Spirituality, Science, Studies

“What we know is a drop, what we don’t know is an ocean.” – Isaac Newton

Hello friend,

Two weeks ago, I shared a book called Proof of Spiritual Phenomenon.

In this book, the author, Mona Sobhani, a cognitive neuroscientist with over 15 years of experience, takes you on her journey from being a scientist to a spiritual seeker.

Today, I want to share a few examples from the book that appealed to my skeptical, scientific side in matters of spiritual and psychic phenomena.

But most importantly, they gave me a new ray of confidence about things I’ve sometimes wanted to explore through writing but never found the courage to do so because they all seemed kinda “woo-woo,” aka “not backed by science.”

1. Past Lives and Reincarnation

Dr. Ian Stevenson of the University of Virginia (UVA) pursued groundbreaking research on children between the ages of two and five who spontaneously and independently began speaking, with emotion, about a past life.

He traveled the world, collecting over 2,700 cases from six continents of children with past life memories.

His research showed that in 65% of spontaneous reincarnation cases, the identity of the purported past life personality could be verified.

Even the Journal of the American Medical Association admitted in 1975 that Dr. Stevenson’s research was conducted in a “painstaking and unemotional” manner, making the evidence difficult to explain on any other grounds.

Dr. Jim Tucker continues this work today at UVA’s Division of Perceptual Studies. According to their website, they are “a research group devoted to the rigorous evaluation of empirical evidence for extraordinary human experiences and capacities”.

Their main goal is to investigate the relationship between mind and body and the possibility of consciousness surviving physical death.

2. Scientific Validation of Mediums

Mediumship, the claimed ability to communicate with the deceased, has often been dismissed as pseudoscience.

However, the Windbridge Research Center has taken a rigorous scientific approach to investigating this phenomenon. The center, led by trained scientists, has implemented some of the most stringent protocols in the study of psychic phenomena.

Through a process known as quintuple masking protocol and double-blind studies—a gold standard in clinical trials—Windbridge has tested many mediums as being able to provide accurate information about deceased individuals.

These experiments were designed to eliminate any potential bias or sensory cues, ensuring that results could be trusted. The findings, published in peer-reviewed journals, offer compelling evidence that some individuals can indeed access information beyond the physical senses.

3. Government-funded research on Remote Viewing

During the Cold War, the U.S. government-funded a secret program known as “Stargate”.

The goal was to explore the potential of remote viewing—the ability to perceive distant locations or events without physical presence.

This program, conducted at Stanford Research Institute (SRI) and involving physicists like Russell Targ and Dr. Hal Puthoff, aimed to determine whether psychic abilities could be harnessed for intelligence purposes.

The research produced surprising results, with remote viewers accurately describing locations and events far removed from their physical surroundings, such as Soviet weapons facilities, that they had never seen or heard about. One notable experiment involved a remote viewer accurately describing a secret NSA listening post on the East Coast, even though the coordinates given were actually for a nearby vacation cabin.

These experiments were not only carefully controlled but also closely monitored by various government agencies, including the CIA and the U.S. Army.

The total body of research work, conducted between the 1970s to 1990s, contained 26,074 trials from 154 experiments involving 227 different subjects. Much of it remains classified but the findings were strong enough to merit publication in respected scientific journals like Nature, despite the unconventional nature of the subject matter.

4. Anomalous Cognition

Anomalous cognition encompasses phenomena like clairvoyance, telepathy, and precognition—experiences where individuals perceive information without any apparent physical means.

I had always assumed that such phenomena were only a figment of fantasy and fiction.

Much to my surprise, reputable institutions like Stanford Research Institute (SRI) and Princeton University’s PEAR Lab (now shut down), rigorously tested these phenomena through experiments that adhere to strict scientific protocols.

One of the key experiments involved Ganzfeld testing, where participants, placed in a state of sensory relaxation, were asked to describe images or locations being “sent” to them by another person in a different room.

These experiments produced results that exceeded what could be attributed to chance, with participants often accurately describing the target images or locations.

5. Presentiment: Anticipating the Future Through Our Bodies

Presentiment is the phenomenon where individuals exhibit physiological responses—like changes in heart rate or skin conductance—before an event occurs.

At psychology and neuroscience labs, researchers conducted presentiment experiments where participants were shown randomly selected images ranging from neutral to emotionally charged after their physiological responses were recorded.

The surprising result was that participants’ bodies often responded as if they “knew” what kind of image was coming, even before it was revealed.

For instance, participants’ heart rates would increase before they were shown disturbing images as if their bodies were anticipating the emotional impact.

What does it mean? What are the larger implications?

According to the author of the book, these studies possibly hint at the nonlinear nature of time, an idea that is not too outlandish for many modern theoretical physicists as well.

6. The Global Consciousness Project: Collective Thought and Its Impact on Reality

The Global Consciousness Project (GCP) is one of the most fascinating explorations of how collective human thought might influence reality.

Initiated by Princeton University, this project investigates whether the focused attention of large groups of people during major world events can affect the behavior of random number generators (RNGs)—devices that normally produce random sequences of numbers.

The project established a network of RNGs located around the world, continuously generating data.

Researchers then analyzed the data surrounding major global events, such as the 9/11 attacks, to see if there were any deviations from randomness.

The findings were astonishing: during times of significant global focus, the output of these RNGs became measurably less random. The possible implication of the research is that the collective human consciousness exerts a subtle yet real influence on these devices.

While it might sound far-fetched and as individuals, we might feel we don’t have an influence, I found the following words from this paper by Roger Nelson, the director of GCP, profound:

“It is tempting to think these samples show mass consciousness responding to media moments or shifts of the market, but as interesting and suggestive as the graphs look, we are careful not to make strong claims. They don’t necessarily demonstrate that there is a “global consciousness”. A true representation of our human condition remains the domain of our hearts and minds. Yet, the scientific abstraction suggesting global interconnection is worth considering as we work our way toward the future. Optimally, these indications of direct effects of shared consciousness mean that we can be actors in our destiny, not just passive observers. We can manifest the future of our choice if we become more aware of the power that rests in our unconscious connections. We need to help ourselves, and I think we can do that. When we bring our unconscious interconnections up into awareness, we will be able to change the world. Cooperation and collaboration are a birthright that is more powerful than we know, and the evidence suggests it is ready to claim now.”

One of my key takeaways from the book is that as we progress especially in the search for “Theory of Everything”, science and spirituality might no longer be in opposition.

In fact, they might just be two sides of the same coin.

Perhaps the real magic happens when we stop trying to fit everything neatly into boxes and instead, start exploring the spaces in between.

As you go about your week, I invite you to consider where these two worlds intersect in your own life.

What possibilities might open up if we embraced both the seen and the unseen, the measurable and the mysterious?

Until next time,
Love,
Ved