Madeira Consorcio

91 Madeira Consorcio Meeting 19.8.2017

Topic: Consciousness

We discussed Dr Bruce Greyson, doctor of psychiatry, University of Virginia

Studies the relationship between brain and consciousness. He recognises that in normal life there is a very clear link between the two; if you receive a blow to your head or

if you drink too much alcohol, you will experience that your thought process is less clear and focused.  However we cannot prove or observe what causes a thought or an emotion. A single neuron

cannot think or feel anything. The evolution of our way of approaching  this matter in science, follows the same way as did our approach to physics, evolving from Newton to Einstein.

Just like the theory that the brain causes the consciousness is a reasonably good model for everyday situations, so too newtonian physics is a reasonably good model for everyday objects moving at speeds that are observable to the naked eye. It is only when we deal with extreme situations like the brain approaching death or microscopic parcels travelling at the speed of light, that the old models are no longer applicable. For physics we developed a new paradigm called quantum physics and when it came to studies of the mind, physicists had to recognise consciousness as a fundamental part of existence – INDEPENDENT of matter.

There are 4 lines of evidence of consciousness without a brain:

1. Deathbed recovery of lost consciousness
2. Complex consciousness with minimal brain (U: discussion to be continued on this point)
3. Near death experiences
4. memories of past lives.

Examples of nr 1 : people with severe brain damage (from tumours, alzheimers etc) who had lost all power of thinking or communicating, regained both these things shortly before dying. We have absolutely no explanation for this fact, yet in a study, 70 % of caregivers reported of such phenomena.

Examples of nr 2: people who have lost the use of a significant part of the brain, but yet are able to perform well. One lady who after an accident was left with only a brainstem and no cortex

(cortex is the place where our thinking happens) still she was able to continue as a student at university. People with “hydrocephalus” – a decease that lets fluid leak into the brain. In one person fluid took up 90% of the brain, leaving no space for complex thinking, and still he had over a hundred in an intelligence test.

Example of nr 3: People who are clinically dead (so without trace of brain activity) who still relate vivid experiences when they are resuscitated. These experiences can be verifiable, such as the accounts of what happened during the resuscitation (what machinery was used, what people were in the room etc.) People who claimed to have had a NDE described their resuscitation correctly, whereas people who did not have NDE but was asked to try to remember their resuscitation, related it incorrectly.

People who claim to have had NDE typically describe an altered sense of time, a sudden understanding, clearer thought process, feeling of belonging, peace and joy. However there is such a thing as negative NDEs. How often they occur seems to vary between different investigations, but somewhere between 2 and 14 percent seems to be the norm. In this context I would like to underline

that most of the studies involve people who have been dead for 15 to 20 minutes. Very often they have been aware that there was a line beyond which there was no return, so we don’t actually know what experiences they would have had beyond that line.

Examples of 4: young children who report having had past lives. They typically never report on having been some very well know person, but just ordinary people whose lives were typically ended in an abrupt or violent way. In 63% of cases these people of the past were traceable and accounts of their death verifiable.
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Book links : hold on to your shoelaces…

Food of the Gods.pdf

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8AWtS91VS1nWWFXMnNzVTZ1WEE/view?usp=sharing

Dawkins. Richard – Deus, um Delírio.pdf (in particular pg 74 vis a vis “the prayers”)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B93ZsMIp-w6XNGJBMVNJT0JIaWc/view?usp=sharing

Many Lives, Many Masters (Brian L. Weiss).pdf

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B93ZsMIp-w6XOEMtR0V1SkRESFk/view?usp=sharing

Espejos del Tiempo (Brian L. Weiss).pdf

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B93ZsMIp-w6XNmF2X29vdVAzOG8/view?usp=sharing

Only Love Is Real – The Story of Soulmates Reunited (Dr. Brian Weiss).pdf

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B93ZsMIp-w6Xd1pSQjYtOF9wZG8/view?usp=sharing

Nosso Lar (Chico Xavier).pdf

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B93ZsMIp-w6XclEzUDJTUW1QWE0/view?usp=sharing

Desobsessão (Francisco Xavier).pdf

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B93ZsMIp-w6XVnlfNGdQbTJTTmM/view?usp=sharing