The Editor on Religious Education

In an ideal world, "religion" would  mean "binding us together" in love and mutual service in one spiritual/physical reality, where we would leave behind self-centredness and become conscious participants in the universe.

It doesn't quite work out like that in reality, because we can do no other than see things from personal (or corporate) points of view. The  point of view of a child is very different from that of a mature person capable of abstract thinking. The point of view of a Quaker is very different from that of an Orthodox Christian, or of that of one the kinds of Buddhism, Islam, or  Humanism. "Religion" implies relationship, love, creativity, being lifted out of self, but if we reduce it to philosophical statements, scientific language, we no longer have the relationship and being lifted out of self. In practice, "Religion" implies being part of some kind of community, with a history, ethos, ideals and prejudices. It cannot be avoided. But we will all agree that some communities are saner and healthier than others, and can bring us to see things a little more from the point of view of the Whole. This where .RELIGIOUS EDUCATION is so important.
    We need to be informed about these varying points of view in which we experience community, selflessness and so on.  But let us not be cynical Post Modernists, and say that it is all a matter of taste.  Hence: "Brilliant New Science and Spirit Course" below. Some of it is being tried out in two church secondary schools at present:  As it is a new course, it would be very helpful if some readers could try it out.. on themselves, church groups, school classes, and let me know how it went. Rationally, surely, there OUGHT to be such a course. Can you help us get it better?.

Religious Education

"BRILLIANT NEW SCIENCE AND SPIRIT COURSE" :

Victor Zammit, in his weekly newsletter, writes:

Conceptualized by the Rev. Michael Cocks MA(NZ) Philosophy Psychology, MA(Oxon)Theology, who is a clergyman in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa-New Zealand and who has spent his working life in parish work, the last five years as British Chaplain in West Sweden. He can be reached at deardencocks@gmail.com. He put the course together as a presentation for lecturers, teachers, and anyone who wants to know more about the afterlife.

* * *Read more and see sample lessons.

Editor's note: Victor Zammit's word "brilliant" is more suitably applied to the work of Dr Craig Hogan, whose work Your Eternal Self, with his permission has been plundered almost in its entirety. I have adapted it for possible use in the classroom. How effective it is, will depend on the teacher's creative use of this resource material.

A series of articles by Michael E Tymn of the Academy of Spirituality and Paranormal Studies.

ASPSI THE DOWNSIDE OF SCIENCE EDUCATION

Abstract: In spite of the many technological and medical advances it has brought to the world, mainstream science has failed us in the area most important to our overall well being – spirituality. Not only has science failed to provide us with any meaning in life, it has vehemently resisted the very belief that gives meaning to life, the survival of consciousness at death. As a result, the world has become increasingly materialistic and less spiritual. Orthodox religion has failed badly in filling the void left by science, primarily because in its self-serving, fear-motivated agenda it has shut itself off from further revelation and truth. Rather than further encouraging science education, as urged by President Obama, we should consider restoring education in the liberal arts and humanities. Read this Essay

"White Crow" Chess game offers strong evidence for life after death

The Viktor Korchnoi vs. Géza Maróczy chess game, which began in 1985 and ended in 1993, lasting 7 years and 8 months, is without a doubt one of the most intriguing cases ever in the annals of psychical research. It was reported by Dr. Wolfgang Eisenbeiss and Dieter Hassler in the April 2006 issue of the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research.

‘This case appears to be one of the most remarkable cases supporting evidence for survival of an intelligent component of human existence after bodily death,’ opines Dr. Vernon M. Neppe, director of the Pacific Neuropsychiatric Institute in Seattle, Washington, and professor in the department of neurology and psychiatry at St. Louis University Read the article

"The Searchlight"

11-year-old medium shocks Unitarian minister

As a very liberal Unitarian minister, Dr. Horace Westwood (pictured below) did not believe in any kind of afterlife. He was a humanist who believed that the objective of life was to make the world a better place for future generations. He did not stop to ask what future generations might strive for beyond comforts and pleasures once Utopia was attained. ‘The only immortality of which I was sure was the immortality of influence,’ he offered. ‘Beyond that, I had nothing to offer.’ Read

ASPSI Interviewing a hero: Sir Oliver Lodge

“If you could go back in time and interview anyone in history, who would it be?”

That question was put to me by a friend over a cup of coffee not long ago. When I first chose Jesus of Nazareth, my friend asked me to limit it to the last thousand years. It didn’t take me long to mull it over and choose Sir Oliver Lodge, the distinguished British physicist, inventor, and psychical researcher. Read

"White Crow" Earthly mistakes fester in the afterlife

Indications are that we take our mistakes and unfinished business with us when we die and that they can continue to fester with us in the spirit world. Consider the sitting that Dr Minot Savage (below) had with Leonora Piper, the famous Boston medium. Savage was told that his son, who had died at age 31 three years earlier, was present. “Papa, I want you go at once to my room,” Savage recalled his son communicating with a great deal of earnestness. “Look in my drawer and you will find a lot of loose papers. Among them are some which I would like you to take and destroy at once.” Read article

OTHER ARTICLES

A Theological Interpretation of Synchronicity, and other paranormal phenomena

Rev. Dr Keith Morrison

Pastor, St Isaac House of Prayer

Coordinator, Sustainable Community Development Research Institute ; Director, Ecological Engineering Solutions Ltd.  http://www.scdforum.org/
52 Ollivier Ave, Upper Selwyn Huts, RD4 Christchurch 7674 New Zealand

1. It may be helpful to interpret the meaning which unnervingly irrupts from synchronistic events as the merciful intrusion by the Creator to providentially facilitate and to provide an opportunity for “repentance” in an area in life, and hence to prompt personal /spiritual growth. Clairvoyance is for example well known in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, but its function is recognized as providing spiritual counsel to others so as to help them thoroughly “repent”. ‘Repentance” needs to be probably redefined however .... Read whole article

Introducing: "Conversations with Meister Eckhardt" by Simon Parke  white crow

Ghaffer Khan

A sermon on this Afghan spiritual leader, by Nate Cull

Skeptic agrees that remote viewing is proven

In 1995, the US Congress asked two independent scientists to assess whether the $20 million that the government had spent on psychic research had produced anything of value. And the conclusions proved to be somewhat unexpected.
    Professor Jessica Utts, a statistician from the University of California, discovered that remote viewers were correct 34 per cent of the time, a figure way beyond what chance guessing would allow.
    She says: "Using the standards applied to any other area of science, you have to conclude that certain psychic phenomena, such as remote viewing, have been well established.
    "The results are not due to chance or flaws in the experiments."
    Of course, this doesn't wash with sceptical scientists. Read Dr Dean Radin's Blog

Father of 'Reincarnated' WWII Pilot Says Christian Faith Undeterred

The father of a boy who he believes his son was a World War II fighter pilot in “a past life” says his Christian faith has remained intact despite his new belief while his wife says the situation has “enhanced my belief system.”

“I am a Christian, and this has only reaffirmed the strength of my Christian faith,” Bruce C. L Leininger said Father of 'Reincarnated' WWII Pilot Says Christian Faith Undeterred” Read Article

Did Consciousness Cause the Cambrian Evolutionary Explosion?

Stuart Hameroff M.D :Department of Anesthesiology Arizona Health Sciences Center

Consciousness and Evolution

When and where did consciousness emerge in the course of evolution? Did it happen as recently as the past million years, for example concomitant with language or tool making in humans or primates? Or did consciousness arrive somewhat earlier, with the advent of mammalian neocortex 200 million years ago (Eccles, 1992)? At the other extreme, is primitive consciousness a property of even simple unicellular organisms of several billion years ago (e.g. as suggested by Margulis and Sagan, 1995)? Read the paper

A member of this Journal's Panel: Rev. Professor Sjoerd Bonting (Prof.Emeritus Biology, Nijmegen, The Netherlands) makes this comment: “Scientifically, I find it untenable. The different multicellular body forms that appeared in the Cambrian explosion had no highly developed brain, which is usually considered to be required for consciousness. I define consciousness as the activity of an intelligent mind. The Cambrian organisms did not have an intelligent mind, only sensors for reacting to changes in salinity, acidity, temperature, light etc. of the environment. Hameroff extends the concept of consciousness to these primitive sensors, which I think is not acceptable. He resembles Teilhard de Chardin, who ascribed consciousness even to atoms.” [Editor's note: We publish different points of view to raise issues for consideration by readers. We are not in a position to judge which view is right.]

Readers may also like to explore others of Hameroff's articles: Time, Consciousness and Quantum Events in Fundamental Spacetime Geometry Conscious Events as Orchestrated Space-Time Selections Can quantum mechanics explain "free will" "Funda-Mentality" Is the Conscious Mind Subtly Linked to a Basic Level of the Universe?

Other relevant e-journals, blogs and publications

Don't forget to visit these websites: Victor Zammit's site for instance, is updated every week with new material of great interest.

 Continue reading

Read also http://www.near-death.com/experiences/reincarnation08.html A long list of extraordinary coincidences between the lives of Abraham Lincoln and John Kennedy.

Electronic Voice and Instrumental Communication:

AA-EVPWhitePaper.pdf
http://evp-itc-australia.org/

http://austevp.com/

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