Premonitions and Spirituality

Spirituality involves an awareness of being connected with something greater than the individual ego or self. This "something greater" has traditionally been called God, Goddess, Allah, Great Spirit, the Almighty, the Absolute, and many other names. Some consider it as the Universe, or as a sense of infinite order and beauty. Many individuals prefer to attribute no name whatever to it. But whether named or unnamed, the awareness of a connectedness with something greater than the "I" has been a source of strength and meaning for individuals throughout human history.

Individuals often find that their power of sensing and knowing expands as they mature spiritually. These expanded capacities often involve the capacity to know yet-to-be events that lie in the future, as the unbroken stream of prophets, visionaries, seers, and shamans throughout history attests. A modern analog of this ancient ability to know the future is premonitions, sometimes called intuition, gut feelings, or sixth sense.

Premonitions are often regarded as unrelated to spirituality, but there are profound connections. The most obvious involves love, as in the following example.

Amanda, a young mother living in Washington State, awoke one night at 2:30 A.M. from a nightmare. She dreamed that a large chandelier that hung above their baby's bed in the next room fell into the crib and crushed the infant. In the dream, as she and her husband stood amid the wreckage, she saw that a clock on the baby's dresser read 4:35 A.M. The weather in the dream was violent; rain hammered the window and the wind was blowing a gale. The dream was so terrifying she roused her husband and told him about it. He laughed, told her the dream was silly, and urged her to go back to sleep, which he promptly did. But the dream was so frightening that Amanda went to the baby's room and brought the child back to bed with her. She noted that the weather was calm, not stormy as in the dream. Amanda felt foolish -- until around two hours later, when she and her husband were awakened by a loud crash. They dashed into the nursery and found the crib demolished by the chandelier, which had fallen directly into it. Amanda noted that the clock on the dresser read 4:35 A.M. and that the weather had changed. Now there was howling wind and rain. This time, her husband was not laughing.

Amanda's dream was a snapshot of the future -- down to the specific event, the precise time it would happen, and a change in the weather.

Love appears dramatically as a mediator of premonitions in sudden infant death syndrome or SIDS, the abrupt, unexplained death of an apparently healthy baby between one and twelve months of age. Premonitions are a recurring feature in the experiences of SIDS parents. An example is Don, a physician in a large metropolitan area. During the first trimester of his wife's pregnancy, he sensed the happiness his son's birth would bring would not be lasting. A few months before the birth, he would occasionally find himself contemplating a nearby cemetery, where his son would eventually be buried. The day he was born and Don first held him in his arms, he felt, for no obvious reason that the newborn was not supposed to be with them. Beginning around two to three weeks before his death, Don would be awakened from his sleep with thoughts of SIDS. The day before his son died, he heard a voice very similar to his own say repeatedly, "Take a good look. This is the last time you will see him."

Don's apprehensions increased when his wife planned a flight with the baby to visit her parents, who lived in another state. Although they disagreed about whether the baby should go, Don didn't make his fears clear to his wife. As he was driving them to the airport, negative feelings came flooding in. At the airport, walking to security, he heard a clear warning that he'd never see his son again. He knew his baby would die during the trip. While walking back to the parking lot, the voice told him to go back and get his son. Finally the voice softened and stopped, as Don ignored it and kept walking. Early the next morning his wife called, hysterically relating that their son had died. He later would find that his aunt had similar apprehensions about the baby.

Looking back, Don said, "The process has been a shock to me since I knew before-hand this [death] was going to happen. The only thing I didn't know was when and where... I have no idea of its meaning. The only thing I can say is that perhaps if I would have listened to 'my heart' many mishaps could have been prevented... I think people have the ability to perceive things and give it a purposeful meaning which can be used for any future event."

Many of the SIDS parents experienced dreams, visions, or feelings of being in contact with their infants following death. They felt uniformly positive about these experiences, and were left with a sense that their baby was being cared for and was in a better place.

There are other benefits that are profoundly spiritual. Premonitions open us up to each other and to the greater world. As mentioned, they show that we are part of something larger than the individual self, that we are an element in the great "pattern that connects," as ecologist-philosopher Gregory Bateson put it. Premonitions suggest that we are linked with every consciousness that has ever existed, or that will ever exist.

Many outstanding scientists have realized this. The renowned physicist David Bohm said, "Each person enfolds something of the spirit of the other in his consciousness." Nobel physicist Erwin Schrödinger also believed that minds are in some sense united and one. He said, "To divide or multiply consciousness is something meaningless. There is obviously only one alternative, namely the unification of minds or consciousness.... [I]n truth there is only one mind."

By linking minds across space and time, premonitions reveal the oneness of which these scientists -- and many spiritual traditions -- speak. Premonitions therefore imply that we are not isolated individuals, but beings whose consciousness operates outside the present and beyond our physical body. They suggest that in some sense we are nonlocal or infinite in space in time. When we deeply sense this, we may become "transparent to the transcendent," as mythologist Joseph Campbell put it.

Through love, premonitions link human beings across space and time. There is no more fundamental aspect of spirituality than love. Premonitions are a window through which we glimpse our connection not only with one another, but with the Infinite as well.

(This essay is based on The Power of Premonitions: How Knowing the Future Can Shape Our Lives, by Larry Dossey, M.D., published by Dutton/Penguin, 2009)

Comments

[FuniGrl2]

It is precisely this type of reporting, where there is no such person as Kathy or Don, but they are created without any specifics to serve a purpose, in this case justifying a bogus hypothesis. What nonsense! Taking our "feelings" and "gut instincts" and projecting them onto a screen of premonition is not merely invalid, but exacerbates justification for beliefs in myths. Why couldn't this reporter find ONE valid premonition story where Names (first and last), Dates, Locations, etc. are provided? Because there are none. This type of story preys on the innocense of people who want there to be such a thing a premonition, but provides zero when it comes to facts.

[Jonahhexx]

Very true.

[Peggiander]

The story about Amanda, the mother who dreamed precognitively about the
the chandelier is fascinating, but author Larry Dossey should give credit
to its origin: In her book, "The Gift," Sally Rhine Feather, daughter of
J.B. Rhine (who first coined the term ESP) retells this story from her
mother, Louisa Rhine's, collection of such incidences.

The book has numerous such stories.

[Jonahhexx]

But it still does not mean that premonitions are true because of numerous stories in a book. In addition, the premonition of Amanda was not accurate. The baby was not crushed by the chandelier.
So of what future was Amanda having the premonition? Shouldn't her premonition have showed the the baby was saved from being killed? After all, it supposedly had the detail of time down to the minute. Such is the problem(s) with these ideas of such things as ESP and precognition and paranormal experiences; they aren't well defined and that is because they aren't testable.

[Jonahhexx]

Seriously, putting a baby under a chandelier? Why not place the baby on railroad tracks. This is so obviously a fabricated story told to include the details of the so-called premonition AFTER the event.
Certain elements of the story may be true. The mother may have woken with a bad dream, the baby was in its crib under a chadelier, etc. But after the event the mother just remembers the dream with details of the actual event that weren't in the dream. Think about it. How easy is it to remember dreams even right after you awake from one. Try it sometime it is surprisingly difficult. It is often necessary to embelish or modify the dream to explain it to someone.
In any case, there is no way to prove any of this it is just anecdotal. The woman could just as easily be making all of it up. There is not way to test it. It's shameful that a doctor of medicine would accept this. That is not the way medicine is supposed to be done. As skeptics say, this is a case where humans are predisposed to remember only the "hits" and not the "misses" when making claims of psychic ablities or paranormal phenomenon.

[antifluff]

A politically correct article that does not encourage people to search for spiritual maturity. That book that many people claim to be full of fairy tales can help with spiritual maturity. It could help millions if they read it and sought the knowledge and wisdom within the word.

[Changeizgood]

"The Finding of the Third Eye" by Vera Stanley Alder cirque 1938 reprinted 8 times.
Published by Samuel Weiser, Inc. 740 Broadway NY,NY 10003

Just finished it and it answered a lot of lifelong questions. Wonderfully Spiritual and educating.
Should be taught, not hidden by mass religious controllers. Every Soul should know this information and guidance.

[Ergon]

Sigh. A neat article about premonitions degenerates into a brawl framed as Reason vs Irrationality, Science vs Superstition, instead of the known vs the unknown, or perhaps even, the unknoweable. The comments from the other side :) seem to focus on the impossibility of 'proving' any of this in a scientifically rigorous manner, but really, the purpose of Knowledge ( I won't say 'science') is to know more about ourselves and our environment, and even a 'flawed' argument might lead to better understanding.
I'm writing a book on Medicine which deals with these questions, because in my opinion it would benefit in terms of mental and emotional health, but moreso because I'm fascinated by the possibility of opening us up to our full human potential.
The scientists of old had a sense of joy and wonder about the unknown, and were more open to multi-disciplinary approaches. Today's scientist (I speak generally) seems literally soulless by comparison, but that's only because they have a narrow frame of reference. Forest, Trees.
It may irk them to be told that their god of rational science, Newton, was an avid occultist and alchemist, and it was that which colored and influenced his scientific findings. So many scientific discoveries are a producy of intuition. So many geniuses are BOTH left and right brained.
Just don't let anyone else discount or pesudoanalyse your own experience, ok?

[krypton86]

You're argument is a straw man. I know plenty of physicists, computer scientists, biologists, chemists and mathematicians. They are all without a doubt the most alive and engaged people that I know. The generalization is not valid.

It does not irk any of us that Newton was an alchemist. It's not in the least bit surprising and it's quite interesting to boot because, as I'm sure you agree, many alchemical experiments led to discoveries in chemistry and physics, but they don't actually *explain* them. You cannot use alchemical terminology to perform chemistry and physics. For that you've got to use chemical balance formulas and Newton's much more useful laws of motion and gravity.

Furthermore, what is with this left / right brain thing? Are you seriously contending that science and math is not a creative process? A cursory examination of the history of science does not support this contention and I personally find it to be very creative. You write "So many scientific discoveries are a produc[t] of intuition." This implies that science is a creative, "right brain" process as much as an analytic one. Clearly we can't separate science from those that practice it because science is formed by them. How can one be creative and the other not when the former follows the latter?

[blueblazes]

As a psychologist I feel for those who have lost a child under any circumstances. Having said that, I would like call attention to the weakness of the claim that the "premonitions" described in this article really foretold the future. Most parents have fears about terrible things happening to their children. How many parents have had similar bad dreams or creepy feelings, but nothing happened to their child? When nothing happens we call them fears. When something does happen they magically become premonitio­ns....afte­r the fact. This selective attention to only those cases that support the claim for a psychic connection does little to convince me that the phenomenon exists. I do believe that intuition plays a profound, yet subtle role in leading us to attend to important information in our world and that this kind of information sometimes yields unsettlingly accurate guesses about what will happen in the future. However, this falls well short of any mystical, spiritual, or psychic phenomenon. I cannot say that these things do not exist, but if you wish to produce some convincing evidence, conduct a study which introduces experimental control and is subject to replication and peer review.

[whoknew---]

Well, I'm glad you posted because I don't know either and I don't think it's really all big a deal. I do know that for me there is a difference between what I would consider premonition and just wishful thinking. I also think it's not worth investigating because if it does exist it is unreliable. If you try and tell somebody about anything that would of been considered a premonition or coincidence or whatever you just look kind of kooky to a non-believer.

Like the time a friend calls me. I knew who was calling, "Hi, Mary how are you?" She had hardly ever called and I don't hang around the phone wasting my time trying to guess who's going to call me. I probably say that small insignificant incident would fall into the category of coincidence because I knew it was her calling before I picked up the phone, like if she had just told me. Hard to define it and would be hard to replicate. It doesn't happen all the time, in fact, probably a handful of times in my life.

[Age]

There will be plenty of negative responses to this article, and back and forth from "believers" and "non-believers". Can we simply agree that there's plenty left to be discovered, and scientifically proven, that will significantly alter how we perceive the universe and our own consciousness? Think a minute on all of the discoveries we've made in the last 100 years that would simply blow away intelligent thinkers from previous centuries. Blow them away, or leave them utterly, and incorrectly, skeptical.

Skepticism deserves a prime place at the table here, but c'mon, so does the acknowledgment that there's a whole lotta stuff that we're going to learn over the next several decades and beyond that will completely reorder what we know to be true about the ties between our consciousness, time, and the universe.

Not saying we should believe every new-agey concept that comes down the pike, but strict adherence to completely discounting anything that doesn't (as of now) have cold hard science behind it also does a disservice to the discussion.

[whoknew---]

Even though a few things that have happened in my life could be considered under the umbrella coincidental, I really do believe there is a potential for a connection. But if you try to explain it to nonbelievers they would probably think your kooky so what's the use.

Everybody has some level of intuition, it's not that big of a deal, just that some people chose to ignore it.

[VinceTeeter]

The whole thing is what is called a, Jamais Vu, pronounced zhahmay view, literally, never seen. It's that weird feeling you get when you go into a strange place that you have never been there before.

[SFTor]

OK, that's pretty funny.

[anothervoice]

@ SFTor

I can speak from personal experience that there can in fact be premonitions of events outside of linear time, and I am comfortable with it. I suspect the phenomenon is akin to aspects of quantum physics where the act of observing an event effects the event, except maybe in a reverse sort of way.

If you were to do a little reading in the area of what some physicists are saying about the nature of time - a timeline being like a series of thin pages stacked to infinity which are paralleled by adjacent timelines of a particular reality to a particular observer - you might begin to realize that the nature of some things are still unknown to us.

Was it Asimov who said something about advanced technology being akin to magic? For that matter, there are probably some quantum physical things going on out there that pass for metaphysical in our eyes.

I'm not comfortable with persons who are so certain they're right they must dismiss others experiences as invalid or uninformed. The truth may be that some people are more attuned to these events like some animals pick up on earthquakes before they happen. Pull your horns in a bit, close your mouth and listen. Turn off the noise and distractions in your life. You might hear something that will surprise you.

[krypton86]

I keep hearing this argument that science doesn't know everything (a trivially obvious statement) and therefore I am close minded for not believing in psi phenomena.

Well you know what I'm not comfortable with? Being told on the one hand that some things can't be explained and then having them "explained" to me. That's incredibly insulting to my intelligence. It's especially egregious when some vague misrepresentation of quantum physics is used as the quasi-explanation. I swear, if I have to listen to one more person tell me that I can influence my macroscopic surroundings because of a nanoscale event I think that I will suffer a dissociative fugue.

Do you even know what the word observable means in the context of QM? Do you know how they are measured? Hint: it's not with consciousness.

These limited posts can't possibly deal with QM properly, so here's a suggestion: stop reading pop science books and read an actual textbook on QM. I recommend "Introduction to Quantum Mechanics" by David Griffiths. Skip the math if it's too hard, but be prepared to have your assumptions about QM's "metaphysical" nature punctured. There is no basis in QM for magical thinking, no matter how strange it is.

[SFTor]

I like "dissociative fugue." Thank you Krypton.

[SFTor]

One last thing:

The research on animals' ability to predict earthquakes proposes that the animals pick up physical signals (sound, vibration, electromagnetic changes) that are too weak for us to detect.

Nobody has ever seriously ascribed it to elephant ESP.

[ElronHubbard]

I have to wonder if any of the persons on the 'skeptic side' have ANY actual scientific training, degrees, etc? Or did they just pick the side that they feel makes them 'smarter than'? I wonder...

[krypton86]

I have a degree in physics and mathematics, but so what? That's just an argument from authority. It isn't enough to proclaim expertise in something. This is, incidentally, why peer reviewed journals exist. You can't get published just because you've got a Ph.D.; you've got to have something of value to say and the evidence to back it up. Then the reviewers critique your work and challenge any faulty data or assumptions. I don't know of any methodologically sound study that has survived this process.

Maybe you should write the first.

[krypton86]

Note: previous comment should have read "I don't know of any methodologically sound study [on psi events] that has survived this process.

Fixed.

[JakeReckons]

I am of the persuasion that perhaps these psi events are simply beyond the scope of scientific methodology and reason. Sometimes no amount of logic and analytical thinking can explain or trump your intuition.

[SFTor]

Excuse me for stating, without a degree in futurology, astrology, and premonitionology, that the future is unknown, and unseeable.

We do not know when we will die. We do not know when others will die. We do not know what will happen next. End of story.

[bpetty6540]

I disagree. I have a file cabinet full of precognitive dreams. I've had precognitive dreams of all my relatives who have died. Some very detailed and I document them, such as clothes chosen for the deceased to wear for the viewing and things said at the funeral. What's more precognitive dreaming can be taught as we all do it, we're just not aware. And yes, I'm writing a book about it.

[MerrieWay]

Many of us who have faced the unfathomable tragedy of losing a child had premonitions that were coming from deep within. Even when the shocking possibility surfaces with more concrete signs – there is a place beyond listening to intuition and following it. No matter how hard we try, we won’t be able to prevent a soul from passing on, when the moment of departure from this earth plane is destined.
I lost my beloved son, Byron last year, at only 22, taken before he could live his full potential. Through my ongoing grieving process I have embraced a spiritual connection with him that fills my heart daily. A fresh awareness of chirping birds calling, scintillating sunsets’ beckoning, and an inspired inner voice of inspiration of Byron’s enlivened spirit welling up from within me. I can feel him cheering me on to live this life fully, in his glorious memory.
MerrieWay wishes and blesses others to know your departed loved one is with you. Allowing inexplicable intuition to guide you, this eternal connection will soothe and heal a grieving heart. Thank you Dr. Dossey for your incredible incites.

[Peridolius]

Sorry for your loss. I lost my beloved sister and my response was to be freed of all magical thinking. I never felt so liberated and at peace in all my life of searching for external meaning. BTW, I think you meant "insight", but Dossey definitely incites me, so maybe it was a premonition.

[SFTor]

After having had some rather scathing remarks about Dr. Dossey rebuffed I will assume that this thread only accepts the most benign sort of criticism.

I disagree with everything Dr. Dossey says in his article, and I would challenge him to post any kind of verifiable information on the phenomena he describes. My premonition will be that he cannot.

What I most disagree with is the very idea that spirituality will allow you to see into the future, even in glimpses. I think any thinking person will recognize the absurdity of the claim. Spirituality, when practiced over years, can make people stronger, kinder, and even wiser, perhaps. It can also root them more firmly in the present.

The present. No the future, which we all get to experience together as it unfolds from the unknown.

[JakeReckons]

It's obvious from our side of the fence that you have never experienced what Dr. Dossey is referring to. As such, I can't blame you for your point of view, I can only hope that you're lucky enough to get a glimpse at some point in the future.

[SFTor]

JR, with all due respect:

You have a belief. It will be invaluable to you to learn the difference between such a belief and actual knowledge as soon as humanly possible.

[Changeizgood]

JR as Alder says, some in the Physical Relm, cannot process beyond the "I" and the progress of what they persieve as progress of Man. The spiritual journey of the Soul and all it's maturing phases aren't easy to understand or comprehend, by an "I" person. The most rewarding gift our God has given is the ability to connect to others of our species, even in sleep. The soul is able to travel when in the subconscious level. Study for Krypton, might prove fruitfull had he had the time to think of other than the "I" syndromed physical relm he dwells in and percieves as the last journey of man's soul.

Most of the ethnic and ancient civilizations, knew of the spiritual travel of the soul. This and many other things, the "I's" have kept from education, such as UFO's and others, has kept USA in a primitive and reactionary developement far behind in the Spritual awareness and maturity, until sometimes after 50s when the glands of change begin to work together with the "third eye" It can be a little frustrating trying to explain to one who is a toddler on the subject, through primative thinking. Especially when we are heading into a "golden age" of peace and spiritual connection.

Oh well.... we just have to have patience. It is a virtue you know.

[timezone]

I have a profound interest in the collective subconscious and feel that could explain a lot (feelings of past lives, etc.). I am a very rational, science-oriented person and when there are things that seem unexplainable, like reincarnation, it would seem being somehow connected to all energy would somehow make some sense of it all.

[DaveVDave]

WOW!! That is an incredible story, and I believe it, things like that have happened to me and people I know. There is definitely something to this reality which we can't see. Einstein beleive in it and he called it "ether", even though he tried, his brilliant mind could not figure it out, so I try not to think about how it all works and just know that it does, and that there are things working in the background that we cannot see.

http://www.TheCommentDepot.com