The accumulation of data is mountainous, and we cannot believe that W.Q.J. or H.P.B. herself would contravene it today. The theosophical position, to our minds, is sheer authoritarianism - the doctrine of Infallibility, like that of Impeccability, is not congenial to our ways of thought - nor to the Zeitgeist of our century.
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If we were to announce, without qualification or explanation, "Professor Rhine and colleagues no longer believe in telepathy" - what consternation we would cause! How many towers come toppling down! Fearful lest the sun stand still upon Gibeon, the moon over Ajalon, we do not risk this destroying stroke. We hasten to assure everyone that it is not the facts summed up under the word telepathy which the Professor now questions. The situation is that "the evidence hitherto accepted as establishing telepathy can also be adequately explained by the hypothesis of precognitive clairvovance . . . There is, as things now stand, acceptable evidence of clairvoyance, or the ESP of objects, but no conclusive evidence of telepathy . . . If there is any true telepathic ability, new experiments are needed to isolate and distinguish it from this alternative of precognitive clairvoyance . . . It is found to be very difficult to design a crucial experiment that will isolate telepathy . . . At present no fully satisfactory and decisive test procedure for telepathy is available! . . . Those who have followed the last 12 years of investigation find it hard to see any logical escape from accepting precognition (Pcg); also, Pcg is a logical deduction from the established fact that extended sensory perseption (ESP) is not spatially limited. But whether ESP is all telepathic, all clairvoyant, or partly both, it is still ESP. Whether Pcg is Pcg-T, Pcg-O, or even Pcg-SP, or any combination of these, it is still Pcg. The total weight of evidence for ESP and Pcg is exactly the same as before." . . . "The answer to these problems is a matter of great eventual importance in the understanding of the relation of mind to the space-time universe."
Journal of Parapsychology, Precognition Reconsidered.
J.B. Rhine. Dec. 1945
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- Researches in Reincarnation -
Researches in Reincarnation and Beyond is the title of a book by A.R. Martin (1942). Its premise is, that if mind can remember the past events of this life-time, then it can, when properly attuned, remember and clearly recall events relative to former lives. And experience recorded in the subconscious . . . can be recalled by the conscious mind. "This is a universal law and cannot be disputed."
The word "Beyond" in the title, however, implies even more than this. The contention is, that experiences in the ex-carnate state in the intervals between lives, can be recalled with an equal facility, once the proper attunement is established. The author had an orthodox religious background, became dissatisfied, and formed or joined an investigation group, where a method was worked out for exploring the subconscious mental content.
A hundred pages of the book are given to the record of fifty cases, or "experiences", with brief comments on them, and the material presented is most remarkable. The different subjects, or "reviewers", describe scenes from previous lives, in different lands and among many races, give details of their births and deaths various experiences on the "non-physical" planes. The author insists that no leading questions are asked, that the subject is not under hypnosis, nor in trance, and that nothing of a spiritualist nature is involved. He describes the phenomenon as "lifted memory". Complete relaxation is required, and one assumes (though the author does not say so) that some initial suggestion or instruction must be given, possibly accompanied by the use of symbols; after that the subject begins to function fully in the remembered life, lives over the past experiences with intense reality, but keeps on talking, describing everything, and answering questions.
Pages 121 to 206 are devoted to observations and conclusions, in 5 sections - physical, mental, and spiritual causes and effects of the experiences, and summary. This is, in our opinion, an excellent piece of exposition, and deserves careful reading. The short-coming of the book is the extreme reticence of the author as to the exact methods employed by him in inducing the "lifted memory." So long as these are unknown, other experimenters cannot profit by his experience, but must work out methods for themselves. De Rochas and others have of course done similar work, and if Mr Martin uses similar methods, or has improved or simplified them, he should at least tell us as much. The data involved are much too important to be made private property. But our personal information about the author leads us to feel confidence in him, and we recommend the book for careful consideration.
(Published by the author, 146 East State Street, Sharon, Penne)
(211 pp. $2.75)
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"Man lives, not in the world of conditions and events around him, but rather in the world of his reactions to such conditions and events . . . he alone has the power to change these reactions."
A.R. Martin
References
- Theosophical Forum. 24.1. (1946). Print. <http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/forum/forum-hp.htm#vol24>
- Sherwood, Jane. The Country Beyond: a Study of Survival and Rebirth. London, New York: Rider & Co., 1945. Print. <http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/38859942> [Ref. also: 1969 ed., <http://amzn.to/OwfFFQ>]
- Rhine, Joseph Banks. "Precognition Reconsidered." Journal of Parapsychology. 9. (1945): 264-277. Print.
- Martin, A. R. Researches in Reincarnation and Beyond. Sharon, Pa.: Martin, 1942. Print. <http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/14470453> [Ref. also: <http://amzn.to/1fZMwNU>]