[Joanne Helfrich]

Hi Chris! I’m new to this discussion forum, but have been part of S&MN for a few years. I believe there are a lot of people in it who share your enthusiasm with regard to science and consciousness, I’m just not sure how many discussions are happening on this discussion forum yet. In any case, I wish you luck in your pursuits. I, too, am interested in Dean Radin’s work and have been a psychic subject in IONS’ research.

[David Pye]

Sorry to see you have only one reply Chris, I have just joined this forum, so surprised it’s not more popular. I wonder if members are informed of any new posts. 🙂

[Rex Barker]

Hello Chris,

I wonder how we can move forward on this issue without accepting and acknowledging personal experience in this matter. Whilst I have been exploring this field for many years, I was inspired to do so through personal awareness of the nature of reality and the limitations caused by our sensory awareness capabilities. Science is hobbled by the need to quantify or specify every aspect under scrutiny, and yet we can experience the true nature of reality spontaneously within a context where no-one else with you does. There are so many moments when I have been aware of the immensity of reality but unable to describe it to another. On one occasion I was walking in a snow covered forest in the midst of winter with moonlight the only illumination. At one point, having already realised the potential danger of roaming wild boar packs, I realised I had nothing to scare them off. I could either return to the lodge for a torch, or trust the universe and continue my walk. I chose the latter and some 20 minutes later, having just turned to return, I was dumbfounded when my awareness of everything in the most intense detail occurred. I could clearly recognise every pine needle on each twig/branch, every individual snowflake, every insect crawling on the bark in minute detail. I was shocked and in awe. As I continued to walk the sense of connection was overwhelming and yet I remained peaceful and did not want the experience to end.

In exploring the nature of our iconic memory during my psychology studies I became aware of how easily we allow our social enculturation to hobble our experiences. We do not want to acknowledge anything that isolates us from the ‘normal’ and in doing so restrict ourselves as we interpret the iconic memory to conform to social standards. I realised this as the experiment I was subject to progressed and realised that despite being asked to express the first thought that arose, my fellow students were filtering their response to avoid getting it ‘wrong’ and looking stupid as a graduate student. I accepted that I may be stupid and said whatever came to mind and immediately showed 30% increased positive identification. My results were excluded because I said what I had done and was therefore guilty of altering the hypothesis under which it was conducted. So much for science and reality!

How can we now bring these together?

[Joanne Helfrich]

My experience as a mystic (channeler) and student of developmental psychology is that many SMN members are closed to information that doesn’t come with an empirical stamp of approval or scholarly credentials.

My book, Afterlives: Firsthand Accounts of Twenty Notable People, was highly recommended by David Lorimer, and I presented to the SMN last year. I hoped members would realize its validity by reading it (using their inner senses) … Einstein on areas of consciousness, Goethe on the integrated form, Huxley on his predictions about psychotropic drugs. I wasn’t invited by SMN leaders to continue the discussion at the virtual bar, the reason provided being that the book didn’t provide “bulletproof” evidence of the afterlife. I also submitted a white paper to propose a multidisciplinary Arts chapter of the SMN with the mission of raising the consciousness of the general public (not just academics), and was told that it didn’t meet the requirements of an academic journal and did not suitably report on transformative research.

I’m grateful to the SMN for the support I’ve received, and there are a lot of good things happening there, but I don’t see any ways for me to participate. I continue to make art and work with my partners at https://www.newworldview.com/. I suggest you check out the site, particularly About > Conscious Creation Overview.

To connect the dots between science and spirit, you might find the work of Norman Friedman (https://www.amazon.com/stores/Norman-Friedman/author/) and Fred Alan Wolf helpful.

• This reply was modified 11 months, 3 weeks ago by  Joanne Helfrich.

newworldview.com

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[Rex Barker]

Hello Joanne, apologies for this very late reply, and I am in sympathy with your situation as another who has been to busy living life to spend years studying it. I have planned to give a talk on the impact of social enculturation on individuals sense of reality because I am frequently frustrated by academics writing about an issue they clearly have limited, if any, experience of. Their research and dissertations are complex and mired in language that seems intended to impress without clarifying issues. It seems I am a mere storyteller, and claim no gifts other than my willingness to listen to that so quiet voice that occasionally nudges me in the right direction. The benefits arise from the people that such actions bring me into contact with, and the events it inspires. Namaste, Rex