By Stephen Russell-Lacy Emanuel Swedenborg was an 18th-century Christian mystic. He has something to say about the origin of our mental images. He claimed he could converse with people occupying, what for most of us is usually, a hidden spirit realm. This he termed the ‘spiritual world’. He said this communication took place in full … Continue reading Mental images – Are we responsible for them?
By Stephen Russell-Lacy. Science and religion sometimes have one thing in common – blindness! There are people who have a blind faith in their religion. Like the fundamental Christians who believe in creationism, saying that the earth was made in just seven days. A point of view held in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence to … Continue reading Science and religion – Compatible?
The brain, is a soft, mass of gray and white matter. It has been estimated that there are more connections between the nerve cells within each one than all the particles in the universe! But how on earth can a piece of mere biological tissue – albeit an incredibly complex one – have consciousness? How … Continue reading Consciousness: can brain matter have it?
If the human soul is something spiritual can we not understand it in terms of science? Although the derivation of the word ‘psychology’ literally means study of the soul, science has failed to pinpoint the location of the soul in the body and contemporary psychology is now defined as the study of mental processes and … Continue reading Soul of a person – How to understand?
I wonder whether you have ever seen a mirage? Mirages occur in our physical world; in the desert the interface of hot and cold air creates to the eye the appearance or illusion of water. For a time the eye is misled into seeing what is not there – it is not real. Mirages can … Continue reading Spiritual Mirages
People have random eye movements under closed eyelids (REM) from time to time when they are asleep and if wakened at these times they report dreaming. In this way sleep researchers found that most people dream for about a fifth of their sleeping time. A person of age seventy-five will not only have slept twenty-five … Continue reading Dream sleep — How to understand it?
For years after the death of my best friend and spiritual guide, I would dream about him being alive again. We would talk but I never got the chance or courage to ask him where he had been. So this is a fantasy extension of that dream. “The dream came back and you my best … Continue reading Fantasy: Dead again
You may wonder that if memories are chemically and electrically stored in the way neuroscience describes, does this mean that your brain is the be-all and end-all of your memory and that without your brain you would remember nothing after death?
Here is some advice from the 13th century on how to feel more alive in yourself. “Do not look back, my friend no-one knows how the world began Do not fear the future, nothing lasts forever If you dwell on the past or the future You will miss the moment” (Rumi, a 13th century … Continue reading How can I feel more alive?
A very funny presentation about the male and female brain by Mark Gungor. Men’s brains are unique. They are made up of little boxes. A box for everything. We’ve got a box for the car, a box for the money, a box for the job. And the rule is the boxes don’t touch. When a … Continue reading A tale of two brains