Telepathy: A Power of Meditation or A Fantasy of the Mind?

[Fermin Liu]

Hi everyone!

My name is Fermin Liu and I would like to share with you a question that has been on my mind a lot lately. In my English class, where we have learned about Transcendentalism and the infinite potential that people can access when they acknowledge the interconnectivity of everything and believe that anything is possible, my teacher has taught us how to meditate. As the definition of meditation goes, it is supposed to be a relaxing activity that allows the practitioner to cleanse his or her mind and thus, feel one with the universe. In feeling connected to everything, we will then know that there are no real physical boundaries and therefore, transcend the physical to a realm of pure energy, which as we call it in class, is the nonlocal domain of essence.

Thus, with this brief introduction of essence and the nonlocal and physical domain, my question is this: In this nonlocal domain of energy where we feel that everything is correlated and exchanging and affecting each other in some way, is telepathy - the ability to communicate and read other people's thoughts without any physical means but rather just by thinking - possible? Can people who have connected with essence and quieted their ego-mind - the mind that makes us think that we are all separate individuals in this world with no connection whatsoever and is too focused on its own problems and fear to realize the bigger picture of interconnectivity - read other people's thoughts as perceived energy?

Like Ralph Waldo Emerson's idea of the "transparent eyeball", which is the concept that when we feel the interconnectivity of things, we enter a state of energy exchange in which we can see into the insides of other people and they can see into our insides as the transparent eyeballs that we are (the idea of interconnectivity and energy correlation), in his essay "Nature", is it possible to manipulate our own energy waves and that of others through meditating which will thus allow us to read other people's thought? And if telepathy is real, how does it appear in the physical domain? What have been the evidence of this seemingly phenomenal ability that is tangible? Please give good examples with supporting arguments! Thank you!

For anyone who is interested in the forum that my English class has created based on the same topics of Transcendentalism, the ego-mind, the Universal Being, etc., please feel free to visit the following website and to comment on anything and everything:

http://transparency.phpbb9.com/

[Steve]

Hi Fermin,

Your post is very articulate and I hope I can help you with this question.

Thus, with this brief introduction of essence and the nonlocal and physical domain, my question is this: In this nonlocal domain of energy where we feel that everything is correlated and exchanging and affecting each other in some way, is telepathy - the ability to communicate and read other people's thoughts without any physical means but rather just by thinking - possible? Can people who have connected with essence and quieted their ego-mind - the mind that makes us think that we are all separate individuals in this world with no connection whatsoever and is too focused on its own problems and fear to realize the bigger picture of interconnectivity - read other people's thoughts as perceived energy?

What is very hard to grasp is that questions posed in the relative or dual nature (perception of seperateness) almost or always have no relevance in the absolute or non-dual (or what you have called the non-local domain of essence). The quick point is that you CANNOT intellectually 'understand' this domain of essence, it can only be experienced -and when experienced the questions posed from the local domain are meaningless. This is very difficult to comprehend due to the nature of language and our perceptions of the world which are largely language based thought patterns. Take for instance the word or thought 'fire'. The thought or word fire does not burn yet it symbolizes a phenomena which does burn and you, having been burned before, can experiencially understand this concept (thought or word) - but the non-local domain of essence is a non-conceptual state of being. If experienced, one can TRY to describe the experience (sort of like trying to describe the taste of an orange to someone who hasn't tasted an orange).

Now to your question of ESP, the best answer comes from the sage Nisargadatta:

**
I find that somehow, by shifting the focus of attention, I become the very
thing I look at, and experience the kind of consciousness it has; I become
the inner witness of the thing. I call this capacity of entering other
focal points of consciousness, love; you may give it any name you like.
Love says "I am everything". Wisdom says "I am nothing". Between the two,
my life flows. Since at any point of time and space I can be both the
subject and the object of experience, I express it by saying that I am
both, and neither, and beyond both. (269)

It seems you have a very interesting class. Should you wish to explore meditation and self realization more in depth I will be happy to assist.

Great Peace,
s.

[Fermin Liu]

Steve,

Thank you for that insightful and polite reponse. It is actually one of the few nice and thought-provoking responses that I have received for this question on forums other than the my class's. As for going into more depth about telepathy, let's do it!

To start off with, do you believe in telepathy? And why or why not? Also, do you think there are cases of telepathy in history that have been so insignificant that people simply passed them for nothing (like the connection between twins or husband and wife). Please support your arguments with critical thinking the way that you have been doing so far! Thank you so much for helping me!

If you would like to visit our class's forum (I think you would excel in our discussions), please visit
http://transparency.phpbb9.com/forum.htm

Have fun exploring!

[Steve]

Hi Fermin,

To start off with, do you believe in telepathy? And why or why not? Also, do you think there are cases of telepathy in history that have been so insignificant that people simply passed them for nothing (like the connection between twins or husband and wife).

Well, first of all, I try to have as few 'beliefs' as humanly possible -but to the point "telepathy" is from the Greek "to be effected by" and our practical usage is of a transmission or communication between individuals by means outside the normal senses.

IMO this is a no brainer. I honestly don't understand how one would mount an arguement against the existance of telepathy. Now I can understand how one could argue against their own idea of telepathy and I would agree that how telepathy and ESP is depicted in the media (the guy in Heroes comes to mind) is far from how this really works. Practical experience and antedotal evidence overwhelming supports the obvious: That all things are connected, some connections are stronger than others and different relationships and different people can access this better than others.

Overlooked cases? What is love, empathy and compassion other than making a deep connection?
Our highest virtues involve the selfless concern for others. This is telepathy in the real sense. "Mind reading" may exist but not as seen on TV or the movies. For one reason, among others, is that most mind-streams are incoherent and what you would pick up would be babble.
Coherent thought is a small % of the mind stream for most people. Mostly people live in thoughts of the past, plans for the future, intermixed with selfish insecurities, music lyrics, and various fragments which are not worth reading even if one could.

Yes, telepathy exists and it exists in many forms, but it arises out of a selfless caring concern; an openness to the universe and a love for its inhabitants.

Great Peace,
s

[Fermin Liu]

Steve,

Thanks for all your responses and the insights that you have come up with! You have really helped me better understand the topic of telepathy and the idea of interconnectivity and infinite potential. Yet, I know that journeys like these with extremely life-changing questions are never finished, and thus, I would like to invite you to my English class'sforum

http://transparency.phpbb9.com/forum.htm

because somehow, I just know that you would find more answers there to the questions that you seem to have inside, and also, help a lot of my classmates with their questions about life. Thus, if you DO decide to join us in our exploration of the path that leads to a happy life, please come check out our forum and introduce yourself! We would love to have you there!

[alexx_2010]

When i do my training in meditation after it i feel new different person and my feeling to everything around me is changed.