Mind is part of nature, so nature includes Mind. Soul is not part of nature; souls collectively and as ONE contain nature. Nature comprises the contents of consciousness.
All we really know is consciousness, and the contents of consciousness. That is the only thing real. Everything else is a fairy tale invented to organize and categorize the contents of consciousness. Those scholars who are working on a “theory of consciousness” want to reduce consciousness to one of those fairy tales. Isn’t that getting the cart before the horse? We live in an age of reduction and materialism, where consciousness seems unreal, and the contents of consciousness the only reality. What are these things we believe in so firmly, electrons, quarks, galaxies? Fairy tales built upon fairy tales. I play the game too, but I never forget that consciousness is the only reality. What happens in sleep, or in a coma? Are we truly unconscious, or are we merely conscious of a different state? If sleep weren’t a form of consciousness, why would we seek it and love it so much? It doesn’t matter that we can’t remember it later. The soul, that which is conscious, doesn’t seem to have a memory. We have been conscious forever, and will be conscious forever, but we don’t remember it, fortunately. We use the mind and brain to store memories. Soul is understood only by mystics. BTW, mysticism is the union with another consciousness, and is what saves us from solipsism. Mysticism is how we know god. Or doG. Or the Nameless One.
It may be easier, or at least more conventional, to start with mind and spirit. I think spirit is the combination of a particular mind and a particular soul.
One thing at least has been scientifically proven, and that is reincarnation. Professor Ian Stevenson’s studies of young children who spontaneously recall a former lifetime, and his studies of responsive xenoglossy in adults in a deep hypnotic trance, rule out all alternatives to reincarnation. See his final chapter in Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation for the arguments that do rule out all known alternatives. So why is this book merely “suggestive?” Because Prof. Stevenson knows the importance of reproducibility. This book was published in 1967. In the 40 years since, his studies have been frequently reproduced, by himself and by other Psychical Researchers.
So we know that reincarnation is true. But what is it exactly that reincarnates, and what should we call it? Clearly there is a continuity of Self, of consciousness, of subconscious memory, even of personality and physical characteristics.
When people with well developed HSP look at a person, they see the physical and the non-physical. By “physical”, I mean ordinary matter, that reacts to the electro-magnetic force. I have a theory about the “non-physical” structure of chakras, nadi, and auras, long known to the Yogis of India. My theory is that it is dark matter, the same dark matter that seems to be necessary in astronomy, although there are other alternatives, such as MOND, which have not been ruled out. MOND changes Newton’s formula for gravity. This change only becomes evident at great distances, and it seems to be affecting the space probes that have now left the Solar System, that are still active. So, we don’t know for sure whether dark matter is required for astronomy or not. I suspect it is necessary, even if MOND is true. It comes in very handy in talking about the non-physical part of a person, since we know it is invisible and intangible to eyeballs or physical instruments. It can only be seen by one of the intrinsic powers of the Mind, a power that comes into action upon leaving the body, either temporarily, as in an NDE or OBE, or permanently, as in death. This power was dubbed HSP by one of the great pioneers of psychical research, Shafica Karagulla. See her book Breakthrough to Creativity if you can find it.
The spirit (as I shall call whatever reincarnates) thus satisfies one requirement of dark matter. It does not react with the electro-magnetic (EM) force. The other requirement is that it has mass. And tests have been made of the mass loss at death in an enclosed system, and these tests show that the spirit does have mass. 21 grams. We can’t consider the issue settled. We require reproducibility, so we require volunteers and experimenters to perform this test again. But would hospitals or hospices allow it? I don’t think so. This would only work with home deaths.
What is HSP exactly? It cannot be one of the four forces of physics. Yet it must radiate and it must have the power to control the body and receive input from the physical senses. The old mind-body problem. My solution is the de Broglie wave. It fits all the requirements. It is not a force, and does not convey energy. But it does convey information. Indeed, it determines what states of matter are possible, and their various probabilities. It is the foundation of “Physics without Paradox”, as I point out in my book in a chapter of that same name.
I didn’t invent de Broglie waves. They were discovered by Prince Louis de Broglie, and are familiar to all physicists. The two basic equations for de Broglie waves associate such a wave with a particle, either a Fermion or a Boson, makes no difference, so long as that particle has momentum P, and velocity v. If we write L as the de Broglie wavelength, and W as the velocity of the de Broglie wave, then
L = P/h and W = C**2/v, where h is Planck’s constant, 6.6*10**(-27) erg-sec, and C is the speed of light, 3*10**10 cm/sec.
If the associated particle is moving at 1 cm/sec, its associated de Broglie wave velocity is colossal, 9*10**20 cm/sec. Ok class, get out your calculators and your physics and chemistry handbook and figure out how long it would take to cross the known universe, with a diameter of 28 billion light-years. Obviously information can travel far faster than matter or energy. Indeed, it can travel at the speed of light squared. But, we do not need to be concerned with these formulae or numbers in talking about HSP.
My theory is that HSP is perception of the de Broglie waves, constantly emitted by both physical matter and dark matter. HSP is not quite like ordinary vision. We can see in a 360 degree arc. It works just as well in complete darkness as in light. It is possible to focus HSP to successive inner layers of an object, ordinary or dark. One of Karagulla’s best subjects, “Diane” could diagnose illness just by looking at someone. Once she spotted an obstructed bowel. Karagulla was a practicing MD, and she would have Diane sit in the waiting room, and make her diagnosis, then Karagulla would make hers, and they would compare notes.
When the Mind (or whatever we want to call that structure of chakras, nadi, and aura) emits de Broglie waves, usually with the aura of the eyes or the hands, things can be changed. Spoons may bend. Watches may stop, or start. Uri Geller has twice stopped the clock on Big Ben in London. It is by receiving de Broglie waves that children in Russia learned dermo-optic vision, that is, reading with their hands, or strictly speaking, with the aura around their hands. This has been duplicated in China (see the chapter on “Chinese Studies”). HSP powers can be acquired by long practice. It is by emitting de Broglie waves that Don Juan, Carlos Castaneda’s teacher could make an automobile engine stop. No doubt he was pushing the probabilities of the sparkplugs toward “no sparking.”
HSP turns on automatically when we go out of body. We know this from NDE and OBE studies. However, the full power isn’t necessarily there. It takes practice or some natural ability to be able to see auras, chakras, and nadi. Mostly we see physical reality on going out of body. But how is that possible without eyeballs? To say nothing of the fact that our body is laying on the bed, asleep or temporarily dead. It also takes practice to emit de Broglie waves, and “push the probabilities” so that spoons bend or watches start.
Another power that comes on automatically when we go out of body is the apparitional sense. This, too, can be used in send or receive mode. It is with this power that NDE people can hear what people are saying, just as they start to say it. What we send with our apparitional sense is our own self-body-image, which is how we think of ourselves. A person who dies at 86 may think of herself as she looked at 19, and that is how she will appear to others in the “between.” A person who dies as an infant may see himself as a young boy, as the young boy he would have been, rather than as an infant. This explains the main facts gathered about apparitions (see G.N.M. Tyrell’s classic book Apparitions, originally published in 1940, but constantly reprinted.)
Does all the spirit leave the body during an NDE or OBE? I don’t know. Further research is needed.
If we had research grants, Ph. D. programs, and journals, we could make rapid progress in Psychical Research (also called Psionics). In fact, Stevenson’s worldwide researches in 1964 were financed by a millionaire named Carlson. No research money has ever been better spent.
The study of the spirit and soul proceeds quite differently, forming a science I call empirical metaphysics. But is it really a science? It has reproducibility. That was William James great discovery in The Varieties of Religious Experience. He discovered that alone among religious experiences, mystical states are the same in all religions, and there is a list of characteristics of mystical states. I have modified his list slightly: (1) Noesis, (2) Ecstacy, (3) Illumination, (4) Union of opposites. Illumination is to be taken literally. One of the surest signs of a mystical state is being filled and surrounded by a supernal light. The color of the light changes with the mystical state (there are more than one). If it is the color of fire, then it is the illumination of fire, or Cosmic Consciousness. See Richard Bucke’s Cosmic Consciosness, although quite frankly, I do a much better job of describing it in my own book. I experienced it at age 31, and it is, of course, one of the seminal experiences of my life.
Cosmic consciousness reveals a gestalt of all of life and history in all its detail, with a single pattern running through it. There is no one word for it, though I propose calling it the illumination of fire. It is creativity, spontaneity, innocence, grace, free will, beauty, joy and love of all. We see that the disasters in life prepared us for a different set of challenges, or gave us a sense of renewal. I could illustrate that from my own life, but I don’t think I will. I am a hermit, after all, who values his privacy and solitude. The fire is seen in a 3 yr old happily playing in a sandbox, talking to herself, making up worlds and destroying them. The divine function. It is an athlete in their supreme moment, going beyond what was thought to be possible. It is a Mockingbird singing ecstatically, hopping up and down on his perch in excitement. It is the flower that is far more beautiful than it needs to be, and smells better too. It is the pattern a tree makes against a winter sunset, unique, chosen by the free will of the tree. Free will is a function of the Soul, and contrary to Christian dogma, mystics find it everywhere, even in trees, or storms, or mountains.
Metaphysics is really about divinity. Metaphysics rests on two pillars, one of them the American philosopher William James, and the other the Swiss psychoanalyst C. G. Jung. They were both philosophers, 2 of the 24. Jung found the same archetypes, the same stories, the same meanings and messages in the dreams of a 12 year old, and in ancient holy folk tales from Persia…and many other places. So symbolic revelations from the depths of Self are also reproducible. Still, metaphysics will never be quite like the other sciences. One thing it does share with them, and that is TRUTH.
One of my favorite metaphysical revelations is the Word of One, which we have posted on this site. It is out of print, naturally. There are other places where the philosophy of ONE are elaborated, including a song by Alanis Morissette, called “One.” This is what she learned in India, and it is the one essential truth. In it lies immortality, which is not the same thing as reincarnation. Our spirits may reincarnate innumerable times, but if we only reincarnate as humans, what happens when Homo Sapiens becomes extinct? What happens when the Sun becomes a Red Giant, about 5 billion years from now, and later forms one of those lovely “planetary nebulae” so beautifully pictured by the Hubble telescope?
Not to worry. Everything that happens in nature, happens in the consciousness of the totality of all fields of consciousness, which comprise ONE. This is the one thing which has always existed and always will. When Earth comes to an end, we will find other realms of consciousness, perhaps encased in the physical world, and perhaps not. When this universe comes to an end, in a big crunch or in the gradual decay of everything physical, the ONE may just dream another universe. Or the next universe may come about automatically. Cosmology is in a state of turmoil, with more questions than answers.
The Word of One is not the only revelation of ONE. There is also Seth Speaks by Jane Roberts (1970) and many other mystical and metaphysical writings, in all religions. I choose to believe the Revelation of One, because the 22 books that comprise this revelation cover every conceivable topic, and most of it I can verify from my own mystical, psychical or other experience.
It is likely that mysticism and revelation will always remain a more individual pursuit than the other sciences. Still, the same basic rules of scientific method apply.
Be of good cheer. Blessing Be. The world is a beautiful place. The tyranny of thought of the Thinker is about to be broken. We shall break out of the flybottle of the reductionist, and receive our true heritage as great and powerful spiritual beings, star travelers and utopians.
“The juice of memory rises. When it spills will be the time of reversal. It is coming. Be ye prepared. Mighty shall be the roar, violent the rending, joyous the release.” p. 164 of the Word of One.