One of the challenges for those living a spiritual/religious life but not believing in reincarnation is how to deal with what seems like overwhelming tragedy in human experience. Some examples of individual tragedy are the death of a young child, loss of parents by a child, and youth in very poor country who never has a chance to be educated. Mass tragedy examples are genocide in an African countries, 100s dying in plane crashes, 1000s dying in a nature disasters (e.g., cyclone/hurricane in South Asia), and terrorist attacks creating mass deaths (such as the 9/11 destruction of the Trade Center Towers in New York City).
Those involved in the personal tragedies feel the loss of critical loved ones. When a child dies at a very young age, we grieve because the child never got a chance to fully live. Tragedy, though, comes from the belief that the individuals lost their opportunity to fully experience life with its loved ones and that there is not another opportunity They had their opportunity and it was cut short, or worse, never got started.
Life won’t seem so tragic when we truly know that we (and all others) have the opportunity to live many human lives and that we do these with key members of our soul group who populate our immediate family. If we could see our current life as similar to a summer neighborhood play or movie we are putting on with our immediate family and best friends. Sometimes we have the starring role; other times we have a supporting role or just a bit part. If we are good actors we get caught up in our roles: feeling the appropriate human emotions called for in each scene (passions, anger, sorrow, depression, excitement, etc.). But after the play is completed we leave it behind us once we finish with the post-play party with all reviewing their favorite scenes. We then start planning next summer’s play: changing roles, maybe continuing some drama left over from the last or some previous play, giving some of those with bit parts a chance to have one of the “starring” roles, and exploring other aspect of human drama. As good actors we are to fully experience the human emotions, including the pain from losing a loved one. But we know after completing a “tragic” scene that it is not the end of our loved ones and our relationship with them.
Not getting caught up in human tragedy does not mean that we don’t feel compassion and love for those who are having the experience (including ourselves). With a real understanding of reincarnation and our soul nature, we know that life never ends and that we will always be with our loved ones—our soul companions. We know that the human dramas are learning scenes that we “wrote” and planned with those involved in them. All of those involved in seemingly tragic loss scenes actually volunteered to play these supporting roles to stimulate we surviving ones to spiritual growth by learning to keep our hearts open and serving others.
A good spiritual understanding of individual tragic events can be found in Robert Schwartz’s Courageous Souls: Do We Plan Our Life Challenges Before Birth?, Whispering Winds Pub (2007). This book provides great detail on before human life planning by the souls, how the soul enlists others to play different roles in helping create their life challenges, and how the soul can gain great soul knowledge by overcoming the human challenges they set up. It really helps one to see life as a courageous drama and not a human tragedy. Schwartz brings in high quality medium and channels to help him gather information from the spiritual realm. It covers all types of challenges: physical illnesses, parenting handicapped children, being deaf or blind, drug and alcohol addictions, death of a loved one and accidents.
The analogies for mass death “tragedies” would be the large Hollywood film epics where 100s and 1000s of “extras” are used for the mass war and destruction scenes. Souls volunteer to play these parts knowing that they are involved in moving human conscientiousness.
Copyright Douglas Kinney
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Agreement Among Sources on Nine Spiritual Hypotheses
Following are results for nine hypotheses that were tested using seven of the sources I presented on 15 Feb. 2009: Abraham, The Guides, The Lightspeakers, Edgar Cayce, Graybar, Neal Donald Walsch's Home with God, and Michael Newton. For some of the hypotheses, I did not find information from each source; also sometimes I only gave partial agreement because there was some ambiguity.
1. Souls can choose to experience alternative versions of a given life. Neal Donald Walsch describes this in some depth; not the same as the existence/creation of parallel universes from human-soul choices. Good agreement; score 3.5 of 4.
2. Souls (as humans) can change their experience of the past through the work they do to change their consciousness. Examples are forgiveness work. The above (#1) is a soul level option that is also about changing the past. Good agreement; score 4 of 6.
3. The creative process: it is initiated with thought and powered with feeling. Abraham describes how the contrasts of the physical world’s experiences fuels desire which is the first step in creation. Very high agreement; score 6 of 6.
4. Death transition is a multi-stage process that starts (stage 1) with the soul leaving its human body. Subsequent stages include (stage 2) creating an experience of existence that is primarily based on the consciousness at death. It can be very earth based; what will be missing is the real physical experience. It can also include the presence of spiritual beings from the human’s religious orientation; e.g., seeing Jesus or Mohammad. Eventually, the soul consciousness will unite with itself and experience the spiritual realm without the consciousness constraints of the just departed human life. High agreement: score 4.5 of 5.
5. Guides (other souls) and a human soul’s higher self are the source of inspiration and guidance for humans, not direct communication from God. Very high agreement; score 6.5 of 7.
6. God (or other names such as God Force, Source, and the Light) is the as basic energy in all and behind all life, and all life consists of energy expressing itself in a physical form. Very high agreement; score 6 of 6.
7. Human and other earth life forms have evolved with the assistance and guidance of souls (intelligent design). It is a process with souls manipulating the elementary aspects of life (e.g., DNA). High agreement; score 4 of 4.
8. Karma is not a rigid process required for soul evolution. Souls don’t have to cleanse or work off all the negativity created in their last life in subsequent lives. Souls can do much if not most of their work in the spiritual realm. [Note: there is indication that “younger” souls are caught up more in the Karmic process.] Very high agreement; score 5 of 6 [only claimed partial agreement for two of the sources].
9. Love, kindness and compassion (or empathy) are important human expressions for the soul’s development. These are the natural way for souls to interact with each others since all are from the same Source. Good agreement; score 3.5 of 5. [Abraham did not agree with this at all.]
Copyright by Douglas Kinney
1. Souls can choose to experience alternative versions of a given life. Neal Donald Walsch describes this in some depth; not the same as the existence/creation of parallel universes from human-soul choices. Good agreement; score 3.5 of 4.
2. Souls (as humans) can change their experience of the past through the work they do to change their consciousness. Examples are forgiveness work. The above (#1) is a soul level option that is also about changing the past. Good agreement; score 4 of 6.
3. The creative process: it is initiated with thought and powered with feeling. Abraham describes how the contrasts of the physical world’s experiences fuels desire which is the first step in creation. Very high agreement; score 6 of 6.
4. Death transition is a multi-stage process that starts (stage 1) with the soul leaving its human body. Subsequent stages include (stage 2) creating an experience of existence that is primarily based on the consciousness at death. It can be very earth based; what will be missing is the real physical experience. It can also include the presence of spiritual beings from the human’s religious orientation; e.g., seeing Jesus or Mohammad. Eventually, the soul consciousness will unite with itself and experience the spiritual realm without the consciousness constraints of the just departed human life. High agreement: score 4.5 of 5.
5. Guides (other souls) and a human soul’s higher self are the source of inspiration and guidance for humans, not direct communication from God. Very high agreement; score 6.5 of 7.
6. God (or other names such as God Force, Source, and the Light) is the as basic energy in all and behind all life, and all life consists of energy expressing itself in a physical form. Very high agreement; score 6 of 6.
7. Human and other earth life forms have evolved with the assistance and guidance of souls (intelligent design). It is a process with souls manipulating the elementary aspects of life (e.g., DNA). High agreement; score 4 of 4.
8. Karma is not a rigid process required for soul evolution. Souls don’t have to cleanse or work off all the negativity created in their last life in subsequent lives. Souls can do much if not most of their work in the spiritual realm. [Note: there is indication that “younger” souls are caught up more in the Karmic process.] Very high agreement; score 5 of 6 [only claimed partial agreement for two of the sources].
9. Love, kindness and compassion (or empathy) are important human expressions for the soul’s development. These are the natural way for souls to interact with each others since all are from the same Source. Good agreement; score 3.5 of 5. [Abraham did not agree with this at all.]
Copyright by Douglas Kinney
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Primary Sources for Information on Reincarnation, Soul, and Nature of Spiritual Realm
Following are the key sources I have discovered and have been using to develop my “evidence” for Reincarnation, the Soul, Nature of Spiritual Realm, and Universe.
1. Newton and “Life between Life Regression” books. Michael Newton, Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives. Llewellyn Publications (1994); Destiny of Souls, Llewellyn Publications (2000); and Life Between Lives: Hypnotherapy for Spiritual Regression, Llewellyn Publications (2004). See also www.near-death.com/newton. Newton has taken regression to a new level: he interviewed over 7,000 “souls” and created what I call the “sociology” of the lower spiritual realm with descriptions of relationships, activities (work and learning), hierarchical structures, etc. There are several other prominent researchers using hypnosis to study life in the spiritual realm; see paragraph near end of this post. Michael Newton, Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives. Llewellyn Publications (1994); Destiny of Souls, Llewellyn Publications (2000); and Life Between Lives: Hypnotherapy for Spiritual Regression, Llewellyn Publications (2004). See also www.near-death.com/newton. Newton has taken regression to a new level: he interviewed over 7,000 “souls” and created what I call the “sociology” of the lower spiritual realm with descriptions of relationships, activities (work and learning), hierarchical structures, etc. There are several other prominent researchers using hypnosis to study life in the spiritual realm; see paragraph near end of this post.
2. Ron Scolastico, channel for The Guides. Key book: The Earth Adventure: Your Soul’s Journey through Physical Reality, Universal Guidance Press. Other books: Healing the Heart, Healing the Body; Doorway to the Soul; and Reflections. Subject specific (e.g., Reincarnation) and monthly audio CDs/tapes (plus newsletter) with answers to questions. See www.ronscolastico.com.
3. Abraham-Hicks channeling material. Key books I have used to date: Hicks, Esther, Ask and It is Given: Learning to Manifest Your Desires, Hay House (2004), The Amazing power of Deliberate Intent: Living the Art of Allowing, Hay House (2006). Monthly audio CDs with highlight of a workshop. Also see web site: www.abraham-hicks.com.
4. Christie Pennington channel for “The Lightspeakers” (previously The Messengers). Christie posts a monthly letter on her site. I also have a series of research audio tapes where I asked The Lightspeakers/Messengers questions on a series of research topics and one tape with the results of interviewing them on my initial list of hypotheses. In a later posting I will provide some of the dialogue. See web site: www.thelightspeakers.com.
5. The Seth material. This material was channel by Jane Roberts in the 1970s. Key books I have studied are: (1) Seth Speaks: The Eternal Validity of the Soul and (2) The Nature of Personal Reality. Another channel (Veronica) said the following about the Seth material: … find the Seth Books to be the best and most complete collection of metaphysical material ever published. Several web sites provide introductory information on the Seth material: http://www.secretoflife.com/seth/ and http://www.sethlearningcenter.org/
5., Neale Donald Walsch’s book Home with God: in a Life that Never Ends, Atria Books (2006). Known for his “Converstions with God” books, “God” in this book provides some wonderful metaphors and other approaches to help Walsch understand the nature of non-time in the spiritual realm, how the transition occur between earth and spiritual realm occurs, key choices we have at the transition, how we have multiple opportunities to live out our life, and others. This is can probably be considered channeling information. In this book "God" actually tells Walsch that it is his higher self who is speaking to him. www.nealedonaldwalsch.com.
6. Charles Graybar. www.beyondthebrokengate.com. Beyond the Broken Gate: an Ordinary Man’s Extraordinary Journey in Learning Who We Are, Why We Live, and Where We’re Going, Serenity Hill Press, Inc. (2003) This book chronicles Graybar’s powerful experiences in the spiritual realm with his guides. The information illustrates the role spiritual guides can play and provides detailed information on soul, soul’s journey, karma, our source, etc. As a class this would probably be considered information created from a self hypnosis state. Graybar describes using a special meditation technique to contacts his guides. Since Graybar had these experiences as a human, he is able to “come back” and describe his many non-human experiences in human language terms we can understand.
7. Children who Remember material. The book I read was Tucker, Jim B., Life Before Life, St. Martin’s Press (2005). It includes many references including the classical by his mentor Ian Stevenson, Children Who Remember Previous Lives: A Question of Reincarnation. (rev. ed.). McFarland, 2001. This material provides a different source of evidence: an earth-based one where information is provided in human testimony and physical evidence (scars and birthmarks). Doctors at the University of Virginia Medical Center, beginning with Dr. Ian Stevenson, have conducted research into young children’s reports of past-life memories. http://www.lifebeforelife.com/ and http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/personalitystudies/
8. Edgar Cayce’s material. There are a large number of books on Cayce and the information he provided. I have primarily used: (1) Kevin Todeschi, Edgar Cayce on the Akashic Records, ARE Press (1998); (2) Henry Reed, Edgar Cayce on Channeling Your Higher Self, Warner Books (1989); and (3) Noel Langley, Edgar Cayce on Reincarnation, Warner Book (1967). The Association for Research and Enlightenment (ARE) web site contains references to many other Cayce sources, including transcripts of his sessions with clients. http://www.edgarcayce.org/
9. Dr. Helen Wambach collected statistical data on past life and life between life experences in following books: Helen Wambach: (1) Reliving Past Lives, (2) Life Before Life (both Bantam Book, 1979).
I only included “Life Between Life” regression information from Dr. Newton, but there are many other investigators doing “Life Between Life” hypnosis research. Books by several other prominent ones I read are:
1. Brian L. Wess: Messages from the Masters: Tapping into the Power of Love (2001); Same Soul, Many Bodies: Discover the Healing Power of Future Lives through Progression Therapy (2005); Many Lives, Many Masters: The True Story of a Prominent Psychiatrist, His Young Patient, and the Past-Life Therapy That Changed Both Their Lives (1988).
2. Joel Whitten: Life Between Life (with Joe Fisher)
3. Helen Wambach’s Life Before Life (Bantam Book, 1979)
There is a number of quality channeling sources currently available to us. I have concentrated on Scolastico’s The Guides, Abraham-Hicks, and The Lightspeakers by Pennington because of the following: (1) I found them all to be “quality” channels and (2) their works were accessibility for me. Relative to accessibility: For Abraham I could attend workshops and discuss their information with a friend who has followed them for 10 years. For The Guides, I have good friends who have known Ron Scolastico since they were together 30 years ago in an Iowa University graduate program. It was during this period Ron became a channel, and my friends have been following his channeling information for the whole time. For The Lightspeakers, their channel, Christie Pennington, is member of local spiritual group I am in and also a friend. I had easy access to her and was able to “interview” her source many times.
Recently I have been studying several of the Delores Cannon books and the Kryon material. I would appreciate other recommendations from readers.
Copyright by Douglas Kinney
1. Newton and “Life between Life Regression” books. Michael Newton, Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives. Llewellyn Publications (1994); Destiny of Souls, Llewellyn Publications (2000); and Life Between Lives: Hypnotherapy for Spiritual Regression, Llewellyn Publications (2004). See also www.near-death.com/newton. Newton has taken regression to a new level: he interviewed over 7,000 “souls” and created what I call the “sociology” of the lower spiritual realm with descriptions of relationships, activities (work and learning), hierarchical structures, etc. There are several other prominent researchers using hypnosis to study life in the spiritual realm; see paragraph near end of this post. Michael Newton, Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives. Llewellyn Publications (1994); Destiny of Souls, Llewellyn Publications (2000); and Life Between Lives: Hypnotherapy for Spiritual Regression, Llewellyn Publications (2004). See also www.near-death.com/newton. Newton has taken regression to a new level: he interviewed over 7,000 “souls” and created what I call the “sociology” of the lower spiritual realm with descriptions of relationships, activities (work and learning), hierarchical structures, etc. There are several other prominent researchers using hypnosis to study life in the spiritual realm; see paragraph near end of this post.
2. Ron Scolastico, channel for The Guides. Key book: The Earth Adventure: Your Soul’s Journey through Physical Reality, Universal Guidance Press. Other books: Healing the Heart, Healing the Body; Doorway to the Soul; and Reflections. Subject specific (e.g., Reincarnation) and monthly audio CDs/tapes (plus newsletter) with answers to questions. See www.ronscolastico.com.
3. Abraham-Hicks channeling material. Key books I have used to date: Hicks, Esther, Ask and It is Given: Learning to Manifest Your Desires, Hay House (2004), The Amazing power of Deliberate Intent: Living the Art of Allowing, Hay House (2006). Monthly audio CDs with highlight of a workshop. Also see web site: www.abraham-hicks.com.
4. Christie Pennington channel for “The Lightspeakers” (previously The Messengers). Christie posts a monthly letter on her site. I also have a series of research audio tapes where I asked The Lightspeakers/Messengers questions on a series of research topics and one tape with the results of interviewing them on my initial list of hypotheses. In a later posting I will provide some of the dialogue. See web site: www.thelightspeakers.com.
5. The Seth material. This material was channel by Jane Roberts in the 1970s. Key books I have studied are: (1) Seth Speaks: The Eternal Validity of the Soul and (2) The Nature of Personal Reality. Another channel (Veronica) said the following about the Seth material: … find the Seth Books to be the best and most complete collection of metaphysical material ever published. Several web sites provide introductory information on the Seth material: http://www.secretoflife.com/seth/ and http://www.sethlearningcenter.org/
5., Neale Donald Walsch’s book Home with God: in a Life that Never Ends, Atria Books (2006). Known for his “Converstions with God” books, “God” in this book provides some wonderful metaphors and other approaches to help Walsch understand the nature of non-time in the spiritual realm, how the transition occur between earth and spiritual realm occurs, key choices we have at the transition, how we have multiple opportunities to live out our life, and others. This is can probably be considered channeling information. In this book "God" actually tells Walsch that it is his higher self who is speaking to him. www.nealedonaldwalsch.com.
6. Charles Graybar. www.beyondthebrokengate.com. Beyond the Broken Gate: an Ordinary Man’s Extraordinary Journey in Learning Who We Are, Why We Live, and Where We’re Going, Serenity Hill Press, Inc. (2003) This book chronicles Graybar’s powerful experiences in the spiritual realm with his guides. The information illustrates the role spiritual guides can play and provides detailed information on soul, soul’s journey, karma, our source, etc. As a class this would probably be considered information created from a self hypnosis state. Graybar describes using a special meditation technique to contacts his guides. Since Graybar had these experiences as a human, he is able to “come back” and describe his many non-human experiences in human language terms we can understand.
7. Children who Remember material. The book I read was Tucker, Jim B., Life Before Life, St. Martin’s Press (2005). It includes many references including the classical by his mentor Ian Stevenson, Children Who Remember Previous Lives: A Question of Reincarnation. (rev. ed.). McFarland, 2001. This material provides a different source of evidence: an earth-based one where information is provided in human testimony and physical evidence (scars and birthmarks). Doctors at the University of Virginia Medical Center, beginning with Dr. Ian Stevenson, have conducted research into young children’s reports of past-life memories. http://www.lifebeforelife.com/ and http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/personalitystudies/
8. Edgar Cayce’s material. There are a large number of books on Cayce and the information he provided. I have primarily used: (1) Kevin Todeschi, Edgar Cayce on the Akashic Records, ARE Press (1998); (2) Henry Reed, Edgar Cayce on Channeling Your Higher Self, Warner Books (1989); and (3) Noel Langley, Edgar Cayce on Reincarnation, Warner Book (1967). The Association for Research and Enlightenment (ARE) web site contains references to many other Cayce sources, including transcripts of his sessions with clients. http://www.edgarcayce.org/
9. Dr. Helen Wambach collected statistical data on past life and life between life experences in following books: Helen Wambach: (1) Reliving Past Lives, (2) Life Before Life (both Bantam Book, 1979).
I only included “Life Between Life” regression information from Dr. Newton, but there are many other investigators doing “Life Between Life” hypnosis research. Books by several other prominent ones I read are:
1. Brian L. Wess: Messages from the Masters: Tapping into the Power of Love (2001); Same Soul, Many Bodies: Discover the Healing Power of Future Lives through Progression Therapy (2005); Many Lives, Many Masters: The True Story of a Prominent Psychiatrist, His Young Patient, and the Past-Life Therapy That Changed Both Their Lives (1988).
2. Joel Whitten: Life Between Life (with Joe Fisher)
3. Helen Wambach’s Life Before Life (Bantam Book, 1979)
There is a number of quality channeling sources currently available to us. I have concentrated on Scolastico’s The Guides, Abraham-Hicks, and The Lightspeakers by Pennington because of the following: (1) I found them all to be “quality” channels and (2) their works were accessibility for me. Relative to accessibility: For Abraham I could attend workshops and discuss their information with a friend who has followed them for 10 years. For The Guides, I have good friends who have known Ron Scolastico since they were together 30 years ago in an Iowa University graduate program. It was during this period Ron became a channel, and my friends have been following his channeling information for the whole time. For The Lightspeakers, their channel, Christie Pennington, is member of local spiritual group I am in and also a friend. I had easy access to her and was able to “interview” her source many times.
Recently I have been studying several of the Delores Cannon books and the Kryon material. I would appreciate other recommendations from readers.
Copyright by Douglas Kinney
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Scientific Method, Concept of Evidence, and Evidence of an Afterlife
The issue of evidence is always present when writing and talking about reincarnation and the soul. Today I will explore this. As a man trained in science and engineering, I am acquainted with the scientific method: the dominant method for proving “truths” in our world. It works well for the physical sciences and only so-so for the medical sciences. Here is a brief summary of the scientific method (from Wikipedia (2-14-09).
Scientific method refers to bodies of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering observable, empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. A scientific method consists of the collection of data through observation and experimentation, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses. … Scientific researchers propose hypotheses as explanations of phenomena, and design experimental studies to test these hypotheses. These steps must be repeatable in order to dependably predict any future results.
An implicit assumption relative to the empirical and measurable element in almost all scientific investigations is that the observing does not affect the experiment. In human and social behavior it is difficult to achieve this condition because we as human are influenced by our beliefs: if you believe something, you will tend to “see” or “find” evidence supporting the belief. This is very prominent in “scientific” tests of how well a new drug works to “cure” particular physical symptoms. Because of the power of human beliefs, medical researchers have to use “double-blind” methods where one group of research subjects is given the new drug and the second is given a “placebo” (a benign substance/technique that is said to be the drug). In the “double-blind” approach, both the subject and the medical person dispensing the drug believe that it is the real thing. I remember reading a medical research critique on the use of angiogram to improve symptoms of heart discomfort. With the actual angiogram use, 50% of the patients “felt” an improvement in their conditions. Interestingly, 40% of those given the placebo “felt” an improvement. Not much different.
So, what does that have to do with evidence for reincarnation and the soul? It means those of us who believe will find evidence to support our position and those who don’t believe will find the opposite. We are already predisposed to an answer. What can be done with this situation?
My efforts to close this divide have focused on creating “good” information that can be considered as evidence. For this I am using two filters: (1) limiting information to that from “quality” sources that provide a “density of information [evidence] and (2) checking for repeatability and predictability. I have been working with these two filters for some time. Let me focus on the quality and density of evidence filter first. In practice I have put these two together in selecting information sources and gathering evidence: I am only using sources that can provide a large quantity of “quality” information on the subject. Density means that the source has all or most of the following: book(s) covering many aspects/experiences relative to the subject, active website with significant information, and other sources (e.g., academic research paper, magazine article, and audio readings for channeling source).
My quality filter is an integrative, time moving filter that gets feedback from checks on the repeatability, or consistency, of information from the different sources. That is, I have a moving and expanding set of what I consider to be supportable information on the subject. In my next Blog I will summarize my top sources that I have been using. Any new source added to provide evidence for my database must have significant overlap with what I currently have as valid or open hypotheses.
For repeatability and predictability, I have adapted key criteria from the scientific method. My key criteria are:
• Repeatability. We must have the same information from more than one source: a minimum of at least three or four and desirably eight to ten. With this test, I have been able to build up a body of reliable information in which I have good confidence.
• Prediction. The information must be valid: consistent with other sources of spiritually related information that have demonstrated repeatability.
My current focus has been limited to the repeatability criteria. Using it I have created a set of hypotheses that I have “tested” out with my quality sources. Let me give an example. My hypothesis was the following: “Spiritual guides (other souls) and a human soul’s higher self (their full soul) are the source of inspiration and guidance for humans, not direct communication from God.”
When I initially tested this in the fall of 2006, I had eight quality sources. I found information in all of the sources that agreed with my hypothesis, though in one of the sources there was some confusion as to whether it as the soul’s higher self, God or both. With seven to eight positive responses there is enough information to perform a statistical test for significance on this hypothesis.
I have not been able to follow up yet on the prediction criteria. An example of applying this would be to take hypotheses on the nature of the death transition that passed my repeatability test and see if it is consistent with the vast literature on near-death experiences that have been studied in great depth by many medical doctors. Another example is the literature on memories of children of their previous lives that could be “verified” because key family members are still living. These have been studied in great depth by many trained observers (e.g., psychiatrists). There might be a hypothesis that could be tested here.
Copywright by Douglas Kinney
Scientific method refers to bodies of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering observable, empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. A scientific method consists of the collection of data through observation and experimentation, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses. … Scientific researchers propose hypotheses as explanations of phenomena, and design experimental studies to test these hypotheses. These steps must be repeatable in order to dependably predict any future results.
An implicit assumption relative to the empirical and measurable element in almost all scientific investigations is that the observing does not affect the experiment. In human and social behavior it is difficult to achieve this condition because we as human are influenced by our beliefs: if you believe something, you will tend to “see” or “find” evidence supporting the belief. This is very prominent in “scientific” tests of how well a new drug works to “cure” particular physical symptoms. Because of the power of human beliefs, medical researchers have to use “double-blind” methods where one group of research subjects is given the new drug and the second is given a “placebo” (a benign substance/technique that is said to be the drug). In the “double-blind” approach, both the subject and the medical person dispensing the drug believe that it is the real thing. I remember reading a medical research critique on the use of angiogram to improve symptoms of heart discomfort. With the actual angiogram use, 50% of the patients “felt” an improvement in their conditions. Interestingly, 40% of those given the placebo “felt” an improvement. Not much different.
So, what does that have to do with evidence for reincarnation and the soul? It means those of us who believe will find evidence to support our position and those who don’t believe will find the opposite. We are already predisposed to an answer. What can be done with this situation?
My efforts to close this divide have focused on creating “good” information that can be considered as evidence. For this I am using two filters: (1) limiting information to that from “quality” sources that provide a “density of information [evidence] and (2) checking for repeatability and predictability. I have been working with these two filters for some time. Let me focus on the quality and density of evidence filter first. In practice I have put these two together in selecting information sources and gathering evidence: I am only using sources that can provide a large quantity of “quality” information on the subject. Density means that the source has all or most of the following: book(s) covering many aspects/experiences relative to the subject, active website with significant information, and other sources (e.g., academic research paper, magazine article, and audio readings for channeling source).
My quality filter is an integrative, time moving filter that gets feedback from checks on the repeatability, or consistency, of information from the different sources. That is, I have a moving and expanding set of what I consider to be supportable information on the subject. In my next Blog I will summarize my top sources that I have been using. Any new source added to provide evidence for my database must have significant overlap with what I currently have as valid or open hypotheses.
For repeatability and predictability, I have adapted key criteria from the scientific method. My key criteria are:
• Repeatability. We must have the same information from more than one source: a minimum of at least three or four and desirably eight to ten. With this test, I have been able to build up a body of reliable information in which I have good confidence.
• Prediction. The information must be valid: consistent with other sources of spiritually related information that have demonstrated repeatability.
My current focus has been limited to the repeatability criteria. Using it I have created a set of hypotheses that I have “tested” out with my quality sources. Let me give an example. My hypothesis was the following: “Spiritual guides (other souls) and a human soul’s higher self (their full soul) are the source of inspiration and guidance for humans, not direct communication from God.”
When I initially tested this in the fall of 2006, I had eight quality sources. I found information in all of the sources that agreed with my hypothesis, though in one of the sources there was some confusion as to whether it as the soul’s higher self, God or both. With seven to eight positive responses there is enough information to perform a statistical test for significance on this hypothesis.
I have not been able to follow up yet on the prediction criteria. An example of applying this would be to take hypotheses on the nature of the death transition that passed my repeatability test and see if it is consistent with the vast literature on near-death experiences that have been studied in great depth by many medical doctors. Another example is the literature on memories of children of their previous lives that could be “verified” because key family members are still living. These have been studied in great depth by many trained observers (e.g., psychiatrists). There might be a hypothesis that could be tested here.
Copywright by Douglas Kinney
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Sources of Channeling Errors
Before generally embracing quality channeled information, we must address the issue of channeling errors and the potential sources of it. By definition, the message comes through the channel; who in turn can distort (corrupt) the message and produce errors because of personal beliefs, limitations in conceptual knowledge and other (e.g., psychological health and personal integrity). Another source of potential error is the limited knowledge of the channeling source; all sources are not going to be highly evolved masters.
In considering potential sources of error in channeling, it would be useful to understand how channeling works. It is my understanding that the spiritual source transmits its information to the channel in the form of impressions or feelings that are “translated” by the channel into human language (1). At a given point in human evolutionary time and personal history, an individual channel will have language and conceptual limitations relative to spiritual, scientific, psychological, and social messages; this is the first potential source of message distortion. The next source is the opinions and biases of the channel. These may be thought of as resonant points within the channel’s mental energy field. They can create a blockage or interference (the corruption) in the channeled message. In many regards these are often related to the channel’s psychological and spiritual maturity. Overall, there are many points for breakdown and distortion in the perfect channeling of the source’s message.
Esther Hicks writes in the preface to her book, The Amazing power of Deliberate Intent (2), “They [Abraham Group] told me, in the beginning of my receiving them, that I was a particularly good translator for them because I didn’t have strong biases or opinions that would make it difficult for me to receive them clearly….it was that I wasn’t pushing hard against anything”. In the same book, the Abraham Group discusses the opportunity of error that arises is translating information from one language to another; and they end with: “And that is why we do not think it is a good idea for you to count on Esther’s translation, either. We think you should get your own”.
A minor, but telling example of how a channel’s personal beliefs distort the message is the language distortion, or slant, in the quality channeling information Edgar Cayce provided to us. Because of his very deep, fundamental Christian belief system, Cayce channeled his spiritually related information through the language of the King James Bible, which I experience getting in the way of message’s information. Cayce’s orthodox Protestant belief system was so strong that when he started getting information on reincarnation in response to client questions about reincarnation and past lives, he was thrown into a personal crisis; and he had to overcome his initial aversion and doubts before he was able to continue his great work (3). It is a testimony to Cayce’s commitment that he overcame his strong personal religious bias against the deeper spiritual aspects of his work.
Many people have had a personal experience with a medium or channel where they noticed (or had an intuitive feeling) about a distortion in the provided information. Michael Crichton in the second half of his book “Travels”, describes his extensive “field research” with British mediums during a period when he was directing the filming of The Great Train Robbery (4). Every evening after he had finished the day’s filming, he would walk past a Spiritualist church, where he got into the habit of stopping for a reading from various mediums. Crichton describes how he could tell when the medium’s message was of good quality and when they were getting in the way. He came away with an informed skepticism in mediumship and channeling.
Sometimes a channel will be asked a question whose answer is beyond the intellectual knowledge and concepts of the channel to “translate”, and the source will say that it is not able or worth going more into this. Susy Smith, who channeled an entity she called James through her typewriter, wanted to know more about the nature of space in the spiritual realm; but when she asked for more, the source typed: “This is beyond you. Einstein could understand it, or possibly one who has had a deep illumination, but not one with your limited training” (5). When I read and studied the material that Susy Smith channeled, I found considerable corruption (using a method that of comparing the information from a group of sources); and I fournd that her material to be an example of how a spiritual message can be corrupted by what was probably the biases of the channel.
Another good example of how a person’s belief system creates errors in a spiritual message is Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life (6). I found that there are deep spiritual insights and messages throughout Warren’s book; it is an inspired work that could be considered channeled using the broader definition. Much of it is very consistent with the messages from the quality channeling (and other) sources that I am using here, but his message is totally presented within an evangelical Christian background and biblical context. For example, in his message about life being eternal and the importance of living our human life with an awareness of ourselves as eternal beings, he places this within the context that how we live our life will determine our eternal relationship with God—whether we will end up in heaven or hell. Warren’s total belief in the Bible providing the fullness of God’s word blinds him to the possibility of reincarnation and a deeper understanding of the spiritual realm and ourselves as souls.
In spite of all the potential sources of errors, the potential for expanding human spiritual knowledge and practice with “quality” information from channeling and other new sources is so great that it is worth taking on the challenge. Our objective will be to find a way to minimize and isolate the inevitable errors that occur. In truth this is probably a much easier problem than the one of reconciling the large differences in the world’s existing religions, all of which came from or rely heavily on channeled information. I will present this approach in a future post
(1) This explanation was provided to me by Christie Pennington, the channeler of The Lightspeakers.
(2) Abraham-Hicks Material: Hicks, Esther, The Amazing power of Deliberate Intent: Living the Art of Allowing, Hay House (2006).
(3) Langley, Noel, Edgar Cayce on Reincarnation, Warner Books (1967) pp 11-13.
(4) Crichton, Michael, Travels, Alford Knopf (1988).
(5) Smith, Susy, The Book of James, G. P. Putnam’s Sons (1974) p 28.
(6) Warren, Rick, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth am I Here For?, Zondervan (2002)
Copyright by Douglas Kinney
In considering potential sources of error in channeling, it would be useful to understand how channeling works. It is my understanding that the spiritual source transmits its information to the channel in the form of impressions or feelings that are “translated” by the channel into human language (1). At a given point in human evolutionary time and personal history, an individual channel will have language and conceptual limitations relative to spiritual, scientific, psychological, and social messages; this is the first potential source of message distortion. The next source is the opinions and biases of the channel. These may be thought of as resonant points within the channel’s mental energy field. They can create a blockage or interference (the corruption) in the channeled message. In many regards these are often related to the channel’s psychological and spiritual maturity. Overall, there are many points for breakdown and distortion in the perfect channeling of the source’s message.
Esther Hicks writes in the preface to her book, The Amazing power of Deliberate Intent (2), “They [Abraham Group] told me, in the beginning of my receiving them, that I was a particularly good translator for them because I didn’t have strong biases or opinions that would make it difficult for me to receive them clearly….it was that I wasn’t pushing hard against anything”. In the same book, the Abraham Group discusses the opportunity of error that arises is translating information from one language to another; and they end with: “And that is why we do not think it is a good idea for you to count on Esther’s translation, either. We think you should get your own”.
A minor, but telling example of how a channel’s personal beliefs distort the message is the language distortion, or slant, in the quality channeling information Edgar Cayce provided to us. Because of his very deep, fundamental Christian belief system, Cayce channeled his spiritually related information through the language of the King James Bible, which I experience getting in the way of message’s information. Cayce’s orthodox Protestant belief system was so strong that when he started getting information on reincarnation in response to client questions about reincarnation and past lives, he was thrown into a personal crisis; and he had to overcome his initial aversion and doubts before he was able to continue his great work (3). It is a testimony to Cayce’s commitment that he overcame his strong personal religious bias against the deeper spiritual aspects of his work.
Many people have had a personal experience with a medium or channel where they noticed (or had an intuitive feeling) about a distortion in the provided information. Michael Crichton in the second half of his book “Travels”, describes his extensive “field research” with British mediums during a period when he was directing the filming of The Great Train Robbery (4). Every evening after he had finished the day’s filming, he would walk past a Spiritualist church, where he got into the habit of stopping for a reading from various mediums. Crichton describes how he could tell when the medium’s message was of good quality and when they were getting in the way. He came away with an informed skepticism in mediumship and channeling.
Sometimes a channel will be asked a question whose answer is beyond the intellectual knowledge and concepts of the channel to “translate”, and the source will say that it is not able or worth going more into this. Susy Smith, who channeled an entity she called James through her typewriter, wanted to know more about the nature of space in the spiritual realm; but when she asked for more, the source typed: “This is beyond you. Einstein could understand it, or possibly one who has had a deep illumination, but not one with your limited training” (5). When I read and studied the material that Susy Smith channeled, I found considerable corruption (using a method that of comparing the information from a group of sources); and I fournd that her material to be an example of how a spiritual message can be corrupted by what was probably the biases of the channel.
Another good example of how a person’s belief system creates errors in a spiritual message is Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life (6). I found that there are deep spiritual insights and messages throughout Warren’s book; it is an inspired work that could be considered channeled using the broader definition. Much of it is very consistent with the messages from the quality channeling (and other) sources that I am using here, but his message is totally presented within an evangelical Christian background and biblical context. For example, in his message about life being eternal and the importance of living our human life with an awareness of ourselves as eternal beings, he places this within the context that how we live our life will determine our eternal relationship with God—whether we will end up in heaven or hell. Warren’s total belief in the Bible providing the fullness of God’s word blinds him to the possibility of reincarnation and a deeper understanding of the spiritual realm and ourselves as souls.
In spite of all the potential sources of errors, the potential for expanding human spiritual knowledge and practice with “quality” information from channeling and other new sources is so great that it is worth taking on the challenge. Our objective will be to find a way to minimize and isolate the inevitable errors that occur. In truth this is probably a much easier problem than the one of reconciling the large differences in the world’s existing religions, all of which came from or rely heavily on channeled information. I will present this approach in a future post
(1) This explanation was provided to me by Christie Pennington, the channeler of The Lightspeakers.
(2) Abraham-Hicks Material: Hicks, Esther, The Amazing power of Deliberate Intent: Living the Art of Allowing, Hay House (2006).
(3) Langley, Noel, Edgar Cayce on Reincarnation, Warner Books (1967) pp 11-13.
(4) Crichton, Michael, Travels, Alford Knopf (1988).
(5) Smith, Susy, The Book of James, G. P. Putnam’s Sons (1974) p 28.
(6) Warren, Rick, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth am I Here For?, Zondervan (2002)
Copyright by Douglas Kinney
Saturday, January 24, 2009
More on Doomsday Predictions
In my last blog I discussed the 2012 predictions of major Earth changes. This is a follow-up with information from the Channel Kryon’s web page for 2007 Q&A (question 1). Here is the question: Dear Kryon, why do there seem to be more and more discrepancies between channeled information? It looks to me that more and more we seem to be divided into two camps – the catastrophe camp and the ecstasy camp. I know that one explanation could be put on personal belief of the channel, but this doesn't explain such differences in the channeled information at this time. How does this work exactly?
Kryon goes into their answer by using the analogy of human’s watching traffic: how when everything is flowing smoothly, nobody pays much attention. But when there is an accident, especially a big one, a large crowd will gather. Then they give an overview of our future being composed of many potential outcomes, some with higher probabilities than others. Now let me quote them of the following:
“When a Human channel or prophet comes back from a vision and gives you doom and gloom predictions, here is what they are really saying: "A beautiful angel came to me carrying the potentials of the planet in each hand... good and bad. I chose the bad one since it looked a lot more interesting!" Do you see? And who exactly gave this news? Was it the angel who carried the whole picture and was silent, or the Human who chose to channel only the parts that were dramatic? So you see, all information is given, but only the parts that the Humans wish to take back with them are shared. This places the power into the hands of Humans and the responsibility of the messages is theirs alone. It has always been this way and again we remind you that all your earth's scriptures were given to you by Humans... all the scriptures in all the religions of the planet.”
“Remember, dear ones, that channeling is the mind of the Human Being interpreting inter-dimensional information from a place that can be confusing and definitely not 3D [spiritual domain and not Earthlike]. Therefore, it takes practice, wisdom and a countenance that is studying mastery. Beware of the casual prophet, for they will use their gifts to create unintentional drama, and many Humans will follow them, giving seeming credibility.”
Earlier in the answer, Kryon said, “As far as entities on this side of the veil giving you another story, I stop and remind you that no entity can give you the future – and Kryon hasn't done that, either. What Kryon has done is to congratulate you for changing the planet, and remind you what is possible, and the potentials that you have. No entity on the other side of the veil is going to come in and give you doom and gloom predictions. That is a Human's interpretation of information they saw through their own discernment filter.”
Copyright by Douglas Kinney
Kryon goes into their answer by using the analogy of human’s watching traffic: how when everything is flowing smoothly, nobody pays much attention. But when there is an accident, especially a big one, a large crowd will gather. Then they give an overview of our future being composed of many potential outcomes, some with higher probabilities than others. Now let me quote them of the following:
“When a Human channel or prophet comes back from a vision and gives you doom and gloom predictions, here is what they are really saying: "A beautiful angel came to me carrying the potentials of the planet in each hand... good and bad. I chose the bad one since it looked a lot more interesting!" Do you see? And who exactly gave this news? Was it the angel who carried the whole picture and was silent, or the Human who chose to channel only the parts that were dramatic? So you see, all information is given, but only the parts that the Humans wish to take back with them are shared. This places the power into the hands of Humans and the responsibility of the messages is theirs alone. It has always been this way and again we remind you that all your earth's scriptures were given to you by Humans... all the scriptures in all the religions of the planet.”
“Remember, dear ones, that channeling is the mind of the Human Being interpreting inter-dimensional information from a place that can be confusing and definitely not 3D [spiritual domain and not Earthlike]. Therefore, it takes practice, wisdom and a countenance that is studying mastery. Beware of the casual prophet, for they will use their gifts to create unintentional drama, and many Humans will follow them, giving seeming credibility.”
Earlier in the answer, Kryon said, “As far as entities on this side of the veil giving you another story, I stop and remind you that no entity can give you the future – and Kryon hasn't done that, either. What Kryon has done is to congratulate you for changing the planet, and remind you what is possible, and the potentials that you have. No entity on the other side of the veil is going to come in and give you doom and gloom predictions. That is a Human's interpretation of information they saw through their own discernment filter.”
Copyright by Douglas Kinney
Thursday, January 22, 2009
2012 and Earth Changes
Over the last several years there have been predictions about major Earth changes, which many see as a cleansing. After having gone through three previous predictions of Earth changes (mid 1980s for the harmonic convergence, early 1990s and 2000), I feel a sense of immunity because nothing in way of major Earth changes happened. This does not mean that one cannot pick up seeming indicators of change. Even I experience something when I was at a Dick Sutphen public event where he did a group hypnotic progression into the future. When he had us go to 2012, I felt a physical jolt and a sense of discontinuity along with visions of great changes in New York and London. Others in the group had even strong visions of Earth changes with rising seas and damage to the cities. Sutphen has conducted many of these group sessions and most people see major Earth changes. He is not the only person or source predicting changes.
I am still skeptical, so I check with some other sources—three of my favorite channels: Abraham by Esther Hicks, The Guides by Ron Scolastico, and The Lightspeakers by Christie Pennington. Abraham is their usually manner basically say it is nonsense. The Guides say that we as humans like to predict future calamities in order to motivate ourselves to make changes in ourselves and society. The Lightspeakers say that there will be changes in the consciousness of many people (those who choose to make them) but no major physical changes.
It seems obviously that something is going on. Sutphen and others are serious investigators, and I don’t want to totally discount them. I think I have some information that might reconcile the two viewpoints. I ran across it in a book 2012: Crossing the Bridge to the Future by Mark Borax. Much of the book is about Borax being trained by the famous astrologer and visionary William Lonsdale. At one point (p. 88-89) Lonsdale tells Borax:
“Atlantis was an incredible place, an amazing place, one of the greatest stages in human development so far. But at a certain point, towards the end, a small sub-group of elite became drunk with power. The forces they’d unleashed backfired. …
‘The resulting impact set in motion the primary downfall of the species. This is the main karma of humanity we’ve been repeating in various ways every since. …
“Because during the Harmonic Convergence of 1987 to 2012 a great purging is taking place in which the current world drama is intended to replicate what went wrong in Atlantis so we can make it right.
“The reason the story’s coming out now is because you can’t turn around an entrenched karmic pattern until you sufficiently recreate enough of it to have something to work with. …”
I have always had trouble understanding the Atlantis thing, but Borax and several other sources have given me a better perspective and understanding (see some of Delores Cannon’s books). What I believe is going on is that we again have the technology to destroy our civilization, and this is bringing back race memories of terrible earth quakes, floods and land falling into the ocean. In meditative-hypnotic settings such as those Sutphen conducts, these race memories are rising up. It is challenging (motivating) us to “do it right this time.” This would generally be consistent with what The Guides and The Lightspeakers have said: some of us are motivating ourselves to create a better civilization and to environment.
Copyright by Douglas Kinney
I am still skeptical, so I check with some other sources—three of my favorite channels: Abraham by Esther Hicks, The Guides by Ron Scolastico, and The Lightspeakers by Christie Pennington. Abraham is their usually manner basically say it is nonsense. The Guides say that we as humans like to predict future calamities in order to motivate ourselves to make changes in ourselves and society. The Lightspeakers say that there will be changes in the consciousness of many people (those who choose to make them) but no major physical changes.
It seems obviously that something is going on. Sutphen and others are serious investigators, and I don’t want to totally discount them. I think I have some information that might reconcile the two viewpoints. I ran across it in a book 2012: Crossing the Bridge to the Future by Mark Borax. Much of the book is about Borax being trained by the famous astrologer and visionary William Lonsdale. At one point (p. 88-89) Lonsdale tells Borax:
“Atlantis was an incredible place, an amazing place, one of the greatest stages in human development so far. But at a certain point, towards the end, a small sub-group of elite became drunk with power. The forces they’d unleashed backfired. …
‘The resulting impact set in motion the primary downfall of the species. This is the main karma of humanity we’ve been repeating in various ways every since. …
“Because during the Harmonic Convergence of 1987 to 2012 a great purging is taking place in which the current world drama is intended to replicate what went wrong in Atlantis so we can make it right.
“The reason the story’s coming out now is because you can’t turn around an entrenched karmic pattern until you sufficiently recreate enough of it to have something to work with. …”
I have always had trouble understanding the Atlantis thing, but Borax and several other sources have given me a better perspective and understanding (see some of Delores Cannon’s books). What I believe is going on is that we again have the technology to destroy our civilization, and this is bringing back race memories of terrible earth quakes, floods and land falling into the ocean. In meditative-hypnotic settings such as those Sutphen conducts, these race memories are rising up. It is challenging (motivating) us to “do it right this time.” This would generally be consistent with what The Guides and The Lightspeakers have said: some of us are motivating ourselves to create a better civilization and to environment.
Copyright by Douglas Kinney
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
