One by One

Music has an other-worldly quality to me. This song by Enya is so beautiful - it is like she reaches into my soul and pulls out everything I mean. She can sort out what it means to be Roxy on days when I cannot. Enya is not the only one (and I promise, most are less typically *~spiritual~*). So I thought I would post this song for you all to contemplate with. You can ignore the video...heh.

What does it mean to be Roxy today, while listening to this?

To begin, this class has got me thinking A LOT. A whole lot. What is my inner spirituality? In what do I believe and what does my soul really connect to?

I love meditation. But for some reason, I continue to wake up depressed from it. I cannot blame all of these sentiments on meditation - I recently just attempted to take myself off of anti-depressants (giving up on this for now), recently went through some issues with my boyfriend, and am a Floridian trying to survive her third winter. All of these have taken a toll on me. So maybe I am sad after meditation because I have trouble finding the "pure joy" buried in us all - my sadness creates too large of a blockade.

But when I meditate, I don't feel sad. I feel calm, content, I feel kind of excited, kind of awesome. But then I wake up and feel overwhelmed with sadness. That's not supposed to happen. Do I just feel upset to leave my mind and wake up to the "real world"?

I don't mean to sound down, I am still very optimistic about meditation and look forward to beginning the program tomorrow. I suppose what I am saying...is sometimes meditation does what you don't expect it to. It reveals what you are feeling deep down. It is like a psychoanalyst, but needs no physical speech, or concentrated thoughts. I wish I could *exhale* whatever ill thought is going on in my head away, but I don't think that is right. Sometimes it is okay to keep our problems with us, and work through them in time.

I am curious if anyone relates to what I am saying, definitely feel free to comment. :)

On a completely separate note, I want to discuss the "guru" aspect of meditation. I find practically everything else in the Meditation book relatable, inspiring, or exciting to incorporate. But I am having trouble with the gurus. I even found the section on it to be quite confusing, as though she was hesitant whilst writing it. Is it just me?

Who can explain this better to me?

What is a person who really prefers to not think of a single higher power to do? I know with my beliefs I could focus on "positive energy" or nature; but it sort of bothered me that she did not even suggest how to work with those kinds of things, you know? Also, what are we to do as students very new to spirituality for the teacher-guru aspect? When I really thought about it, the best idea that came to me was Patrick Wolf - he is my favorite musician and has truly influenced my spirituality within the past seven years of my life, even though that was really not his intention...

Basically - I am wondering what you guys do in terms of gurus, and what you thought of the book's explanation? I really want to see meditation as seriously as possible in the next three weeks, and definitely want to try incorporating those aspects!

Thanks for reading, and see you tomorrow :D x Roxy

Midnight Rider

Hey Guys,

So let me preface this post by stating that this is not as much of a comment, but rather much more of a question that I pose to you all. If you have no interest in reading what I have to write, please feel free to skip down to the bottom of my post and read my question :)

So, during our previous meeting last week, Laura and I shared our opinions on our respective meditations and as well discussed our opinions on Sally Kempton's book. I noted how I loved that the book was broken down into small sections, was written with an introductory language, contained various in-text exercises, and as well was written in a dialouge/conversation formation. By this, I believe that the book is a lot less her talking and lecturing to me, which I find most books to be, but rather her having a talking with me. It is somewhat difficult to explain through typing, but definitely something I noticed.

However, as I shared with Laura, my favorite aspect of her book were the small little quotes sandwiched into the sides of the pages. Even though I was very unfamiliar with many of the authors of the quotes, they each spoke to me and provided deep concepts for thought. In fact, while I was reading, I tended to find myself sitting on a certain page, playing out the entire story line and meaning of the quote through my imagination.

During class, I shared with Laura that my favorite quote, from Sally Kempton's book, was the quote from Rumi, who wrote:

"The spirit is so near that you can't see it!
But reach for it...
Don't be the rider who gallops call night
And never sees the horse this is beneath him"

To me, this quote summarized everything that was the weekend before. As I also discussed with the class, my in-class meditation was very focused about the weekend that I spent with my girlfriend. As she was only visiting for the weekend, I tried to plan everything down to the wire and was always wondering if she was enjoying her time. I never really thought about how I was feeling, or more importantly, just living in the moment and enjoying being in her company. Instead of doing the aforementioned things, I was always one step ahead and was thinking of what next needs to be done. I never really sat back and enjoyed the time we were spending together. My eyes were fixed on the goal and prize, making her happy.

That is why Rumi's quote really speaks to me. He talks about not being the rider who rides through the night, who never acknowledges the horse beneath him. To me, Rumi is talking about really living in the present and really acknowledging your surroundings. Although the goal might be important, it is no where near as important as the process. Another example would be our college experiences. We should not only be focused on graduating, which would be riding through the night to reach our destination, as we should be concerned about meeting new people and trying new things. The experience, and acknowledging the present, is sometimes just as important as the goal. But then again, I could be completely wrong and am way off track on Rumi's quote.

So as promised, here is the question I post to you all: What was/it your favorite quote from Sally Kempton's book? Was there one quote that you enjoyed or made you think more than others? If so, please feel free to share the quote, the page number, and a small explanation about how that quote affects your understanding of everything.

Best,

Ethan

PS: The title of the post, "Midnight Rider" has nothing to do with the post, I just love the song :)

A bit of perspective

So I unfortunately did not get to attend the intro to meditation class or whatever it was on Thursday, which was something I had been looking forward to. But it was for good reason, which leads me to this short story:

Thursday night I drove home to spend the night/Friday with my mom and sister just because I had this strange feeling that told me I needed to go home. I couldn't tell you where it came from or why I trusted it, but there it was. And so I did.
When I told my sister of this spontaneous plan, she was thrilled, but then cautiously asked me if I would be staying Friday too. I asked her what the hell she was being so shady about (as my sister and I never have a problem being completely honest with one another) and she admitted that she wanted me to come with her to one of her AA meetings on Friday.
Now, I'm not an alcoholic, but I have had my fair share of non-substance addictions with which I still struggle. Knowing this, Carly (my sister) said that it was totally acceptable to just say "Hi I'm Piper and I'm an addict", as not everyone in the group was solely an alcoholic and often introduced themselves that way as well.
 So I went. I didn't know what to expect, but I went. And I am so grateful for the experience.

There were people there from age 22 to 85, from all different walks of life, and every one of them struggles daily with a disease that constantly plots to overtake them. They have to fight against their own thought patterns, patters that they did not design but were genetically ingrained within them. These people had stories that could reduce anyone to tears. And yet (and here's the beautiful part) not one of them spent their few minutes of speaking time throwing a pity party for him/herself. Every SINGLE one of them had some positive insight or outlook to share with the group. I was astounded that so many people who have an arsenal of reasons to bitterly turn their backs on optimism had taken the diametric path.
After listening, I found a common thread that weaved their stories together. Everyone there did not resent their dark past but instead expressed gratitude for it. One man said "being an alcoholic is the best thing that ever happened to me". A paradoxical thought at first, but upon deeper reflection one can see the simple, beautiful logic in the statement. Yes they all endured (and still endure) pain and suffering, but grew stronger in overcoming those horrors. From the darkness sprang forth a light.

I left the meeting refreshed, my heart swollen with faith, hope, and love. And I hope this little tale brings some of those invaluable emotions to you as well :).

Mental Construal: Production of Thoughts Manifested

The university experience exudes the phrase ‘knowledge is power.’ In contrast to K-12 public education, university classes allow for in-depth coverage of topics across an array of academic departments. In psychology, students learn about competing to justify the same psychological phenomena. These competing theories naturally expose mental construals by recognizing more than one perspective exists.

An alternate perspective from the foundational logic of Buddhism eradicates mental construals through meditative contemplation on the ‘exchange of self and other’, there by eliciting an empathetic perspective of other human beings. Schwarz (2009) suggests mental construals are congruent with an individual’s current situation and goals, affecting perceived objective judgments about new information and memory recollection. Understanding mental construals provides an opportunity for conceptual autonomy by turning a perceived problem into a solution. Reattribution of experiences is utilized in modern cognitive therapies derived from Eastern Buddhist perspectives that seek to eradicate mental construals built within Western culture that may diminish individuals’ happiness.

Before being aware of this similarity between psychological findings and Buddhist teachings, I sought to further my education in the practice of Buddhism—an honest teacher with direct lineage from the Buddha was a necessity so as to follow ‘the path’. I learned that there was a Zen Buddhist Temple in Ann Arbor. Ecstatic by the presence of an honest teacher I inquired about residency at the Temple; soon I was signing a lease and agreeing to the rules and regulations as a resident of the Temple a month later. Being aware of the requirements and imagining a more restrictive but still satisfactory lifestyle was a poor predictor of the actual experience of living in a Temple.

The head monk suggested I frequently visit before deciding whether to live at the Temple. I went to three Wednesday morning practices, which start at 5:30am, before deciding to live there. Wednesday morning practice consists of 35 prostrations, a 15 minute mediation, 5 minutes of chanting, check-in, and breakfast. The feelings felt during those practices strongly guided my judgment to live at the Temple, before putting down a security deposit. Those feelings were formed from the exciting introduction to a sacred practice that also corresponded with my own personal beliefs. Not knowing the meaning of the prayers, chants, and gestures, I was forced to alertly observe the customs in order to adapt more quickly.

The inability to accurately imagine the experience of living in a Temple is explained by Wilson and Gilbert’s (2005) concept of affective forecasting, individuals’ “overestimating the intensity and duration of their emotional reactions to…events” (p. 131). I did not consider that after a month of 5:30am morning practices I would no longer feel excited in the morning. The experience was no longer new, nor did I have to be alert to adapt; ceasing to be a novel experience, morning practice became a mundane daily responsibility.

Allowing one aspect of a decision, my feelings, to guide the decision leads to an overestimation in the perceived importance of my feelings, diminishing the importance of other everyday factors. Wilson and Gilbert define this as focalism, “the tendency to underestimate the extent to which other events will influence our thoughts and feelings” (2005, p. 131). When considering living at the Temple I failed to judge aspects other than projecting how it felt to be there, not the change in emotions felt after living there for two months.

When considering other aspects, I judged them quickly and independently: work, school, Temple life, and volunteer activities; not how these many aspects interact together and compete for time. This happened because my most recent experiences of each of these aspects were experienced independently. Before my decision, I finished winter semester focusing on just school and volunteer activities, and acquired an internship to fill the summer months. Having more free time in the summer I became more involved at the Temple. When considering all of these activities together, I recollected the amount of strain each aspect added to my life when experienced, allowing all these aspects together to seem manageable.

Remembering the stress of each activity in the specific context it was experienced contributed to misattributions when imagining the future. Schacter and Addis (2009) write that “imagining possible future events depends on much of the same cognitive and neural machinery as does remembering past events” (p. 108). Therefore the emotion elicited by remembering the lack of stress experienced by each activity individually, was the same emotion used to reconstruct my imagined experience of the future.

Furthermore, remembering the past or imagining the future is also affected by an individual’s state of being when considering a decision. Schwarz (2009) purports that “information brought to mind by a given context is…relevant to the person’s current situation, thus facilitating adequately contextualized responses” (p. 124). Recollecting my past experiences as low-stress, in conjunction with my feelings being relaxed when considering the decision primed accessible future projections to be considerably more low-stress and relaxed.

Despite neglecting to consider many varying aspects of living in a Temple, my housing lease expired in three months. After a month of searching for affordable housing and running out of time, the Temple was the best solution for housing meeting all of my listed requirements and more: driveway parking, laundry, utilities, food, and rent under $600, within walking distance to campus and a close drive to work, likeable housemates, and most importantly a flexible month-by-month lease—as I’m still unsure of my plans after graduating in December.

With only two months left to find housing, the Temple not only fit all my requirements, but also allowed for the acquisition of Buddhist knowledge and experience. Schwarz (2009) notes that “people’s decisions are more likely to be based on their general goals than on a consideration of specific means and ends when the act is in the distant rather than the near future” (p. 132). Therefore the decision to live at the Temple was more heavily influenced and considered by fulfilling short-term housing needs, than the more amorphous acquisition of knowledge and experience fulfilled by living there.

I begin adjusting to Temple life during the first week of classes but was disappointed to discover living there became a source of many problems. However, the required reading by Wilson and Gilbert (2005) within the first few weeks of class assured I would adapt to Temple life, stating “people fail to anticipate how quickly they will cope psychologically with such events in ways that speed their recovery” (p. 131). Developing this hypothetically: I wrote down my frustrated thoughts about morning practice upon first moving in, expecting my thoughts to be more adapted when writing about the same experience after living at the Temple for two months.

The two descriptions rarely match in detail, however descriptions of breakfast are somewhat similar in detail and the differences between the experiences reveal how I adapted.

9/14: “I hate eating out of bowl, why was it decided for me what I eat out of anyways? Filling food into a bowl forces it to be mixed together; I try to only put foods that combine well in my bowl—limiting my food intake yet again. I actually dislike eating.”

11/14: “The past couple of days I’ve noticed that despite consistently layering my bowl with the same proportions, my chopsticks account for the different taste each morning; actually forcing the foods to mix differently even with the same ingredients. I’ve started adding all foods present on the table to my bowl, just to experience the juxtaposition of taste.”

There is an enormous difference between the two reflections. In September the experience was overwhelmingly experienced as new; however, in November the event was no longer perceived as a new experience, but as “making sense of events, [to] adapt emotionally to them” (Wilson & Gilbert, 2005, p. 132). For example, my chopsticks were the attributed cause to the different taste of breakfast each morning. There are many alternative reasons other than my chopsticks as to why the food might taste different. However, “people tend to construct a single, or very small number of scenarios, for any given judgment situation” —like chopsticks—to ‘make sense’ of events. This suggests that individuals choose their adapted perceptions wisely because it may affect the level of mental construal in a perception (Ross & Buehler, 2001, p. 527).

After rereading my first journal entry, I expressed feeling a greater distance from my peers, watching them shotgun beers during welcome week. Seeing seniors guzzle down cheap beer over their porches with likeminded friends, I started to consider that I rushed my college experience by graduating in three and a half years; nor did I expect or want my senior semester to be the most difficult semester yet. There was going to be limited, if any, amount of drinking with friends, a full semester of classes and homework, and I still had not even been to a football game intoxicated. My college experience seemed cheated, and I felt like I had made a huge error in judgment.

Constructing a mental representation of the typical college experience simultaneously constructed the mental construal of the perceived ‘greater’ distance from my peers. Exacerbating the construed difference between me and my peers was the limited amount of information (college drinking) used to represent my standard of the ‘college experience’ in comparison to Buddhist-like behavior (Schwarz, 2009). I also failed to consider occasional drinking done independently of Temple property as acceptable, suggesting that “apparent differences in ethical judgment may arise from…differences in construal” (Ross & Ward, 1996, p. 113). The mental construal between my peers—prior to accepting drinking elsewhere—was produced by perceived ethical differences and a contrast effect, strengthened by using a limited amount of information to construct a standard of the ‘college experience’.

I personally attribute the positive outlook distinctly different from the first cynical journal entry, reflects my shift in perception from Western beliefs to Eastern-Buddhist beliefs to cope psychologically with events in order to find happiness (Wilson & Gilbert, 2005). Heavily influenced by Western religious traditions “that pit opposites against one another”, Western language developed meaning through understanding dichotomies (Wong, 2009, p. 8). However, Eastern perspective as built upon Buddhist perspectives is a frame work where “nothing exist independently or autonomously. The world is a vast flow of events that are linked together and participate in one another” (Gunaratne, 2009, p. 71).

Cultivating an understanding of Buddhism, I no longer made deductive, dichotomous attributions of cause and effect, but learned to see the world as a series of resonating interactions instead. An article written by Wong, (2009) suggest the dichotomies of Western language “oversimplifies our view of emotional meaning and neglects its full richness and complexity” and “blocks from thinking and understanding the larger concept of affect” (Wong, 2009, p. 9). Suggesting Western language may actually inflict mental construals upon affective reasoning that limit individuals’ consciousness—cognitions, emotions, motives—from understanding its full richness (Brown & Ryan, 2003).

Western authority defines consciousness through awareness and attention; however, the Buddhist practice of mindfulness is “the state of being attentive to and aware of what is taking place in the present” (Brown & Ryan, 2003, p. 822). The difference between the cultures being that mindfulness is a practice indicating ‘consciousness’ to be an acquired skill. Mindfulness is thought to “contribute to well-being and happiness in a direct way” by adding clarity and vividness to experience (Brown & Ryan, 2003, p. 823). Exposure to Eastern philosophies, like Buddhism, provides an opportunity for conceptual freedom by allowing Westerners’ to change their perceptual world view; as a result individuals’ subjective experiences and memories are substantially more complex, vivid, and satisfying.

“The Buddhist view that knowledge derives from thinking critically” suggests mindfulness requires being attentive to the present to critically think about the surrounding environment, in an attempt to derive information from it (Gunaratne, 2009, p. 70). Once an individual adapts extracted knowledge about an experience, people tend to construct few other scenarios for any given judgment (Ross & Buehler, 2001). Similar to the focalism, individuals’ underestimate the extent to which the perspectives they construct, are simultaneously embedded in different levels of mental construal. Perceptions “are perceived and interpreted in terms of the individual perceiver’s own needs, own connotations, own personality, [and] own previously formed cognitive patterns” (Ross & Ward, 1996, p. 103).

Mindful individuals’ continuously extract knowledge from each moment of life—even habitual ones—to create rich meaningful experiences; adding depth to experiences allows for a vivid recollection of those experiences. However the positive affect attributed to mindfulness could actually be due to the “positive feelings that accompany the act of successful recall, rather than reflecting the true [emotional] nature of the past” (Leboe & Ansons, 2006, p. 596). Therefore mindfulness may not directly contribute to happiness, but indirectly elicit positive emotions do to the ease of perceptual fluency (Schwarz, 2002). Mindfulness or perceptual fluency, both “facilitate well-being through self-regulated activity and fulfillment of the basic psychological needs for autonomy” (Brown & Ryan, 2003, p. 824).

Partnerships between science and Buddhism that co-evolved as research apparatuses to probe the nature of reality and well-being advocate for “an alternate view of globalization is possible through the perspective of Eastern, particularly Buddhist philosophy” (Wong, 2009; Gunaratne, 2009, p. 60). Currently “Western philosophy assumes an emotion to arise from value judgments; Buddhist philosophy however assumes an emotion is a mental valenced state with no judgment involved” (Wong, 2009, p. 16). Adapting Buddhist beliefs I moved from the Western construction of emotions construed by value judgments—construals are embedded within any judgment—to simply experiencing emotions independent of attributional causes.

Buddhist concepts have structured some of the most recent cognitive-behavioral therapies using “attributional retraining techniques to influence people’s beliefs about their experiences” (Ross & Buehler, 2001, p. 519). These therapies, such as mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and contemplative psychotherapy, seek to rationalize emotions by reducing dichotomous happy or sad attributions that are embedded and constructed within Western philosophy (Wilson & Gilbert, 2005). “Remembering events that were initially unpleasant actually improve mood when people focus on beneficial, longer-term consequences of the episode, such as personal growth and change” (Ross & Buehler, 2001, p. 519). An experience that is not considered valuable can become valuable by constructing the opposite (positive) effect from a previously considered negative experience; structuring both allows individuals to develop a more complex emotional representation of events.

Whether implemented through psychological therapies or acquiring knowledge of Buddhist philosophy, individuals are provided the framework to re-conceptualize their emotions autonomously by attributing several perceptions and feelings to one event. Suppressing the need to rationalize an event dichotomously, individuals possess the conceptual freedom to develop more complex emotions that add depth and value to their recollected experiences. The ability to entertain more than one perspective to an experience demands that individuals are continuously alert and aware (mindful) during experiences; naturally building reflexive thinking skills that contribute to the extinction of various personal mental construals. Suggesting knowledge acquired through personal experiences or science, is in fact a power that transforms “ordinary living into a richer, more enhanced, more mature happiness” (Levine, 2009, p. 260).

Hot Vinyasa Yoga

Hey all!

I was going to announce this in class on Tuesday, but didn't get around to it. So here we go!

A student group I'm in hosts FREE monthly yoga classes in conjunction with the Center for Yoga of Ann Arbor. Hot Vinyasa classes combine unique flows, strength work, and killer 100+ degree heat to detoxify the body and help you get extra stretchy. I've been doing this type of yoga since the fall, and I am in love. If you're interested, the details are below -- I hope some of you can make it out!

What: FREE Hot Vinyasa Yoga
When: THIS SUNDAY, 1/30/11, 2pm-4pm (feel free to come for either hour or both!)
Where: 621 E. William St. (right around the corner from the Jimmy John's on State St.)

If you have a mat, bring it. If not, we've got lots to loan. Bring water, a towel, and your energy!

- eve

Introduction + Siddha Meditation

Hey Interweb!

As the first post here recommended, an intro post sounds like a cool idea. So here is mine. My name is Roxy. I was born and raised in Boca Raton, FL - aka the retirement capital of the universe, which consists largely of old, Jewish New Yorkers. My father originates from the mystical land of Persia, or Iran as these days have it. He moved to New York from Tehran when he was eighteen to earn a college education. He left just in time before the revolution, after which my whole family slowly trickled in. We are Jewish, and that was (is) pretty unacceptable there since the Revolution.

My mom comes from the good ole Midwest; Bloomington, Illinois. I suppose it was meant to be that I would return to her homeland for college. Why did I leave the nice, warm weather for eternal winters? I dunno. Why did I come to a state which most Floridians regard as "the middle of nowhere"? I dunno. I just wanted something different.

Anyway, enough about demographics. I went to an orthodox Jewish school until age 11 (though my family is Reform). Later, I went to a high school for the arts, where I focused on forensics and creative writing. My inner-spirituality came creeping back after I had emergency brain surgery in freshman year of high school. I was left with headaches and depression a year later. I started with craniosacral therapy to help the headaches. Then did hypnotherapy. Eventually I found myself quite healed, and began using my newfound healing techniques on friends and family. The most amazing thing about it wasn't just how my unlearned techniques actually helped people, but also how it in turn helped me! I decided this alternative, new-age stuff is more than just a fad.

Flash forward to now. I am a psychology and RC creative writing major. I am always pretty confused about what I want to do. Since I was five I have always wanted to write novels. That has not changed. But my most recent venture with psychology finally makes sense - I want to go into alternative healing/behavioral therapy. So yeah, this class is a really great start!

So that is me! I am excited to get to know you all. Hopefully my introduction wasn't too boring and lengthy!

Now for my amazing Thursday night. I went to the Siddha Meditation service tonight with a few of you, and it was brilliant. I want to reflect on what happened at the service, what happened to me, and my thoughts throughout. The service consisted of traditional meditative chanting, wise words, and meditation, plus a giant ball of positive energy floating about.

The first thing which really spoke to me was the talk concerning silence. I felt pangs in my stomach. I have to admit that living in a house with five other girls lends itself to bounds of gossip. Talking behind other people's backs. Saying things which helps no one, and certainly not myself, despite how tempting it is. Since it affected me so emotionally, I resolved to stop it all. If someone starts gossipping I am going to remove myself, and remember what I have been learning recently - that the Self is the strongest, most important side to me, and us all, and focusing on these trivial things only weakens our ability to be in touch with it.

Chanting was a completely new experience for me, and I was shocked at how peaceful, enjoyable, and calming it was. All of our voices in union creating a strange flow of vibrations and energy in the room and inside of me. When we fell into meditation, I was amazed at how automatically I transported myself into my meditative state. I realized I was already in it. With no conscious effort, the chanting put me into a deeper state. That was awesome to experience.

I must go do some homework, but I plan on writing more soon about the meditation and some thoughts going through my mind these days! xo Roxy

Waking Life

So not to blow up the blog-o-sphere or anything but I also think this would be appropriate to share. It is about about a movie called Waking Life. I would describe it as an animated movie about the nature of consciousness and our perception of what we call "life". It follows this kid who travels through, a city, a dreamworld, it is difficult to tell. However, it touches on a lot of philosophical, psychological and progressive topics about consciousness, awareness, dreams, human nature, etc. It is a very trippy animation that alters and changes based on the scene, the attitude, perception, and awareness of each individual in the scene. It is very well done and raises some very interesting topics for discussion. I have it on my computer and can put it on a flash drive for anyone who wants it. I would also be interested in hosting, or having elsewhere, a showing of the movie sometime and discussing it. Maybe we could rent a room somewhere and watch it together? Or anyone interested could? It wouldn't have to be a whole class thing. Anyway, here is a link to a critique I found. I think it gives a pretty good overview of what it's all about including excerpts from the film. You can also search for it on Youtube and watch a few different clips. It's a little out there but I think it is an awesome movie and highly beneficial. Let me know what you think! Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3u6LVHlGTk&feature=fvst

Desiderata (Desired in Italian)

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, an remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy.

Found in old Saint Paul's Church, Baltimore, Dated 1692

I found a plaque at a hometown thrift store with this saying on it for only 75 cents! It now hangs on my wall above my desk. I believe it speaks some beautiful encouragement and advice. I think it pertains to the class. Enjoy!

The Psi Dimension

I just read the NON-ORDINARY EXPERIENCE post by Dick. The author talks about the blurry boundary between Self and non-Self, and how we constantly perceive non-local events in a subliminal way. These non-local events could be far from us in space and time, and includes not only events that will happen, but also those that could happen. This reminded me of a model I thought up awhile back which explains psi phenomenon in terms of a multiverse, a universe of branching possibilities. If you're interested, here is my explanation of the model followed by my notes and further questions:

Thinking about psi phenomena, it’s difficult to find an explanation that fits with our current worldview of spacetime mechanics. In fact, this seems to be an essential feature of the phenomena we observe – they seem to be of an entirely different dimension than physics. Now I’ve come to accept the possibility that this term, “dimension,” is more than just a metaphor to describe a radical set of ideas; it is perhaps legitimate to say that what we are observing in psi phenomena represents fifth dimensional physics, in the most literal sense. In this extradimensional view, psi phenomena must be explained using both classical, spacetime physics and their own special set of metaphysics. This is the essence of an extra dimension: it incorporates all of the dynamics subordinate dimensions plus something else, that being a set of rules completely orthogonal to the set of previous ones.

Anyway, what made me think of this was the experience of using the “law of attraction,” and feeling it truly working. For example, I am healing someone with visualization: in the classical view, it would seem that I’m working some magic, since I am causing a “change” to happen in a static, predetermined world (without even touching the person!) Now before I demonstrate an alternative view, I ask that you make a series of assumptions: First, that the universe is actually a branching multiverse of possibilities. Second, that the essence of our conscious experience is determined by more than the four comprehensible dimensions we are rationally aware of. I find it useful to use the word “soul” to refer to that part of consciousness that is yet unexplainable in our current physical paradigm, of course I am always hesitant to use such emotionally laden words. If you will though, I propose that our soul “lives” or resides in the material world, with certain space and time coordinates (i.e. your brain tissue, right now), yet also has at least a rudimentary ability to move through the multiverse of possibilities. Thus, when I am healing someone through visualization, the “effects” we see are not actually effects, but preexisting possible worlds that my consciousness was able to gravitate towards. With psi phenomena, perhaps it’s not that we are causing a change to happen, but rather choosing which universe to reside in – which universe to observe. This is why cause and effect don’t seem to hold for the science of consciousness. Cause and effect determinism is a general characteristic of the lower, spatial dimensions, while consciousness is an extradimensional phenomenon.

Inevitably every theory this radical and unfounded evokes a barrage of questions and objections, which I welcome; they tend to either fill in or gouge deeper the holes in the theory, a natural sculpting process.

The first question I would raise about the multiverse assumption, is: Does every “possible” universe mean every imaginable one? To quote an old example, I can imagine a universe where roses have no thorns, but there’s no way to know if this is theoretically possible. What about a universe with no disease? A universe where Hitler succeeded? A universe where we only speak in sign language? It seems our imagination is unlimited in this respect, but is the set of possible universes a finite or infinite number? To ask another way, are there physical rules that govern the multiverse? What and where are these “branchings” of possibilities? I posit that some universes are more likely to happen than others – yet I cannot say whether the probability of a universe where, for example, the future Earth is enslaved by giant squirrels, is zero or non-zero. Perhaps the probability is only 10 to the -22. Quantum physics has suggested that, while the behaviors of certain particles are “truly random,” they still fit into a probabilistic framework (i.e. they have a defined set of possible universes, some being more probable than others.). This discussion of the multiverse, and of the essence of probability also, needs more attention.

Second: What is the nature of life’s evolution into comprehending higher dimensions? There was once a time when cognizant life did not understand the third spatial dimension (our brains must make sense of a virtual 3D space using input from a 2D visual field), nor the fourth (we must have a working memory to perceive time), yet no one would claim these did not exist before we had the means to comprehend them. What of the fifth dimension and beyond? Is there any reason to believe evolution has halted in this respect?
Do we have distinct souls (one per body) that move individually through the multiverse, or is there one Awareness with many sets of eyes?

Will we be able to describe the fifth dimension with simple equations?

Funny question: why do I feel intuitively feel that I can access higher dimensions when I’m on LSD?! Even if it’s entirely illusion, what part of my brain physiology is making me consider dimension?

The Architect

John Hagelin, a well known quantum physicist talks informally about what the Universal Field Theory means. I was reminded of the architect from the Matrix when I first saw this. :-)

NON-ORDINARY EXPERIENCE

I imagine this as a post within which we can upload or share URL's that bear on anything we are interested in

Consciousness and Psi: The First Sight Model
James Carpenter, Ph.D.
Rhine Research Center
Presented at the Conference: Consciousness Today,
Myrtle Beach, SC, March 24, 2007

My topic is the importance of psi in the understanding of consciousness. I am
going to sketch for you a model that I have developed that proposes that psi (including
extrasensory perception and psychokinesis) is an essential constituent of consciousness,
that it is in fact the primary element in the network of processes that produce
consciousness. Whereas psi has sometimes been referred to as “second sight,” I think
that it might best be understood as “first sight.”
A model is an analogy, and the basic analogy I am proposing is this: let us
suppose that extrasensory perception is like subliminal perception.
I want to ask you to imagine some things. First, imagine that consciousness, for
every organism, is continuously being generated by processes that are not in themselves
conscious. In this sense, consciousness is something like a lit electric bulb. Flip the
switch and the bulb lights up. We do not see the large network of processes that are
producing this light – the wires, the electric current, the generators, the relays and
alternators. – but we know that all these things stand behind the lit bulb, a dark but active
surround outside the pool of light. Let us imagine that similar active surrounds of unseen
processes stand behind our bright pools of consciousness.
This is a common assumption for scientists attempting to study consciousness, but
imagine another wrinkle to this surround that is not generally added. Imagine that this
these preconscious processes are not merely made up of impersonal physical events going
on in brains and nervous systems but that they are really as personal and purposeful and
individual as consciousness itself. There is much good evidence for this, but it is an
assumption that scientists are usually reluctant to make. However, this model will be
most sensible if we do not assume that consciousness is mechanically generated.
Preconscious processes are as much characterized by personal meaning and intention as
consciousness is. They must be understood psychologically as well as physically.
Now imagine that among all the needs and values and wishes that we all variously
hold, we also hold one wish in common at this preconscious level. We wish to present to
consciousness the very most useful thing as personally conceived at every moment. This
is what we may say these preconscious processes are “for.” They guide consciousness to
the one most useful thing as quickly and efficiently as possible in this moment, and the
next, and the next. Our model holds that preconscious processes scan, sort, select and
guide the formation of each flowing bit of conscious experience. What is the material
that they work upon in these ways? All of the things that are potentially conscious at any
time, and that more or less vie for our attention. These include purely personal things
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like memories and wishes and visceral experiences, and extra-personal things like
sensations impinging upon our nervous systems, and – and here is the parapsychological
part – also elements from the vastly expanded realm of possible meaning drawn from a
greatly extended universe not immediately local to the individual. And this is the last
thing that this model asks you to imagine. Imagine that this personal surround of preconscious
material is not limited to what has already been experienced by the individual,
nor to potential information immediately impinging upon the nervous system, but also
includes an extended universe of unknown boundaries. It is in scanning, sorting and
selecting from among this vast extent of material that the formation of all experience
begins, according to our model.
Remember that “psi” is our general term for referring to all of our interactions
with reality beyond those that are immediately local. Note that this model implies that
psi in its most basic, normal functioning, is not the occasional, furtive and unreliable
thing that we usually think of it as being. Nor is it in any way exotic. Rather, we are
presuming that it is continuously active, essentially important, powerfully reliable, and
almost thoroughly unconscious.
Let me say some more about preconscious processing, particularly subliminal
perception.
Unconscious influences upon consciousness have been studied by psychologists
since early in the 20th century, when Jastrow (in cognitive psychology) and Freud (in
psychiatry) reported that both our perceptions and our emotional adjustments were
swayed by influences outside of consciousness. These lines of study have proceeded
since, and out of it all has emerged a picture of the mind as being a zone of conscious
self-awareness with a preconscious surround that precedes and conditions consciousness
in complex but systematic ways. The findings of parapsychology are not incongruent
with this picture, but they add to it the idea that an organism’s engagement with this
surround is not bounded by physical, sensory impingement but extends beyond that in
space and in time.
Is it reasonable to suppose that an organism is not rigidly bounded but at its edges
blurs into its surround, such that the two are not entirely distinguishable? This is
obviously the case in a physical sense. The fruit on my plate at breakfast time is well on
the way to becoming part of myself a couple of hours later. In the words of the children's
rhyme: "It's a very odd thing, as odd as can be, that whatever Miss Gee eats, becomes
part of Miss Gee." In another example of blurry physical boundaries, consider the gecko,
a lizard remarkable for its ability to walk upside down on ceilings. Research has
discovered that its defiance of gravity is permitted by the fact that the extremely fine
hairs on its feet provide such a density of contact with a surface that it creates billions of
weak molecular attractions called van der Waals forces. These forces act only at very
small distances and hold together the molecules of objects. In other words, the same tiny
forces that hold the gecko together and hold the ceiling together, also hold the gecko to
the ceiling. At this very fine level of contact, gecko and ceiling are energically merged. I
suggest that there is an analogous blur at the edge of our mental being. At the leading
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edge of perception and intention, organism and surround lack distinguishable identity. In
this transactional zone, they are one another. It really might be best to say that in this
zone they become themselves out of each other.
Were it not for the anomalies of parapsychology, we might not need to pose the
idea that, by our nature, we extend beyond ourselves in apprehension and action. Given
the reality of those anomalies, this idea seems almost inescapable.
Subliminal Perception
Some decades ago, a popular book called The Hidden Persuaders fascinated and
alarmed the American public with its announcement that the advertising industry was
manipulating our judgments and decisions using unseen, subliminal influences. In the
prototypical example, inserting words like “you are hungry for popcorn” between the
frames of movies resulted in boosted popcorn sales even though the words were never
consciously perceived. These ideas were controversial for academic psychologists, but
since then the phenomena have continued to be studied, refined and used, and we are now
assaulted daily with sophisticated applications by interests that want to sway our
purchases or our votes. Now they are so widely accepted by most of experimental
psychology, that they are used as techniques to study other processes, such as learning,
attitude formation, and emotional response. Is this vulnerability to unconscious influence
some quirk that has been perversely inserted into our nature solely for the benefit of
marketers and politicians? On the contrary, it appears that preconscious, subliminal
influences are an ongoing part of the developmental history of each bit of our experience.
Each bit of experience goes through a rapid history of development, which begins
with unconscious processes. In the case of a single perception, I am aware of seeing
something and being able to think about it. This piece of awareness is an end-product.
Just prior to my seeing the thing as such, I experienced a collection of sensations that I
attempt to construe. Just prior to that, sensations registered subliminally upon my
nervous system. And just prior to that, an extrasensory anticipation of the event initiated
the perceptual process.
A great deal of the work of experimental psychology has focused on the stage just
prior to conscious experience, when meaning is being attributed to inchoate experiences.
Psychologists studying subliminal perception, added their preconscious step to the
cognitive account. The findings of parapsychologists add the step of extrasensory
anticipation.
In the genesis of a perception, each of these steps sends a rapid message to the
next and orients it in a helpful way. Rational consciousness is a marvelous, very
powerful tool, responsible for our dominance of the planet, and each of us is constantly
selecting the most interesting issue to present to it from the myriad of potential concerns
that exist in the present or the personally meaningful future.
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We are making one extraordinary assumption: that at the psi level, we are in
touch with virtually everything, or at least so much that we currently have no way to
assess its boundaries. The psi step must begin the winnowing process from virtually
everything to one best thing. This initial step of selection and de-selection is the basic Psi
process. In everyday experience it is “bound” and functions entirely unconsciously,
although it goes on constantly and must operate in what seems to the rational mind an
unbelievably complex and intricate way. In making this selection, it must use two
criteria: How important is the potential event? How likely is it to actually occur to me?
These two criteria together might be said to constitute the event’s sensed relevance.
With this mammoth task of selecting and de-selecting in terms of sensed
relevance, the Psi function has only one binary tool: it is to orient toward the thing or
away from it to something else instead.
When a pre-consciously apprehended piece of sensory information is selected as
salient, this selection initiates an activation of preconscious emotional and cognitive
responses. This activation does not by itself result in a conscious experience, but in the
arousal of an apprehensive network that facilitates experience. This network poses a set
of implicit questions that preconscious attention seeks to answer by consulting additional
sensory information. With it the person poses tentative, general, preverbal hypotheses in
terms of which to scan for confirmatory evidence. Thereby, it guides the effort to
construe. Preconscious processes, including psi, anticipate and implicitly structure the
formation of experience.. It is sensory experience that provides conscious awareness. It
provides the validating information to the anticipational questions. Psi is part of the
preparatory process which helps the mind make the best use of its sensory experience. In
the ordinary flow of developing awarenesses, the anticipational questions slip into
oblivion before they can ever become issues to awareness, in favor of the actual
developing experience.
Suppose I notice a flicker of movement on my right, just at the edge of my visual
field. I turn my head and see that someone has entered the room. This model proposes
that before the flicker of light, a psi apprehension suggested that something meaningful
was forthcoming and my awareness was alerted in a general direction and to a cluster of
potential meanings. The flicker, as we know from work in subliminal perception, itself
arouses an anticipational network of potential meaning, beginning to question the
movement and preparing me to understand it. When I turn and see a person, I have full
visual information which I can quickly understand, and I have a simple awareness, a bit
of knowing. All the rapid processes of pre-knowing have vanished before I can glimpse
them or know of their participation in my experience.
What happens if this development is interrupted before the natural, rapid flow of
events can reach the formation of a perception? Both parapsychologists and the
psychologists studying PWA have been asking this question, and have independently
found many of the same answers. Basically, the orienting action of the earliest stages can
be glimpsed in the feelings, thoughts and behavior of the person whose perception is
being denied. When conscious perception is allowed to develop, this is what is available
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to awareness. When that is blocked by not allowing sufficient sensory exposure, one may
see the anticipational arousal expressed inadvertently in the feelings or associations or
behavior of the person, with the latter having no insight into the origin of those things.
In general, both psi apprehension and subliminal apprehension can be seen
primarily by interpreting inadvertency. Ordinarily, consciousness is oblivious to them,
but when conscious experience is prevented, we can glimpse the hints and whispers of
implicit meaning.
Inadvertent psychological events are those that seem to "just happen" as opposed
to being experienced as things "I do." An image comes to mind, the memory of a song
occurs of its own volition, a mood descends or arises, a silly mispronunciation intrudes
into speech, one name is substituted for another, a shadow is misinterpreted as a snake, or
in the depth of sleep a dream takes shape. In the context of an ESP experiment, the
percipient utters free associations, the remote viewer scribbles and consults an inner flow
of images, the card-guesser impulsively throws a card on one pile among five, the subject
being stared at by someone out of sight generates unfelt neurophysiological responses
being sent to a polygraph.
Although presumably active all the time, we rarely see the extrasensory and the
subliminal-sensory levels of experience in action. I have an occasional experience in
which I can see the subliminal at work in my own stream of consciousness. Since I have
become a little hard of hearing, my threshold for clearly hearing vocal speech is a little
different from that of most people. Recently in a family conversation, I uttered some
thought only to see my daughter roll her eyes in an expression that gently said "he's doing
it again." I had expressed a restatement of something that someone else in the
conversation had said a short time before. I had not been conscious of the remark, but
others were. To me, my own words popped into my head as a brand new idea, but others
recognized them as a close association to the words that had come before. This sort of
"popping up" is an example of the sort of inadvertency that expresses a subliminal
influence without awareness.
Inadvertent expressions of preconscious processes have been studied extensively
by psychologists. Poetzel found that images flashed briefly and not consciously seen
were expressed metaphorically later in dreams. Cognitive psychologists found that
subliminal stimuli affected later processes of learning, forgetting, affective response and
association if the later material was connected somehow to the unconscious stimuli.
Psychodynamic and social psychologists found that the emotional significance of
subliminal material effected a person’s later mood and attitude and spontaneous social
behavior.
In a parallel manner, parapsychologists found that people could indeed not see the
material enclosed in opaque envelopes, but they could sometimes successfully guess
them, and perhaps to a higher degree, could express a meaningful inadvertent response to
the hidden content by their physiological responses, or spontaneous imagery, or affective
responses to similar content exposed later. Many other examples could be listed of the
various pre-sensory and subliminal-sensory effects that have been studied. For instance,
in a ganzfeld ESP study, the percipient allows the development of spontaneous feelings
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and images which are not consciously experienced as being caused by the target material
(which is neither seen nor heard). However, later examination of the target material often
suggests associative connections to the feelings and images, to the extent that the
experiences can be correctly identified as associated.
Many similar patterns have been found between subliminal and extrasensory
perception. Similar conditions facilitate them, such as drawing responses vs. verbalizing
them, sensory attenuation, hypnosis, free association, dreaming sleep, relaxed reverie,
and a positive, encouraging environment. Similar sorts of people have been seen to be
more likely to show the effects: people with stronger tendencies toward dissociation or
creativity or absorption, those positively disposed toward it, those who are more socially
engaged and those who are less anxious. The expression of both kinds of stimuli tend to
be fragmented and metaphorical, rather than literal and complete. Both may more
commonly be expressed by indirect effects on emotion or attention or on some aspect of
psycho-physiological functioning, than by direct cognitive retrieval. Situations requiring
careful assessment and judgment tend to make both kinds of effects vanish. Finally,
several correlational studies have reported that persons who are better at retrieving
subliminal information are also better at retrieving extrasensory information. Putting all
of this together, it appears that scientists in these different fields have been studying
similar things without realizing it.
It may seem common sense to us that the gap between a very faint stimulus and
no stimulus at all is absolute and enormous. However, evidence suggests that the gap
may be very slight in many ways, or even non-existent.
My model holds that the mind utilizes its available extrasensory and subliminalsensory
material in highly similar ways. I call this a hypothesis of functional equivalence.
Psi-Missing
Any serious model of psi must contend with the reality of psi-missing, the
significant negative scoring that is sometimes found in ESP experiments. Since we are
assuming that psi does function persistently and unconsciously, we must ask of what
benefit might be the tendency to turn away-from some potential event? The most
obvious answer is that the winnowing function that I just mentioned, requires that all
potential meanings but one be turned away-from at the initial preconscious level, in order
to bring upon the stage of awareness the one most useful thing at that moment. If
something elected to be an ESP target does not pass this test of "probably most useful" in
a given instant, it will pass on only a sense of avoidance in favor of the other thing being
selected instead. But significant psi-missing requires a persistent avoidance of the
meaning of some event. Why would we maintain a posture of avoiding a particular thing
long enough to produce a significantly negative deviation in an ESP experiment?
Parapsychologists have viewed these results as unconscious errors but this is probably too
narrow a view Imagine an early ancestor of yours walking through dense woods. On
her right is a safe passage which she cannot clearly see, on her left is a dangerous
predator crouching behind a bush. She cannot see the predator but she psychically
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engages its presence. The best action, the one which leads her to live long enough to
become your ancestor, is to very quickly become interested in something to her right and
head that way. Suppose the psychic apprehension instead alerted her to "some sort of
trouble on the left?" It might cause her to pause an instant and take too long a look at the
dangerous bush. Immediate avoidance by simply preferring an alternative to the danger
is the healthiest choice. If this counter-preference was observed in an ESP test, it would
be expressed as a psi-miss.
There is an interesting analogy to this in the literature on the effect of subliminal
primes on social judgment. It is known that sometimes a prime results in the facilitation
of a perception or attribution (i.e. the content of a prime becomes more likely to be
expressed in a judgment) whereas sometimes it results in a reduction in the likelihood of
the expression of the prime. The former, called "assimilation," is associated with primes
that are highly relevant to the target, while the second, called "contrast," is found when
primes are highly irrelevant to the target. Assimilation and contrast are for subliminal
primes what psi-hitting and psi-missing are for extrasensory information. The mind is
apparently capable of pre-consciously assessing the relevance of material that is either
subliminal or extrasensory, using relevant material and turning away from irrelevant
material.
There is much more that I could say by way of introducing this model. If you are
interested, I refer you to two papers which I have published in recent issues of the
Journal of Parapsychology. There I develop the model much further, with more to say
about different expressions of psi, and many other matters. I also survey a sizable portion
of the published parapsychological literature in terms of the model’s expectations. I
believe that the model shows the capacity to bring much order and meaning to our
otherwise confusing literature.
Let me briefly give you an idea of the kind of research we are doing at the Rhine
Center that is guided by this model. The first such study I carried out was conceived
before I had developed the model so fully. I was intrigued by subliminal perception
research that showed that subliminal primes could affect spontaneous social behavior. I
reasoned that ESP must be expressed similarly. I formed a small group that agreed to
function in a quasi-therapeutic, support group manner, while an ESP target was being
selected randomly by a computer in another place. Although we could not know the
nature of the day’s target, we all knew that an ESP target was being picked, and hoped
that it might show itself inadvertently in our group process – in the topics, moods, and
various surprising events that an unstructured group can often produce – but we did not
give much thought to the target as we went along, discussing whatever we wished
however we wished. At each session’s end we rated our day’s process on several
dimensions, and then learned a number which let us draw a set of four pictures. One was
the target, but we did not know which. We spread the pictures out and rated each of them
for their degree of correspondence with the session we had just experienced. Only after
all these ratings were completed and collected did we learn which of the 4 was the actual
target that the computer had picked. We averaged the ratings given to each picture to see
to what extent we had been able to identify the correct target vs. the controls by
comparing its content to our session. This group met off and on for several years, and
amassed 375 sessions. We found that the target did make itself known in our behavior
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well enough for us to identify it much more often than chance should allow. Even of
more interest, the kind of session we had experienced determined when sessions would
hit and when they would miss. Our model would lead us to expect that sessions that were
characterized by intense focus and cognitive work should lead to misses more than hits,
since the group’s work would lead the target to seem extraneous and therefore excluded
from expression. This is what we found,. Sessions that were especially characterized by
intense revelations and heavy emotional work produced psi-misses while the remaining
sessions produced very high psi-hitting. These are patterns that one would expect to find
in the expression of a subliminal stimulus, and we found them with an extrasensory
target.
In more recent research we have been trying to learn more about how psi and
other pre-conscious processes, such as subliminal primes and creative impulses, work
together in producing our experiences. One project that has recently been completed
involved an attempt to heighten certain moods and attitudes that we have found to be psi
conducive and creativity-conducive, using subliminal and incidental primes. Two more
projects are beginning soon, in which we will examine the effect of a different subliminal
prime upon both extrasensory scoring and a familiar subliminal effect. We will then
explore the question of whether or not the same prime, presented only to an extrasensory
agent, will have the same effect as a subliminal exposure. There are many more
questions along these lines that we plan to address as time and resources permit.
CONCLUSION
This model suggests how psi may function in everyday life. Yet suppose that it is
true that psi influences act continually and implicitly in the formation of our experience,
and mingle meaningfully with other preconscious processes. Is this only of academic
interest?
I think not. Besides the fascinating unseen dimensions that this adds to our
understanding of our nature, there may be very practical implications as well. Consider
this analogy. As you stand outside on a clear night and look at the starry sky with the
unaided eye, you will not see the rings of Saturn. Add the proper telescope and the rings
pop into view. Yet the telescope does not add one photon of light coming from Saturn to
your retina. The telescope only bends and selects the photons that are available in such a
way that they are not overwhelmed by others. Those same photons are available without
the telescope, but they cannot be seen as such. Why not? Our visual system has evolved
in a very sensible way from a survival perspective. Seeing things as far away as the rings
of Saturn has had negligible survival value in our racial history. It is very practical that
they not intrude upon our visual experience. Yet if for some reason we wish to see the
rings of Saturn, we can apply our knowledge of the laws of optics and refract the light in
such a way that the light from nearer things is excluded and the rings can be discerned.
We understand the laws of optics much better than we understand the laws of
preconscious processes, including psi. They await our discovery. Dramatic psychic
experiences suggest that important flashes of knowledge can emerge from the implicit sea
of unconscious extrasensory engagement. As interesting as these occasions are, it is
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worth remembering that they are still almost entirely unaided by science. When the laws
of preconscious processes are as well understood as the laws of optics, our access to
knowledge, in whatever directions we wish, may be vastly extended.

Jill Taylor -- Interesting video

I had seen this video a while ago, and it was shown in my psychology course last week. Of course, the professor said the end of the video, a part which was particularly, "goose-bumpingly", inspiring for me when I first watched it, is too "hippy-ish" for him, but to each his own, I guess.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html

I would be interested to hear what the rest of the class thinks of this video

Some images of ourselves post-meditation project

What we shared was really interesting.
How about we just jot a few words down as responses to this post?
*** What said was, I would be so delighted if I could emerge having had experiences and understandings that led me to look forward to meditation and to savor its memories.
What else?

You're here!

Welcome to the digital space for Psychology and Consciousness!

Hopefully you have all received your invitations to participate as an author on this blog.  Once you accept, you will be able to post on the blog any time you like about anything and everything that you would like to share with the group.    

Blogger is a cool medium.   Its interface makes it easy to include links, images, and videos within a post, and there are lots of ways to customize the site.  Although it may seem a little intimidating at first, once you start interacting with it, it quickly becomes a great way to communicate with the group.  Maybe we will have some time tomorrow in class for a brief tutorial for those of you who are new to the whole process.

What we essentially have in front of us is a blank page, and we can make it anything we want it to be.  Whether you have stumbled across an article that you think the class would be interested in, have a reaction to something we have read, or simply have something to say, this is the place to do it.  Post as often as you like or as little as you like - this is a space for us to grow and expand together.

To get things rolling, I would like to make a proposition.  How about we all (if we have time, of course) write a quick entry introducing ourselves to the group?  It would be nice to get a sense of who everyone is as we start this journey together.

Here's to an excellent semester together.