Supernormal

June 17, 2013
Does being a skilled yogi give one superpowers—and if so, how can we prove it? In this latest, Radin (The Conscious Universe) holds the ancient practices and theories of yoga up to the discerning lens of modern science. He maps yoga’s migration from East to West, its evolution from past to present, and he examines the practice’s ur-text: a 2,000-year-old manuscript known as the Yoga Sutras. Where, then, does science fit in? While Radin, a senior scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, is frequently critical of the discipline, he nevertheless argues that an array of tests may be able to lend credence to siddhis (“psychic phenomena” like telepathy and precognition) and some of yoga’s other more mysterious claims. But this is not a read for the unread: Radin’s discussion assumes a considerable knowledge base, and it’s unclear whom he’s writing for: devout yogis or skeptical scientists? Or both? (Radin’s goal may be to collapse these distinctions: in his conclusion, he argues for a worldview that melds the ancient with the modern, the scientific with the yogic.) Though unfocused and opaque at times, this is nevertheless an admirable attempt to bridge the gap between the scientific and the spiritual realm by focusing on a common desire for self- and societal improvement. Illus.

July 1, 2013
Radin (Entangled Minds: Extrasensory Experiences in a Quantum Reality, 2006, etc.) combs the scientific, peer-reviewed literature--and much yogic lore and historical anecdote--to find evidence and validity for the claims of mysticism, miracles and the supernatural. Has our sophisticated scientific society developed blinders when it comes to reports of the supernormal? This is the question the author asks in this mostly levelheaded investigation into precognition, telepathy, psychokinesis and clairvoyance. The author's aim is not to dismiss mechanistic materialism, but to recognize that its strengths have to be weighted against the prejudices and taboos of its adherents. Radin writes with an easy hand and a sense of humor, but readers may sense that part of the problem of the general population's being accepting of the supernatural may not be religion or materialism, realism or determinism or reductionism, but simply its language: "exalted states of intuitive awareness," "ontological reality of the mystical realities," etc. The author references historical yogic texts for instances of illuminated, unmediated reality, and then he describes the scientific research into transcendent experiences that has been published in respected journals, which shows that evidence of precognition, telepathy, psychokinesis and clairvoyance have statistical merit. Radin is careful to ask what is coincidence, what is a hallucination, a psychiatric problem or a sham, and for range and alternative visions, he delves not just into the yogic tradition of supernatural mental powers, but also into Catholic, Judaic and Tibetan Buddhist traditions. By the end, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that "some of the supernatural abilities found in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras are real." The Dalai Lama, ever the politician wrapped in his spirituality, as quoted by Radin, maybe put it best: "it would be wrong to deny that some Tantric practices do genuinely give rise to mysterious phenomena." Certainly not for everyone, but a smart reminder that we haven't got the whole scene covered--look at quantum mechanics--and that openness is more fruitful than seclusion in dogma.

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