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 THE GRAVITY OF SPIRIT

The important thing is not to stop asking questions.

—Albert Einstein

Consider the following questions:

Does our consciousness, including our personalities and memories, survive physical death?

Do each of us have personal spirit guides, sometimes called guardian angels, and can they play an active role in guiding our lives?

Can Spirit play a fundamental role in healing and health?

Can we literally learn to call on Spirit, which includes our deceased loved ones, higher spirit guides, and the Great Spirit or the Sacred, for healing ourselves and reclaiming the planet as a whole?

I am going to ask you to imagine what it would mean to you, and the world as a whole, if we could establish scientifically—once and for all—that yes is indeed the correct and accurate answer to these questions.

In this book, you will read for the first time about ongoing research in my laboratory that points inexorably to the emerging conclusion that all these possibilities and more are real. And, even more astonishing, I will show you how these possibilities materialize in my own life and those around me, and how you can learn to spot them in your life and begin to establish your own sacred partnership.

Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” So, let’s imagine, for the sake of argument, that there really is a larger spiritual reality.

Let’s imagine, for the moment, that we are, in our essence, spiritual beings having a physical experience.

Let’s imagine that what is preventing our ability to connect with this larger spiritual reality is our relative lack of knowledge and maturity as a species and our disconnection from nature, which is often the bridge between the two.

Let’s imagine that, in the same way we used to believe that the earth was flat, that the sun revolved around the earth, that objects were solid, and that the so-called vacuum was empty—and these beliefs were all discovered to be fundamentally wrong—that our current Western scientific beliefs about a nonintelligent and Spiritless Universe are also fundamentally wrong.

Let’s imagine that just as we did not know until relatively recently that invisible fields of energy could carry extraordinarily complex patterns of parallel information, making it possible for billions of us to be globally interconnected by cell phones and even be located by GPS devices, that these same invisible fields of energy also carry complex patterns of information associated with a larger spiritual reality.

Let’s imagine that it is only a matter of time before we discover the physics and invent the technology to evolve from the cell phone to the “soul phone"—an advanced technology that will enable us to communicate accurately with this larger spiritual reality.

If you have difficulty imagining these possibilities, remember that there was a time when people could not imagine supersonic airplanes and spaceships, global satellite communication systems, high-definition digital televisions, or even pocket-sized gigahertz computerized smart phones.

So, let’s again imagine that with the aid of this advanced spiritual technology, we will have access to information and guidance that can help us overcome our dangerous conceptual and behavioral programming that perpetuates unhealthy and unwise practices harming ourselves, others, and the planet as a whole—like treating the natural world as dead and lifeless, only to be exploited for our own designs.

Let’s imagine that there exists a Sacred and Infinite Intelligence that we can come to increasingly know and live in harmony with its greater unfoldment.

And let’s imagine that expanded science, created and employed by the human mind, has the capacity to reveal all this and more.

The Nature of the Research

The fact is that the media, as well as academia and even organized religion, is on the whole super-phobic about these possibilities being provable. They would supplant their authority and rule, which may be helpful in their minds, but is a hindrance to our evolution toward knowing Spirit.

If there is a larger spiritual reality—and I underscore if—then these individuals and institutions are doing our species and our planet a profound disservice, especially in these critical times. They are actively impeding the discovery of a deep truth that could foster our survival and transform our lives, present and future, into a veritable paradise on earth.

If my emerging research is correct—and I again underscore if—then the larger spiritual reality is making a Sacred Promise to assist us in our healing and evolution. That is, if we are ready and willing to listen.

I have written The Sacred Promise to inspire you to seriously consider the possibility that science is on the verge of making momentous discoveries concerning the existence and nature of the human soul, higher spiritual beings, and the Source of it all—and how they can be in essential partnership with you. That means helping and guiding you in both the big and small decisions of your life on a daily basis.

This proof-of-concept book is an urgent call to action for us to listen and watch more closely for Spirit’s invitation to collaborate with it in our daily lives. I share for the first time how evidence for a larger spiritual reality is showing up not only in my university laboratory but also in the laboratory of my personal life (as related in this book’s introduction), and in the lives of others as well. I am revealing this extraordinary research, involving both laboratory-based science as well as self-science, to document how this is not only applicable broadly to the field of science but directly to our personal lives as well. As voiced in my acknowledgments, humanity appears to be having a Wright brothers moment of exceptional significance.

I am revealing this controversial information and my expanded methodology with serious trepidation. I realize that in not only sharing my serious interest in these questions but also delving into compelling personal experiences I breech the boundary between formal scientific research and the laboratory of personal experience, albeit with the same critical mind. As such, some readers will say I’ve become too close to my subject or too subjective in my approach.

I understand these concerns and questions and regularly ask them of myself (and ask others who work closely with me to question, too). It is responsible as well as sane to do so. However, if what I am researching in this book is real—and for the record, everything I have written about really happened—then the implications are sufficiently profound that we will all have to reexamine some of our most cherished assumptions and beliefs, and as such I can’t be fainthearted.

This is unavoidable—it comes with the territory. Reexamining our belief systems becomes our deepest challenge, yet it affords us the greatest opportunity for healing and transformation. This is central to fulfilling The Sacred Promise.

The Importance of Personal Self-Science, Exploratory Investigations, and IRB Human Subjects Research

What exactly is research, and how does it relate to self-science? The word research has both general and specialized meanings, and it is essential that I clarify how the term is being used in this book.

In everyday language, the word research has a broad spectrum of applications. Research literally means “to re-search,” i.e., to search closely, again and again. We can do many kinds of research, including library research, field research, personal research, informal research, exploratory research, pilot research, systematic research, highly controlled research, computer modeling research, proof-of-concept research, hypothesis-testing research, and replication research. We can research virtually anything, from subatomic particles to super-clusters of galaxies and everything in between. We can research body, mind, and spirit. We all have experimenting minds, and we love to discover new things and understand how things work.

The federal government has established important protective guidelines for different kinds of research, including research with humans and animals. Though this may sound strange, to adhere to federal guidelines, universities typically ask the following question: (By necessity the next few paragraphs are a bit technical—they sound like legalese—so please bear with me. The quote below comes from the University of Arizona website concerning research with human subjects.)

Is this project a systematic investigation designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge (including use for a thesis or dissertation, publication or poster presentation)? If NO, the project is not considered research; IRB review is not required. [Note that the underlining, bolding, and CAPS come from the website; I added the italics.]

Yes, you read correctly; such a project is not considered research. From this specialized perspective, two kinds of investigations reported in this book are not officially considered research. The reasoning is that these investigations are not, by themselves, generalizable—for example, they are often based on a single instance—and they are frequently not systematic. Hence (1) careful observations made in one’s personal life and (2) exploratory investigations where university scientists pretest themselves before performing subsequent controlled research with recruited subjects are not considered research in the eyes of the federal government or university IRB (institutional review board).

However, this federally restricted use of the word research does not mean that the observations from personal life (herein called Type I Investigations) or experimenter pretesting (Type II Investigations) are either unimportant or uninformative and should therefore be dismissed. Quite the contrary, what we are calling self-science—conducted in the living laboratories of our personal lives (Type I) or exploratory investigations where laboratory scientists pretest themselves (Type II)—sometimes uncovers essential proof-of-concept evidence that provides the foundation for advancing science and society. Moreover, when Type I and Type II information is carefully combined with information obtained from larger scale systematic and intentionally designed generalizable research (Type III Investigations), the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

To preserve this clarity, and honor the federal guidelines as implemented by the University of Arizona IRB, we refer to Type I and Type II investigations as personal investigations and exploratory investigations, respectively. However, sometimes the word research is by necessity employed in the general everyday context of the word because it is the clearest way to convey the fact that the scientific method can be applied in our personal lives as well as in university laboratories. The process of self-science extends beyond restricted semantic uses of the term research; it encompasses the deepest sense of what it means to do research.

What Manner of Evidence Will Prove the Existence of Spirit?

Although I am philosophically an orthodox agnostic—and maybe because I am—I strongly appreciate the clever statement: “Moderation in everything, including moderation.” Thus, it follows that it is prudent to “question everything, including the questioning of everything.” In other words, sometimes questioning or the scientific method has its limitations.

Every now and again science discovers that something is reliable and true, even if the scientists do not know precisely how it works or why. Let’s consider the case of gravity. You experience this every day when you step out of a vehicle or walk down a flight of stairs. Physicists and engineers have made tremendous progress in studying the effects of gravity, to the point where we can launch and position stationary satellites in space and even land robotic probes on the moon, Mars, and places beyond. However, it is important to note that, while we can achieve these incredible feats of technology, we still do not know for sure whether gravity is a physical force, the bending of space-time, or a property of superstrings that actually creates mass (rather than the other way around); and there are additional credible theories about gravity still in contention. The analogy here is realizing that we can investigate whether something exists or does not by its effects alone, even if we are unable, with complete assurance, to come up with an ultimate theory to explain it.

You are about to read a collection of experiments and investigations conducted in the university laboratory (Type III) as well as the laboratory of my personal life (Type I) and that of others—including pretests where the researchers conducted preliminary investigations on themselves (Type II)—which all point inexorably to the existence of Spirit and our collaboration with a larger spiritual reality. None of the experiments or investigations by themselves are definitive. Moreover, many of them are too exploratory, as well as controversial, to be published in mainstream scientific journals (and I have published hundreds of scientific papers in such journals).

However, this does not mean that the findings reported herein lack scientific validity and utility. Quite the contrary, each experiment or investigation is significant and offers meaningful conclusions as it raises important questions for future research and applications. Again, we are at the proof-of-concept stage in this exploration of Spirit and its possible relationship with us. Note that it is the combination of these daring and unorthodox experiments and investigations—and the complementary and synergistic nature of their conclusions—that together establishes a compelling case for science to address these fundamental questions creatively, comprehensively, and definitively.

If ever there was a place and a time for us to remain mindful that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, it is here and now.

Should science take on the task? I believe it must. The promise of this research is too great. The implications for our personal lives and the planet as a whole are too broad and too deep. And the opportunities afforded by this research for personal and global healing and transformation are too far-reaching.

Yes, there are potential risks in doing this research and connecting with Spirit. I address some of these important questions and concerns at the book’s conclusion. However, if the premise of this book is correct, our survival and evolution as a species may well depend upon whether we rise to the occasion and perform this critical research carefully yet boldly.

If the grandest implication of the emerging research in this field is proven to be correct, Spirit is making a sacred promise that it will increasingly help guide us toward collective health and prosperity, toward solving some of our greatest challenges—that is, if we are prepared to listen and act in concert with it.

We can all participate in this research, because the call of Spirit and its applications apply to each and every one of us—presuming of course that we are willing to expand our minds and do the work.

Each of our lives is a living laboratory, and some discoveries can only be made by us as individuals. For instance, if you have a health issue and you ask for Spirit’s assistance, and then an hour later a friend recommends an alternative approach that later proves fruitful, you could call it a coincidence or even a synchronicity. But if this scenario is continually repeated, your life has given you the best proof of Spirit possible: real effects in the real world.

This kind of spirit-assisted guidance and healing points to the phenomenon of what Dr. Carl Jung called synchronicity as a measuring stick. Briefly, synchronicity is when two or more events seem connected and are subject to a similar influence or energy but lack a cause-and-effect relationship. The fact is, only you can observe what happens within and around you. Only you can discover the extent to which you can develop an effective partnership with Spirit that improves your life in practical ways. Only you can discover patterns of events that cluster together in meaningful ways and provide encouragement and guidance in the progress of your life.

Besides addressing this great purpose, I have written this book as a true-life spiritual adventure. As you will see, this journey to reunite science and spirit—and reconnect Spirit to each of us—has been full of wonder, a tasty treat for curious minds and caring hearts, and great fun, if nothing else.

And the journey is just beginning . . .