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Subtle Energies and Uncharted Realms of the Mind Distant Intentionality, Qi Gong Masters, and DNA
Dr. Garret Yount’s most recent research for the California Pacific Medical Center has been focused on one question: can distant mental intentionality affect gene expression in human cells? Instead of pursuing the more typical parapsychological project of researching how one mind can influence another mind, Yount’s research is looking at how one mind can influence the molecular world of our cells. To do this, Yount has been conducting a series of experiments in which cell growth rates have been measured before and after Qi Gong practitioners who intentionally directed their Qi towards cells in petri dishes. In his presentation, Yount described the protocols of his experiments and the provocative results they yielded before listening to the response from his colleagues. Experimental protocols The first experiment Yount conducted involved putting human brain tumor cells in petri dishes with limited food sources for nourishment. Yount then tracked the rate of cell death over time. In this experiment, he had three groups:
1) The baseline group: cells that received no Qi Gong treatment After three weeks, all 3 groups of cells had begun to die, but the neutral group showed accelerated death. Yount repeated this experiment twice, but each successive time the effect of the chi kung lessened. By the third experiment, the difference between the three groups was negligible. Yount pointed out, and others agreed, that this is a common outcome in multi-trial psycho-energetic experiments: the desired effect lessens over the course of the trials. In a second set of experiments Yount decided to change his targeted outcome. This time he measured not cell death but cell growth. Using both tumor cells and normal human brain cells, Yount quantified the ability of these cells to replicate and form colonies of 50 cells or more (which is a similar approach to what cancer researchers do to test if certain chemotherapy treatments will be effective). For this experiment, Yount chose Qi Gong practitioners with at least five years of experience and kept their names anonymous so as to inhibit any competition amongst them. After being chosen, the masters came into the medical clinic and gave Qi Gong treatments to the cells for twenty minutes, and then the cells were placed back onto the incubator shelf for two weeks to allow colonies to grow. In contrast to typical cancer studies, Yount followed a blinded protocol with systematic negative controls that controlled for variability in the model system. After describing more of the details of his experimental set-up, Yount summarized his data from 8 trials with this protocol. His research team documented impressive results overall and, in particular, they showed a 10% increase in the ability of normal brain cells to make colonies when treated by Qi Gong practitioners in comparison to brain cells that received no treatment. Response In response to his presentation, there were a number of interesting comments. John Ackerman brought up the fact that recent evidence from human organ transplants is pointing to the presence of human personality traits in those organs. Thus, Ackerman cautioned Yount that the brain cells he is using in his experiments might have residual personality characteristics of the person they came from. What would the effect be if the brain cells came from a person who was very negative and depressed? Would the result be different when compared to someone who was optimistic? When critiquing Yount’s experimental design, Elizabeth Targ complemented his overall approach and execution but offered that sometimes experimenters can have fabulous results that are later ignored because the written report was not expressed effectively. Targ urged Yount to word his own report carefully to maximize the impact of his significant results. Barbara Brennan contributed her opinion that it was entirely reasonable from her point of view as a distant healer that Qi Gong practitioners could establish a specific mental or energetic link with a petri dish located in a distant laboratory. Brennan also mentioned that the reason that the results from the Qi Gong diminish during the course of several experimental trials is that the cells are communicating and learning from each other. While molecular biologists are inclined to assume that cells are autonomous, Brennan’s experience as an energy healer has shown her that this is not the case. In fact, from her perspective, the cells are energetically connected at a deeper level of "mind." In other words, when one cell starts to benefit from the Qi Gong treatment, it can then share that information with other cells. Eventually, all the cells entrain with each other, and this is what creates the perceived diminished effect of the Qi Gong over time. To truly understand the experimental results, Brennan suggested that we must start from the premise that all the cells are energetically connected. They have a shared "mind field." Conclusion Yount mentioned that he will be continuing his experiments in both China and America in order to further validate his findings on how intentionality influences living systems. Should his results continue to be significant, it could potentially have a large influence on evolutionary and molecular biology. Yount pointed out that gene expression is not a self-emergent property; it does not just happen by itself. Rather, genes need an internal or external signal from the environment to initiate the process of form change. This is particularly important because it opens the door for an extra mediating process, such as distant intentionality, to enter into the process of gene transcription and, more broadly speaking, the very nature of evolutionary change. If Yount can show that distant intentionality can influence gene expression, then he is not too many steps away from demonstrating that human intentionality can influence the very process of evolution. As Yount himself summarizes, "evidence that the mind can influence genes at the structural level would cast new light on old theories such as the occultist view that evolution represents ‘the inner Conscious Principle adapting itself to physical nature.’"
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