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Nonlocal Consciousness and the Anthropology of Religion

Article  in  EXPLORE The Journal of Science and Healing · October 2018

DOI: 10.1016/j.explore.2018.10.007

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 SCHWARTZREPORT

Nonlocal Consciousness and the

Anthropology of Religion
D1X XStephan A. SchwartzD2X X

T
he Schwartzreport tracks emerging case for the continuity of consciousness. other nonlocal task. Why? Because medi-
trends that will affect the world, par- And while I am on it, I think it is notable tators can attain and sustain intentioned
ticularly the United States. For that although consciousness is often con- focused awareness better than random
EXPLORE it focuses on matters of ceived of in physics terms, some of our people who lack this training, and inten-
health in the broadest sense of that term, includ- most important insights about conscious- tioned focused awareness is how one
ing medical issues, changes in the biosphere, ness have come from medicine – the opens to the nonlocal. What differs is not
technology, and policy considerations, all of research on NDEs, therapeutic intention, the process of the experience, but the
which will shape our culture and our lives. and reincarnation being examples. assessment we make of the experience
Most discussions of religion center on As a researcher, I think enduring reli- through the culture of our worldview. Be
dogmas and beliefs, either of a particular gions should be seen as examples of empir- it religion or science, we interpret the
religion or a comparison across denomina- ical science. I use the term enduring experience. In science we assess nonlocal
tions. I would like to look at religion from religions to distinguish from transitory consciousness not through faith but in
the perspective of a consciousness experi- cults. All of the enduring faiths over gener- objectively verifiable ways. We have pro-
mentalist, setting aside the dogmas and ations and millennia developed a kind of tocols, and instead of dogmas and beliefs,
beliefs. empirical neurobiology involving opening we have objective measurement, and the
When I look at religion, any religion, as to nonlocal consciousness. I see this pro- shared world view that facts matter.
an experimentalist, what I see is a cohort cess echoed in acupuncture, which devel- Experiencing nonlocal consciousness is
of people consensually holding a world- oped over 6,000 years ago,1 and ayurvedic the fundamental experience of religions to
view. The process of assembling the medicine which developed from open a timeless spaceless domain. That is
cohort seems to me very much like 3300 1300 BCE.2 not really surprising since a nonlocal con-
Thomas Kuhn’s description of the para- There is an innate recognition of the sciousness experience is faith’s birth cra-
digm process. The paradigm in religion is reality of nonlocal consciousness in all dle. Regardless of denomination, dogma,
defined by scripture and dogma. The para- religions. A small group of materialist sci- or belief, all religions begin with a single
digms differ in many ways but they all entists, another small cohort of atheists individual who experiences a nonlocal
have one thing in common. All are cen- and a few other small factions may think consciousness event. Siddhartha Gautama,
tered on the aspect of consciousness that otherwise, but for the bulk of humanity the Buddha, whose birth is dated between
in science we call nonlocal, and that is across time, geography, and culture, 578 and 447 BCE, awakens in the hermit-
now being explicitly researched in near within the religious spiritual context the age of Arada Kalama, a teacher of medita-
death studies, therapeutic intention work, reality of nonlocal consciousness has been tion who shows him how, through
and remote viewing. foundational. meditation, he can attain the “state of
In religion the individual experience of Across all religions rituals are designed non-existence;” and he does experience
nonlocal awareness is called spirit. The to the same end, to train a person to attain this state of intentioned focused aware-
eternal aspect of the self, religions’ soul. and sustain intentioned focused aware- ness. There are several versions of Bud-
It is a concept amenable to objective veri- ness. The mechanism to do this is dha’s awakening. I will use the description
fication. We see one aspect in the near grounded in the rituals. That is why the of the scholar monk Thanissaro Bhikkhu,
death studies. Thanks to the research at cultures of martial art dojoes, Buddist tem- (Geoffrey DeGraff) an American Buddhist
the Division of Perceptual Studies at the ples, and Christian monasteries are based monk of the Thai forest kammatthana tra-
University of Virginia School of Medicine, on a life-style of attaining and sustaining dition, whose books and videos have had
we also know something about the intentioned focused awareness, though it a major impact on the modern under-
continuity-of-consciousness. This extraordi- will be expressed in many different ways. standing of Buddhism.
nary decades-long project, led by two gener- In consciousness research we confirm He writes, “The Buddha described the
ations of physicians, first Ian Stevenson the wisdom of that religious anthropol- Awakening experience in one of his dis-
and then, when he retired in 2002, taken ogy. We know from the experimental data courses, first there is the knowledge of the
over by Jim Tucker, in the most methodi- that meditators routinely do better at non- regularity of the Dhamma — which in this
cal and rigorous manner have studied rein- local tasks than non-meditators.3,4 context means dependent co-arising —
carnation. Their data, like that on NDEs, Whether the task is remote viewing, or then there is the knowledge of nibbana. In
presents a compelling objectively measured expressing therapeutic intention, or any other passages, he describes the three

402 EXPLORE November/December 2018, Vol. 14, No. 6 Schwartzreport

stages that led to insight into dependent unity. In the New Testament spirit is come a variety of mystical, unitive experi-
co-arising: knowledge of his own previous described as that aspect of consciousness ences, states, conditions, or fulfillments—
lifetimes, knowledge of the passing away wherein a direct relationship with God is pos- the various samadhis—along with the
and rebirth of all living beings, and finally sible.9 It is the spiritual aspect that enables attainments or powers (siddhis).”13
insight into the four Noble Truths. The continuing conversation with the divine The linkage with the nonlocal and the
first two forms of knowledge were not new Spirit.10 Totems like rosaries, religious statues, creation of sacred space is another mani-
with the Buddha. They have been and structured prayers help the follower to festation of consciousness threaded
reported by other seers throughout his- develop intentioned focused awareness, throughout religions across time, geogra-
tory, although the Buddha's insight into which research has shown is the key to open- phy, and culture. There is always a dedi-
the second knowledge had a special twist: ing to nonlocal awareness. cated place to meet, whether it is a temple,
He saw that beings are reborn according to The Christian saint and Carmelite mys- a cathedral, a synagogue, or an Etruscan
the ethical quality of their thoughts, tic St. Teresa of Avila, in the sixteenth cen- oak grove. Why does this place issue seem
words, and deeds, and that this quality is tury, counseled: to matter so much? Is there something
essentially a factor of the mind. The qual- objectively verifiable about “sacred” space
ity of one’s views and intentions deter- “This magnificent refuge is inside beyond the obvious psychological emo-
mines the experienced result of one’s you. Enter. Shatter the darkness that tional importance? The research data sug-
actions.”5 shrouds the doorway. Be bold. Be gests there is. It is more numinous.
Jesus, at the beginning of the Common humble. Put away the incense and Carl Jung described numinosity thus,
Era, at the age of 30, experiences an open- forget the incantations they taught “We should not be in the least surprised if
ing of consciousness when he is baptized you. Ask no permission from the the empirical manifestations of uncon-
and goes to meditate in the wilderness.6 In authorities. Close your eyes and fol- scious contents bear all the marks of some-
610 CE, at 40, Muhammad experiences a low your breath to the still place that thing illimitable, something not
revelation in a cave called Hira where he leads to the invisible path that leads determined by space time. This quality is
had gone to meditate. The archangel you home. Follow your breath.”11 It numinous.... numina are psychic entia...”-
Gabriel appeared to him and told him he is a statement from a medieval Jung says “numina are psychic entitia.”14 I
would be a messenger of God.7 Roman Catholic that a second cen- think the research confirms that. Numina,
Those individual revelations only tury BCE Buddhist could have com- I believe, should be thought of as informa-
become the basis of a religion, however, if fortably made, and did. tion. Numinosity is a kind of nonlocal
they are recognized by others. Revelation informational architecture that can be
is an individual experience, but religion is The Buddhist Patanjali Yoga Sutras, detected by consciousness, and to some
a group consensus, that is what separates which date at least to the second century degree manipulated through intentioned
cranks from prophets who must have per- BCE, illustrate this. They speak at length focused awareness.
sonalities charismatic enough to attract about moving into nonlocal awareness The more frequently attention is
people to come and listen to them. Every- through meditation. Psychologist William focused on anything the more it develops
thing after that is the product of human Braud, who made a particular study of this, numinous qualities, which may be of posi-
thought and action. From the accounts of noted: “The sixth, seventh, and eight ‘limbs’ tive or negative valence. The more numi-
the teachings arise scriptures and the insti- of ashtanga Yoga are dharana (concentra- nous the object, the easier it becomes for
tutions that grow up around those teach- tion), dhyana (meditation), and samadhi others to unconsciously sense this quality.
ings, manned by individuals who commit (profound absorption), respectively.”12 Numinous constructs excite a stronger
themselves to maintaining the dogma. But The Patanjali source refines this further, psychophysical response than mundane
it all begins with one person’s nonlocal Braud explains. “The repeated continua- objects, and as such they can be uncon-
consciousness experience or experiences. tion, or uninterrupted stream of that one sciously discriminated from less-numinous
And that person’s experiences of the non- point of focus is called absorption in med- objects.
local becomes the path. itation (dhyana), and is the seventh of the In remote viewing research we know
With that foundation it isn’t really sur- eight steps” (tatra pratyaya ekatanata dhya- that targets of greater numinosity are easier
prising that religions seek to give practi- nam). When these three are practiced to perceive than targets that may have sim-
tioners a measure of focused control over together, the composite process is called ilar physical characteristics but are less
mind and body, holding out the promise samyama. Samyama might be translated as numinous. Functionally, that means that
that they, too, may be able to open to the constraint; thorough, complete, or perfect Chartres cathedral is easier to see than a
nonlocal aspect of consciousness. Inevita- restraint; or full control; it might also be warehouse of the same size. Why? Because
bly the paths incorporate some model of translated as communion or mind-poise. Chartres, from the moment of its concep-
nonlocal unity promising it as the path or Samyama conveys a sense of knowing tion and for all the centuries since that
the way. Empirical observation across mil- through being or awareness through moment, has been the focus of unnum-
lennia has vouchsafed the efficacy of rit- becoming what is to be known. Through bered acts of intentioned awareness experi-
uals that create intentioned focused mastery of samyama comes insight enced in a heightened state of emotion. In
awareness. (prajna), and through its progressive appli- contrast nobody pays any attention to
In Christianity the spirit of the Lord is the cation, in stages, come knowledge of the warehouses. Similarly, water left in a room
creative power of life.8 It is an incorporeal Self and of the various principles of reality where therapeutic intention is regularly
feeling of connecting with a greater conscious (tattvas). With increasing yogic practice expressed has a different infrared

Schwartzreport EXPLORE November/December 2018, Vol. 14, No. 6 403

spectroscopy profile than control water England. Like Gary Schwartz, Pickering Economic Theory, Economic Policy and
located in another space. used real and scrambled words. In this Economic History at the University of
The dynamics of numinosity even study they were drawn in Persian script. Innsbruck in Austria, and statistician
extend into the letters of the languages in Participants were shown a word for 10 sec- Janette Walde Department of Statistics
which Scriptures are written. Can that be onds then asked to draw it. Independent also at the University of Innsbruck con-
possible? It is such a radical idea that I judges evaluated the reproductions with- ducted a sixth study relevant to the
want to present seven experiments carried out knowing which words were real or anthropology of religion. They used sym-
out in different places, at different times, scrambled. The judges assessed that the bols such as flags, emblems or trademarks
by different researchers. Five of them real words were reproduced significantly that were once well known but were now
involved a prediction of improved mem- more accurately than the false words. This forgotten, or symbols that are very familiar
ory, one involving improved confidence, finding was later successfully repeated in to some people but not others, such as the
and one involving a greater sense of student projects using Persian and Arabic Chinese Coca-Cola symbol, or Far Eastern
“spirit” for real vs. fake words. They all words.18 religious symbols.
focused on a model of consciousness A fourth study was carried out by Arden For each real symbol, a fake symbol was
reported by British biologist Rupert Shel- Mahlberg, an American psychologist at created using similar patterns and com-
drake that he called Morphic Resonance.15 the Integral Psychology Center. Mahlberg plexity. Participants were then shown pairs
A model that is closely resonant with the took a slightly different tack, instead of of symbols, one real and the false, in a ran-
idea of numinosity. language as that term is usually under- dom order, and they were asked to judge
The first test involved memorization of a stood he used a code. In 1836, Samuel which of each pair had more “spirit.”
nursery rhyme in Japanese by non-Japanese Morse inventor of the telegraph created a They selected real symbols significantly
speakers, one a real nursery rhyme and two code, assisted by Joseph Henry and Alfred more often than the fake ones. In a follow
that were meaningless. Then participants in Vail that permitted messages to be sent as up test this group compared real Russian
the UK and the USA were asked which a series of electric signals. The code con- words written in Cyrillic along with mean-
they could remember better, predicting that sisted of a sequence of dits, a short signal, ingless anagrams. Again real and false
the real nursery rhyme would be easier to in written form represented by a dot, and words were presented in pairs, and partici-
remember because of morphic resonance. dahs, a long signal, represented by a dash. pants judged which word had more
Rupert Sheldrake, who formulated the idea Mahlberg created a series of real Morse “spirit.” As before, real words were selected
upon which the study was based reports code messages and a similar-looking but significantly more than the anagrams.20
“that this was indeed the result, to a statisti- fake code. His participants were all peo- Kimberly Robbins and Chris Roe, both
cally significant degree.”16 ple who did not know Morse code, a part of the Psychology Division at the
A second test was reported by Gary rather specialized skill. The protocol was University of Northampton, Park Campus
Schwartz, then a Yale professor of psy- a comparison of the ability to learn the in Northhampton England, designed an
chology, currently Director of The Labora- fake and genuine Morse code. On aver- experiment similar to the one used by
tory for Advances in Consciousness and age, participants learned real Morse code Ertel, this time using real and fake Chinese
Health at the University of Arizona. significantly more accurately than the characters. Sixty participants who knew
Schwartz used 48 three-letter Hebrew new code.19 nothing of the Chinese language or the
words from the Old Testament, of which A fifth study by was carried out German characters used to write it, were shown five
24 were common and 24 were rare words. psychology professor Suitbert Ertel, at the real and five fake Chinese characters in a
From each of those words he produced a University of G€ ottingen. Ertel tested rec- random sequence. Then on a sheet with
meaningless anagram by scrambling the ognition of hiragana, a phonetic form Jap- 20 characters they were asked to circle the
letters, thus producing a total of 96 anese writing and predicted that these 10 they had just seen. They recognized the
“words.” Participants who did not know characters would be recognized better real characters significantly better than the
Hebrew were shown these words one by when they were the right side up than false ones.21
one and asked to guess their meaning by when upside down, since right side up What is all this data telling us? The
writing down the first English word that would correspond to the “morphic form” forms of the rituals of religion, the places
came to mind. They were also asked to known by Japanese writers. This is what he where these rituals are conducted, even
estimate their confidence in their guess. found. In another experiment, he com- down to the letters in which the scriptures
He found on average that the group of 90 pared memory for fake vs. real hiragana cited there are written, are founded in con-
participants were significantly more confi- characters, and found that real characters sciousness.
dent about their guesses when viewing real were remembered better than fakes. Ertel Finally, let me turn to the elements of
words than scrambled words, even though then ran additional, more complex tests, the rituals themselves because they too, I
they did not know some of the words were which resulted in ambiguous outcomes. think, were all designed through empirical
real and others false.17 Robert Schorn, professor of psychology observation across generations with nonlo-
The third test was reported by Alan at Department of Psychology and Medical cal consciousness in mind. Although the
Pickering a psychologist specializing in Sciences, University for Health Sciences, dogmas and culture of each religion are
cognitive psychology. At the time he was a Medical Informatics and Technology very different, the rituals are remarkably
lecturer at The Hatfield Polytechnic (now (UMIT), Hall in Tyrol, Austria, Gottfried similar and constitute protocols for open-
the University of Hertfordshire) in Tappeiner, professor in the Department of ing to nonlocal consciousness, in the same

404 EXPLORE November/December 2018, Vol. 14, No. 6 Schwartzreport

way that a research protocol supports indi- prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and anterior 13. Schwartz S, Dossey L. Nonlocality, intention,
viduals opening to nonlocal consciousness cingulate cortex (ACC).”24 From New- and observer effects in healing studies. Explore.
in a remote viewing experiment. The only berg’s work and that of other researchers 2010;6(September/October(5)):295–305.
real different is context and intent. In reli- has arisen the subdiscipline of Neuro- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2010.06.011.
Also in Oxford Handbook of Psychology and
gion the context is a religious service or theology.
Spirituality. ed. L. Miller. Oxford: Oxford Uni-
practice, and the intent is to have a sense For me what is perhaps most interesting
versity Press, 2012 (in press).
of spiritual connection. In science the con- of all in studying both religions and sci- 14. Jung C. Dreams II. Trans. by R.F.C. Hull.
text is a laboratory experiment and the ence is that this is one of history’s great Princeton University Press Princeton N.J.,
intent is to describe a target the viewer will confluences, the practices of the religion 1974.
be shown in, say, an hour. and the practices of science have found 15. Sheldrake R. A New Science of Life: The
When the faith-believers gather in their common ground, and reached the same Hypothesis of Formative Causation. London:
“sacred” space their collective intent conclusions. Blond and Briggs; 1981.
expressed through the recitation of the 16. Sheldake R. The Presence of the Past: Morphic
words in the language similarly make the Resonance and the Habits of Nature. Roches-
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of nuns, Sikhs, and Buddhists. His
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