HW3: Bridging the Yin and the Yang: Science and Spirituality

The thought that has been lying in my head struck me as I was reading an online article about the existence at the viewpoint of a mystic and a scientist. Does science provide the basis for the existence of every single thing in this world? If so, where does that leave spirituality?

For the most part, I am very much into spiritual things as it captured my interest and I don't have a doubt in my mind that God is the bedrock of existence. Science, as I see it, is created by God himself.
When these two things meet, nothing is probably more interesting than this!

In the documentary I've watched entitled, Quantum Activist (2009),  Dr. Amit Goswami often speaks of something called 'quantum nonlocality'. This term simply means that events and connections can happen outside of space and time as we know it.

The following experiment were explained by Goswami in the said documentary:

• Two meditators were put in separate rooms by a team of scientists. These of course weren't just regular rooms but Faraday Cages -- soundproofed and shielded from all forms of electro-magnetic radiation, which means all the forms of energy and magnetism that exist in “regular” space time as we know it are blocked

• Each meditator was instructed to go into a neutral meditative state while having their brainwaves monitored. Meditator A is shown a screen with an image on it, and she is told to look at it while intending to connect to the other meditator, while Meditator B remains neutral in state

• As Meditator A looks at the image, her brainwaves shift. As she intends to connect to Meditator B, who isn’t focusing on doing anything but a neutral meditation, Meditator B’s brainwaves start to match Meditator A’s brainwaves. Remember, all normal EM radiation is completely blocked by the Faraday Cage. Goswami’s claim is this connection that was created from one meditator to another was happening outside of space/time as we know it, which Goswami says is quantum nonlocality.

When I witnessed these events, it truly amazed me. It’s really interesting that their brain waves were able to match albeit the 'electro-magnetic radiation' blocking. I am still trying to fully understand what this quantum nonlocality exactly is. It's apparent that something beyond scientific comprehension was happening here.

In my point of view, science is useful and powerful, so is spirituality on so many deeper levels. It seems that there are enlightened ones in the past who already know about the connection of consciousness and reality, who tried to push the boundaries of mainstream science.

So what do you think of Science and Spirituality? Do you think they are compatible?

HW2: Religion and Near Death Experiences

I do believe in the afterlife, and I am aware that other people don't and that's fine. Even before my research has shown me that the near-death experience is not some kind of anomaly, I've always believed that when I die, it's not yet the end of me - that there's something waiting for me on the other side. One of the major factors that contributed to my belief on the afterlife is my religion. Growing up in a Catholic household and having studied in a Catholic school all the way to high school, I learned about God, and other stuff such as the concept of the afterlife, heaven and hell, purgatory, etc. I gained a deeper understanding with the concept of the afterlife as time went by and as I listened to other religious organizations' point of view.

As I was surfing online, I've found a comprehensive survey of NDE studies titled “The Near Death Experience” by Glenn Roberts and John Owen. They observed that the specifics of NDEs often correspond to a person’s particular religious beliefs:

•  In NDEs, the American Indians' dominant imagery is of moccasins, snakes, eagles, bows, and arrows. 

•  Asian Indians have NDEs in which they are characteristically sent back to live because of a seeming bureaucratic mistake having been made in the after-life, and many encounter Yamraj, the Hindu king of the dead, and the Yamdoots, his messengers.

• In one large and systematic cross-cultural study of Americans and Asian Indians who had NDEs, 140 people reported seeing religious figures; “where these figures were specifically identified, they were always named according to a person’s religious beliefs; no Hindu reported seeing Jesus, and no Christian reported seeing a Hindu deity.”

In other words, a person’s previously held religious beliefs pattern the nature of the NDE, which supports the view of many authors that, while the central features the NDE are universally present due to pan-human biological and neural systems, the mental images and interpretation is determined by the cultural beliefs and expectations of the individual.

Hence, as a Christian, I might see Jesus or an angel; whereas, a Muslim who has a near death experience might see Muhammad; a Buddhist may see Siddhartha; a Hindu may see Krishna or Vishnu; a Lakota might see Wakan Tanka, and so on. What this pattern suggests is that NDEs are a matter of consciousness and not metaphysics.