I myself have had several experiences suggesting that my mind, my consciousness, my awareness are not limited to my individual brain and body or the present. I’m not unique; millions of individuals routinely have similar experiences, but are reluctant to talk about them.
Early in my practice of internal medicine I had a series of precognitive dreams: dreams of future events that proved true in great detail. My patients related similar experiences to me. So did nurses. After I began to write about these events, my medical colleagues eventually began to open up and share their own experiences. An example is an internist who reported that she dreams the specific values of her patients’ lab tests — before she even orders the tests.
During my early years as a physician, I stumbled across actual experiments affirming the idea of linked, unified minds. This was rather shocking, as this evidence never came up during my entire educational experience, from university days through post-graduate medical training. I began to consider this one of the best-kept secrets in modern medicine.
I was delighted to discover that some of our greatest scientists and philosophers have come to the same conclusion I reached: that there is a collective domain of consciousness that is a kind of umbrella for all individual minds. In fact, an increasing number of leading scientists and psychologists support this idea. For instance, one survey found that a majority of academic scientists believe that extrasensory perception or ESP has already been proved or is likely to be proved. ESP is an expression of minds without boundaries in space and time. It is a natural, short step from ESP to the unbounded, unitary One Mind. ESP is one way the One Mind manifests in our lives.
A number of experiments have shown that we can interact mentally with animals at a distance, beyond the reach of the physical senses. British biologist Rupert Sheldrake, for example, has conducted many experiments with dogs that demonstrate they know when their owners are returning home—even from a different location or at a different time than usual.
It is vital to realize — and this is almost always ignored by skeptics — that scores of these experiments deal with effects not just in humans but in animals, plants, microbes, and even chemical reactions. Why is this important? Skeptics generally say that if a person responds to, say, the healing intentions of a distant individual, this is due to chance or is merely a placebo effect — the result of positive thinking, suggestion, or expectation. But if an animal, plant, microbes, or biochemical reactions are affected, the distant effect cannot be easily dismissed as a placebo effect because, as far as we know, animals, plants, microbes, and chemicals don’t think positively — or if they do, as some evidence in higher animals suggests, these effects are not as widespread as in humans. So these non-human studies strongly suggest that the remote, distant, consciousness-mediated healing effects and similar nonlocal phenomena are real, and that we are not fooling ourselves.
These various experiments point toward One Mind. They show that some aspect of our consciousness operates outside the human brain and body, and cannot be confined or limited, but is nonlocal or limitless. And if limitless, the mind has no boundaries and must, in some sense, come together with all other minds.
Other studies called “presentiment” experiments, or experiments in “anticipatory awareness,” show that we can acquire information from the future before an event happens. Presentiment experiments, pioneered by researcher Dean Radin, have been replicated in scores of experiments by researchers around the world. The odds against a chance explanation of these findings are millions against one, as noted.[2]
Putting this evidence together, a nonlocal picture of consciousness emerges, which means that our minds are not localized or confined to particular points in space or time. And if our minds are unbounded, they must in some dimension come together to form a single mind, a single entity: the One Mind.
I begin my book, One Mind, by relating the story of Wesley Autrey, 50, a black construction worker and Navy veteran, who saw a young man fall onto the subway tracks in Manhattan while having a seizure in January 2007. He instantly jumped onto the tracks and tried to lift him onto the platform, but could not do so in time. As a train approached, Autrey shoved the man into the depression between the rails and covered him with his own body. The train could not stop in time and several cars passed over the two men before it could be brought to a halt. Autrey was nearly beheaded; he had grease stains from the train’s undercarriage on his cap.
The reason for including this incident in my book goes back to my experience as a field battalion surgeon in Vietnam in 1968-1969, where I was involved in an experience similar to Autrey’s. Briefly, I rescued a pilot from his crashed helicopter with the help of one of my medics, when everyone believed it would explode. Fortunately it did not. I experienced other similar events in Vietnam.
I was disturbed and confused by these happenings. Before going to Vietnam I had sworn that I would never take unnecessary chances. When I found myself violating this resolution repeatedly, I began to doubt my sanity.
Why would I, or anyone else, risk his or her life to save a perfect stranger? It goes against the premise of evolutionary biology, which maintains that our most basic drive is to preserve our genes or those of our close kin, but not risk our life for total strangers.
On returning to the U.S., I eventually came across an explanation by the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, described by mythologist Joseph Campbell. Schopenhauer believed that at the decisive moment the rescuer identifies so completely with the rescued person that their minds have literally fused; they have become a single mind. Their mental union is so complete that the rescuer is not rescuing someone else, he is essentially rescuing himself. I felt deeply that this description explained my own experiences in Vietnam.
In researching my book, I collected a number of life-saving stories. They are not just human-to-human events, but they also involve humans rescuing animals, animals rescuing humans, and animals rescuing animals — every possible combination.
So what is going on? What’s the pattern? I think Schopenhauer nailed it: there is a fusion of apparently separate, individual minds into a single, collective consciousness. In these instances something larger than individuality takes hold; the One Mind is bridging and uniting individual minds, pushing separation aside in favor of unity and oneness. “Courage” or “valor” is what we call it later — concepts based in individuality and separateness.
One Mind and survival
Our problems are enormous: global climate change, environmental pollution, overpopulation, water scarcity, hunger and food insecurity, endless wars, religious strife, degradation and acidification of our oceans, on and on. Nearly all these problems are caused by individuals who represent a particular culture, race, tribe, country, or religion, who are competing with other individuals who hold different views: “the other.” We cannot see beyond our individual self, our tribe, our religion, our political party, our culture. All of these problems are compounded by greed and selfishness. Put another way: we are fragmented, and we are destroying our planet’s life-support systems.
The fundamental cause of these problems is that we have an identity crisis. We have forgotten who we are. The “cult of the individual” — I, me, mine — overrides our awareness of wholeness, unity, and membership in the shared community of life, not just human life but the entire biome. Our illusion of the separate ego and self blinds us to the interdependence of all things.
The message from modern science that we are merely mortal, local creatures who are completely annihilated with physical death is part of the problem. Having no long-term vision, and blind to our nonlocal, immortal nature, we are driven to a pathological acquisitiveness in this life: “get it while you can” because “you can’t take it with you.” If this insane level of consumerism continues to spread, it may be the death knell of our civilization. As Emerson put it, “The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization.”
It is going to be difficult to confront these problems intelligently without dealing with our fragmentation and sense of separateness. We need a profound shift in our sense of how we are related to one another. I believe this is possible by re-imagining how we connect with others through consciousness. The “us-against-them” competitive model is not going to see us through. A shift to a One-Mind perspective may be our best alternative — a sense of unity that is experienced at our deepest psychological levels, and which makes a difference in our behaviors.
A dramatic example of this shift is the “Overview Effect” experienced by astronauts and cosmonauts returning to Earth. Many of them sense profoundly that our planet is an integral whole. They feel deeply that the Earth’s customary borders are not fundamental. Our disagreements and divisions are seen as petty, arbitrary, and utterly misleading. This shift in perception can be life-changing. An example is Edgar Mitchell, the lunar module pilot of Apollo 14 and the sixth man to walk on the moon. On returning he established IONS, the Institute of Noetic Sciences, to explore this integral way of knowing.
If we genuinely believe we are of One Mind with all others, our existential premises shift. Our resentment and loathing of “the other” diminish. Not only is our attitude toward other humans transformed, but our regard for the Earth and all its creatures as well.
The good news is, you already know the One Mind, but you might not know that you know! Our membership in the One Mind already exists; we’re already a part of it. It is not something we have to engineer, acquire, or generate. We just have to become aware of it. This process always means turning off the rational mind, so that our unconscious wisdom can bubble up into our awareness.
Most people who come to this realization don’t have a dazzling, spectacular experience. They simply grow gradually into the realization of connectedness. This is a natural process, a part of our psychological and spiritual maturation. It is the result of staying alive, growing older, and paying attention. Without realizing that it is happening, a One-Mind awareness becomes part of who we are.
Some people are born with this awareness — advanced souls who come into life knowing their larger connections.
We can invite this awareness through meditation or some other contemplative type of spiritual practice, in which we learn to set our ego and sense of self aside and permit a larger, more expansive awareness to emerge from our unconscious mind.
Peak experiences, such as being “in the zone” in athletics — where you can’t miss on the basketball court, or you have the perfect downhill run while skiing, etc. — are ways of experiencing oneness and being in sync with all there is.
Other people enter this awareness through detailed dreams of far-off or future events, which jolts them into realizing that their consciousness is not stuck in their brain or the present. “Telesomatic events,” in which people share similar physical symptoms and feelings with a distant person, are also a doorway to One-Mind awareness. Children who remember previous lives is another, as are remote viewing, shared death experiences, communication with the deceased, presentiment effects, and so on.
One of the most effective ways of intentionally accessing the One Mind is doing something for others. For many, the simple retreat into silence works best: turn off your smartphone, sit down, be quiet, and pay attention to whatever comes through. Whether we call this process meditation, contemplation, or simply getting quiet, the point is to turn down the chatter that crowds out everything else in our waking life. You may be surprised to discover what you already know.
Exposure to the beauty of nature and wild places has been important for me — a kind of short-cut to what matters in life. For decades, my wife and I have spent weeks camping in wilderness each year, removed from civilization. This has become a pilgrimage of sorts, a retreat from the distractions and noise of daily life.
All these processes have this in common: the dominant sense of self and ego is transcended in favor of an expanded notion of who we are. Awareness of the One Mind has contributed enormously to my own tranquility, joy and creativity.
I’m an introvert by nature, inclined toward aloneness. Awareness of my place in the One Mind has helped me overcome my innate tendency for isolation. It’s a sense of belonging, of finding your natural fit in the great scheme of things.
The great human dread of death is diminished. As a physician, this is important to me, because I believe the fear of death and annihilation has caused more suffering throughout human history than all the physical diseases combined. The One Mind reduces this fear and the suffering that goes with it. Why? The One Mind mandates immortality by way of our infinitude in space and time. (A colleague of mind says, “We should stop calling ourselves ‘internists’ and start calling ourselves ‘eternists.’”)
One-Mind awareness has affected the way I relate to other people. I’ve become much less competitive, more giving, more supportive, more understanding of other people’s difficulties and problems, and more interactive with others. (I still have a long way to go!)
One-Mind awareness helps me see how I can make a difference. In today’s world we can feel overwhelmed by the challenges we face. What difference can my efforts as a single individual possibly make? The One Mind increases our sense of adequacy and what is possible, because through it we have access to all wisdom and knowledge, and we can act in concert with others. We realize we don’t need to know and do everything individually, because we are a part of the Great Connect. We are never alone. We are an infinite team, not a lone wolf. The pressure eases. A lightness of mind and spirit arises, and perhaps a sense of humor. Now that is different!
Let me leave you with a few lines of poetry that captures the One Mind from Hafiz, the fourteenth-century Persian poet:[3]
Let’s go deeper,
Go deeper.
For, if we do,
Our spirits will embrace
And interweave.
Our union will be so glorious
That even God
Will not be able to tell us apart….
—
[1] Tressoldi PE. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence: The case of nonlocal perception, a classical and Bayesian review of evidences. Frontiers of Quantitative Psychology and Measurement. 2011; 2: 117. doi10.3389/fpsyg,2011.00117.
[2] Bem D, Tressoldi P, Rabeyron T and Duggan M. Feeling the future: A meta-analysis of 90 experiments on the anomalous anticipation of random future events. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26834996. PMID: 26834996. DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.7177.2. F1000Research 2015, 4:1188 (http://f1000research.com/articles/4-1188/v2).
[3] Hafiz. I heard God laughing. Spiritualityandpractice.com. http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/book-reviews/excerpts/view/24868. Accessed 15 July, 2015.
Larry Dossey is the author of nine books and numerous articles, as well as the former executive editor of the peer-reviewed journal Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, the most widely subscribed-to journal in its field. He has lectured all over the world, including major medical schools and hospitals in the United States –Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, the Universities of Pennsylvania, California, Washington, Texas, Florida, Minnesota, and the Mayo Clinic. Before his book Healing Words was published in 1993, only three U.S. medical schools had courses devoted to exploring the role of religious practice and prayer in health; currently, nearly 80 medical schools have instituted such courses, many of which utilize Dr. Dossey’s works as textbooks. In his 1989 book Recovering the Soul, he introduced the concept of “nonlocal mind” — mind unconfined to the brain and body, mind spread infinitely throughout space and time. Since then, “nonlocal mind” has been adopted by many leading scientists as an emerging image of consciousness. Dr. Dossey’s ever-deepening explication of nonlocal mind provides a legitimate foundation for the merging of spirit and medicine. The ramifications of such a union are radical and call for no less than the reinvention of medicine. In 2013, Larry Dossey received the prestigious Visionary Award that honors a pioneer whose visionary ideas have shaped integrative healthcare and the medical profession.
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