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Science Meets Spirituality for Truth and Results
- Steve Taylor
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Welcome to “Healing From Within.” I am your host Sheryl Glick author of The Living Spirit Answers for Healing and Infinite Love which shares stories of spiritual awakening spiritual communication, healing energies, miracles and a way to put together in your thoughts an understanding of the physical and spiritual life for a clearer awareness of the Oneness of our Being. I am delighted to welcome Steve Taylor author of Spiritual Science a book that offers a new vision of the world: one that is compatible with both modern science and ancient spiritual teachings and is supported by the insights of philosophers, physicists, mystics, as well as spiritual traditions and indigenous cultures.
As listeners of the show are well aware Sheryl and her guests share intimate stories and insights that guide us to remember the history of creation, humanity, and eternal life forces, so we may access the laws of nature man and spirit, to create our best version of life, here and now, as we also refine the nature of our soul through self investigation and self mastery of our emotions, thoughts, actions, and choices.
In today’s episode of “Healing From Within” I applaud Steve Taylor’s approach to merging science and spirituality, as I believe, life cannot be understood or lived in accordance for true personal growth without putting the pieces of both disciplines together. Steve who is a scientist himself, a psychologist based at Leeds Beckett University in the UK, presents a great deal of evidence that psychic phenomena does not contravene science, and will share how consciousness is not produced by the brain and does not come to an end when our bodies die, helping us be open to the possibility of some form of life after death.
Steve shares how his ordinary family of beer loving and soccer enthusiasts weren’t really interested in the search for understanding life in an intimate and intuitive fashion and he felt somewhat saddened by this mediocre existence but he had a grandfather who was different and loved music nature and had a softer sensitive side which appealed to Steve. This grandfather encouraged Steve to explore his own thoughts and to make choices that served his highest needs.
Sheryl shares with Steve that she often almost always, has loads of synchronicity with her guests and tells Steve that her son’s dear friend since childhood is Steve Taylor. Also the endorsements Steve has received from Dr. Penny Sartori author of The Wisdom of Near Death Experiences and Dr Julia Mossbridge author of The Premonition Code have been guests on the show and listeners may go to Sheryl’s website www.sherylglick.com to listen to their very interesting insights into the world of eternal energy and Life.
Two wonderful quotes from these authors share a clear insight into the true focus of Steve’s book Spiritual Science.
“In this important book, Steve Taylor convincingly argues that the materialist paradigm has run its course and that the evidence from anomalous experiences must be acknowledged. Taylor shows how a panspiritist approach not only eloquently explains anomalous phenomena but can lead to exciting possibilities for the evolution of humankind and the planet. These issues affect each one of us; it is time we all sat up and took note.” Dr Penny Sartori, author of The Wisdom of Near-Death Experiences
“As I read this book, I kept sighing with relief. At long last, a thoughtful and accessible treatment of the false divide between science and spirituality. By exploring a series of puzzles, Taylor shows how the pieces of our world fit together, if we are willing to take a breath and look at it anew.”Dr Julia Mossbridge, author of Transcendent Mind and The Premonition Code
Steve Taylor goes on to describe a common philosophy by most academic thinkers and Sheryl admits that before she experienced mystical happenings, became an energy healer/medium she was part of this conglomerate of thinkers. Steve writes, “As an academic – a researcher and senior lecturer at a university in the UK – people are often surprised by my unorthodox views on the nature of life, and of the world. For example, when I mention to colleagues that I’m open minded about the possibility of some form of life after death, or that I believe in the possibility of paranormal phenomena such as telepathy or precognition, they look at me as if I’ve told them I’m going to give up academia and become a professional footballer. It’s taken for granted that if you’re an academic or an intellectual, you don’t entertain such unusual views. The majority of my colleagues and peers – and most academics and intellectuals in general – seem to have an orthodox materialist view of the world. They believe that human consciousness is produced by the brain, and that when the brain ceases to function consciousness will end. They believe that phenomena such as telepathy and precognition belong to a pre-rational superstitious worldview, which has long been superseded by modern science. They believe that the evolution of life – and most human behavior – can be completely explained in terms of principles such as natural selection and competition for resources. To doubt these beliefs is to be seen as weak-minded or intellectually gullible. People are even more confused when I tell them that I’m not religious. “How can you believe in life after death without being religious?”
It’s my attempt to show that one can be an intellectual and a rationalist without automatically denying the existence of seemingly “irrational” phenomena. In fact, I will show that it is actually much more rational to be open to the existence of such phenomena.
Steve also hopes to show that we don’t just have to choose between an orthodox materialist view of the world and an orthodox religious view. Often it is assumed that these are the only two options. Either you believe in heaven and hell, or you believe that there is no life after death. Either you believe in a God who overlooks and controls the events of the world, or you believe that nothing exists apart from chemical particles and the phenomena – including living beings – that have accidentally formed out of them. Either God created all life forms, or they evolved accidentally through random mutations and natural selection. But this is a false dichotomy. There is an alternative to the religious and materialist views of reality, which is arguably a more rational option than both. Broadly, this alternative can be termed “post-materialism”.1 Post-materialism holds that matter is not the primary reality of the universe, and that phenomena such as consciousness or life cannot be wholly explained in biological or neurological terms.
Steve writes, “Although this is a simple idea, it has a lot of important corollaries and consequences. Since all things share this common spiritual essence, there are no separate or distinct entities. As living beings, we are not separate from each other, or from the world we live in, since we share the same nature as each other and the world. It also means that the universe is not an inanimate, empty place, but a living organism. The whole cosmos is imbued with spirit-force, from the tiniest particles of matter to the vast, seemingly empty tracts of darkness between planets and solar systems. Spirituality isn’t often thought of in an “explanatory” context. Most people believe that it is the role of science to explain how the world works. But in this book we’ll see that this simple notion – that there is a fundamental spirit or consciousness that is ever-present and in everything – has great explanatory power. We will see that there are many issues that don’t make sense from a materialist perspective, but which can be easily explained from a spiritual point of view. I have no wish to criticize the many scientists – such as marine biologists, climatologists, astronomers or chemical engineers – who work diligently and valuably without being particularly concerned with philosophical or metaphysical issues. Science is a method and process of observing and investigating natural phenomena, and reaching conclusions about them. It’s a process of uncovering basic principles of the natural world, and of the universe, or of the biology of living beings. It’s an open-ended process whose theories are – ideally – continually tested and updated. And I completely agree that science has given us many wonderful things. It’s given us amazingly intricate knowledge of the world and of the human body. It’s given us vaccinations against diseases that killed our ancestors, and the ability to heal a massive array of conditions and injuries that would also have been fatal in the past. It’s given us air travel, space travel and a whole host of other incredible feats of engineering and technology.
Steve feels immense gratitude to the scientists throughout history who have made our present understanding of the universe and the world possible. So why am I so critical of science? you might ask. The answer is that I’m not critical of science or scientists. I am critical of the materialistic worldview – or paradigm – that has become so intertwined with science that many people can’t tell them apart. (Another possible term for this is scientism, which emphasizes that it is a worldview that has been extrapolated out of some scientific findings.) Materialism (or scientism) contains many assumptions and beliefs which have no basis in fact, but which have authority simply because they are associated with science.
Steve Taylor goes on to share that we saw that materialist ideas can be traced back to ancient Greek philosophy, and the same is true of panspiritism. In fact, panspiritist views were much more common in ancient Greek thought than materialist ones. The first Greek philosopher is usually considered to be Thales, who believed that “all things are full of Gods” and that “the soul is intermingled in the whole universe”. Another early Greek philosopher, Anaximander, used the term apeiron for spirit-force, which literally means “boundless” or “infinite”. He described apeiron as the source from which all forms arise, and to which they all return. The Stoic philosophers saw mind and matter not as two different things but as two aspects of the same underlying principle, which they called logos. Logos – sometimes translated as “God” – was therefore inherent in all material things.
However, it is important to remember that panspiritism is much more than a philosophy. More fundamentally, it is experiential. An all-pervading spirit-force is not just an abstract idea – it is a real quality that can be directly perceived. Almost every indigenous group in the world has a term that describes a spiritual force or power that pervades all things, and constitutes the essence of all things As a medium Sheryl senses shifts in energy and when in meditation and detached from her thoughts and worldly interests receives much information that helps people understand their thoughts and actions in a clearer way as this connection to Universal energy helps her maneuvers this physical reality with greater respect for our spiritual gifts of clairvoyance telepathy psychic knowledge and all things considered to be spiritual gifts.
Steve and Sheryl discuss a known phenomenon of how terminally ill people can sometimes postpone the time of their passing.Studies show that rates of mortality decrease prior to culturally significant events like Christmas or Passover and then increase afterwards.In fact, this phenomenon has been known for some time. Several studies since the 1980s have found strange patterns in mortality statistics. One found that death rates among Jewish men dropped by 25 per cent before Passover, an event in which they take a lead role. Similarly, researchers looking at death rates in Chinese women found a 35 per cent decrease in the days leading up to the Harvest Moon festival. In both cases, there was a corresponding peak in death rates in the days after the holidays.
In a discussion on near death experiences people who are clinically dead can apparently witness specific and unusual events later verified by the medical professional who treat them. Steve and Sheryl are both familiar with Anita Moorjani author of Dying to Be Me was at the last stage of life after being treated for cancer and during her near death experience was able to interact with her father who expressed that she had a choice to return to life and be healed or continue with him into the higher realms. Moorjani chose to return to life and work to help others understand how to heal and live a truthful existence as eternal souls creating the best physical life possible for themselves. Her doctors were amazed to see her return to a normal state of health and a full remission of the cancer.
As a medium Sheryl was called on to download whatever information possible from a recently departed young 19 year old man Michael and in her book The Living Spirit she wrote how Michael showed me the experience of his passing.
Sheryl wrote, “ I began a meditation hoping to connect to Michael’s energy. For the next hour I received images and sensory perceptions from the young man beginning with the sensation of extreme heat pulsating throughout my entire body. It felt like an embrace accompanied by a tingling at my root and sacral chakras. What I was feeling wan an almost overwhelming wave of love Michael had for his life, his parents and for Jessica….Soon I received an image of Michael showing me his memory of the accident. I sensed that he was catapulted over the handlebars of his motorcycle much like an athlete in the pole vault event who lifts himself high into the air, twisting and turning up over the bar. But while the athlete falls into a pit of soft foam mat. Michael’s plunge was met by hard pavement. He hit headfirst and died quickly without any awareness of physical pain. I then sensed the concern of passerby’s followed by the professionals who responded to the 911 calls. They were carefully cushioning Michael’s head with tenderness and respect.
Michael had so wanted to stay and live out his physical life. After leaving his body, he had looked over his shoulder, deeply aware that his mother father and Jessica would be devastated by this loss. But the souls above ad ahead were calling him and their irresistible beauty lifted him up. Despite his sadness for those he was leaving behind, he knew it was his time to go.
Steve discusses in his book the amazing self-healing and painkilling effects of hypnosis and Sheryl confirms his findings as years ago before she studied Reiki energy healing she studied hypnotherapy and found that some of what she learned is utilized in creating a state of relaxation for my clients when they experience a hands on healing session. Many benefits and higher consciousness can be accessed by Hypnosis and other energy modality treatments.
One of the strange things about the placebo effect is that it doesn’t work consciously. We can’t simply will ourselves to change. We can’t simply think: “I wish I wasn’t ill – I think I’ll try to make myself better.” The power of the mind to change the body can only be activated at a subconscious level, through the belief that a change is taking place (in most cases, pain relief or healing). Belief seems to uncover a strange capacity of the mind to alter the physical structures and processes of the body. These powers can also be activated in a state of hypnosis. The suggestions of a hypnotist can connect to the subconscious mind in the same way that our own beliefs can. The hypnotic state is still mysterious – there is no clear explanation of what happens when a person becomes hypnotized, or how the state is different from normal consciousness. But the essential aspect seems to be that, under hypnosis, the normal conscious ego becomes immobilized. Ego functions such as volition and control are taken over by the hypnotist. And with the ego in abeyance, the hypnotist has direct access to the person’s subconscious mind. This is the principle of hypnotherapy – the hypnotist can work directly with the subconscious, addressing the fears and phobias that are rooted there. And by the same means the suggestions of a hypnotist can bring about changes not only to the form and functioning of the brain but also the body as a whole, creating, at times, healing of physical symptoms.
Hypnotism has been shown to be effective in many other areas besides pain management. In the first half of the 19th century it was used by physicians as a treatment for illness, and found to be effective against conditions such as epilepsy, neuralgia and rheumatism. However, the area where it has been found to be most effective is skin conditions. In highly suggestible people, hypnosis has been used to rapidly heal wounds and burns, to make warts and blisters disappear and to control the bleeding of hemophiliacs. Conversely, highly suggestible people may produce blisters or burn marks if they are told by a hypnotist that their skin has been burned, or if they are blindfolded and the hypnotist pretends to touch them with a red hot poker or another object.
Steve also shares with us some new thinking that the brain is able to adapt to injury. The phenomenon of neuroplasticity also highlights the indeterminate nature of the relationship between the mind and brain. Neuroscientists used to believe that once an adult human being stops growing their brain remains in the same static state throughout their life, at least until deterioration in old age. In a similar way, scientists used to believe that after a stroke or brain injury a person’s brain would remain permanently damaged, and be unable to repair itself. However, it has now become clear that in reality the brain is plastic, and has a great capacity for change and recovery. It is not “hard-wired”. We can form new connections in different parts of the brain, and even generate entirely new brain cells. (We will look at some examples of this shortly.) One of the most interesting aspects of neuroplasticity is that functions can sometimes shift to different parts of the brain. This often happens during recovery from a stroke or other brain injuries. If the part of the brain that used to be associated with a particular activity is damaged, a new uninjured part of the brain will now become linked to it.
This flexibility seems to suggest that the mind utilizes the brain in a similar way to how a musician uses an instrument. For example, imagine a guitarist who is playing a concert when one of his strings breaks in the middle of a song (which happened to me many times when I played music). If they are playing individual notes, they will simply transfer the notes to a different string, played on higher or lower frets. If they’re playing chords, they’ll probably play the same chords in a different shape, higher or lower up the fretboard, in a way that makes the missing note less noticeable. But they will find some way of adjusting so that the music continues.
Steve and Sheryl believe that the worldview of conventional materialist science is bleak and barren perhaps without the color of imagination and Spirit so we make a compelling case for a spiritual vision of reality. Steve presents a vision of a sacred and interconnected world and of a meaningful and purposeful human life.
As Plotinus long ago wrote: “Each being contains in itself the whole intelligible world. Therefore All is everywhere… Man as he is now has ceased to be the All. But when he ceases to be an individual, he raises himself again and penetrates the whole world.” Plotinus initiated a new wave of panspiritist philosophy, usually referred to as Neoplatonism, which flourished until the middle of the first millennium AD. The Italian philosopher Francesco Patrizi suggested in a book called New Philosophy of the Universe, published in 1591, that there was a soul of the universe that pervaded all things, including the human soul, so that in a sense every soul contained the whole universe.
Steve might like readers to take away with them after reading Spiritual Science that to all these peoples – and to indigenous peoples in particular – this force is not a metaphysical speculation but a tangible reality. It is not a belief but a perception. It is not an abstraction but part of their everyday experience. This spiritual perspective pervaded their lives, just as the materialist perspective pervades our lives.
“What is the indigenous spiritual perspective? Whereas materialism sees living beings as biological machines and non-living things as inert objects, indigenous peoples’ awareness of spirit-force meant that, to them, the whole world was alive. All things were animate in the sense that they were pervaded with spirit-force, and inhabited by – or associated with – individual spirits. From the materialist perspective the world consists of empty space inhabited by inert or biologically alive objects, whereas from the indigenous spiritual perspective there is no empty space because everything is filled with spirit force and individual spirits. As the anthropologist Tim Ingold has described it, to hunter-gatherer groups the environment is “saturated with personal powers of one kind of another. It is alive.” In another sense, all things are alive because they are manifestations of spirit. Spirit is the ground out of which all things grow, and in which they always remain rooted. This is a metaphor that is often used in the Indian Upanishads – the ancient spiritual texts that describe the world as pervaded with brahman, or spirit.”
In summarizing today’s episode of Healing From Within, To many modern academics and intellectuals, belief in psychic phenomena like telepathy, precognition and clairvoyance holds the same status as belief in an afterlife – or in fairies or alien abductions. Surely – so many of our peers seem to feel – we should have progressed beyond such irrational nonsense?
Steve shows us that when science meets spirituality and an understanding of higher consciousness, universal energy and the fact that we are both soul spirit and physical human life, we hope to convince you that this intellectual or scientific view of psychic phenomena is misguided. It is not at all irrational to accept the existence of psychic phenomena – indeed, we suggest that there is so much evidence for their existence and such a sound theoretical basis for them that it is actually irrational not to accept their existence. It is only from the perspective of materialism that psychic phenomena appear to be impossible. From the panspiritist perspective, there is nothing anomalous about them at all.
By knowing we are consciousness, and can step outside ourselves and observe it as if it’s something “other” to us. In view of this, the best way to understand consciousness is in terms of experience, rather than definition. In developing a spiritual practice, a sort of meditation, one is able to connect to the realms of higher consciousness. We are all part of past, present, and future experience happening simultaneously, and once you reach this level of awareness and interaction with the universe or divine source, we find ourselves able to tap into our many spiritual psychic, precognitive and dream state abilities.
Steve and Sheryl would have you know that merging the many questions and thoughts we have about the connection between science and spirituality actually lays the pathway to finding true answers to who we are, and why we are having a physical life. The great potential within you to explore your human, physical and soul essence realities with help from higher spiritual energy will bring you unimaginable gifts and joys and a connection to eternal life.
