Personal Reflections

After moving to Berlin, one of the first things I did after unpacking the one suitcase that held all my belongings, was searching for a book store. For me it is a quick fix when I miss the feeling of home. It was a rainy autumn day when I entered the hidden used book store in Kreuzberg which was located on a hip street next to high end vintage clothing stores and a natural wine bar. The two (tiny) rooms were structured into fiction and non-fiction whereas the non-fiction was a whole portion smaller than the other one. I quickly realized that I was the only one inside as there were no sounds except for my browsing through various books. As it happens in book stores I lost any sense of time, I could not tell you whether it was 10 minutes or an hour of browsing through dusty shelves and flipping around cover after cover until I knew I had to take something tangible with me. This was when I came across this book in the physics section titled Entangled Minds. It was only a few months ago that my interest in spirituality has developed. After reading about the benefits of meditation from a few internet people I follow (Rob Henderson, Nat Eliason, Andrew Huberman) I became suddenly aware of this concept. It was at this time also that I stumbled upon the Institute of Noetic Sciences, one of the few places doing research in the field of parapsychology. It was only later that I should find out that the author of this book, Dean Radin, is the Chief Scientist at said institute. That day, I left the book store with an eerie feeling that maybe this wasn`t a coincidence after all that I found this book.

This book dramatically changed the way I think about the world and spirituality and the universe and everything in between for that matter. You can find a summary on my blog.

Dean Radin, elaborates on the concept of entanglement which has gained popularity since Alain Aspect, John Clauser and Anton Zeilinger have received a nobel prize for their achievements in the field referring to this concept. Whats fascinating is that if you have two entangled particles, what you do to one of the particles will affect the properties of the entangled particle. How can the laws of physics dissolve when scaled down to atomic and sub-particle level?

Radin examines how and whether this quantum entanglement has real-life consequences. By conducting various studies on concepts like telepathy, clairvoyance and precognition he and his team are eager to prove that these concepts have a place in mainstream science – and to my surprise, there is quite a bit of science supporting these phenomenons. Studies have proven to support his concept.

All these phenomena are built on the hypothesis that a global consciousness exists, implying that we are all connected, just like the sub-atomic particles we can exchange information at a distance. Something about this concept rang true for me. I have had my fair share of experience where reality seemed dreamlike. I vividly remember a dream I had as a child where after stepping out of a steampunk themed elevator I stepped into a room that had this yellow wallpaper. The next morning my dad took us to a museum I have never been to before and suddenly I realized that this museum was the place I saw in my dreams. I had never visited this place before. Also, only recently thoughts starting popping into my head about an old acquaintance of mine had spent the larger portion of the summer with accompanied by a gut-wrenching feeling. I hadn`t thought about his person for 3 months so what changed in that time? A few days later after this started said person contacted me out of the blue telling me he was at the lowest point of his life. Could this be a coincidence? I am unsure whether this is a coincidence but I am now more fully aware of happpenings that surpass the borders of my worldview and brush the supernatural. This book will change the way I pay attention to happenings of this nature.

Bridge Between Science and Spirituality

The age-old question nags on my mind, like a starving lion in the savana. If these phenomena exist, why do we experience this? Is it just random? Also, apparently until now there have been found 12 different types of these phenomena.

In my quest for understanding I started roaming around the local library. Emerging myself in the writings of the infamous Eckhart Tolle. I first encountered him on my search for a guided meditation on YouTube. His soothing voice calmed my racing mind like magic. Another spiritual leader catching my attention at that moment was Deepak Chopra. Not short after I held my next read in my hands. “The Way of the Wizard” entails 20 spiritual lessons to “achieve the life you want”. There are a few concepts that I saw repeated by Dean Radin, Deepak Chopra and Eckhart Tolle. The more unfathomable and removed from my everyday life the more did these concepts tear on me.

Lessons from Spiritual Guides and Echoes of Truth

1. The Ego is an Illusion

The ego follows us like a dark shadow. Its power is intoxicating and addicting but ultimately destructive. ~ The Way of the Wizard by Deepak Chopra

According to them, the ego is nothing but a mere illusion. The universe is us and we are the universe. Just like a drop in the water is the ocean. But how do we form our identities? Who decides what I like and what I don`t like?