More Thinking Allowed

2 Episodes to consider:

1.  Non-Duality with Russell Targ

Russell Targ, a laser physicist, cofounded the remote viewing research program at SRI International. He is coauthor Mind Reach, The Mind Race, Miracles of Mind, The Heart of the Mind, and The End of Suffering. He is author of Limitless Mind and The Reality of ESP: A Physicist's Proof of Psychic Abilities. He is also coeditor of the anthology, Mind At Large. Here he argues that, according to the Buddhist logic of Nagarjuna, Aristotle is wrong. A proposition can be both true and false at the same time. Most propositions are neither true nor false. He finds similar thinking in the wave-particle duality of modern physics, as well as in Kurt Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem. The unity of consciousness is also expressed in the findings of remote viewing. He describes the path of Dzogchen in Buddhism and claims that it is the most direct path to enlightenment. 

2.  Terminal Lucidity with Stafford Betty

Stafford Betty, PhD, is professor of religious studies at California State University at Bakersfield. He is author of Heaven and Hell Unveiled, The Afterlife Unveiled, and When Did You Ever Become Less by Dying? Here he describes an unusual situation that occurs in a small percentage of brain-damaged patients as they approach death. They are able to achieve a state of high lucidity, as if their psyche is able to function independently of their dysfunctional body. He provides several striking examples. This is a condition that has been reported in the literature for over a century, but has only recently been identified as a distinct syndrome.

Shamans and their world with Stanley Krippner

Stanley Krippner, PhD, professor of psychology at Saybrook University, is a Fellow in five APA divisions, and past-president of two divisions (30 and 32). Formerly, he was director of the Maimonides Medical Center Dream Research Laboratory, in Brooklyn NY. He is co-author of Demystifying Shamans and Their World, The Voice of Rolling Thunder: A Medicine Man’s Wisdom for Walking the Red Road, Dream Telepathy, Extraordinary Dreams and How to Work with Them, The Mythic Path, and Haunted by Combat: Understanding PTSD in War Veterans, and co-editor of Debating Psychic Experience: Human Potential or Human Illusion, Healing Tales, Healing Stories, Varieties of Anomalous Experience: Examining the Scientific Evidence, Advances in Parapsychological Research and many other books. He is a Fellow of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, and has published cross-cultural studies on spiritual content in dreams.

Here he discusses the common features that he has observed in his studies of shamans around the world. He describes their rituals in terms of drumming, dancing, sensory deprivation, drugs, diet, and dreaming. He notes that shamans often invoke the “trickster” archetype, but that this should not be taken to imply that they are necessarily fraudulent. Shamans receive that designation from their community; and they work in the service of that community. A self-appointed healer, therefore, is not a shaman. However, all shamans are healers.

Archetypal Synchronistic Resonance

"A New Theory of Paranormal Experience"

download the paper here: http://www.williamjames.com/ASR.pdf

I have mixxed feelings about this. The terminology and concepts are interesting to me... some of the specifics put me off a bit. I recommend taking it with a grain or two of salt.

New Thinking Allowed: Two Videos for the New Year

Jeffrey Mishlove is back at it, turning out Episodes of his groundbreaking show. Two episodes are presented for your consideration.

Stephen E. Braude, PhD, served as chairman of the philosophy department at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He has also served as president of the Parapsychological Association. He is author of Crimes of Reason, The Gold Leaf Lady, Immortal Remains, The Limits of Influence, First Person Plural, and ESP and Psychokinesis. He is the recent recipient of the prestigious Myers Memorial Medal awarded by the Society for Psychical Research for outstanding contributions.

Here he describes the academic challenges of conducting serious inquiry into paranormal phenomena, a major problem being the emotional resistance from colleagues. He points out that critics of parapsychology often commit the logical error of arguing from the weakest, rather than the strongest, cases. He notes that similar irrational resistance also occurred with regard to the academic acceptance of hypnosis and dissociative identity disorder (or multiple personalities). Braude also voiced certain criticisms aimed at some colleagues within the field of parapsychology. In particular, he felt that the arguments in favor of the survival of the human personality after death were weak insofar as they did not take into account the extent and range of both normal and paranormal human abilities.

Stafford Betty, PhD, is a philosopher and professor of religious studies at California State University, Bakersfield. He is author of Vadiraja’s Refutation of Shankara’s Non-Dualism, The Imprisoned Splendor, The Afterlife Unveiled, and Heaven and Hell Unveiled.

Here he suggests that most people, without necessarily realizing it, are philosophical dualists. They accept intuitively that the mind or soul is of a completely different nature than the physical body. Unlike monistic materialism, dualism seems compatible with the empirical data of parapsychology. The problem with dualism, however, is that it offers no good explanation for how the mind and body are able to interact with each other. Another philosophical position, dating back to the ancient stoic philosophers and consistent with the Vedantic philosophy of India, is a perspective known as transcendental materialism. This viewpoint postulates gradiations of matter to more and more subtle levels beyond those known to physics today.

Robert Anton Wilson - Thinking Allowed

A clip of RAW from the 90s show 'Thinking Allowed' with Jeffrey Mishlove.

The Philosophy of Panpsychism

Christian de Quincey, PhD, is dean of consciousness studies at the University of Philosophical Research. He is a faculty member at John F. Kennedy University and Sophia University. He is founder and director of the Wisdom Academy. He is author of Radical Nature: The Soul of Matter, Radical Knowing: Understanding Consciousness Through Relationship, Consciousness From Zombies to Angels: The Shadow and the Light of Knowing Who You Are, Deep Spirit: Cracking the Noetic Code, and Blindspots: 21 Good Reasons to Think Before You Talk.

Panpsychism is the view that every whole entity in the universe, from the largest to the very smallest, possesses a measure of consciousness. Here he contrasts panpsychism with materialism, dualism, and idealism. Each of these philosophical positions is an ontology or description of reality. De Quincey points out that panpsychism seems to resolve logical problems associated with the other three major viewpoints. Furthermore, he postulates that panpsychism is consistent with the data of parapsychology and psychical research. He also distinguishes between panpsychism and other similar perspectives including animism and pantheism. When asked whether a rock could be conscious, he makes a fascinating differentiation between “heaps” and “wholes.”

Thinking Allowed: Terence McKenna (Aliens and Archtypes)

Thinking allowed: Michael Talbot

Michael Talbot's appearance on the show "Thinking Allowed".

The holographic model allows us to conceptualize phenomena that have remained on the fringes of science -- synchronicities, psychic experiences, UFOs, poltergeists, spiritual experiences, states of higher consciousness. In part one of this two part program Michael Talbot discusses the holographic model of brain functioning and the "implicate order" model of quantum physics. He proposes that these two models combined explain many unsolved mysteries in both brain functioning (such as memory and vision) and quantum physics (such as the problem of hidden variables and quantum interconnectedness).

In part two of the DVD, Talbot discusses his own unusual experiences with poltergeist phenomena and UFOs. He suggests that the holographic model provides a means for understanding these experiences without falling into the twin traps of skeptical debunking or occult romanticism.

Michael Talbot is author of Mysticism and the New Physics, Beyond the Quantum, Your Past Lives and The Holographic Universe. He also authored four novels. This program was taped approximately six months before his untimely death in May 1992.