No conflict between religion and the paranormal
HERE are the rest of Julian Qua’s questions about my work in parapsychology or psychic research:
What is the Inner Mind Development Institute?
It is a small organization I established in 1988 aimed at expanding people’s consciousness and hastening their evolution. It develops and conducts training programs and workshops to develop people’s inner mental faculties and powers. The institute is open to any man or woman regardless of color, race, religion or political beliefs.
What gave you the idea to establish the institute?
My background is business management. I’ve been in the corporate world for over 20 years, specializing in human resources, management training and development, as well as consultancy.
As head of human resources, I’ve seen the utter failure of many industrial training programs that address only the employees’ outer mind and external behavior. Nothing was done to train their consciousness or inner faculties.I sought to correct that weakness by developing programs that would train people’s inner minds and enhance their innate powers or abilities for practical purposes.
How would you key in religion with the paranormal?
I see no conflict nor incompatibility between religion and paranormal phenomena. As a matter of fact, all religions, whether Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism or Christianity, started with a paranormal phenomenon, with a vision or contact with a supernatural or divine being.
Since I believe that “truth is one,” it cannot contradict itself. Truth is truth whether it comes from God or the devil himself.
I think the problem lies in the erroneous assumption, especially by Christian religious authorities, that everything that is paranormal or supernatural must come from the dark side. This is not true at all.
Even Jesus Christ performed so many paranormal wonders, like when he predicted the future, read people’s minds, healed the sick, walked on water, changed water into wine and revived the dead. Calling them miracles does not change their paranormal nature.
How does science fit with the mystical and paranormal?
Again, I say, true science cannot be in conflict with paranormal phenomena. However, because of the reductionist, rationalistic and materialistic paradigm that modern science has adopted, it has eliminated many aspects of reality that fall outside its chosen categories.
So, consciousness, the spiritual and the mystical are considered outside the scope of materialist science. But true science should encompass all of reality, should it not?
But, as things now stand, science and the so-called paranormal phenomena seem to be incompatible. In fact, the paranormal is defined as that outside the scope of what science considers normal.
So, there you are! The conflict between the two is a question of definition. It is more superficial and accidental rather than substantial or essential.
The living are very much affected by spirits, but are spirits also affected by the living? How?
The answer is yes. When a person dies suddenly—either because of accident, violence or sickness—his/her consciousness is still here on earth, among the living. If he/she has any unfinished business, his/her spirit can be seen by sensitive individuals.
The dead will still be affected by the affairs and thoughts about them by living relatives, close friends and other persons significant to them when they were alive.
That’s why it is wrong to mourn too much the passing of a person. It keeps the dead from ascending to higher realms in the spirit world. Prayers help the spirits of the dead but calling on them all the time is bad for them. They will be pulled back to earth.
How do you feel about television shows or movies that depict the mystical and paranormal?
They are mostly unrealistic and exaggerated. Some are downright false! This is especially true of local shows. Their only objective seems to be merely to scare people, not to educate or inform them of the facts about these mysterious happenings. I don’t pay too much attention to them.
At least some foreign productions are well researched and more realistic. A few outstanding examples are “Ghosts,” starring Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze; and “Sixth Sense,” starring Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment.
What would you say to the skeptical and nonbelievers of the paranormal?
Nothing. I have no interest in converting them to my way of thinking. Maybe one thing I would want to tell them is, “Do your homework. Conduct some in-depth research and serious reading before making any conclusions or before dismissing these things as nonsense.”
I held that same skepticism before I started investigating thoroughly these phenomena. I thought they were nonsense and a product of people’s fertile imagination, until I came across real scientific data and extensive research supporting belief in them.
So, unless they have proof of the phenomena’s validity or experience the events themselves, they are correct in not believing.
http://showbizandstyle.inq7.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view_article.php?article_id=12750
What is the Inner Mind Development Institute?
It is a small organization I established in 1988 aimed at expanding people’s consciousness and hastening their evolution. It develops and conducts training programs and workshops to develop people’s inner mental faculties and powers. The institute is open to any man or woman regardless of color, race, religion or political beliefs.
What gave you the idea to establish the institute?
My background is business management. I’ve been in the corporate world for over 20 years, specializing in human resources, management training and development, as well as consultancy.
As head of human resources, I’ve seen the utter failure of many industrial training programs that address only the employees’ outer mind and external behavior. Nothing was done to train their consciousness or inner faculties.I sought to correct that weakness by developing programs that would train people’s inner minds and enhance their innate powers or abilities for practical purposes.
How would you key in religion with the paranormal?
I see no conflict nor incompatibility between religion and paranormal phenomena. As a matter of fact, all religions, whether Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism or Christianity, started with a paranormal phenomenon, with a vision or contact with a supernatural or divine being.
Since I believe that “truth is one,” it cannot contradict itself. Truth is truth whether it comes from God or the devil himself.
I think the problem lies in the erroneous assumption, especially by Christian religious authorities, that everything that is paranormal or supernatural must come from the dark side. This is not true at all.
Even Jesus Christ performed so many paranormal wonders, like when he predicted the future, read people’s minds, healed the sick, walked on water, changed water into wine and revived the dead. Calling them miracles does not change their paranormal nature.
How does science fit with the mystical and paranormal?
Again, I say, true science cannot be in conflict with paranormal phenomena. However, because of the reductionist, rationalistic and materialistic paradigm that modern science has adopted, it has eliminated many aspects of reality that fall outside its chosen categories.
So, consciousness, the spiritual and the mystical are considered outside the scope of materialist science. But true science should encompass all of reality, should it not?
But, as things now stand, science and the so-called paranormal phenomena seem to be incompatible. In fact, the paranormal is defined as that outside the scope of what science considers normal.
So, there you are! The conflict between the two is a question of definition. It is more superficial and accidental rather than substantial or essential.
The living are very much affected by spirits, but are spirits also affected by the living? How?
The answer is yes. When a person dies suddenly—either because of accident, violence or sickness—his/her consciousness is still here on earth, among the living. If he/she has any unfinished business, his/her spirit can be seen by sensitive individuals.
The dead will still be affected by the affairs and thoughts about them by living relatives, close friends and other persons significant to them when they were alive.
That’s why it is wrong to mourn too much the passing of a person. It keeps the dead from ascending to higher realms in the spirit world. Prayers help the spirits of the dead but calling on them all the time is bad for them. They will be pulled back to earth.
How do you feel about television shows or movies that depict the mystical and paranormal?
They are mostly unrealistic and exaggerated. Some are downright false! This is especially true of local shows. Their only objective seems to be merely to scare people, not to educate or inform them of the facts about these mysterious happenings. I don’t pay too much attention to them.
At least some foreign productions are well researched and more realistic. A few outstanding examples are “Ghosts,” starring Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze; and “Sixth Sense,” starring Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment.
What would you say to the skeptical and nonbelievers of the paranormal?
Nothing. I have no interest in converting them to my way of thinking. Maybe one thing I would want to tell them is, “Do your homework. Conduct some in-depth research and serious reading before making any conclusions or before dismissing these things as nonsense.”
I held that same skepticism before I started investigating thoroughly these phenomena. I thought they were nonsense and a product of people’s fertile imagination, until I came across real scientific data and extensive research supporting belief in them.
So, unless they have proof of the phenomena’s validity or experience the events themselves, they are correct in not believing.
http://showbizandstyle.inq7.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view_article.php?article_id=12750
posted by Misteryo Philippines Network (MPN) at 2:20 PM
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