Читать книгу Temporal Psychology and Psychotherapy. The Human Being in Time and Beyond - - Страница 24

Insights and Foresight in Altered States of Consciousness

Researchers note that a person in an altered state of consciousness (ASC) is capable of stepping beyond ordinary temporal perception and gaining unexpected insights. For example, in states of deep relaxation or meditation, the brain may generate specific theta rhythms, during which creative breakthroughs – and even anticipations of future events – can occur.

The Russian scientist D. Spivak describes that during immersion into an «oceanic feeling» (loss of ego boundaries in deep meditation), individuals often experience an eureka effect: complex problems find solutions, discoveries emerge, and sometimes future events are foreseen. In other words, in non-ordinary states of consciousness, it is occasionally possible to intuitively grasp fragments of the future or solutions not yet apparent in the ordinary waking state.

It is crucial, however, to emphasize that such «traveling» in the time of consciousness requires preparation. Only a specialist deeply engaged in present-day tasks can recognize the correct solution by «glancing into the future» and bringing it back into the present. In this sense, such mental journeys genuinely transfer elements of the future into current reality, advancing human civilization.

Psychologists even use the term psychonaut – by analogy with «astronaut» – to describe a person who explores the inner space of consciousness. If the astronaut travels into outer space, the psychonaut travels into the other dimensions of the mind, revealing new aspects of reality without rockets or spacesuits.

Scientific Research and Experiments on Anticipating the Future

Modern scientific experiments provide data suggesting that the human psyche may receive information from the future. In parapsychology, this phenomenon is known as precognition.

In 2011, the psychologist Daryl Bem published sensational results showing that test subjects statistically anticipated future stimuli – the work became known as «Feeling the Future.» Although controversial, later meta-analyses confirmed a small but consistent anticipatory effect.

Other researchers approached the question neurophysiologically. Dean Radin and Julia Mossbridge at the Institute of Noetic Sciences demonstrated that the body may react to a future event before it occurs. In one experiment, subjects pressed a button, after which a computer randomly displayed either a neutral image or a shocking one. EEG recordings showed that several seconds before the picture appeared, the brain’s activity already shifted: remaining calm before neutral images and showing a spike before traumatic ones. This presentiment effect has been replicated in independent laboratories.

Moreover, in 1995 the CIA declassified results of its own psychic research program, where statisticians confirmed the reliability of similar experiments. These data force scientists to reconsider the linear model of time: consciousness may be capable of stepping outside strictly sequential time and obtaining information from the future.

Beyond laboratory studies, unusual applied psychophysiology experiments are noteworthy. In the Novosibirsk Akademgorodok, under academician V. Kaznacheev, the «Kozyrev mirror» was developed – curved metallic constructions influencing subjects’ states of consciousness. The goal was to study the noosphere (in V. Vernadsky’s concept – the sphere of planetary mind) and hidden reserves of the brain.

The results were astonishing:

– At the Dikson polar station, two spatially separated participants exchanged mental images, and one-third of the transmitted symbols appeared ahead of time.

– In several experiments, symbols randomly generated by a computer an hour or even seven hours later were already perceived in advance by participants inside the mirrors.

Kaznacheev’s student Alexander Trofimov called this phenomenon strong evidence for the astrophysicist Nikolai Kozyrev, who argued that «the future exists in the present.» In special conditions, time seems to compress. Novosibirsk researchers reported that they learned to monitor upcoming events – for instance, predicting an earthquake a week before it occurred.

Although such studies border on the esoteric, they show that alternative methods of accessing future information are being explored even in academic contexts, though they remain controversial.

Philosophical and Spiritual Concepts of «Traveling» into the Future

The idea of gaining knowledge of the future through special states of consciousness appears in many spiritual traditions and philosophical teachings.

Ancient shamans viewed ecstatic trance as a means of peering beyond ordinary reality. In shamanic cultures, journeys in the spirit world – induced by drumming or psychoactive plants (ayahuasca, mushrooms) – allowed shamans to «see» future events of the tribe: predicting weather, locating game, or foreseeing danger.

Ancient oracles (e.g., Delphi) entered trance through vapors or psychoactive substances in order to divine the future – historical evidence of spiritual practice serving as a «time machine» long before science fiction.

In Eastern philosophy, meditation is believed to grant siddhis, extraordinary abilities. Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras mention bhavishya, the ability to foresee future events, achieved through deep concentration and samadhi. Buddhist texts also describe the «divine eye,» enabling vision of what is yet to come.

Transpersonal psychology has offered its own interpretation. Stanislav Grof, founder of the field, documented numerous cases where people in psychedelic or holotropic sessions experienced leaving ordinary time and space. Some reported vivid, convincing visions of future events; others felt able to «travel» through historical epochs – a kind of time navigation without external devices. Though difficult to verify, several correspondences with later real events were recorded.

Philosophers likewise reflect on the nonlinearity of time. Vernadsky and Teilhard de Chardin’s concept of the noosphere envisions humanity’s collective mind as an evolving field in which past, present, and future are interconnected. Contemporary thinkers like Ervin Laszlo develop the idea of the Akashic field – a universal data matrix containing all events, past and future. In this view, altered states (meditation, extrasensory perception) are ways of connecting to a global information network and receiving sparks of future insight.

In sum, the literature on «journeying into the future» through consciousness is vast. It spans scientific papers and experimental reports, philosophical treatises (such as Grof’s Psychology of the Future), and spiritual texts from various traditions. Despite differences, all sources converge on one idea: human consciousness can act as a vessel capable of crossing the boundaries of time.

An alternative to space travel already exists – voyages into the inner cosmos, requiring not rocket technology but deep immersion into the mysteries of the psyche and spirit. As our understanding of the brain and consciousness expands, such «flights of thought» move ever closer to scientific plausibility.

___

The Precognition Disposition Questionnaire (PDQ-24) is provided in the Appendix to Chapter 8.