Quantum Consciousness . Stuart Hameroff Overview: Could Life And Consciousness Be Related To The Fundamental Quantum Nature Of The Universe? Consciousness defines our existence and reality. But how does the brain generate thoughts and feelings? Most explanations portray the brain as a computer, with nerve cells ("neurons") and their synaptic connections acting as simple switches, or "bits" which interact in complex ways. In this view consciousness is said to "emerge" as a novel property of complex interactions among neurons, as hurricanes and candle flames emerge from complex interactions among gas and dust molecules. We also don't know if our conscious perceptions accurately portray the external world, or if we all have similar pictures of what lies outside our conscious minds. Reality seems to be described by two sets of laws. Quantum computers differ from conventional computers which represent information as e.g. binary bits of either 1 or 0. But why are there two separate realities, and how are they related?
Five Tibetan Rites The Eye of Revelation by Peter Kelder The Five Tibetan Rites is a system of exercises reported to be more than 2,500 years old[1] which were first publicized by Peter Kelder in a 1939 publication titled The Eye of Revelation.[2] The Rites are said to be a form of Tibetan yoga similar to the yoga series that originated in India. However, the Five Rites and traditional Tibetan yoga both emphasize "a continuous sequence of movement" (Sanskrit: vinyasa), whereas Indian forms focus on "static positions". The Five Tibetan Rites are also referred to as "The Five Rites", "The Five Tibetans" and "The Five Rites of Rejuvenation". Publication[edit] Booklet[edit] In his booklet, Kelder claims that while stationed in India, British army officer Colonel Bradford (a pseudonym) heard a story about a group of lamas who had apparently discovered a "Fountain of Youth". Disputed origins[edit] Performing the Rites[edit] First Rite[edit] "Stand erect with arms outstretched, horizontal with the shoulders.
A Brief History of Drugs: From the Stone Age to the Stoned Age' by Antonio Escohotado Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments: An Entheogen Chrestomathy Thomas B. Roberts, Ph.D. and Paula Jo Hruby, Ed.D.Author Index | Title Index A Brief History of Drugs: From the Stone Age to the Stoned Age Escohotado, Antonio. (1999). Description: paperback, viii + 168 pages. Contents: Preface, introduction, 18 chapters, index. Note: Translated by Kenneth A. Excerpt(s): In 1989 as I was finishing a long investigation on this sub-ject-which in the end filled three volumes in small print with narrow margins-it seemed that the probable future of that book was to rest in the bookcases of different university libraries, a summary of suggestions to students as to how to consider the effect of this or that drug in the evolution of medicine, morals, religion, economics, and the mechanisms of political control. Initiation was prohibited only to murderers. The Mysteries gave us life, nourishment; they taught societies the custom and the law, they taught humans how to live as humans. ... Thanks to A.
Single dose of hallucinogen may create lasting personality change Thursday, September 29, 2011 Psilocybn A single high dose of the hallucinogen psilocybin, the active ingredient in so-called "magic mushrooms," was enough to bring about a measureable personality change lasting at least a year in nearly 60 percent of the 51 participants in a new study, according to the Johns Hopkins researchers who conducted it. Lasting change was found in the part of the personality known as openness, which includes traits related to imagination, aesthetics, feelings, abstract ideas and general broad-mindedness. "Normally, if anything, openness tends to decrease as people get older," says study leader Roland R. The research, approved by Johns Hopkins' Institutional Review Board, was funded in part by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology. The study participants completed two to five eight-hour drug sessions, with consecutive sessions separated by at least three weeks. This press release has been viewed 1562664 time(s).
Scientific evidence for survival of consciousness after death According to Wikipedia.org, "psychometry" is a psychic ability in which the user is able to relate details about the past condition of an object or area, usually by being in close contact with it. The user could allegedly, for example, give police precise details about a murder or other violent crime if they were at the crime scene or were holding the weapon used. About.com's Paranormal Phenomena website lists information about several of the most convincing psychometrists. Stefan Ossowiecki, a Russian-born psychic, is one of the most famous psychometrists. In later experiments, Ossowiecki performed remarkable psychometric feats with archeological objects - a kind of psychic archeology. Ossowiecki described his visions as being like a motion picture that he could watch, pause, rewind and fast-forward - like a videotape or DVD.
r/meditation Rituals enhance health Study finds no deficits among American Indians who use peyote regularly American Indians who use the hallucinogen peyote regularly in connection with religious ceremonies show no evidence of brain damage or psychological problems, report researchers at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital. In fact, members of the Navajo tribe who regularly use peyote actually scored significantly better on several measures of overall mental health than did subjects from the same tribe who were not members of the religious group and did not use the hallucinogen, according to a paper published in the Nov. 4 issue of Biological Psychiatry. "We found no evidence that these Native Americans had residual neurocognitive problems. Despite lifelong participation in the peyote church, they performed just as well on mental tests as those who had never used peyote,'' said the study's first author, John Halpern of McLean Hospital's Biological Psychiatry Laboratory.
DMT, Moses, and the Quest for Transcendence by Cliff Pickover, Reality Carnival "DMT in the pineal glands of Biblical prophets gave God to humanity and let ordinary humans perceive parallel universes." The molecule DMT (N,N-Dimethyltryptamine) is a psychoactive chemical that causes intense visions and can induce its users to quickly enter a completely different "environment" that some have likened to an alien or parallel universe. The transition from our world to theirs occurs with no cessation of consciousness or quality of awareness. In this environment, beings often appear who interact with the person who is using DMT. Author Terence McKenna has used DMT and feels that, "Right here and now, one quanta away, there is raging a universe of active intelligence that is transhuman, hyperdimensional, and extremely alien... DMT is also naturally produced in small quantities in the human brain, and it has been hypothesized that DMT is produced in the pineal gland in the brain. As a metaphor, consider infrared goggles. More info, here.
The Internet and the New Transformation of Consciousness John H. Van Ness (email: JohnVanNess@vngroup.com) What distinguishes human life from all other life forms? What makes human life unique on this planet? Jane Goodall , who spent 40 years studying the life of chimpanzees in Tanzania, has discovered that the chimps display many qualities that we had thought were uniquely human: personality, the ability to reason, the capacity for love and altruism as well as violence and cruelty. Anthropologist Mary Catherine Bateson recently described humanity’s new phase of evolutionary development. In The Web of Text and the Web of God , the late professor of English, Alan Purves finds that the internet is a major cause of this transformation into the post-modern world, which he calls the world of hypertext or the world of cyberspace. One way the internet opens us to a more complete humanity is by heightening the expression and the perception of those whom the established authorities seek to suppress. Does the internet satisfy “all desire”? .