Classical scientists began their search for an understanding of the universe believing that it was possible to study the outer world of objects without affecting what it was they were studying. The findings of quantum mechanics however, have demonstrated that this point of view is false. Not only does the act of observation alter what it is that is being observed, but it is impossible to see the world “as it really is”, or as it would be if no one was looking at it.
The new physics, quantum mechanics, tells us clearly that it it is not possible to observe reality without changing it. It does not matter what experiment we set up to investigate nature. Everything we observe affects what we observe in a way which alters it. As Werner Heisenberg pointed out at the time, what we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning.
This was the reason why former Princeton University physicist John Wheeler proclaimed that the word “observer” in classical physics needed to be be replaced by the word “participator”. As Wheeler wrote at the time: “Nothing is more important about the quantum principle than this, that it destroys the concept of the world as ‘sitting out there’, with the observer safely separated from it. In some strange sense, the universe is a participatory universe.”
The corollary to this conclusion was inescapable. For if what we see is not what is really out there, but merely nature altered by our way of looking at it, then what exactly is it that we are seeing. Quantum physicists were faced with the unpalatable truth that there might in fact be nothing “out there” at all. As Physicist Henry Stapp of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory concluded:
“If the attitude of quantum mechanics is correct, in the strong sense that a description of the substructure underlying experience more complete than the one it provides is not possible, then there is no substantive physical world, in the usual sense of this term. The conclusion here is not the weak conclusion that there may not be a substantive physical world but rather that there definitely is not a substantive physical world.”
Whenever we see, or hear, or smell, touch or taste any object, it is our interaction with that object that determines what we know. And that is all we know. Whatever we do in life, we (the witnessing consciousness) are the vital participant in that interaction. So in seeking to understand the mystery of matter, nuclear physicists have been led to the recognition that the secret of matter lies not in any basic particles, but in the nature of the observer involved in this investigation.
Everything that scientists can tell us about the world around us is defined in terms of their interaction with the world, rather than the world itself. Over the course of four centuries of investigation into the nature of matter, scientists have been drawn inexorably away from things that are seen and sensed, back to the consciousness that detects them As Fritjof Capra has explained:
“In modern physics, the question of consciousness has arisen in connection with the observation of atomic phenomena. Quantum theory has made it clear that these phenomena can be understood only as links in a chain of processes, the end of which lies in the consciousness of the human observer.” (The Tao of Physics)
Or, as the American physicist Henry Margenau has trenchantly remarked: “Consciousness is the primary medium of all reality. Even the external world is initially a posit, a projection of consciousness.”
When scientists began their quest for an understanding of the world around them, they developed a model of the universe as a Giant Machine that functioned according to pre-ordained laws. Man’s place in this Giant machine was that of a tiny cog in a mechanism that ground remorselessly on. Man was as much subject to the forces of his environment as he he was bound by the genes that formed his physical body. He was a victim of his fate.
But scientists have now found, hidden in the heart of the atom, a vision that bids fair to change our entire universe. For instead of being the victims of daunting destiny, they have discovered the keys of creativity. The discoveries of quantum mechanics have freed humanity from the cloying chains of classical physics. For we stand on the threshold of a new era of creative understanding. The posssibilities are breathtaking! As Gary Zukav reveals:
“The tables have been turned. The exact sciences no longer study an objective reality that runs its course regardless of our interest in it or not, leaving us to fare as best we can while it goes its predetermined way. Science, at the level of subatomic events, is no longer “exact”, the distinction between objective and subjective has vanished, and the portals through which the universe manifests itself are, as we once knew a long time ago, those impotent passive witnesses to its unfolding, the “I’s” of which we, insignificant we, are examples.”
“The Cogs in the Machine have become the Creators of the Universe” (The Dancing Wu Li Masters)
Allan, Quest for Reality, April 10, 2010, 11:24 am
It is safe to say that almost everyone alive on earth today believes in an objective universe. That is to say they believe they live in a world of real physical objects that exist separately from themselves. These objects are believed to be a part of nature, and as such are things over which they have little or no control.
Yet for thousands of years spiritual masters known as Rishis have taught that our views of ourselves, and of the universe, are mistaken. They claim that we do not know who we really are or what we can become. They point out that the universe that we think of as real does not exist outside of ourselves at all. It is in fact a projection of our minds. It exists only within our world of consciousness.
Because the world we see around us is a subjective phenomenon and not an objective reality, they teach us that we are actually the creators of everything that exists. Not only are we the creators of this universe, but each one of us has the power to change it if we wish. The miracles referred to in earlier instalments are merely examples of people who have done exactly that. They have done things that others have believed to be impossible.
In determining what is real and what is not, modern men and women have turned to science. Ever since Galileo challenged the teachings of the Church regarding objects that moved around in space, science has come to be accepted as the final arbiter in all matters regarding the outer world, leaving the Church to preside over our inner world of thoughts, emotions and desires.
Yet as we have seen from previous instalments, modern scientists have been unable to prove that the universe exists as a physical reality outside of ourselves. In fact the recent pronouncements of physicists have begun to sound more and more like the teachings of the ancient Rishis.
Let us return again to the example of the oak tree. Standing tall in our world of common experience, an oak tree appears to have undoubted existence and reality. Not only do we see it as an object separate from ourselves, but each one of our senses yields specific information about the tree which contributes to our overall assessment of the tree. We can see its size, feel its strength, taste and smell its texture, and hear it creaking in the wind.
But when we examine this oak tree in the cold light of scientific analysis, we find that the tree itself is composed of long, wooden fibres that are densely packed together. Upon closer study these wooden fibres are found to consist of tiny cells which are in turn composed of specific molecules. But these molecules are not solid bits of matter, for they themselves can be broken down into constituent atoms.
Even these atoms are are not basic indivisible units of matter, for they consist of yet smaller particles. These particles ultimately resolve themselves into complex patterns of energy that are constantly in motion. Not only is this energy always in motion, but it continually sparkles into existence and vanishes out of existence again into nothing. This empty void is referred to by physicists as the “quantum field”.
Far from clarifying the true nature of the oak tree, science seems to have robbed it of all meaning. For if this magnificent tree ultimately resolves itself into a flickering dance of particles, then the tree no longer has form, objectivity or strength, for all of these features have disappeared, for the particles that make up the tree are no different from the particles which make up all the other objects of the world, including our own bodies.
Nature as illuminated by science turns out to be a meaningless affair. The perfume exuded by the flower, or the song that can be heard in the murmuring of the surf cannot be found in the movement of the particles themselves, especially as science tells us that they move according to the random laws of chance. In fact, despite what our senses tell us, the latest findings of quantum physics tell us that the oak tree does not exist as a separate object at all. As Fritjof Capra explains:
“In the new world view, the universe is seen as a dynamic web of interrelated events. None of the properties of any part of this web is fundamental; they all follow from the properties of the other parts, and the overall consistency of their mutual interrelations determines the structure of the entire web.” (The Tao of Physics)
The oak tree is linked through an interplay of energy with each one of us, and also with the farthest star clusters of galactic space. Whatever action troubles the tree will, in some strange but inevitable fashion, come to trouble all of created life. The discoveries of quantum mechanics (the motions of these tiniest of particles called quanta), have borne out the intuition of the mystics. For as the English philosopher and poet William Blake wrote: “For not one sparrow can suffer and the whole universe not suffer also in all its regions.”
And, as we shall discover, it is this very interelatedness of life that endows us with the power to change the world around us, and be what we were destined to become, and that is the true rulers of the universe.
Allan, Quest for Reality, April 1, 2010, 9:04 pm
Up until the onset of the 20th century, scientists believed that the universe existed as a sort of Giant Machine, in which objects moved in space according to the known laws of the universe. Everything was considered to be bound by the law of cause and effect. What that meant was that nothing could happen in life (an effect) unless it was preceded by a cause. And these effects were bound by mathematical laws which predicted with certainty exactly what would happen in every case.
As we have seen in previous instalments, this comfortable view of the universe was dealt a crippling blow by the atom smashing experiments of the 20th century. In these collision experiments conducted in cloud chambers, scientists discovered to their dismay that their search for the fundamental constituents of matter led them farther and farther away from the simple explanation they were seeking.
In place of the original three nucleons (protons, neutrons and electrons), scientists were confronted by literally hundreds of new and unexpected particles, none of which were either fundamental or elementary. For when they were bombarded by other particles, they generated yet more particles. The quest for the origin of matter led them to the realization that all matter resolved itself ultimately into energy. As Gary Zukav explains:
“The search for the ultimate stuff of the universe ends with the discovery that there isn’t any. If there is any ultimate stuff of the universe, it is pure energy, but subatomic particles are not ‘made of’ energy, they are energy.” (Original emphasis) (The Dancing Wu Li Masters)
Far from clarifying their view of the universe, scientists found that all matter ultimately consisted of transient patterns of energy that were continually metamorphosing themselves into new patterns. As the American physicist Fritjof Capra summarised in his book “The Tao of Physics”:
“Matter has appeared in these experiments as completely unstable. All particles can be transmuted into other particles, they can be created from energy and vanish into energy. In this world, classical concepts like “elementary particle”, “material substance”, or “isolated object” have lost their meaning; the whole universe appears as a dynamic web of inseparable energy patterns.”
But if scientists were at a loss to explain the fundamental nature of matter, worse was to follow. For it soon became apparent that there was no such thing as a particle at all. As Werner Heisenberg, one of the architects of this new world of subatomic physics pointed out: “A particle is not a thing”. Henry Stapp of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory went further: ” An elementary particle is not an independently existing, analyzable entity. It is, in essence, a set of relationships that reach outward to other things.”
Hard on the heels of this disturbing revelation came another shattering blow to the predictable nature of the world, which had long been one of the pillars of classical science. It was Werner Heisenberg who demonstrated that one of the hallowed beliefs of early scientists such as Galileo and Newton was fatally flawed. They had believed that it was possible to observe nature without disturbing it in any way. Once precise measurements of the existing state of an object were known, all future states of that object could then be predicted.
Heisenberg proved that it was impossible, even in theory, to make any measurement in nature without at the same time altering the nature of the thing that was being measured. Measurement, he claimed, would always involve a degree of uncertainty. So if we discover the exact position of the electron we can say nothing of its momentum. And if we determine its precise momentum, we cannot establish its position.
So the more we know about the one, the less we can say about the other. No matter what we observe in nature, it is impossible to observe it scientifically without at the same time altering it, for the very act of observing so tiny a thing as an electron is to subject it to some type of energy which effectively changes the thing that is being observed. The impact of this uncertainty principle on the traditional outlook of science was profoundly disturbing.
For if it was impossible, even in principle, to measure both the exact position and momentum of any particle, then it would also be impossible to predict its future state. The happy predictable world of Laplace now lay shattered in ruins. Banesh Hoffmann summarised the realization that now dawned on the world of physics:
“In the good old days it could boldly predict the future. But what of now? To predict the future we must know the present, and the present is not knowable, for in trying to know it we inevitably alter it… Science had suffered a drastic and fundamental change without at first perceiving it….Its proudest boast, its most cherished illusion had been taken away from it. It had suddenly grown old and wise. It had at last realized it never had possessed the ability to predict the detailed future.” (The Strange World of the Quantum)
Yet the collapse of the concept of the Giant Machine was not something to be feared. for it carried within it a vision that was pregnant with potential, for it offered humanity an avenue of escape from the shackles of deterministic science. As the English physicist Sir James Jeans wrote in 1930 in his book “The Mysterious Universe”:
“Probably the majority of physicists expect that in some way the laws of strict causation will in the end be restored to its old place in the natural world. So far it has not been restored, with the result that, up to the present at least, the picture of the universe contains more room than did the old mechanical picture for life and consciousness to exist within the picture itself, together with the attributes we commonly associate with them, such as free will, and the capacity to make the universe in some small degree different by our experience.”
Allan, Quest for Reality, March 26, 2010, 9:33 pm
The quest to understand the true nature of the atom soon left scientists awash in a menagerie of particles that did little to enlighten them. In fact the results of these atom-smashing experiments became more and more difficult to understand, and even more difficult to explain. The dream of finding a simple model to explain the constituents of the atom quickly faded in the gloom of the cloud chambers in which these collision experiments took place.
The first indication of the complexity that was to come occurred in 1928 when a British theoretical physicist named Paul Dirac produced a theoretical proof demonstrating the existence of a positively charged nuclear particle. At first it was assumed that he had come up with a theoretical proof accounting for the existence of the proton. Closer examination however revealed that this was not the case, as Dirac’s theoretical particle had the wrong mass.
Although Dirac’s hypothetical particle was hardly taken seriously at the time, a young American physicist named Carl Anderson discovered just such a particle some years later while investigating certain effects of cosmic radiation. Anderson called this particle a “positron”, since it was similar in mass to an electron, but carried a positive electrical charge. Anderson’s particle was in fact the exact opposite of the electron, and for this discovery he was awarded the Nobel prize in 1936.
With the experimental confirmation of the existence of Paul Dirac’s theory of anti-electrons, it was natural for physicists to look next for negative protons. These negative protons needed to be identical to protons in mass, but carry a negative charge. In 1955, proof of the existence of just such a particle was confirmed in a collision experiment. This was followed one year later by the discovery of anti-neutrons.
Physicists then found that for every particle of known charge, there existed in nature an exact counterpart with an opposite charge. So for every particle there existed an anti-particle. While particles combined together to form matter, anti-particles combined together to form what was described as “anti-matter”. And whenever particles of matter and anti-matter collided, they were found to annihilate each other in a vivid burst of light, or electromagnetic radiation.
As more and more of these collision experiments were undertaken, with particles accelerated to speeds that came ever closer to the speed of light, more and more strange new particles began to be discovered. Not only were the existence of these particles hitherto unsuspected, but they appeared to be every bit as elementary as the elementary particles out of whose collisions they were formed.
As more and more particles came to be seen in their cloud chambers and observed on photographic plates, physicists like Robert Oppenheimer began to wonder:
“We do not know whether to say of these objects that they are ejected from nuclear matter or created by the encounter.” (Science and the Common Understanding)
There was, in addition, an even more extraordinary discovery. Some of the particles that emerged from these collisions were just as large as the original particles involved. it was as if two billiard balls collided together, and out of this collision four other balls emerged, two of which were the same size as the original billiard balls! Clearly something absurdly paradoxical seemed to be taking place in front of the eyes of startled physicists.
The particles that emerged out of these collisions had two main characteristics. They were all unstable, and they all existed for incredibly short periods of time. Some particles in fact lasted mere trillionths or even quintillionths of a second. And whereas the proton, neutron and electron were stable and existed freely in nature, the newly created elementary particles did not maintain their identity, but broke down spontaneously into yet other particles.
Scientists soon became embarrassed by this dazzling array of unexpected wealth. Whereas the original scattering experiments had been conducted in the hope of discovering the secret of the atom, which was initially thought to consist of just three particles, physicists now found themselves with a menagerie of over two hundred mysterious particles! This menagerie was referred to by Kenneth Ford, former Director of the American Institute of Physics, as “the particle zoo”.
As the British mathematician and physicist Banesh Hoffmann, who was later to become the biographer of Albert Einstein, mourned in his book “The Strange Story of the Quantum“:
“To add to the woes of the theorist, he has been overwhelmed by a veritable flood of new fundamental particles discovered in the last few years. They have mocked any hopes he may once have entertained that the structure of matter was on the verge of being clarified.”
The atom could no longer be pictured as a tiny sun surrounded by a host of electrons orbiting around it, for the nucleus bore no resemblance at all to the nature of the sun. Not only was the nucleus not solid, but it was found to be composed of numerous other particles, and that these particles did not remain intact, but changed into other particles whenever they collided with each other.
The solid atom of Democritus was now seen to be a dazzling interplay of energy, where particles were continuously being created and destroyed. In the words of Gary Zukav:
“The subatomic world is a continual dance of creation and annihilation, of mass changing into energy and energy changing to mass. Transient forms sparkle in and out of existence creating a never-ending, forever newly-created reality.” (The Dancing Wu Li Masters)
Allan, Quest for Reality, March 19, 2010, 9:02 pm
At the dawn of the 20th century, scientists believed that they stood at last on the threshold of uncovering the secrets of the atom. They were convinced that once they had discovered the fundamental constituents of the atom, they would be able to validate their conviction that the universe existed as an objective reality composed of indivisible units of matter. Yet this conviction was to be shattered within a few decades.
We have seen how Ernest Rutherford had demonstrated that the atom was like a miniature solar system, with negatively charged electrons orbiting around positively charged protons. The differences between different elements were explained as mere differences between the number and orbit of these two elemental particles. But Rutherford’s elegant theory was soon to give way to an atomic model of increasing complexity.
Rutherford himself was unable to obtain the correct results for the various atomic masses that his theory demanded. He found that the combined mass of electrons and protons did not add up to the total mass of the atom itself. To overcome this problem, he proposed that an entirely new particle was responsible for this difference. This particle would have a mass similar to the proton, but would carry a neutral electrical charge.
In 1932, an English physicist by the name of James Chadwick found that when certain light elements were bombarded with alpha particles, neutral particles similar to those proposed by Rutherford were found to be emitted. Chadwick christened these new particles “neutrons”, and for this discovery was awarded the Nobel prize for physics in 1935. The new model of the atom now consisted of protons, electrons and neutrons.
By the early 1930’s, scientists felt confident that they were at last close to a complete understanding of the universe. The only major question that remained to be answered was the way in which the nucleons (protons, electrons and neutrons) were held together inside the nucleus of the atom. Unfortunately, scientists found that the force that held these nucleons together was so strong, that the alpha particles generated by radioactivity were not sufficient to break these bonds. They needed to find other particles that exerted greater energy.
Rutherford was again instrumental in solving this problem. He foresaw that any device that was capable of accelerating the speed of known particles would be as useful a tool for the nuclear physicist, as the telescope had become for the astronomer. The larger the accelerator, and the faster the particles that could be derived, the more powerful would be the beam of charged particles that could be used to split the atom. The challenge was to find some way in which protons could be made to act like projectiles.
in 1932 two British physicists Cockroft and Walton designed the world’s first artificial accelerator. Their work was soon matched by a Princeton scientist named Van de Graaff, who constructed an accelerator based on the principle of electrostatics. As the assault on the atom gained momentum, demands were made for even faster particles, leading to the construction of new improved accelerators. It was the California physicist E.O. Lawrence who devised an accelerator based on circular motion known as a cyclotron.
The purpose of all these accelerators was identical. It was to enable scientists to increase the speed, and therefore the energy, of sub-nuclear particles. These energized particles could then be aimed at atoms or other particles, and from these collisions, scientists could study the energy and nature of the resulting particles. But before they could study these results, scientists first needed to find a way to observe and record these experiments.
The problem of detection was solved by an English physicist named Wilson, who invented a device which became known as a cloud chamber. The Wilson cloud chamber made use of the fact that electrically-charged particles moving through the air at high speed produced a phenomenon known as ionization in their wake. When these particles passed through a chamber saturated with water vapor, they ionized the air along their paths.
Although it was not possible to see the sub-nuclear particles themselves, it was possible to observe the thin foggy tracks which told of their passing. It was found that if an intense magnetic field was created within the cloud chamber itself, then particles carrying an electrical charge would be deflected into curving paths. By analyzing the curvature of these paths, it became possible for scientists to calculate the energy and charge of the particles passing through the cloud chamber.
The development of these powerful atomic accelerators at last provided scientists with the means to penetrate the nucleus of the atom, and to investigate the force that held these nucleons together. But far from clarifying their understanding, scientists found that the results of their atom smashing experiments led to more and more confusing results.
Whereas they began these experiments believing that the atom contained just three nucleons, they were soon to discover an embarrassing managerie of particles that exceeded all their expectations. Not only were more and more new particles being discovered, but they seemed to act in ways that defied all understanding, causing the Danish pioneer of atomic structure Niels Bohr, himself a Nobel prize winner, to remark:
“Those who are not shocked when they first come across quantum theory, cannot possibly have understood it.”
Allan, Quest for Reality, March 12, 2010, 10:09 pm
As we have seen, the classical view expressed by scientists at the end of the nineteenth century was that the universe was an objective reality that operated in accordance with fixed laws that could be expressed in mathematical terms. In short, the commonly accepted view of science was then, as it still is today, that the world of objects that we see around us conforms exactly to the world that is revealed to us by our senses.
As our senses confirm, the majestic oak tree standing tall in its meadow leaves us in no doubt that the tree exists as a solid, physical object that has an existence entirely separate from ourselves. We not only see the tree, but we can touch, taste and smell it, and listen to the rustle of its leaves. Its objective reality is self-evident. The idea that this gigantic tree could be an illusion, a subjective projection in consciousness, seems patently ridiculous.
Yet within a few decades of the onset of the twentieth century, this classical concept of the world as a Giant Machine had been demolished. This monolith of science, so carefully crafted over the centuries by such intellectual giants as Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton and others has been found to be illusory. Upon closer investigation, our so-called “real” world has been found to be unreal, and our apparent “objective” world as revealed to us by our senses has been found to be subjective. At best it can only be described as a projection of the mind.
The path leading to this extraordinary conclusion began with the quest to find the ultimate building blocks of matter. Some five centuries before the birth of Christ, Greek philosophers had attempted to discover the fundamental nature of matter. The Athenian Democritus considered that all substances could be broken down into an enormous number of very small particles that were all alike. These microscopic particles were thought to be indivisible, and were referred to as “atoms”.
Almost twenty-two centuries were to pass before the idea that matter was composed of basic units or atoms was again advanced by science. While Robert Boyle theorized that all substances were comprised of tiny, irreducible units, it was John Dalton who suggested that every element was composed of identical atoms that were unique to that element. He further theorized that chemical reactions could be explained by different atoms combining in different ways, and that all chemical compounds were simply combinations of different kinds of atoms.
Up until that time it was generally believed that atoms were units of matter that could not be broken down any further. It was not until the end of the nineteenth century that suspicion began to grow that the atom may not be indivisible after all, and that it might be capable of being broken down into even smaller particles. The investigation into these smaller particles had to wait until the twentieth century, when the technology of science was sufficiently advanced to enable scientists to explore the internal structure of the atom.
It was the British physicist J.J. Thomson who established in 1897 that atoms of elements contained positive as well as negatively charged particles, and that these charged particles were held together by the force of electricity. Thomson was the first to recognize that because the atoms that existed freely in nature were electrically neutral, each atom must contain an equal number of negatively and positively charged particles.
Thomson called the negatively charged particles “electrons”, and the positively charged particles “protons”. It was not exactly clear to him how these two types of particles co-existed together inside the atom, but he thought that they would probably be spaced together at random intervals, much like seeds inside a watermelon. So at the dawn of the twentieth century, the atom was considered to be a sort of solid pudding with smaller protons and electrons embedded within it.
It was during this period that a French physicist Henri Becquerel noticed an odd phenomenon. He found that certain chemical substances gave off spontaneous rays of energy, in a process which became known as radioactivity. For this discovery he was to become one of the earliest recipients of the Nobel prize. Because certain unstable elements like radium and uranium gave off rays of tiny, high-speed particles called alpha particles, Becquerel deduced that these particles must be part of the contents of these bulky atoms.
It was at this time that a New Zealand born physicist named Ernest Rutherford had been trying to find a way to investigate the inner nature of the atom. On learning of the existence of these alpha particles, it occurred to him that they might be a tool to enable him to prise open the secrets of the atom. He realised that these alpha particles could be fired at other atoms, like bullets from a gun, and that the resulting scattering of particles would help him understand more about the inner workings of the atom.
Rutherford was thus the pioneer of an entirely new way of investigating matter, for he began a process of scattering experiments that has continued to this day, with greater and greater degrees of sophistication. Rutherford devised an experiment in which he fired positively charged alpha particles at a thin plate of gold foil. The results of this experiment demonstrated beyond doubt that the previous concept of the atom was incorrect.
Rutherford proved via his experiment that the positive electrical charges (protons) were concentrated in the very center of the atom, while the negatively charged particles (electrons) circled around the outside of the atom. The former model proposed by Thomson, in which protons and electrons were randomly mixed inside the atom, now gave way to a new planetary model.
In Rutherford’s new concept of the atom, the nucleus was thought of as a tiny sun, with the electrons orbiting around it, much like the planets orbit around the sun. This planetary model had great esthetic charm, for it suggested that nature’s plan in the heavens was duplicated in its tiniest constituents of matter. Although this planetary concept of the atom has long since found to be incorrect, it remains to this day the way in which physicists visualise the inner structure of the atom.
Yet within a few short years this elegant model of the atom was shattered, to be replaced by something that was not only impossible to visualize, but also impossible to understand. In short, the investigation of matter had begun to lead physicists into the marshy ground of mysticism, as we shall see from the following instalments.
Allan, Quest for Reality, March 5, 2010, 9:36 pm
As we have seen from earlier instalments, it was Galileo who opened a new vista on the universe. Galileo was the first person to combine empirical knowledge (knowledge derived from experiment and observation) with mathematics, and is thus considered to be the father of modern science. But if the dawn of empirical science was glimpsed in the person of Galileo, it was the life of Sir Isaac Newton that brought it into the full light of day.
Newton was born on Christmas day in 1642, the year that Galileo died. He was a frail, sickly child, and there were times when his parents despaired of his life. But he lived to the age of eighty-four, and became one of England’s greatest sons. At the age of 18, he was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he immediately impressed his tutors with the power of his analytical mind.
In 1663 an outbreak of the plague forced Newton to return to the isolated village of Woolsthorpe in Lincolnshire, where he was born. It was during this period of enforced idleness that young Isaac invented a differential and integral form of calculus, which Einstein later called one of the greatest triumphs of the human mind. Newton’s calculus has since become the basis of modern mathematics, and the foundation of modern science.
In 1666, in the same year as the great fire that destroyed a large part of London, Newton determined his law for the composition of light, which later became the basis of the science of optics. He also presented a theory of gravitation which, for accuracy and prediction, became the standard by which all subsequent scientific theories were judged. These scientific advances were so revolutionary that Isaac Barrow resigned his chair of mathematics in favor of Newton, a mere five years after he returned to Cambridge.
The genius of Newton lay in his ability to link together different aspects of the observed world in a web of mathematical relationships. In the story by which he is commonly remembered today, he intuitively recognized that the force which caused an apple to drop from a tree and fall to the ground, was the same force that moved the planets in their journey around the sun. His law of gravitation gave the exact formula by which these forces could be calculated.
He also established three laws of motion that became the basis of an entirely new system of mechanics which were still effective in guiding American astronauts to the moon in 1969. Newton was in fact so successful in establishing mathematical relationships by which natural phenomena could be explained, that he became instrumental in developing an entirely new way of viewing the world.
As more and more of the phenomena of the natural world came to be explained by means of mathematical laws established by Newton, scientists began to doubt the need for God’s existence. As they succeeded in explaining the world in mechanical terms, they came to regard the world as a sort of giant machine that operated according to fixed laws of behavior. As the British scientist and philosopher John Sullivan explained:
“The vivid world of the medievalist, a world shot through with beauty and instinct with purpose, a world having an intimate relation to his own destiny and an intelligble reason for existing in the light of that destiny, is dismissed as an illusion. It has no objective existence. The real world, as revealed by science is a world of material particles moving in accordance with mathematical laws, through space and time.” (The Limitions of Science)
According to this scientific view of the world, the universe consisted of a collection of physical objects that moved against a backdrop of space. Space was thought to be empty, unchangeable, and always at rest. It was the physical objects that moved, and they did so according to precise mechanical laws. These movements took place according to a sequence of events called time.
Time was considered to be an integral feature of the universe, yet completely independent of space and the objects it contained. Events were believed to move smoothly in time from the past, through the present, and on into the future. Nothing that mankind might do could interrupt this steady flow. This was the classical view of science that prevailed at the end of the nineteenth century.
The hallmark of this classical view was that the world existed exactly as it appeared to our senses. Space was considered to be a vast and empty backdrop in which different objects moved. These objects were believed to consist of inert matter. They moved in space according to the laws of physics, and in accordance with the law of cause and effect. Nothing could happen in our universe without an underlying cause.
Such was the confidence placed in this classical view by the scientists of that time that the Scottish physicist and engineer William Thompson, also known as Lord Kelvin, actively discouraged students from pursuing a career in physical science. He claimed that 95% of everything that could be known had already been discovered, and all that was left to the scientists of the twentieth century was “more and more precise measurement” of laws that were already known.
Yet despite the fact the this classical view of the universe was completely demolished within the first few decades of the twentieth century, the idea of the universe as a Giant Machine remains firmly entrenched in the minds of scientific men and women to this day. As the “Father of the Atom Bomb” Robert Oppenheimer wrote in 1953:
“Despite all the richness of what men have learned about the world of nature, of matter and of space, of change and of life, we carry with us today an image of the giant machine as a sign of what the objective world is really like.” (Science and the Common Understanding)
Allan, Quest for Reality, February 19, 2010, 9:38 pm
As we have seen from the last instalment, it was Galileo who began the initial search for an understanding of the true nature of the world we see around us, by observing the motions of the planets through his telescope. For his efforts, he was victimised by the Catholic Church, forced to recant his ideas in public, and condemned to live out the remainder of his days in seclusion at his villa in Arcetri near Florence.
But the scientific quest that began with Galileo came in time to flower into a mighty tide of accomplishment that swept aside all opposition from the Church, until it stands today supreme and unchallenged as the final arbiter of the true nature of matter. But this triumph was not easy, nor was it swift, for this journey of investigation took many a contrary turn before it came to reach its vantage point of today.
The fundamental purpose of science is to organize and explain all human cognitive experience. The success of science, and the reason why it has proved to be the dominant description of reality on the planet today, is due to its success in achieving this objective. However, there is one way in which modern science is uniquely different from the investigations of the early Greeks.
The scientific spirit had its roots in the ancient culture of Hellenistic Greece. Some four centuries before the birth of Christ, the Greeks had systematically begun to question the nature of the world around them. However these early pioneers were content to derive an intuitive understanding of the universe based on philosophic reflection. Their laws of nature were intuitively deduced. They did not feel the need to prove their deductive laws by means of physical experiments.
It was to take almost two thousand years for the scientific method, as we know it today, to reach full maturity. It did so primarily in the person of Sir Isaac Newton, for it was Newton who stressed the necessity of linking observation and experiment into a unified system of rational investigation. It was not enough to theorise about the nature of matter. Newton insisted that these theories had to be tested by physical experiments, to ensure that they were in fact valid representations of reality.
For Newton the basis of all science was observation. In order for anything to be explained, it first had to be observed. If something could not be observed, it was pointless to discuss it and science could contribute nothing to an understanding of its nature. Newton recognized that these observations could be reduced to mathematical expressions, and it was his genius for mathematics that enabled him to codify many of the laws that form the basis of modern science.
But the early pioneers of science were faced with an immediate problem. If they were to succeed in their quest for an understanding of life, their first task was agree on what it was that needed to be explained. In other words, they had to agree on the observables. In this evaluation, it was clear that the experiences of life fell into two broad categories. The first of these categories were physical objects that existed outwardly in space. The second category of experience was subjective, and was characterised by inward states of mind.
It was the common experience of every person that their lives unfolded in a series of relationships with outward “things”. However, it was equally apparent that they interacted with these “things” according to subjective states of mind. These states of mind included thoughts, values, ideas and judgements, as well as a whole range of emotions. Before scientists could begin to explain all human experience, they first had to agree on how to deal with these contrasting categories of experience.
This dilemma was resolved by a French philosopher and mathematician by the name of Rene Descartes (1596-1650). Descartes introduced a radical division between mind and matter that has dominated western science ever since. He divided the world into a sphere of matter which he called “Res Extensa” (extended matter), and a sphere of mind called “Res Cogitans” (thinking matter).
Rene Decartes was responsible for establishing a fundamental dichotomy in science. This dualistic split into separate categories of mind and matter has come to be known as “Cartesian Dualism”. One of the most important consquences of the dualism propounded by Descartes was that the investigation of matter now fell within the province of science, while the study of the mind was elevated to the realm of philosophy.
A division began in which philosophical questions became increasingly divorced from science, and the scientific exploration of the universe became isolated from philosophy, which was increasingly devoted to an investigation of divine principles and the nature of man. In the space of one hundred years therefore, a subtle but profound change had overtaken science.
Whereas the astronomer Johannes Kepler had called himself “a priest of God in the temple of nature”, and Isaac Newton had regarded himself as one of the lineage of the mystic philosophers of old, now the French mathematician Marquis de Laplace could make his famous retort to Napoleon that God was a hypothesis of which he had no need. He went on to boast that given the distribution of particles in the primitive nebula, he could predict the whole future history of the world. The division between mind and matter was complete.
It was not until the late twentieth century that it began to dawn on perceptive scientific minds that this Cartesian Divide, splitting the world into separate worlds of mind and matter, was fundamentally flawed. They recognised that life is a continuum, just as much as space and time. It was Albert Einstein who proved that while objects appear to exist in a dimesion called space, and move about in a dimension called time, space and time were in fact separate aspects of the same continuum.
Therefore the idea that science can study one part of life (involving matter), and ignore another part of life (involving mind) is patently absurd. It is like studying one side of a coin and ignoring the other. The two sides are inextricably linked together, and one cannot hope to truly understand the one unless one is prepared to accept the role played by the other. So the science of today stands at a momentous point in history.
The science of tomorrrow stands ready to embrace a former foe. It stands ready to welcome back into its fold the prodigal son that was cast out all those centuries ago. It stands ready to heal the ancient wound, and unite once more the world of matter and the world of mind.
Allan, Quest for Reality, February 14, 2010, 9:25 pm
As we have seen from previous instalments, astounding feats have been performed by young and old alike. They have been happening for thousands of years. They continue to happen to this day. We call these amazing feats “miracles”, because they defy the accepted laws of nature, and because they cannot be explained by our men and women of science. But whether or not they can be explained, they continue to occur.
These “miracles” stand as an enduring reminder that things can happen in our world of common understanding that defy conventional explanation. The fact that they do happen is undeniable. If science is to be true to its founding principles, then these events demand recognition by leading scientific minds. Yet the sad fact today is that these “miraculous” events are rejected by science. They remain outcast.
The reason why these events do not garner the attention they deserve is because they lie outside the borders of “scientific fact”. Because these events are not repeatable, and because they cannot be conducted within laboratories according to the accepted protocols of science, they are considered to be “unscientific”. They are treated as anecdotal evidence – uncorroborated stories – that are not worthy of true scientific investigation.
When Galileo first gazed into his telescope and saw the motions of the planets, he began an intellectual revolution that transformed his world, and has continued to do so to this day. His planetary observations brought him into direct conflict with the Catholic Church. The theology of his day believed that earth was the center of the universe, and that the sun and stars revolved around the earth. Furthermore, since man was believed to be the center of divine concern, it was clear to the Church that the universe was created to serve the needs of man.
The Church taught that man derived his knowledge of the universe from two sources. The first was human reason, and the second was divine revelation. The highest attainments of the human mind up to that time were considered to have been recorded in the works of Aristotle, while the Holy Scriptures contained revelations of all those things that could not be understood by human reason.
Through this synthesis of human reason and divine revelation, everything in the universe could ultimately be known. To the captains of the Church, the implications of Galileo’s work were profound. For if it were now possible to prove via Galileo’s telescope that it was the earth that moved, rather than the stars around it, man’s very place at the center of God’s plan would be called into question. Could there be any greater heresy, or one more worthy of the flame?
When Galileo invited his accusers to look through his telescope and see the motions of the planets for themselves, the cardinals were incensed! “We will not look through your telescope”, they cried. “because we already know how the universe is ordered. Aristotle, scripture and tradition have pointed the way for centuries. If your telescope were to show us anything different, it would be an instrument of the devil.”
Galileo was ordered to make a public recantation, and forced to read a statement that he was ready to “curse, abjure and detest” his theory that the earth moved around the sun. In doing so, he was spared the rack and the fire. But his fate was to be cut off from the world at his villa at Arcetri, and forbidden to receive any visitors. When he died in 1642, the Pope forbade the erection of any monument on his tomb.
Yet by a strange twist of fortune, the very scientific revolution begun by Galileo was to lead those investigators who followed on a quixotic quest. For it served utimately to lead science to the recognition that the teachings of the ancient Rishis were correct. The world that we see around us, and that impinges so realistically upon our senses, is not real. It is in fact an illusion.
According to the teachings of the Rishis, the outer world that appears so real to us is not an objective reality. It is in fact a subjective illusion, projected by the mind on the screen of consciousness. The ancients referred to this illusory manifestation of the mind as Maya. It is characterised by two unique features. The first feature of Maya is its “projecting” aspect. The second is its “veiling” aspect.
In its projecting aspect, the mind creates a flow of images that appear to exist outside of ourselves in the form of an outward universe. In its veiling aspect, the mind disguises its projecting character, so that it never occurs to the observer that these images are not in fact real. The universe that appears so real to all of us is exactly like a dream. It rises and falls with consciousness. When we lose consciousness, our awareness of the universe disappears as well.
The contents of our minds determine the character of our experiences in life. Our lives are guided by what we think. And since what we think is determined by our thoughts, our thoughts are the foundation of the universe. As we think so we experience, and as we experience so we become. So our universe is not bound by some outward set of laws, or the so-called “laws” of science. It is in fact the expression of a principle that is eternally free. And “miracles” are daily reminders of this fact.
As we shall see in subsequent instalments, those early scientists who took up the quest begun by Galileo were led on an amazing journey. Their search for the meaning of reality was to lead away from physical matter, and into the province of the mind. The pronouncements of the greatest scientific thinkers of our modern era have begun to sound exactly like the teachings of the ancient Rishis. For as Fritjof Capra wrote in The Tao of Physics:
“Modern physics has confirmed most dramatically one of the basic ideas of Eastern mysticism; that all the concepts we use to describe nature are limited, that they are not features of reality, as we tend to believe, but creations of the mind.”
Henry Margenau, a leading American physicist and scientific philosopher, observed in his book Science and ESP that everything that makes up our physical universe has its origins in consciousness:
“Consciousness is the primary medium of all reality. Even the external world is initially a posit, a projection of consciousness.”
Allan, Quest for Reality, February 5, 2010, 5:15 pm
Young children provide fertile ground for miracles, because their minds have not yet been conditioned by the limiting world-view shared by their parents. Because they do not yet know what is possible in life and what is not, they are often unwitting partners in events that defy common logic and scientific understanding. They are the modern miracle makers.
In the spring of 1984, Doctor Berthold Schwarz, a graduate of New York University College of Medicine and a Fellow in Psychiatry at the Mayo Foundation, met a young Florida housewife whom he called “Katie”, in deference to her wishes to remain anonymous. Katie was the tenth of twelve children born to her Cherokee Indian mother. In spite of her lack of formal education, or perhaps because of it, she was able to display a spectacular array of psychic talents to Dr Schwarz, including psychokinesis, stigmata, healing and telepathy.
Some of these talents appeared to have been inherited by her son, as he demonstrated an ability to bend and split metal spoons. One day, when her son was fifteen years old, he asked his mother whether she thought it was possible to go back in time. Katie replied that she believed it was. With that the boy went directly to their walk-in closet. He closed the door and lay down on the floor.
As he later told Dr Schwarz, “I wanted to see what it was like in the 1920’s”. The boy said he appeared to enter a trance-like condition, for he suddenly became aware of himself in a strange room. In this room he saw an old bald-headed man sitting next to an oil lamp. He also became aware of a Christmas tree, together with an interesting looking cardboard box. The boy reached for the box, but in doing so managed to knock over the oil lamp.
In the ensuing confusion, he recalled grasping the cardboard box before the vision faded and he found himself back in the walk-in closet. Incredibly, the cardboard box was still in his possession. He later showed this box to Dr Schwarz. Inside the box was an ostrich-skin cigarette lighter enclosed in a gold leather pouch. It bore the following inscription: “Compliments Moragues. Bay City, Inc., Mobile, Ala., Christmas 1928.”
In May 1974, a man purchased a book in order to pass the time while he was traveling. He became so enthralled by its contents that he extended an invitation to the author to visit him at his home in Venice, Italy. The author was Dr Lyall Watson, and the book was called “Supernature”. Watson traveled to Venice to meet the man, who said he wanted to show him a particular trick that his daughter Claudia was able to perform.
The father reached for a tube of tennis balls that lay on a corner table. He took out a ball and casually rolled it across the carpet towards his daughter. Claudia picked it up and held it affectionately to her cheek. Then, balancing the ball in her left hand, she gently stroked it with her right. What followed left Watson stunned. As he wrote in his book “Lifetide”:
“One moment there was a tennis ball – the familiar off-white carpeted sphere marked only by its usual meandering seam. Then it was no longer so. There was a short implosive sound, very soft, like a cork being drawn in the dark, and Claudia held in her hand something completely different: a smooth, dark, rubbery globe with only a suggestion of the old pattern on its surface – a sort of negative through-the-looking-glass impression of a tennis ball.”
When Watson examined the ball closely he found that it was an everted tennis ball – one that had been turned inside out. Yet it still contained a volume of air under pressure. When he squeezed the ball it returned to its former shape. He dropped it and it bounced. In fact it seemed exactly like a normal tennis ball, except that it had somehow been turned inside out.
Later that evening Claudia performed the trick again. This time Watson kept the everted ball and took it back to his hotel, where he placed it on the mantelpiece in his room. As he later described it, the ball stared at him like a mocking symbol. This enigmatic sphere completely defied his carefully structured view of the world. It seemed to undermine the very laws of nature.
“It still disturbs me”, he wrote. “I know enough of physics to appreciate that you cannot turn an unbroken sphere inside out like a glove. Not in this reality.” Watson was in fact faced by the same dilemma experienced by Albert Einstein. When confronted by experimental results that he was unable to explain, he turned to Niels Bohr and exclaimed in frustration that his theories were too poor to encompass the works of nature. “No no”, cried Bohr, “Nature is too rich for our theories.”
Here in a nutshell lies the basic conundrum of life and the inherent limitation of science. Our universe will always be too rich for our analysis, and scientists will never be able explain everything that happens in life. It is not so much that they lack the intelligence to understand. It is just that scientists have completely misunderstood the true nature of the world. And because of this, they can never hope to fulfil their underlying objective, which is to explain all human experience according to a prescribed set of laws.
Allan, Men of Miracles, January 29, 2010, 9:08 pm
Michael Bondarchuk was born in Canada in 1937, and grew up in the northern interior of the rugged, mountanous province of British Columbia. When he was 18, Michael happened to be hiking with a friend near Dome Creek, some eighty miles east of the city of Prince George. The day was gloomy and the sky was low with heavy clouds. Michael and his friend followed a logging trail that finally brought them to a lookout hut which was inhabited by a forest ranger.
The ranger welcomed the two hikers, but warned them not to go outside, because of an approaching electrical storm and the danger of a lightning strike. Ignoring this warning, Michael made his way onto the balcony. Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light. Michael was thrown backwards through the glass windows of the hut, where he lay dazed on the floor. His shoes had been burned off his feet, and there were holes in his pockets where the coins he had been carrying had melted.
Much to his amazement and relief, Michael survived his close encounter with death. By all accepted logic, he should have been killed by the millions of volts that had surged through his body that stormy day. Yet, as he later mused over his miraculous escape, he began to wonder whether his survival might have been due to some special power that he possessed. He wondered whether, in some strange fashion, he possessed the power to overcome the forces of nature.
Thinking that he had the power to overcome electricity, he began to experiment by touching live, electrical wires. His initial tests were hardly encouraging. Each time he touched the wires he received a sharp electrical jolt. However Michael was not easily deterred. Instead of giving up he decided to continue his experiments, but this time he introduced a dramatic new twist. He decided to focus his mind beforehand on the thought that he would not be harmed.
To his surprise he found that this strategy worked. He found that by concentrating beforehand on the idea that he would not be hurt, he was able to avoid electric shocks when he touched live wires. However he also found that, if for some reason his attention happened to be diverted for any reason, the all too shocking reminder was immediately apparent. It soon became clear to him that his capacity to overcome the power of electricity was in some strange way governed by his mind.
Michael was sufficiently enthused by his success to try this formula in other experiments. Although he was not always successful, he found increasingly that he was able to do things that other people claimed to be impossible. Not surprisingly, his new-found abilities led to considerable notoriety in his home town of Prince George, and many evenings found him in the local pub demonstrating his amazing powers.
Michael came to Vancouver in January 1982, and it was there that I first met him. As he was keen to show off his abilities, he agreed to demonstrate them for myself and a few friends at my apartment. He began by producing a length of electric cable that was attached to a 110 volt plug. The positive and negative leads were left exposed. Then, inserting the plug into a wall socket, he grasped the exposed wires of the cable in his bare hands and applied them to the base of a 100 watt light bulb.
As the wires made contact with the bulb, it shone with a brilliant glare. He then held the bulb aloft to enable us to take photographs. While the bulb remained lit Michael showed no signs of any discomfort. He then pointed to an empty fish tank nearby and asked us to fill the tank with water. When it was filled, Michael put the 100 watt bulb into the tank, and again took the two electrical leads in his bare hands and placed them on the bulb. Even though the bulb was now completely submerged in water, it again glowed brightly under the water.
Michael then followed up this experiment with an even more dazzling demonstration. With the cable still plugged into the wall socket, he took the two bare wires and held one in each hand. He explained that he was able to control the electric current that was flowing through his body. He then asked me to place one hand on one of his wrists, and the other hand on the other. I did as he asked, but could feel no sensation of any electrical current.
Seeing that I was relaxed and in a trusting mood, Michael announced that he would now allow the current to flow through my body. To my surprise, and then increasing consternation, I began to feel an electric current surging through my arms. The sensation was slight at first, much like pins and needles. However the electrical sensations grew steadily more intense until both of my hands began to throb. I felt as if my hands were glued to his arms and that it was impossible to let go.
Finally, when my level of discomfort was obvious to all, Michael told the group that he would now begin to reduce the voltage that was passing through my body. With that the throbbing sensation began to diminish until it slowly ebbed away, allowing me to remove my hands. Not content with this demonstration, Michael insisted on repeating it with several other friends.
Later that evening Michael showed off a variety of other abilities, including his immunity to heat. During all these demonstrations, at no time did he show any discomfort, nor was there any sign of any inflammation or damage to his skin. He clearly enjoyed the challenge of attempting anything that anyone told him was impossible. His instinctive response was to to try and see if it could be done.
In every case he adopted the same preparatory procedure. He simply visualised in his mind a picture of himself doing the thing that was said to be “impossible”, and at the same time issued an inner command that he would not be harmed. Although there was nothing formal about his mental preparation, he did concede that his success depended on his concentration, and that if he was distracted mentally, he was unable to succeed.
I last saw Michael on a chilly evening in the Fall, as I drove him back to his apartment. As he got out of the car he asked me if I would agree to one final request. When I asked him what it was, he said he wanted me to drive over his foot! I told him that it was unnecessary for him to indulge in any more demonstrations of his amazing mastery of mind over matter. However Michael was insistent. Grinning gleefully, he placed his foot in front of the car tire.
With some misgivings, I drove slowly forward and felt the car lurch as it passed over his foot. Without any sign of discomfort he immediately ran round and placed his other foot in front of the opposite tire. Once more I drove forward obligingly, and again the car lurched forward. My last recollection of this amazing man was the sight of him striding briskly away, until he was lost in the shadows of the darkened street.
When Jesus began his ministry of liberation from the shackles of the mind, he pointed out that children had a greater capacity to perform miracles, because they had not yet been conditioned into believing they were impossible. Perhaps it was because of his simplistic approach to life that Michael was able to do what he did. In any event, some of the most amazing “miracles” on record have been performed by young children, as we shall see in the next instalment.
Allan, Men of Miracles, January 22, 2010, 8:43 pm
When Jesus found himself surrounded by a large crowd of followers who had gone long hours without eating, he asked his disciples whether any food was available. Andrew mentioned that there was a lad among them who had five barley loaves and two small fishes. Then, speaking for entire generations of subsequent skeptics, he said: “But what are they among so many”. (John 6:19)
The Biblical story recording the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand is viewed today as little more than a romantic story, rejected by hard-minded materialists everywhere. Yet Jesus was not the first person to feed the hungry in miraculous ways. This feat had been done by others before him, just as it has also been done by others many times since. The very fact that others have done this adds further proof to the assertion of Jesus that all things are possible to those who believe. (Mark 9:23)
For example, the Italian Saint Don Bosco (1815-1888) was credited with performing a similar feat in 1860. Bosco had founded a boarding house for deprived children in Turin, Italy. When told one day that there was insufficient food for the children under his care, Bosco remained unperturbed. He merely asked the matrons to collect whatever food was available. They collected a total of twenty bread rolls and placed them in a basket.
Despite the fact that an observer, Francisco Dalmazzo, later confirmed that nothing had been added to the basket, Don Bosco was seen to distribute a roll to each one of the three hundred children who filed past him that morning. When the last boy received his roll, the basket was found to contain the same number of rolls (twenty), as it had before the meal began.
Another example of a miraculous abundance of food occurred one Christmas morning in 1972. A Jesuit priest by the name of Father Rick Thomas assembled a group of parishioners at his Youth Centre in El Paso, Texas, and decided to visit a community of destitute people who scratched out a living by combing through the refuse at a large garbage dump, located on the outskirts of the Mexican city of Juarez.
The day dawned cold and drear on that Christmas morning, and a light rain was falling as Father Thomas and his parishioners made their way to the throng that had assembled at the dump. Unaware of exactly how many people would be present, Father Thomas brought with him enough food for about one hundred and twenty-five people. When he arrived at the dump, however, he discovered that some three hundred and fifty people had gathered.
After a brief prayer, Father Thomas explained to the assembled group that he did not have sufficient food for everyone. However, he said that they would be happy to share what little they had brought. The food was laid out on a few trestle tables. As the people began to file past the tables, each one was given a burrito, some fruit, and a thick slice of ham. When the last of the waiting crowd had received their portion, there appeared to be as much food remaining as when they had begun.
Father Thomas then invited everyone to return to the line-up and take the remainder of the food for their families. This continued until everyone present was completely satisfied, including the parishioners themselves. Yet, after this second round of distribution, there seemed even more food left than before. There was in fact so much food left that Father Thomas was able to divide it among three other orphanages in El Paso after they had left the dump.
When examples of this superabundance of food occur within a traditional Christian context, they are believed to be signs of God’s supernatural power. They are not considered to be the sort of things that ordinary men and women can perform. One man who challenged this belief was a San Francisco dentist by the name of Philip Haley. Haley was fascinated by the phenomenon of food multiplication, and began a series of experiments in the 1930’s to see if he could achieve similar results.
Haley was convinced that the power to multiply food was actually a psychic ability, possessed by Jesus and other Saints, that could be matched by anyone who was prepared to develop the necessary psychic power. He therefore began a series of experiments in his own home. He gained his first success when a few oranges, which he had previously counted, mysteriously increased in number. He subsequently conducted over twenty experiments between 1933 and 1934, when he was able to create food under conditions of strict control, in the presence of witnesses who later verified his results.
Philip Haley was one of the first modern investigators to realise that the miracles recorded in the Bible might actually have happened just as they had been reported, and that these “miracles” might be duplicated by anyone who took the trouble to develop his or her own inherent power. Taking the words of Jesus as a template, Haley made that bold leap of faith that Jesus had sought to develop in his followers.
He believed that it was possible to multiply food, and that by acting on his belief, he was convinced that he would achieve results that would justify his belief. His later success proved to him beyond any doubt the truth of Christ’s words: “According to your faith be it unto you”. (Matthew 9:29). He had cast his bread upon the waters of life, and it had returned to him multiplied.
Philip Haley proved that “miracles” are as possible today as they were in Biblical times, and that they can happen at any time. All that is needed is is the underlying requirement of faith, plus the will to persist until success is finally achieved. Our experiences in life are determined by our beliefs, as the ancient Rishis taught. When we believe that we lack the power to do such things, our experiences in life bear out these limitations.
To the hard-minded materialist who believes that the universe operates according to a strict set of laws, and that all men and women are subject to these laws, the universe will appear to be limited by such laws, just as if it had been created in this fashion by an all-powerful God. If you truly believe that you are limited in what you can do in life, then that is what you will find.
It is only when a person has the insight and the courage to challenge the validity of these limiting beliefs, that the universe becomes unshackled, and these limitations are found to be illusory. The apparent “laws of nature” exist only for those who have allowed themselves to become trapped in webs of their own thinking. To the courageous exemplars of faith, there is no limit to what can be achieved. As the American philosopher and physician John Lilly, famous for his work with dolphins, once wrote:
“What is believed to be true is true or becomes true, within limits to be found experientially or experimentally. These limits are further beliefs to be transcended. In the province of the mind, there are no limits”. (The Center of the Cyclone)
Allan, Men of Miracles, January 15, 2010, 8:05 pm
According to the teachings of the Rishis of old, all that is necessary to perform miracles is the power, plus the conviction that such miracles are possible. Enlightened beings like Jesus, as well as Elijah and Lahiri Mahasaya, acquired the power to raise people from the dead once they obtained Supreme Awareness. Others who have yet to reach this level of consciousness may still restore life, if they have the desire as well as the conviction.
In the early years of the last century, an English journalist by the name of Raphael Hurst roamed the secret corners of the world in search of ancient knowledge, and the underlying wisdom of the East. He subsequently wrote a series of books under the pseudonym Paul Brunton. In his book “A Search in Secret India”, he described meeting a man of singular talents in the city of Benares. His name was Vishudhananda.
Among the array of skills demonstrated by this unusual man was the ability to produce a variety of floral scents. Vishudhanada did this by focusing rays of sunlight through a magnifying glass upon a silk handkerchief. At the author’s request, he produced such varied scents as white jasmine, violets, and attar of roses. Then, to Brunton’s surprise, he agreed to demonstrate a far more startling accomplishment.
Vishudhananda produced a live sparrow. In full view of his guest he proceeded to strangle the bird until it was completely lifeless. Brunton was allowed to examine it closely to assure himself that it was really dead. The bird was placed on the floor and remained inert for over an hour. At this point Vishudhananda picked up his magnifying glass and began to focus rays of sunlight on the dead bird’s eye.
He continued to do this, all the while uttering a weird, crooning chant in a language that Brunton did not know. Suddenly the bird’s body began to twitch. There was a slight fluttering of feathers and the sparrow stood upon its feet. The two men watched as it hopped around the room. The resurrected bird then began to fly around the room, moving from one perch to another. Then, after half an hour of busy activity, the bird unexpectedly fell to the ground. When Brunton picked it up, he found that it was again completely dead.
When asked to explain this amazing feat, Vishudhanada merely shrugged. He replied enigmatically that his miraculous powers were limited. He was only able to restore the bird to life for a short period of time. It brought to mind the reponse of Jesus to his disciples, who asked why they were not able to heal the child suffering from a critical illness. “Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting”. (Matthew 17: 19-21) In other words, they lacked the necessary power.
The power to restore life may not be a common occurrence in our material world of doubt and disbelief, but it is certainly not impossible. One evening Jorge Lopes (whose confrontation with the bright metallic spider was described in an earlier instalment) was relaxing with his brother in their home in Banos, Ecuador. While they sat in the lounge listening to music, they were astonished to see a large butterfly float into the room through the open windows.
The butterfly was about four inches across. It was brilliantly colored, and quite unlike any they had seen before on their walks in the neighboring jungle. Although Jorge’s first response was to kill the insect and preserve it as a specimen, he could not bring himself to kill such a beautiful creature. When they both retired for the night, the butterfly remained in the room.
When he awoke the next morning, Jorge’s first thought was to look for the beautiful butterfly. However, as he walked across the room, he felt something soft beneath his feet. Looking down, he was dismayed to see the crumpled form of the butterfly. He picked it up by its wings and gently shook it, but it was clearly dead. Its body was crushed and its feelers were intertwined.
Although anguished at the thought of having caused the death of the butterfly, Jorge recalled that Jesus had once raised a person from the dead. Then, holding the lifeless form in his cupped hands, he prayed that he might be used as an instrument for restoring life to the tiny creature. As he did so, he felt a warm force radiating from his forehead. He raised the butterfly to the level of his eyes.
No sooner had he done this than its feelers began to straighten and its wings began to unfurl, until its full beauty was restored. The butterfly flew into the air, circled the room, and then returned to Jorge, landing on his arm. After resting there for a brief period, it flew across the room and disappeared from sight through the open windows.
Allan, Men of Miracles, January 8, 2010, 9:10 pm
According to the Apostle Mark, a ruler of the synagogue by the name of Jairus approached Jesus in the hope that he might be able to heal his twelve year-old daughter who was critically ill. Before Jesus could reach the child, however, friends came to Jairus to say that his daughter was dead. Undeterred by the news, Jesus accompanied Jairus to his home and entered the room where the dead girl lay. Then, taking her by the hand, he said to her: “I say to you child, arise.” Immediately the young girl rose up and stood on her feet. (Mark 5:35-43)
Likewise, when Jesus heard of the illness afflicting Lazarus, the brother of two of his devoted friends, he made his way to Bethany where the dying man lived. But before he reached the town, his sister Martha came to say that her brother was already dead, and that his body had been been placed in a cave. Once again Jesus was unmoved by the news. He continued his journey to Bethany and when he arrived, asked that the gravestone guarding the cave be removed. Then, crying out in a loud voice Jesus commanded Lararus to come forth. To the astonishment of the gathered throng, Lazarus emerged from the cave, still draped in his graveclothes. (John 11: 11-44)
Now Jesus was not the first person in recorded history to raise a person from the dead, nor was he the last. Some nine centuries before Jesus was born, the Hebrew prophet Elijah was confronted with the death of the young son of a widow who had befriended him. In this case Elijah placed his body over that of the boy and prayed that his soul might return. The boy revived, causing his mother to say to Elijah: “Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth”. (1 Kings 17:24)
Some 1900 years after the death of Jesus, a Rishi emerged who was one of the long line of spiritual giants that India has continued to produce in every generation. His name was Sri Yukteswar Giri. It was his famous disciple Paramahansa Yogananda who travelled to America and founded the Self Realization Fellowship, which later became a worldwide organization devoted to spiritual truth. In his book “Autobiography of a Yogi“, Yoganada described a story told to him by his Guru Yukteswar.
In his youth Yukteswar had a close friend named Rama. One day Rama became seriously ill with cholera. Specialist physicians were called to his bedside. In shock, Yukteswar rushed to see his own Guru, a Rishi by the name of Lahiri Mahasaya, to tell him the serious news. Lahiri merely smiled at Yukteswar and said: “The doctors are seeing Rama. He will be well.” Yukteswar returned to his friend comforted by his Guru’s words.
However, by the time he reached Rama’s house, he found that his condition had rapidly deteriorated. There was a note from the Doctors which read: “We have done our best, but his case is hopeless”. Convinced by the words of his Guru that Rama would recover, he remained at his bedside. Yet it quickly became clear that Rama was losing his battle with this deadly disease. With a final gasp, Rama reached out to Yukteswar. “Run to Master and tell him that I am gone”. With that Rama fell back on his bed and died.
Yukteswar was beside himself with grief, weeping for more than an hour at his dead friend’s side. Then, when another friend appeared, he asked him to remain with the body so he could pass on the news to his Guru. When he reached Lahiri Mahasaya, his face was wreathed in smiles. “How is Rama now?” he asked jovially. Yukteswar replied that he would soon see how he was when his body was carried off to be cremated. With that, he began once again to sob openly.
“Yukteswar, control yourself” said his Guru. “I see you are disturbed. Why didn’t you tell me that Rama needed medicine for his illness?” He then pointed to a cup-shaped lamp that contained some castor oil. “Fill a little bottle with oil from the lamp and put seven drops in Rama’s mouth”. Yukteswar scornfully replied: “Sir, he has been dead since noon yesterday. Of what use is the oil now?” “Never mind”, said Lahiri, “Just do as I ask”.
Despite Yukteswar’s conviction in the utter futility of these instructions, he nevertheless did as he was told. By this time Rama’s body was locked in rigor mortis. In spite of this rigid condition, Yukteswar managed to pry open his lips and deposit seven drops of castor oil between his clenched teeth. No sooner had the seventh drop passed his lips when Rama’s body gave a convulsive jerk. Rama sat up on the bed exclaiming: “I saw Lahiri Mahasaya in a blaze of light. He shone like the sun.” He said: “Arise, forsake your sleep. Come with Yukteswar to see me.”
One cannot escape the parallel of the story of Rama with the resurrection of Lazarus referred to above. Just as Jesus waited for two days before departing for Bethany, so Lahiri Mahasaya waited until Rama was dead before offering the “healing” drops. And just as Yukteswar was scornful of his Guru for offering medicine when Rama was already dead, so the sisters of Lazarus were equally scornful of Jesus when he claimed that Lazarus was merely asleep. In both cases, these two miracles were designed to awaken faith in their disciples.
When Yukteswar later questioned his Guru about the significance of the castor oil, Lahiri Mahasaya explained that the oil had no healing quality whatsoever. He said that any substance would have done equally well. “Because you expected something material, I chose the nearby oil. The oil was merely an objective symbol designed to impress your mind. Because you doubted my words, it was designed to awaken your greater faith.” (Pages 335-338)
Allan, Men of Miracles, December 28, 2009, 5:42 pm
The essence of prayer is its abilty to evoke a response to a predicament in life that is exquisitely tailored to the needs of that situation. Yet this response invariably defies scientific analysis and scientists are quite unable to explain it. They are left with little more than equivocation and rationalisation, designed to dismiss the response as something unworthy of true scientific investigation.
Even leaders of the major religions of the world are hesitant to pronounce upon the results of prayer, especially when these results defy the commonly accepted view of the universe. Although they may claim to believe in the existence of a Higher Power, they are uncomfortable dealing with extraordinary events, such as can be found in the following example.
In 1972, Kathy Thompson’s son Phil was participating in an NCAA swimming contest at Lee College in Lexington, Virginia. Although she had arranged to be with friends that morning in Annapolis in the state of Maryland, Kathy nevertheless told her son that she would meet him at this event which was due to start at 3pm that same afternoon.
After taking two flights from Annapolis, Kay arrived at the tiny airport at Staunton, Virginia, some fifty miles from Lee College. It was already one o’clock, and as no public transportation was available, Kathy rented a car to take her to the College. For the first twelve miles she drove through open fields without seeing any other traffic on the road.
Then coming to a fork in the road, she found that there were no signposts to direct her. Unsure which road to take, Kathy looked around for a house or some human habitation, but all she could see was more open land. Realising she was lost and that she would never make it to the College in time, she dropped her head onto the steering wheel, weeping with frustration. In desperation, she prayed to God to help her out of her predicament.
Although she had previously seen no other vehicle on the road, Kathy suddenly became aware of an ancient brown sedan covered in mud and grime a few feet ahead of her. Through the dirty rear window she was able to make out the silhouette of a well-built man hunched over the steering wheel.
Then a rough voice shouted at her: “If you are going to the College, follow me”. As the grimy sedan pulled away Kathy set off in pursuit. Although they were travelling along a straight road, Kathy found that she could not get close to the sedan, no matter what speed she drove at. In some uncanny way the brown sedan seemed to match her speed, so that an even distance always separated the two cars.
As she continued following the sedan, Kathy saw it turn abruptly left and leave the main road. As she turned left to follow the sedan, Kathy felt a rising sense of panic as she saw they were travelling down a one-way track leading to swampy ground. She realised that she had been foolish enough to fall into a trap from which there would be no escape.
Despite her fears however, the sedan continued to lead her onwards into the swamp until at last a major highway loomed ahead. As soon as she reached the highway Kathy stepped on the accelerator. This time she found that she was able to pass the grimy sedan with ease. However, as she looked back into her rearview mirror, she was astounded to discover that the road behind her was empty. There was no other vehicle in sight.
After continuing down the highway for a short distance Kathy soon saw the familiar outline of Lee College, where she was able to meet with her son at the appointed time.
Scientists tend to dismiss such tales as mere co-incidence, They would point out that Kathy was in a highly charged emotional state which undoubtedly clouded her observation and her judgement. Besides, since there were no other witnesses to corroborate her story, this entire incident would be nothing more than anecdotal evidence.
And since science limits itself to data that can be replicated in a laboratory, there would be nothing here that could serve as scientific evidence. But what this enigmatic episode proves beyond a shadow of a doubt is this. More things happen under heaven and earth than modern scientists dream of, and that the universe is far richer than the narrow limits of scientific law would allow.
Not only that, but human beings throughout history have been able to perform “miraculous” feats that defy everything that scientists believe, as can be seen in the following instalments.
Allan, Power of Prayer, December 18, 2009, 8:35 pm
Jesus taught that prayer is a powerful ally to those who use it. Even if they lack the necessary power to change the circumstances of their lives, ordinary people can still achieve “miraculous” effects as long as they have the necessary faith that a Higher Power can assist them in times of need.
Like many women who have found themselves unexpectedly divorced, Erica Martin suddenly had to provide for herself and her three small children. Having no prior working experience to draw upon to earn a living, she realized that her household skills alone were insufficient to make ends meet.
Although she had approached numerous employment offices, welfare agencies and guidance counsellors, none were able to help her find suitable work. Finally, there came a day when there was no more food in the house. As Erica sat at her kitchen table pondering over her desperate predicament, she prayed to God to help her feed her family.
No sooner had she formed the words in her mind when there was a knock at the door. She answered it and found a young man standing there. “Lady”, he said, “we are starting a milk route through this area. Would you like to take milk from our company?”
Erica declined his offer, explaining that she had no money to pay for the milk. But the young man refused to be put off. He insisted on leaving her with a full range of the compny’s products, including milk, eggs, bread, ice cream and cottage cheese. This unexpected bonanza allowed Erica to feed her children for the next few days.
Shortly after this incident Erica was successful in getting a part-time night shift position at a nearby factory, which allowed her to spend the day caring for her young family. And when the first invoice arrived for the food that had been loaned to her under such providential circumstances, she had the money to pay for it.
Jorge Lopes was living in Ecuador in the tiny village of Banos. One day in 1976, he happened to be walking down a narrow jungle pathway that ran along the edge of a steep cliff. After making his way carefully down this path for a short distance he decided to return.
As he was making his way back along the same narrow track, Jorge was astonished to find his path blocked by an enormous spider web. What amazed him was that only a few minutes had elapsed since he began walking down the path. It seemed incredible that such a large web could have been spun in so short a time.
The web extended from the branches of a bush which flanked the path across to the face of the cliff itself. The web stretched from his chest down to his feet. In the center of the web was a brilliant, silver, metallic-looking spider.
Jorge was in a quandary. His only way home was to continue on the path that was now blocked by the web, and it was impossible to get around the bush without falling off the cliff. Jorge looked at the extraordinary shining spider and wondered how he could pass by without having to destroy the creature’s magnificent web.
He closed his eyes and prayed that he might somehow be able to pass without damaging the gossamer threads of the web. When he opened his eyes a few moments later, he was confronted by an amazing sight. In the middle of the web was on open archway throught which he could easily pass. The brilliant metallic spider was nowhere to be seen.
On Christmas Eve in 1984, Winnifred Williams passed away in Anchorage, Alaska. For her daughter Shirley, her mother’s death was a bitter blow, as they had shared a particularly close relationship together. She was especially distressed because her mother had lived so far away, and she was unable to be with her when she died.
That evening, in the dining room of her home in Alberta, Canada, Shirley sat long into the night, thinking of her mother and staring out of the windows into the darkness. Finally just before dawn she retired to bed, but before falling asleep, she prayed that her mother would come to her to say goodbye.
The following day, as Shirley was sitting down for breakfast, she noticed that the dining room windows were covered with winter frost. But instead of being covered with their usual frosty flakes, she saw an amazing sight.
On this Christmas morning, the window panes were covered with the clear outline of her mother’s favorite flowers. There were petunias, roses, tulips and lilies of the valley. And framing the borders of the glass was a fringe of morning glory.
Allan, Power of Prayer, December 12, 2009, 8:59 pm
What makes the results of true prayer seem so miraculous is that they clearly violate the so-called “laws of science”, and scientists themselves are unable to explain them, other than to dismiss these tales as fraudulent or the product of unsound minds. Here are two further examples. Both of them involve railway carriages and both of them occurred in India.
At a time when the British ruled India, Mani Sadhukar had to travel From Bombay to Poona on personal business. As her husband was unable to accompany her, she reserved a personal cubicle aboard the Deccan Queen Express.
As the train was pulling out of the station, a man climbed aboard and seated himself in Mani’s cubicle. Before she had time to explain to the stranger that it was reserved for her alone, he rose and bolted the door of the compartment.
When it became clear that she was in a situation of personal danger, Mani prayed silently to her spiritual Guru Sai Baba to rescue her from her predicament. No sooner had she uttered this prayer in her mind when the door of the compartment opened and a railway porter appeared.
Seeing the porter, Mani leaped to her feet and appealed to him to remove her luggage and escort her to safety. The porter ensured that she was securely settled in another compartment, leaving the stranger looking thoroughly chastened by his sudden and unexpected appearance.
As the train neared her destination at Poona, Mani looked for the porter to express her heartfelt thanks. Although the train had not stopped since leaving Bombay, and although her carriage had no link with any of the other carriages on the train, there was no sign of her rescuer. He had simply vanished from the carriage.
On another occasion, again while the British were still lords of India, a Calcutta lawyer and his wife started out on a visit to their Guru Lahiri Mahasaya, who lived in Benares. As they made their way to the railway station they found themselves delayed by the heavy traffic. By the time they reached Howrah station, the train to Benares was already whistling its departure.
The lawyer’s wife Abhoya, who was an avid disciple of this famous Rishi, prayed silently to her Guru. She implored him to stop the train as she could not bear to suffer the delay of waiting for the next train.
As the couple reached the platform they were confronted by an amazing sight. The wheels of the locomotive were spinning round and round, but the train was making no forward progress. In consternation, the railway engineer and many of the passengers descended onto the platform to look at this extraordinary phenomenon.
As Abhoya and her husband were waiting on the platform wondering what to do, they were approached by a British railway guard. Contrary to all precedent at that time the guard offered his services to them, saying: “Give me the money. I will buy your tickets while you climb aboard”.
No sooner had they found two empty seats on the train when the British guard returned with their tickets. As he handed them over, the train began to move slowly forward. As it did so, the engineer and passengers rushed to clamber on, having no idea how the train had started or why it had stopped in the first place.
The remainder of the journey passed uneventfully for Abhoya and her husband. In due course they reached Benares where they impatiently made their way to the home of Lahiri Mahasaya. Seeing her Guru at last, Abhoya was overcome with emotion.
In the Indian manner of extreme devotion, she prostrated herself and sought to touch his feet. The Rishi responded with mock annoyance. “Control yourself, Abhoya. How you love to bother me”. Then he added with a twinkle in his eye:
“As if you could not have come here by the next train!”
Allan, Power of Prayer, December 3, 2009, 5:43 pm
For those who believe in the existence of God or a Higher Power, in what ever form they may conceive this power to be, and who have complete faith in its ability to answer their prayers, truly miraculous feats can be achieved.
And as we have seen in the previous instalment, these feats are not limited by the so-called “laws of science” or the “laws of nature”. Those who pray to a Higher Power to answer a personal need will find that the solution to their personal need will manifest in a way that is uniquely appropriate to that situation.
Although the response to prayer may take the form of something that conforms to the established thinking of our everyday world, in most cases it does not. And because it does not, it comes to be regarded as a “miraculous” event, as can be seen from the following examples.
Lidia Obermaier was a keen gardener, living in the American state of New Jersey. One summer day in July 1977, Lidia was startled to find that her rose hedge, tea roses and shrubs had all lost their leaves. When she examined the plants closely, she found that each of the plants was infested with thousands of Japanese beetles.
In dismay, Lidia walked over to her rock garden where she kept a statue of the Virgin Mary and silently prayed: “Please, Mother Mary, do something to save my plants”. No sooner had she uttered this silent prayer than a large flock of birds with bright golden feathers appeared out of the blue sky.
These birds then formed a column in the air and descended upon the plants. The shrubs shook violently as the birds feasted on the beetles. After about fifteen minutes the bushes stopped shaking. When Lidia walked over to inspect her plants, there was not a single beetle to be seen.
But what astounded Lidia the most, was that although she had remained no more than twenty feet away throughout the whole episode, not a single bird was seen to fly away. It was as if the entire flock of golden birds had miraculously vanished into the blue sky.
When Carolyn Firth went to Chicago to visit a friend, she was concerned about Police reports about a girl who had been savagely beaten and sexually assaulted in the area in which her friend lived.
As she was leaving her friend’s apartment later that evening, Carolyn walked out onto a darkened street that appeared to be deserted. As she continued down the street, however, she became aware of a figure in a nearby doorway. This figure quickly vanished into the shadows.
As she crossed over to the other side of the street, Carolyn heard slow, measured steps on the pavement behind her. She immediately quickened her pace, only to hear the footsteps behind her become quicker too. She was suddenly assailed by a feeling of fear and panic.
“O dear God”, Carolyn prayed silently to herself, “please help me, I’m so afraid”. No sooner had she uttered this silent prayer than she became aware of a presence beside her. Through her tear-blurred vision she was astonished to see a full-grown, white collie walking quietly beside her.
The collie stayed just out of reach, but continued to escort her until she reached the railway station, where there were lights and other people. As soon as she reached the safety of the station, she looked back over her shoulder down the street where she had come.
As she did so, Carolyn was able to catch a glimpse of a figure slinking into the darkness. When she turned back to look for her unexpected guardian, the white collie was nowhere to be seen. It had simply vanished into the night.
Allan, Power of Prayer, November 27, 2009, 10:00 pm
As we have seen, there are two requirements demanded of anyone who wishes to change his or her world in “miraculous” ways. The first requirement is “belief”. The second is “personal power”.
When we use the word “miracle”, we need to be very clear in our minds exactly what it is we mean by this word. In the world of common understanding, dominated as it is today by the paradigm of science, a “miracle” is something that defies the laws of nature or the accepted laws of science.
Because science teaches that the entire universe operates according to the dictates of the established laws of science, it follows that nothing can occur outside of these laws. It is for this reason that scientists today routinely dismiss the very idea of a “miraculous” event as being scientifically impossible.
But this was not what Jesus taught. Nor was it what Jesus demonstrated by means of his miraculous works. For Jesus, nothing was impossible to a person who had the necessary “faith”, and who possessed the necessary power.
For those who had the capacity to believe, but who lacked the necessary power, Jesus offered a unique remedy. It was the power of prayer. According to Jesus, anyone could accomplish miraculous feats simply by means of the power of prayer.
Through the power of prayer, even those with limited education and little personal power could achieve results that defied common understanding. Or, as the English poet Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote: “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of”. (Morte D’Arthur)
What Jesus meant by prayer was not a simple recitation of words. Although prayer is usually understood to mean a personal appeal to God, Jesus made it clear that what he was referring to was something far more intense than mere words. It was necessary to believe.
“Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatever he saith.”
“Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them”. (Mark 11:22-24)
This is the essence of the power of prayer. If you truly believe that God has the power to answer your prayer, and that what you pray for “will actually happen”, and you “do not doubt in your heart”, then, as Jesus assures us, you will have whatever you desire.
The key here once again is “belief”. Even though we ourselves may lack the power, we must truly believe that God has the power to answer our prayer, and that it will be answered. We will then find, as Jesus said to the Roman centurion, “As thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.” (Matthew 8:13)
As Jesus demonstrated, and those Rishis who lived before him also understood, the “scientific laws” that are taught today in our schools and universities do not in fact set limits on what can or cannot be experienced in life.
For if something occurs in life that demonstrates something that scientists deem to be impossible, and is in direct conflict with “the accepted laws of science”, this can mean only one thing. It means that the accepted laws of science have no ultimate validity.
The evidence provided by Jesus, as well as numberless other Rishis before him, shows conclusively that the universe is not bound by these so-called “laws”. And nature is not limited by those rules that scientists like to call the “laws of nature”.
All it needs is one single event to occur that defies these accepted laws of science to bring down the entire pack of cards. For as the American physicist Henry Margenau once observed: “A completely consistent cosmos cannot be inconsistent in one area. One exception collapses it all”.
Just how incredible the results of prayer can be, and how much they defy the accepted world-view of science, will be shown in the examples described in the following instalments.
Allan, Power of Prayer, November 20, 2009, 8:33 pm
The mission of Jesus during the three years of his ministry in Israel was no different from that of countless numbers of Rishis who had preceded him. It was to demonstrate the intrinsic divinity that exists within every living person, and to show the way by which this divine state could be attained.
Jesus taught that each one of us is capable of transforming our world in ways that seem miraculous. This ability to perform miracles is not restricted to those few who have achieved his God-like state of being. They can be performed by anyone who has the necessary qualifications.
The first qualification is the necessity of “belief”. This was what Jesus was referring to when he talked about “faith”. In order to do anything miraculous in life, it is vital to have complete faith that what we want to achieve is possible – and that it can be achieved. This does not mean holding a positive attitude and hoping that things will somehow work out for the best.
The requirement of belief that Jesus taught demands complete and utter conviction that whatever it is that we desire, can and will be achieved. This is what Jesus constantly emphasised when he asked those who came to him to be healed: “Do you believe?”
The second requirement is “personal power”. The power that Jesus was referring to is the power that resides in every one of us. It is in fact immanent in every living creature. It is the very life-force itself, which ancient Rishis called “Prana”, “Chi” or “Ki”, and the science fiction epic “Star Wars” simply referred to as “the Force”.
Most people who live on earth today are completely unaware of the presence of this special force within them. It remains dormant and unused throughout their lives. We seldom test the powers that lie within us. Yet they are there to be used by anyone who has the knowledge and the desire.
At its basic level, this force can be associated with the health of the individual. Those who enjoy robust health have a significant reservoir of power to draw upon. They already have sufficient power to do remarkable things. Others who are in poor health have been deprived of their initial birthright, and find their powers of expression severely limited.
Just as there are things that we can do to boost our store of personal power, so there are things we do that can deplete it. Things that rob us of our personal power in life are negative influences such as addictions to smoking, alcohol, drugs and other chemical dependencies such as allopathic (Western) medicine.
By contrast, those things that boost our level of personal power are activities that raise our level of awareness and vitality. These can range from meditation, prayer, listening to appropriate types of music, or anything that infuses our being with elevated states of awareness.
According to the teachings of the ancient Rishis, this personal power was believed to reside at the base of the spine like a coiled serpent. Through meditation and other exercises, they taught that this serpent power (Kundalini) could be induced to rise up the column of the spine.
As it did so, this serpent power would pass through successive vortices or force-centers called “Chakras”. As each “Chakra” was energised, so greater levels of personal power would be attained. This power could then be used to achieve greater levels of accomplishment.
Finally, when this serpent power reached the “Sahasrara Chakra” at the crown of the head, the individual would at last achieve the enlightened state of being that is the destiny and goal of every living creature. At this point, the individual consciousness would merge with the God-consciousness.
Once this level of Supreme Awareness had been achieved, unlimited levels of power would be at their disposal. They would then be able to perform all the miracles that Jesus manifested during his ministry. They would be able to bend nature according to their wishes, and write their will upon the stars.
It follows that everyone is limited by their existing level of personal power. We cannot draw on more power than we possess within our existing level of consciousness. However, this reservoir of power can be increased by such activities as meditation, prayer and fasting.
So when the disciples of Jesus were unable to heal a child who was brought to them suffering from severe mental affliction, they turned to him for an explanation. “Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, because of your unbelief”. He then added: “Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting”. (Matthew 17:19-21)
What Jesus pointed out to his disciples was that the ability to heal certain types of disease required greater levels of personal power than they currently possessed. Those who practise Shamanic healing also learn that nothing can be achieved without the requisite level of personal power.
Finally, even in those cases where we lack the necessary level of personal power, it is still possible to achieve miraculous results. We can draw on a special remedy that was taught by Jesus to his disciples. It is the power of prayer.
Allan, Men of Miracles, November 13, 2009, 8:27 pm
When Jesus began his ministry, he astonished those who followed him by performing a series of miraculous feats that defied all conventional understanding. When he turned water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana, he achieved something that conventional thinking believed to be impossible.
Those who witnessed these “miracles” considered them to be evidence of the fact of his divine status. They considered Jesus to be a God because what he did seemed impossible to ordinary men and women. Yet Jesus stressed the fact that other people could do what he did. In fact, they could do even greater things.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do he shall do also; and greater works than these shall he do.” (John 14:12) According to Jesus, if you had the necessary faith, nothing would be impossible.
“If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” (Matthew 17:20)
According to Jesus, anyone could perform a miracle if they had the two necessary requirements. The first essential ingredient was “faith”, and the second was “personal power”.
The essence of faith, as we have seen, is the ability to “believe”. For Jesus, “belief” was not the soft interpretation that we give to the word today. Belief is not something that is mere hope, such as in the statement that “I believe I will win the lottery”.
The essence of belief is “conviction”. If we wish to perform a miracle, we have to possess the utter conviction that what we want to happen will happen. We have to believe this with every fibre of our being.
Conviction is like jumping off a building. Anyone who tries to do such a thing “knows” with complete inner conviction that their bodies will crash to the ground due to the force of gravity. This is what Jesus means by “faith”. It is the complete inner certainty that what you believe in will actually occur.
The great enemy of conviction is “doubt”. Doubt is the counter-force to faith. It is the power that robs the mind of its ability to achieve miracles. When the disciple Peter tried to imitate Jesus by walking on water, only to sink beneath the waves, Jesus responded: “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt”. (Matthew 14:31)
Although the ability to perform miracles needs a strong mind, it does not require an advanced education. In fact, throughout history, those who have been the greatest miracle-workers have had little formal education.
It simply requires the ability to focus the mind completely, without allowing any negative thought to interfere with the desired outcome. For this reason, those who are among the most highly educated in every age and society have always had the greatest difficulty in believing in the reality of miracles.
Because they have been trained to believe that miracles are impossible, they invariably fail to be convinced that they can happen, no matter how much evidence is presented. As the ancient Rishis pointed out, those who do not believe in miracles make it certain they will never experience one.
This was true of the time of Jesus. It is true of life today.
Allan, Men of Miracles, November 6, 2009, 8:30 pm
The epic science fiction series “Star Wars” introduced to the general public an idea that had been known in the East for thousands of years. It was the concept of “the force”. According to the movie, this “force” was a subtle field of energy that existed inside every living being.
This force could be used to achieve “miraculous” feats that lay beyond the power of “normal” human beings. It could be used for spiritual purposes such as healing and overcoming the forces of nature. It could also be used for demonic purposes, causing destruction and even death.
The modern idea of a subtle “force” that existed within all living matter had its counterpart in the ancient teachings of the Rishis. They not only taught their disciples about the existence of such a force, but they demonstrated it as well by means of various “miraculous” feats.
According to the Adepts of the East, this force was identified by the Sanskrit name of “Prana”. This same force was also referred to by the name of “Chi” in China, and as “Ki” by the Japanese.
According to the teachings of the Rishis, this force exists within every human being whether they are aware of it or not. Most people today are completely unaware of its presence. It lies within them dormant and unused, much like a coiled serpent.
However, once this serpent power is uncoiled, it can be trained to unleash superhuman powers. What any man or woman can then do depends on the extent of their “personal power”. Those who have little personal power to draw on can do very little. But those who have learned to use this power can perform amazing feats. In fact they can do whatever their hearts and minds desire.
Those Rishis, like Jesus, who had attained the highest level of consciousness known as Supreme Awareness, had unlimited power to draw on. As such, they had complete freedom to do whatever was called for by the situation. They could walk on water or turn water into wine as the occasion demanded. They could even transform the dead into the living.
However, it is necessary to understand that those who have attained the highest level of Supreme Awareness do not act according to the dictates of personal desire. They have surrendered their individual personalities to the universal consciousness that we think of as God.
Dying to the individual is the price that has to be paid to gain universal consciousness. This is what Jesus meant when he said that those who wished to be like him would have to take up the cross and surrender their individual personality.
“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” (Matthew 16: 24-25)
Those who have achieved everlasting life no longer act according to the whims of individual desire. As described by the Buddha, their stream of individual consciousness has merged once and for all with the eternal ocean of awareness.
No trace of individuality remains. It is in this sense that the enlightened being can say that he and God are a single undivided unity. Or, as Jesus explained to the Jews: “I and my Father are one.” (John 10:30)
But we do not need to reach the level of Supreme Awareness in order to use the “Pranic” force that exists within us. Any one of us can learn how to perform “miracles” here and now. All we need is faith. We need only to believe that we can, and have the courage to try.
Allan, Men of Miracles, October 30, 2009, 7:41 pm
The miracles performed by Jesus were designed to encourage faith among his followers. When his disciple Peter tried to imitate Jesus as he walked upon the water, only to sink beneath the waves, Jesus reproached him saying: “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” (Matthew 14:31)
Jesus claimed that anyone who had faith “the size of a mustard seed” would be able to move mountains. But what exactly was this faith that Jesus talked about? In his epistle to the Hebrews, St Paul gives the only recorded reference in the Bible to this question. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)
St Augustine describes faith as follows: “Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.” And here lies the essence of what Jesus meant by faith, and the reason why he performed his miracles. They were designed to reward those who believed, and to encourage belief in those who doubted.
When a woman suffering from the plague was fearful of approaching Jesus directly, but believed that she would be healed if only she could touch the hem of his garment, the Bible records that her faith was rewarded. Jesus turned to her and said: “Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole.” (Mark 5:34)
And when Jairus, one of the rulers of the synagogue, implored Jesus to heal his daughter who was critically ill, Jesus turned to him and said: “Be not afraid, only believe.” (Mark 5:36) Yet when they arrived at his house, they found that his daughter was already dead.
The response of Jesus was typical. To the disbelief of the grieving household, he announced that the child was not dead, but merely sleeping. The relatives who had gathered laughed at him derisively. But when Jesus took the child by the hand and called on her to wake up, it was the doubters who were put to shame.
And when Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha was seriously ill, his two sisters sent word to Jesus to come and heal him. Again the response of Jesus was typical. Instead of leaving for Bethany right away, he waited for two more days. By this time Lazarus was already dead.
Once again Jesus remarked to his disciples: “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth”. But as he was approaching the house, Martha came out to meet him saying: “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother would not have died. But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.” (John 11:21-22)
Again, the response of Jesus was to challenge her faith. “Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? She saith unto him, yea Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God” (John 11:26-27)
Martha’s response was the faith that Jesus was waiting for. Just as in the case of the Roman centurion whose daughter was healed of palsy, when he said: “Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee”, so he assured Martha: “Thy brother shall rise again.”
Allan, Men of Miracles, October 23, 2009, 8:00 pm
When Jesus began his ministry, he was an enlightened “Rishi” who had transcended the human level of consciousness. He was now a God-man who had attained the level of Supreme Awareness. He was now able to say to those who challenged his identity that He and God were an indivisible unity. “I and my Father are one”. (John 10:30)
Since Jesus had transcended the “human” state of consciousness, he was also freed from the limitations of space and time. Because of this, he also possessed the same “Siddhis” or miraculous powers that other “Rishis” had manifested before he was born, and would continue to demonstrate after his death.
According to the testimony of the Bible, Jesus was able to turn water into wine. He was also able to heal the sick, feed the hungry, cause the blind to see, the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak. He could raise the dead. Even the powers of nature seemed to bend to his will, for he was able to walk on water and still the raging storm.
To the Jews who witnessed these miracles, and who were only too aware of their personal limitations and their subjugation to the authorities in Rome, the appearance of a man who was able to perform such astounding feats seemed clear evidence of his divine status, for surely only a God-like being would be capable of such miracles.
But Jesus never claimed to be unique, or to be specially blessed with divine gifts. He referred to himself simply as the “Son of Man” (a being like any other being), and the miraculous powers which he possessed could be matched by anyone who truly believed in what he taught. And what he taught was that every person was inherently divine, and had the potential to do what he could do.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do.” (John 14:12-14)
In fact, while every miracle performed by Jesus was designed to relieve suffering or answer to a need, he used these occasions to drive home his central message, that what he did could be done by anyone who had the necessary faith.
“If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you”. (Matthew 17:20)
Yet when his disciples tried to do what Jesus had done and failed, and turned to him for an answer, he replied: “Because of your unbelief”. And when Peter impulsively leaped into the sea when he saw Jesus walking on the water, only to sink beneath the waves, Jesus admonished him saying: “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” (Matthew 14:31)
In fact, it was left to a Gentile to demonstrate the faith which the Jews lacked. It happened when Jesus entered the city of Capernaum. He was approached by a Roman centurion who implored Jesus to heal his servant, who was stricken with palsy.
When Jesus offered to accompany him to his home, the centurion replied: “Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me; and I say unto this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.”
When he heard the centurion’s response, Jesus marvelled, and turned to his followers, saying: “Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel”. (Matthew 8:5-13)
The question that has challenged Christians down the centuries is this. What was Jesus actually referring to when he used the word “faith”? We may get a clue to the real meaning of this word by the following words spoken by Jesus to the Roman centurion:
“Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee”.
Allan, Men of Miracles, October 16, 2009, 7:43 pm
At the age of thirty, the Bible records that Jesus travelled from Galilee to the river Jordan where he was baptized by John the Baptist. According to St Matthew, as Jesus emerged from the river, the heavens opened and a voice cried out saying: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased“. (Matthew 3:17)
 Hovever, Jesus did not begin his ministry of salvation at that point, for Matthew goes on to report that he retired into the desert, where he fasted for a period of forty days and forty nights. It was at this point that the devil came and tempted him.
The temptations that challenged Jesus bear a striking resemblance to the story of the temptations that assailed the Buddha. In the case of Jesus, the tempter was said to be the devil, whereas in the case of Gautama it was said to be the demon Mara.
In both of these cases, the forces of the Light triumphed over the forces of Darkness. In the case of Gautama, he was transformed into the Buddha (The Enlightened One). In the case of Jesus, he was transformed into the Christ (The Annointed One).
At that moment of transformation, both ascended in consciousness to the level of Supreme Awareness, where they were forever freed from the limitations of the flesh, and of the restrictions of matter, energy, space and time.
Like the Rishis of old that had trod the path before them, both were now masters of the universe, and all of the miraculous powers (Siddhis) that were associated with the Rishis, were now avalable for them to use as they desired.
When Jesus returned to Galilee after his forty day vigil in the desert, he was no longer Jesus the man. He was now the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And the message that he brought to the multitudes that gathered around him, was the same message that had been taught by the Rishis of old that had so impressed Alexander the Great.
As recorded in the Gospel of St John, Jesus came with a simple message for all mankind. His message was one of hope, of the overcoming of sorrow, of the liberation of the spirit, and of the transformation of the soul. Anyone who wanted to escape from the troubles of this world could attain eternal life, regardless of their age, race, gender, or the circumstances of their lives.
When the Jews asked Jesus what his purpose was in preaching to the multitudes, he replied: “I am come that they might have life, and they might have it more abundantly”. (John 10:10)
The life that Jesus spoke of was not a state that could only be experienced after death. It was something that could be experienced here and now. It was a life that transcended the power of death. “And I give them eternal life; and they shall never perish.” (John 10:28)
Because Jesus experienced life at the level of Supreme Awareness, he was able to raise others to that same state, if they were prepared to do what he had done. “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved.” (John 10:9)
When the Jews asked him who he thought he was, Jesus replied that he was the Son of God: “I and my Father are one.” (John 10:30) In fact Jesus went further. Not only did he have the power to do miraculous things, but others who believed in him would be able to do even greater things than he had done.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:12-14)
The Jews were so incensed at his words that they took up stones to kill him. Jesus challenged them: “Many good works have I showed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, for a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thouself God.” (John 10: 32-33)
His response was telling. “Jesus answered them, is it not written in your law (Psalm 82:6), I said, Ye are gods; (and all of you are children of the most High?)” (John 10:34) In the two thousand years that have passed since that reply, mankind still refuses to believe this simple truth.
Truly, each one of us is Divine, and each one of us has the power to transform the world and the circumstances of our lives.
Allan, Masters of the Light, October 9, 2009, 8:47 pm
Among the authors of the four gospels of the Bible, neither St Mark or St John make any reference to the life led by Jesus before he began his ministry. St Matthew limits his account to the birth of Jesus, and the subsequent flight by Joseph and Mary to Egypt in order to escape the death warrant issued by Herod.
St Luke is the only apostle who makes any mention of the early years of Jesus. In Chapter 2 of his gospel, he mentions that it was the custom of Joseph and Mary to go up to Jerusalem every year to celebrate the feast of the Passover. Jesus naturally accompanied them on these pilgrimages.
On one particular occasion, when Jesus was twelve years old, Joseph and Mary began their return journey to Nazareth after the festival had ended. But after travelling about a day, they discovered to their dismay that Jesus was not with them.
 Hurriedly retracing their footsteps to Jerusalem, they found Jesus in the temple, three days later, ”sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.”
When Mary confronted Jesus, demanding to know why he had caused them such anxiety, he replied: “How is it that ye sought me? Know ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2: 46-49)
Despite the fact that Jesus makes it clear in this response that the time had come to begin “his Father’s work”, most interpreters of the Bible have assumed that Jesus was referring to his father Joseph and his work as a carpenter.
They believe that Jesus returned to Nazareth with his parents following this episode, as the Bible describes, and that he continued to live there working with his father as a carpenter for the next eighteen years.
The absence of any other reference in the Bible to the missing years of Jesus between the ages of twelve and thirty, continues to pose a mystery to those scholars who seek a deeper understanding of the formative years of Jesus, and of his further spiritual development.
For these scholars it seems clear that, if Jesus was able to astonish the religious elders at the temple with his grasp of spiritual matters and the profundity of his answers at the tender age of twelve, it would be highly unlikely that he would simply return to Nazareth and lead a life of obscurity for the next eighteen years.
The problem confronting these researchers is that no written record exists among the Jewish writers of those times about any other events in the life of Jesus during those intervening years. But there may be an unexpected answer to this mystery. Maybe Jesus did not remain in Nazareth as these Biblical scholars have assumed.
Perhaps Jesus left Judea and travelled to other lands in search of greater spiritual wisdom. This could well be the case, for there is ample written evidence elsewhere to show that Jesus did in fact leave Israel and travel to the East. These records indicate that his travels took him to such places as Nepal, India and Tibet.
In 1908, a book was published which claimed to reveal the truth about the lost years of Jesus, and how he spent the eighteen years leading up to his baptism by John in the river Jordan, which began the ministry that is described in the four gospels of the Bible.
 The book was called “The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ“. It was written by an obscure American preacher by the name of Levi H. Dowling. Dowling claimed that the material contained in his book was obtained from his reading of the Akashic Records, which was the same source used by the “sleeping prophet” Edgar Cayce.
Dowling, or “Levi” as he preferred to be called, was born in Belleville, Ohio, in May 1844, and died in August, 1911. Being the son of an immigrant preacher Levi grew up in a highly religious family, and from an early age developed a deep zeal for spiritual understanding.
Levi began preaching at the age of sixteen. At the age of twenty he joined the U.S Army as a Chaplain, and served in this capacity until the end of the Civil War. He then went on to graduate from two medical colleges and practised medicine until he retired to concentrate on his writing.
Early in his life Levi had experienced a vision in which he was told that he would “build a white city”. This vision repeated itself three times over the next few years. It was only later in his life that he realised that the “white city” was in fact his book about the life of Jesus.
In his “Aquarian Gospel“, Levi described the episode where the young Jesus remained behind in the temple while his parents returned to Nazareth without him. According to Levi, one of the people who witnessed his discussions with the priests of the temple was a wealthy Indian Prince by the name of Ravanna.
Ravanna had come to Jerusalem with a group of Brahmin priests in order to gain a better understanding of the spiritual teachings of the Jews. Hearing the young Jesus speak, he was so captivated by his wisdom and understanding that he followed him back to Nazareth.
There, Ravanna met with Joseph and Mary and asked if Jesus might be allowed to travel back to India under his personal protection. Although they feared for the safety of their son, the young Jesus implored his parents that he be permitted to do so.
And so it was that Jesus joined Ravanna and his party as they travelled back to Orissa. During the years that he spent in India, Jesus was able to study the “Vedas” (Sacred Sanskrit texts), and learn at the feet of the “Rishis” (Enlightened Masters) of the East.
According to the “Aquarian Gospel” written by Levi, Jesus lived in India for many years before moving on to visit the peoples of Nepal and Tibet. Finally, at the age of twenty-nine, he set off on the return journey back to the land of his birth.
It should come as no surprise that the “Aquarian Gospel” composed by Levi was ignored by the Church, and he himself was attacked as a charlatan. To this day, Biblical scholars consider the book to be an apocryphal work unworthy of serious study.
Yet there remains one significant coda to this story. When Western explorers visited Tibet in the latter part of the nineteenth century, they came across records of a Jewish “Rishi” who had once lived in the East, and had astonished all who met with him with his eloquence and his profound insight into the human heart.
In 1894, fourteen years before the American preacher Levi Dowling published his account of “The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ“, a Russian doctor and former Cossack officer by the name of Nicolas Notovitch startled the world with a publication of his own. It was called ”The Unknown Life of Christ”.
Notovitch had travelled extensively throughout Afghanistan, India and Tibet. During one of his journeys to the arid, rocky landscape of Ladakh (Western Tibet), he visited the Buddhist Lamasery of Hemis located on the outskirts of Leh, the capital city of Ladakh.
It was while he was visiting this monastery that he had an accident and broke his leg. This unfortunate injury had the unexpected benefit of allowing Notovitch to stay on at the monastery as a guest of the resident Lamas while he was recovering from his accident.
It was while he was convalescing at Hemis that Notovitch learned about the existence of ancient records concerning the life of Jesus. He later claimed that he had been shown two volumes of an ancient manuscript, written in Tibetan script, that referred to “The Life of Saint Issa“.
Notovitch persuaded the Chief Lama to read this manuscript to him, and through an interpreter, was able to record in his travel journal over two hundred verses that were contained in the manuscript, which the monk claimed had been translated from the original “Pali” (ancient Buddhist) script.
The verses that Notovitch later compiled into a book, referred to a man whom the Tibetans called “Issa” (pronounced “Isha”). It is worth remembering that Jesus originally spoke Aramaic, and that his Hebrew name was “Yeshua”.
According to Notovitch, these ancient Tibetan scrolls described the life of “Issa” (Jesus) from the time of his birth up to the time of his death. They told the story of his departure from Jerusalem at the age of thirteen, and his travels across Asia to Benares (then called Kashi).
During the years that Jesus (Issa) spent living in India and Tibet, he was both a student and a teacher. He studied at the feet of the Brahmin Rishis, learning the Hindu Vedas, and in turn passed on his wisdom to all those who turned to him for guidance, regardless of their caste.
Not surprisingly, when Nicolas Notovitch returned to the West and published the book that was based on the notes contained in his travel journal, his work was rejected by the Church. He himself was attacked as a charlatan and a fraud, and was ridiculed as an imposter.
Chief amongst his critics was the German orientalist Max Muller, a famous scholar and author of such popular works as the 50 volume set entitled “Sacred Books of the East”. Muller challenged the existence of these documents, and wrote to the Head of the Hemis monastery himself.
In reply, the Head of the monastery not only claimed that he was unaware of the existence of any manuscript dealing with the life of a man called “Issa”, but he even signed a document that denounced Notovitch as an outright liar. Critics of the book were thereby reassured that his entire publication was a fake.
There was, however, one small problem. One of Notovitch’s most forthright critics was an Indian skeptic by the name of Swami Ahbedananda. The Swami, who was a close friend of Max Muller, was so adamant that this manuscript did not exist, that he travelled to the monastery of Hemis himself in 1922, determined to expose Notovitch as a fraud.
 Upon arrival at Hemis, Swami Ahbedananda was granted the freedom to conduct his own investigation. To his amazement, he found that a manuscript detailing the life of “Issa” did in fact exist, and consisted of 224 verses. Swami Ahbedananda later published a Bengali translation of these verses, and they proved to be virtually identical to the text published earlier by Notovitch.
Swami Ahbedananda left the monastery at Hemis convinced of the existence of the manuscript, and of the authenticity of the legend of “Issa”, and the details of his life in Ladakh prior to his return to the land of his birth at the age of twenty-nine.
The validity of the Tibetan manuscript detailing the life of “Issa” was finally confirmed beyond doubt by another Russian traveller in 1925. The renowned painter and oriental philosopher Nicholas Roerich visited Hemis Lamasery and saw for himself this legendary document.
Roerich and his wife Helena had embarked on an extensive expedition throughout India and surrounding countries, researching their spiritual traditions. In August 1925 they arrived in Leh, where they stayed for about a month.
 Nicholas Roerich It was during this period that Roerich heard rumors about secret documents concerning the life of Issa (Jesus) that were said to be stored at the nearby Tibetan monastery at Hemis. He subsequently travelled to the monastery and was successful in seeing them for himself.
In 1926 Roerich published notes of his travels under the title “Himalaya”. In this publication he made specific mention of the fact that the Christ manuscript had been left to decay in the ‘darkest place’, and that the Lamas based at Hemis displayed little interest in the manuscript. As he wrote:
“Regarding the manuscripts of Christ – first there was a complete denial. Of course denial first comes from the circle of missionaries. Then slowly, little by little, are creeping fragmentary reticent details, difficult to obtain. Finally it appears – that about the manuscripts, the old people in Ladak have heard and know.”
“And such documents as manuscripts about Christ and the Book of Chambhalla lie in the ‘darkest’ place. And the figure of the lama – the compiler of the book – stands like an idol in some sort of fantastic headgear. And how many other relics have perished in dusty corners? For the tantrik-lamas have no interest in them.”
And just a reminder for those people who would like to read my book, it can be reached here
Allan, Articles, October 2, 2009, 9:03 pm
In 1894, fourteen years before the American preacher Levi Dowling published his account of “The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ“, a Russian doctor and former Cossack officer by the name of Nicolas Notovitch startled the world with a publication of his own. It was called “The Unknown Life of Christ”.
Notovitch had travelled extensively throughout Afghanistan, India and Tibet. During one of his journeys to the arid, rocky landscape of Ladakh (Western Tibet), he visited the Buddhist Lamasery of Hemis located on the outskirts of Leh, the capital city of Ladakh.
It was while he was visiting this monastery that he had an accident and broke his leg. This unfortunate injury had the unexpected benefit of allowing Notovitch to stay on at the monastery as a guest of the resident Lamas while he was recovering from his accident.
It was while he was convalescing at Hemis that Notovitch learned about the existence of ancient records concerning the life of Jesus. He later claimed that he had been shown two volumes of an ancient manuscript, written in Tibetan script, that referred to “The Life of Saint Issa“.
Notovitch persuaded the Chief Lama to read this manuscript to him, and through an interpreter, was able to record in his travel journal over two hundred verses that were contained in the manuscript, which the monk claimed had been translated from the original “Pali” (ancient Buddhist) script.
The verses that Notovitch later compiled into a book, referred to a man whom the Tibetans called “Issa” (pronounced “Isha”). It is worth remembering that Jesus spoke Aramaic, and that his Hebrew name was “Yeshua”.
According to Notovitch, these ancient Tibetan scrolls described the life of “Issa” (Jesus) from the time of his birth up to the time of his death. They told the story of his departure from Jerusalem at the age of thirteen, and his travels across Asia to Benares (then called Kashi).
During the years that Jesus (Issa) spent living in India and Tibet, he was both a student and a teacher. He studied at the feet of the Brahmin “Rishis”, learning the Hindu Vedas, and in turn passed on his wisdom to all those who turned to him for guidance, regardless of their caste.
Not surprisingly, when Nicolas Notovitch returned to the West and published the book that was based on the notes contained in his travel journal, his work was rejected by the Church. He himself was attcked as a charlatan and a fraud, and was ridiculed as an imposter.
Chief amongst his critics was the German orientalist Max Muller, a famous scholar and author of such popular works as the 50 volume set entitled “Sacred Books of the East”. Muller challenged the existence of these documents, and wrote to the Head of the Hemis Monastery himself.
In reply, the Head of the Monastery not only claimed that he was unaware of the existence of any manuscript dealing with the life of a man called “Issa”, but he even signed a document that denounced Notovitch as an outright liar. Critics of the book were thereby reassured that his entire publication was a fake.
There was, however, one small problem. One of Notovitch’s most forthright critics was an Indian skeptic by the name of Swami Ahbedananda. The Swami, who was a close friend of Max Muller, was so adamant that this manuscript did not exist that he travelled to the Monastery of Hemis himself in 1922, determined to expose Notovitch as a fraud.
Upon arrival at Hemis, Swami Ahbedananda was granted the freedom to conduct his own investigation. To his amazement, he found that a manuscript detailing the life of “Issa” did in fact exist, and consisted of 224 verses. Swami Ahbedananda later published a Bengali translation of these verses, and they proved to be virtually identical to the text published earlier by Notovitch.
Swami Ahbedananda left the Monastery at Hemis convinced of the existence of the manuscript, and of the authenticity of the legend of “Issa”, and the details of his life in Ladakh prior to his return to the land of his birth at the age of twenty-nine.
The validity of the Tibetan manuscript detailing the life of “Issa” was finally confirmed beyond doubt by another Russian traveller in 1925. The renowned painter and oriental philosopher Nicholas Roerich visited Hemis Lamasery and saw for himself this legendary document.
Roerich and his wife Helena had embarked on an extensive expedition throughout India and surrounding countries, researching their spiritual traditions. In August 1925 they arrived in Leh, where they stayed for about a month. It was during this period that Roerich heard rumors about secret documents concerning the life of “Issa” (Jesus) that were said to be stored at the nearby Tibetan monastery at Hemis. He subsequently travelled to the monastery and was succcessful in seeing them for himself.
In 1926 Roerich published notes of his travels under the title Himalaya. In this publication he made specific mention of the fact that the Christ document had been left to decay in the ‘darkest place’, and that the Lamas based at Hemis displayed little interest in the manuscript. As he wrote:
“Regarding the manuscripts of Christ – first there was complete denial. Of course denial comes first from the circle of missionaries. Then slowly, little by little, are creeping fragmentary reticent details, difficult to obtain. Finally it appears – that about the manuscripts, the old people of Ladak have heard and know.
“And such documents as manuscripts about Christ and the Book of Chamballa lie in the ‘darkest’ place. And the figure of the lama – the compiler of the book – stands like an idol in some sort of fantastic headgear. And how many other relics have perished in dusty corners? For the tantrik-lamas have no interest in them.”
Allan, Lost Years of Jesus, October 1, 2009, 4:46 pm
In 1908, a book was published which claimed to reveal the truth about the lost years of Jesus, and how he spent the eighteen years leading up to his baptism by John in the river Jordan, which began the ministry that is described in the four gospels of the Bible.
The book was called “The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ“. It was written by an obscure American preacher by the name of Levi H. Dowling. Dowling claimed that the material contained in his book was obtained from his reading of the Akashic Records, which was the same source used by the “sleeping prophet” Edgar Cayce.
Dowling, or “Levi” as he preferred to be called, was born in Belleville, Ohio, in May 1844, and died in August, 1911. He was the son of an immigrant preacher. Levi grew up in a highly religious family, and from an early age developed a deep zeal for spiritual understanding.
Levi began preaching at the age of sixteen. At the age of twenty he joined the U.S Army as a Chaplain, and served in this capacity until the end of the Civil War. He then went on to graduate from two medical colleges and practised medicine until he retired to concentrate on his writing.
Early in his life Levi had experienced a vision in which he was told that he would “build a white city”. This vision repeated itself three times over the next few years. It was only later in his life that he realised that the “white city” was in fact his book about the life of Jesus.
In his “Aquarian Gospel“, Levi described the episode where the young Jesus remained behind in the temple while his parents returned to Nazareth without him. According to Levi, one of the people who witnessed his discussions with the priests of the temple was a wealthy Indian Prince by the name of Ravanna.
Ravanna had come to Jerusalem with a group of Brahmin priests in order to gain a better understanding of the spiritual teachings of the Jews. Hearing the young Jesus speak, he was so captivated by his wisdom and understanding that he followed him back to Nazareth.
There, Ravanna met with Joseph and Mary and asked if Jesus might be allowed to travel back to India under his personal protection. Although they feared for the safety of their son, the young Jesus implored his parents that he be permitted to do so.
And so it was that Jesus joined Ravanna and his party as they travelled back to Orissa. During the years that he spent in India, Jesus was able to study the “Vedas” (Sacred Sanskrit texts), and learn at the feet of the “Rishis” of the East.
According to the “Aquarian Gospel” written by Levi, Jesus lived in India for many years before moving on to visit the peoples of Nepal and Tibet. Finally, at the age of twenty-nine, he set off on the return journey back to the land of his birth.
It should come as no surprise that the “Aquarian Gospel” composed by Levi was ignored by the Church, and he himself was attacked as a charlatan. To this day, Biblical scolars consider the book to be an apocryphal work unworthy of serious study.
Yet there remains one significant coda to this story. When Western explorers visited Tibet in the latter part of the nineteenth century, they came across records of a Jewish “Rishi” who had once lived in the East, and had astonished all who met with him with his eloquence and his profound insight into the human heart.
Allan, Lost Years of Jesus, September 25, 2009, 8:06 pm
Among the authors of the four gospels of the Bible, neither St Mark or St John make any reference to the life led by Jesus before he began his ministry. St Matthew limits his account to the birth of Jesus, and the subsequent flight by Joseph and Mary to Egypt in order to escape the death warrant issued by Herod.
St Luke is the only apostle who makes any mention of the early years of Jesus. In Chapter 2 of his gospel, he mentions that it was the custom of Joseph and Mary to go up to Jerusalem every year to celebrate the feast of the Passover. Jesus naturally accompanied them on these pilgrimages.
On one particular occasion, when Jesus was twelve years old, Joseph and Mary began their return journey to Nazareth after the festival had ended. But after travelling about a day, they discovered to their dismay that Jesus was not with them.
Hurriedly retracing their footsteps to Jerusalem, they found Jesus in the temple, three days later, “sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.”
When Mary confronted Jesus, demanding to know why he had caused them such anxiety, he replied: “How is it that ye sought me? Know ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2: 46-49)
Despite the fact that Jesus makes it clear in this response that the time had come to begin “his Father’s work”, most interpreters of the Bible have assumed that Jesus was referring to his father Joseph and his work as a carpenter.
They believe that Jesus returned to Nazareth with his parents following this episode, as the Bible describes, and that he continued to live there working with his father as a carpenter for the next eighteen years.
The absence of any other reference in the Bible to the missing years of Jesus between the ages of twelve and thirty, continues to pose a mystery to those scholars who seek a deeper understanding of the formative years of Jesus, and of his further spiritual development.
For these scholars it seems clear that, if Jesus was able to astonish the religious elders at the temple with his grasp of spiritual matters and the profundity of his answers at the tender age of twelve, it would be highly unlikely that he would simply return to Narareth and live a life of obscurity for the next eighteen years.
The problem confronting these researchers is that no written record exists among the Jewish writers of those times about any other events in the life of Jesus during those intervening years. But there may be an unexpected answer to this mystery.
Perhaps Jesus did not remain in Nazareth as these Biblical scholars have assumed. Perhaps Jesus left Judea and travelled to other lands in search of greater spiritual wisdom.
This could well be the case, for there is ample written evidence elsewhere that Jesus did in fact leave Israel and travel to the East. These records show that his travels took him to such places as Nepal, India and Tibet, as we shall see from the following instalment.
Allan, Lost Years of Jesus, September 18, 2009, 9:02 pm
 What Dandamis explained to Alexander the Great in life, and Kalyana showed him in death, is that those who reach the highest level of consciousness in life – the state of Pure Awareness – lose their fear of physical death.
They are no longer subject to the physical limitations of the body that govern those who spend their entire lives at the lowest level of consciousness that is known as “physical reality”. They are eternally free from the cloying grasp of the flesh.
Through the examples of their lives the “Rishis” demonstrated what they taught, and that is that within each one of us there exist many levels of consciousness, and that it is possible in this lifetime to transcend the lowest level of physical reality, and ascend to the highest level of Supreme Awareness.
Those who have achieved this God-like state, like Dandamis, Kalyana, and countless numbers of “Rishis” before them, not only acquire freedom from the limitations of the body, but also complete fearlessness in the face of death. As Dandamis replied when Alexander threatened to kill him: “Brahmins neither love gold nor fear death”.
But the accomplishment of this Supreme State of Consciousness does not just lead to the enlightenment of the soul. It carries with it the power to transform life and manipulate matter. This transformation manifests in the form of powers that have traditionally been referred to by their Sanskrit name of “Siddhis”.
These “Siddhis” can be achieved either as a result of arduous sffort and concentration, under the guidance of a qualified teacher, or they can manifest spontaneously once the necessary spiritual level has been attained. These powers include:
- The power to choose the moment of one’s death
- The power to be undisturbed by hunger or thirst
- The power to be undisturbed by heat or cold
- The power to hear things far away
- The power to see things far away
- The power to teleport the body
- The power to be in two places at once
- The power to assume any outward form
- The power to enter into any other form
- The power to raise the dead
- The power to manifest any thought-form
- The power to overcome the forces of nature
- The power to understand the thoughts of others
- The power to know the past and the future
The feats that have been performed by “Rishis” throughout the ages are so far beyond the experience and imagination of common men and women, that those who have performed them have come to be regarded as “Gods” or “Divine Beings”. This was as true during the time of Alexander as it was at the time of Christ.
There is almost no limit to the power of these “Sidhis”, or to the circumstances in which they can be applied. Yet few people today are prepared to believe that such powers exist. Modern science simply rejects the possibility of anything that threatens to defy “the known laws of physics”.
The “Rishis” themselves were never troubled by the ignorance of the masses or the derision of their critics. They were content to use their powers whenever suitable circumstances arose, either to relieve suffering or to inspire understanding. They never used these powers to draw attention to themselves in a boastful or ostentatious manner.
Yet whether or not common people believe in the existence of these powers, they carry a sombre warning for all mankind.
For just as the Jedi Masters in the “Star Wars” epic could use the power of “The Force” for good or evil, so the dragon-like entities that were witnessed by Michael Harner during his drug-induced vision are able to use all of the above “Siddhis” to pursue their own diabolical ends.
Allan, Masters of the Light, September 11, 2009, 8:47 pm
|
