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2. Essay Reviews, Book Reviews, Articles of Interest

Author

P. David Moncrief, Editor, Henry H. Bauer, Carlos S. Alvarado, Sally Rhine Feather, Djohar Si Ahmed, Stan V. McDaniel, Imants Baruss, Tana Dineen, and Stephen C. Jett

Subjects
Speculative philosophy, BD10-701
Abstract

Prescribing by Numbers: Drugs and the Definition of Disease by Jeremy A. Greene On the Trans-Corporeal Action of Spirit by William Stainton Moses Posthumous Humanity: A Study of Phantoms by Adolphe D’Assier The Phantom of the Living: Anatomy and Physiology of the Soul: Experimental Researches on the Doubling of Man’s Body by Hector Durville The Case for Astral Projection by Sylvan J. Muldoon The Phenomena of Bilocation by Ernesto Bozzano The Phenomena of Astral Projection by Sylvan J. Muldoon and Hereward Carrington ESP Projection: Spontaneous Cases and the Experimental Method by Hornell Hart Six Theories about Apparitions by Hornell Hart et al. Esprit: Men and Women of Parapsychology, Personal Reflections, Volume 1, edited by Rosemarie Pilkington Notre Sixième Sens by Charles Richet The Western Esoteric Traditions: A Historical Introduction by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke Electronic Voices: Contact with Another Dimension? by Anabela Cardoso Manufacturing Depression: The Secret History of a Modern Disease by Gary Greenberg Karl Shuker’s Alien Zoo by Karl P. N. Shuker The Origin of Purportedly Pre-Columbian Mexican Crystal Skulls by Margaet Sax, Jane M. Walsh, Ian C. Freestone, Andrew H. Rankin, and Nigel D. Meeks Crystal Cranium by Owen Edwards Legend of the Crystal Skulls: The Truth Behind Indiana Jones’s Latest Quest by Jane MacClaren Walsh Follow the Kelp by Heather Pringle Kelp Highways by Heather Pringle Radiocarbon and DNA Evidence for a Pre-Columbian Introduction of Polynesian Chickens to Chile by Alice A. Storey, José Miguel Ramírez, Daniel Quiroz, David B. Burley, David J. Addison, Richard Walter, Atholl J. Anderson, Terry L. Hunt, J. Stephen Athens, Leon Huynen, and Elizabeth A. Mattisoo-Smith In Search of the World’s Most Ancient Mariners by Michael Balter

Published
2011

3. Book Reviews

Author

IMANTS BARUSS, JAMES MCCLENON, BRYAN J. WILLIAMS, ALEXANDER IMICH, INGO SWANN, RICHARD CONN HENRY, WILLIAM C GOUGH, STEPHEN C JETT, NANCY L. ZINGRONE, JOHN BINDERNAGEL, GORDON STRASENBURGH, and WILLIAM CORLISS

Subjects
Speculative philosophy, BD10-701
Abstract

245 The Gold Leaf Lady and Other Parapsychological Investigations, by Stephen E. Braude Imants Barus¡s 247 The Paranormal and the Politics of Truth: A Sociological Account, by Jeremy Northcote James McClenon 251 Opening to the Infinite: The Art and Science of Nonlocal Awareness, by Stephan A. Schwartz Bryan J. Williams 260 Psi in the Sky: A New Approach to UFO and Psi Phenomena, by Keith L. Partain Alexander Imich 262 The Intention Experiment: Using Your Thoughts to Change Your Life and the World, by Lynne McTaggart Imants Barus¡s 264 The Synchronized Universe: New Science of the Paranormal, by Claude Swanson Ingo Swann 2 66 The God Theory: Universes, Zero-Point Fields and What’s Behind It All, by Bernard Haisch Richard Conn Henry 269 The Chaos Point: The World at the Crossroads, by Ervin Laszlo William C. Gough 271 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus, by Charles C. Mann Stephen C. Jett 279 Articles of Interest

Published
2010

4. Not* So Fast: A Response to Augustine’s Critique of the BICS Contest

Author

Stephen Braude, Imants Barušs, Arnaud Delorme, Dean Radin, and Helané Wahbeh

Subjects
Speculative philosophy, BD10-701
Abstract

Keith Augustine’s critical evaluation of the essay contest sponsored by the Bigelow Institute of Consciousness Studies (BICS) is an interesting but problematic review. It mixes reasonable and detailed criticisms of the contest and many of the winning essays with a disappointing reliance on some of the most trite and superficial criticisms of parapsychological research. Ironically, Augustine criticizes the winning essays for using straw-man arguments and cherry-picked evidence even though many of his own arguments commit these same errors.

Published
2022
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5. Sahaj Samadhi meditation vs a Health Enhancement Program in improving late-life depression severity and executive function: study protocol for a two-site, randomized controlled trial

Author

Stephen Benjamin Peckham, Emily Ionson, Marouane Nassim, Kevin Ojha, Lena Palaniyappan, Joe Gati, Jean Thebérge, Andrea Lazosky, Mark Speechley, Imants Barušs, Soham Rej, and Akshya Vasudev

Subjects
Late-life depression, Treatment-resistant late-life depression, Executive functioning, Sahaj Samadhi meditation, Health Enhancement Program, Randomized controlled trial, Medicine (General), R5-920
Abstract

Abstract Background Recent estimates suggest an 11% prevalence of current late-life depression (LLD) and a lifetime prevalence of 16–20%. LLD leads to cognitive disturbance as well as a nearly two to three times increased risk of dementia. We conducted a recent randomized controlled trial (RCT) which demonstrated that Sahaj Samadhi meditation (SSM), an easy-to-implement, meditation-based augmentation strategy, led to higher rates of symptom remission when compared to treatment as usual (40.0 vs 16.3%; odds ratio, 3.36; 95% CI 1.06–10.64; p = 0.040). Here we present a protocol describing a two-site, blinded, RCT, comparing an SSM arm to an active-control arm – a Health Enhancement Program (HEP) intervention – in their ability to reduce depressive symptoms and improve executive functioning, among several other exploratory outcomes. Methods/design One hundred and ninety-two (n = 192) participants with LLD will be recruited at two sites (London, ON, Canada, and Montreal, QC, Canada). Participants will undergo stratified randomization with regards to site and the presence of treatment-resistant-LLD (TR-LLD) or not, to either SSM or HEP. We will assess change in (1) depression severity using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), (2) executive functioning, and (3) other exploratory physiological and mood-based measures, at baseline (0 weeks), post intervention (12 weeks), and 26 weeks after baseline. Raters, clinicians, and care providers will be blinded to group allocation while participants will be blinded to the study hypotheses. Discussion This study should more definitively assess whether SSM can be used as an augmentation strategy in routine clinical care for patients suffering from LLD and TR-LLD. If the effects of SSM are significantly better than HEP, it will offer support for the routine use of this intervention to manage LLD/TR-LLD and comorbid declines in executive dysfunction. The results of this study could also inform whether SSM can improve/prevent cognitive decline in LLD. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, ID: NCT03564041. Registered on 20 June 2018.

Published
2019
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7. Unintended Deviations of a Random Event Generator by Patients With Late Life Depression and Anxiety During a Direct Mental Influence Task

Author

Grace, Kadler, Akshya, Vasudev, Emily, Ionson, and Imants, Barušs

Subjects
Psychiatry and Mental health, Depression, Quality of Life, Humans, Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders
Abstract

The primary objective was to determine whether depression and anxiety influence the outcome of random microevents in a nonrandom manner in the absence of any physical intervention by using a random event generator (REG). The secondary objective was to correlate other dimensions of consciousness with the REG's output. The experimental group (n = 30) included individuals with depression, the control group (n = 15) included individuals without depression, and the comparison group (n = 10) included individuals with or without depression. It was hypothesized that those with depression or anxiety would significantly deviate the REG in the unintended direction but the whole sample did [t(49) = -2.37, p = 0.022, two tailed]. There was no significant difference between the group means [F(2, 50) = 0.12, p = 0.84] and no robust correlations between dimensions of consciousness and REG activity. Further analysis is needed to understand negative emotions in mind-matter interactions.

Published
2022

8. Death As an Altered State of Consciousness : A Scientific Approach

Author

Imants Barušs and Imants Barušs

Subjects
Death--Psychological aspects, Consciousness--Physiological aspects
Abstract

In this engaging book, diverse phenomena associated with death, such as apparent after-death communication and near-death experiences, are examined through a scientific lens and evaluated for the degree to which they offer evidence for the survival of consciousness after death. Is death the end of everything? Is life after death really possible? Considerable scientific support has emerged in recent years for the idea that death is best described as an altered state of consciousness. This survival hypothesis contrasts with predominant materialist thinking, which holds that there is only oblivion upon death. Chapters in this book investigate scientific evidence for mediumship, instrumental transcommunication, near-death experiences, after-death communication, and past-life experiences, among other anomalous death-related occurrences, and a framework is presented for understanding the nature of a potential afterlife. The phenomena described in this book will broaden the perspective of consciousness researchers, and fill an educational need for caregivers, grief counselors, and all who are interested in this understudied and misunderstood area.

Published
2023

9. Radical Transformation

Author

Imants Barušs and Imants Barušs

Subjects
Reality, Consciousness
Abstract

In Radical Transformation, Imants Barušs leads the reader out of the receding materialist paradigm into an emerging post-materialist landscape in which new questions present themselves. If consciousness has nonlocal properties, then how are boundaries between events established? If consciousness directly modulates physical manifestation, then what is the scope of such modulation? If consciousness continues after physical death, then how much interference is there from non-physical entities? As we face the threat of extinction on this planet, is there anything in recent consciousness research that can help us? Are there effective means of self-transformation that can be used to enter persistent transcendent states of consciousness that could resolve existential and global crises? The author leads the reader through discussions of meaning, radical transformation, and subtle activism, revealing the unexpected interplay of consciousness and reality along the way.

Published
2021

10. Sahaj Samadhi meditation vs a Health Enhancement Program in improving late-life depression severity and executive function: study protocol for a two-site, randomized controlled trial

Author

Joseph S. Gati, Marouane Nassim, Akshya Vasudev, Kevin Ojha, Imants Barušs, Mark Speechley, Emily Ionson, Jean Théberge, Soham Rej, Lena Palaniyappan, Andrea Lazosky, and Stephen Benjamin Peckham

Subjects
Male, Time Factors, Medicine (miscellaneous), Severity of Illness Index, Late-life depression, law.invention, Study Protocol, Executive Function, 0302 clinical medicine, Randomized controlled trial, law, Multicenter Studies as Topic, Medicine, Pharmacology (medical), Cognitive decline, Depression (differential diagnoses), Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Aged, 80 and over, Ontario, lcsh:R5-920, Depression, Age Factors, Quebec, Sahaj Samadhi meditation, Middle Aged, Treatment-resistant late-life depression, Late life depression, 3. Good health, Meditation, Treatment Outcome, Female, lcsh:Medicine (General), Health Enhancement Program, medicine.medical_specialty, 03 medical and health sciences, Rating scale, Humans, Dementia, Aged, business.industry, Odds ratio, medicine.disease, 030227 psychiatry, Affect, Physical therapy, Executive functioning, business, 030217 neurology & neurosurgery, Executive dysfunction
Abstract

Background Recent estimates suggest an 11% prevalence of current late-life depression (LLD) and a lifetime prevalence of 16–20%. LLD leads to cognitive disturbance as well as a nearly two to three times increased risk of dementia. We conducted a recent randomized controlled trial (RCT) which demonstrated that Sahaj Samadhi meditation (SSM), an easy-to-implement, meditation-based augmentation strategy, led to higher rates of symptom remission when compared to treatment as usual (40.0 vs 16.3%; odds ratio, 3.36; 95% CI 1.06–10.64; p = 0.040). Here we present a protocol describing a two-site, blinded, RCT, comparing an SSM arm to an active-control arm – a Health Enhancement Program (HEP) intervention – in their ability to reduce depressive symptoms and improve executive functioning, among several other exploratory outcomes. Methods/design One hundred and ninety-two (n = 192) participants with LLD will be recruited at two sites (London, ON, Canada, and Montreal, QC, Canada). Participants will undergo stratified randomization with regards to site and the presence of treatment-resistant-LLD (TR-LLD) or not, to either SSM or HEP. We will assess change in (1) depression severity using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), (2) executive functioning, and (3) other exploratory physiological and mood-based measures, at baseline (0 weeks), post intervention (12 weeks), and 26 weeks after baseline. Raters, clinicians, and care providers will be blinded to group allocation while participants will be blinded to the study hypotheses. Discussion This study should more definitively assess whether SSM can be used as an augmentation strategy in routine clinical care for patients suffering from LLD and TR-LLD. If the effects of SSM are significantly better than HEP, it will offer support for the routine use of this intervention to manage LLD/TR-LLD and comorbid declines in executive dysfunction. The results of this study could also inform whether SSM can improve/prevent cognitive decline in LLD. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, ID: NCT03564041. Registered on 20 June 2018.

Published
2019

11. Alterations of Consciousness : An Empirical Analysis for Social Scientists

Author

Imants Barušs and Imants Barušs

Subjects
Altered states of consciousness
Abstract

Now in a second edition, this pathbreaking investigation into the nature of cognitive reality explores various manifestations of consciousness, including more familiar states such as sleeping and dreaming, as well as hypnosis, trance, dissociation, and near-death experiences. Throughout the work, Barušs brings to bear significant new neuroscientific evidence supporting the occurrence of these phenomena and their nature and purpose. Other major updates include the latest findings in sleep research, therapeutic discoveries related to psychedelics, empirical research into transcendent states, and developments in the study of anomalous phenomena such as purported alien abduction and UFOs. A new conclusion discusses an exosomatic theory of consciousness that can account for the findings in the text. Students and other readers of this engaging text will sharpen their critical thinking skills and gain an enriched understanding of consciousness, reality, and the scientific endeavor.

Published
2020

12. The Academy for the Advancement of Postmaterialist Sciences: Integrating Consciousness into Mainstream Science

Author

Mario Beauregard, Charles Tart, Imants Barušs, Lisa Miller, Gary E. Schwartz, Menas Kafatos, Larry Dossey, Julia Mossbridge, Marjorie H. Woollacott, Stephan A. Schwartz, and Dean Radin

Subjects
Consciousness, media_common.quotation_subject, 05 social sciences, Academies and Institutes, Environmental ethics, 050105 experimental psychology, Mind-Body Relations, Metaphysical, 03 medical and health sciences, 0302 clinical medicine, Complementary and alternative medicine, Mainstream, Humans, 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences, Spirituality, Chiropractics, Psychology, 030217 neurology & neurosurgery, General Nursing, Analysis, media_common
Published
2018

13. Introduction

Author

Imants Barušs and Julia Mossbridge

Published
2017

14. Separation of mind from brain

Author

Julia Mossbridge and Imants Barušs

Subjects
Chromatography, Chemistry, Separation (aeronautics)
Published
2017

15. Rethinking time

Author

Imants Barušs and Julia Mossbridge

Published
2017

17. Shared mind

Author

Imants Barušs and Julia Mossbridge

Published
2017

23. Failure to replicate retrocausal recall

Author

Vanille Rabier and Imants Barušs

Subjects
Social Psychology, Recall, retroactive facilitation of recall, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, Replicate, Developmental psychology, memory, Clinical Psychology, Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology, Precognition, personality traits, Psychology, precognition, Big Five personality traits, Cognitive psychology
Abstract

In two temporally inverted memory experiments, Daryl Bem found that participants had better recall for words that were practiced after the recall task than for control words that were not practiced after the recall task. We attempted to replicate the second of Bem’s two experiments with the addition of a personality measure. After completing the Six Factor Personality Questionnaire, participants (n = 102) interacted with a computer on which they were shown 48 nouns, one at a time, then asked to type as many of the words as they could recall, and then asked to practice a random selection of 24 of the 48 words. The mean number of practice words that were on the typed recall list was 9.32, whereas the mean number of control words was 9.53 with t(101) = −0.55, p = .58 (two-tailed), Cohen’s d = −0.060. The correlation of the difference between practice and control words with Bem’s stimulus seeking scale is r(100) = –.081, p = .42 (two-tailed). Multiple linear regression of Bem’s scale on personality facets revealed that Bem’s scale does not appear to measure stimulus seeking. The correlation between the difference score and a scale constructed to measure stimulus seeking from the facets of the personality questionnaire was r(100) = –.063, p = .53 (two-tailed). We found no evidence for retroactive facilitation of recall and no correlations of the difference score with any personality measures. Possible reasons for a failure to find retrocausal recall are discussed.

Published
2014

25. Science As a Spiritual Practice

Author

Imants Barušs and Imants Barušs

Subjects
Spiritual life, Altered states of consciousness, Knowledge, Theory of (Religion), Religion and science
Abstract

Science as a Spiritual Practice is in three parts. In the first part the author argues that there are problems with materialism and that self-transformation could lead individual scientists to more comprehensive ways of understanding reality. In the second part he takes on the contentious notion of inner knowledge and shows how access to inner knowledge could be possible in some altered states of consciousness. The third part is an analysis of the philosophy of Franklin Wolff, who claimed that the transcendent states of consciousness which occurred for him resulted from his mathematical approach to spirituality.

Published
2015

26. Perceived Parental Attachment and Achievement Motivation

Author

Imants Barušs and Mena Bal

Subjects
Male, Parents, Adolescent, Poison control, Academic achievement, Suicide prevention, Developmental psychology, Young Adult, Surveys and Questionnaires, Injury prevention, Attachment theory, Psychology, Humans, Parent-Child Relations, Object Attachment, General Psychology, Motivation, Need for achievement, Human factors and ergonomics, Achievement, Educational Status, Female, Perception, Clinical psychology
Abstract

A significant amount of research in attachment theory has been devoted to factors affecting academic achievement, but less attention has been given to the role of attachment in the relation between academic achievement and achievement motivation. The current preliminary study examined the role of perceived parental attachment in achievement motivation. Self-report data obtained from the Parental Attachment Questionnaire, Achievement Goals Questionnaire, and the Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory were collected from 50 university students with a mean age of 18.8 yr. Correlation and regression analyses indicated that parental facilitation of independence correlated significantly and negatively with fear of failure. Results yielded partial support for the hypothesis that performance-oriented goals are related to a fear of failure, whereas mastery-oriented goals are not. The results also suggest that high parental attachment in the case of high-frequency religious practitioners is related to an increased chance of acquiring a more avoidance-oriented achievement motivation.

Published
2011

27. Intelligence Correlates of Transcendent Beliefs: A Preliminary Study

Author

Imants Barušs and Nicole Lukey

Subjects
Liberal arts education, media_common.quotation_subject, Intellectual curiosity, Psychology, Curiosity, Personality, Consciousness, Materialism, Social psychology, media_common, Cognitive psychology, Test (assessment)
Abstract

In previous research, Barušs and Moore had identified a material-transcendent dimension of beliefs about consciousness and reality that underlies the Western intellectual tradition including the academic study of consciousness. At one pole, materialists believe that reality is entirely physical in nature, whereas those tending toward the transcendent pole believe that reality cannot exhaustively be captured in physical terms. More recently, Jewkes and Barušs had found a number of personality correlates of transcendent beliefs including a tendency toward curiosity and a rational approach to the world [1]. These previous results prompted the present study in which 39 undergraduate psychology students at a liberal arts college were given a measure of beliefs about consciousness and reality, a comprehensive intelligence test, and a personality subtest. Correlations were found among various facets of intelligence, aspects of beliefs, and intellectual curiosity. The results indicate that greater intelligence is associated with transcendent beliefs.

Published
2005

28. The Impossible Happens : A Scientist's Personal Discovery of the Extraordinary Nature of Reality

Author

Imants Barušs and Imants Barušs

Abstract

After decades of analyzing his dreams, a professor of psychology finds that some of them anticipate future events. Not only does he dream the exact day of the year on which one of his books is accepted for publication, but he learns how to use these dreams to create better outcomes in his life. Working with a medium for his research as well as in the classroom, he finds that the medium often gets correct information to which she does not have any ordinary access during apparent conversations with the dead. As his experiments continue to meet with surprising results, the author comes to accept the idea that reality is much more interesting than conventional science has led us to believe.,

Published
2013

29. A reduction theorem for the Kripke-Joyal semantics: Forcing over an arbitrary category can always be replaced by forcing over a complete Heyting algebra

Author

Imants Barušs and Robert E. Woodrow

Subjects
Discrete mathematics, Forcing (recursion theory), Reduction (recursion theory), Kripke-Joyal semantics, Logic and Foundations, Mathematics::Complex Variables, Logic, Applied Mathematics, High Energy Physics::Phenomenology, Heyting algebra, Combinatorics, Mathematics::Logic, forcing, Computer Science::Logic in Computer Science, Mathematics::Category Theory, Sheaf, Complete Heyting algebra, Mathematics
Abstract

It is assumed that a Kripke–Joyal semantics $${\mathcal{A} = \left\langle \mathbb{C},{\rm Cov}, {\it F},\Vdash \right\rangle}$$ has been defined for a first-order language $${\mathcal{L}}$$ . To transform $${\mathbb{C}}$$ into a Heyting algebra $${\overline{\mathbb{C}}}$$ on which the forcing relation is preserved, a standard construction is used to obtain a complete Heyting algebra made up of cribles of $${\mathbb{C}}$$ . A pretopology $${\overline{{\rm Cov}}}$$ is defined on $${\overline{\mathbb{C}}}$$ using the pretopology on $${\mathbb{C}}$$ . A sheaf $${\overline{{\it F}}}$$ is made up of sections of F that obey functoriality. A forcing relation $${\overline{\Vdash}}$$ is defined and it is shown that $${\overline{\mathcal{A}} = \left\langle \overline{\mathbb{C}},\overline{\rm{Cov}},\overline{{\it F}}, \overline{\Vdash} \right\rangle }$$ is a Kripke–Joyal semantics that faithfully preserves the notion of forcing of $${\mathcal{A}}$$ . That is to say, an object a of $${\mathbb{C}Ob}$$ forces a sentence with respect to $${\mathcal{A}}$$ if and only if the maximal a-crible forces it with respect to $${\overline{\mathcal{A}}}$$ . This reduces a Kripke–Joyal semantics defined over an arbitrary site to a Kripke–Joyal semantics defined over a site which is based on a complete Heyting algebra.

Published
2013

31. Contemporary Issues Concerning the Scientific Study of Consciousness

Author

Imants Barušs

Subjects
Anthropology, Interpretation (philosophy), media_common.quotation_subject, Section (typography), Introspection, Consciousness, Psychology, Anomalous experiences, Physicalism, Mysticism, Epistemology, media_common, Diversity (politics)
Abstract

Confusion concerning the scientific study of consciousness is metanalysed by considering definitions of consciousness and the diversity of beliefs about consciousness and reality particularly as they are affected by information from anomalous experiences. This archival and theoretical examination reveals that the purported subjective nature of consciousness continues to create problems for its scientific study resulting in diversity in the academic community concerning the nature of consciousness. After a brief discussion in the first section of the confusion found in the literature concerning consciousness, some of the referents of the term consciousness are defined in the second section. The third section consists of a summary of die results of a study by Baruss and Moore in which the disparity of versions of consciousness is related to differences in personal beliefs and purported experiences. In particular, purported anomalous experiences such as mystical experiences or out-of-body experiences are correlated with rejection of a physicalist interpretation of reality and a scientific mode of inquiry. Such experiences are discussed in the fourth section. It is indicated in the fifth section that the requirement for mterchangeability of observers in science has not been respected in some previous discussions of consciousness and that continued introspection of subjective experience and personal self-exploration may be informative for a given investigator if not for everyone in the scientific community.

Published
1992

33. Dreams

Author

Imants Barušs

Published
2003

34. Sleep

Author

Imants Barušs

Published
2003

37. Conclusion

Author

Imants Barušs

Published
2003

39. Hypnosis

Author

Imants Barušs

Published
2003

40. Spirituality in late adulthood

Author

Lisa M. Heintz and Imants Barušs

Subjects
Adult, Male, Religion and Psychology, Aging, Attitude to Death, Adolescent, Personality Inventory, media_common.quotation_subject, Paranormal, 050109 social psychology, Existentialism, Developmental psychology, Spirituality, medicine, 80 and over, Humans, Psychology, 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences, General Psychology, media_common, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Church attendance, 05 social sciences, 050301 education, Middle Aged, Parapsychology, medicine.disease, Prayer, Death anxiety, Female, Personality Assessment Inventory, 0503 education
Abstract

MacDonald's Expressions of Spirituality Inventory was used to examine spirituality in late adulthood using a sample of 30 people (22 women, 8 men) whose mean age was 72.6 yr. While average scores are higher on scales measuring spiritual and religious beliefs and practices for the sample than for a standardization group of undergraduate students with a mean age of 21.0 yr., means are lower on scales measuring paranormal beliefs. Low scores on death anxiety are correlated only with Existential Well-being and age And, while some religious behaviors such as frequent religious practice, prayer, and church attendance are correlated with some of the dimensions of spirituality, many of the scores on the Expressions of Spirituality Inventory scales are independent of self-reported religious behaviors.

Published
2001

41. The Effects of Meditation and Visualization on the Direct Mental Influence of Random Event Generators

Author

Tayzia Collesso, Maria Forrester, and Imants Baruss

Subjects
meditation, visualization, random event generator, direct mental influence, Speculative philosophy, BD10-701
Abstract

Meditation and visualization exercises have been found to alter an individual’s mood and perception, and it is hypothesized that these techniques will enhance one’s ability to anomalously influence the function of a random event generator (REG) with the mind. This study is comprised of a control experiment and a second experiment with the administration of meditation and visualization exercises. There was no support for a significant deviation of the REG in the direction of the participants’ volition in Experiment 1, t(29) = -1.26, p = .22 (two-tailed), but results revealed a significant deviation in the intended direction in Experiment 2, t(29) = 2.66, p = .01 (two-tailed). Moreover, comparisons between cumulative deviations across both samples were found to be statistically significant, indicating that meditation and visualization exercises may promote significant deviations, t(58) = -2.69, p = .009 (two-tailed). These analyses suggest that the use of meditation and visualization techniques in experiments that study direct mental influence may be beneficial for finding anomalous effects. Keywords: meditation, visualization, random event generator, direct mental influence

Published
2021
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42. Breath Regulation and yogic Exercise An online Therapy for calm and Happiness (BREATH) for frontline hospital and long-term care home staff managing the COVID-19 pandemic: A structured summary of a study protocol for a feasibility study for a randomised controlled trial

Author

Ka Sing Paris Lai, Christine Watt, Emily Ionson, Imants Baruss, Cheryl Forchuk, Javeed Sukhera, Amer M. Burhan, and Akshya Vasudev

Subjects
COVID-19, Randomised controlled trial, protocol, Healthcare staff, Work stress, resiliency, Medicine (General), R5-920
Abstract

Abstract Objectives Objective 1: To determine if it is feasible to conduct an RCT of online Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY) for frontline hospital and long-term care home staff under the constraints imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and need for remote trial monitoring. Objective 2: To assess whether online versions of SKY and/or Health Enhancement Program (HEP) result in improvement in self-rated measures of insomnia, anxiety, depression, and resilience. Trial design This is an open-label feasibility randomized controlled trial (RCT), comparing an online breath based yogic intervention SKY versus an online control mind-body intervention HEP in frontline hospital and long-term care home staff managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants Participants will include frontline hospital and long-term care home staff that are involved in the management of COVID-19 patients in London, Ontario, Canada. Participants will be willing and able to attend via online video conferencing software to participate in the study interventions. Participants must have an adequate understanding of English and be able to sit without physical discomfort for 60 minutes. Intervention and comparator Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY): The online version of SKY will be delivered by at least one certified Canadian SKY teacher, with at least one back up teacher at all times, under the supervision of Ms. Ronnie Newman, Director of Research and Health Promotion, Art of Living Foundation, USA. The online version of SKY for healthcare workers has a total duration of 3 hours. Phase I will consist of 5 self-paced online modules of 4-10 minutes each to learn the breath control techniques. Participants will be sent an online survey in REDCap requesting that they self-confirm completion of the Phase I modules. In Phase II, 2 interactive online sessions of 1 hour each will be held on consecutive days with a certified SKY teacher, during which participants will learn the fast, medium and slow breaths. For ease of scheduling, multiple time windows will be offered for Phase II. There will be at least one back up teacher at all times. Both Phase I and II will be completed in the first week. Health Enhancement Program (HEP): The active control arm, HEP, will consist of time-matched online self-paced modules for Phase I. Phase II will consist of mindfulness-based meditation sessions delivered by mental health staff. HEP will be an active treatment program that incorporates mind-body interventions. HEP will consist of time-matched online self-paced modules with psychoeducation on healthy active living as well as interactive modules comprising of guided de-stressing exercises including music therapy, mindfulness and progressive muscle relaxation. Weekly follow up sessions will be offered to all recruited participants for 30 minutes each for the subsequent 4 weeks in both study arms. Main outcomes The following feasibility outcomes will be measured at the end of the study: (1) rate of participant recruitment, (2) rate of retention, (3) completeness of data entry, (4) cost of interventions, and (5) unexpected costs. Such measures will be collected on a daily basis through-out the study and tabulated 5 weeks later at the end of the study. Randomisation Participants will be randomized after they have electronically signed the consent form and the research staff have confirmed eligibility. We will use REDCap to perform randomization in a 1:1 ratio as well as allocation concealment. REDCap is widely used by health researchers worldwide to significantly reduce data entry and study management errors to improve data fidelity. Blinding (masking) All study participants will be blinded to the study hypotheses so as to prevent any expectation bias. Group allocation will be masked during analysis. Numbers to be randomised (sample size) This study will randomize a total of 60 participants in a 1:1 ratio to either SKY or HEP interventions. Trial Status Protocol version number 2.0 (June 5, 2020). Recruitment is currently ongoing (starting June 25, 2020). We anticipate to complete recruitment by June 30, 2021 and complete the study by September 30, 2021. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov protocol ID NCT04368676 (posted April 30, 2020). Full protocol The full protocol is attached as an additional file, accessible from the Trials website (Additional file 1). In the interest in expediting dissemination of this material, the familiar formatting has been eliminated; this Letter serves as a summary of the key elements of the full protocol.

Published
2020
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43. Measurement of beliefs about consciousness and reality

Author

Robert J. Moore and Imants Barušs

Subjects
Male, Psychometrics, Consciousness, media_common.quotation_subject, Reality Testing, Applied psychology, 050109 social psychology, Humans, Psychology, 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences, General Psychology, Conscience, Reliability (statistics), media_common, 05 social sciences, 050301 education, Parapsychology, Reality testing, Attitude, Female, 0503 education, Social psychology
Abstract

The responses of 334 academics and professionals to a questionnaire concerning consciousness and beliefs about reality were used to develop 7 scales and to establish their reliability and norms.

Published
1992

44. Mind-boggling Chicks: Response to a Commentary

Author

Imants Baruss and Julia Mossbridge

Subjects
Speculative philosophy, BD10-701
Abstract

We very much appreciate Damien Broderick’s kind comments about our book and for this opportunity to engage in a discussion of its substance. Each person has a boggle threshold, which we define in Transcendent Mind as “the degree to which a person is willing to deviate from normative beliefs” (p. 24). In Damien’s case, that threshold appears to lie somewhere beyond laboratory-verified psi phenomena, but on this side of some of the more outrageous phenomena that have been observed in field studies, such as some of the phenomena ostensibly produced by Thomaz Coutinho. So let us start by saying a little bit about the inclusion of the Thomaz material in the book.

Published
2018

46. Book Reviews

Author

MIKEL AICKIN, ARTHUR M. DIAMOND, JR., EDWARD ORDMAN, STEVEN B. KRIVIT, JOEL M. KAUFFMAN, THOMAS E. PHIPPS, JR., JOHN SMYTHIES, IMANTS BARUSS, MICHAEL SCHMICKER, STEPHEN R. L. CLARK, WILLIAM CORLISS, BARRY GREENWOOD, BRUCE GREYSON, STEPHEN C JETT, and BRUCE MACCABEE

Subjects
Speculative philosophy, BD10-701
Abstract

415 The Origin, Persistence, and Failings of HIV/AIDS Theory, by Henry H. Bauer - Mikel Aickin 419 The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb - Arthur M. Diamond, Jr. 422 Thinking about Go¨ del and Turing: Essays on Complexity, 1970–2007, by Gregory J. Chaitin - Edward Ordman 428 Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud, by Robert L. Park - Steven B. Krivit 434 Climate Confusion: How Global Warming Hysteria Leads to Bad Science, Pandering Politicians and Misguided Policies that Hurt the Poor, by Roy W. Spencer - Joel M. Kauffman 436 Origin of Inertia: Extended Mach’s Principle and Cosmological Consequences, by Amitabha Ghosh - Thomas E. Phipps, Jr. 438 Muses, Madmen, and Prophets, by Daniel B. Smith - John Smythies 441 The Head Trip: Adventures on the Wheel of Consciousness, by Jeff Warren - Imants Baruss 442 The Witch in the Waiting Room: A Physician Investigates Paranormal Phenomena in Medicine, by Robert Bobrow - Michael Schmicker 443 The Trial of God, by John Smythies - Stephen R. L. Clark

Published
2010

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