Who says Science and Religion should be kept seperate? Alas, plenty of people. When it comes to discoveries like this, you begin to see why so many Fundamentalists fear it.

Like a Genie in a bottle, God is now readily available to us. Bound in a helmet of simple design. The "God Experience" is there for anyone who wants to get intimate with a "higher power". The man responsible is Dr. Michael Persinger. He didn't need thousands of true names, or any incantations. All he needed to bind God was a motorcycle helmet and a few magnetic coils.

Using this simple device, a magnetic field can be produced, which penetrates the temporal lobes. The resulting experience is one of dislocation of self. There are two temporal lobes, one on the right and left sides of the brain. Both are responsible for the experience of "self", through the "forty hertz components". The left temporal lobe is usually the dominant side. Once the forty hertz component on that side is "turned off" by the magnetic field, the brain is forced into an experience of the infinite, rather than the individual. Communication between the two sides is confused, so the experience of "self" from the right temporal lobe, is interpreted as an overwhelming "other" presence. Hence, the experience of "God". An infinite other being.

Research has also been done into brain activity during meditation and prayer. Activity is shown in the pre-frontal cortex, which is responsible for our attention. Yet, at the same time, the superior parietal lobe is almost completely inactive. The superior parietal lobe is thought to be responsible for our perception of space, time and our orientation. It is little suprise, then, that some people have experiences like projection. Astral travel is easily explained through distribution of brain activity.

So...what you are saying here is that all astral projection experiences might just be an optical (sensory?) illusion?

When a person engages in meditation, or even prayer, this change in brain activity can follow. An increase in attention, a decrease in spacial, temporal and locational awareness. It really is a simple explanation for why people have such experiences. They feel like they are beyond their own space and time. That they are in a different location. Seperate from their own bodies.

It is not as romantic a view as the spirit actually leaving the body, but it is firmly based in science.

How does science explain when two or more share the same experience? When they link up to each other, unlimited by distance, or meets on the astral plane?

I want one of those helmets!

That depends on the facts which are involved. What form of contact? What information was exchanged? When did it happen? Where were the people involved during this? In a physical form, to be specific.

Hehehe. Me too. Check this out.

Persinger

I have, on several occasions felt the presence of others, regardless of distance.

A year and a half ago I was described in detail by a man in Arizona (I live in Norway). I had never met him physichally, and he had never seen a picture of me. I've felt his presence here, so real I felt I could just reach out and touch him. When asking him if he was there, he not only confirmed but also described not only my surroundings but what I was doing at the time. There was no way he could know that...unless he had actually been here, in Spirit.

Around that same time I was healed by a girl in the states. (nothing major, just a check-up, for experiments sake) Within thirty seconds of my request, online, I could feel her coming, like a thunderstorm...or a whirlwind. I have no words to describe that sensation, but having her prodding around inside me left me shaking for hours. I have never met her or seen her either.

I have recently achieved a bond, a link so strong, with another person, whom I also have yet to meet. This link is so strong that we feel each others presence, emotions, complete each others sentences etc. If that person has some sort of physichal pain, I feel it to, even if we don't talk together at the time.

Together with another friend, living in another country, I tapped into the energy resources surrounding this board some months back. The mental fingerprints, so to speak, of everyone who is here. It was an attempt to heal this board, make it friendlier. I could feel the energy of the board, and of the one working with me. Afterwards, we shared our experiences, and they were the same...

Is that detailed enough?

The bond I have is so strong, that the other person, on this board, who had logged off and gone to bed, felt a sharp pain behind her ear.

At the same time, my puppy had jumped up and scratched me behind the ear, and bit my ear. We had NO contact at this time, and besides that the bond is so strong, that she woke me up this morning at 5am to get me to log on. Just by calling "water".

Detailed enough for subjective evidence, certainly, but not for objective evidence. The problem with humans is, that we filter everything through a set of mental schema. We shape what we see, through the exertions of our personality and beliefs. I'll give you a simple example. A friend of mine believes in UFOs. I do not. When we were both out walking together at night, we saw a light in the sky. His immediate reaction was to claim that it might be an alien vessel. Mine was to say it was a helicopter. Simple example, but i trust you see my point?

Anyway, your beliefs will shape your opinions and your experiences, just as mine will shape my own. That is part of being an individual. What is needed is evidence which is objective. Hard facts, in other words.

I've thought of another example, involving NDEs. People claim to leave their bodies, and that they are able to see what is going on beneath them. Their own bodies being operated on. What the doctors are doing, etc. A fact they are not aware of, is that there is a number written on top of the lighting, above many operating tables. Nobody has ever been able to say what this number is. Nobody even mentioned it.

Think about it then...objectively, not out from your own beliefs, or disbeliefs. How could someone who has never seen more of me than text on a screen describe not only what I look like, but the position of my furniture, the color of my wallls...How could he know what I would be doing at a certain time?

Perhaps you told him some of these things in earlier conversations? The memory is a fallible thing. I have had conversations where people know things about me, that i did not remember telling them. It happens to us all. It is also amazing how people can deduce things which are not directly said, based on your personality and related opinions.

Let us focus on the reality of the situation. You have made claims in other threads that you can project, yes? Might i ask you what constraints are on this ability? Can you go anywhere? Could you, for instance, project yourself to the location of another user?

I can, but it requires that I know that user very well...and that the link is present. I'm not that good with this yet. In time, whenever I get time to train, I will hopefully reach the level where I can project at will though. I know it is possible, all that is needed is something to focus on, a name, a face, a nick...anything personal to that person.

Ah, that is unfortunate. I had in mind a little experiment. No matter.


In relation to this idea of a link, i have experienced similar things to you. I often finish the sentences of my closest friends. It comes from knowing them so well. I don't lay claim to any psychic powers. I don't believe in them. In fact, i would argue that they are born from ignorance of brain functions and not understanding the nature of probability.

Sorry, had to go there for a while...I forgot this paragraph.

You have a point that it might have been something I've told him earlier...but the problem is, I hadn't known him that long. I don't have a habit of discussing my interior design, it's really not that spectacular. We spent the time focusing on spiritual matters, since that was the point of the chatroom I met him in...I had a newborn baby at the time, which makes sure I had no structure on my day whatsoever. With a child only a few months old, you cook, clean, shower and eat when you get a chance, not based on what time of day it is. Which means, the chance of him guessing my actions are very very limited....

You've known me longer...would you be able to guess where my couch is placed in the livingroom? Or what color my kitchen walls has? (I haven't painted them, I can tell you that much...)

I can guess what that experinmwent was...and sorry, I don't know you that well. :p I guess testimonials from friends here don't make a difference?

Would you be able to tell where a friend has pain, without them even mentioning it? Can you tell wether or not their window is open, without being there?

For a start, i have not really spoken to you. So the opportunities for me to gather random information about you, are just not there. I appreciate that your conversations may be limited, but the possibility remains that you could had dropped hints. Hints that you never even noticed. It happens all the time. It is fascinating what we tell people indirectly.

Really, it is not that impressive as evidence. I could tell you similar stories, that have no supernatural basis. Matters of forgotten conversations and deduction.

Again, they would be subjective evidence. Which is fine as far as it goes, but when you are dealing with claims that go beyond the normal, you want really solid evidence to back them up.

I can tell you that my friend has his window open right now. I don't know for sure...but i can phone him and check.

Forgotten conversations over a period of just a few weeks? My memory is bad, but not -that- bad, hunnie...It wasn't like we talked constantly. He was on library time, thus very limited. The first time I felt him here, I had only talked to him two or three times. So your theory, as impressive as it is, doesn't really apply in this case.