After-Death Communication (ADC): Louis LaGrand defines ADC as "an exciting new field of research which focuses on a variety of extraordinary experiences in which a person believes he or she has been spontaneously contacted by a deceased loved one. It is important to emphasize that the living person is not actively seeking to make contact with the deceased; the experience does not in any way involve a psychic. Instead it is the deceased (or the unconscious or perhaps a Supreme Being) who seems to reach out to the bereaved and in doing so provides much-needed comfort and solace. Although a contact experience may occur at any time, it commonly takes place when one is grieving the death of a loved one and becomes the basis for the bereaved person to deal with the loss and go on with life.
"ADCs include sensing the presence of the deceased, feeling a touch, smelling a fragrance, hearing the voice or seeing the deceased, and meeting the loved one in a vision or dream. Messages are also received in symbolic ways, such as finding an object associated with the deceased, unusual appearances of behavior of birds and animals, or other unexplainable happenings which occur at or shortly after the moment of death."
Aftereffects of EHEs:
Although, according to Rhea A. White, some types of exceptional experiences tend to result more fully and
lastingly in these characteristics than others, -- examples being near-death, out-of-body,
and mystical experiences -- across the board of any and all such types of
experience, the nature of the outcome is an overall, noticeable upgrade in moral
consciousness and concern and genuine reverence for all life, as well as frequently enhanced
supersensory abilities. On another page is a more
comprehensive description of this nearly universal outcome, but "In short,"
NDE researchers Kenneth Ring and Evelyn
Elsaesser-Valarino conclude, "The NDE [think: EHE] seems to unleash normally dormant aspects of the human potential for higher consciousness and to increase one's capacity to relate more sensitively to other persons and the world at large."
But this is a most extraordinary trend in human consciousness that takes us
into whole new territory concerning human development and evolution. This
distinct shift in consciousness, so universal across all possible, otherwise
divisive features, including highly pathological and destructive life patterns
and misguided values [see, e.g., Dannion Brinkley, Howard
Storm, David Wilkerson, Barbara R.
Rommer], and expressive of these passionately / compassionately altruistic
features, is [I believe] the NEW Story of what it
means to be Human, the next evolutionary leap.
'Afterlife':
Whenever a word is in quotes, it means the familiar connotation begs to be reconsidered. The word 'afterlife' suggests something that happens to us
after we or rather after our bodies die. But in actuality, the afterlife is simultaneous, and in fact we have the capacity to interface with it any and all the time
of our physical lives through other levels of awareness or ways of being.
All-things-EHE:
A short way to paraphrase
the conception of everything to do with the Exceptional Human Experience
Paradigm.
Anomalous Experience:
According to Rhea A. White, an "experience that cannot be explained in terms of physics, psychology, sociology or other accepted discipline."
Awakening
Experiences: Loosely,
a synonym for exceptional human experience and spiritually transformative
experience, indicative of our growing, collective, experience-based transcendent
consciousness [per Rhea A. White:] "instrumental in transforming the identity, life, and worldview of experiencers in the direction of realizing their full human
potential" exemplified in the well-known altruistic pattern of aftereffects
associated with such experiences.
Benign Virus Effect: NDE researcher
Kenneth Ring first noticed this phenomenon among his students at the University
of Connecticut as a result of NDErs telling their stories in some of his
classes. He did an informal survey a number of times and learned that
students who had themselves not had such an experience were frequently so
affected by others' experiences of this nature, their own lives were similarly
changed to reflect the basic values and worldview typical of the NDEers
themselves. Ring said it didn't matter whether nonexperiencers witnessed
an NDEr telling hir story, or got it through a third party or through any
medium, such as TV or a book. He compared it to a benign virus that can be
quite "contagious." No doubt, publishers appreciate this
fact. [See Statistics for mention of one
corroborative research project.] To this day, more than 30 years after Dr. Raymond A. Moody, Jr.
published his first book about them, coining the term "near-death
experience," these stories continue to be very popular and deeply
moving. They certainly have had that kind of impact on my life [Rocamora],
and I know many other people, beginning with nearly all NDE researchers, who say
the same thing.
Believer: Someone who
sincerely believes in the Something More than the physical consensus reality,
but who has not in personal memory [or may not have had] access to experiences that take hir
into direct encounter with conscious awareness of Reality outside the physical,
five-sensory context, at which point heshe
could be said to be a 'knower'. [See 'Knower' and 'Unbeliever'.]
Co-Intelligence
[per Tom Atlee, quoted from his
website]: Co-intelligence is a capacity that goes far beyond individual IQ-based intelligence. Co-intelligence is intelligence that's grounded in wholeness, interconnectedness and co-creativity. It is collective, collaborative, synergistic, wise, resonant, heartful, and connected to greater sources of intelligence.
Together we can be wiser than any of us can be alone. We need to know how to tap that wisdom.
Healthy communities, institutions and societies -- perhaps even our collective survival -- depend on our ability to organize our collective affairs more wisely, in tune with each other and nature. This ability to wisely organize our lives together -- all of us being wiser together than any of us could be alone -- we call co-intelligence.
Co-intelligence is emerging through new developments in democracy, organizational development, collaborative processes, the Internet and systems sciences like ecology and complexity. Today millions of people are involved in co-creating co-intelligence. Our diverse efforts grow more effective as we discover we are part of a larger evolutionary enterprise, and as we learn together and from each other.
Consciousness
Shift: Growing
evidence is accumulating along a number of avenues suggestive of a radical
upgrade in our personal and collective awareness as a species. What is
explored primarily on this website comes from the growing numbers of people who
have had and are having spiritually transformative experiences through which
they have glimpsed other levels or dimensions of reality not normally accessible
to our physical senses. Frequently there are other types of corroborative
data associated with people's experiences of this nature, such as when a
near-death experience occurs during surgery and later the experiencer who
obviously had no heartbeat or brainwaves was able to describe things about what
went on during that time of flat-lining, not only in the surgery room, but
sometimes in other places. Findings and trends of thought in some fields
of Western science also support the veracity of what people are reporting from
their spiritual experiences. Examples: merely the machinations of
the brain-body cannot account for many apparently "paranormal" or psi
phenomena and abilities to heal bodies, change our DNA, perceive objectively
corroborated objects, places, events not within normal sensory range [e.g.,
remote viewing, out-of-body experiences]. Nor can we otherwise account for
what turns out to be frequently even dramatic changes in the behavior, values
and lifeview of those who have had spiritually transformative experiences,
reflecting a distinct pattern of aftereffects.
The more profound the experience, usually the more apparently permanent and
pervasive are the aftereffects. At least some reasons can be pinpointed
that account for this accelerating growth of such experiences, such as advanced
medical technologies that keep people alive longer or assist bringing them back
from over the edge of death; our numerous and nearly instantaneous means of
planet-wide communications allowing us to be more aware of events and trends and
etc. all over the world - through which we are learning that this phenomenon is
recognized and growing among populations all over the Earth; our acceptance of
near-death, out-of-body and similar experiences as normal rather than
pathological, etc.; the fact that many more people are coming forward to share
their experiences of this nature, now that they are not afraid they will be
considered to be or diagnosed as crazy. [See Consciousness
Revolution; statistics; power
of story; Rhea A. White; Food4Thot]
Co-operative
Inquiry: Defined by the originator of the method, John
Heron, as ".. person-centred research into the spiritual and the
subtle" in which "... two or more people researching a topic through
their own experience of it, ... persons in reciprocal relation using the full
range of their sensibilities to inquire together into any aspect of the human
condition with which the transparent body-mind can engage."
Cultural
Creatives: See this
page, which also discusses two subgroups: The Core CCs and the Green
CCs.
Death vs.
'Death': Death, without quotes, refers specifically to the
termination of the functional integrity of physical forms of life. What people generally refer to as death in the sense of the end or demise of a human being
or any physical life form, I think of as in quotes: 'death', meaning, regardless of how
death and dying may appear to our physical senses, for those who 'have the eyes
to see', unquestionably, absolutely, there is no death
of one's integral or true being. Instead, by whatever means and with whatever result, the consciousness that once inhabited a body that has died transitions to another state of being within the larger life
reality. An energetic shift takes place, analogous to the
transcendence of an electron in Niels Bohr's classic atomic model to a larger
shell of habitation. Concerning
humans and 'death' as an experience, our individual consciousness apparently does not lose its sense of I-ness, of self awareness or essential authenticity as an
individual being. Where life is an infinite spectrum of states of
consciousness, 'death' for the one who leaves a physical body permanently is not
a "state of being," but rather a transitioning phase between states, a
movement through the doorway, as it were.
Death2:
George M. Lamsa grew up in a remote area
of the Fertile Crescent during the years just prior to WWII, where people still
spoke Aramaic, Jesus' native language, virtually unchanged since that time
[World War II definitely changed that].
He says in ancient Aramaic, death means "not here,
present elsewhere"! [Also see "Excarnation
/ Excarnate" below.]
Deathbed Experience (DBE):
As the time of one's physical death nears, those who are transitioning out of the physical consensus reality and sometimes even those who are with them, who then become corroborative witnesses, become aware of beings and contextual realities not normally perceived by the five physical senses. These are as a whole referred to as deathbed experiences or deathbed visions.
(See Karlis Osis and Erlendur Haroldsson's term, from
their large study on these.)
Deathing:
A term coined by Anya Foos-Graber
in order to reintroduce to an ancient practice familiar especially to
Hindus and Buddhists and making it comprehensible, approachable, doable in
Western society [see her book by this title]. In the Foreward, Kenneth
Ring defines deathing as "Conscious dying: it is dying that is not
left to chance or contingency. As a concept, deathing is, of course,
analogous to birthing -- the process of giving birth. Deathing, too, is
like giving birth -- only to yourself. It demands conscious participation
and full awareness if it is to be done correctly and beautifully, as the ancient
wisdom tells us." It is a discipline, he says, "meant to be practiced
and mastered before one is in any immediate or obvious danger of dying,
so that the moment of death, whenever it does come, is one of conditioned
deathing, not adventitious dying."
Death-Transcendent
Consciousness: The absolute knowing that, regardless of the body's ultimate fate, there is no death of one's conscious
self; this understanding is the direct result of an EHE. Specifically this speaks to something at the deepest levels of the human condition pointing to one of our most fundamental of all needs -- to know what and who we are as living beings. How can we begin waking up to all the implications of this innate beingness if we are bereft of the knowledge in the first place that we are something quite other and more than our physical bodies?
Death-Transcendent 'Exceptional Human Experience' (
DT-EHE ): Any exceptional, anomalous, transformative and 'Humanizing' event that is in
any way associated with death or what we discover beyond the doorway we call
death, including reincarnation or pre-birth memory, OBEs, NDEs, afterdeath
communications [ADCs], cosmic consciousness and mystical experiences. Only
through such experiences may we acquire the
certainty, the absolute knowing that, regardless of the body's ultimate fate, there is no death of one's conscious sense of self or
'I'. This realization can come in the form of any of the
five classes of EHE defined by White and
Brown [i.e., Mystical, Psychical, Encounter, Death-Related, and Enhanced
Experiences].
Death-transcendent EHEs provide the opportune types of
experiences through which we may acquire this direct knowledge. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
conveys her unique perspective of this awareness, which she herself
experienced a number of times. She says, "They can hang you by your toenails
and still you will know." There is a useful parallel in physics, the
law that says energy cannot be lost; it's only transmuted from one state or form
into another. The same can be said for consciousness -- there is merely
shifting from one state of awareness / being to another. (See, by way
of example, Rhea White's NDE that propelled her into her own transformed journey, in which she heard
a Voice tell her: "Nothing that has ever lived can possibly
die." Her own life journey is a shining outcome of what is meant by
"death-transcendent EHE.")
Dogma:
Those things we have believed -- or many powers-that-be have instilled in us -- so long and so undeviatingly, it has become an act of sacrilege to question them, even in the light of new knowledge.
EE:
See "exceptional experience."
EHE:
See "exceptional human experience."
EHE Autobiography:
A life chronicle based specifically on our exceptional encounters [EEs and EHEs] with and within the larger life reality. The importance of this process cannot be over-emphasized; it has its own powerful life-changing impact. First, the practice produces 'global shifts' at the deepest levels of being, often subtle and sometimes quite dramatic, increasing one's core self concept and awareness and thereby producing increased self worth and a greater joie de vivre. In essence, the cultivation of an EHE autobiography has an impact not unlike EHEs themselves, with all the attendant aftereffects of an EHE! You begin to see yourself and all about you and within you with the eyes of an EHEr. [a Rhea A. White term;
her article about how to
write an EHE autobiography will tell you much more.]
EHE Empath:
[My word for]
a non-experiencer who is so deeply affected by others' or another's EEs or EHEs,
that this has a similarly powerful transformative impact on hir
beliefs as well, as if heshe hirself
had had such an experience. In other words, the 'classic' outcome of a
changed life results or can result from the profound impression or inculcation of experience/s not
hir own.
EHEer:
Referring to one who has had an "exceptional human experience." Rhea A. White uses EHEer, and "EHE" IS her term, so this would be the preferred spelling. However, in the spirit of the 'r' vs. 'er' endings applied to OBE [OBEr, OBEer] and NDE [NDEr, NDEer], different authors who are either experiencers or students of such experiences and those who have them, tend to have their own preferences, and since Miriam Webster hasn't caught up with us yet to make one 'wrong' and one 'right' in each case, it's your call; this is just to ensure that regardless of our creative spelling, you know what we're talking about!
[Truth be known, the EHE terms should be just as the originator created
them. When I've got some breathing space I will go back and change all
mine to her spelling.]
EHE
Paradigm: [See "Exceptional Human
Experience Paradigm"]
EHE
Process: Rhea White and Suzanne V. Brown
noticed after studying hundreds of accounts of the widest variety of types of anomalous or "exceptional" [to the Western science purview]
experiences that they seemed to follow a progression of stages in common as they
evolved from the status of "exceptional experience" to full-blown, life-changing
"exceptional human experience" [definitions below].
Hence, the EHE Process. White considers this to be the most telling
feature to validate the significance of the EHE Paradigm as a whole. She
describes these defined "stages" as tentative and as a starting
point for further research. With this in mind, here they are:
|
1. |
Initiatory
Experience / Event / Encounter |
|
2. |
The
Search for Reconciliation |
|
3. |
Between
Two Worlds |
|
4. |
In
the "Experiential Paradigm" |
|
5. |
A
New Way of Being in the World |
We tend to put emphasis on the experience -- the actual trigger of the
transformative process. A person may talk about hir
NDE or afterdeath communication experience. But the experience by itself
could be said to be merely the "exceptional" element; like a seed, it
has potential, but there is a journey that must ensue for this to unfold.
The "humanizing" life change comes into play only with the Process of how we begin
to make sense of the experience and integrate it and its gifts into our lives,
consciously work with it, allow it to deepen us into the MORE we potentially all
are. Like opening a door, it can even and often does take one to
more such experiences that further this process.
Here are a few articles by White and/or Brown that will give you further insight: "What
Are Exceptional Human Experiences?" -- which also provides
an introduction to the EHE Process. In "The
Import of Individual Exceptional
Human Experiences for
the Species--and Beyond," White takes us through the typical
anomalous experience for someone not necessarily familiar or comfortable with
such events, in a usual context of a Western-society community similarly
unprepared to know appropriately how to help someone who has undergone such an
experience. She shows how we can move beyond "spiritual
emergency" to the patient process of "spiritual emergence," in
which case "a process of
transformation can be observed as taking place that should be assisted,
not resisted. An exceptional human experience then is an anomalous
experience that institutes a process that potentiates more of the
experiencer's higher human potential" [White]. "Aftereffects Described from the Study of EHEs as a Whole and within the EHE Process,
RE: Stage 5: A New Way of Being in the World" explains the
EHE Process from the perspective of how one is changed by it.
Rhea White and Suzanne
V. Brown offer respectively a subjective and objective view of the EHE
Process.
Excarnation /
Excarnate:
We come into 'incarnation', i.e., our nonphysical beings are born into these bodies and this world. The process of dying, then, can be referred to as excarnating from this world. This fits beautifully with George M. Lamsa's understanding from the ancient Aramaic he grew up speaking, pre-WWII, in which "death" means "not here, present elsewhere." As we excarnate, as our bodies become less and less able to be of use to us here, and specifically in relation to dying from this world, we can be said to become less and less present here, and simultaneously more enabled to be 'present Elsewhere'. [See Death2, re: Lamsa, and also see at least one title of his more than 20 books based on his native understanding of Aramaic in relation to the religious texts that grew out of his native language and part of the world in the Near East.]
Exceptional Experience (EE):
[Rhea A. White:] "(An) unusual, nonordinary, anomalous, supernatural, transpersonal, metanormal, transcendent
experience" that is compelling and unforgettable to the experiencer but has
not yet reached the stage of transforming hir life and being in any way, or as
White says, "the EE has not become fully potentiated."
[Also note, as with "EHEr or EHEer," EEer vs.
EEr: You may see either one on this site, but White's spelling is the
correct one, which is EEer, since she coined these terms.] Such events are
"exceptional" because they do not fit the Western science
materialistic view, or as S. V. Brown and R. White say, "..because the
individual can neither explain them nor explain them away." [Mission
Statement for the EHE Network, in: Exceptional Human Experience:
Background Papers II; EHEN, New Bern, NC, June, 1997]
Exceptional Human Experience
(EHE) [sometimes referred to as "Experience" with a capital E]:
A term coined by Rhea A.
White: "(When an 'exceptional experience' or EE) is instrumental in transforming the identity, life, and worldview of experiencers in the direction of realizing their full human potential. ... [I.e., in generating a transformative process, they become full-blown 'exceptional human experiences' or EHEs, and as such] they play a catalytic role in humanizing the experiencer. ...
[enabling] a person to contact what famous psychologist William James called the MORE in human experience.... As James wrote, the More is both inside and outside the individual and it provides a sense of life direction that comes both from within and
without, often in the form of additional EHEs, especially intuition and synchronicity. ... [This]
EHE process integrates both one's outer and inner worldview."
White places emphasis over and over on the EHE being but a trigger of what must become ideally
this lifelong,
deeply engaging process: “Exceptional human experience … is an anomalous experience that institutes a
process that potentiates more of the experiencer’s higher human potential. …
it is not so much a happening or event as a process that goes on for life.”
[See "Exceptional Human
Experience Paradigm," below.]
Elsewhere White describes a number of outstanding qualities of exceptional human experiences:
"[T]he major characteristics are that they promote self-integration; they engender a sense of connection to other people, life forms, and the sacred; and they can serve as a seed or nucleus around which one can weave and sometimes even rewrite one's personal story so that it is much more meaningful than before. By remembering, cherishing, and fostering their exceptional experiences, people ... [can] live more fully and responsibly because they are more integrally connected to the past, to the future, and to life as a whole, including death. Heeding one's exceptional experiences can lead the person to become more helpful and accepting of others and to experience a fuller life."
[IN: "Classes of EE/EHEs," by White and S. V. Brown.
There are a number of articles located temporarily on this site from Rhea
White's www.ehe.org, listed on this
page.]
Exceptional Human Experiencer
(EHEer): One who has had an exceptional human experience.
Exceptional Human Experience Paradigm (EHE Paradigm, also called the "Experiential Paradigm"):
In her own 'EHE Glossary' in the front of most of her journals,
Exceptional Human Experience, Rhea White says: "The EHE process integrates both one's outer and inner worldview.
Outerworld evens may occur that change one's relationships, work, and avocational activities.
Innerworld experiences in the form of successive EHEs and an open participatory response to them catapult the EHEer into a whole new worldview, the Experiential Paradigm, which is based not on physical data and logic but the sum total of one's EHEs.
These experiences eventually lift a person into a whole new way of perceiving reality.
He/she is no longer enmeshed in the old worldview, but sees it as if from outside.
At the same time, he/she is aware of being in a new worldview that is based on heart knowledge and inner knowing of a connection with the entire creation.
It must be experienced to be known.*
"Once this sense of connectedness, which is the essence of the EHE process, becomes part of daily experience, it ushers in a new view of one's life. You sense a continuity underlying life from birth (or before) to death (and after). You come to think of your life as part of the life of planet Earth and all existence from the beginning and as being related to the universe at large. This new view engendered and informed by one or more EHEs is a lifeview. It is similar to worldview, except the personal element -- your own individual place in the scheme of things -- is part of the whole and the whole in the part."
Experience
-- with a capital E; same with Experiencer: Wherever you see
Experience or Experiencer with a capital E, it refers to "Exceptional Human
Experience/r."
Experience-Centered Approach:
Rhea A. White explains, "[I]n developing the concept of exceptional human experiences I have taken an experiential rather than an evidential [i.e., traditional Western scientific] approach. I have chosen meaning instead of proof. I think they are like the waves and particles of quantum mechanics – you can’t have both at the same
time.
Note:
Experience
[capital 'E'] alone, used to refer to spiritually transformative experiences /
EHEs.
Feminist Science:
An additional dimension reflected in the EHE model is popularly termed feminist science. Regina Becker-Schmidt [with the University of Hanover, Psychological Institute] offers a slightly historicized description: "The word "feminist" was shaped in the last century [nineteenth?] to characterize the emancipatory impulse in political and scientific currents which were set by women. ... It follows that the deconstruction of scientific myths is just as much an issue of feminism as is the discussion concerning socio-cultural and societal developments, which cause or solidify social inequality, lack of freedom and discrimination [in this case] along the dividing line of "gender."
More descriptively, and to paraphrase author,
Nancy Hartsock, the feminist science perspective maintains that reality is relational, contextual, integrative, life-affirming, communal, inclusive, synergistic, committed to plurality and the interplay of differences, respects self-reflection as an ethical necessity, and is very 'we' focused.
Its premise is that reality to a great extent is socially and culturally constructed, that no base holds for all cultures, although many cultures may share what appears to be the same base. Think of this in contrast to traditional Western science, which strives to be detached, abstract, manipulative, adversarial ('us against nature'), exclusive, authoritarian-based and driven by authoritarian impulses of the will to unchallengeable, exclusivistic truths, and is very 'I-Thou' focused. [This is a very broad and somewhat simplistic definition, since 'feminist science' can refer to any of at least three context-based schools of thought.
Heshe:
One of the gender-experiment terms, a way of
denoting the person referred to may be either male or female. Robert
A. Monroe's word.
Hir:
A neutral term for 'him or her', implying either gender.
See Gender Experiment.
Hirself:
A
neutral term for 'himself or herself', implying either gender. See Gender
Experiment.
Hirstory:
A neutral play on words for 'history + herstory', honoring both genders equally and simultaneously.
See Gender Experiment.
Human,
as in "the MORE that it means to be human": [See
"[The] MORE that it means to be human" below.]
Imaginal:
Inwardly real as opposed to
"fabricated" or "contrived." [According
to Rhea A. White and Suzanne V. Brown; see "Classes of EE/EHEs" on ehe.org]
Incarnational
Spirituality: This is a term coined by David
Spangler , which he defines as "... an affirmation of the spirit innate
within our world, our humanity, our physicality, and our personal lives. It sees
each person as a source of spiritual power and radiance." Speaking of
adding balance to the equation! This is provided to bring us back to
how immediately accessible God is right here, right now in our every-day world
in contrast to the often daunting idea of approaching Spirit as something
specifically 'other-worldly' and impossible or at least daunting to experience
directly by choice. According to wikipedia.org,
this brings us back to the "awareness of the spiritual nature of our
physical, everyday self and the sacredness of the world around us; to act and
not just reflect, engage and not just contemplate, thus bringing about the unity
of inner alignment and outer activity." Here's another
page explaining more about Incarnational Spirituality.
Know, 'know-that-I-know',
Knowing Awareness: A context-heavy word,
often italicized or capitalized, referring to direct personal exceptional experiences that bequeath the experiencer with the clear and absolute knowledge
or direct awareness there is a "larger-life reality," that is, a perceptible reality
extending beyond the limited scope of awareness available to the five physical senses.
This is as much an aware experience as any physical sensory experience from
which we directly know something.
Knower:
One who observers firsthand through direct experience Something More and Other
that exists outside the normal five-sensory awareness we share in this physical
consensus reality, something that includes this physical existence as the merest
fraction of itself. [See 'Believer' and 'Unbeliever'.]
Larger Life
Reality [LLR]: The infinite continuum of existence or consciousness inclusive of the physical consensus reality but not limited to that.
Life
Review: Many people
who have had near-death experiences and others who have had "near-death events"
have reported observing or undergoing a review of their lives. Some talk
of their whole lives flashing before their eyes; others speak of seeing the
whole of their lives all around them as if they can see each aspect and all its
unfolding at once; much like we experience space in the physical, they describe
being objectively able to perceive events over time, as if there, time and space
are reversed than how we experience them here. It is not unusual to
hear people say of these moments the events ran backwards from most recent to
birth; or / and they experienced profoundly this process from the viewpoint of
those with whom they interacted so they got to know as if their own experience
how their behavior, etc. impacted on others.
Lifeview:
Again from White's Background Papers I [and reiterated here from the definition
above of "Exceptional Human Experience Paradigm" / "Experiential
Paradigm," she writes: "Once [a] sense of connectedness, which is the essence of the EHE process, becomes part of daily experience, it ushers in a new view of one's life.
You sense a continuity underlying life from birth (or before) to death (and after).
You come to think of your life as part of the life of planet Earth and all existence from the beginning and as being related to the universe at large.
This new view engendered and informed by one or more EHEs is a lifeview. It is similar to worldview, except the personal element -- your own individual place in the scheme of things -- is part of the whole and the whole in the part."
Literary
EHE: As has been noted by a number of other EHE researchers, among
them Kenneth Ring and Abraham
Maslow, Rhea A. White suggests we can be similarly deeply changed, with the
attendant classic aftereffects,
simply through exposure to others' apparent EHEs. When we fully believe,
to the point we feel a moving empathic or intuitive receptivity while listening
to or reading about [etc.] others' transformative experiences of this nature,
they can indeed grace us with a Shift of this nature as well.
Lived
Inquiry [per John Heron, 1998]: The active,
innovative and examined life, which seeks both to transform and understand more
deeply the human condition. [... such as] many spiritually-minded people
are busy with their own version of lived inquiry, and ... they constitute
a newly emerging self-generating spiritual culture. [This] examined life,
as I construe it, involves several interwoven strands**:
-
Being
open to the here and now immediate revelation of being-in-a-world, of
participating in the great field of interbeing, its sheer presence of
being, and all its powers and presences on many different levels.
-
Being
open to inner living impulses to creative action and exploration, and to
their felt sense of it within the field of interbeing.
-
Exercising
a finely-tuned critical discrimination and awareness with regard to
experiences of the spiritual and the subtle, both one's own and others', and
to their affirmation in everyday living.
-
Being
committed to creative and disciplined spiritual practice, devising
innovative practices, adapting traditional practices.
-
Taking
time out for more considered reflection on the issues, moving to and fro in
irregular cycles between spiritual activity and reflection, reflecting on
ancient and modern transpersonal maps, and drawing out and modifying one's
own maps.
-
Being
committed to deconstruct spiritual projection.
-
Being
committed to the disciplined passion of inquiring engagement with the subtle
and phenomenal worlds, especially in respect of human relationships (rooted
in emotional healing, emotional and interpersonal competence), the creation
of knowledge, of art, of social justice and of planetary transformation.
-
Engaging
in dialogue and active co-operation, including short-term formal inquiries,
with others on a similar path.
-
Being
critically informed of relevant trends of thought and practice in the
prevailing culture and in past cultures.
**
NOTE [R. Rocamora]: I decided to put all the bullets above on this
page so you can appreciate the full and very thoughtful perspective of John Heron's Sacred
Science methodology.
Moral
Consciousness: This is a term Rhea White has
used to describe, along with reverence for all life, as the succinct and
ultimate outcome one may come to expect when one comes to live out of the
EHEerly perspective. Rudolf Steiner doesn't use this exact phrase, but he
seems to capture the essence of its meaning. He says,
Out of thinking which is inwardly tolerant and interested in the thoughts of
others, and out of willing reborn through the achievement of idealism [[quoted
from earlier in same article] 'precisely an achieved idealism:
not merely ... from the instincts and enthusiasm of youth, but one that
is nurtured, gained by one's own initiative. Self acquired initiative
will not fade away with the passing of youth, it opens the way [to Spirit /
God/dess] ..... Feel the great difference between youthful idealism and
that which springs from taking hold of the life of the spirit and can be ever
and again kindled anew, because we have made it part of our soul'], unfolds a
heightened feeling of responsibility for every action one performs ... This
heightened feeling of responsibility impels one to say: 'Can I justify
this that I am doing or thinking, not merely with reference to the immediate
circumstances and environment of my life, but in the light of my awareness of
belonging to the supersensible spiritual world? Can I justify it in the
light of my knowledge that everything I do will be inscribed in an akashic
record of everlasting significance, where it will work on?
Oh, it comes powerfully home to one, this supersensible responsibility towards
all things! It strikes one like a solemn warning, when one seeks the way
to [the Highest, the Ineffable] -- as though a being stood behind one, looking
over one's shoulder and saying repeatedly: 'Thou art responsible not
only to the world around thee, but also to the divine-spiritual, for all thy
thoughts and all thy actions.'
"[The]
MORE that it means to be human": This phrase comes from
William James, who surmised, because of an inborn sense of incompleteness /
"uneasiness" we as human beings discover in ourselves, we sense that
life should be richer, more meaningful and fulfilling, exciting, joyous,
engaging, connected in some way. In our searching need to correct or cure
this problem, we eventually come to discover in all of life and within ourselves
what Rhea White calls the "more connected part" of Self, which is
ultimately recognized to be at-ONE with Life, with the Multiverse, with All That
IS. These "exceptional" moments or experiences can fill and
overwhelm us with awe, reverence, and ecstasy. They are the personal
revelation or Awakening to The MORE that it means to be Human. [This is
largely paraphrasing James, and also Rhea White whose work was much influenced
by him. See William James; also see White's article,
"Exceptional
Human Experience and
the More We Are."]
Myth
/ Mythos: Myth comes from the Greek word mythos, meaning "word
of mouth." According to wikipedia.org,
the academic and familiar popular use of "myth" are almost a world
apart! In academia, "a myth is a sacred story usually concerning the
origins of the world or how the world and the creatures in it came to be their
present form. The active beings in myths are generally gods and heroes. Myths
are often said to take place before recorded history begins. A myth is a
sacred narrative in the sense that it contributes to systems of thought and
values, and that people attach religious or spiritual significance to it.
Use
of the term by scholars does not imply that the narrative is either true or
false."* Religious
historian Mircea Eliade adds much depth and clarity to this understanding.
He says to tell a "sacred history" or myth is to unveil a mystery,
that the mythic beings specifically "are not human beings; they are gods or
culture heroes" living in the primordial time or before or beyond time as
we know it in the everyday or "profane" world, and so, a
mystery. We can never know their actions or nature ourselves except as a
gift, a revelation, which ..
"proclaims
the appearance of a new cosmic situation or of a primordial event.
Hence, it is always the recital of a creation; it tells how something was
accomplished, began to be . It is for this reason that myth ... speaks
only of realities, of what really happened, of what was fully
manifested. Obviously these realities are sacred realities, for it is
the sacred that is pre-eminently the real."
Further,
Eliade emphasizes the disparity between the sacred and the profane with the
comment that
"Whatever
belongs to the sphere of the profane does not participate in being, for the
profane was not ontologically established by myth, [meaning:] it has no
perfect model."
In
our everyday use of the word [again from wikipedia.org],
"a myth is something that is widely thought
to be false. This
usage, which is often pejorative, arose from labeling the religious myths and
beliefs of other cultures as being incorrect, but it has spread to cover
non-religious beliefs as well. Because of this usage, many people take offense
when the religious narratives they believe to be true are called myths*
... [Also, this popular] usage is frequently confused with legend,
fiction, fairy tale, folklore, fable, and urban legend, each of which has a
distinct meaning in academia." [For more about the significance of
these terms on this website, see The
New Story.]
*emphasis
added on Ahhh-TheLight.com.
Near-Death
event [NDe]: This has been used in two contexts:
(1) An
occurrence in which one feels to have come very close to death but whose body
does not in fact momentarily "die," and yet: who goes through
some of characteristics commonly associated with a full-blown near-death experience
[NDE]. They come back with memories of
an altered, nonphysical reality or clear conscious awareness of, for example, a
life review or seeing a great light or light being or a deceased relative.
In 1871, a man from Zurich, Switzerland, Albert Heim, fell 70 feet while
mountain climbing. Although he did not suffer "near-death"
symptoms [stoppage of breathing, heartbeat, etc.], he had a vivid awareness of a
review of his life, as well as of watching his body falling toward a snowbank.
He said, "Everything was transfigured as though by a heavenly light,
without anxiety and without pain."
(2) The second association with near-death event is a temporary death of the body, such as cardiac arrest, that
results in the person having no memory of an other-dimensional, out-of-body, or
other-worldly experience. Just as with the example above, the
experience may or may not similarly alter a person's life as a result. George Lucas, for example, was involved
in a one-car wreck when he was 17, that by all accounts he should have died
from, yet he walked away from it relatively unscathed. Even though he has
no memory of an other-worldly existence, from that moment forward he was a
transformed person. Compare this to a "classic" near-death experience in which the person
experiences seeing loved ones who have passed on, light beings, and / or a
Light, etc. who also may -- or may not -- be noticeably affected
afterward. The bottom line is, we ultimately choose whether this becomes a vitalizing, leavening
experience or not. Lastly, compare these two examples, Heim and Lucas,
with the one mentioned on this
page about a man who had a richly detailed NDE, and it had
seemingly no influence on his life! Again, the key in all cases is how
we come to value the experience.
Near-Death Experience (NDE):
A situation in which the physical body dies temporarily [by all medical
definitions of death] and in which the conscious inhabitant of that body becomes aware
heshe is indeed very much alive, still clearly possessing
hir conscious sense of self or I-ness but within a larger-life context of reality that supersedes the normal consensus physical reality.
This recognition is the result of hir clear perception as being literally
separate from or out-of-body. Such experiences may include, but are not
limited to any-to-all the following characteristics typically
reported:
observing
their physical bodies and any activity or people, etc. near or associated
with what is happening to the body
seeing
people who have not passed over whom they love or are concerned about
seeing
'dead' friends, relatives, not always those whom they knew in this life or
even knew of in this life
being
met by other beings they may describe as light beings, angels, guardian
angels, guides, divine beings, 'famous' divine beings such as Jesus, Buddha,
Ganesha or Krishna, Muhammed, the prophets or reishis of various holy
texts, even God-Goddess-All That Is, usually by whatever familiar or
cherished name or identity
-
experiencing
some kind of crossing over or traversing through or into. Many
Americans talk about a tunnel; [East] Indians often describe standing in a
long line; Elisabeth Kubler-Ross mentioned crossing a beautiful mountain
pass or path with flowers; coming near to or crossing over a river or
through a gate ... etc.
-
being
in a beautiful park -- some have given this a name, the eternal Summerland
-
seeing
or moving into or just short of moving into a great Light, most frequently
described as brighter than a million suns, yet not hurting their eyes.
Moving into this Light, they often experience another sense of 'place', such
as exquisitely beautiful countryside.
-
seeing
as if at a distance or actually being in celestial cities
-
seeing,
moving toward or away from the earth at a distance at which they observe in
the way an astronaut might see it
-
being
in a darker-than-dark or black-purple 'void'; usually this is most
comforting; sometimes not, such as Howard
Storm describes. According to PMH Atwater many children experience
this, whereas adults are more apt to report a great Light.
By
the way, if someone experiences many or most of the better-known near-death
experience characteristics mentioned above, heshe is considered to have had
a "core NDE." Almost inevitably this results in an
archetypal shift described on the aftereffects
page.
Near-Death Experiencer (NDEr or NDEer):
One who has or has had a near-death experience. Both abbreviations are frequently used.
New
Consensus Reality:
Born out the sheer numbers of our exceptional human experiences, one of the most
fascinating features is the universality of their significance and meaning to
all of us. Here is one way Rhea White conceptualizes it:
The new ... taken-for-granted worldview that is issuing
forth from our very being, is not many but One. This new view is
revealed by all exceptional human experiences (EHEs), or anomalous
experiences that have been personalized, and that lead to personal and
transpersonal growth and the experience of being inside a new worldview.
...
True, the coming paradigm shift would mark the end of our sense of being
a separate self, but at the same time it would create the possibility of
knowing the Self we all are.
It is a world we are
meant to inhabit. It is a world in which one nurtures oneself by
nurturing others and by not turning away from nurturing oneself as well,
as each of us, too, is a person, and ultimately we are one. ...
In a word, this new world is the Self we all are, and it will not
be at an end until the whole creation travails no longer. And even that
endpoint is likely to be but a new beginning.
... We are called not
to do but to be. Not to be practical but to be who we are. And who we
are shouts to us from any and all exceptional experiences. Far from
being chimeras, EHEs are the bedrock of the new
dispensation.
If we wish to take practical steps to save ourselves and this
globe, let us gravitate to the More that we are. ...
If enough of us do it, we can bring the new to pass.
[One way we can do this is] by sheer numbers, which would influence the
conscious mindset of others. [See R. White's original article,
"The
Collective Message Inherent in Exceptional Human Experience."]
Otherwhere:
Kurt Leland's term for the entire larger-life reality
beyond the perceptual consensus physical reality.
Out-of-Body Experience (OBE or occasionally OOBE,
OOB, also Astral Projection): An event in which a physically embodied person finds
hir "I" point-of- reference to be located literally outside the physical vehicle.
Out-of-Body Experiencer (OBEr or OBEer):
One who has or has had an out-of-body experience. Both abbreviations are frequently used.
Presence:
[1] Per David Spangler, from Everyday Miracles: The Inner Art of
Manifestation, paraphrasing/quoting Spangler from my notes. This is given within the context of how the author inwardly experiences [not 'creates'] the process of manifestation, which he perceives as a sacred act, whether we realize it or not.
His experience is, when he is in the process of considering what he wants or needs and
he turns inward with this intention, he becomes aware of this sense of profound Presence, full of love and humor and blessing and joy.
So, with this in mind, he describes this as ..
A moment when all ranges of self are present; i.e., our being exists over a wide range of experiences, forms, conditions . . from the highly specific density, shape, structure of our bodies to the universality and unity of the enfolded order, the mystery and oneness of the sacred ; or when we're experiencing the wholeness of the spectrum rather than the characteristics of just one range.
It is a moment, a condition, when the totality of our existence synergizes and blends with our world, expanding the ranges of the reality we inhabit, through attunement, through its weaving itself gracefully into our world.
During these times, the energy of presence widens and opens the latticed mesh of
our reality ... by becoming part of it, blending with it and through its own
expandedness, expanding the mesh [the weaving of our life tapestry, also
interwoven within the matrix of all relational existence, incarnational and
excarnational, and more..] as a whole. Then there is space, openness, a
potential for something new to emerge, for reality to shift, and for miracles to
happen.
Presence is our holistic self -- self/Self ; body, psyche, soul, spirit and connectivity
with all life in all dimensions. It is our Whole Self from individual
bodymind "i" to Universal "I". It is not simply a private condition, but
a shared state -- with and without our immediate awareness -- a co-creative, co-incarnational
state, and unto Universal beingness. David speaks of "presence"
as a verb. We could say in our expanding consciousness, we are "presencing"
ourselves to wider ranges of the infinite spectrum of "I" ... [also
see "Selfing"]
Presencing:
1. See "Presence" above, re: David Spangler's use of this
word.
2.
The explanation for this term comes from
a -- speaking of revolutionary! -- book about leadership, Theory U:
Leading from the Future as it Emerges
by C. Otto Scharmer.
He has identified leadership styles and propensities, roughly along the lines of
three groupings: Those who use the past as their primary referent for
their decisions, in spite of the fact it has brought us to the brink of
In working with leadership teams across sectors and industries, I
realized that leaders
could
not meet their existing challenges by operating only on the basis of past
experiences.
Scharmer:
The
blind spot is the (inner) source from which we operate when we do what we
do—where the quality of attention resides.
In working with leadership
teams across sectors and industries, I realized that leaders could not meet their existing challenges by operating only on
the basis of past experiences.
I wondered whether there could be a
deeper learning cycle based on one’s sensing of an emerging future,
rather than on one’s past experiences.7
I saw the most impressive
leaders, creators, and master practitioners operating from a different core
process that tunes in to and pulls us into future possibilities and that has us
operating from that altered state rather than simply reflecting and reacting to
past experiences.
I began to call this learning from the future as it emerges presencing.8
Presencing is a blending of the two words “presence” and “sensing.” It
means to sense and bring into the present one’s highest future potential—the
future that depends on us to bring it into being.
Presence, the U methodology of leading profound change [is undertaken when] moving through the "U" process we learn to connect to our essential Self in the realm of presencing - a term coined by Scharmer that combines the present with sensing. Here we are able to see our own blind spot and pay attention in a way that allows us to experience the opening of our minds, our hearts, and our wills. This wholistic opening constitutes a shift in awareness that allows us to learn from the future as it emerges, and to realize that future in the world.
[Not,
to my knowledge, related to David Spangler's usage above; See
"Presence." Note the interesting similarity between the two
definitions, even so, for Presence/Presencing -- Spangler and Scharmer. ]
Project
of Transcendence: "After
cultivating and nurturing EHEs, they may lead to a new way of being, living, and
connecting in the world. This may lead to fresh insights concerning one's life
purpose and "calling" that involve aspects that transcend the
experiencer's ego and everyday activities and bestow a sense of grace and of
doing and living as one is uniquely "meant" to do." [from the
"Dictionary
of EHE-Related Terms: An Experiencer’s Guide" by Rhea A. White and
Suzanne V. Brown]. What one may undertake with this more expansive passion
and 'calling', White and Brown refer to as a "Project of
Transcendence." [A
whole page is devoted to this term, because of its importance within the
EHEerly perspective. Also, the co-creative work [and play!] associated
with this and another much more extensive website is one of the primary focal
points of a collaborative manifestation "Project of Transcendence"
inspired by David Spangler's Everyday Miracles:
The Inner Art of Manifestation.
Psi:
Rhea A. White has said amid a lot of nodding heads that we do not yet, even
after more than 100 years of studying it [in psychical research and
parapsychology], have a reliable, universally recognized definition of
"psi." That said, here is, nevertheless, a most eloquent explanation
from White on this elusive term:
I
submit that in opening to [the process of being centered in "one's
subjectivity with full presence"] that we are[,] we become open not only to
mental contents usually regarded as unconscious but to the mental contents of
others, both conscious and unconscious, usually regarded as inaccessible.
In this fluid process in which we serve as shutters between the seen and the
unseen, inner and outer are no longer fixed entities, and as we follow the
impulse of our beings we can interact with past, present, and future, with that
which is sensorily present and with the other side of the globe. Some call
it unity, some call it flow, parapsychologists call it psi.
And
when this happens -- when the entire process or impetus for Western civilization
is turned around -- when the show is on the other foot -- we may see many new
things begin to happen. When, instead of the lower levels dictating to the
higher, the higher levels illumine the lower, our species-wide awareness of the
"givens" of reality may change. The view from above cannot help
but differ from the vista revealed from below. If enough people grow to
the transcendent view, it may become the norm, and what today passes for bedrock
reality will be the low trance from which we awakened. [From
"Parapsychology and Transpersonal Psychology," IN: Exceptional Human
Experience: Background Papers: I (The Exceptional Human Experience
Network, Dix Hills, NY, 1994)]
Radical
Awakening: "The
moment when you taste reality outside the limiting confines of the mind, when
you know yourself to be limitless, much bigger than, yet containing the body,
beyond birth and death, eternally free. Despite the activity of thought and
feeling, you know yourself to be the silence experiencing that movement. It is
the moment when you can intuit the real potential of life, free from the
incessant mental machinery of complaint and ambition. A radical awakening often
releases a tidal wave of creativity and generosity of spirit, a natural impulse
to serve and contribute. In these moments, we know that love is who we are, not
something we sometimes feel." FROM: Arjuna
Ardagh's book, The Translucent Revolution.
Religion:
According to PMH Atwater, "is a systemized approach to spiritual
development that is based on set standards or dogmas, that provide community
support while establishing moral upliftment and behavior. [See also
"Spirituality" for comparison. This definition is from Atwater's
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Near-Death Experiences.]
Sangha:
A Hindu [Sanskrit?] word for spiritual community -- the gathering of those
who share a common spiritual heritage and understanding. Sangha is
essential to one's / everyone's spiritual development. This need is
familiar and acknowledged all over the world as a healthy part of life.
What has been missing for many Experiencers [and EHE empaths] -- and the same
might be said for the so-called Cultural Creatives -- is an active Sangha in
which we can become grounded and strengthened in our mutual awareness and
whatever journeys that may initiate for us as a collective interest, a social
movement. What might develop out of shared knowledge of such a group from
all over the world, who have in common not only the direct experiential knowing
and/or [empathic] intuiting of the Larger Life Reality, but all that comes with
the strong mutual concern and commitment toward healing our ecological and
social concerns? There are any number of ways this does and may
manifest in regards to 'all things EHE.' One way I hope to see materialize
before long is something suggested by Rhea A. White, which she did not get to
pursue satisfactorily, at least not in a big way and that is EHE
study groups. ..
Selfing
[a David Spangler
term; this is from his
website]:
Through
incarnation, we participate in a fundamental process of "selfing,"
the act of particularizing in ourselves the presence of universal Identity. We
also participate in supporting this same process in others and in all the
things of this world, even when their manifestation of "self" is
very different from our own. Incarnation is not just a personal event but our
participation in the process of emergence from which the universe is
unfolding.
[See "Presence."]
Shamanic
Vocation: See this
page and compare to generalized EHE
aftereffects.
S/he
[you may see
this sometimes; but I have decided to use Robert A. Monroe's term
instead, 'heshe']:
An abbreviated and neutral term for 'she or he', implying either gender. Even
vocally, he-she is clearly neutral, where s/he is not.
Spirituality:
Quoting PMH Atwater's straightforward understanding, "... is most
commonly defined as a personal relationship with God that can involve direct
revelation, while recognizing and honoring the sacredness of all created things."
[See also "Religion" for comparison. This definition is from Atwater's
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Near-Death Experiences.]
Spiritually
Transformative Experience [STE]: Synonymous with Exceptional Human
Experience, in part quoted here from above: instrumental in transforming the identity, life, and worldview of experiencers in the direction of realizing their full human potential. ... [I.e., in generating a transformative process, they become full-blown 'exceptional human experiences' or EHEs, and as such] they play a catalytic role in humanizing the experiencer. ...
enabl[ing] a person to contact what famous psychologist William James called the MORE in human experience.... As James wrote, the More is both inside and outside the individual and it provides a sense of life direction that comes both from within and
without*, often in the form of additional EHEs, especially intuition and synchronicity. ... [This] EHE process integrates both one's outer and inner
worldview." [Source of the quote, Rhea A.
White]
Study
[as in "EHE Study Groups" and vs. "investigate," as in
Western science perspective]: Even though Rhea White's original
context was not about her study group idea per se, much of her
conceptualization about 'all things EHE' sprouted naturally as a consequence of
her on-going not-seeing-eye-to-eye with most of her professional peers in
parapsychology, and this is but one example. The outcome of that
continuous tension was her EHE / Experiential Paradigm [see above]. What
follows is a quote by White, which reveals one of the major conceptions behind
the idea of EHE Study Groups. : I ... suggest that we conceive of
what we are doing in terms of studying psi, not
investigating it. The latter implies that we are working
only with what is "out there," when in reality it is
both inside and outside simultaneously. I think the term
study is preferable, because to study something
involves looking at all sides, pondering it, holding it in
one's gaze as one studies the face of one's beloved. In
essence, it involves letting oneself be moved toward
one's subject matter and letting oneself be moved by one's
subject matter, and one knows one is making progress in
understanding when one can't tell whether what is happening is
taking place inside our outside. The boundary between
self and world either has disappeared or has become
deliciously blurred.*
Translucent,
a [noun]: A "worldwide
advance in human consciousness [observed in] individuals who have
undergone a ["Radical Awakening"--see above] deeply enough
that it has permanently transformed their relationship to themselves and to
reality while allowing them to remain involved in ordinary life. According to
conservative estimates, millions have shifted in this way, and while the
breakthrough moments themselves don’t guarantee sustained transformation,
their increased frequency is remarkable." Quoted from Arjuna Ardagh:
The Translucent Revolution. Visit his website for a wealth more on this
fascinating topic: www.translucents.org.
Transpersonal Psychology:
According to one of its notable proponents of Naropa Institute fame, John Davis, transpersonal psychology is "the overlap and integration of psychology and the world wisdom traditions (spiritual systems). Thus, spiritual views and practices are incorporated into psychology, and psychological concepts and methods are applied to spirituality. I count nonduality as its most central insight."
Davis goes on to say, "From this come two other central insights: the intrinsic health and basic goodness of the whole and its parts, and the validity of development and experiences ‘beyond the mask’ of the conditional and conditioned personality."
Experience is finally getting some respect in the realm of scientific
disciplines!
Unbeliever:
Someone who has no belief in the larger-life reality outside the physical,
five-sensory consensus existence. This is an honest point of view based on
the person's limited experience in this regard. Interestingly, this could
in some cases be reflective of other possibilities as well, e.g., the repression
of anomalous experiences for various reasons such as from early childhood and
the fear and history of being punished or threatened for trying to express
something that happened to them that was nonphysical.
---
*Occasional
color change for emphasis--R. Rocamora.
