Sixth Sense: ESP and subtle perception ability
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Ram Lakhan Pandey Vimal
Jun 3, 2017, 7:13:47 AM6/3/17
to VINOD KUMAR SEHGAL, Online Sadhu Sanga, Matters Of Mind, Vivekanand Pandey Vimal
Dear Vinod ji,
Comments on the following sixth sense information will be appreciated. As you will notice, the term ‘sixth sense” has been used since ancient time. Here, I am trying to interpret it in terms of the atheist and theist versions of the eDAM.
4.5. The sixth sense hypothesis: Paranormal experiences, NDEs/OBEs, Samādhi state Experiences and their neural bases in the extended Dual-Aspect Monism
This section is adapted from Section 3.19.11 of (Vimal, 2016c), Sections 2.1, 2.3.3, 5.8.3, 5.32.1, 5.35, 5.37-5.40 of (Vimal, 2009c) and (Vimal & Pandey-Vimal, 2011).
Do we have the sixth sense beyond our mundane five senses for explaining paranormal experiences, NDEs/OBEs, and Samādhi state experiences? If we accept that all kinds of subjective experiences (SEs) including SEs related to Savikalpa Samādhi (SS) and Nirvikalpa Samādhi (NS) states have their respective neural basis, then perhaps we may have sixth sense.
4.5.1. Wikipedia: sixth sense is ESP
1. Summary
As per Wikipedia (as of 2 June 2017), “Extrasensory perception, ESP or Esper, also called sixth sense, includes reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses but sensed with the mind. The term was adopted by Duke University psychologist J. B. Rhine to denote psychic abilities such as intuition, telepathy, psychometry, clairaudience, and clairvoyance, and their trans-temporal operation as precognition or retrocognition.[1]
Parapsychology is the study of paranormal psychic phenomena, including ESP. Parapsychology has been criticized for continuing investigation despite being unable to provide convincing evidence for the existence of any psychic phenomena after more than a century of research [(Cordón, 2005)].[2] The scientific community rejects ESP due to the absence of an evidence base, the lack of a theory which would explain ESP, and the lack of experimental techniques which can provide reliably positive results; and considers ESP to be pseudoscience.[3][4][5][6][7] […]
“The essential problem is that a large portion of the scientific community, including most research psychologists, regards parapsychology as a pseudoscience, due largely to its failure to move beyond null results in the way science usually does. Ordinarily, when experimental evidence fails repeatedly to support a hypothesis, that hypothesis is abandoned. Within parapsychology, however, more than a century of experimentation has failed even to conclusively demonstrate the mere existence of paranormal phenomenon, yet parapsychologists continue to pursue that elusive goal.” [Footnote#2: (Cordón, 2005)(p.182)].”
2. History
As per Wikipedia (as of 2 June 2017), “In the 1930s, at Duke University in North Carolina, J. B. Rhine and his wife Louisa E. Rhine conducted investigation into extrasensory perception. While Louisa Rhine concentrated on collecting accounts of spontaneous cases, J. B. Rhine worked largely in the laboratory, carefully defining terms such as ESP and psi and designing experiments to test them. A simple set of cards was developed, originally called Zener cards[8] – now called ESP cards. They bear the symbols circle, square, wavy lines, cross, and star; there are five cards of each in a pack of 25. [Zener cards were first used in the 1930s for experimental research into ESP.]
In a telepathy experiment, the "sender" looks at a series of cards while the "receiver" guesses the symbols. To try to observe clairvoyance, the pack of cards is hidden from everyone while the receiver guesses. To try to observe precognition, the order of the cards is determined after the guesses are made. Later he used dice to test for psychokinesis.[9][10]
The parapsychology experiments at Duke evoked criticism from academics and others who challenged the concepts and evidence of ESP. A number of psychological departments attempted to repeat Rhine's experiments with failure. W. S. Cox (1936) from Princeton University with 132 subjects produced 25,064 trials in a playing card ESP experiment. Cox concluded "There is no evidence of extrasensory perception either in the 'average man' or of the group investigated or in any particular individual of that group. The discrepancy between these results and those obtained by Rhine is due either to uncontrollable factors in experimental procedure or to the difference in the subjects."[11] Four other psychological departments failed to replicate Rhine's results.[12]
In 1938, the psychologist Joseph Jastrow wrote that much of the evidence for extrasensory perception collected by Rhine and other parapsychologists was anecdotal, biased, dubious and the result of "faulty observation and familiar human frailties".[13] Rhine's experiments were discredited due to the discovery that sensory leakage or cheating could account for all his results such as the subject being able to read the symbols from the back of the cards and being able to see and hear the experimenter to note subtle clues.[14][15][16][17]
In the 1960s parapsychologists became increasingly interested in the cognitive components of ESP, the subjective experience involved in making ESP responses, and the role of ESP in psychological life. This called for experimental procedures that were not limited to Rhine's favored forced-choice methodology. Such procedures have included dream telepathy experiments, and the ganzfeld experiments (a mild sensory deprivation procedure).[18][19][20]”
3. Skepticism
As per Wikipedia (as of 2 June 2017), “The scientific consensus does not view extrasensory perception as a real phenomenon.[21][22][23][24][25][26][27] Skeptics claim that there is a lack of a viable theory of the mechanism behind ESP, and that there are historical cases in which flaws have been discovered in the experimental design of parapsychological studies.[28] There are many criticisms pertaining to experiments involving Extrasensory Perception, particularly surrounding methodological flaws. These flaws are not unique to a single experimental design, and are effective in discrediting much of the positive research surrounding ESP. Many of the flaws seen in the Zener card experiment are present in the Ganzfeld experiment as well. First is the stacking effect, an error that occurs in ESP research. Trial-by-trial feedback given in studies using a “closed” ESP target sequence (e.g., a deck of cards) violates the condition of independence used for most standard statistical tests. Multiple responses for a single target cannot be evaluated using statistical tests that assume independence of responses. This increases likelihood of card counting and in turn, increases the chances for the subject to guess correctly without using ESP. Another methodological flaw involves cues through sensory leakage. For example, when the subject receives a visual cue. This could be the reflection of a Zener card in the holder’s glasses. In this case, the subject is able to guess the card correctly because they can see it in the reflection, not because of ESP. Finally, poor randomization of target stimuli could be happening. Poor shuffling methods can make the orders of the cards easier to predict, or the cards could’ve been marked and manipulated, again, making it easier to predict which cards come next. [29] The results of a meta-analysis found that when these errors were corrected and accounted for, there was still no significant effect of ESP. Many of the studies only appeared to have significant occurrence of ESP, when in fact, this result was due to the many methodological errors in the research.”
4.5.2. Wikiversity and Mirror: sixth sense is ESP
As per Wikiversity (as of 2 June 2017), “The sixth sense is another term for extrasensory perception. Extrasensory perception (ESP) would involve the reception of information not gained through the recognized senses and not internally originated. According to the National Science Foundation extrasensory perception is listed as pseudoscience.[1]
The expression "sixth sense" is a misnomer that falsely suggests that there is only one additional sense besides the traditional five senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste, a classification attributed to Aristotle.[2] Humans have at least five additional senses that include: nociception (pain); equilibrioception (balance); proprioception and kinaesthesia (joint motion and acceleration); sense of time; thermoception (temperature differences); and possibly an additional weak magnetoception (direction).[3]
There is no firm agreement among neurologists as to the number of senses because of differing definitions of what constitutes a sense. The senses and their operation, classification, and theory are overlapping topics studied by a variety of fields, most notably Neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and philosophy of perception. The nervous system has a specific sensory system, or organ, that manages each sense.
One categorization for human senses is as follows: chemoreception; photoreception; mechanoreception; and thermoception. This categorization has been criticized as too restrictive, however, as it does not include categories for accepted senses such as the sense of time and sense of pain.
Some animals possess senses that are absent in humans, such as electroreception[4] and detection of polarized light.[5]”
As per Mirror, “ ‘Sixth sense does exist’ scientists claim - but it's nothing to do with ghosts. A ‘sixth sense’ which goes beyond the basic five senses of taste, smell, touch, sight and hearing, has apparently been discovered in America”.
4.5.3. Spiritual Science Research Foundation (SSRF): sixth sense is ESP and subtle perception ability: Sāṅkhya and Vedānta
1. What is sixth sense?
As per SSRF (as of 2 June 2017), “Sixth sense, or subtle perception ability, is our ability to perceive the subtle-dimension or the unseen world of angels, ghosts, Heaven (Swarga), etc. It also includes our ability to understand the subtle cause and effect relationship behind many events, which is beyond the understanding of the intellect. Extrasensory perception (ESP), clairvoyance, premonition, intuition are synonymous with sixth sense or subtle perception ability. Throughout this website we use the words sixth sense, ESP and subtle perception ability interchangeably.”
2. What do we perceive and understand with sixth sense?
As per SSRF (as of 2 June 2017), “The SSRF defines the word ‘subtle world’ or 'spiritual dimension' as the world which is beyond the understanding of the five senses, mind and intellect. The subtle world refers to the unseen world of angels, ghosts, heaven, etc. which can only be perceived through our sixth sense.
We perceive the gross or seen world through the five physical senses (i.e. smell, taste, sight, touch and sound), our mind (our feelings), and our intellect (decision making capacity). When it comes to the unseen world or the subtle-world, we perceive it through the five subtle-senses, the subtle-mind and the subtle-intellect – this is what is known as our sixth sense. When the sixth sense is developed or activated, it helps us to experience the subtle-world or subtle-dimension. This experience of the subtle-world is also known as a ‘spiritual experience’. It is through sixth sense that SSRF seekers have obtained Divine Knowledge on different topics such as life after death, kundalini awakening and the coming World War 3.
In the above picture, we see a lady who smells a bunch of roses. This would constitute an experience as there is a definite source to the fragrance of roses i.e. the bunch of roses. In the other picture, we see a lady not smelling roses, pondering over the start of her working day. All of a sudden and with no apparent cause, she gets a strong fragrance of sandalwood. She initially dismisses it, as she cannot see where it is coming from and goes on to ponder her work day. However, the fragrance follows her to her work place and lingers with her throughout the morning. She asks other people if they can smell the fragrance, but no one does. This would constitute a spiritual experience. In this case, the lady actually perceived a fragrance emanating from the subtle-dimension and experienced the fragrance through the medium of her subtle sense organ of smell. The ability to perceive or experience the subtle-dimension through the five subtle-senses, subtle-mind and subtle-intellect is what is known as one’s sixth sense.”
3. What is sixth sense perception through the five subtle sense organs?
As per SSRF (as of 2 June 2017), “The world is made from the five Absolute Cosmic Principles (Panchatattva). These Cosmic Principles cannot be seen but make up all of creation. When our sixth sense gets activated, we begin to perceive these Absolute Cosmic Principles progressively, beginning from the most gross to the most subtle. Thus, we are able to perceive them in the order of the Absolute Earth (Pruthvī), Water (Āpa), Fire (Tēj), Air (Vāyu) and Ether (Ākāsh) elements through our subtle-sense of smell, taste, vision, touch and sound respectively.
The following table provides examples of positive and negative spiritual experiences that we may perceive through our sixth sense, that is, through the medium of the five subtle-senses.
When a person perceives something through a subtle sense organ, e.g. smell, the source could be from a positive energy like a deity or a negative energy like a ghost.
4. How does one develop the sixth sense?
As per SSRF (as of 2 June 2017), “The subtle-world is all around us. However, we cannot perceive this world. Even though we cannot perceive the subtle-world, it impacts our lives to a great extent. In order to tune into this world we need a ‘spiritual antenna’, i.e. our sixth sense needs to be awakened. Our sixth sense grows when we do spiritual practice. With regular spiritual practice done according to the six basic principles of Spirituality, we increase our spiritual level and are able to perceive and experience the subtle-world to greater degrees.
Universal mind and intellect: Just as God’s creation such as humans, animals etc. have a mind and intellect, so does God’s entire creations, the Universe has a Universal Mind and Intellect which contains absolutely genuine information of all things in the Universe. It can be thought of as God’s Mind and Intellect. As one progresses spiritually one’s subtle mind and intellect merge with the Universal Mind and Intellect and thus that is how one is able to access information about the whole of God’s creation.
This is akin to a television set that gives a black and white speckled blur when it is not connected to an antenna. Even if the television station is transmitting signals, the television set cannot catch them until it is connected to an antenna. In the same way, the subtle-world and God’s presence is constantly around us, but we do not perceive it until we start doing spiritual practice, which in turn enables our sixth sense.
Please refer to our section on spiritual practice for developing sixth sense or subtle perception ability.
Sometimes we see people who have the ability to perceive the subtle world from a very young age even though they have not done any spiritual practice. The reason for this is that they have attained the requisite spiritual level from spiritual practice done in a past birth (previous life). Another reason this may happen is because they have been possessed by a ghost such as a subtle-sorcerer (māntrik) since childhood. In this case, it is actually the subtle-sorcerer’s sixth sense that is displayed.”
5. What is the relationship between sixth sense and spiritual level?
As per SSRF (as of 2 June 2017), “The extent (proportion) of the known world as compared to the subtle world or subtle dimension is 1 to infinity.
As our spiritual level goes on increasing, we are able to progressively perceive a greater extent of the subtle-world through our subtle perception ability, that is, our sixth sense. The following table shows the relationship between our sixth sense and our spiritual level.
From the above table, we can see that the maximum that can be perceived by the subtle sense organs is achieved at the 70% spiritual level. Hence, with further increase in spiritual level, there is no further increment in the subtle-perception through the five subtle sense organs. However, the subtle-mind and subtle-intellect continue to increasingly tune into the Universal Mind and Universal Intellect until the 100% spiritual level is achieved. The table below shows the minimum spiritual level necessary to be able to perceive each of the individual five subtle-senses if one’s sixth sense was purely a function of the spiritual level. For example, one can perceive the subtle-sense of smell at the 40% spiritual level.
While this bar graph serves as a guide to explain what the direct relationship between the spiritual level and sixth sense is, we should also note the following:
[1] When somebody acquires a spiritual experience of subtle-smell, it does not necessarily mean that he or she has attained the spiritual level of 40%. More often than not, it is a case of momentary or transient rise in spiritual level or ability either because of intense spiritual practice like chanting the Name of God, or being in the company of Saints, etc.
[2] There could be other factors contributing to the experience. For example, if a ghost (demon, devil, negative energy, etc.) wants a person to get the smell of urine around the house to frighten that person, it could use its spiritual energy to make it happen. This is without the necessary rise in spiritual level of the targeted person.
[3] It does not mean that all persons at 40% spiritual level will necessarily perceive a subtle-smell. The spiritual level of a person is the net function of many attributes; sixth sense is just one of them. Refer to the article on spiritual level.
[4] It also does not mean that these persons can perceive up to 100% of all the varieties of subtle-smells available or that they can perceive it all the time and at any time.
[5] It also does not mean that a person at spiritual level of 40% or above will necessarily perceive a subtle-fragrance. A person may attain Sainthood (i.e. the 70% spiritual level) without once having perceived through the five subtle-senses. One of the reasons for not getting such an experience could be that this person has already had these experiences in the past life and does not need them now. All Saints however, have the sixth sense that pertains to the subtle-mind and intellect.
You can also see from the graph that the subtle-sense of touch and sound are only perceived at higher spiritual levels. The reason for this is that they are more subtle among the five subtle-senses.”
6. What is the relationship between sixth sense (ESP) and gender?
As per SSRF (as of 2 June 2017), “Women, in general, have a stronger sixth sense than men. An extrasensory perception (ESP) ability comes more naturally to women and women are more likely to be intuitive than men. One of the main reasons for this is that men are more intellectually oriented and tend more towards the rational side.”
7. Spiritual experiences involving the subtle mind and subtle intellect
As per SSRF (as of 2 June 2017), “Sometimes one experiences a strange feeling of homecoming when seeing a totally unknown house, a premonition of impending disaster, or feels unending love for a person who is otherwise contrary to one’s liking. These are experiences through the subtle-mind. We cannot comprehend the reason behind these feelings. Sometimes we hear about people who get information from the subtle-dimension and who converse with beings in the subtle-regions. The following paragraphs will explain this phenomenon in more detail.”
7.1. How do people perceive this information?
As per SSRF (as of 2 June 2017), “People who receive knowledge from the subtle-dimension generally receive it in three ways:
[1] By letting a subtle-entity use one’s hand to write their message (known as automatic writing)
[2] By a vision where they can actually see the words or passages in front of their eyes
[3] Through thoughts
Among the above methods, receiving the answer in thoughts is most subtle among the three ways.”
7.2. What is the source of the knowledge that sixth sense gives access to?
As per SSRF (as of 2 June 2017), “People who receive knowledge from the subtle-dimension receive it either:
- Automatically due to their ability to tap into the Universal Mind and Intellect, or
- As answers to questions specifically asked by them to subtle-entities. They are able to do this through their sixth sense through the medium of their subtle-mind and intellect.
In both cases, the person understands the subtle-dimension, but only a spiritually evolved person can differentiate whether the knowledge received is due to the first or second way. In most cases, the person converses with subtle-bodies from the various subtle-regions such as the Nether region (Bhuvarlok) and the Hell region (Pātāl), and very rarely from a deity or God, that is the Universal Mind and Intellect.
The type and grade or level of information received depends on the spiritual level of the person receiving it.
Information from lower sources:
Absolute knowledge, also known as Divine knowledge is that knowledge which is complete, totally authentic and does not change or is the ultimate Truth.
The information received from subtle-bodies belonging to lower regions, i.e. from the Nether region or the Hell region, is mostly of a worldly nature and of importance only for a restricted part of the world and for a short time span. An example of this would be getting information about whether one would get married or get a job. Which political party would win the elections in any given country would be another example of such a type of knowledge received from lower level subtle-bodies in the spiritual dimension.
The information received by Nostradamus is an example of this category. Nostradamus, himself at the 50% spiritual level, received the information from a subtle-body at the 40% spiritual level. Many of the mediums fall in this category of receiving knowledge. A subtle-body at the 40% spiritual level may receive knowledge that is beyond him from higher-level subtle bodies. Also, subtle-bodies of the same or slightly higher level having the requisite knowledge, may pass it on. This is like a mason asking for knowledge about architecture or carpentry from another person.
Knowledge from higher sources:
The entire universe is made up of fourteen regions or planes (lokas) of existence, comprising seven positive and seven negative planes. Earth is the only physical plane while all the other planes are subtle in nature. Heaven is just one of the positive planes we can go after death.
Knowledge received from subtle-bodies from higher regions like the Maharlok (beyond Heaven) and above, is of a spiritual nature. The knowledge obtained is progressively of more universal need and of lasting importance in terms of a time span of centuries. Receiving divine knowledge from the Universal Mind and Universal Intellect (i.e. the mind and intellect aspects of God) is of the highest kind. As shown in the picture above, it is only possible for Saints to receive this knowledge. An example of this is the receipt of the knowledge contained in the Holy Vēdās by the Sages of ancient India.
To correctly ascertain what the source of the knowledge gathered through sixth sense is, one would need to be of a very high spiritual level i.e. a Saint of 90% or above. For more information on all the subtle-realms and regions please read the article ‘Where does one go after physical death?’.”
7.3. What is the method of determining whether information received is from sixth sense or one’s own subconscious thoughts?
As per SSRF (as of 2 June 2017), “There are a few pointers which suggest that the knowledge is being received from an external source as opposed to one’s own imagination.
- When the content of the knowledge is totally alien to the receiver’s field of knowledge. For example, there is a seeker of God who barely scraped through high school and yet receives complex diagrams of machines.
- The quantity of knowledge amassed is another indicator. A seeker of the Spiritual Science Research Foundation (SSRF) has been receiving Divine Knowledge from the subtle-dimension since 28 October 2003. Each day she receives over 15 – 20 A4 size pages of knowledge. This spiritual knowledge is currently being analysed and categorised for the benefit of humanity.”
7.4. What are the factors that decide which person receives knowledge through sixth sense and the subtle-intellect?
As per SSRF (as of 2 June 2017), “There is a combination of factors that goes into deciding what person receives knowledge from sixth sense. The spiritual level of a person is one of the key factors in deciding which person receives knowledge from the subtle. Besides the spiritual level, the factors that decide the acquiring of higher spiritual experiences, like the receipt of knowledge are:
- Motivation and intense yearning of the person
- Necessity for God’s mission
- Resolve and blessings of the Guru (a spiritual master and guide beyond the 70% spiritual level)
- Destiny of the person
It should be noted that if a person at a higher spiritual level is interested in acquiring knowledge of an inferior nature, for instance concerns about day-to-day happenings on Earth, even though he is capable of receiving knowledge from higher-level subtle-bodies, he would receive such knowledge through lower level subtle-bodies. In contrast, if a person at a comparatively lower spiritual level, e.g. 50%, has a deep motivation to learn the higher principles of spiritual sciences, he will receive knowledge from higher subtle-bodies or subtle-bodies from higher regions, especially if blessed by the Guru.”
7.5. Sixth sense, premonitions and time and space
As per SSRF (as of 2 June 2017), “Sometimes people have premonitions about things to happen, or a gut feeling about events that have happened in the past. This is possible in two ways:
1. Through subtle-bodies: The premonition (information) has been put into their sub-conscious mind by subtle-bodies. In most cases, the subtle-bodies or entities are ghosts from the Nether Region or the Hell region. These subtle-bodies in some cases have the ability to see across time. If they themselves do not have this ability, they get the information from higher-level ghosts like subtle-sorcerers with this ability.
2. Accessing the Universal Mind and Intellect: There are seven layers to the Universal Mind and Intellect. Depending on what grade one’s sixth sense is, a person may be able to tap into a lower or higher layer of the Universal Mind and Intellect.
In almost all cases of premonition (a forewarning of the future), clairvoyance (information received from a distant place) and precognition (information received from a distant time), the information is received from subtle-bodies and not through one’s ability to access the Universal Mind and Intellect. The harm that subtle-bodies can cause is explained in the next section.”
7.6. What is the accuracy of knowledge received via sixth sense?
As per SSRF (as of 2 June 2017), “A person generally receives knowledge from subtle-bodies with a spiritual level that is the same as the person’s, and the accuracy and grade of knowledge is also the same. To understand this concept, consider a scale of 0 to 100%, wherein no knowledge is 0%. The lowest knowledge understood by the intellect is 1% and that available from the Universal Intellect is 100%.
· A person at the spiritual level of 40% generally receives knowledge from a subtle-body of a corresponding spiritual level i.e. 40%, however the accuracy is also 40% and the grade of the knowledge is also 40%.
· Up to the spiritual level of 70%, the receipt of knowledge is more likely to be from ghosts (demons, devils, negative energies, etc.) and hence it is accompanied by a proportion of black energy. Those unaware of the mechanisms of the receipt of knowledge may be ignorant of this aspect and hence blindly believe implicitly in all the knowledge received. If the knowledge is received through subtle-bodies, there is a strong possibility that it may be incorrect in part or in entirety. The subtle-bodies usually give some correct knowledge in the beginning to garner belief. Once this is established, they go on to give varied degrees of incorrect or misleading information. Another important factor one has to consider is that the knowledge received from subtle-bodies is always cloaked in black energy. This affects the recipient adversely in various ways like failing health, psychological weakness, clouded intellect, etc. But this process is so gradual that it escapes the attention of the person and his family and friends. If this knowledge-receiving process continues for some time, slowly the person becomes a virtual puppet in the hands of the subtle-body to be used in various ways to further the interests of the subtle-body.
· But after the spiritual level of 70%, the knowledge is given by positive subtle-bodies like Saints and Sages in the higher regions above Heaven, or is received through the media of the Universal Mind and Intellect, and there is no black energy accompanying the knowledge.
· After attaining the spiritual level of 70%, one starts receiving Absolute Knowledge from the Universal Mind and Intellect.
There are various levels to understanding the negative aspect of the subtle-dimension such as ghosts (demons, devils, negative energies, etc.), demonic possession and an attack by a ghost. Quite often, what people are able to experience is just the tip of the iceberg. It is only at a spiritual level of over 90% that one is able to perceive the entire spectrum of the subtle-dimension.
Please refer to the article on the depth of ability to perceive paranormal activity with our sixth sense.”
8. What is the cost of misusing our sixth sense (ESP)?
As per SSRF (as of 2 June 2017), “Sixth sense is to be used only for spiritual growth towards God-realisation, the ultimate in spiritual growth. So, what is the cost of using sixth sense for worldly gain? From a pure spiritual perspective, it is considered misuse when sixth sense is used for anything besides spiritual growth. In other words, if a psychic uses his psychic ability to find out if a person is going to get married or get a job, it is considered misuse from a spiritual perspective.
When sixth sense (ESP) is misused by a person who is psychic, over time two things happen:
- They lose their ability. This generally happens over a 30 year period.
- They become targets for subtle-sorcerers of higher spiritual strength. Subtle-sorcerers initially give some genuine information, enough to gain the confidence of the person. However, they later mislead them and the people they are guiding. In such cases, their psychic ability lasts for longer periods and may in fact appear to have improved steadily. But this psychic ability is not by virtue of the person but because of the subtle-sorcerer who is guiding the psychic. In such cases, the rare gift of sixth sense available to the person that could have been utilised for God-realisation is wasted on lesser matters.”
4.6. Experiences of Samādhi/Nirvāṇa states in theist Sāṅkhya, Buddhism, and the eDAM
This section is adapted from Section 3.14.5 of (Vimal, 2016c). It is interesting that different metaphysics interprets the experiences of Samādhi/Nirvāṇa state differently, and also the experiences of this state are different for different systems. For example:
1. In the no-self/Anātman-based Buddhism, an enlightened yogi experiences the ultimate undifferentiated state of Śunyatā/nothingness as ‘darkness within darkness’ as per (Kowall & Deshpande, 2016). They propose ‘ego death’ (external to mind-brain-body system) after ‘body death’ to experience this Nirvāṇa state. Their framework, similar to the eDAM, is based on the bottom-up approach: from potential/undifferentiated pre-Big Bang state to realized/differentiated current mind-brain state. After ego-death, the latter (illusion of life) returns to the former (the fundamental real truth).
2. In the theist/Ātman-based Sāṅkhya and Vedānta (OOO-God theory), an enlightened yogi experiences everything (just opposite to no-self-based Buddhism), i.e., full lightness and the whole universe, i.e., what everybody is thinking and doing all over the world as per Vinod Sehgal [OOO: Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Omniscient]. He has full conviction in astral and causal bodies and manifested consciousness (external to a mind-brain-body system) from the beginning; this is the top-down approach (chetan or “manifested conscious” OOO-God creates everything).
3. The extended dual-aspect monism (eDAM: Dvi-Pakṣa Advaita) proposes that the experiences of Samādhi/Nirvāṇa states are within the realm of yogi’s mind-brain-body system and have their respective neural basis, as all experiences (including out-of-body experiences/OBEs and Bliss) have. Since there is no scientific reproducible evidence of life-after-death, the dead body returns to its constituents after death; each of them is a dual-aspect entity that has ‘latent’ mental aspect and fully manifested physical aspect. This is further elaborated in (Vimal, 2016b).”
4.7. A working hypothesis and three experiments to test OOO-God theory
From Sections 3.8.13.5 of (Vimal, 2016b) and 3.19.10 of (Vimal, 2016c), the working hypothesis and the three experiments on OOO-God theory are given below. My working hypothesis is as follows:
No mental entity (such as astral body, causal body, soul/Self, or God) is beyond our mind-brain-body system. It appears beyond only through the incompleteness of our knowledge such as related to the out-of-body experience (OBE). A complete knowledge must include the fact that an OBE has a neural basis. Thus, enlightened yogis, mystics, and people who propose life-after-death appear to disregard the knowledge related to neuroscience that all experiences, including OBEs at SS/NS states, have their respective neural bases and all mental entities are within the scope of mind-brain systems.
Experiences are subjective data; data are immortal if collected carefully, and hence they cannot be rejected. Therefore, whatever yogis experienced cannot be rejected. Only its interpretation can be questioned. The interpretation such as based on Sāṅkhya, Vedānta, and Buddhism has incomplete knowledge if knowledge from neuroscience is not included.
The above hypothesis related to OBEs can be tested as discussed before. For example, three experiments are proposed:
(I) Expt.1: Ask yogis to tell us what events are happening on specific days with randomly selected 100 people in many different countries.
(II) Expt.2: Inject anesthetics to yogis during NS-state and then, later on, ask yogis if they still experienced OBEs under deep anesthesia and/or
(III) Expt.3: Measure the neural correlates of OBEs by using fMRI/EEG or more sensitive techniques that can measure the neural basis of such very strong OBEs.
If results are positive in Expts. 1 and 2, then only we can claim that the Sāṅkhya-based OOO-God theory and the theist version of the eDAM are tenable. In other words, the theist eDAM can still interpret the data as follows: the degree of manifestation of the mental aspect of a state of soul, God, astral body, or causal body is very high and that of its inseparable physical aspect is latent. Thus, even in that case, the theist version of the eDAM cannot be rejected. However, the atheist version of the eDAM can be rejected.
If results are negative in Expts. 1 and 2, then the Sāṅkhya-based OOO-God theory and the theist version of the eDAM are rejected. However, the atheist version of the eDAM will hold.
If we are able to find a neural basis in Expt.3, then the Sāṅkhya-based OOO-God theory and the theist version of the eDAM are rejected. Alternatively, one can argue that techniques used were not sensitive enough to measure the neural basis and more sensitive technology needs to be developed.
4.8. A possibility of sixth sense: the eDAM
This section is adapted from Section 3.19.11 of (Vimal, 2016c). A working hypothesis for explaining the very difficult but to some extent reproducible Savikalpa Samādhi (SS)-state and Nirvikalpa Samādhi (NS)-state empirical data is that our mind-brain system has a sixth sense (whatever that may be!). If it really exists, it needs empirical verification (such as thru high-resolution fMRI/EEG). This sixth sense should able to receive information from any place outside of the brain perhaps thru 5 senses. If a yogi at SS-state focuses at a distant place (say 10,000 miles), s/he should be able to receive information from that place whatever people are doing or thinking. If this is really true as some yogis claim, s/he should have out-of-body experiences (OBEs) and able to ‘see’ what those people are doing and should be able to ‘know’ what they are thinking, i.e., it is a sort of feeling omnipresent or nonlocal in space-time. This phenomenon may have misled yogis to claim astral, causal and ‘manifested consciousness’ worlds, souls, and God independent of mind-brain systems because they were not neuroscientists.
A neuroscientist could argue that the ‘self’ is within the realm of her/his mind-brain system because all subjective experiences including near-death experiences (NDEs) and OBEs have their respective neural basis. In other words, at the SS-state, the sixth sense might exist in our mind-brain system, which might be activated. If this is true, then we can measure OBEs/NDEs’ respective neural correlates using high-resolution fMRI/EEG and or more sensitive techniques. Thus, we can investigate what this sixth sense is, where it is located in the brain, and how it works. How can a yogi see with eyes-closed what is going on far away from him, or even in the next room?
The hypothesis of sixth sense addresses paranormal data, psychic data, rebirth/reincarnation related data, NDEs/OBEs, spirit travel, visitations, and communication with the dead, transpersonal, transcendental, and Samādhi state data in a more realistic manner than thru the Sāṅkhya’s hypothetical 3 worlds: astral world, causal world, and ‘manifested consciousness’ or chetan world (such as Brahma loka, Vishnu loka, Shiva loka, Indra loka, Yama loka etc).
The information received by the sixth sense (thru five sensory organs, eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body’s somatosensory skin areas as feed forward signals) might be transmitted thru feedback re-entrant system to various the primary and association cortical and subcortical areas for analysis and synthesis to experience accordingly thru our usual neural process because all brain areas are interconnected. For example, if this extraordinary information during SS or Nirvikalpa Samādhi (NS) states is transmitted to the visual system, then yogi can see (visual experience) what is going on at a far distance (even if eyes are closed); if sent to the auditory area then s/he can hear and so on. If true, then it would be an interesting project.
Personally, I have experienced very low-intensity OBEs (a feeling of out of body but very close to body) 2-3 times during my intense Soham Meditation (3 hours or more) with fewer thoughts. A stronger OBE may be like a feeling of being in a next room. If we are able to minimize our thoughts to attain a stronger OBE, we may be able to measure its neural basis.
The dualistic Sāṅkhya metaphysics argues for mental worlds (such as astral, causal, and ‘manifested consciousness’ worlds) out of our mind-brain system, in analogy to Stapp’s Global Mind, in addition to our real 3D+1 physical world. The sixth sense hypothesis proposes that the three mental worlds are within our mind-brain system. It is unclear how this extraordinary information is received to our mind-brain system and transmitted to far distance from our mind-brain system. During Samādhi related OBE, the feeling is that the ‘self’ appears to project out of the body; as the fluctuations in thoughts and/or the amount of thoughts decrease, the feeling is that the 'self' goes further from the body. In other words, the distance from body increases as fluctuations/amount of thoughts decrease. When thoughts are very low, the self can travel very far from the body. At any rate, yogis claim that they can see thru Divya-chaksu and hear thru divya-shrotrendriya whatever goes on far places and they can also influence the events over there. In other words, information flow appears to be bidirectional. This is what I mean by sixth sense, but I agree that it is very hard to believe.
My colleague Vinod Sehgal uses dualistic Sāṅkhya to explain the data and I am trying to use the monistic extended dual-aspect monism to explain them.
Divya-chaksu can also be interpreted as the information in neural correlates of the sixth sense, which can receive information from very far distance in analogy radio/TV transmitter tuning; this neural information is transferred to a SS-state yogi’s visual system. In this way this yogi can experience visually long distance information.
Similarly, for other senses; for example, when the same information goes to auditory system, then the yogi can hear what is going on there. This is how the eDAM interprets (Swami Yogeshwaranand Paramahans Saraswati, 2014)’s claim “divya shrotrendriya divya shabdo ko—doordesh ke shabdo ko, sparshrendiya divya sparsh ko, esee prakār sabhee indriyon ke divya vishaya prakat hone lagte haen”. The term ‘sixth sense’ has been used before by many in a layperson language, but scientifically still needs to be discovered. This may be an interesting project to some of us.
Let us take an example: when a man A dies, that information is known to his relatives and to other related people and may be recorded in his environment. Another person B’s sixth sense can tune it under certain conditions and receive all the information about A and declare that B was A in B’s previous birth. This, however, misleads that a person really has previous births; rather, it is just tuning and obtaining the previous information.
The sixth sense in us is a possibility to explain paranormal, rebirth, NDEs, OBEs, Samādhi state experiences, which may not be explained thru our five senses. All these experiences must have their respective neural basis as per neuroscience.
Kind regards,
Rām
----------------------------------------------------------
Rām Lakhan Pāndey Vimal, Ph.D.
Amarāvati-Hīrāmaṇi Professor (Research)
Vision Research Institute, Physics, Neuroscience, & Consciousness Research Dept.
25 Rita Street, Lowell, MA 01854 USA
Ph: +1 978 954 7522; eFAX: +1 440 388 7907
Researched at University of Chicago and Harvard Medical Schools
Stanley Krippner
Jun 3, 2017, 5:11:55 PM6/3/17
to Online_Sa...@googlegroups.com
I will limit my comment to Wikipedia's biased report. It claims that our results in dream telepathy were never replicated. However, they were replicated several times but, in all fairness, many other attempts at replication were not successful. C E M Hansel is quoted to the effect that the experimenter was with the "sender" when the target envelope was opened. This never happened. Hansel's statement was corrected in several reviews of his book, but he made the same allegation when the second edition of his book was published. Of course it would have been a faulty protocol if the "sender" had opened the envelope containing the target picture in full view of the experimenter who, subsequently, was to interview the awakened participant to collect the dreams. For this reason, the protocol was designed so that the "sender" waited until he or she reached the distant room before opening the envelope containing the target picture. Now Hansel's false allegation has taken on a life of its own and is widely reported -- and will continue to be the major reason why our well-designed experiments will be discounted and ignored.
Stanley Krippner
From: 'Ram Lakhan Pandey Vimal' via Sadhu-Sanga Under the holy association of Spd. B.M. Puri Maharaja, Ph.D. <Online_Sa...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Friday, June 2, 2017 7:24 PM
To: VINOD KUMAR SEHGAL
Cc: Online Sadhu Sanga; Matters Of Mind; Vivekanand Pandey Vimal
Subject: [Sadhu Sanga] Sixth Sense: ESP and subtle perception ability
Sent: Friday, June 2, 2017 7:24 PM
To: VINOD KUMAR SEHGAL
Cc: Online Sadhu Sanga; Matters Of Mind; Vivekanand Pandey Vimal
Subject: [Sadhu Sanga] Sixth Sense: ESP and subtle perception ability
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Ram Lakhan Pandey Vimal
Jun 3, 2017, 5:11:55 PM6/3/17
to VINOD KUMAR SEHGAL, Online Sadhu Sanga, Matters Of Mind, Vivekanand Pandey Vimal
Dear Vinod ji,
Thanks.
I agree that monistic materialism
based neuroscience cannot explain how experiences arise. However, the monistic
eDAM explains clearly in (Vimal, 2010c). Here, we do not need to invoke various worlds beyond our physical
universe, where we reside.
The dualistic Sāṅkhya needs to invoke 3 worlds (astral, causal, and conscious chetan worlds)
beyond physical world, which is not necessary. The monism is always more
parsimonious than dualism.
Whatever yogis observe in Samādhi
state are their subjective experiences (SEs), which they interpret based on
whatever metaphysics they are trained for many years. Y.N. Swami ji and his
guru ji were trained in Sāṅkhya and hence they interpreted their subjective data in dualistic Sāṅkhya during Samādhi state. If they were trained in Dvi-Pakṣa Advaita (eDAM), they would have
interpreted in the eDAM as elaborated in (Vimal, 2010c). If they were trained in both, then perhaps, we would able to find which
one is better from their point of view.
To sum up, the “sixth sense” can also be
parsimoniously interpreted in the eDAM to explain the paranormal data.
Kind regards,
Rām
----------------------------------------------------------
Rām Lakhan Pāndey Vimal, Ph.D.
Amarāvati-Hīrāmaṇi Professor (Research)
Vision Research Institute, Physics, Neuroscience, & Consciousness Research Dept.
25 Rita Street, Lowell, MA 01854 USA
Ph: +1 978 954 7522; eFAX: +1 440 388 7907
Researched at University of Chicago and Harvard Medical Schools
On Saturday, 3 June 2017 8:36 AM, VINOD KUMAR SEHGAL <vinodse...@gmail.com> wrote:
Respected Dr. Ram,
Thanks.
I have made one reading of your quite long message on 6th sense. Before I submit my detailed comments on this message, I shall have 2-3 more readings. Today, I have emailed my detailed comments to your message as I had received on Ist June 2017.
In the meantime, I would like to submit my interim comments on your message on the 6th sense.
In my view, before we strive to understand the mechanism of 6th sense, it will be desirable to understand the mechanism of our normal 5 senses in the wakeful conscious state. If are able to understand the mechanism of the working of our 5 senses in the normal wakeful conscious state, it will be easy to understand the mechanism of the 6th sense.
Let us take one sense say the sense of vision and try to understand what is the mechanism of this sense. With our eyes opened in the wakeful conscious state, suppose we are staring at some physical object say a tree. The physical signal of e.m. radiation, as reflected by the tree, enters our eyes, is sensed by the cone cells, transmits thru the optic nerve and enters the Visual Cortex ( VC) area of the brain and we experience the view of a tree. Now with our eyes closed also, we can experience the view of the tree with the same vividness, coherence, and clarity. From this observation, we can easily infer that our eye organs made of cells and tissues are not the real sense of vision. Had our eyes been the real senses of visions, how could we see the tree in all its vividness and clarity with our closed eyes? Therefore, it can be inferred that our eye organs made of cells and tissues are a mere external socket to collect physical signals from the external objects. From this, we can also infer that real sense of vision lies internally to our external eyes as the socket for the collection of the physical signals.
But if the 'sense' of vision lies internally, where does it lie? As per the current neuroscience, as the signal enters the VC, some processing take place and we have a vision of the tree. That is all. Current neurobiological understanding is limited up to the macro level parts of the brain and there is no knowledge of the working of the brain up to the micro neuronal level. In other words, we don't have any knowledge at the VC level regarding the exact dynamic mechanism of the manner in which different neurons their role in the process of viewing a tree. Though VC may not be a large part of the brain in terms of area, however, since there are about 86 billion of neurons in the brain, therefore, we can reasonably expect that there may be a few hundred million, if not billion, neurons in the VC. So the question arises wherein these million ( or maybe a few billion also) neurons, the real 'sense' of vision located? Current neuroscience has no answer to this query. Therefore, in a way, the concept of the sense of vision becomes redundant in neuroscience.
However, there is a framework in neuroscience that the physical signal of the vision as operating in the neurons of the VC has a convergence mechanism thru some binding process. But where will the convergence take place? Since then we can say that real 'sense" of vision is located at the point where the convergence takes place. Does convergence take place in empty space or at some specific neuron? Convergence can't take place in the empty space since empty space does not has any ontological reality and for the 'sense' of vision to be a real one, there should be some ontological reality. Convergence can't take place at one or a few selected neurons since from one single neuron ( it is gain composed of atomic or sub-atomic particles) or a few neurons, again the question of convergence shall arise. Then those pinpointed neurons are also involved in the binding process. Otherwise, also, neuroscience has not pinpointed any single neuron where the convergence should take place.
Whenever we see a tree, its view is an integrated whole leading to the inference that signal of vision from the tree, as is processed within the neurons of VC, should converge at some point. and the real sense of vision should lie at that point of convergence. And this sense of organ should have some ontological reality. Neuroscience is unable to fix any neuron or a set of neurons wherein we could place our real 'sense of vision'. In view of this, the real sense of vision can't be the part of empty space, due to the absence of any ontology, and it should lie outside the neurotic structure of the brain, ontologically but not spatially.
Our occidental as well oriental yogis/sages had pondered over the above issue as to the location of the real sense of vision in a manner. In this respect, Saankhya philosophy has a special contribution. As per this philosophy, there are 10 senses -- 5 of knowledge and 5 of action. The real sense of vision is one of these 5 senses of knowledge. Ontology of these 5 senses or sense of vision ( in whose context we are discussing) is NOT that of the physical baryonic matter which constitutes the neuronic brain matter. Ontololgy of the sense of vision lies in the Astral matter whose nature is entirely different than the baryonic matter and different Laws are applicable on this matter. The Astral matter of the real sense of vision is located in space/time as different than space/time in which baryonic matter of the neuronic brain structure is located.
Though the stuff that constitutes the real sense of vision is ontologically different than that the neurotic structure of the VC, but spatially it is located in the VC area. So the point/place where the physical signal of the vision of the tree gets converged in the VC area of the brain, on completion of the binding process, there lies the Astral real sense of vision. When the physical signal becomes converged at the real Astral sense of the vision, the physical signal, as such, is not sensed by the Astral sense of vision. The physical signal gets translated/manifested in the form of the signal of corresponding Astral energy. Ultimately, it is the signal of the Astral energy ( having a matching relationship with the corresponding physical energy) which is sensed by the Astral sense of vision. But how does the signal of the physical energy gets translated/manifested to the corresponding signal of the Astral energy? i don't know of this mechanism. Problem has been that Scientists/neuroscientists who are interested in in understanding the micro level mechanism of any phenomenon have no awareness/access to the Astral eye which is the real sense of vision and Yogis/Sages who have the access to Astral sense of vision is not interested in understanding the micro level mechanism of any phenomenon.
But now the real issue comes. Any skeptic shall say what is the evidence for the aforesaid framework of the sense of vision. The majority of the scientists including neuroscientists by nature are skeptics due to the very nature of their training and methodology adopted by them to study different phenomena of nature. In this regards, hereinunder lies the answer to skeptics:
i) In the state of Samaadhi, the real Astral sense of vision including the area of the VC, wherein the real sense of vision is located, can be observed in a quite vividness, coherence, and clarity. In a broad manner, the interface of the baryonic VC and Astral sense of vision can also be observed.
ii) The mechanism of how the sense of vision is created? From where and how the sense of vision emerges? can also be observed in the state of Samaadhi.
iii) The sense of vision forms a part of the Astral body. other parts being Manas, Buddhi etc. The mechanism of how the sense of vision is related to Manas, Buddhi and other parts of the Causal body viz Chitta and Ahamkara can also be observed in the state of Samaadhi.
and of their respective role.
It must be understood that so far in the above framework of the mechanism of the sense of vision, consciousness has so far not appeared. So Astral sense of vision or Manas or Buddhi should not be confused with consciousness. Every entity is a physical one but its physicality being entirely of different nature as that of the known physicality of the baryonic matter and 4 forces.
As is applicable to the real Astral sense of vision is equally applicable to other 4 senses of knowledge viz audition, touch, taste and smell and 5 senses of action.
In the above framework of the real senses of knowledge, it becomes quite easy and logical to explain the phenomena of ESP at least of clairvoyance and clairaudience. There is no need to invoke any hypothetical 6th sense for explaining ESP. Precognition and Retrocognition strictly speaking are not ESP since no sense is involved in these phenomena.
However, you may plaese Ist comprehend fully the concept of Astral Senses which are the 'real senses'. Then I shall comment on ESP in terms of the Astral senses.
Reagrds.
Vinod Sehgal
On Sat, Jun 3, 2017 at 7:54 AM, Ram Lakhan Pandey Vimal <rlpv...@yahoo.co.in> wrote:
Dear Vinod ji,Comments on the following sixth sense information will be appreciated. As you will notice, the term ‘sixth sense” has been used since ancient time. Here, I am trying to interpret it in terms of the atheist and theist versions of the eDAM.4.5. The sixth sense hypothesis: Paranormal experiences, NDEs/OBEs, Samādhi state Experiences and their neural bases in the extended Dual-Aspect Monism
This section is adapted from Section 3.19.11 of (Vimal, 2016c), Sections 2.1, 2.3.3, 5.8.3, 5.32.1, 5.35, 5.37-5.40 of (Vimal, 2009c) and (Vimal & Pandey-Vimal, 2011).Do we have the sixth sense beyond our mundane five senses for explaining paranormal experiences, NDEs/OBEs, and Samādhi state experiences? If we accept that all kinds of subjective experiences (SEs) including SEs related to Savikalpa Samādhi (SS) and Nirvikalpa Samādhi (NS) states have their respective neural basis, then perhaps we may have sixth sense.4.5.1. Wikipedia: sixth sense is ESP
1. Summary
As per Wikipedia (as of 2 June 2017), “Extrasensory perception, ESP or Esper, also called sixth sense, includes reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses but sensed with the mind. The term was adopted by Duke University psychologist J. B. Rhine to denote psychic abilities such as intuition, telepathy, psychometry, clairaudience, and clairvoyance, and their trans-temporal operation as precognition or retrocognition.[1]Parapsychology is the study of paranormal psychic phenomena, including ESP. Parapsychology has been criticized for continuing investigation despite being unable to provide convincing evidence for the existence of any psychic phenomena after more than a century of research [(Cordón, 2005)].[2] The scientific community rejects ESP due to the absence of an evidence base, the lack of a theory which would explain ESP, and the lack of experimental techniques which can provide reliably positive results; and considers ESP to be pseudoscience.[3][4][5][6][ 7] […]“The essential problem is that a large portion of the scientific community, including most research psychologists, regards parapsychology as a pseudoscience, due largely to its failure to move beyond null results in the way science usually does. Ordinarily, when experimental evidence fails repeatedly to support a hypothesis, that hypothesis is abandoned. Within parapsychology, however, more than a century of experimentation has failed even to conclusively demonstrate the mere existence of paranormal phenomenon, yet parapsychologists continue to pursue that elusive goal.” [Footnote#2: (Cordón, 2005)(p.182)].”2. History
As per Wikipedia (as of 2 June 2017), “In the 1930s, at Duke University in North Carolina, J. B. Rhine and his wife Louisa E. Rhine conducted investigation into extrasensory perception. While Louisa Rhine concentrated on collecting accounts of spontaneous cases, J. B. Rhine worked largely in the laboratory, carefully defining terms such as ESP and psi and designing experiments to test them. A simple set of cards was developed, originally called Zener cards[8] – now called ESP cards. They bear the symbols circle, square, wavy lines, cross, and star; there are five cards of each in a pack of 25. [Zener cards were first used in the 1930s for experimental research into ESP.]In a telepathy experiment, the "sender" looks at a series of cards while the "receiver" guesses the symbols. To try to observe clairvoyance, the pack of cards is hidden from everyone while the receiver guesses. To try to observe precognition, the order of the cards is determined after the guesses are made. Later he used dice to test for psychokinesis.[9][10]The parapsychology experiments at Duke evoked criticism from academics and others who challenged the concepts and evidence of ESP. A number of psychological departments attempted to repeat Rhine's experiments with failure. W. S. Cox (1936) from Princeton University with 132 subjects produced 25,064 trials in a playing card ESP experiment. Cox concluded "There is no evidence of extrasensory perception either in the 'average man' or of the group investigated or in any particular individual of that group. The discrepancy between these results and those obtained by Rhine is due either to uncontrollable factors in experimental procedure or to the difference in the subjects."[11] Four other psychological departments failed to replicate Rhine's results.[12]In 1938, the psychologist Joseph Jastrow wrote that much of the evidence for extrasensory perception collected by Rhine and other parapsychologists was anecdotal, biased, dubious and the result of "faulty observation and familiar human frailties".[13] Rhine's experiments were discredited due to the discovery that sensory leakage or cheating could account for all his results such as the subject being able to read the symbols from the back of the cards and being able to see and hear the experimenter to note subtle clues.[14][15][16][17]In the 1960s parapsychologists became increasingly interested in the cognitive components of ESP, the subjective experience involved in making ESP responses, and the role of ESP in psychological life. This called for experimental procedures that were not limited to Rhine's favored forced-choice methodology. Such procedures have included dream telepathy experiments, and the ganzfeld experiments (a mild sensory deprivation procedure).[18][19][20]”3. Skepticism
As per Wikipedia (as of 2 June 2017), “The scientific consensus does not view extrasensory perception as a real phenomenon.[21][22][23][24][ 25][26][27] Skeptics claim that there is a lack of a viable theory of the mechanism behind ESP, and that there are historical cases in which flaws have been discovered in the experimental design of parapsychological studies.[28] There are many criticisms pertaining to experiments involving Extrasensory Perception, particularly surrounding methodological flaws. These flaws are not unique to a single experimental design, and are effective in discrediting much of the positive research surrounding ESP. Many of the flaws seen in the Zener card experiment are present in the Ganzfeld experiment as well. First is the stacking effect, an error that occurs in ESP research. Trial-by-trial feedback given in studies using a “closed” ESP target sequence (e.g., a deck of cards) violates the condition of independence used for most standard statistical tests. Multiple responses for a single target cannot be evaluated using statistical tests that assume independence of responses. This increases likelihood of card counting and in turn, increases the chances for the subject to guess correctly without using ESP. Another methodological flaw involves cues through sensory leakage. For example, when the subject receives a visual cue. This could be the reflection of a Zener card in the holder’s glasses. In this case, the subject is able to guess the card correctly because they can see it in the reflection, not because of ESP. Finally, poor randomization of target stimuli could be happening. Poor shuffling methods can make the orders of the cards easier to predict, or the cards could’ve been marked and manipulated, again, making it easier to predict which cards come next. [29] The results of a meta-analysis found that when these errors were corrected and accounted for, there was still no significant effect of ESP. Many of the studies only appeared to have significant occurrence of ESP, when in fact, this result was due to the many methodological errors in the research.”4.5.2. Wikiversity and Mirror: sixth sense is ESP
As per Wikiversity (as of 2 June 2017), “The sixth sense is another term for extrasensory perception. Extrasensory perception (ESP) would involve the reception of information not gained through the recognized senses and not internally originated. According to the National Science Foundation extrasensory perception is listed as pseudoscience.[1]
The expression "sixth sense" is a misnomer that falsely suggests that there is only one additional sense besides the traditional five senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste, a classification attributed to Aristotle.[2] Humans have at least five additional senses that include: nociception (pain); equilibrioception (balance); proprioception and kinaesthesi a (joint motion and acceleration); sense of time; thermoception ( temperature differences); and possibly an additional weak magnetoception ( direction).[3]There is no firm agreement among neurologists as to the number of senses because of differing definitions of what constitutes a sense. The senses and their operation, classification, and theory are overlapping topics studied by a variety of fields, most notably Neuroscience, cognitiv e psychology, and philosophy of perception. The nervous system has a specific sensory system, or organ, that manages each sense.
Ram Lakhan Pandey Vimal
Jun 3, 2017, 10:55:54 PM6/3/17
to matters...@googlegroups.com, Online Sadhu Sanga, VINOD KUMAR SEHGAL, Vivekanand Pandey Vimal
Dear Stan,
Thanks.
You have raised an interesting issue. Let us suppose that all paranormal phenomena, such as ESP and OBEs are true, then can they be explained without violating the existing (physical, biological and other) laws thru the eDAM? The answer is yes if the eDAM[i] is a good framework.
There are about 45 interpretations of QM, which can be categorized into 4 groups based on the foundational metaphysics: dualism: 11, materialism: 30, idealism: 2, and dual-aspect monism: 2 interpretations. In other words, the eDAM can also interpret QM.
The physical information must be transferred at v≤c (without violating relativity and QM) for both normal and paranormal phenomena thru our usual five senses. Perhaps, the “sixth sense” in the eDAM might be related to deciphering the information in a special manner for each paranormal phenomenon.
I have taken Samādhi state OBEs as an example. As per neuroscience, each of the normal and paranormal experiences (including OBEs) must have a neural basis. This is the premise of the eDAM for this example. In other words, we do not need to assume dualism based mysterious worlds (such as astral, causal, and manifested consciousness worlds) beyond our physical world.
[i] The eDAM is based on the two sources of robust reproducible empirical data at our awake conscious state: (i) our mundane private subjective experiences from the 1st person perspective (1pp) and (ii) their NCC from fMRI and EEG objective data from the 3rd person perspective (3pp) for the public. To interpret these data, the eDAM postulated (I) 1pp-mental and inseparable 3pp-physical aspects and (II) the degree of the manifestation of these aspects depend on the entities and their states. A conscious state or any state of any state in our real physical world is a beable ontological state. So far, at conscious state, we have both subjective and objective reproducible evidence at every conscious moment of over 7.2 billion people. There is no way, anybody can deny such evidence.
Then the eDAM framework is extrapolated backward in time to other states of other living and non-living entities from current period to pre-Big Bang era. We apply logic and use whatever evidence (such as function and structure) is available; this is the best anybody can do at the present time, which clearly means further research is needed. In the Standard Model, A physical entity consists of a material entity fermion and/or a force carrier entity boson, which has mass, spin, and charge. Since a function is not a physical entity, the eDAM categorizes it a sub-aspect of the mental aspect of a state of an entity. Similarly, an experience is a sub-aspect of the mental aspect the same state of the same entity.
Kind regards,
Rām
----------------------------------------------------------
Rām Lakhan Pāndey Vimal, Ph.D.
Amarāvati-Hīrāmaṇi Professor (Research)
Vision Research Institute, Physics, Neuroscience, & Consciousness Research Dept.
25 Rita Street, Lowell, MA 01854 USA
Ph: +1 978 954 7522; eFAX: +1 440 388 7907
Researched at University of Chicago and Harvard Medical Schools
On Saturday, 3 June 2017 1:33 PM, Stanley A. KLEIN <skl...@berkeley.edu> wrote:
Dear Ram,
It sounds like your eDAM is able to account for psychic phenomena. Thus it differs from standard QM that is unable to account for things like telepathy (etc) since the 18 known particles can not do telepathy. The only known particle that comes close is the photon, but outside the skull the magnetic fields of the photon are barely able to be picked up by MEG instruments one cm from the scalp. So the brain signals are way too weak. And of course precognition violates the properties of 17 of the known particles, The only particle that had a chance to do it is the graviton using wormholes, but latest thinking indicates the wormholes aren't stable. You can read Kip Thorne's book "Interstellar" (written for nonscience movie watchers) for details.
I should add that to my knowledge all the data supporting ESP have been done without engaging with a friendly skeptic like me to validate (from a distance) the data collection methodology.
Stan
On Sat, Jun 3, 2017 at 8:49 AM, 'Ram Lakhan Pandey Vimal' via Matters Of Mind <matters...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
Dear Vinod ji,Thanks.I agree that monistic materialism based neuroscience cannot explain how experiences arise. However, the monistic eDAM explains clearly in (Vimal, 2010c). Here, we do not need to invoke various worlds beyond our physical universe, where we reside.The dualistic Sāṅkhya needs to invoke 3 worlds (astral, causal, and conscious chetan worlds) beyond physical world, which is not necessary. The monism is always more parsimonious than dualism.Whatever yogis observe in Samādhi state are their subjective experiences (SEs), which they interpret based on whatever metaphysics they are trained for many years. Y.N. Swami ji and his guru ji were trained in Sāṅkhya and hence they interpreted their subjective data in dualistic Sāṅkhya during Samādhi state. If they were trained in Dvi-Pakṣa Advaita (eDAM), they would have interpreted in the eDAM as elaborated in (Vimal, 2010c). If they were trained in both, then perhaps, we would able to find which one is better from their point of view.To sum up, the “sixth sense” can also be parsimoniously interpreted in the eDAM to explain the paranormal data.
Kind regards,Rām
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John Jay Kineman
Jun 3, 2017, 10:55:54 PM6/3/17
to Online_Sa...@googlegroups.com
Stanley,
This is interesting. I sympathize with how you must feel having the work and methodology misrepresented.
With R-theory there would be no reason to doubt ESP. Everything is entailed via information. The scientific question is how in specific cases and to what effect. It would not properly be called a mechanism, however. Mechanisms are
certainly involved, but the main link would be via entanglement. I think Dean Radin has also suggested that, but to my knowleddge they do not have a theory, other than to match up two strange phenomena. But in R-theory we are at some level potentially aware
of everything in the universe. I expect that mechanisms can be found to explain why most if this information is hidden to us except for altered or advanced states and strong intention. The most obvious explanation, and the one that needs to be examined, is
that natural selection favored some division between proximally relevant knowledge and more distal knowledge for obvious reasons of survival. Once an individual self is formed its behavior in the world will be selective of its strategy and structure. If we
use the radio analogy for the brain as a receiver of qualia natural selection would favor qualia related to survival only. ESP could interfere, if the organism isnt sufficiently experienced to be able to benefit from it. That could be a collective result,
in other words selection can work on species and larger mutualists, but a group has to first develop mutualism, Imwould think, before ESP would be an advantage, and it could evn work against mutualism if the self qualia is not sufficiently developed to realize
our interconnectedness.
John Kineman
(M India) +91 901-474-3733
Skype: john.kineman
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Stanley A. KLEIN
Jun 4, 2017, 6:26:32 AM6/4/17
to matters...@googlegroups.com, Online Sadhu Sanga, VINOD KUMAR SEHGAL, Vivekanand Pandey Vimal
Dear Ram,
I'm sorry I wasn't sufficiently clear. When I said "standard QM" notice that I also included the 18 confirmed particles (the photon, electron, quarks, gluon, graviton, etc). Those 18 particles seem able to explain just about everything in nature other than qualia. But those 18 particles are not able to account for ESP. ESP is special since to my knowledge those experiments (including those with Wiseman) never had some very simple controls with supervision by a skeptic who could be many miles away. That is good news for eDAM since there is a good chance some careful experiments will be done in about 2 - 3 years. And eDAM may come out as one of the only interpretations that is left with the needed machinery for ESP. I suspect the outcome will eliminate eDAM but I could be wrong in which case you will become very famous.
good luck,
Stan
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Serge Patlavskiy
Jun 4, 2017, 8:49:55 AM6/4/17
to Online_Sa...@googlegroups.com
-
Stanley Krippner <skri...@saybrook.edu> on May 4, 2017 wrote:
> It claims that our results in dream telepathy were never replicated.
> However, they were replicated several times but, in all fairness,
>many other attempts at replication were not successful.
[S.P.] I hold that there is no sense whatever to talk about replication of consciousness-related phenomena. The requirement of replication is important when we are going to construct a theory in the field of Physics. Here, we start from accumulating observational and other research data, and after generalizing and systematizing, we may expect to come to a required theory.
But, as I have pointed out in my reply to Bhakti Niskama Shanta on May 30 2017, in case of studying consciousness, it turns out to be an extremely complex (and even insoluble) task to generalize and systematize data which originate as from private researchers who study their own exemplars of consciousness, so from third-person neurophysiologic fMRI studies on mapping brain states and mental states.
That is why my solution presumes starting from constructing a special meta-theory (or, the MT-level intellectual product), and only then, within the limits of this new meta-theory, we may construct the required applied theory of consciousness. And only then we become able to generalize and systematize private research data on studying the consciousness-related phenomena (like the cases of telepathy), and to assess/account for the results of experiments and simple observations.
In other words, the possibility of constructing an effective a theory of consciousness DOES NOT depend on whether the outcomes of studying the cases of telepathy (and/or other consciousness-related phenomena) will be replicated or not.
Kindly,
Serge Patlavskiy
From: Stanley Krippner <skri...@saybrook.edu>
To: "Online_Sa...@googlegroups.com" <Online_Sa...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 4, 2017 12:18 AM
Subject: Re: [Sadhu Sanga] Sixth Sense: ESP and subtle perception ability
I will limit my comment to Wikipedia's biased report. It claims that our results in dream telepathy were never replicated. However, they were replicated several times but, in all fairness, many other attempts at replication were not successful. C E M Hansel
is quoted to the effect that the experimenter was with the "sender" when the target envelope was opened. This never happened. Hansel's statement was corrected in several reviews of his book, but he made the same allegation when the second edition of his
book was published. Of course it would have been a faulty protocol if the "sender" had opened the envelope containing the target picture in full view of the experimenter who, subsequently, was to interview the awakened participant to collect the dreams. For
this reason, the protocol was designed so that the "sender" waited until he or she reached the distant room before opening the envelope containing the target picture. Now Hansel's false allegation has taken on a life of its own and is widely reported -- and
will continue to be the major reason why our well-designed experiments will be discounted and ignored.
Stanley Krippner
Ram Lakhan Pandey Vimal
Jun 4, 2017, 2:04:05 PM6/4/17
to john.k...@colorado.edu, Online_Sa...@googlegroups.com, Matters Of Mind
Dear John,
Thanks for the information.
The concept of entanglement for ESP (sixth sense) is interesting. I agree that the co-evolution has not made ESP and Samādhi states easily available to all people because they may not be essential to survival at present time; perhaps in future, co-evolution might find their usefulness enough to make them available to all of us.
As per Wikipedia (as of 4 June 2017), “Mutualism is the way two organisms of different species exist in a relationship in which each individual benefits from the activity of the other. Similar interactions within a species are known as co-operation. Mutualism can be contrasted with interspecific competition, in which each species experiences reduced fitness, and exploitation, or parasitism, in which one species benefits at the "expense" of the other.” This seems similar to dependent co-origination used in the eDAM.
What is R-theory?
Kind regards,
Rām
----------------------------------------------------------
Rām Lakhan Pāndey Vimal, Ph.D.
Amarāvati-Hīrāmaṇi Professor (Research)
Vision Research Institute, Physics, Neuroscience, & Consciousness Research Dept.
25 Rita Street, Lowell, MA 01854 USA
Ph: +1 978 954 7522; eFAX: +1 440 388 7907
Researched at University of Chicago and Harvard Medical Schools
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Ram Lakhan Pandey Vimal
Jun 4, 2017, 2:43:35 PM6/4/17
to Online_Sa...@googlegroups.com, matters...@googlegroups.com, VINOD KUMAR SEHGAL, Vivekanand Pandey Vimal
Dear Stan,
Thanks.
I agree with you that 17 elementary particles of Standard Model plus the hypothetical graviton (is there any empirical evidence for it?) cannot explain our subjective experiences and ESP because the particle theory discusses only their physical aspects; they do not include explicitly the mental aspect. This is one of the reasons that the eDAM introduces the mental aspect of a state of an entity (including 18 elementary particles) in physics. When we do that then the eDAM should explain all normal and paranormal phenomena if it is a good framework. It would be interesting if any empirical datum rejects it.
Kind regards,
Rām
----------------------------------------------------------
Rām Lakhan Pāndey Vimal, Ph.D.
Amarāvati-Hīrāmaṇi Professor (Research)
Vision Research Institute, Physics, Neuroscience, & Consciousness Research Dept.
25 Rita Street, Lowell, MA 01854 USA
Ph: +1 978 954 7522; eFAX: +1 440 388 7907
Researched at University of Chicago and Harvard Medical Schools
Dear Ram,
I'm sorry I wasn't sufficiently clear. When I said "standard QM" notice that I also included the 18 confirmed particles (the photon, electron, quarks, gluon, graviton, etc). Those 18 particles seem able to explain just about everything in nature other than qualia. But those 18 particles are not able to account for ESP. ESP is special since to my knowledge those experiments (including those with Wiseman) never had some very simple controls with supervision by a skeptic who could be many miles away. That is good news for eDAM since there is a good chance some careful experiments will be done in about 2 - 3 years. And eDAM may come out as one of the only interpretations that is left with the needed machinery for ESP. I suspect the outcome will eliminate eDAM but I could be wrong in which case you will become very famous.
good luck,
Stan
On Sat, Jun 3, 2017 at 7:39 PM, 'Ram Lakhan Pandey Vimal' via Matters Of Mind <matters...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
Dear Stan,Thanks.You have raised an interesting issue. Let us suppose that all paranormal phenomena, such as ESP and OBEs are true, then can they be explained without violating the existing (physical, biological and other) laws thru the eDAM? The answer is yes if the eDAM[i] is a good framework.There are about 45 interpretations of QM, which can be categorized into 4 groups based on the foundational metaphysics: dualism: 11, materialism: 30, idealism: 2, and dual-aspect monism: 2 interpretations. In other words, the eDAM can also interpret QM.The physical information must be transferred at v≤c (without violating relativity and QM) for both normal and paranormal phenomena thru our usual five senses. Perhaps, the “sixth sense” in the eDAM might be related to deciphering the information in a special manner for each paranormal phenomenon.I have taken Samādhi state OBEs as an example. As per neuroscience, each of the normal and paranormal experiences (including OBEs) must have a neural basis. This is the premise of the eDAM for this example. In other words, we do not need to assume dualism based mysterious worlds (such as astral, causal, and manifested consciousness worlds) beyond our physical world.
[i] The eDAM is based on the two sources of robust reproducible empirical data at our awake conscious state: (i) our mundane private subjective experiences from the 1st person perspective (1pp) and (ii) their NCC from fMRI and EEG objective data from the 3rd person perspective (3pp) for the public. To interpret these data, the eDAM postulated (I) 1pp-mental and inseparable 3pp-physical aspects and (II) the degree of the manifestation of these aspects depend on the entities and their states. A conscious state or any state of any state in our real physical world is a beable ontological state. So far, at conscious state, we have both subjective and objective reproducible evidence at every conscious moment of over 7.2 billion people. There is no way, anybody can deny such evidence.Then the eDAM framework is extrapolated backward in time to other states of other living and non-living entities from current period to pre-Big Bang era. We apply logic and use whatever evidence (such as function and structure) is available; this is the best anybody can do at the present time, which clearly means further research is needed. In the Standard Model, A physical entity consists of a material entity fermion and/or a force carrier entity boson, which has mass, spin, and charge. Since a function is not a physical entity, the eDAM categorizes it a sub-aspect of the mental aspect of a state of an entity. Similarly, an experience is a sub-aspect of the mental aspect the same state of the same entity.In other words, a non-living inert entity chair in a functional state is also a beable ontological state. Thus, there are innumerable beable ontological states corresponding to innumerable states of innumerable living and non-living entities. These innumerable beable ontological states are introduced as innumerable basis states in the eDAM’s Hilbert space. A state of an entity (including the dual-aspect unmanifested state of the primal entity) is composed of the superposition of these innumerable basis states. The eDAM starts from current period and goes back to the pre-BB era and then returns to the current period and does not find any logical contradiction. The eDAM uses the concepts of dependent co-origination, co-evolution, co-development, and sensorimotor co-tuning of mental aspect, physical aspect, and environment. This is detailed in Section 3.15 of (Vimal, 2016b).
Kind regards,Rām
------------------------------ ----------------------------Rām Lakhan Pāndey Vimal, Ph.D.Amarāvati-Hīrāmaṇi Professor (Research)Vision Research Institute, Physics, Neuroscience, & Consciousness Research Dept.25 Rita Street, Lowell, MA 01854 USAPh: +1 978 954 7522; eFAX: +1 440 388 7907Researched at University of Chicago and Harvard Medical Schools
Dear Ram,It sounds like your eDAM is able to account for psychic phenomena. Thus it differs from standard QM that is unable to account for things like telepathy (etc) since the 18 known particles can not do telepathy. The only known particle that comes close is the photon, but outside the skull the magnetic fields of the photon are barely able to be picked up by MEG instruments one cm from the scalp. So the brain signals are way too weak. And of course precognition violates the properties of 17 of the known particles, The only particle that had a chance to do it is the graviton using wormholes, but latest thinking indicates the wormholes aren't stable. You can read Kip Thorne's book "Interstellar" (written for nonscience movie watchers) for details.I should add that to my knowledge all the data supporting ESP have been done without engaging with a friendly skeptic like me to validate (from a distance) the data collection methodology.Stan
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/ msgid/matters-of-mind/ CAEKJmQ1sYFugjMfOW4gchi_ ssVY80SPLFZGf4PB%2Btf13HXEugw% 40mail.gmail.com.
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Stanley Krippner
Jun 4, 2017, 7:31:33 PM6/4/17
to Online_Sa...@googlegroups.com
Sorry Stan
You are incorrect. Many experiments in parapsychology have been done with outside reviews from "friendly skeptics." This is becoming more and more common. The University of Edinburgh has a review board that examines protocols on future parapsychological experiments and, if they are of sufficient quality, gives its approval. Most of the people on the board are "friendly skeptics." I just had an experiment approved by this board. It took six months to go through the review process, but the comments were all instructive and strengthened the research design. Not all future parapsychological protocols are sent to this review board. I wish they were. So when you write "all" the data, you are in error. If you would have written "most" of the data, you would have been correct.
cheers
Stanley Krippner
From: 'Ram Lakhan Pandey Vimal' via Sadhu-Sanga Under the holy association of Spd. B.M. Puri Maharaja, Ph.D. <Online_Sa...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, June 3, 2017 7:39 PM
To: matters...@googlegroups.com
Cc: Online Sadhu Sanga; VINOD KUMAR SEHGAL; Vivekanand Pandey Vimal
Subject: [Sadhu Sanga] Re: [MoM] Re: Sixth Sense: ESP and subtle perception ability
Sent: Saturday, June 3, 2017 7:39 PM
To: matters...@googlegroups.com
Cc: Online Sadhu Sanga; VINOD KUMAR SEHGAL; Vivekanand Pandey Vimal
Subject: [Sadhu Sanga] Re: [MoM] Re: Sixth Sense: ESP and subtle perception ability
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JACK SARFATTI
Jun 5, 2017, 5:36:18 AM6/5/17
to Online_Sa...@googlegroups.com
My PQM is the Hegelian synthesis of Bergson's thesis and Einstein's anti-thesis on the nature of time, duration and consciousness.
Einstein's time is in the dynamical action base space, Bergson's élan vital, time, duration, consciousness is in the entropic entangled fiber space of the world bundle.
How are fiber bundles used in physics? - Quora
Fiber bundles are widely used in gauge theories. The fibers are various Lie groups. The simplest one is the bundle describing the electromagnetic field. A charged ...
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Ram Lakhan Pandey Vimal
Jun 5, 2017, 11:58:08 AM6/5/17
to VINOD KUMAR SEHGAL, Online Sadhu Sanga, Matters Of Mind
Dear Vinod ji,
Of course, further research is needed. My understanding is that clairvoyance related ESP can be with or without eye-closed. There might be some internal mechanism involving NN within the realm of clairvoyant’s mind-brain system and our real physical world. As long as you do not involve Sāṅkhya’s mysterious 3 worlds beyond the physical world and God theory in explaining clairvoyance, I will be happy to hear your views.
Kind regards,
Rām
----------------------------------------------------------
Rām Lakhan Pāndey Vimal, Ph.D.
Amarāvati-Hīrāmaṇi Professor (Research)
Vision Research Institute, Physics, Neuroscience, & Consciousness Research Dept.
25 Rita Street, Lowell, MA 01854 USA
Ph: +1 978 954 7522; eFAX: +1 440 388 7907
Researched at University of Chicago and Harvard Medical Schools
Respected Dr. Ram,
You wrote:
"The physical information must be transferred at v≤c (without violating relativity and QM) for both normal and paranormal phenomena thru our usual five senses. Perhaps, the “sixth sense” in the eDAM might be related to deciphering the information in a special manner for each paranormal phenomenon."
In the case of paranormal phenomenon thru our usual five senses, how can information be transferred at v<c thru our senses? For example, in the case of clairvoyance, our eyes are closed and further our eyes/brain can sense information ( e.m radiations) of only specified range of wavelength which normally falls in the visible light range. In other words, physiology of our brain/eyes/body is such that it can't sense information ( e.m radiations) in the IR/UV/radio range. Therefore, sensing of information by our brain/body in the paranormal phenomenon thru normal 5 senses is not feasible.
One more possibility is ruled out. One can't say that thru meditation or otherwise, by which ESP is developed, physiology of our brain/body changes to sense e.m. radiations other than within the visible light range since this in itself will be a paranormal phenomenon. Any attempt to explain ESP ( or developing of 6th sense) within the framework of materialism or eDAM amounts to making a radical change in the physiology of the brain/body which is not feasible within the known laws of biology/science
Phenomena of ESP can be easily explained if one may first try to understand the working of our 5 senses in the normal wakeful conscious state.
Regards.
Vinod Sehgal
On Sun, Jun 4, 2017 at 8:09 AM, Ram Lakhan Pandey Vimal <rlpv...@yahoo.co.in> wrote:
Dear Stan,Thanks.You have raised an interesting issue. Let us suppose that all paranormal phenomena, such as ESP and OBEs are true, then can they be explained without violating the existing (physical, biological and other) laws thru the eDAM? The answer is yes if the eDAM[i] is a good framework.There are about 45 interpretations of QM, which can be categorized into 4 groups based on the foundational metaphysics: dualism: 11, materialism: 30, idealism: 2, and dual-aspect monism: 2 interpretations. In other words, the eDAM can also interpret QM.The physical information must be transferred at v≤c (without violating relativity and QM) for both normal and paranormal phenomena thru our usual five senses. Perhaps, the “sixth sense” in the eDAM might be related to deciphering the information in a special manner for each paranormal phenomenon.I have taken Samādhi state OBEs as an example. As per neuroscience, each of the normal and paranormal experiences (including OBEs) must have a neural basis. This is the premise of the eDAM for this example. In other words, we do not need to assume dualism based mysterious worlds (such as astral, causal, and manifested consciousness worlds) beyond our physical world.
[i] The eDAM is based on the two sources of robust reproducible empirical data at our awake conscious state: (i) our mundane private subjective experiences from the 1st person perspective (1pp) and (ii) their NCC from fMRI and EEG objective data from the 3rd person perspective (3pp) for the public. To interpret these data, the eDAM postulated (I) 1pp-mental and inseparable 3pp-physical aspects and (II) the degree of the manifestation of these aspects depend on the entities and their states. A conscious state or any state of any state in our real physical world is a beable ontological state. So far, at conscious state, we have both subjective and objective reproducible evidence at every conscious moment of over 7.2 billion people. There is no way, anybody can deny such evidence.Then the eDAM framework is extrapolated backward in time to other states of other living and non-living entities from current period to pre-Big Bang era. We apply logic and use whatever evidence (such as function and structure) is available; this is the best anybody can do at the present time, which clearly means further research is needed. In the Standard Model, A physical entity consists of a material entity fermion and/or a force carrier entity boson, which has mass, spin, and charge. Since a function is not a physical entity, the eDAM categorizes it a sub-aspect of the mental aspect of a state of an entity. Similarly, an experience is a sub-aspect of the mental aspect the same state of the same entity.In other words, a non-living inert entity chair in a functional state is also a beable ontological state. Thus, there are innumerable beable ontological states corresponding to innumerable states of innumerable living and non-living entities. These innumerable beable ontological states are introduced as innumerable basis states in the eDAM’s Hilbert space. A state of an entity (including the dual-aspect unmanifested state of the primal entity) is composed of the superposition of these innumerable basis states. The eDAM starts from current period and goes back to the pre-BB era and then returns to the current period and does not find any logical contradiction. The eDAM uses the concepts of dependent co-origination, co-evolution, co-development, and sensorimotor co-tuning of mental aspect, physical aspect, and environment. This is detailed in Section 3.15 of (Vimal, 2016b).
Kind regards,Rām
------------------------------ ----------------------------Rām Lakhan Pāndey Vimal, Ph.D.Amarāvati-Hīrāmaṇi Professor (Research)Vision Research Institute, Physics, Neuroscience, & Consciousness Research Dept.25 Rita Street, Lowell, MA 01854 USAPh: +1 978 954 7522; eFAX: +1 440 388 7907Researched at University of Chicago and Harvard Medical Schools
Dear Ram,It sounds like your eDAM is able to account for psychic phenomena. Thus it differs from standard QM that is unable to account for things like telepathy (etc) since the 18 known particles can not do telepathy. The only known particle that comes close is the photon, but outside the skull the magnetic fields of the photon are barely able to be picked up by MEG instruments one cm from the scalp. So the brain signals are way too weak. And of course precognition violates the properties of 17 of the known particles, The only particle that had a chance to do it is the graviton using wormholes, but latest thinking indicates the wormholes aren't stable. You can read Kip Thorne's book "Interstellar" (written for nonscience movie watchers) for details.I should add that to my knowledge all the data supporting ESP have been done without engaging with a friendly skeptic like me to validate (from a distance) the data collection methodology.Stan
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Paul Werbos
Jun 6, 2017, 9:15:36 AM6/6/17
to Online_Sa...@googlegroups.com, VINOD KUMAR SEHGAL, Matters Of Mind, Vivekanand Pandey Vimal
Many have asked: how could one reconcile the concept of planes of existence (as in etheric, astral, mental, whatever) with any of the variants of science, such as -- most extreme -- Einstein materialism?
Clearly one CANNOT reconcile concepts like astral worlds with utter debunking, in the school of Hansen, whom many have rightly complained about here.
I do not really view that school as a branch of science, but as a branch of politics.
Still, it is a big decision for scientists whether they believe at all in powers of the mind beyond what is seen in the normal mechanical functioning of neurons, glia and chemical flows in the brain. It is very understandable that many sincere scientists agree with the analysis of D.O. Hebb, in his important classic book, the Organization of Behavior, one of the two strands of thought which started the neural network field. (The other strand was the Von Neumann strand,
quite different.) Hebb argued that parapsychology is a beautiful example of Bayes' Law, where the probability of a theory after experience is proportional to its empirical likelihood, its fit to the data (technically pr(data|model)) multiplied by its prior likelihood. Since psychic powers are almost impossible, apriori, based on our understanding of physics, he argued that it is very unlikely in the end despite the fact (which he acknowledged freely) that it long ago passed all the standards normally used in psychology research. That was my own view until spring of 1967, when the likelihood term became rather overwhelming and inescapable in my personal life, and I revised my views to 50-50. Once it was 50-50, I then looked further, and by 1971 or 1972 it was inescapable. Psychic phenomena and objective reality BOTH are grounded in our minds based on experience, if we are fully sane, and not just engaging in florid fantasy and ego boosting.
But then: how could one reconcile the two of them, objective reality and the full range of experience? How to reintegrate?
The concept of planes of existence is tricky. I certainly remember, back in graduate school, respecting and resonating with yoga people exploring the planes of existence (not just with fantasy), but puzzled by what could really be going on here.
There is a nice easy-to-read book "What Dreams May Come," somewhat better than the video version on Netflix, portraying one image of another plane of existence, not so different from many accounts of the astral plane. It is easy for people to resonate emotionally with that book, but not so easy to sort out in clear terms what it really implies if true. How to make it more completely coherent? How to get beyond the "sponge thinking" syndrome, where people believe in multiple inconsistent things with equal fervor at the same time?
In my view, the vast bulk of serious, accurately reported experience of "other planes" and of "out of body experience" on this planet can be understood as travel not in some other physical world, but in the interior mental space of "the noosphere," the greater common mind we are part of, which some people call "Gaia" (though I do not add spurious associations to that). All brains we know of have many parts and levels of consciousness within them; as part of the noosphere, we can experience different levels and parts. The noosphere is not infinite and infallible, but RELATIVE TO US it seems that way.
How can noospheres exist in our cosmos? The explanation offered by folks like Teilhard de Chardin does not make sense in tough scientific terms, because evolution on one planet alone is not enough. But this past year, maps have become available showing the vast web of interconnection of dark matter (far more plentiful than the mundane/ordinary forms of matter understood as yet in mainstream physics) all across our cluster of galaxies. There has been plenty of time and scope for natural evolution of the whole species of noospheres. In my view, the simplest, most natural explanation (www.werbos.com/Mind_in_Time.pdf) is that "our" experience is the experience of a hybrid lifeform, a symbiosis of a mundane component and a noospheric component. Our own local noosphere is a young child of that species, certainly not a mature or stable adult, and may or may not survive the challenges which any young child faces in nature.
What fraction, if any, of valid, nonimaginary experience of "higher planes of existence" goes beyond the region of earth?
That is a very tricky question. All of us have limits on how far we can see, and on our ability to do reality testing to make sure that it is not fantasy. Physics and mathematics themselves do offer some reality testing here, as we might expect there are some things in those areas not known yet on earth which could still be evaluated on earth.
Earlier I mentioned Annie Besant, whose books are still there on Ghandi's bookshelves in Mumbai, and who wrote about causal, astral, mental planes, etc. She is often described as "the number two" person in Theosophy, versus Blavatsky, founder and number one. Besant's books rang true, as authentic in spirit, grounded in experience (albeit not science), and I read a few myself. But Blavatsky says a lot about planets beyond the earth which did not feel right to me. Perhaps the immature, undisciplined minds of our world impose a requirement for pubic relations and fantasy and false conviction (wishful thinking, defense mechanisms catalogued by Freudians)... and she was not alone in that. Or maybe one of the various, very different florid theories about life beyond earth is more real. It is important that none of us overestimate the range of our vision. The less we overestimate our current range of vision, the better our chances of extending that range with time and care and discipline, the kind of discipline that a true scientist also exerts.
For those of us who live near Washington DC, however, it is a serious challenge right now how to cope with what we already see.
Best of luck,
Paul
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