1) What are "synchronicities" and does everyone experience them?
According to Wikipedia, synchronicity can be defined as “the experience of two or more events which are causally unrelated occurring together in a supposedly meaningful manner. In order to count as synchronicity, the events should be unlikely to occur together by chance.”
Carl Jung, the originator of the concept, believed there to be an acausal principle linking events with related meaning simply by their coincidence in time, rather than serially. Jung believed that there was a synchrony connecting the human mind and ones perceptions. While many people may consider synchronistic events to be random chance or coincidence, it is important to recognize that it reveals an underlying pattern – one that is all encompassing, and larger in scope than all of us. Synchronicities seem to transcend all barriers – age, belief system, sex, and race.
Throughout ones life, it is quite possible that one will experience this phenomenon at least once. Most of us have these happen very frequently, but we don’t always take notice, which is the biggest hindrance to really benefiting from what they might be pointing us towards, i.e. new opportunities, the right people we need to meet, etc.
2) Would you call a telepathic experience a type of synchronicity, oris this something else? Here is a specific example. I once had a dream that my uncle was very ill, and the next morning awoke to find that he had suffered a stroke. Is that an example of a synchronicity?
Since telepathy is traditionally believed to be an “apparent communication from one mind to another without using sensory perceptions” and synchronicity involves the concepts of both perception and time, it would certainly not be beyond the realm of possibility to suppose that your particular example could very well be an example of a synchronistic event.
As we are discovering, what we have traditionally believed to be our reality is actually far more complex than our simple senses are capable of fully interpreting.
Another possibility, however, is one in which quantum physics may suggest a more comprehensive explanation. Physicist David Bohm’s implicate order proposes that mind and matter are simply projections into our explicate order from the underlying reality of the implicate order. Accordingly, mind and matter are seen as projections into our explicate order from the underlying reality of the implicate order.
This is a new (and still fairly controversial) theory of the universe that proposes the possibility that there is a fundamental level where consciousness is not distinct from matter, and there exists a connective relationship between mind and matter. Basically, Bohm’s theory seeks to connect everything with everything else.
Several analogies abound between his theory and Alain Aspects holographic universe theorem. During controlled scientific experiments, Aspect and his team of researchers discovered that under certain circumstances subatomic particles were able to instantly communicate with each other regardless of the physical distance that might separate them. Whether 1inch or 100 light years away – somehow everything is connected.
In your fictional example, is it possible that perhaps the knowledge of the stroke was actually communicated by our seeming “connectedness” with one another? Is what we have traditionally referred to as “telepathy” simply a natural process of communication via the multidimensional reality of our universe?
3) What role does meaning play in the universe? In other words, a scientist would say "11:11" only has meaning to humans. But do concepts like this have a larger meaning?
What a philosophical conundrum! What role does meaning play in the universe? Certainly, meaning plays a particularly important function to humans. By our very nature, we tend to focus on our personal “purpose” and “meaning” in life. We have a propensity to concentrate all of our energy towards the end result of our lives – our professional accomplishments, social standing, monetary worth, etc.
But why do we seem so intent on wondering what impact these surface issues will impress upon mankind during our relatively short span of life? More importantly, are we alone in pondering these matters? Are rocks, plants, birds, and mice likewise capable of reflecting upon their station in the universe? Or, as many believe does consciousness perhaps play a crucial role? Is the need to assign meaning simply a construct of conscious thought?
Regardless, it is important that we focus upon the journey itself, rather than solely the destination. And we must remember as well that sometimes events occur that have a collective meaning, rather than a personal one. Those events are what change paradigms and shift consciousness and move the entire human race in a different direction, as 9-11 did. At least for awhile!
4) Phenomena like telepathy and synchronicity kind of have a feel like information coming from the future or past. Do you believe that knowledge can flow from the future?
Yes, and quantum and theoretical physics certainly backs this up. Linear time is a construct of the human brain. We write about the Zero Point Field, which we refer to more as a Grid, a structure of different levels of reality that includes the entire landscape of past, present and future. This parallels the Akashic Fields of Edgar Cayce, and the morphic fields of Rupert Sheldrake, but the Zero Point Field is itself described as the source of all sources – a repository of all energy, matter and form. If all the information of the past and future lies within this field, we certainly could be finding ways to access it. Consider the Universe one big hard drive, and some of us are far more adept at computer skills than others!
People who read the future or remote view, therefore, are accessing information within this Field. Again, it is probably something we can all do, but few of us take the time to pay attention to these skills, and actively develop them.
5) Can a person develop higher awareness and their own skills in ESP and telepathy? How would you advise a person to become more aware of synchronicities?
Two words – pay attention. It is as simple as that. Quieting the brain and the monkey mind enough to take notice of what is going on in the present moment is the only way to really begin to see that we are constantly being exposed to information in the form of telepathy and synchronicity, but if we are completely focused on the information we think we need to survive, we will never notice the “other” stuff. Our brains take in very little of the actual information flowing to us, by the very nature of survival. We operate on a “need-to-know” basis, only seeing and perceiving that which helps us live the life in front of us – jobs, money, kids, family, etc.
Slowing down enough to pay attention is key. But so is stepping back from technology and shutting off the cell phone, the iPod, the MP3 player, the Blackberry and Facebook long enough to get in tune with what our intuition is trying to tell us, as well as with those more subtle events that constantly occur just under our radar.
Pay attention. And whether that be by meditation, walking, reading, taking ten minutes a day to shut out the world, or just reminding oneself to stay present, it all works to increase awareness to the other information out there that actually may be more important to us than what we should have for dinner that night.
6) How can a person apply synchronicity in their personal life?
It obviously is trying to alert us to something, so first taking notice of the two or more synchronistic events and seeing if they lead to some breakthrough or to an opportunity one has been waiting for. Sometimes, we don’t know why a synchronicity occurred until much later, when all is revealed and we realize we met our soul mate, got our dream job, or saved our own life because of it. But often the meaning is clear right then and there.
Taking notice, finding the meaning, or at the very least being patient enough to let the meaning unfold…but also, not ignoring these events. Not being lazy and sweeping them under the rug. It does no one any good to have a synchronistic event if they just blow it off and miss the message or opportunity in the event. Perhaps this is why so many people are unhappy. They don’t follow the signs that these events are, guideposts along the way to keep people on the path to their destiny. Ignore the signs, and you might never realize your full potential. That is tragic. These are SIGNS. Follow them and they will no doubt lead to the fulfillment of dreams, big and small.
Posts
