Body Mind Spirit: Exploring the Parapsychology of Spirituality

by Charles T. Tart

Book Overview

With Body Mind Spirit the leading figures in parapsychology finally break the self-imposed silence that has sequestered the field behind a wall of methodology and laboratory data. Researchers,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1571740732
• ISBN13: 9781571740731
• Release Date: November 1997
• Publisher: Hampton Roads Publishing Company
• Length: 255 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

An excellent mind challenger in the study of PSI

I ordered this book for myself as a Christmas gift, knowing my wish list might not be profilled. I had read previous books by and edited with Dr. Tart. This book presents a number of challenging articles written by scholars about parapsychology. I read the book as a cataylst in the study of the possibility of souls. There seems to be a number of media celerity mediums who claim there is a conscious mind and personality survival of death. They are helping people with grief and at the same time becoming millionaires. So this is the background in which I read this book. I was most intrigued with William Rolls ruminations about a long soul rather than a personality survival. However his reasons for discounting personality survival seemed to me a bit premature. Roll states since mediums have never been able to get lock combinations or phrases from the deceased when only the deceased knew these phrases or numbers before hand, proves the personality and memory die with the brain. I say, wait ! When we come into life language (words) and numbers are concepts which we learn. They are abstractions and the brain does store these, but after death is it not possible our consciousness and individuality still may survive ? Although the memory secures language and numbers it may die with the body. Perhaps memory, if such exists, after death, could be an ability to view situations in past, present and perhaps future. No numbers or language is required for such a mind. We don't need to assume the mind is identical after death as it was in life for consciousness to survive. So you can see this book has me thinking, and it will you as well. Happy readings.

Body Mind Spirit: Exploring the Parapsychology of Spirituali

Author and scientist Charles T. Tart presents his essays and those of ten other researchers in Body Mind Spirit: Exploring the Parapsychology of Spirituality. He describes his book as "a detailed exploration of the spiritual implications that can be drawn from modern scientific research in parapsychology." Tart leads with an essay outlining the current scientific evidence, stating that "using the best kind of scientific methodology, the human mind has occasional abilities to transcend space and time that are totally inexplicable in terms of the material world." This sets the theme for the remainder of the book. Other authors look at subjects like the relationship between religion and consciousness, the existence of God, intuition and psi, life after death, and channeling. Psychologist and parapsychologist William Braud writes that "parapsychological findings can be useful to those on a spiritual path as they can provide a certain degree of confidence and trust that at least some of the processes and concepts encountered are 'real' in a more traditional sense and are not delusions, projections, or misinterpretations." Philosophers and researchers have long debated the split between science and spirituality. Body Mind Spirit provides evidence that, if read objectively, may finally start to heal that split.

One of the better recent books in this field

I read just about everything in this field, and this is one of the more serious and thought-provoking of the recent works. It brings together a variety of perspectives from serious researchers. None of the chapters (each by a different author) was a waste of my time, and several were excellent. In answer to the previous reviewer, I don't believe the intent of this book is to "convince" anyone of the reality of psychical phenomena -- I believe the intent is to provoke thought as to how these phenomena might be explained and what they may mean. The entire problem with modern psychical research is that it has moved away from studying the phenomena on their own terms and has tried to cater to scientific materialism by imposing laboratory controls, an effort which has proved largely (but not entirely) fruitless. Anyway, this book is not aimed at close-minded skeptics (if it was, it would be published by Prometheus -- right?). It is aimed at those whose minds are open enough to take the evidence at face value and consider what it may mean. Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence (of which there is plenty) -- but they also demand extraordinary investigation and extraordinarily serious thought, efforts which the debunkers seem unwilling to make.

Exceptional clarity throughout ... brilliant ...

... clear and to the point, BMS encapsulates the very essence of the current Consciousness debate with regards to the existence of a Spiritual Reality alongside the acknowledged Objective and Subjective Realitys. It pulls together some very clear and practical approaches to building a framework that will bridge the gap between contemporary science and religion, as they stand separated at the moment ... inspired ...

a classic evaluation of the paranormal in trustworthy style

Charles Tart, with a strong academic background (electrial engineering, psychology) has been diving into the depths of the paranormal many years. This book is not for those simply looking for exciting, unexplainable events. It is for those who want to carefully look at all possible explanations in their search for the truth.