germany with Particular Emphasis on the Work of Adolf Homes.
Saturday, April 29th

10.00 - 10.45 Dr. Anabela Cardoso, Professor Mario Festa, Professor David Fontana and Eng. Paolo Presi. Joint Presentation on the Experiment with Marcello Bacci on December 5th 2004.
10.45 - 11.30 Eng. Daniele Gullà and Michele Dinicastro. Joint Presentation on "The Ghost Project".

12.00 - 12.45 Dr. Enrico Marabini. Are ITC Phenomena Evidence of Survival of Physical Death? Arguments for and Against.
12.45 - 13.30 Dr. Felice Masí. The Material World and The Psychic World: Two Complementary and Differentiated Realities, with Particular Reference to ITC.
13.30 - 14.15 Eng. Paolo Presi. A Comparison between Presumed Paranormal. Psychophonic, Telephonic and Direct Voices.

16.00 -16.45 Michele Dinicastro. Psi Research and Fraud.
16.45 - 17.30 Eng. Daniele Gullà. A Comparative Study of Five Cases of Presumed Paranormal Images (Pattern Recognition and Image Identification).

18.00 - 18.45 Eng. Daniele Gullà. Methods for Enhancing EVP Signals and Their Intelligibility (Use of Appropriate Hardware and Software.
18.45 - 19.30 Professor Mario Festa. A Physicist's View of ITC.

Sunday, April 30th

10.00 -10.45 Carlos Fernández. ITC Research in Spain: An Overview.
10.45 - 11.30 Dr. Walter von Lucadou. Are there Theoretical Limitations on Transcommunication Phenomena? - Some Predictions of the Model of Pragmatic Information (MPI).
11.30 - 12.15 Professor David Fontana. Scientific Investigation into Survival of Physical Death.

12.45 - 13.30 Professor O. Costa de Beauregard. The Rationality of the Paranormal.
13.30 - 14.15 Dr. François Brune. A New Interpretation of the Signs of Reincarnation.

16.00 - 16.45 Dr. Anabela Cardoso. Instrumental Transcommunication - Contact with Another Reality Potentially Open to All.
16.45 - 17.30 Dr. François Brune. The Union with God and the Universe in Mystical Experiences and Near Death Experiences.
17.30 - 18.00 Round Table with Participants. Discussion and Questions.
18.00 -18.15 Dr. Anabela Cardoso. Final Remarks, Farewell and Thanks.

The official languages of the Conference are English and Spanish and a simultaneous translation service into these idioms is automatically available to all participants.

Further information from:

ITC JOURNAL
Calle Carral, 23 A Bajo
36202 Vigo
Pontevedra
España

itc1conference@yahoo.es
itc2conference@yahoo.es

.

The baby on the right is me, being held by my mother back in 1947 -- with all of my aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents on my mother's (the Rogow) side of our family. (My dad, Hyman Mishlove, is standing above mom, on the right.) In a previous blog, I spoke of the Chassidic influence on my father's side. But, the influence from my mother's family was distinctly secular.

This photograph (about postage-stamp size) actually appears on the back cover of a new book written by my first cousin, Steven V. Roberts (one of the two twins in the picture) called My Fathers' Houses: Memoir of a Family. It is a rather detailed description of the family into which my mother was born. It is a story of east coast, Jewish intellectuals moving away from their "old world" traditions. 



My grandfather, Abe Rogow (shown above in a photo from 1971), was a very colorful character, who made a point of avoiding religious education for his children -- even though he, himself, had been an early twentieth century pioneer on a kibbutz in Israel.

My grandparents seemed to have no use, whatsoever, for rabbis. However, when my parents were married in 1942, my grandparents found the very same elderly rabbi who had officiated at their own wedding decades earlier.

As for myself, it seems that these two streams of thought are combined. While I am not an active participant in any particular religion, I consider myself a student of all religions. And, I am particularly interested in combining the disciplines of secular academia to the problems that have long been considered the province of religion -- such as the nature and destiny of the human soul.

Undoubtedly, the secular influence upon me is stronger than the religious. In fact, I tend to think that the secular lifestyle has certain virtues common to all of humanity -- such as the way in which all people are united through commerce -- that are lacking in religion. Religions tend to cause divisions among people, whereas the secular lifestyle unites -- and, therefore, may be even more genuinely spiritual.

Incidentally, this branch of the family has produced a number of writers. Among my first cousins (in addition to myself and Steven V. Roberts), there is also Zack Rogow (poet and literary translator); Steve's twin brother, Professor Marc Roberts; and mystery novelist Miriam Ann Moore. Virtually all of my uncles were writers, the most noted being Zack's father, Lee Rogow, who died tragically in 1955. My mother, Rose Mishlove (see my blog on Yoga With Rose), has had short stories published. And, even my grandfather (an entrepreneurial carpenter) self-published a pamphlet describing his plan for world peace (based on the world federalist model).

The photo above is of psychologist, Brendan C. Engen, Ph.D., who introduced himself to me, via e-mail last summer while I was traveling in Spain. This encounter opened up a fascinating new chapter in the story of my inner healing advisor (Lucius Annaeus Seneca), about which I have blogged previously. Below, I will quote directly from Brendan's e-mail (with links added). But, before I do so, let me hasten to say that I, personally, regard our encounter as an example of "archetypal synchronistic resonance" -- and not necessarily reincarnation.
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From: "Brendan Engen" Subject: Message from Brendan Engen

Hello Dr. Mishlove,

I'm a great fan of your work in the psychospiritual practices, parapsychology, and personal development, as well as your program, THINKING ALLOWED, which I've seen from time to time on the Wisdom Channel.  I've always enjoyed your thoughtful interviews as well as your commentaries and ideas.

I've decided to write you because of a "past life reading" I recently had, graciously purchased for me by my wife, with Kevin Ryerson.  I'm not sure if you're familiar with Mr. Ryerson's work or his trance-channel readings, but they are very interesting and certainly warrant reflection.  I happened to find much of the information he gave me to be eerily accurate and was frankly amazed (I've always been skeptical of such things), since he knew details about my early life experiences he couldn't have possibly known through mundane means.  During this reading last Saturday morning, Kevin channeled an entity named Athun-Re, who told me some rather startling things, some of which directly involve you - which is why I'm writing.

Throughout my life, I've been a great fan of the ancient Stoic philosophers, like Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius.  I have a background in philosophy and have always been attracted to some of the practical-wisdom philosophies, like Stoicism, Epicureanism, and Skepticism, from ancient Greece and Rome.  To be sure, I regard much of their thinking to be relevant to my work now as a psychologist; and I think a great deal of current psychotherapy research bears out some of their foundational ideas about the nature of happiness, inner freedom, and emotional and spiritual resilience.  During various transitional times in my life, one Stoic in particular - Lucius Annaeus Seneca - has been a wonderful source of strength, wisdom, and spiritual counsel, and I credit him for helping me navigate reasonably well through some very trying and complicated straits.  The sentiments, insights, and values expressed in his intimate published letters are strangely prescient, even two thousand years after their composition, and are pertinent to many of the issues that we face today in America, politically, ethically, and spiritually.  Reading them as a late-modern Westerner, one cannot help but feel as though they were written directly to him or her; at least that has always been my own impression and feeling.  These letters of counsel and guidance cut to the essence of the issue - elegantly and with complete awareness.

Anyway, part of what Athun-Re (via Kevin Ryerson) disclosed about my past lives was that I was a Roman 2000 years ago and also student of Seneca.  He also said (and I understand that this must sound strange) that you were Seneca.  According to Athun-Re, Seneca was killed (mandated suicide) by the Emperor Nero, along with several of his students, during the Pisonian Conspiracy.  Other of his students (among whom I was counted, allegedly) were sent into exile throughout various parts of the Empire.  According to Athun-Re, I was sent into exile into Athens, and there I spent my remaining days copying and preserving Seneca's works, saving them from Nero's campaign to have them burned.  (Interestingly, I learned on the Internet that many of Seneca's writings were indeed lost or destroyed probably during the years immediately following his death.)  What was especially compelling for me, with respect to this channeled information about my supposed past life as a student of Seneca, was that I did not give Kevin (or Athun-Re) any mention of my strong, several-years-long interest in Seneca's philosophical writings and plays.

Athun-Re maintained that in this life I would resurrect my interest in Stoicism and attempt to re-present it to the world in a new light - in a "de-militarized" form, according to Athun-Re.  I've been inspired by this news and would indeed like to a book or article (perhaps a psychologically related article) some day on Stoicism or Neo-Stoicism as a viable spiritual practice for the present age as well as a practical philosophy of group process - one which I think could profitably be used to resolve interpersonal and social conflict.  Of course, if I do end up writing such an article, I will highlight the beneficial effects that Seneca's philosophy of serenity has had on my own life.  It seems to me a worthy project.

I understand that this e-mail must seem very strange, and I certainly that hope it does not come as an intrusion.  Please do not feel obligated to respond to it.  I just felt for some reason that I should drop you a line, in light of Kevin's recent reading.

And if you were in fact Seneca, as my reading claimed, then I also want to thank you for the wisdom and light you've contributed to my life (or lives?)!

Best regards,

Brendan Engen

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I replied to Brendan that I was aware that Athun Re (and one other psychic) had told me that I had been Seneca in a past-lifetime. But, that I preferred to think of this as some sort of "synchronistic resonance" rather than reincarnation. And, the very fact that Brendan's e-mail arrived just as I was about to embark upon a visit to Cordoba, Spain, the birthplace of Seneca, struck me as a significant synchronicity itself -- one that served to confirm my Jungian interpretation.

To my further delight and surprise, Brendan then replied with further details he had received about his ostensible past-life, plus another synchronicity of his own:
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Unfortunately, Atun-Re didn't provide me with a name during my reading, and at the time I didn't even think to ask.  However, while I was recently re-reading some of Seneca's letters (published in Moses Hadas's elegant translation), one of the names referenced in those letters -- Lucilius -- struck a responsive and familiar chord in me.  I've since wondered whether or not I was Lucilius; apparently that was one of the many friends and pupils who sought counsel and guidance from Seneca through his epistolary therapy.  I've not yet found any substantive information about this person so far, but I'm continuing my research.

Atun-Re asserted that I was a young man, 25 years old, when Seneca died.  He said that due to my association with Seneca, whom Nero believed to have been involved in a plot to assassinate him (I believe that this is called "the Pisonian conspiracy" in history books), I was given two options following Seneca's death:  either end my life, as my mentor had done, or be exiled permanently from the capital city Rome, which I loved dearly.  Apparently and understandably, I chose exile.  Additionally, Atun-Re said that I spent my remaining years in Athens, my place of exile, and tried to save Seneca's writings from Nero's purges.  Atun-Re said that I never fully forgave myself for choosing exile over suicide in my remaining years of that lifetime and that I was tormented with imaginary crimes of betrayal (of my mentor's Stoic teachings) and of cowardice.  Of course, whether or not these events actually happened, I do not know at this point in my investigations, but it has certainly inspired in me a great deal of self-reflection and existential exploration.... 

Best,

Brendan

P.S.  I need to tell you about another interesting synchronicity.  This happened the day after you sent me your first reply e-mail!  My wife and I were in a bookshop in Walnut Creek, CA -- a place called Bonanza Books, I believe.  While looking through the philosophy/religions section of used books, I found an interesting book entitled THE LOOKING GLASS GOD by Nahum Stiskin.  I thought the book looked really fascinating (it draws upon Taoism and Shintoism and integrates these with Western philosophy) and so bought it.  Later that afternoon, while opening the book, I found the following inscription on the title page:  "Jeffrey Mishlove -- MIND'S EAR -- received 5-12-73."  Apparently, the book had been yours some thirty odd years ago!  That was a very weird moment.  I felt like the Universe was tapping me on the shoulder, as it were, or at least having fun with me!
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There is much more to say about the synchronicity concerning The Looking Glass God, a book that I had once owned. (I interviewed the author for my Mind's Ear radio series on KPFA-FM in Berkeley, California.) One hint, for now, is that the book is related to my rainbow yinyang icon and logo. But, I will save that for another blog.



Do you think Brendan Engen looks a bit like me?

The man in the photo on the left, above, is Geza Maroczy, a Hungarian chess player, once ranked third worldwide (around 1900), who died in 1951. On the right is the reknowned contemporary chess grandmaster, Victor Korchnoi.

Recently, I have joined the British Society for Psychical Research; and, to my delight, upon receiving the most recent issue of their Journal, I found the lead article by Wolfgang Eisenbeiss and Dieter Hassler titled, "An Assessment of Ostensible Communications with a Deceased Grandmaster as Evidence for Survival." The story contained therein, I believe, ranks among the most remarkable ever recorded in the 150 year history of research into human survival after death.

The game was set up by coauthor Eisenbeiss, a Swiss asset manager and amateur chess player with a deep interest in mediumship, who had developed a long-standing relationship with Robert Rollans, a medium who specialized in automatic writing. Eisenbeiss asked Rollans if he could make contact with a deceased chess grandmaster who would be willing to play a game with a living grandmaster -- for purposes of proving the reality of survival. Though this process, contact was ostensibly made with Geza Maroczy. Victor Korchnoi was then invited to play a match, in which the moves of Maroczy would be specified through the automatic writing of Robert Rollans (who had no knowledge whatsoever of chess).

The game was conducted through the mail. It began in 1985 and lasted almost eight years. (The game was slowed down due to the travel schedules of both Korchnoi and Robert Rollans.) Maroczy resigned after move 48.

Korchnoi's comment about the quality of this match, given at the 27th move was: During the opening phase Maroczy showed weakness. His play is old-fashioned. But I must confess that my last moves have not been too convincing. I am not sure I will win. He has compensated the faults of the opening by a strong end-game. In the end-game the ability of a player shows up and my opponent plays very well.

The article in the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research goes on to detail many other pieces of obscure, validated information provided during the course of this experiment, that provide additional evidence that the automatic writing communicator was indeed the deceased Maroczy. The authors claim that the private details provided by Maroczy through automatic writing were determined, after careful historical research, to be 94% accurate.

The case is an outstanding one because the afterlife communications not only demonstrated a knowledge of facts and events -- but also a unique, and very rare, skill. While fraud cannot be absolutely ruled out in this case, it does seem highly unlikely (unless you believe survival to be impossible, in which case fraud would be the only conceivable explanation).

The authors conclude as follows: Until such a case can be replicated elsewhere, it is our view that this is a strong case of its type, suggesting -- albeit to the materialist-scientific standards not proving -- survival and demonstrating the utility and pertinence of the survival hypothesis.

Image of the Hindu god, Brahma -- or is it Earth Coincidence Control Office

In my April 18 blog, about my synchronistic connections with Brendan Engan, I concluded with an unusual coincidence concerning a book I used to own called The Looking Glass God. It turns out that this event seems to have initiated a series of manifestations (via synchronicities) of the "godhead" archetype.

The next event in this series occurred a few weeks later, when I received an e-mail from an artist named Rich Okun, with whom I had never had any prior contact. Here's what he wrote (with links added by me):
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My wife and I have been enjoying watching you on Thinking Allowed for quite some time. We are both 50 plus, and in my seeking I have found voice in carving stone as an expression of the two spiritual paths that resonate within me, Native American and Kabbalah.

I have been carving the sacred hebrew letters from the red pipestone sacred to the Native Americans for making their pipes.

I only carve when I feel a call to make a letter for someone, and I have learned not to question, but to simply do it and then give it to that person as a give away.

I have carved you a letter and will send it to you at the address that you sent. I will probably send it out by the end of the week, because I would like to include a narative giving you some references to the meanings and intent within the stone from these two paths.

I could also send you a link to my photo album of samples of my work if you are interested.

I am grateful that you will receive what is yours to have.

Rich
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Without giving the matter much thought, I accepted this generous offer. That evening, I had an unusual dream one that felt like "more than a dream." Here are my notes from the next morning (September 24, 2005):
------------------------------------------

Last night I had a dream in which I was with Da Lovenanda - also known as Da, Franklin Jones, Adi Da, Adidam, and other names. In this dream, I was practically shouting to him - something to the effect that I wanted him to take my "self" (my soul) and mold it or use it to his ends. The dream stuck in my mind and remained with me as I took a hike this morning on Turtlehead Peak.

It seemed like a significant dream to me - and I had a feeling of some certainty that something was going to come of this. I made a mental note to myself, as I was climbing down Turtlehead Peak, of the date - thinking that this was some sort of important demarcation point in my life. Some new phase, some new adventure, was about to begin.

Then, later, as I was listening to a lecture by Manly P. Hall, about Madame Blavatsky's book, The Voice of Silence, reference was made to the realm of the heart. Hall pointed out that the final initiation is one in which the Guru is within one's own heart. In effect, one initiates one's self. And, as I listened to these words, they resonated with me. And, I said to myself, that is what this dream was about - not Adidam at all (whose devotees believe he is an avatar, or incarnation of god).

When I went to my back office and checked e-mail. To my surprise, I found an unusual message - sent to me from somebody I do not know, who works at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, in behalf of a man named Bill Stranger (whom I had once interviewed on my Wisdom Radio program).

Synchronistically, Stranger was representing - of all people - Adidam. His e-mail told me that a special private event was being arranged for certain sincere seekers - and that I was invited to phone him to discuss it.

My first reaction was that this must be, indeed, the confirmation of my intuitions regarding last night's dream. Certainly, I would contact Bill Stranger. Certainly, I would arrange to see Adidam. Certainly, it would be the most literal, obvious interpretation of my dream.

Now, however, I am inclined to think NOT. Undoubtedly, the synchronicity occurred. Undoubtedly, it is a reflection of the archetypal power and psychic energy that works through Adidam. But, I must remember, this is not the first such dream I have ever had concerning a guru figure.

Many years ago (about 1990, I guess), I had a session with Gurumayi Chidvilasananda - (arranged by Jessica Fullmer). That night I had something of an initiatory dream involving Gurumayi, in which she came and touched the "third eye" area of my forehead. In the dream, I felt a strong sensation of electricity running through my body. It was very powerful. I equate the feeling of electricity running through my body with what has been called kundalini in eastern traditions. And, yes, the dream seemed to impel me to consider becoming a devotee of that guru.

But, it was an easy decision for me to pass, then. My logic at the time was that, actually, I recalled other similar dreams - of electricity running through my body - that did not involve a guru figure. It struck me that the dream was really my dream. Gurumayi was symbolizing some aspect of me - my inner guru. And, I deeply feel much the same way about the Adidam dream. It was about me, not about him.

However, the message from Bill Stranger suggests a different type of connection. After all, in the case of the Gurumayi dream, I had seen her the day prior to the dream. In this instance, the dream was more precognitive - i.e., responding to my knowledge later that day that Adidam was reaching out to me. Or, perhaps, it was even telepathic - in some sense - regarding his outreach (which was probably initiated yesterday or so).

In any case, I do not think the dream was primarily about Adidam. I do not think it likely that I will act upon the invitation and visit Adidam in Northern California. But, I do think it suggests I have a relationship with an inner archetypal figure - one who resonates with Adidam. This is, actually, another example of "archetypal synchronistic resonance."
-------------------------------------------


A few days later, Rich Okun's carving arrived. You can see it above. It is the Hebrew letter, aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew Alphabet (or Aleph-Beit). And, it is a silent letter. It is a mystical letter and embodies the same symbolic meaning as expressed in the title of Madame Blavatsky's book, The Voice of Silence. But there is more...as expressed in my personal journal of September 27, 2005:
----------------------------------------

Back in about 1988 or so I gave a talk at the "Mind and Supermind" symposium in Santa Barbara which - to this date - I consider possibly the most well-received talk I have ever given.

One thing that I remember distinctly about that experience is that I had the feeling then that "Da Loveananda" (as I think he was then known) was somehow an influence on me at the time. I had been reading his books then. I remember this: he had been speaking about the need for greater fervency in spiritual practice. And, I wove that theme into my talk. Somehow, I felt connected with this guru at that moment - and, I believe, it brought out the best in me.

Now, here's another interesting synchronicity. Bill Okun's carving arrived yesterday and turned out to be an exquisite carving of the letter Aleph.

Here's the synchronicity. The carving brought to mind the fact that, in my Mind and Supermind lecture, I had concluded with a reflection on the short story, The Aleph, by Jorge Luis Borges. That, I think, is what led to the standing ovation. I had completely forgotten about that - until reminded by the carving.

The story of the Aleph, for me, had a similar (but slightly different) message as that of Adi Da. It is about how we experience the sacred in our life - but fail to acknowledge it, fail to integrate it, fail to fully digest and act upon the opportunity that it affords us. We can do better. That was my message and it was a powerful one. I am glad to be reminded of it.

And, the message for me of these synchronicities is that the universe itself is the great teacher. In fact, I very much like the term that Seneca used - "providence."
------------------------------------------------



Here's how Jorge Luis Borges described the mystical Aleph in his story:

"When I opened my eyes, I saw the Aleph."

"The Aleph?" I repeated.

"Yes, the only place on earth where all places are -- seen from every angle, each standing clear, without any confusion or blending...."

"For the Kabbala, the letter stands for the Ein Sof, the pure and boundless godhead; it is also said that it takes the shape of a man pointing to both heaven and earth, in order to show that the lower world is the map and mirror of the higher..."

My friend, Victoria Alexander (shown on the left, obviously), seems to be living proof that an individual can defy science -- on a daily basis. Here she is having dinner with nuclear physicist Edward Teller. The interesting thing to note, however, is that -- while he has a plate of food in front of him -- she does not. I have known Victoria well now, in the five years that I have lived in Las Vegas. I have shared many meals with her -- but I have never seen her eat more than a single potato chip.

You see, Victoria lives on a less-than-500 calories daily diet consisting (since 2000) of egg whites. And, she does not take vitamins. This fact is confirmed by her husband, Col. John Alexander, a well-known expert on non-lethal warfare methods -- and also a specialist in remote viewing and other ostensible paranormal phenomena. When John first introduced me to his wife, at a restaurant, he explained her dietary habits by saying that she has "anorexic-envy." (Anorexic Envy is the title of a book in progress Victoria is writing.) But, I have no sense, whatsoever, that there is anything unhealthy about Victoria's amazing diet (or lack thereof).

You can see from the photo that Victoria is quite healthy-looking -- and is, clearly, not suffering from the malnutrition that one would expect from her diet. In fact, she and her husband are world travelers. In the past few years they have visited Peru, Brazil, Antarctica, Mali, Nepal, Turkey and Argentina -- just to name a few exotic destinations. She attributes her excellent health to her beliefs and her state-of-mind.

I have no idea how she manages to remain to active and vital on her miniscule diet. Perhaps it is related to the fact that she once lived in a yoga ashram in India. It seems unlikely to me that, if she were secretely binging while no one was watching, her husband would be totally unaware of this -- after years of marriage. But, the only way to really research this anomaly -- to the satisfaction of skeptics -- would be to keep Victoria locked in a facility and monitored 24 hours a day, for many weeks at a time.

Victoria is also a talented writer. Here is a link to her regular column, The Devil's Hammer. You can always count on her to express unorthodox, provocative views. She specializes in film reviews -- but has even written a fascinating comedy screenplay called BeDeviled (about a woman whose sister is having a love affair with the devil). She has nearly 500 film reviews on the influential film site RottenTomatoes.com.

She is also a student of mysticism and of the South American ritual use of ayahuasca. She has allowed me to persuade her to post on the web a fascinating paper she has written on this topic.

Recently, I had a long conversation with my friend Jane Katra, Ph.D., coauthor with physicist, Russell Targ, of two fascinating books -- Miracles of Mind and The Heart of the Mind.



I first met Jane in Europe in 1976 when we both attended parapsychology conferences in Amsterdam and in London. Jane, who has her doctorate in public health, is a spiritual healer; and she is also deeply involved in investigating the question of survival after death.

Miracles of Mind tells two stories. One of them involves the remote viewing (or clairvoyance) research of Russell Targ. The other story is how Russell received a medical diagnosis of terminal cancer, and how Jane worked with him as a healer. Initially, x-rays shows spots on Russell's liver. He was told by his doctor that he might have only six months to live. After about six weeks of working with Jane, the next test, a CATscan, showed no signs of cancer at all.

Jane has told me how she felt guided to work with Russell Targ by the spirit of a deceased psychic, Hella Hamid, who had been one of Targ's star subjects in his remote viewing research. The interesting part of this story is that Jane had never met Hella Hammid.

Jane is also a very talented remote-viewer, and participated in an important pilot study (that I helped to initiate) showing that remote-viewing can be used to predict the financial markets.



In the second book, coauthored by Targ and Katra, The Heart of the Mind, the focus is on secular people can come to know god by opening themselves up to the experience of universal love.

In my earlier blog about the late Elisabeth Targ, M.D., I reported on an apparent instance of communication that I received from her. And, I alluded to the fact that many other individuals have also reported such instances. Jane Katra is currently working on a book about these communications. I am very much looking forward to reading it.

The Rainbow YinYang is an image I've been working with for about 30 years. Even when I got married 28 years ago, I had the pastry chef make it right into the frosting of our wedding cake. Sometimes I say that if I had to take all that I have ever learned and communicate it into a single symbol, the Rainbow YinYang would be it. (And that's after having several books, having gotten a Ph.D. in parapsychology, and having conducted radio and television interviews with close to a thousand people.)

The image represents how creation itself occurs by taking the essence of the universe, which in one sense is nothing at all, because before creation there was nothing, and dividing it, taking nothing and dividing it in two. In Buddhism that is called "mutually arising conditions," and it's precisely how cosmologists and physicists today believe that the big bang occurred. There was a singularity, and in that singularity, out of the nothingness the universe was created in an explosion of huge amounts of matter and anti-matter. That was the big bang. What we have left now is just a little bit of the matter that didn't get destroyed when the matter and anti-matter collided and mostly destroyed each other, and went back into the great nothingness of the universe.

The ancients who created the YinYang philosophy did so in an effort to integrate all the known thought of their own time, and they did it early enough in human history, some 2,500 years ago. They weren't constrained by certain ideas that we moderns take for granted; for example, the idea that there is such a thing as subjective and objective. The ancients understood it differently. They knew everything was interrelated, interconnected. No one of us can't separate our self from the rest of the world.

And so the philosophy of the Yin Yang was based on this integral understanding. Out of it emerged the I-Ching, the Book of Changes. Based on the notion totally alien to the modern Western mind: that a human being can, for example, throw yarrow stalks - or coins - into the air and watch how they fall, understand from them what are the dynamics of interplay of energy in the world and how that might effect the state of the kingdom, or the fate of an individual posing a particular question at a particular moment in time. To the modern mind, these things have nothing to do with each other. To the ancient mind, they were quite related, because the ancients didn't separate subjective and objective.

The Rainbow YinYang, or the YinYang, is the archetypal symbol of all complementarity, all duality. In each body, there is the heartbeat; there is the breath; there is the muscle system, the digestion, the nerves, and even at the level of DNA, the double helix, molecules - a constant sense of movement, of balance, of dance, of rhythm, of two forces always playing with each other, always in equilibrium with each other, and all of these multiple systems in equilibrium with each other in the healthy person. Sometimes they get out of balance, and we can use healing symbols and mandalas to help us restore that balance that unifies all of these symbols.

So the philosophy of Yin and Yang became the basis of Chinese medicine, and it became the basis of all the martial arts in Asia, which were also the basis of all dance forms, forms of movements, forms of walking with life energy, flowing with life energy, being attuned to the harmonies of the cosmos, the harmonies our bodies, the harmonies of our soul all at once.

Carl Jung, the great Swiss psychiatrist, had his patients draw mandalas. The changing mandalas were expressions of the creative unfolding process of archetypal elements in the patients' own souls. I've often thought of that as being my process right here, that if I were to show you a picture of my soul, it would be the Rainbow YinYang graphics, so I think this is part of my urge to express it as well, but I think of it as more than just my soul, obviously related to the collective consciousness.

Click here to see my animated version of the Rainbow YinYang.

I created this piece electronically by combining an antique Chinese temple scroll that my wife, Janelle, acquired in Taiwan, with the rainbow yinyang image. The Arhats of Buddhism are considered totally enlightened beings.

The image above is from an antique temple scroll from Taiwan that my wife, Janelle, acquired about forty years ago. It is about five feet high and currently hangs in our bedroom.

The man in the upper left corner is crossing over into the realm of the dead. He will be taken before the judge, the large figure in the upper right who is served by various officials. The Chinese, who were very bureaucratic, seem to picture the afterlife functioning in a similar manner.

There are two men in front of the judge who are being forced to carry animals on their backs. That is because, during their life on earth, they were cruel to animals.

This picture reminds me a little bit of Disneyland, actually; because it seems as if the people standing in line waiting for their judgment (just underneath the two men carrying animals) are being given Mickey Mouse ears to wear.

Then, underneath this line, we see twelve different realms depicted that, I believe, are associated with rebirth. The middle realm at the very bottom is the realm of insects. To the left of it, we see a realm of various animals. There is also a realm of birds just below the three o'clock position. The other realms depict different levels of social status including peasants, scholars and nobility.

The Chinese character in the very center is the word for heart. And it is also shaped, somewhat, to resemble a human heart.