The question of "what is consciousness" is one of profound importance to each individual human being on this world. This importance comes from the self-realization that each individual has available a reservoir of energy that they can access, when other blocking or mitigating factors are removed. These mitigating or blocking factors are very often self imposed, much akin to the observed "psycho-somatic" explanation to many diseases. Many other blockages are externally imposed, usually by rules, laws, family, government, and other such agencies.

In order that this reservoir of energy be accessed by the individual, it is necessary that the mind of that individual be trained in certain practices, and the fallacy of underlying beliefs and thought processes be revealed. Firstly, an awareness must be developed to the individual that the world is not what it appears to be, and that outside authority and internal beliefs have to be challenged. Through a developing awareness of what is and what is not, the awakening self can start to define the world desired, replacing the old "world as is was."

As the individual realized self becomes "self aware" the individuated being begins to understand or know that it is "in the moment" where all power and creation exists. This leads to developing new choices and new futures which can be created.

"Amit Goswami: The current worldview has it that everything is made of matter, and everything can be reduced to the elementary particles of matter, the basic constituents—building blocks—of matter. And cause arises from the interactions of these basic building blocks or elementary particles; elementary particles make atoms, atoms make molecules, molecules make cells, and cells make brain. But all the way, the ultimate cause is always the interactions between the elementary particles. This is the belief—all cause moves from the elementary particles. This is what we call "upward causation." So in this view, what human beings—you and I—think of as our free will does not really exist. It is only an epiphenomenon or secondary phenomenon, secondary to the causal power of matter. And any causal power that we seem to be able to exert on matter is just an illusion. This is the current paradigm.

Now, the opposite view is that everything starts with consciousness. That is, consciousness is the ground of all being. In this view, consciousness imposes "downward causation." In other words, our free will is real. When we act in the world we really are acting with causal power. This view does not deny that matter also has causal potency—it does not deny that there is causal power from elementary particles upward, so there is upward causation—but in addition it insists that there is also downward causation. It shows up in our creativity and acts of free will, or when we make moral decisions. In those occasions we are actually witnessing downward causation by consciousness. "http://twm.co.nz/goswam1.htm

Quantum theory forces a new kind of logic in science that is still mathematical and disciplined. The Nobel prize physicist Eugene Wigner of Princeton has repeatedly written that consciousness is at the root of the quantum measurement problem.
All classical measurements, including classical measurements of quantum processes of the type considered by Heisenberg in his "microscope" that leads to the uncertainty principle, involve the actual flow of energy and momentum in order to convey information. For example, Heisenberg reasons that the position of an electron must be measured by means of a second particle, e.g. a photon, that must collide with the electron in order to get the information on the electron's position. The fact that action is quantized in units of Planck's constant, h 10-27 erg-sec., implies uncontrollable minimal energy and momentum transfers between photon and electron in the collision. The result of Heisenberg's thought experiment is that it is impossible to predict the simultaneous values of both the position and the momentum of the electron with complete certainty. The only way to gain knowledge of the uncertainties is to repeat the experiment many times under "identically prepared" conditions. These kinds of classical measurements of quantum processes are fundamentally statistical. … " http://twm.co.nz/consc_phys.htm

Einstein understood the implications of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.

"Einstein and Uncertainty

"God does not play dice with the universe," Albert Einstein said. It was
his brief way of rejecting the view of the universe that accompanied
acceptance of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. The implication of the
uncertainty principle is that the universe is indeterminate on the most
basic level. Since there is uncertainty in the most elementary events, no
exact cause-and-effect realtionship can be established. Instead, in the
words of de Broglie, quantum physics appear to be "governed by statistical
laws, and not by any causal mechanisms, hidden or otherwise."

Einstein could never accept this implication of quantum theory, a point of
view that put him increasingly at odds with other physicists as the years
went by. In 1944, in a letter to Max Born, Einstein expressed his beliefs
directly:
"You believe in the God who plays dice, and I in complete law and order in a
world which objectively exists, and which I, in a wildly speculative way, am
trying to capture. I firmly believe, but I hope that someone will discover
a more realistic way, or rather a more tangible basis thatn it has been my
lot to do. Even the great initial success of the quantum theory does not
make me believe in the fundamental dice game, although I am well aware that
our younger colleagues interpret this as a consequence of senility."

Einstein made a number of attempts to describe "thought experiments" that
would show that cause-and-effect exists on the subatomic level. A thought
experiment is an that can never be performed, only imagined, but that can
nevertheless test a theory. But in every case, other physicists were abel
to show flaws in his thought experiments, and thus to uphold the uncertainty
principle.

Einstein' viewpoint was summed up by another statement he made more or less
casually when he heard of an experimental result that purported to disprove
the theory of relativity, "God is subtle, but he is not malicious," Einstein
said.

However, quantum mechanics and the uncertainty principle remain cornerstones
of modern physics. If Einstein's world view is correct, it is on a deeper
level than we have reached as yet."
Extracted from "Chemical Principles Second Edition," Boikess and Edelson,
Harper & Row, 1981.

In 1982, Physicist Alain Aspect performed experiments at the University of Paris which have been interpreted to demonstrate that there is a "transcendent" component to this universe which is definitely "non-material" and which operates outside of known physical laws which apply to the material. This could be considered the scientific "spiritual" proof which brings science and theology back together.

"Aspect and his team discovered that under certain circumstances subatomic particles such as electrons are able to instantaneously communicate with each other regardless of the distance separating them. It doesn't matter whether they are 10 feet or 10 billion miles apart. " http://twm.co.nz/hologram.html

"AG: To give a little background, what had been happening was that for many years quantum physics had been giving indications that there are levels of reality other than the material level. How it started happening first was that quantum objects—objects in quantum physics—began to be looked upon as waves of possibility. Now, initially people thought, "Oh, they are just like regular waves." But very soon it was found out that, no, they are not waves in space and time. They cannot be called waves in space and time at all—they have properties which do not jibe with those of ordinary waves. So they began to be recognized as waves in potential, waves of possibility, and the potential was recognized as transcendent, beyond matter somehow.

But the fact that there is transcendent potential was not very clear for a long time. Then Aspect's experiment verified that this is not just theory, there really is transcendent potential, objects really do have connections outside of space and time—outside of space and time! What happens in this experiment is that an atom emits two quanta of light, called photons, going opposite ways, and somehow these photons affect one another's behavior at a distance, without exchanging any signals through space. Notice that: without exchanging any signals through space but instantly affecting each other. Instantaneously.

Now Einstein showed long ago that two objects can never affect each other instantly in space and time because everything must travel with a maximum speed limit, and that speed limit is the speed of light. So any influence must travel, if it travels through space, taking a finite time. This is called the idea of "locality." Every signal is supposed to be local in the sense that it must take a finite time to travel through space. And yet, Aspect's photons—the photons emitted by the atom in Aspect's experiment—influence one another, at a distance, without exchanging signals because they are doing it instantaneously—they are doing it faster than the speed of light. And therefore it follows that the influence could not have traveled through space. Instead the influence must belong to a domain of reality that we must recognize as the transcendent domain of reality. " http://twm.co.nz/goswam1.htm

" WHAT ARE THE MAJOR RESEARCH APPROACHES?

As in any multidisciplinary domain, there are many ways of conducting research. The five main methods used in parapsychology are:

Although all five of these approaches contribute to the field, today the primary source of "hard evidence" in parapsychology is controlled laboratory experiments. By applying the exacting standards of scientific method, researchers over the past six decades have developed an increasingly persuasive database for certain types of psi phenomena. …" http://twm.co.nz/FAQpara2.htm#9.4

"…Historically, psi has often been associated with meditation, hypnosis, dreaming, and other naturally occurring or deliberately induced altered states of consciousness. For example, the view that psi phenomena can occur during meditation is expressed in most classical texts on meditative techniques; the belief that hypnosis is a psi-conducive state dates all the way back to the days of early mesmerism; and cross-cultural surveys indicate that most reported "real-life" psi experiences are mediated through dreams .

There is now experimental evidence consistent with these anecdotal observations. For example, several laboratory investigators have reported that meditation facilitates psi performance (Honorton, 1977) . An analysis of 25 experiments on hypnosis and psi conducted between 1945 and 1981 in 10 different laboratories suggests that hypnotic induction may also facilitate psi performance (Schechter, 1984) . And dream-mediated psi was reported in a series of studies conducted at Maimonides Medical Center in New York and published between 1966 and 1972 (Ullman, Krippner, & Vaughan, 1989). Ganzfeld experiments are the direct successors to the dream studies.

The dream studies tested for the existence of telepathy, the transfer of information from one person to another without the mediation of any known channel of sensory communication. Two participants, a "receiver" and a "sender," spent the night in a sleep laboratory. The receiver's brainwaves and eye movements were monitored as he or she slept in an isolated room. When the receiver entered a dream state--signaled by the onset of rapid eye movements (REM)--the experimenter pressed a buzzer that signaled the sender to begin a sending period. The sender would then concentrate on a randomly chosen picture (the "target") with the goal of influencing the content of the receiver's dream. …" http://comp9.psych.cornell.edu/dbem/ganzfeld.html

The Ganzfeld experiments offer proof that there is a transcendent component to the Universe, of which we all are part and connected. It is through the devising of the necessary scientific experiments which through observation, statistically confirm that there is a "non-material" force, a transcendent force, that exists.

".. One of the conditions that are required to effectively run a Ganzfeld experiment is a requirement for the participants to be in an "altered state of consciousness." This requirement is central to the hypotheses and results. It has been noted that most observers or participants in paranormal phenomenon generally are in some form of "altered state." Often these experiments are performed while the participants are under hypnosis, or some dream state (sleep).

Collaboration has been made in the form of visits by Professor Robert Morris and Dr Kathy Dalton of the University of Edinburgh, and by Professor Jan Dalkvist of the University of Stockholm. We are currently planning to incorporate a more active participation of Prof. Dalkvist in our synchronisation study described below. We also plan a co-operative venture with a long time colleague and a well known critic of parapsychology, Prof. James Alcock of Glendon College, Toronto University.

Studies Completed:

Our first and prime aim was to establish that we could obtain a psi-effect using the Ganzfeld at Gothenburg. This appears to have been achieved, at least in terms of what reasonable precautions can exclude (see enclosed paper: Parker, Frederiksen, & Johansson 1997). …" http://psi-sweden.org/artiklar/ganzfeld.html

University of London physicist David Bohm, for example, believes Aspect's findings imply that objective reality does not exist, that despite its apparent solidity the universe is at heart a phantasm, a gigantic and splendidly detailed hologram.

To understand why Bohm makes this startling assertion, one must first understand a little about holograms. A hologram is a three- dimensional photograph made with the aid of a laser. To make a hologram, the object to be photographed is first bathed in the light of a laser beam. Then a second laser beam is bounced off the reflected light of the first and the resulting interference pattern (the area where the two laser beams commingle) is captured on film. When the film is developed, it looks like a meaningless swirl of light and dark lines. But as soon as the developed film is illuminated by another laser beam, a three-dimensional image of the original object appears.

The three-dimensionality of such images is not the only remarkable characteristic of holograms. If a hologram of a rose is cut in half and then illuminated by a laser, each half will still be found to contain the entire image of the rose. Indeed, even if the halves are divided again, each snippet of film will always be found to contain a smaller but intact version of the original image. Unlike normal photographs, every part of a hologram contains all the information possessed by the whole. The "whole in every part" nature of a hologram provides us with an entirely new way of understanding organization and order. For most of its history, Western science has labored under the bias that the best way to understand a physical phenomenon, whether a frog or an atom, is to dissect it and study its respective parts. A hologram teaches us that some things in the universe may not lend themselves to this approach. If we try to take apart something constructed holographically, we will not get the pieces of which it is made, we will only get smaller wholes.

This insight suggested to Bohm another way of understanding Aspect's discovery. Bohm believes the reason subatomic particles are able to remain in contact with one another regardless of the distance separating them is not because they are sending some sort of mysterious signal back and forth, but because their separateness is an illusion. He argues that at some deeper level of reality such particles are not individual entities, but are actually extensions of the same fundamental something.

To enable people to better visualize what he means, Bohm offers the following illustration. Imagine an aquarium containing a fish. Imagine also that you are unable to see the aquarium directly and your knowledge about it and what it contains comes from two television cameras, one directed at the aquarium's front and the other directed at its side. As you stare at the two television monitors, you might assume that the fish on each of the screens are separate entities. After all, because the cameras are set at different angles, each of the images will be slightly different. But as you continue to watch the two fish, you will eventually become aware that there is a certain relationship between them. When one turns, the other also makes a slightly different but corresponding turn; when one faces the front, the other always faces toward the side. If you remain unaware of the full scope of the situation, you might even conclude that the fish must be instantaneously communicating with one another, but this is clearly not the case.
This, says Bohm, is precisely what is going on between the subatomic particles in Aspect's experiment. According to Bohm, the apparent faster-than-light connection between subatomic particles is really telling us that there is a deeper level of reality we are not privy to, a more complex dimension beyond our own that is analogous to the aquarium. And, he adds, we view objects such as subatomic particles as separate from one another because we are seeing only a portion of their reality. Such particles are not separate "parts", but facets of a deeper and more underlying unity that is ultimately as holographic and indivisible as the previously mentioned rose. And since everything in physical reality is comprised of these "eidolons", the universe is itself a projection, a hologram.

In addition to its phantomlike nature, such a universe would possess other rather startling features. If the apparent separateness of subatomic particles is illusory, it means that at a deeper level of reality all things in the universe are infinitely interconnected.The electrons in a carbon atom in the human brain are connected to the subatomic particles that comprise every salmon that swims, every heart that beats, and every star that shimmers in the sky. Everything interpenetrates everything, and although human nature may seek to categorize and pigeonhole and subdivide, the various phenomena of the universe, all apportionments are of necessity artificial and all of nature is ultimately a seamless web. …" http://twm.co.nz/hologram.html

"David Bohm, Compassion, and Understanding

By Jim Belderis

Imagine a child whose ambition is to show that all the laws of the universe have the same source and that all things are interconnected, including the nature of mind. Moreover, this child has a special talent for solving complex problems: he sees himself as a microcosmic reflection of the universe as a whole, and by studying his own thoughts and feelings he comes to a deeper understanding of the workings of nature. This is how David Bohm was described as a young teenager, and it helps explain how he was able to make such significant contributions to physics, philosophy, psychology, and the study of consciousness.

But there was another side to the scientist which could be seen as the driving force in his life. It was his deep concern for the plight of humanity: the fragmentation of heart and mind that leads to hatred, cynicism, irrationality, and war. From an early age his aspiration was to give people a holistic understanding of life. Once this fundamental holism was really understood, human nature would change, and people would act according to the welfare of the whole.

This extraordinary aspiration is especially intriguing. It sustained a lifetime of profound inquiry, and gave expression to an unusual form of compassion which often appeared to have a cosmic scope. What would it lead him to understand? How far-reaching are the implications, and what do they mean for society at large?

To begin with, remarkable things happened when Bohm's compassion turned to the processes of nature. There were times when he felt he was actually sharing the experience of natural phenomena. He saw the workings of the universe as living beings. Whatever aspect of nature he deeply studied, no matter how large or small, he could somehow share its life as an integral part of the whole. So every entity was part of a larger whole, and each was a manifestation of the entire universe.

The implications of such a vision are staggering. It means the universe has infinite levels while still acting like one indivisible unit, that higher levels determine the nature of what exists at lower levels, and that everything is intimately interconnected as an organic whole. What happens in one locality affects what is happening on that entire level, and sets up infinitely complex chains of causation above and below -- so complex and imperceptible that nature can often have the appearance of chaos. But regardless of what we perceive, there is always a deeper order.

This kind of understanding eventually led to Bohm's theory of the "implicate order." Whatever order we perceive is only on the surface of reality, the explicate order. Mechanical causes and effects, the appearance of distance and separation, and even the nature of time and space -- are all enfolded in the implicate order of a cosmic holomovement, the flowing processes and transformations of an organic whole. This holomovement is infinite in its potential and gives rise to everything within and beyond our understanding, including consciousness and human observers themselves. …" http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/science/sc-jbel.htm

Imbalances of energy, either of too much Yin (feminine, receptive, water, spirit) or Yang (masculine, dominant, solid, matter) have been observed to be the source of many diseases. The curious logical extension of any observed phenomenon, as it applies to the individual, is that to every observed phenomenon there is a higher order. Psychological damage has been wrought on this world due to improper control and dominant energies which occur when there is too much Yang energy. As below, so Above can be postulated. Harmony and Homeostasis are goals in balancing Yin/Yang.

One example of such imbalances as perceived in society by the oppression of Yin energy which thus by association, automatically held back women, and how the counter influence of feminism has not achieved the true goal it has originally sought.

"…THE REAL REASON WHY WOMEN HAVE BEEN OPPRESSED

By Noel Huntley, Ph.D.

This imbalance will eventually be recognised as the key item and cause of our species' degeneration. And vice versa, proper acknowledgment of the role of the feminine principle and its restoration in society, giving balance and harmony, will bring inevitable peace, sanity, and higher evolution to the planet. It is vital that we recognise the unprecedented importance of this massive distortion in our civilisation, which could be the most determinant factor in the survival of our species. …" http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~noelh/MasculineFeminine.htm

4. Self Awareness and Mastery: Bridging the Gap

AG: We all hope so. Now this is called the "quantum measurement paradox." It is a paradox because who are we to do this conversion? Because after all, in the materialist paradigm we don't have any causal efficacy. We are nothing but the brain, which is made up of atoms and elementary particles. So how can a brain which is made up of atoms and elementary particles convert a possibility wave that it itself is? It itself is made up of the possibility waves of atoms and elementary particles, so it cannot convert its own possibility wave into actuality. This is called a paradox. Now in the new view, consciousness is the ground of being. So who converts possibility into actuality? Consciousness does, because consciousness does not obey quantum physics. Consciousness is not made of material. Consciousness is transcendent. Do you see the paradigm-changing view right here—how consciousness can be said to create the material world?The material world of quantum physics is just possibility. It is consciousness, through the conversion of possibility into actuality, that creates what we see manifest. In other words, consciousness creates the manifest world.

More to come on:

Jungian Psychology and Synchronicity

The Emerald Tablet and Alchemy http://ca.geocities.com/duanetilden/Spiritual/Conciousness/Emeraldtablet.htm

Photons, The Photon Belt, and the Pleide's Star Cluster. http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~noelh/photonbelt.htm