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)
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I have premonitions frequently, but most come in my sleep.
The last tragic premonitory dream was the day before the NC nursing home shooting.
The last tragic "awake" premonition was about 3 days before the military jet crashed into the home in California.
The week a freight train derailed into the Anacostia River, I was in a car waiting at a traffic light under the nearby train bridge, and the gut feeling of panic hit me so bad that I wanted to abandon the car.
We all have 5 physical senses. There are also 5 corresponding psychic senses.
Open your mind, think, and realize that there are far too many "coincidences",
or incidences discounted as "just lucky" to ignorantly dismiss these events.
No, there is certainly either a spiritual or higher-conscious level that any aware
human surely, though rarely, will attain if they give attention to these perceptions.
They range from merely "bad vibes" , to in a larger sense, an undeniable feeling.
Anyone who never experienced or at least felt such, just ain't paying attention.
What you describe can be explained by learned experience. I have gone into situations where I thought beforehand that the the situation was bad and was correct. It's sort of like when you know that something just isn't right.
Oh, really?... "explained"? And how were those "explained" by "learned experience"?
What you've stated is a hypothesis (not developed enough to be a theory) and is difeinitely worth considering but is not "proof".
These are just words so far.
At one time the notion of the earth being round was scoffed at, as was the earth not being the center of the universe. Only those who were aware of the truth were enriched by the knowledge- denial of it didn't harm those unaware, it only limited their potential experience of the wonders of the universe.
Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. That's premonition for you, in a nutshell.
To those whose minds are closed to the possibilities that Dr. Dossey writes of:.. Do you consider Duke University to be a reputable instituation of research and education?
If not, why not, and if so, then you may want to educate yourselves about Duke University's 'Rhine rsearch Center'.
http://www.rhine.org/aboutus.shtml
Proving what exactly? That pockets of irrationality still exist in institutes of higher learning? When the Rhine institute was formed almost 80 years ago, there had been no investigation into psychic phenomena. 80 years later there has been lots....all essentially useless, and the early, apparently positive, studies done by the Rhine Institute have been discredited.
People who believe weird things for no good reason other than the ideas are attractive to them are the ones with closed minds.
You wrote, "People who believe weird things for no good reason other than the ideas are attractive to them are the ones with closed minds."
Your premise is based in your faith that the reasons you identify are "no good".
Prove that. (I'll check back.)
You and your fellow evangelical and fundamentalist atheists are every bit as dogmatic, irrational (hint: pseudo-logic is not as sophisticated as you think it is), and blindly invested in their belief system as evangelical/fundamentalist religious adherents.
On first look it seems like a typical hiding place for crackpots, a marginal development, slightly touching science, if at all.
Psychology and neurophysiology and brain research are established branches of science, and there are of course many groups actively doing research. I doubt that this particular center is useful and has a good reputation in scientific community.
It can't hurt to look, which is why I'm sure Duke keeps the place around. The problem is that every bit of research claiming to have demonstrated a paranormal phenomenon thus far has been discovered to have serious methodological flaws.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/encyclopedia.html
Did you read the whole piece? Apparently you assume that Dr. Walter Levy was the sole researcher and that, because his research methods were badly skewed, the whole body of work is invalid.
Rhine also revealed frauds, to the ire of Sir Conan Doyle but that's one example.
The site you posted a link to is interesting and has some good information, but undermines it's credibility by indulging the cognitive myopia common to many faithful cynics. There are also outright errors in teh entries -- the write-up of "kundalini yoga", for instance, is funny because it's like a grade school book report on the subject.
I also notice that it supports the vercaity of some of the entries, such as "Occam's razor" or persimony. The site describes this as "a very important philosophical and logical concept." i.e. not everying cited in that "encyclopedia" is being deemed fraudulent.
Duke, that's in NC, right?
See Dr. Cara Barker's Profile
Dear Larry,
What a gift to see you, too, on the HP! I'm hoping this will be a regular event. Much, much love to you and Barbie. Let us know when you will be up our way. Ed and I will be in Santa Fe in August for a conference. Would be great to see you then, as well.
Regarding your article, and the book, of course: I'm so happy that, as usual, you have your finger on the pulse of something so vital. I can tell you that my life has been filled with these premonitions, and demonstrations from the sacred, of love as an informant. For example, before my son was killed many years ago, I had just such experiences as you mentioned. Always, these sensitivities have carried a blessing.
Frankly, I do believe that these are the natural state of affairs. The problem is that we've become so disconnected, as a people, with all the noise in our lives, and all the busyness going nowhere, that we do not often 'hear' (I mean this symbolically) the guidance in front of our nose. We need to respell 'nowhere' to 'now here' if we are to get the message.
Love,
Cara
I call "made up" because no parent in their right mind would stick a baby's crib underneith a large chandelier. That didn't seem a little odd to anyone else?
Oh, I don't know. There' some rather "strange" parents meandering about with little,or no, common sense.
THAT is was what made the story seem incredible to you?
It seemed odd to me.
Well, let's try this again. My posts hardly ever get printed, though they aren't rude or harsh. In fact, they are milder than many I've seen here.
Intuition is not mystical. There are logical explanations for it all. And, the reason why some people feel that their "precognitions" come true is because they remember the hits and forget the misses. It is Confirmation Bias. We all have it.
I see that Larry is peddling pseudo-science again. He had a thing a few years back claiming prayers cured people. Sure it does--just ask the millions of people who died during the Black Plague. I'm sure their millions of relatives prayed for them, but it didn't stop them from dying a horrible death, did it? I guess that god didn't love them.
5/3/09
11:49pm
Alexandria,VA
I.wish.I.could.prove.to.you.that.I.have.had.visions.of.future.events.but.I.don't.know.how.that.would.be.possible.after.the.fact.
it.isI.have.a."vision".it.is.never.wrong.
t.have.them.every.day.and.do.not.control.the.subject.or.the.timing.or.anything.else.except.that.I.am.more.likely.to.have.one.about.a.subject.I.am.immersing.myself.inelf.in.
5/4/09
12:04am
Alexandria,VA
protection.of.myself.or.a.loved-one.or.any.person.is.stated.that.the.visions.are.also.more.likely.when,protection.of.myself.or.a.loved-one.or.any.person.is.involved.
Agreed. reminds me of this.
Why god won't heal amputees?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3VAEYEG53w
Scientifically minded people are justifiably (most of the time) skeptical of anecdotal evidence. But that skepticism too often turns into knee-jerk rejection. I am skeptical of Dossey, but I am just as skeptical, after over fifty years of intense delight in reading science and exploring the universe, of anyone who says something like "Intuition is not mystIcal. There are logical explanations for it all."
If you have logical explanations for "it all," please cite them clearly. My experience is that people who claim to explain it all, inevitably fall into explaining away what their models can't handle. Confirmation Bias exists, but it is often wielded as too broad a brush. It's an explanation that doesn't explain. In fact, it is a presumption, and "We all have it" is a baseless generalization. The idea that people "remember the hits" and "forget the misses" does nothing to explain the hits, if they exist.
If you had said, "I don't think intuiition (which is not the same as premonition by the way) is mystical. My hope is that some day we will have logical explanations for it all," I'd not quibble with that. But the questions Dossey deals with are still open, whether one accepts his approach to answering them or not. And anecdotal evidence though not usually compelling may well be intriguing and may offer clues to unravel mysteries. Let us enjoy exploring together. There is so much we need to rethink.
"The idea that people "remember the hits" and "forget the misses" does nothing to explain the hits, if they exist."
How about mathematical probability?
"My hope is that some day we will have logical explanations for it all"
How about mathematical probability?
Egads. What's next, give your patients a Tarot reading?
Just because "physician" and "psychic" are spelled similarly, doesn't mean the professions are interchangeable!
Wow, this guy is a Doctor. I believe in the possibility of these things, but I find these arguments trite and weak.
He is the author of HEALING WORDS: THE POWER OF PRAYER AND THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE.
Maybe this video would be helpful:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH0rFZIqo8A&feature=related
The best study done by far ended up demonstrating that prayer was no more effective than a placebo.
Wow. Let me tell you my story ...
I was waiting at my bus stop one day last month, when I was overcome by a sense of foreboding. As the bus pulled up, my spider-sense went all tingly, and I excused myself to the safety of bus-stop bench. And guess what happened? The bus pulled away and proceded merrily down the street without incident.
Oh, I should add that as it pulled away I glimpsed through the window the most gorgeous woman I have ever seen with an empty seat next to her. And I missed an important business meeting and got fired from my job. Er, and I got hit by a taxi which I never saw coming as I stepped off the curb a few moments later - just got out of the hospital this morning; hope I can pay the bills.
But I'll never doubt my premonitions - they work for me every time.
.
...and let this be a lesson to anybody who doubts supernatural! :-)
Precognition is a simple sense that all mammals have, even your family pet will display signs of it.
But it would be a sad world indeed in which miracles did not exist, and I'm sure many of you have witnessed them.
The universe doesn't care whether humans find its indifference sad or not. That being said, I'd be sadder if I thought I lived in a world in which miracles *do* happen, because if they do, they seem to be pretty selective (sort of like living next to a millionaire is likely to draw out one's envy).
I'm impressed, however, that you have such insight into the psychology of all mammals, though, and their slew of psychic abilities. I suppose the basis for your statement is, in turn, your own psychic abilities?
And what is a miracle? Can you give an example of one?
It seems that once miracle is described in detail, it becomes a description of some phenomenon, as exciting or boring as any other phenomenon. The next question - of whether the 'miracle' actually occurred or not - can be then stated...
We have the world that we have. You can be sad in it or not, it is a matter of perception.
Again, please, give one precise description of a miracle, one example. I am not questioning whether it has actually occurred or whether it may occur, just give a detailed example.
I wouldn't waste the time; you have the right to not believe in anything and I want you to have that right. Own it and stop searching for confirmation that the believers are wrong. Please give us the right to believe what we want to believe.
my miracle: waking up happy and content in the morning.
my supernatural power: brewing the perfect cup of coffee.
Since you ask,
I claim no more psychic power for myself than I acknowledge in every one else (no matter how some block it)
Anecdotal evidence, perhaps, of dogs who knew when their owners passed away, or actually saved lives
And for a genuine miracle, I've known many, but here's two:
A nurse in Houston was in a MVA and lost all vital signs. She saw herself floating above the operating table when she saw a being of light come in the room (probably the surgeon) She's alive today.
A man dying of Cancer was given a week to live and received the last rites. A healer visited him and he recovered completely, and lived for another 10 years (The 10 years he gained to see his son grow up was the miracle)
I think we're all free to believe, or not believe, in anything, but glad to answer your questions.
Pretty cool, and this stuff happens to me all the time but there's little or no drama involved. Like when I thought of using a $100 bill to buy a monthly pass on the train for March and my intuition said "You won't need it." I didn't buy the pass and surprise - or not - I was laid off the 2nd week! Then there was the other day when I drove up to visit my nephews 50 miles away and I was thinking how nice it was that they didn't have a dog. All I could think of was how they didn't have a dog. When I walked in, what was the first thing I saw? A dog! They had just gotten it.
For more stories on similar everyday examples of intuition, synchronicity and spirit, sift through the rants, diatribes and funny stories on my blog, http://psychicaccordionist.blogspot.com.
Buh-bye.
So you were thinking how nice it was they didn't have a dog, and it turns out they had a dog?
That's not intuition, its irony.
My 32 yr old daughter and I experience 'ESP' frequently...I think about her and she calls. She thinks about me and I text her. We've had an extraordinary closeness, bond or whatever you want to call it, since she was born. We'll cook the same thing for dinner or wear the same color blouse or buy identical shoes...some explain it that we just have the same tastes. Perhaps. We used to play 'Pictionary' all the time, but nobody wants us to be partners anymore because I swear...either of us will draw one or two lines and the other knows what is being drawn, and the other team would get mad and not want to play. Sometimes, we faked it and didn't win, just so others would play with us... We finally convinced everyone we weren't cheating; we just know what the other is thinking. We can't explain it, but it has helped us both listen to our instincts, inner voice or guts. Whatever it is, it is cool!!
Those things happen to me too. It happened a lot more when I was very young and I had to learn to stop it. Just as weird is my twins story. My friends were "mirror" twins, one left handed, the other right. We played Kreskin's ESP game; when one twin turned the cards, the other twin wrote down the symbols correctly 9 out of 10 times, the 10th being when the rest of us were freaking out. So then we made them guess the symbols with someone else turning the cards. They didn't have one "hit", but they had the exact same answers to each other!
When I foresee things and it happens exactly that way, my biggest worry is why couldn't I change it if I knew; but if I change it by taking action, then how do I know it was ever really going to happen that way?
All I can add is energy doesn't dissipate; we don't understand time; and we are electrical beings.
Dr. Dossey is not talking about religion.
Spirituality is not - necessarily - religion.
Science is not necessarily the only path to truth.
Trying to shove what works for you down everyone else's throat is not going to make anyone take your own particular belief as their own.
Life is bigger and more interesting than most of us imagine - perhaps bigger than we can imagine.
Why are so many of you frightened by that idea? I say that because the immediate reflex of clutching either your religion or your skepticism like a talisman only shows that you're nervous about considering that consciousness might be bigger than we think.
Sooner or later we'll all die, so eventually we'll find out for sure.
Science is the ONLY path to truth.
Science is adaptable and testable - it is NOT rigid, closed, or fearful of change. True Believers and dreamy-eyed mystics always miss that point.
But much more, "truth" has no meaning outside of science. How does believing in the supernatural reveal truth? The supernatural is, by definition, unknowable - anything you think, or say, or "feel" about it is made up hokum - it's just stories told by weak-minded fools, or some mental caulking material you use to make you feel good.
Stop promoting the enslavement of the human race by irrational nonsense.
.
Wow...'weak minded fools'. That's pretty harsh, isn't it?
Science is powerful but it cannot explain intuition which is often the basis for scientific discovery. The point is that knowledge comes from a number of different sources.
"it is NOT rigid, closed, or fearful of change" - you obviously have not read any history of science.
I will just throw this in here as well... the human mind, yours, mine, cannot contemplate (except by abstraction), i.e. "hold a picture in your mind of", for instance, a universe of infinite space (the same way that you CAN hold the picture of a cup or the concept of evaporation); i dare anyone to disagree.... SO, that is just one example of a thing which is not comprehensible by our wonderful, logical/rational minds....ergo there may be more that your mind and/or science cannot, will not ever understand. (Before you say it, yes, science can define infinite space, BUT this is only through an extremely advanced form of abstraction - not directly.)
Or we won't.
Of course science is the only path to truth. Whenever we find something true about the world - that is called science.
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