It is gratifying to know that scientists are moving away from the materialistic views (or at least trying to) that they have been holding onto for the last few centuries. Part of the belief in a materialistic world comes from the dogma surrounding religion. For many people, dogmatism and religion are two words describing the same concept. For instance, religion X proclaims, if you don't believe in Y, you will go to hell. That essentially is dogmatism in the name of religion and it is not worth naming those religions even for the sake of completeness. The Wordweb definition of the word religion are:
1) A strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny
2)An institution to express belief in a divine power
In light of the above definitions, Buddhism is not a religion because it doesn't have a fatalistic view or a creator God. Buddhism is a path of inquiry where faith is a result of verifying the teachings of the Buddha. There is a saying in Buddhist circles:
"Faith without wisdom will develop ignorance;
wisdom without faith will develop a perverted view."
In the previous article, we saw Quantum Physics "trash" Newtonian Mechanics when it comes to very very small elementary particles and the role of the observer in experiments. Max Velmans and Susan Schneider wrote in The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness: "Anything that we are aware of at a given moment forms part of our consciousness, making conscious experience at once the most familiar and most mysterious aspect of our lives." At one time consciousness was viewed with skepticism by many scientists, but in recent years it has become a significant topic of research in psychology and neuroscience.
The Division of Perceptual Studies (DOPS), formerly the Division of Personality Studies , is a unit of the Department of Psychiatry & Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, VA. The Division of Perceptual Studies (DOPS) was founded as a research unit of the Department of Psychiatric Medicine at UVA by Dr. Ian Stevenson in 1967. (see History and Description for more information about the founding of DOPS). Utilizing scientific methods, the researchers within The Division of Perceptual Studies investigate apparent paranormal phenomena, especially the idea of reincarnation common to Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism.
Watch a video of Dr. Jim Tucker describing a young boy who has memories of a previous life in which he was his own grandfather. In this video, Dr. Tucker discusses his own research as well as the research conducted by the esteemed founder of DOPS, the late Dr. Ian Stevenson. Click here to watch the video.
Listen to Dr. Jim Tucker describe some of the findings, including unusual play, behavior patterns, specific phobias, and birthmarks or birth defects specifically related to the life and death of a previous personality. He discusses the interpretation of the data and details about the methodology as well as possible pitfalls of individual cases. This interview was conducted by Dean Radin Ph.D. on December 8, 2010. This interview was done for the IONS Telseminars series. Dean Radin is well known for his best selling books The Conscious Universe (HarperOne, 1997) and Entangled Minds (Simon & Schuster, 2006). Dr. Radin is currently Senior Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) and Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Psychology at Sonoma State University.
A near-death experience, or NDE, is a common pattern of events that many persons experience when they are seriously ill or come close to death. Read an article from the UVA Alumni Magazine, summer 2007 ,focusing on the research into Near-Death Experiences being conducted by Dr. Bruce Greyson. This is one of the most profound talks on the sad-but-true materialistic view of modern scientists and the need to move away from the existing paradigm.
1) A strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny
2)An institution to express belief in a divine power
In light of the above definitions, Buddhism is not a religion because it doesn't have a fatalistic view or a creator God. Buddhism is a path of inquiry where faith is a result of verifying the teachings of the Buddha. There is a saying in Buddhist circles:
"Faith without wisdom will develop ignorance;
wisdom without faith will develop a perverted view."
In the previous article, we saw Quantum Physics "trash" Newtonian Mechanics when it comes to very very small elementary particles and the role of the observer in experiments. Max Velmans and Susan Schneider wrote in The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness: "Anything that we are aware of at a given moment forms part of our consciousness, making conscious experience at once the most familiar and most mysterious aspect of our lives." At one time consciousness was viewed with skepticism by many scientists, but in recent years it has become a significant topic of research in psychology and neuroscience.
The Division of Perceptual Studies (DOPS), formerly the Division of Personality Studies , is a unit of the Department of Psychiatry & Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, VA. The Division of Perceptual Studies (DOPS) was founded as a research unit of the Department of Psychiatric Medicine at UVA by Dr. Ian Stevenson in 1967. (see History and Description for more information about the founding of DOPS). Utilizing scientific methods, the researchers within The Division of Perceptual Studies investigate apparent paranormal phenomena, especially the idea of reincarnation common to Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism.
Watch a video of Dr. Jim Tucker describing a young boy who has memories of a previous life in which he was his own grandfather. In this video, Dr. Tucker discusses his own research as well as the research conducted by the esteemed founder of DOPS, the late Dr. Ian Stevenson. Click here to watch the video.
Listen to Dr. Jim Tucker describe some of the findings, including unusual play, behavior patterns, specific phobias, and birthmarks or birth defects specifically related to the life and death of a previous personality. He discusses the interpretation of the data and details about the methodology as well as possible pitfalls of individual cases. This interview was conducted by Dean Radin Ph.D. on December 8, 2010. This interview was done for the IONS Telseminars series. Dean Radin is well known for his best selling books The Conscious Universe (HarperOne, 1997) and Entangled Minds (Simon & Schuster, 2006). Dr. Radin is currently Senior Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) and Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Psychology at Sonoma State University.
A near-death experience, or NDE, is a common pattern of events that many persons experience when they are seriously ill or come close to death. Read an article from the UVA Alumni Magazine, summer 2007 ,focusing on the research into Near-Death Experiences being conducted by Dr. Bruce Greyson. This is one of the most profound talks on the sad-but-true materialistic view of modern scientists and the need to move away from the existing paradigm.
- This video is an excerpt of a Nour Foundation panel discussion at the September 11, 2008 United Nations Symposium, "Beyond the Mind-Body Problem: New Paradigms in the Science of Consciousness," In this video, Dr. Bruce Greyson is discussing "Near Death Experiences-Beyond the Mind Body Problem". Click here to view the video.
- Here is another excerpt from the same Nour Foundation panel discussion in 2008. In this portion of the video, Dr. Greyson is discussing the idea of consciousness beyond physical brain activity. Click here to view the video.
These are great, positive changes in the scientific community. I'm glad to come across scientists who are willing to challenge the existing beliefs without being overly aggressive about it. The impact of Dr. Ian Stevenson's research is hardly contained in a few adjectives of eulogy.
"Either he [Dr. Stevenson] is making a colossal mistake. Or he will be known as the Galileo of the 20th century." Dr Harold Lief in the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
"Either he [Dr. Stevenson] is making a colossal mistake. Or he will be known as the Galileo of the 20th century." Dr Harold Lief in the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
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