The Death of Materialism – Part 2

By: Dave Hunt; ©2000

Is there a non-physical dimension? Should we be actively involved in trying to interact with it? Are there dangers involved for those who do? Dave Hunt explores these issues.

Mind Distinguished from Brain

If the physical/material universe is all there is, then every facet of occultism (which necessarily occurs in a nonphysical universe) is simply a delusion. There is, however, far too much evidence in support of so-called ESP, telekinesis, precognition, poltergeist activ­ity and other forms of the occult to allow one to accept materialistic dogma. Carl Rogers eventually confessed that “mind is an entity far greater than brain…”^[1] Recognizing that consciousness could not be explained by materialism, Rogers realized the consequences and on that basis predicted the imminent practical application of “such paranormal phe­nomena as telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition… healing energies… the power of medita­tion, transcendent forces…. “^[2]

The famous neurologist Wilder Penfield put it well: “The mind is independent of the brain. The brain is a computer, but it is programmed by something that is outside itself, the mind.”^[3]

1. ^[4] Logically, if the mind/spirit/soul is independent of the brain, it could survive the death of the body. Carl Jung, reflecting upon whether the soul, which he called “the psyche,” might survive physical death, wrote:

Total loss of consciousness can be accompanied by perceptions of the outside world and vivid dream experiences. Since the cerebral cortex, the seat of consciousness, is not functioning at these times, there is as yet no explanation for such phenomena. They may be evidence for at least a subjective persistence of the capacity for consciousness—even in a state of apparent unconsciousness.^[5]

That some form of consciousness persists even when the brain is not functioning is evident from the many testimonies of those who have been declared brain dead and yet lived to describe in detail what was happening around them while they were being revived. A consciousness that functions independently of the brain is obviously nonphysical. The world of the occult is also nonphysical but it can affect this physical dimension just as our nonphysical minds operate our brains.

Remote Viewing

One of the most powerful occult practices known today is called “remote viewing.” Its practitioners claim that information of any kind can be obtained, no matter how far removed from the viewer by space or even past or future time. Remote viewing is still being used by both the American and Russian (and other) military and intelligence establishments for espionage purposes. The results, many of them still classified and secret, are mind-boggling and totally inexplicable by science. So accurate have remote viewers become, so they tell us, that governments rely upon them for secret missions when lives hang in the balance.

One of today’s premier remote viewers, Major Ed Dames, testifies to having used this occult power in the military. Congress is allegedly well aware of such activities and appropriates funds for this pursuit. Dames heads Psi Tech, a firm which specializes in remote viewing for the civilian world. Still called upon by the military in difficult cases, he claims to have been used to locate chemical weapons that Saddam Hussein was hiding in Iraq from United Nations inspection teams. In all of its remote viewing assignments, Psi Tech guarantees 100 percent accuracy to its customers!

Edgar Cayce many years ago claimed to be able to see “the body” of the patient he was diagnosing in trance and could even describe that person and the bed and room he occupied. Much of Cayce’s remote viewing (including his medical diagnoses) proved to be amazingly accurate. Such practices among psychics continue today. Time magazine re­cently reported:

Rosemary Altea is a spiritual medium and a healer who with her spirit guide, an Apache called Grey Eagle, communicates with spirits to heal, guide and console,..

Writes Altea [in The Eagle and the Rose]: “Using mind energy connected with universal God energy, we can give absent or distant healing.”^[6]

Remote viewers are not so ready to admit the involvement of “spirits.” Remote viewing is mentioned briefly here because it has contributed in a major way to the death of material­ism. There is no physical explanation for the remarkable phenomenon of remote viewing.

Another of today’s best-known remote viewers, who also was involved with this tech­nique for the United States military establishment, is Emory University professor Courtney Brown. In the civilian world he teaches and employs what he calls Scientific Remote View­ing (SRV). Says Professor Brown:

You have to understand that remote viewing is absolute positive proof… that we’re more than our physical bodies. It was developed in laboratory conditions and now operationalized under laboratory conditions with the strictest of controls.

Remote viewing procedures demonstrate that we have a soul, that we are more than physical beings because the properties of the soul are what we use when we remote view…. There is a whole realm of life out there that’s not physical.^[7]

Science and the Mind

If everything in the universe works according to scientifically defined physical laws, then there are no otherworldly, mysterious, inexplicable powers, and those who believe in them have been badly deluded. On the other hand, if there is a nonphysical dimension, then who knows what astonishing “entities” and “powers” might be out there? And if the mind exists in a non-physical dimension independent of the brain, then could it not make use of the powers in that dimension and contact entities who reside there?

Obviously it could be dangerous to venture into this realm, Could that be why the Bible forbids occult involvement of any kind? One thing is certain: Whatever understanding or protection one would hope for from the laws of the physical sciences would be left behind on such an adventure.

It is clearly wrong to demand a physical explanation for spiritual experiences—and if one was not forthcoming, to then deny the reality of a spiritual dimension to life. That would be like denying the reality of the sense of smell because odors can’t be felt or insisting that because honesty and justice have no taste they don’t exist. Yet such foolish judgments by science were accepted uncritically until well into this century, when many top scientists finally began to speak out against such nonsense. Referring to the existence of a spiritual dimension, Sir Arthur Eddington wrote:

The scheme of [the new] physics is now formulated in such a way as to make it almost self-evident that it is a partial aspect of something wider.^[8]

That this “something wider” could be nonphysical is, as Eddington believed, suggested by the very qualities of the universe as we know it. The discovery of ghostly particles such as the neutrino makes the existence of discarnate spirits or other nonphysical intelligences much more plausible in a scientific context. With virtually no physical properties—no mass, no electrical charge, no magnetic field—the neutrino behaves very much like a “ghost.” Neither gravitation nor electromagnetic force have any effect upon the neutrino. A neutrino zooming in from intergalactic space at nearly the speed of light would almost instantaneously pass through the entire earth without hitting anything. This fact makes the suggestion that “ghosts” can pass through walls seem less fantastic.

Notes

1. ↑ Carl Rogers, “The New World Person,” in Life Times, no. 3, p. 47.
2. ↑ Life Times: Forum for a New Age, no. 3, pp. 47-48, originally published in South Africa’s New Age magazine, Odyssey.
3. ↑ Quoted in Herbert Benson, M.D., with William Proctor, Your Maximum Mind (Random House, 1987), p. 46.
4. ↑ C.G. Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections (Pantheon Books, 1963), p. 322.
5. ↑ C.G. Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections (Pantheon Books, 1963), p. 322.
6. ↑ Time, June 24, 1996, p. 67.
7. ↑ Professor Courtney Brown interview on Art Bell Show, late in 1996.
8. ↑ Ken Wilber, “Of Shadows and Symbols: Physics and Mysticism,” in ReVlSION, Spring 1984, pp. 6-7.

Read Part 3