1 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:19,199 Pendulum on the Mechanics of Consciousness by Itzhak Bentov, read by Micah Hanks. 2 00:00:19,199 --> 00:00:24,120 Preface It is with a great sense of pleasure that I 3 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:29,640 write this preface to the first book by my remarkable friend, Itzhak Bentov, who is 4 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:41,240 tinker about in his versatile basement laboratory, seeking simple and practical 5 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:46,799 complex technological problems. Presently, he spends most of his time developing a variety 6 00:00:46,799 --> 00:00:51,240 of medical instruments. This is how he makes his living, and he is sufficiently good at 7 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:56,079 it to be in great demand by modern, specialized industries that desperately ne... 8 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:05,519 on one of the bookshelves of his rather extensive technical and scientific library... 9 00:01:05,519 --> 00:01:10,760 book with a pink cover, titled Winnie the Pooh, tucked away between heavy books with 10 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:16,640 technical titles. This may give some insight into the whimsical style used by Ben 11 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:21,859 this book. His intuition led him into the regular practice of meditation about ten 12 00:01:28,180 --> 00:01:32,840 was followed by the design of experiential journeys into the microcosm and macrocosm 13 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:38,120 of the universe. Collectively, out of it all has flowed this beautiful little book. It 14 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:44,280 is a really fine book, easy to read and worthy of the attention of all, old and 15 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:49,920 want to expand their awareness and growing consciousness. It is also a most useful model 16 00:01:55,019 --> 00:02:00,260 somewhat fossilized by its current world picture and is locked into a view of reali... 17 00:02:00,260 --> 00:02:05,659 has outlived its usefulness. It has begun to limit mankind's growth and has so increased 18 00:02:05,659 --> 00:02:11,740 its sense of specialization, separateness, materiality and mechanical computer-like 19 00:02:11,740 --> 00:02:17,020 that it is in real danger of self-extermination. Its sense of wholeness 20 00:02:22,159 --> 00:02:28,439 of physical scientific knowledge. We desperately need to find a path back to 21 00:02:28,439 --> 00:02:33,199 This recent period of quantitative physical science has been extremely important to 22 00:02:33,199 --> 00:02:38,599 development, since it has foraged a clearly discernible, albeit materialistic, path 23 00:02:38,599 --> 00:02:43,879 the uncharted terrain of nature's expression. It has taught us how to perform meaningful, 24 00:02:49,819 --> 00:02:54,620 we have presently become so focused on this one path that we have lost the flexibility 25 00:02:54,620 --> 00:02:59,020 of sensing all the other possible paths of knowledge available to us in the wonderland 26 00:02:59,020 --> 00:03:04,460 of nature. We have come to think that the renowned scientific method is to be coldly 27 00:03:04,460 --> 00:03:09,180 objective about an experiment because that has been very effective for much of the past 28 00:03:15,620 --> 00:03:21,759 protocol for anyone, anywhere, to successfully duplicate the experimental 29 00:03:21,759 --> 00:03:27,860 requires a positive, negative, or neutral mental or emotional bias, then so be it. 30 00:03:27,860 --> 00:03:32,479 As we move off the purely physical path in our future experimentation, we will need to 31 00:03:32,479 --> 00:03:38,319 include, clearly define, and quantitatively measure these states of bias, because we 32 00:03:43,659 --> 00:03:49,639 laws operate. Our physical science does not necessarily deal with reality, whatever that 33 00:03:49,639 --> 00:03:55,580 is. Rather, it has merely generated a set of consistency relationships to explain our 34 00:03:55,580 --> 00:04:01,340 common ground of experience, which is determined, of course, by the capacity and 35 00:04:01,340 --> 00:04:06,900 of our physical sensory perception mechanisms. We have developed these 36 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:17,920 what these quantities are, but we have defined them to have certain unchanging 37 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:23,480 and have thus constructed our edifice of knowledge on these pillars. The edifice wi... 38 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:29,160 so long as the pillars are unchanging. However, we appear to be entering a period... 39 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:34,199 evolvement in which certain qualities of the human being appear to be able to change or 40 00:04:40,180 --> 00:04:45,379 have to change to embrace this new experience. It isn't as if the old laws ar... 41 00:04:45,379 --> 00:04:50,579 need to be thrown out. No more than Newton was wrong when Einstein came along, and 42 00:04:50,579 --> 00:04:54,980 that the laws of gravitation had to be altered when one adopted a frame of refere... 43 00:04:54,980 --> 00:05:00,459 observation that moved at velocities approaching the velocity of light. At this 44 00:05:05,639 --> 00:05:10,839 And thus, the old laws will need to be altered to conform with the new experience... 45 00:05:10,839 --> 00:05:17,560 experiential sensing is sufficiently widespread as to constitute a common groun... 46 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:23,920 Along this path, humankind's view of itself, of the universe, and of the synergistic 47 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:30,040 of both is in for great changes. There have been some small beginnings made toward a new 48 00:05:35,620 --> 00:05:40,180 everything around it. Everything seems to interact with everything else at many subtle 49 00:05:40,180 --> 00:05:45,220 levels of the universe beyond the purely physical level, and the deeper we penetrat... 50 00:05:45,220 --> 00:05:52,180 other levels, the more do we realize that we are one. This book takes a great step forward 51 00:05:52,180 --> 00:05:59,660 by simply articulating that fact, thus contributing to the understanding of our 52 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:07,439 Introduction 53 00:06:07,439 --> 00:06:11,399 This book is the result of some living room discussions that I had with friends over a 54 00:06:11,399 --> 00:06:16,639 period of time. They became more and more elaborate as topics were added to the 55 00:06:16,639 --> 00:06:21,199 discussions. Eventually, my friends felt that presenting these ideas to a broader audience 56 00:06:21,199 --> 00:06:26,240 would be an order. Finally, I gave them to the well-intentioned nagging of my friends 57 00:06:31,540 --> 00:06:37,079 it was the right time to do so. The accumulation of knowledge is a continuous 58 00:06:37,079 --> 00:06:42,220 it is difficult to say at what point one should say, "Stop here and write down 59 00:06:42,220 --> 00:06:48,139 has accumulated up until now." I have decided to start writing at my present level of 60 00:06:48,139 --> 00:06:52,860 simply because the circumstances forced me to do so. It is certain that I could describe 61 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:02,959 from now. However, I would still face the same situation, because one's level of 62 00:07:02,959 --> 00:07:08,720 increases exponentially with accumulated knowledge. For example, when one acquires ... 63 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:13,500 information, there are many new questions that are generated by it, and each new piece 64 00:07:13,500 --> 00:07:19,480 of information breeds five or ten new questions. These questions pile up at a mu... 65 00:07:24,699 --> 00:07:30,160 level of ignorance. This effect does seem to justify my decision to publish this 66 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:37,019 now. Therefore, I do not claim that the information contained here is the final 67 00:07:37,019 --> 00:07:43,660 that it will stimulate more thinking and speculation by future scientists and 68 00:07:43,660 --> 00:07:48,699 Much of this information has come through intuitive insight, which is no justificati... 69 00:07:53,279 --> 00:07:58,899 of the universe and the process of its creation, however, irrational support beco... 70 00:07:58,899 --> 00:08:04,480 since we are dealing with material that cannot be fully supported yet by scientifi... 71 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:09,439 Here the principal guide for judging the material presented is one's intuition or 72 00:08:09,439 --> 00:08:15,139 experience. This book is designed for young people of all ages, by which I mean those 73 00:08:20,220 --> 00:08:25,459 for people who can still be awed by the way ants build their burrows, by the cold 74 00:08:25,459 --> 00:08:30,980 of a snake, or the beauty of a flower. I am writing for people who can tolerate a 75 00:08:30,980 --> 00:08:36,220 state of ambiguity, for those who can take change easily and are not afraid of handling 76 00:08:36,220 --> 00:08:42,620 wild ideas. Those who cannot tolerate change will drop out very quickly. Few scientists 77 00:08:47,419 --> 00:08:52,740 and implant some ideas into the minds of future scientists, those who will be at th... 78 00:08:52,740 --> 00:08:58,500 about the end of this century. I am attempting in this book to build a model o... 79 00:08:58,500 --> 00:09:03,700 that will satisfy the need for a comprehensive picture of what our existenc... 80 00:09:03,700 --> 00:09:08,899 In other words, a holistic model that encompasses not only the physical, observa... 81 00:09:13,740 --> 00:09:19,419 but also other realities as well. Normally, we do not consider the emotional, mental and 82 00:09:19,419 --> 00:09:25,740 intuitive components of our beings as realities. I will try to persuade you that 83 00:09:25,740 --> 00:09:30,860 The phenomena that we call unexplained, like psychokinesis, the moving of an object with 84 00:09:30,860 --> 00:09:37,740 the power of the mind, telepathy, out-of-body phenomena, clairvoyance, etc., can all be 85 00:09:42,220 --> 00:09:47,779 Recently, there has been a great deal of controversy concerning these subjects. The 86 00:09:47,779 --> 00:09:53,179 laymen and most scientists do not presently believe in the existence of such phenomena. 87 00:09:53,179 --> 00:09:57,419 Rather than getting ourselves involved in the controversy over the possibilities of 88 00:09:57,419 --> 00:10:02,220 or whether one can function out of this body or not, I will try to demonstrate the 89 00:10:02,220 --> 00:10:07,259 mechanisms and explain how these things might work. It will be left to the reader to decide 90 00:10:12,139 --> 00:10:16,779 First I suggest that the general underlying principle in all the phenomena mentioned 91 00:10:16,779 --> 00:10:22,259 is an altered state of consciousness. These altered states allow us to function in 92 00:10:22,259 --> 00:10:27,340 that are not normally available to us. By "normally" I mean our usual waking state 93 00:10:27,340 --> 00:10:32,940 of consciousness or realities that are available to the person who can so regulat... 94 00:10:38,899 --> 00:10:45,500 these realities form a large hologram of interacting fields in my model. Most of us 95 00:10:45,500 --> 00:10:50,340 through a tiny window, which allows us to see just a single color or reality out of 96 00:10:50,340 --> 00:10:55,340 the endless spectrum of realities. Viewing our universe through this tiny window forces 97 00:10:55,340 --> 00:11:01,740 us to see the world in a sequential form, that is, as events that follow each other ... 98 00:11:04,740 --> 00:11:10,379 The concept of a model, as I am using it here, generally implies a theoretical 99 00:11:10,379 --> 00:11:15,659 that fits as many of the known facts as one has available into a neat, elegant, and 100 00:11:15,659 --> 00:11:20,980 package. A good model will also allow the prediction of the behavior of elements or 101 00:11:20,980 --> 00:11:26,460 of this structure. This is a good test for the validity of the model. Also, it is nice 102 00:11:26,460 --> 00:11:30,980 to have a model that does not violate any presently accepted physical laws, so as not 103 00:11:36,659 --> 00:11:41,299 complies with these requirements, although it comes very close to the edge of present 104 00:11:41,299 --> 00:11:46,299 knowledge. But then, there is nothing wrong with trying to nudge that edge a tiny bit 105 00:11:46,299 --> 00:11:52,179 further. But a model is a model only, and not the absolute truth. Therefore, it is subject 106 00:11:52,179 --> 00:11:57,100 to change as new information appears on the horizon. When one model does not suffice to 107 00:12:01,740 --> 00:12:06,500 The theory of relativity emphasizes the notion that no matter what we observe, we 108 00:12:06,500 --> 00:12:11,340 do so relative to a frame of reference that may differ from someone else's, that we must 109 00:12:11,340 --> 00:12:15,379 compare frames of reference in order to get meaningful measurements and results about 110 00:12:15,379 --> 00:12:20,179 the events we observe. The quantum theory asserts that there is no way one can measure 111 00:12:20,179 --> 00:12:26,340 some sets of things, like momentum and position, together very accurately. It 112 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:36,500 experimenter interacts with the experiment itself. Therefore, it becomes possible that 113 00:12:36,500 --> 00:12:41,860 the attitude of the experimenter must also influence the outcome of any particular 114 00:12:41,860 --> 00:12:46,940 Now, this is serious business, for unless we are able to account for and describe what 115 00:12:46,940 --> 00:12:55,659 consciousness is, it will always put an experiment in doubt. So the problem is, wh... 116 00:13:00,820 --> 00:13:04,899 and you may have the impression that this is a technical or even a scientific book. 117 00:13:04,899 --> 00:13:10,139 Well, don't worry about that. I myself am a fairly stupid fellow who could not learn 118 00:13:10,139 --> 00:13:16,139 any mathematics at all. In fact, my brush with academia was a rather short one. I wa... 119 00:13:16,139 --> 00:13:20,460 from the kindergarten at the age of four for some alleged subversive activities and have 120 00:13:25,879 --> 00:13:30,820 my mind has remained blank and unspoiled by higher learning. 121 00:13:30,820 --> 00:13:35,500 In order for us to develop a common language, I have to utilize some elementary concepts 122 00:13:35,500 --> 00:13:41,740 in science, such as the behavior of sound and of light waves, and finally, a hologram. 123 00:13:39,500 --> 00:13:44,680 and finally a hologram. I have tried to make the description of this behavior as palatable 124 00:13:44,680 --> 00:13:49,720 as possible and as short as possible. I have to convey to you how nature works by simple 125 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:55,520 examples that will suffice perfectly to handle the final concepts. I suggest, 126 00:13:55,520 --> 00:14:02,379 that you bear with me for the first four chapters. Beyond that, it's all downhill a... 127 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:13,240 fear to tread. I consider angels to be a fairly timid, unenterprising bunch. 128 00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:16,720 One of the points of this book is to show that when information about subjects like 129 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:24,200 poltergeist phenomena, psychokinesis, ESP, ghosts, telepathy, psychic healing, 130 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:30,320 mystical experiences, etc., is organized into a reasonable order, we find that these 131 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:41,440 reincarnation as a matter of fact, completely disregarding the great controversy that rages 132 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:46,600 over the subject. There are two reasons for this. First, the simple fact that when one 133 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:51,960 puts himself into the proper level of consciousness, one may obtain this 134 00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:57,160 Second, we know that energy cannot be lost within a closed system. The main 135 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:09,960 We hope you enjoyed this preview. 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