Harvard Goes To The Himalayas – Monks
With ‘Superhuman’ Abilities Show Scientists What We Can All
Do
March 1,
2016 by Arjun
Walia Collective Evolution
It’s fascinating to consider just how many
ancient teachings tell us that humans have the capacity to gain
extraordinary powers through various techniques. Some of these
techniques, known as siddhis in the
yoga tradition (from the Sanskrit, meaning “perfection”), include
meditation, static dancing, drumming, praying, fasting,
psychedelics, and more.
In Buddhism, for example, the existence of advanced
powers is readily acknowledged; in fact, Buddha expected his
disciples to be able to attain these abilities, but also to not
become distracted by them.
A Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies at
the University of Michigan, Donald Lopez Jr., describes the many
abilities ascribed to Buddha:
With this enlightenment, he was believed to
possess all manner of supernormal powers, including full knowledge
of each of his own past lives and those of other beings, the
ability to know others’ thoughts, the ability to create doubles of
himself, the ability to rise into the air and simultaneously shoot
fire and water from his body. . . . Although he passed into
nirvana at the age of eighty-one, he could have lived “for an aeon
or until the end of the aeon” if only he had been asked to do so.
(source)
Again, there are numerous historical anecdotes of
people with, as the Institute of Noetic Sciences calls them,
‘extended human capacities.” Since this article is focused on
Buddhist monks, here is another example from the lore as written by
Swami Rama in Living with the Himalayan
Masters:
I had never before seen a man who could sit
still without blinking his eyelids for eight to ten hours, but this
adept was very unusual. He levitated two and a half feet during his
meditations. We measured this with a string, which was later
measured by a foot rule. I would like to make it clear, though, as
I have already told you, that I don’t consider levitation to be a
spiritual practice. It is an advanced practice of pranayama with
application of bandeaus (locks). One who knows about the
relationship between mass and weight understands that it is
possible to levitate, but only after long practice. .
.
He (also) had the power to transform matter into
different forms, like changing a rock into a sugar cube. One after
another the next morning he did many such things. He told me to
touch the sand – and the grains of sand turned into almonds and
cashews. I had heard of this science before and knew its basic
principles, but I had hardly believed such stories. I did not
explore this field, but I am fully acquainted with the governing
laws of science. (source)
A lot of these stories exist within the literature
and lore, but they are just stories, up to the readers to decide if
they hold any actually credibility. Of course, one who
subscribes to various ancient teachings would be more inclined
to believe that these are more than just stories and tales. With
science shedding light on the possible truths of ancient mysticism,
it’s not implausible to think that, at one time, these abilities
were more common knowledge.
Today, there have been a number of studies within
the realms of parapsychology that have yielded statistically
significant results, especially when examining the findings that’ve
come from quantum physics. This is why Max Planck, the theoretical
physicist who originated quantum theory, stated that he “regards
consciousness as fundamental” and that he regarded “matter as
derivative from consciousness.” He also wrote that “we cannot get
behind consciousness” and that “everything that we talk about,
everything that we regard as existing postulates consciousness.”
And the Dalai Lama has supported this viewpoint:
Broadly speaking, although there are some
differences, I think Buddhist philosophy and Quantum Mechanics can
shake hands on their view of the world. We can see in these great
examples the fruits of human thinking. Regardless of the admiration
we feel for these great thinkers, we should not lose sight of the
fact that they were human beings just as we are.
(source)
R.C. Henry, Professor of Physics of Physics and
Astronomy at John Hopkins University, explains things
further:
A fundamental conclusion of the new physics also
acknowledges that the observer creates the reality. As observers,
we are personally involved with the creation of our own reality.
Physicists are being forced to admit that the universe is a
“mental” construction. Pioneering physicist Sir James Jeans wrote:
“The stream of knowledge is heading toward a non-mechanical
reality; the universe begins to look more like a great thought than
like a great machine. Mind no longer appears to be an accidental
intruder into the realm of matter, we ought rather hail it as the
creator and governor of the realm of matter. Get over it, and
accept the inarguable conclusion. The universe is immaterial-mental
and spiritual. (source)
For a selected list of downloadable peer-reviewed
journal articles reporting studies of psychic phenomena, mostly
published in the 21st century, you can
click HERE.
During a visit to remote monasteries in the 1980s,
Harvard Professor of Medicine Herbert Benson and his team of
researchers studied monks living in the Himalayan Mountains who
could, by g Tum-mo (a yoga technique), raise the temperatures of
their fingers and toes by as much as 17 degrees. It is still
unknown how the monks are able to generate such heat.
(source)
And it doesn’t stop there — the researchers
also studied advanced meditators in Sikkim, India, where they were
astonished to find that these monks could lower their metabolism by
64 percent.(source)
In 1985, the Harvard research team made a video of
monks drying cold, wet sheets with body heat alone. Monks spending
winter nights 15,000 feet high in the Himalayas is also not
uncommon.
These are truly remarkable feats, and not the first
time science has examined humans who can do extraordinary things.
We published an article a couple of months ago showing that factors
associated with consciousness can influence our autonomic nervous
system. You can read more about that in the article linked
below:
Study: Factors Associated With
Consciousness Can Influence Our Autonomic Nervous
System
If you’re further interested in this subject, I
recommend reading Supernormal: Science, Yoga, and
the Evidence for Extraordinary Psychic
Abilities by Dr. Dean Radin,
Chief Scientist at the Institute of
Noetic Sciences.
Another related CE Article that might be of
interest: 6 Humans With Real “Superpowers” That
Science Can’t Explain