I have always been fascinated by the supernormal, the paranormal, Eastern philosophy, the metaphysical, the occult, the esoteric and the deeper hidden reality beyond the mundane world.
The Lindy effect
The more you read about it, the more you understand that the current hard science simply does not have all the answers. Or even worse, it is ignored. I keep on referring to the Lindy effect. Never underestimate thousands of years of wisdom and experience compared to 200 years of (hard) science.
Supernormal
Hence “Supernormal: Science, Yoga, and the Evidence for Extraordinary Psychic Abilities”. A book about miracles, clairvoyance, reincarnation, psychokinesis, telepathy, precognition, invisibility, levitation, invulnerability, and super strength. Superpowers. Which maybe not as abnormal as we think. There is a future where we gain an improved understanding of ourselves, our capacities, and the physical world; the supernormal will become completely normal. Through meditation, yoga, Ayurveda, or call it enlightenment. We are at the threshold of gaining new answers about the legendary superpowers.
Ignored by science
Unfortunately, science has ignored the supernormal for a long time. In the entire history of laboratory investigations of these phenomena, spanning more than a century, there is one case of proven fraud and two or three suspected cases. Compared to the number of cases of scientific misconduct in conventional disciplines, ranging from outright data fabrication to duplicate publication and plagiarism, this domain is positively saintly.Many scientists are convinced that mechanistic materialism as a doctrine is all that will ever be needed to explain everything in the universe, including consciousness. But there are signs that this confidence is crumbling.
The effects of yoga and meditation
Science has already confirmed that meditation, yoga, and dietary changes provide a vast range of improvements in mental and physical health. Established benefits of yoga and meditation include improved immune function, lowered blood pressure, treatment and reversal of heart disease, slowed development of prostate cancer, improved focus, memory and concentration, improved quality of life after cancer treatment, positive effects on chronic pain and mood, slower ageing, reduced anxiety, reduced infertility, and treatment for otherwise intractable skin diseases. Advanced meditators, many of whom have reported psychic and mystical experiences, display significantly increased capacities for compassion and vastly improved physical and emotional well-being.
Ancient stories
We have been there before. There are planets of ancient stories of mystic powers. Most cultures throughout history have taken for granted that superpowers are real, albeit rare; the mystical includes intuitive and non-rational ways of knowing, such as gut feelings, hunches, visions, and dreams. Most of these abilities are described in Catholicism as charisms and in Islam as karamats. In Judaism, Nahash or divination may be practised by a zaddik. In Tibetan Buddhism, the term is ngön she, meaning heightened awareness.
Ancient teachings
Also, many ancient teachings tell us that we can gain extraordinary powers through grit or grace. Using techniques that include meditation, ecstatic dancing, drumming, praying, chanting, sexual practices, fasting, or ingesting psychedelic plants and mushrooms. Buddhism has taught for twenty-five hundred years that the mind is an independent force that can be harnessed by will and attention to bring about physical change. Classic yoga texts, such as Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, written about two thousand years ago, tell us in matter-of-fact terms that if you sit quietly, pay close attention to your mind, and practice this diligently, then you will gain supernormal powers.
Modern techniques
In modern times, techniques also include participation in extreme sports, floating in isolation tanks, use of transcranial magnetic or electrical stimulation, listening to binaural-beat audio tones, and neurofeedback. Read “The rise of superman“
Seven practices
Comparison across traditions suggests that there are seven practices that are widely regarded as central and essential for effective transpersonal development. These seven are an ethical lifestyle, redirecting motivation, transforming emotions, training attention, refining awareness, fostering wisdom, and practising service to others.
Eight paths
Path 1 is Yama, restraining harmful behaviour or cautions on what behaviour to avoid.
Path 2 is Niyama, developing beneficial behaviour or guidelines on what behaviours to encourage.
Path 3 is Asana, the development of physical postures.
Path 4 is Pranayama, conscious breathing techniques.
Path 5 is Pratyhara, withdrawing from ordinary sensory perceptions and limiting focus to a single object of attention.
Path 6 is Dharana, developing a steady, sustained concentration.
Path 7 is Dhyana, developing prolonged levels of concentration on an object,
Path 8 is Samadhi, unity or mystical absorption with an object of attention.
Yoga
One practice seems to be universal. Yoga. Yoga is not a religion in any traditional sense. It has no prescribed dogma, and it is practised cheerfully by theists and atheists alike. Achieving physical fitness through stretching and flexibility and mental fitness through the practice of meditation. For thousands of years, the essential goal of yoga was to achieve states of insight that revealed the true nature of reality. Most scholars agree that it can be traced between three thousand and five thousand years ago. Virtually all the various mystery schools and meditation systems are about exploring and transcending the boundary between the personal and the universal. Losing the distinction between individuality and unity. Dispassion and absorption. Where the ego disappears. The supernormal powers are achieved as a result of dedicated yoga practice. Some may be called supernormal powers, and others might be called exceptionally precise means of controlling the mind-body relationship.
The super powers
Apart from clairvoyance, reincarnation, psychokinesis, telepathy, precognition, invisibility, levitation, invulnerability, and superstrength, there are other abilities:
- Knowledge of the meaning of sounds produced by all beings
- Knowledge of previous births and arising of future births
- Simultaneously perceiving the past, present, and future.
- Knowledge of the outer universe.
- Knowledge of the composition and coordination of bodily energies.
- Liberation from hunger and thirst.
- The vision of higher beings.
- Knowledge of everything that is knowable.
- Knowing of the origins of all things.
- Influencing others.
- Blazing radiance.
- Perfection of the body.
From a scientific perspective, it is exceptionally difficult to find people who have achieved these rarified states and are willing to demonstrate them because, paradoxically, they have reached those states precisely because they have not demonstrated them in public.
Scientific proof
The book ends with a number of scientific experiments where it is proven beyond doubt that those powers exist. Precognition exists. Telepathy exists. Field influence exists (compassion is contagious). Mind-matter interaction exists. EPS exists.It tells us that the modern understanding of the human mind, which is based on the neurosciences and its approach to studying brain function, has completely overlooked a fundamental aspect of our capacities and potential.
Quantum
It should not come as a surprise. Study quantum mechanics and quantum biology. Expect that there are deeper theories than quantum mechanics and that when those are developed, entirely new forms of postquantum spookiness will be found at all scales. Spooky action means entanglement. Instant connection. Faster than the speed of light, without any time passing at all. Read https://www.ronimmink.com/water-and-consciousness-read-these-two-books-and-you-will-never-be-the-same/. Or read https://www.ronimmink.com/you-can-programme-your-biology-and-your-future-with-your-mind/. Science is also slowly beginning to understand the concept of “spooky action at a distance” within quantum physics.
Imagine a conscious universe
Suppose that mind and matter are quite real and that the elements of reality are inseparable and go all the way down to elementary particles. Accept the idea of a complementary relationship, where something is “both/and” rather than “either/or.” A conscious universe where all matter is already sentient. That means that every atom of your body, your cells, and your organs is also sentient. Why, then, is your sense of self a unity and not a multitude? You are a universe. Consider consciousness as a fundamental force in the universe that binds and shapes how the universe manifests. It might be the glue that holds everything together and creates something rather than nothing. The manifest world emerges from the mind.
Mico-powers
Instead of looking for the superpowers, we each already have intentional micro-powers that literally do shape the world we experience. Through future technologies, we may gain the ability to intensify these small effects, manifesting the promise of books like “The Secret” through something akin to the miraculous amplification technologies
Enhance your micro-powers
In some ways, yogic knowledge is thousands of years ahead of where science is today. Imagine applying that age-old wisdom. With yoga, meditation, Ayurveda, awareness, mental discipline, etc., we all might be able to expand our micro-powers into superpowers. And apply that to the world.
