Yoga Parapsychology

Yoga and Parapsychology are two areas in which a significant amount of professional research is awaited. Parapsychology, considered as the discipline to study psi(psychic abilities), is essentially the science of siddhis (extraordinary human abilities). Yoga is considered to be an effective psycho-spiritual pursuit that results in the manifestation of a variety of supernormal phenomena. In fact, Patanjali's Yoga-Sutras is the foundational text of psychic science. One of its four parts, Vibhuti Pada, is filled with the description and discussion of a variety of paranormal phenomena. There is thus an intrinsic commonality between yoga and parapsychology, which remains essentially unexplored in any systematic way. A serious and scientific study of the two and the resultant synergy of their confluence could result in resolving many of the riddles that puzzle parapsychology today and be a harbinger of a vibrant science opening up new frontiers. Further, it could be seen as a productive East-West meet in a profound sense. Keeping this in view, a national conference and a workshop were organized during January 3-23, 2006 at Andhra University by the Institute for Human Science and Service with international participation. The present volume is a compilation of the major presentations at the conference and workshop, which are appropriately revised and edited in light of the discussions. The contents of the volume contain theoretical articles and reviews as well as experimental reports. Contributors come from different countries besides India, including the United States of America, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands. Thus, the volume is international in scope and coverage.

This expanded and revised text includes thirteen experimental reports (five new to this edition) and seven review articles involving meta-analysis and the assessment of evidence in specific areas of psi research. The author provides a representative sample of the extensive literature in the controversial field of parapsychology and presents a few basic experiments illustrating various procedures and broadly reflecting the major trends of psi research. Possible experimental procedures, cumulative evidence showing the replicability of individual experiments, and promising areas of psi research are also discussed. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

"Psychoanalysis itself and the lines of thought to which it gives rise," said C. G. Jung, "are only a beginner’s attempt compared to what is an immemorial art in the East"—by which he was referring to the millennia-old study of the mind found in Yoga. That tradition was hardly known in the West when the discipline of psychology arose in the nineteenth century, but with the passing of time the common ground between Yoga and psychology has become ever more apparent. Georg Feuerstein here uses a modern psychological perspective to explore the ways Hindu, Buddhist, and Jaina yogas have traditionally regarded the mind and how it works—and shows how that understanding can enhance modern psychology in both theory and practice.

Can yoga and meditation unleash our inherent supernormal mental powers, such as telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition? Is it really possible to perceive another person's thoughts and intentions? Influence objects with our minds? Envision future events? And is it possible that some of the superpowers described in ancient legends, science fiction, and comic books are actually real, and patiently waiting for us behind the scenes? Are we now poised for an evolutionary trigger to pull the switch and release our full potentials? Dean Radin, Director of Research at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) and bestselling author of The Conscious Universe, presents persuasive new experimental evidence for the existence of such phenomena. He takes us on a thrilling scientific journey and challenges outdated assumptions that these abilities are mere superstition. Focusing on Patanjali's mysterious Yoga Sutras -- 2,000 year-old meditation practices believed to release our extraordinary powers -- Radin offers powerful evidence confirming that sometimes fact is much stranger, spookier, and more wonderful than the wildest fiction.