In this new series I'll be summarizing various religions and philosophical systems in the simplest way possible. It should be quick and easy to read allowing us to compare and contrast . I'll only focus on their views of the following aspects:
The RSA Animate speaker talks about how we are able to associate ourselves as one family by bloodlines, to religions, to nation states, to nations; he seems to suggest that our sense of empathy has been expanding and progressing through time. I don't know if that is an accurate description. The sense of belonging is often caused by the discoveries of other bloodlines, religions, etc. We associate with our own bloodline, religion, race as one family only in the face of a common enemy. Therefore, I think our sense of empathy in the current stage largely sprung from the notion of otherization, the "us VS them" ideology. When do students in the same class see themselves as one? When they are competing with other class. I had this thought when I was watching the last Olympics. During the regular ATP tour (men's tennis), players represent themselves and there are no flags next to their names; win or lose, it's just another day in the office. However during the Olympics, all of a sudden it's Spain VS Swiss; and they're competing for the pride of their respective countries. We identify ourselves as different groups in different times. Sometimes, especially during the time of solitude, we do not even empathize with ourselves. I remember there were times where I would have conflicts within myself and it felt as if there were multiple selves inside me, fighting to become the authority.
Another circumstance that leads us see ourselves as one is in a time of extreme crisis. But it's relatively harder to bring about unity comparing to the "common enemy" circumstance because the threat of such crisis may not be as apparent and immediate.
The last thing I want to hear is the word "patriotic" being thrown around because that to me indicates a time of war or crisis.
It's certainly possible to see ourselves as one biosphere, but do we need an "other" or a catastrophic crisis as a precondition? I sincerely hope not. As the speaker of the RSA Animate puts it, we are softwired to be empathic. That to me suggests that we have a choice to be empathic or not. During a time of war or crisis, it's easier to choose the former. But to be empathic with everything there is during a time of peace almost seems impossible. The Buddha did it; Jesus did it as well; but can we?
I've only used 30 minutes or so to form the list so this is just a small portion of what's out there. It's a really tiny portion if we include those written by professors, scientists, mediums, journalists, etc. I'm not suggesting that those written by other professions aren't worth checking out but for this post I want to list books that examine reincarnation from the perspective of physicians. Most if not all of these authors/physicians didn't believe in the notion of reincarnation since they were raised in Western culture.
Some might say that these physicians are just doing it to gain publicity. But let's have a reality check, "supernatural" phenomenons are still considered to be a taboo to discuss in our scientific community. And don't get me started on how people look at me when I talk about these things. Although it's not as bad as 20 years ago, these physicians were risking their careers to reveal these cases. Go ahead and read any one of them, you won't regret it whether you believe it or not. I've read 5 books from this list after the jump. Go go go.
Remember the phenomenon of quantum entanglement I mentioned in the previous post about quantum mechanics? No? It's rather simple actually. Two objects, not connected in any way perceivable, become entangled with each other. Whatever happens to one would affect the other instantaneously (meaning faster than the speed of light). The distance between the objects does not matter. The concept itself is simple enough, the difficult thing is accepting the fact that it's real. Einstein refused to accept this, calling it "spooky action". This is what people called supernatural, it's reality and it makes this headline.
Not to confuse anyone, the transportation itself can only travel at the speed of light or slower.
Many Lives, Many Masters is the first book I've encountered of this kind. I remember it was sometime in 2007 when I accidentally saw the Chinese version of the book and bought it in curiosity. At that time, I thought reincarnation is nothing but a baseless belief. You could imagine how shocking I was when I saw the description of the book claiming firmly that reincarnation is real. Questions started popping up in my mind: "If it's proven, why isn't it on the news?" "If it's real, why hasn't anybody tell me about it yet?" "Could our commonsense be wrong all this time?"
This book was published in 1988 when I was only 2. I only read about a few dozens pages of the book at that time to fulfill my curiosity. My conclusion was that "reincarnation could be real" but I didn't go in depth since I don't like reading translations plus I didn't realize what it could mean to my way of living. It wasn't until early last year that I started truth seeking and finished reading the English version of this book.
Unlike the previous book review, I'll summarize the first third of the book and you'll be the judge on whatever you want. So go ahead and
After being monitored 24/7 for 10 straight days without ANY food and water in 2003 (it's mentioned in part 4 of the documentary about the "Buddha boy"), Prahlad Jani is being tested by scientists once again; this time for 15 days. Read the article about it after the jump.
In earlier posts, I talked about the significance of quantum mechanics to our technology advancements and reviewed the book- Quantum Enigma. However, I missed the most important point; I didn't explain how exactly quantum mechanics is contrary to our common senses. I'll try my best to keep the explanation short and simple, so even I could understand it. If you don't like to read (at least watch the cartoon), skip to the last part where I list what the quantum mechanics is strongly suggesting.
If you want your mind to be blown away, this documentary is your best bet. This boy, Ram Bahadur Bomjon, in India was claimed to be able to survive without any food and water for months, a team from the discovery channel went and investigate. Let me give you a heads-up, no they didn't take the boy away and analyzed him. BUT in the later parts of the documentary, another man claimed that he could survive without any food and water. So they locked him up and monitored him 24/7 for 10 straight days without ANY food and water. Without spoiling everything in the documentary, let's just say that he didn't die.
In the book: Quantum Enigma, physicists Bruce Rosenblum and Fred Kuttner explain the enigma of the most successful theory in science: the quantum theory. It’s the same enigma that drove Albert Einstein to search for an answer in his later years. Unfortunately, Einstein wasn’t able to do so; in his dying years, he urged others to not give up finding the truth behind the theory. Let’s see if this book could answer Einstein’s call.
Our modern technology won't be possible if not for the biggest breakthrough in science of the last century, the discovery of quantum mechanics.
That's right; your PCs, cellphones, TVs, DVDs, iPods, damn nuclear weapons, and almost any electronic you can think of are possible because of quantum mechanics. Some of its contributions after the jump:
