Smile of the Universe

The latest scintillating and provocative book by veteran parapsychologist Michael Grosso focuses on miracles as an indicator of latent human capacities. They are paranormal in the sense of being physically unexplained, and they occur in the context of religious belief, symbols, and experience. The longest chapter is devoted to a concise cross-cultural anthology of miracles with many examples – they demand a corresponding expansion of our academic knowledge-base: 'Arguments converge that allow us to form an idea of a transcendent mind, a mind at large, all-pervasive and nonlocalised. In my opinion, the data force us to radically revise the understanding of mind.' (p. 20) In addition, 'at all times people have reached out to elicit guidance, insight, consolation, courage, strength, and inspiration from whatever reputed higher spiritual powers were available through traditional belief systems. Denying the existence of such higher powers – 'their reality today is doubted by most educated people' - is myopic and ultimately a form of self-sabotage.

Ironically, as Michael points out, David Hume in his Essay on Miracles 'described the facts and the testimony in support of them accurately, but refused to credit them as actually true. This fairly common effect I call Hume's syndrome' (p. 93) – Alfred Russel Wallace penned perhaps the most devastating critique of Hume in his 1870 essay No Antecedent Improbability in Miracles. Citing the extraordinary capacities of Joseph of Copertino and Saint Padre Pio among others, Michael asks if 'supernormal psychic phenomena reflect an evolutionary trend toward increasing porousness of matter to the goals of consciousness?' He situates his theoretical discussion within the framework of Mind at Large: 'Once we grant that our personal mental life is nested in a larger, apparently transcendent albeit subliminal sphere of mental life, it becomes conceivable that we learn to interact with this greater mind. (p. 153) Hence, 'our hypothesis, enlarged by psychokinesis, speaks of the power to act, to reform the world via the creative agency of mind.' (p. 162)

This has significant implications: 'The data, in my view, allow us to move theoretically from a brain-derived personal mind to a mind grounded in a transpersonal reality, a mind at large, endowed with superpowers, examples of which we covered in the preceding chapters—things extrasensory, psychokinetic, and mystical.' (p. 162) This corresponds with Jeff Kripal's view on 'The Superhumanities.' Michael concludes that 'the phenomena we have discussed tell us that a transformation of human nature and human society is possible. The need for an evolutionary leap forward is now, I'm afraid, before we're totally engulfed by catastrophe. We are the performers in the theatre of the world where the next stage of human evolution will play out, act by act, scene by scene. We are a long way from the abolition of evil and the telepathic rapport that Olaf Stapledon imagined in the future human on Neptune. But who knows? The moment in history may arrive when we come together in the One Mind; it will be a convergence of spirit that transforms the planet. What seems miraculous today will become the new common sense.' (p. 205)