7/25/2006

Can thoughts and feelings affect physical reality?

"...each word has its own particular vibration, and therefore its own particular energy."

Dr. Masaru Emoto was born in Japan and is a graduate of the Yokohama Municipal University and the Open International University as a Doctor of Alternative Medicine. His photographs were first featured in his self-published books Messages from Water 1 and 2. The Hidden Messages in Water was first published in Japan, with over 400,000 copies sold internationally.

Love and Gratitude

What has put Dr. Emoto at the forefront of the study of water is his proof that thoughts and feelings affect physical reality. By producing different focused intentions through written and spoken words and music and literally presenting it to the same water samples, the water appears to "change its expression".

You Make Me Sick
Essentially, Dr. Emoto captured water's 'expressions.' He developed a technique using a very powerful microscope in a very cold room along with high-speed photography, to photograph newly formed crystals of frozen water samples. Not all water samples crystallize however. Water samples from extremely polluted rivers directly seem to express the 'state' the water is in.

Dr. Masaru Emoto discovered that crystals formed in frozen water reveal changes when specific, concentrated thoughts are directed toward them. He found that water from clear springs and water that has been exposed to loving words shows brilliant, complex, and colorful snowflake patterns. In contrast, polluted water, or water exposed to negative thoughts, forms incomplete, asymmetrical patterns with dull colors.

Power of Prayer

The implications of this research create a new awareness of how we can positively impact the earth and our personal health. The success of his books outside Japan has been remarkable. Dr. Emoto has been called to lecture around the world as a result and has conducted live experiments both in Japan and Europe as well as in the US to show how indeed our thoughts, attitudes, and emotions as humans deeply impact the environment.

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Dr. Masaru Emoto
Hado Prject
Researcher Reveals Mysteries Of Water

[I wonder if there has been replication done by other scientists. Were there control groups? And are there similar studies and/or publications in reputable scientific journals. Who knows? But this is still cool!]

The Maharishi Effect

Is there something wrong with the prayers of Muslims these days or are the prayers actually averting greater harm at some level. I believe in the power of collective prayer. I believe!!! Interesting study, isn't it?

The Maharishi Effect
In 1960, Maharishi predicted that one percent of a population practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique would produce measurable improvements in the quality of life for the whole population.

Effects of Group Practice of the Transcendental Meditation Program on Preventing Violent Crime in Washington, DC:
Results of the National Demonstration Project,
June–July 1993

7/12/2006

Every action is based on intention...

Paralyzed man masters thought control
Brain power used to control computer, operate robotic limb

Updated: 3:27 p.m. ET July 12, 2006
LONDON - A paralyzed man using a new brain sensor has been able to move a computer cursor, open e-mail and control a robotic device simply by thinking about doing it, a team of scientists said Wednesday.

They believe the BrainGate sensor, which involves implanting electrodes in the brain, could offer new hope to people paralyzed by injuries or illnesses.

“This is the first step in an ongoing clinical trial of a device that is encouraging for its potential to help people with paralysis,” Dr. Leigh Hochberg of Massachusetts General Hospital said in an interview.

The 25-year-old man, who suffered paralysis of all four limbs three years earlier, completed tasks such as moving a cursor on a screen and controlling a robotic arm.

He is the first of four patients with spinal cord injuries, muscular dystrophy, stroke or motor neuron disease testing the brain-to-movement system developed by Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems Inc. in Masschusetts.

“This is the dawn of major neurotechnology, where the ability to take signals out of the brain has taken a big step forward. We have the ability to put signals into the brain, but getting signals out is a real challenge. I think this represents a landmark event,” said John Donoghue, a professor at Brown University and the chief scientific officer of Cyberkinetics.

The scientists implanted a tiny silicon chip with 100 electrodes into an area of the brain responsible for movement. The activity of the cells was recorded and sent to a computer, which translated the commands and enabled the patient to move and control the external device.

“This part of the brain, the motor cortex, which usually sends its signals down the spinal cord and out to the limbs to control movement, can still be used by this participant to control an external device, even after years had gone by since his spinal cord injury,” added Hochberg, a co-author of the study published in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.

Although it is not the first time brain activity has been used to control a cursor, Stephen Scott of Queen’s University in Ontario said it advances the technology.

“This research suggests that implanted prosthetics are a viable approach for assisting severely impaired individuals to communicate and interact with the environment,” he said in a commentary in the journal.

In a separate study, researchers from Stanford University Schools of Medicine and Engineering described a faster way to process signals from the brain to control a computer or prosthetic device.

“Our research is starting to show that, from a performance perspective, this type of prosthetic system is clinically viable,” Stephen Ryu, an assistant professor of neurosurgery at Stanford, said in a statement.

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