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An Alternative View of the Chakra System and Its Functione
Jul 12, 2017
In early Theosophy it was postulated that both the physical body and its energy body draw a portion of their nutrition from a type of energy known as Prana in the Vedic Traditions, and Chi or Vital Force in other practices. This assimilation is done through a non-physical network of energy acquisition points called Chakras in Sanskrit.
The PDF file here is a paper that I did for the SMOP group in 2014 that describes the Chakra System and how its functionality affect both the physical and emotional states of the individual.
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An Argument Against the Development of Passivity as a Spiritual Practicee
Dec 18, 2010
In some Eastern Systems of Personal Development there are only three questions that are considered of importance for the student to answer: Who am I? What am I? Where am I?  The answer to each of these questions seem simple enough for the Westerner to answer, but only because the meanings of Who, What and Where are viewed differently in the West.  In the East however, these questions often form a life’s work for the student of Yoga. Many never get past the first question for it is a type of question that defies answer from the intellect…Continue reading

A Personal Opinion of the Present State of Popular Paranormal Research
Dec 05, 2010
I am always baffled by “Researchers of the Paranormal” when they mock those with personal experience of the very subject that the researcher professes to be studying, personal experience acquired as a result of an individual’s possession of any number of forms and degrees of psychic abilities.  For the paranormal researcher to discount or make light of the use of Psychics and/or Mediums indicates a lack of knowledge of the subject matter being investigated.
My guess is that by doing so they are attempting to …    Continue reading

Beginning Meditative Practice
Sep 28, 2014
I frequently see recommendations given in response to a wide range of questions, that the inquirer should begin a meditative practice.  Generally the next question then is, ok, how do I begin?
In the SMOP group last year we  covered a series on meditation that began with an introduction to beginning meditation practice, and then went on to cover 8 specific kinds of meditation exercises. Whether you are new to meditation, or an experienced practitioner,  you might find the introduction portion of this series of benefit…    Continue reading

Did Atlantis Sink, or Did The Water Rise?
Mar 15, 2015
Did Atlantis sink, or did the water rise to cover it, and why does it matter?
Another thing to make you go hmm…
Atlantis is treated as a myth by most people in science for a number of reasons, but chief among them is the lack of …Continue reading

“Interesting Times,” The Role of the Collective Unconscious/Group Soul in Today’s Political Climate
Sep 30, 2017
As someone who has been around for a while, long enough to have experienced the Viet Nam anti-war movement from start to finish as both an observer and as a focus of the movement, I may have a slightly different frame of reference than many for evaluating today’s political climate with respect to its effects on the culture and the stability of the governmental system that we live within.
Perhaps more importantly to those in our community, although practicing Metaphysicians are just as subject to being influenced by the Collective Unconscious/Group Soul as anyone, we have some options that are not available to the general public for interpreting events and actions, and it is from that perspective that I am approaching the subject… Continue reading

On Consciousness and Spirituality
Oct 24, 2011
Words are important, they have meaning, and when their meanings change, awareness of the change is important too.  Words that have been in use in the Metaphysical and Spiritual Communities for centuries are being applied today in ways never anticipated or intended.  Some, such as “occult”, have been so bastardized in modern practice as to render them unwise to use.  Others, capitalized on for their acceptance within the community as part of the Spirituality lexicon, are being used in subtly altered ways to promote a philosophy significantly different …      Continue reading

On Mental Travel, Remote Viewing and Clairvoyance
Jul 05, 2014
In a recent discussion about the U.S. Military Remote Viewing Handbook that is now available for public access, I brought up that what is today called Remote Viewing is a practice that I was introduced to early in my studies [1] under the name of “Mental Travel”, a specific practice within the area of Clairvoyance.
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On the Nature of Reality
Jan 01, 2011
For most people the accepted view of reality is that of the physicist’s Conventional Space Time model (CST), where reality is limited to the observable physical world, changing with respect to time.
Reality in Parapsychical Laboratory Research is unavoidably limited to the physical world of Newtonian Physics (classical mechanics, basically, the field of physics related to all material the size of an atom or larger) and an as yet indeterminate phenomenon, the human mind.
Most research done in the lab seems to fall under one of two classifications, Mind to Mind communication through means not readily …               Continue reading

Politics is Spirituality Made Manifest
Jun 27, 2011
Politics is Spirituality Made Manifest. Kinda makes one wonder about the state of both about now.
One’s Spirituality, whether it takes the form of a religion, a moral code, a belief system, even atheism, must consist of absolutes. Something is true or it is untrue, it is right or it is wrong, something exists or it doesn’t exist, etc. The absolutes may change over time as a person learns and grows, but there has to be a foundation to work from, based on our best understanding at the …      Continue reading

Review/Commentary: Rupert Sheldrake’s ‘Science Set Free’
Dec 08, 2014
An article in the April 2013 issue of: Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal
Review/Commentary: Rupert Sheldrake’s ‘Science Set Free’ – John R. DeLorez (pp. 19-22)
I tried to order this book under the title The Science Delusion from Amazon.co.uk several times last year, but it was sold out each time. When it became available last October here in the US under the title Science Set Free I got my copy right away. It is an excellent summary of how science can be too selective as to what it is willing to accept as data worthy of evaluation. For all intents and purposes, this biased approach to what it considers valid data blinds science to anything that might possibly exist outside of its presently accepted materialistic framework.
The structure of Science Set Free is a little different to most books on technical subjects that I am used to (in a good way). In the introduction Sheldrake lists ten core assumptions that he has observed that most scientists take for granted as being facts. “In this book, I argue that science is being held back by centuries-old assumptions that have hardened into dogmas. The sciences would be better off without them: freer, more interesting and more fun.”
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Something to ponder…
Jul 09, 2013
Consciousness, the human mind, is defined by neuroscience and neurosurgeons to be the result of electrochemical activity within the brain.  In the view of neuroscience the firings of synapses in different areas of the complex arrangement of specialized cells and nerves that make up the brain combine to somehow produce our cognitive abilities.   Continue reading

The Contagion of Fear In Today’s Culture
Oct 08, 2013
“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”
The “Litany against Fear” above was used by the Bene Gesserit Priestesses in Frank Herbert’s …    Continue reading

To Every Thing There Is A Season, And A Time To Every Purpose Under The Heaven
Jan 11, 2011
Would love to hear your thoughts on the difficulties Elders are having in passing on their traditions, John. Any chance you could use that as your next topic?
Over the years in the course of conversations with people I respect from the Teacher/Author/Elder segment of our community, I have often found the subject of our discussion turning to the shift they are witnessing in the mindset of the general student population. The first time was with my own Teacher some 30+ years ago, the most recent was in a conversation with an old friend just a …     Continue reading

Towards a Consciousness of Oneness, or Not
Apr 10, 2011
The term “New Age”, in use in Metaphysical circles since the late 19th Century, came to be applied as a label for a major paradigm shift that occurred in our culture beginning in the 1970’s. About the only generalization that one can make about the hundreds (perhaps thousands) of different groups, practices and belief systems lumped together under the label “New Age”, is that they are all involved in what is typically referred to as a “new consciousness revolution”.
In the early years of this new facet of the culture, I saw a potential for those who …       Continue reading

Why Belief, Why Not Experiential Reality?
Jul 22, 2013
After reading Jack Hunter’s excellent E-Book; “Why People Believe in Spirits, Gods and Magic”[1] recently, the use of the word “Believe” in its title, as well as its appearance and that of the word belief in the text, reminded me of something that I have been pondering for some time.  Other than in Jack Hunter’s book, I have noted a trend in papers and on-line discussions relating to such areas as …           Continue reading