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As further evidence of these capabilities, we describe our personal experiences with high-quality psychic functioning, and Jane's involvement in spiritual healing interactions. We deal with psi inside and outside of the laboratory, as well as healing inside and outside of hospitals, during the past two decades. Physical models for psychic functioning are explored, as are the potential impacts of psychic abilities  the mind-to-mind and mind-to-world connections  on our society.
Psychic abilities and remote viewing are probes into what Carl Jung called our collective unconscious, and what the authors call our community of spirit. The reason we have a passion for our work with psi is that it allows us, as scientists, to keep one foot firmly in the materialistic twenty-fist century, and at least one toe in the "Divine." The data for our ability to share the feelings and experiences of others who are apparently separated from us show clearly that the Biblical idea of spiritual community can have a contemporary scientific meaning. We believe scientists will not come to a full understanding of the nature of consciousness until they recognize that there is no real separation between the observer and the so-called outside world they think they're observing. It's not an exaggeration, in our opinion, to say that the reliable laboratory demonstration by worldwide parapsychological researchers of our human connectedness is an accomplishment on a par with the most notable scientific achievements of the twentieth century.
The field of psi research has its critics, of course. Despite irrefutable evidence for the existence of psi, it has been repressed and ridiculed in Western society because its mechanism is not yet understood. Magicians have gained fame and fortune assailing the ostensible spoon bending of Uri Geller. Many scientists who claim to understand nearly all of the phenomena of the physical universe apparently perceive psi to be a threat to their omniscience. Historically, much opposition to psi has been based on fear rather than intellect. Many leaders of organized religions have viewed psi abilities as a kind of freelance spirituality they could not control.
In this book, we choose not to deal with spoon bending, astrology, or unidentified flying objects. The research we present here has appeared in the world's most prestigious scientific journals: Nature, The Proceedings of the

 
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