The Intention Experiment

"We can no longer view ourselves as isolated from our environment and our thoughts the private, self-contained workings of an individual brain. Dozens of scientists have produced thousands of papers in the scientific literature offering sound evidence that thoughts are capable of profoundly affecting all aspects of our lives. As observers and creators, we are constantly remaking our world at every instant. Every thought we have, every judgment we hold, however, unconscious, is having an effect. With every moment that it notices, the conscious mind is sending an intention." - From the book

What if eggs registered a cry of alarm, then resignation, when one of their number was dropped in boiling water? What if you could change the shape of your bicep muscle simply by sitting on a couch and using your brain? What if plants could learn to differentiate between true and artificial human intent--a plant "learning curve"--such as a researcher *thinking* about lighting a match under one of its leaves, but not intending to actually do it? What if directed thoughts produce demonstrable physical energy, even over a remote distance--perhaps altering the very molecular structure of the object of intention? Can praying for 4,000 patients with hospital-acquired infections affect their healing and recovery--when prayed for *4-10 years after their hospitalization*?

Do these questions sound like plots out of a sci-fi novel to you--or perhaps ridiculous notions from New Age space cadets? What if these concepts were actually the quantifiable results of rigorous scientific studies?

Like her previous book The Field, author Lynne McTaggart explores the edges of frontier science, boldly going where ingrained Newtonian paradigms have never gone before: the realm of pioneering consciousness experiments. In her newest book The Intention Experiment, McTaggart not only recounts dozens of extraordinary scientific studies on the power of human intention on machines, plants, animals and other humans, but also explains how to harness this power individually and collectively for specific results.

In fact, McTaggart, in conjunction with Dr. Gary Schwartz of Center for Frontier Medicine in Biofield Science at the University of Arizona, now endeavors to undertake the world's largest scientific mind-over-matter experiment in history, inviting readers to participate in online research on massive group intention. In addition, McTaggart encourages participants to use her blueprint of exercises and recommendations for "powering up"--based on the results of extensive research--to formulate their own personal goals, especially unlikely ones, and report the results to her website.

Some of the fascinating studies and research findings detailed in The Intention Experiment include:

* "...although the activity of the REGs was normal in the days leading up to 9/11, the machines became increasingly correlated a few hours *before* the first tower was hit, as though there had been a mass premonition... The world had felt a collective shudder several hours before the first plane crash, and every REG machine had heard and duly recorded it."

* "Volunteers between 20 and 35 years old imagined flexing one of their biceps as hard as they could during daily training sessions carried out five times a week. After ensuring that the participants were not doing any actual exercise, including tensing their muscles, the researches discovered an astonishing 13.5 percent increase in muscle size and strength after just a few weeks, an advantage that remained for three months after the mental training stopped."

* Clearly, during an altered state, roughly corresponding to the hyperalert state of intense meditation, conscious thoughts can convince the body to endure pain, cure many serious diseases, and change virtually any condition.

* Water treated by healers underwent a fundamental change in its molecular makeup.

* "...Helmut Schmidt successfully employed a similar study design to change his own prerecorded breathing rate, demonstrating that it is possible to retroactively change your own physical state as well...intention is capable of reaching back down the time line to influence past events, or emotional or physical responses, at the point when they originally occurred. Physicists no longer consider retrocausation inconsistent with the laws of the universe. More than one hundred articles in the scientific literature propose ways in which laws of physics can account for time displacement."

A recent article in Rolling Stone magazine mentioned that well-intentioned, heartfelt prayer might inadvertently harm or kill patients--an article that no doubt deflated the beliefs and hopes of some people...not to mention seeming to contradict the many studies showing the efficacy of prayer. With uncanny prescience, McTaggart addresses this study in depth, concluding, "When we are consciously attempting to affect someone else with our thoughts, we may want to search our hearts about our true feelings to ensure that we are not sending tainted love."

The Intention Experiment also explores why Reiki, energy healing and voodoo works, as well as the science behind visualization, entrainment between loving couples, psychic ability, retrocausation, biofeedback, remote viewing, and manifestation. If you're intrigued by the ideas presented in The Secret, What the Bleep Do We Know?!, Ramtha material, and the Abraham material (Law of Attraction)--but crave scientific proof and a more globally connected, compassionate paradigm--The Intention Experiment by Lynne McTaggart abundantly delivers. Proving what mystics, shamans, and spiritual teachers have demonstrated and shared for centuries--that all is connected in the web of life--I'm thrilled that there's *finally* a book that integrates volumes of hard scientific data with idea that thoughts are "things" that solidify, and influence, matter itself.

Instead of merely offering up an incredible amount of detailed research findings (the notes/citations and Bibliography are well over 30 pages)--which is a feat in itself--The Intention Experiment does what many books do not: translates the implications of these findings for everyday folks, and provides a simple model to follow for personal experimentation and manifestation. Bravo to Ms. McTaggart for this book, and for providing the opportunity for readers to participate in the largest, grandest experiment on group intention in human history. (http://www.theintentionexperiment.com/)

Your Immortal Reality

Some things just ring true when you read or hear them. A deeper aspect of yourself, or that intuitive place inside sometimes just knows that this is the real deal. This is most especially the case with Gary Renard's books. I am talking about the radical teachings on forgiveness themselves, not necessarily what one makes of the ascended masters, Arten and Pursah, who are said to have conversed with the author in his living room. Make no mistake about it; this is not some New Age channeled hooey designed to simpy make you feel good about yourself or the world at large. This IS the real deal, and as far as I can tell, so are Arten and Pursah, but that doesn't really matter.

The subtitle of the book is "How to Break the Cycle of Birth and Death." Now some people might ask why they would necessarily even want to break this cycle, although such a query would be a stretch today given the mess the illusory world seems to be in at this time. But let's face it. Life isn't all bad, and in fact, can sometimes seem downright fun and rewarding. It also, of course, depends on who you are and what kind of shape your life is currently in. But the best analogy I have ever heard in this regard came from a book I read by a Tibetan Buddhist who was imprisoned for many years following the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959. His captor and personal guard would take one day of every week, Tuesday, to spend most of that day torturing him. On one particular Tuesday, the captor had a note sent to the Buddhist monk that the captor would not be able to torture him that day because he had fallen ill. But the guard assured the Buddhist that he would torture him again on the following Tuesday. Even though the monk's dismal and degrading surroundings were unchanged, even though he was still literally given garbage to eat in filthy and inhumane conditions, that Tuesday was one beautiful day. Enough said.

If you have not already done so, I would recommend reading "The Disappearance of the Universe" before reading "Your Immortal Reality." I think you'll get much more out of each book that way. The most refreshing thing about Gary Renard is that he is a straight shooter with a good sense of humor. He doesn't appear to be a person who takes himself too seriously, yet the teachings themselves could not be more important. A Course in Miracles is, as others have noted, a Christianized version of Advaita Vedanta. I can think of no higher teaching, nor a more direct route to the ultimate goal of full realization of our oneness with God. Don't be surprised or in the least discouraged, then, if you find your ego resisting your efforts to practice real forgiveness as described in the Course. This is not easy stuff, and anyone who suggests that it is, must either be a fully enlightened master or someone who has completely deluded themselves. Still, is there anything in life more important than our efforts in this regard? After all, isn't today Tuesday?

A New Earth

If you got the concepts in the Power of Now, and love the simple, easy-to-understand message of that book, you will find a "going deeper" happening with this one.

I've always been one to disagree with spiritual teachers about the ego - that it's basically all bad. If it's bad, why did God create it? My feeling is if it is here on Earth, it belongs, even though we may not understand why.

That said, Eckhart clearly defines, with excellent examples, how our identification with the ego (and not the ego itself, mind you) keeps us from simply being in the present and instead tied to thoughts, concepts, mind-stuff, endless identification with people, places, and things. He shows us the many forms and faces that the ego takes up, and shows us the fallacy of identifying with forms in the first place.

To identify so completely with form is to identify with that which is doomed to extinction, causing us loss and sadness. Wouldn't it be better if we simply observed things from an aware state, and not get so caught up in them? This is Eckhart's goal, to get us to a place where we can see the benefits of raising our awareness, and actually wanting to do so.

Ah, easier said than done, I hear you say. Within the pages of A New Earth, Eckhart gives us precisely the tools we need to recognize and become aware of own folly. From that higher state of awareness, the flowers of enlightenment can bloom. And voila, a New Earth is born.

I find this book a great comfort.

Change Your Thoughts - Change Your Life

We're all so busy these days. And distracted. Who has time to pause and ponder on much of anything beyond what we're grabbing for dinner after school or work? That is, if we even have time for dinner. So at first glance this almost-400 page book with its obvious philosophical leanings appears a little daunting. But dig in and you'll quickly see that it is not a book to be read in one concentrated time period, but rather taken a step at a time as a meditative process.

Each chapter is based on one of the 81 verses of the ancient Chinese wisdom and philosophy of the Tao Te Ching and beckons the reader to stop and think before moving on with his/her busy life. Dr. Dyer studied numerous translations of the Tao, meditated on his own interpretations, and observed how each verse influenced his thinking (and life) for the day. Each chapter begins with the actual verse from the Tao, followed by a title which summarizes the chief learning, followed by Dr. Dyer's comments and interpretations. Each chapter ends with a short instruction on a way to "Do the Tao Now." The instructions are deceptively simple ranging from thoughts to hold in your mind to actions you can take. Some actions can take all day (such as a suggested fast for a day); others can be done in minutes, such as expressing kindness toward another.

The notion that changing your thinking can change your life is found in almost all cultures and writings since early civilizations. This philosophy is at the heart of the most successful psychological treatments for depression, anxiety, and other disorders. The Tao provides one more example of this powerful philosophy, and Dr. Dyer nicely walks us through it.

If I had to summarize this book in one word it would be "peace." There is something about the writing which demands that you slow down, focus for a moment on the present, and take just a few minutes to detach from the chaos of your life into a true "moment of Zen." Keep it by your bed, read a chapter before going to sleep or when you first wake up and notice what begins to change in your life.

REVIEW UPDATE: As I continue to spend time with this book, I continue to be impressed. Because each chapter is only 4-6 pages long, my initial impression was that one could read a chapter a night. And you can- but the thoughts in each chapter are so intriguing and interesting that I find I wanted to linger over them for several days. This book deserves to be savored. There's also an interesting mystery in the epilogue. Dr. Dyer closes with a brief discussion of a personal incident that very much challenged his beliefs and work with the Tao. He writes, "I was presented with the greatest personal challenge of my life." He goes on to describe his great hurt and pain. I assume he had his reasons for not explaining the event in greater detail, but it leaves the reader wanting to know more- and specifically how he applied to Tao to overcome his feelings. Perhaps he will enlighten us in a future book or CD.

Working on Yourself Doesn't Work

The title of this book may seem enigmatic, but it is the foundation of having a wonderful life. The reader may wonder, If I don't work on myself, won't I become complacent? Not at all! The reason that working on yourself doesn't work, the Kanes explain, is that it presupposes that there is something wrong with you. But, as their second principle states, you can only be exactly as you are in any given moment. As long as you imagine you are messed up and in need of repair you resist the way that your life is showing up. This leads to the first principle: anything that you resist persists and grows stronger. If you want to see a behavior stick around, resistance - the adding of oppositional energy - will do the trick.

Although working on yourself doesn't work, there is much you can discover about your mechanical ways of operating that can improve the quality of your life. Through awareness - defined by the Kanes as the non-judgmental seeing of anything - your experience of living can shift without your having to do anything else. This is encompassed by the Kanes' third principle: anything you see exactly as it is will complete itself.

Does it sound all too simple? It is, and it works. This is why I recommend this book, more than any other, to the people in my life. After years of searching for well being - attending workshops, reading numerous books, and even staying on a farm to find a better way of living - Working on Yourself Doesn't Work is the only thing that I have found that does work. Read again and again, the book makes life easy, magical, and effortless.

Opening Love's Door: The Seven Lessons

So many wonderful things to say about this thoughtfully constructed and well-written book! How it drew me in to the life experiences and lessons that the protagonist, Janna, and how relevant I found her experiences to the issues and challenges of my life. How the spiritual teachings were so transparently woven into the flow of the storyline. How Janna developed in strength and certainty as she tackled one challenge after another.




The tone and character of the story rang very true for me, as I reflect on those miracles that have occurred in my life when I have faced the demons, been honest with myself and others and been open to the Divine in whatever form it reveals itself. I resonated deeply with Janna and her personal and spiritual evolution. I look forward to following the next episodes of her wonderful journey. She is sure to become a cult classic.



Much as "What The Bleep" showed America the broad support for things metaphysical in film, so Opening Love's Door will illuminate the hunger we have for things of substance in literature that bridge the emotional and the spiritual.