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She seemed to be debating, for a moment, whether to say something. Finally, apparently making a decision, she said: "In a way, the psychic aspect is, I agree with you, somewhat ludicrous. There is, however, another side to the matter."

Jennifer looked at me somewhat strangely and, it appeared to me, defensively. Starting off slowly, as if walking through a minefield, she said: "I don't know where you stand on such matters, David, and I hope you won't misunderstand what I'm about to say."

Having come this far, she sighed, and took the plunge. "I'm not a fan, or advocate, of the whole psychic sideshow spectacle that seems to be spreading everywhere like an out of control viral infection. At the same time, I have seen some very impressive demonstrations under controlled conditions which strongly suggest there are some people who have an authentic psychic ability.

"Nonetheless, there are several things that bother me about the psychic phenomenon that has ensconced itself in a lot more places than supermarket tabloids. Aside from the fact there are many phony psychics who don't have the psychic ability of even a rock, I don't like the fact that even many legitimate psychics are charging people money in exchange for 'insider' information.

"Those authentic psychics who charge money don't appear to have asked themselves several important questions. First, do they have the spiritual right to disclose such privileged information?

"Providing people with inside information about stocks is against the laws of the Security and Exchange Commission. Why shouldn't this principle of restricting the activity of people with insider information be considered with even more circumspection when matters of future events are concerned?

"Secondly, even if, under certain circumstances, the release of privileged, psychic information were permissible, why should there be a charge levied for the release of such information?

"Why isn't the information freely given? Why should only those with money be able to have access to, and be benefited by, such information? Doesn't the taking of money in exchange for these psychic tips show disrespect for the sacred source of such information? Why do psychics seem to assume that such intuitions are a commodity which can be mined and commercialized like any other commodity?

"For reasons best known only to Divinity, God permits human beings to perform many acts which display an absence of respect for, and commitment to, that which is sacred. Consequently, we use the gifts God gives to us for non-sacred purposes.

"Having an ability to do something does not automatically mean we should do what we have the ability to do. We have the ability to kill, rape, maim, destroy and spread misery, but this ability does not mean we, therefore, have the right to exercise such an ability.

"Similarly, some people have a psychic ability. Nevertheless, once again, having such an ability does not necessarily mean the ability should be exercised.

"Sometimes God gives these gifts and abilities as a trial and test. There are spiritual issues at stake in any decision to use these abilities."

Jennifer, then, brought the focus of the discussion back to the abduction phenomenon. "Conceivably, as a result of psychic abilities, aliens may have picked up certain information about future cataclysmic events on Earth. Even if one gives the aliens a benefit of doubt concerning their reasons for sharing this information about the future with certain 'abductees', maybe the aliens still are meddling in areas for which they lack any spiritual authority.

"Even leaving aside the psychic issue, perhaps, the capacity of aliens to abduct people is itself an example of an ability that ought not to be exercised. Maybe the whole abduction phenomenon constitutes a huge test and trial for the aliens.

"The aliens may have convinced themselves they are engaged in a moral and spiritual mission of mercy in relation to Earthlings. Yet, they may be quite mistaken about the legitimacy of their various abduction-related activities."

The waiter arrived with the coffee, placed everything on the table and left. While we both went about preparing our coffee, Jennifer continued talking.

"What I find really fascinating, David, in all of this abduction phenomenon material- the reason why I started investigating this phenomenon in the first place, is the way the abduction phenomenon both parallels and departs from mystical traditions.

"Let's just focus on some of the similarities between the abduction phenomenon and mysticism. Both involve a student/guide relationship; an emphasis on the central role of a love of reciprocity between teacher and the one being taught; the ability of a spiritual guide to project thoughts directly to the student; altered states of consciousness; a path of transition which entails struggle, difficulty and pain; the need to lose one's sense of being separate and apart from the rest of the universe; an emphasis on the importance of moral transformation; an enhanced sense of the sacredness of the Earth and all creation; realization of one's personal responsibility to help care for creation; a sense of 'calling' to the life of spirituality; the joy, bliss and knowledge to be found in the intense light of certain aspects of spirituality; the idea of a 'home' that is beyond space and time; the potential for acquiring certain kinds of healing capabilities, as well as a potential for being cured of a variety of maladies."

Jennifer took a taste of her coffee, apparently liked it, and took a longer drink. She held the cup for a few seconds in front of her face while her elbow rested on the table, then she took another sip and put the cup down.

"The differences," she said, "between the abduction phenomenon and most of the Earth-variety of mystical traditions are also very instructive. In fact, these differences may be far more important than whatever similarities may exist between the two kinds of experience.

"One obvious difference concerns the form through which these experiences are given expression. In the case of the usual sort of mystical traditions with which we are familiar, the spiritual guides have, for the most part, always been human beings. To be sure, guidance can come through many different mediums, but the main teaching relationship comes in the context of our relationship with other human beings.

"In the abduction phenomenon, human beings are no longer the guides. Is this good, bad, or neither here nor there?

"This is a difficult question to answer because of the relative absence of reliable, verifiable information. For example, we don't know who or what these aliens are. We don't know whether their actual, as opposed to their stated, intentions are different from one another. We don't know what their level of moral or spiritual attainment is. We really don't know if they know what they are doing in their hybrid experiments and seeding projects. We don't know if they know anything about the future or are just winging it. We don't know if they have learned anything from their own past disasters. We don't know what the source of their authority is for their abductions, hybrid experiments and seeding projects. We don't know what the legitimacy is, if any, of the 'authority' that they might cite in order to try to sanction their activities.

"Comparatively speaking, we know a great deal about the quality of life of people such as: Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, Krishna, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Ramana Maharshi, Milarepa, Farid ud-din Attar, Black Elk, Meister Eckhart, Marpa, Moses de Leon, Shankaracarya, St. John of the Cross, Rabbi Akiba, Huang Po, Crazy Horse, Ramakrishna, Jalalu'l-din Rumi, Naropa, St. Theresa of Avila, Chuang Tzu, St. Francis of Assisi and Mu'in-uddin Hasan Chishti. This list could be extended with hundreds of thousands of names from the registry of shining lights of spirituality in human history.

"We know about the quality of their character, integrity, compassion, love, honesty, patience, tolerance, justice, commitment, wisdom, generosity and so on. On the other hand, we know little or nothing about the presence or absence of these qualities in relation to the aliens.

"The aliens may possess these character traits and moral strengths. Then, again, they might not be so blessed.

"Are the aliens offering human beings another mystical choice, to be placed next to the mystical dimensions of Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Taoism, Hinduism, Native spirituality, and so on? Do the aliens feel they can offer something which is not already being offered by presently existing mystical traditions?

"This brings us to a second critical difference between the abduction phenomenon and the traditional mysticisms of Earth. Traditional mysticisms do not go around abducting anyone.

"There may be certain religious cults that make a habit of kidnaping, brainwashing and/or indoctrinating people. However, these cults are nothing but gross distortions of, and deviations from, whatever mystical teachings they purport to be representing.

"When it comes to the issues of using force to abduct people against their will to participate in something, the abduction phenomenon is more akin to a cult than it is to an authentic mystical tradition. Similarly, the conducting of hybrid genetic research resonates, uncomfortably so, with the orientation of Nazi scientists and medical practitioners, and not at all with the intentions, purposes and activities of the great mystics."

While both Jennifer and I were consuming the last of our respective cups of coffee, the waiter came and asked us if we wanted anything else. When we said: "No", the waiter finalized our bill, put it on the table and went away.

Working her way toward the end of an extended answer to my original question, Jennifer said: "There is a third possible difference between the abduction phenomenon and traditional mysticisms. This difference revolves around the degree of efficacy which these respective teaching methodologies have for both recognizing and realizing all levels of human potential.

"The aliens are busy conducting genetic research in an attempt to produce 'improved' alien/human hybrid strains. They seem to be emphatically proclaiming that human beings are defective and need to be supplied with some missing ingredient or quality that, presumably, the aliens have.

"The mystics all have maintained that human beings have the potential for spiritual transformation. These mystics also have said that the problem with human beings is that most of us are not at all interested in realizing the spiritual potential which is present in us.

"In other words, according to traditional mystics, human beings are not lacking anything in principle or in essence that is necessary for the realization of human spiritual potential. Our lack is one of acting on, and, therefore, helping to bring to fruition, the capacity which is already with us.

"The great mystical traditions have given expression to many luminous examples of the efficacy of their methodologies. Where are their hybrid counterparts? In what way are these hybrids giving expression to something that is absent from the great mystics?

"'Abductees' have reported that the aliens are both fascinated with, as well as mystified by, human emotions. Apparently, the aliens also find human emotions frightening and a cause for concern.

"The aliens may find comfort in the fact that we human beings are quite fascinated with, and mystified by, our own emotions. Humans, like aliens, also are frightened by the capacity for destructiveness which can be unleashed through our unbridled emotions. We too consider our emotions to be a cause of concern.

"The mystics, however, considered an individual's free-will struggle with the emotions to be at the very heart of the process of spiritual growth. The goal of mystics is not to get rid of the emotions but to have them become spiritually redeemed through the transformative character of the mystical path.

"We cannot be sure what the purpose of the alien hybrid experiments are. Furthermore, we don't know for which characteristics the aliens are attempting to selectively breed.

"However, if the aliens are tinkering around with, among other things, human emotions in an effort to make us less aggressive, hostile and destructive, then they are fooling around with something that is a two-edged sword. Our emotions have the potential to be a force for incredible good as well as incredible evil. According to the mystical guides of the past and present, by removing our potential for evil, one also removes a fundamental ingredient which is necessary for the process of spiritual transformation through which great goodness can come.

"According to the reports of the 'abductees' there is a substantial potential for personal growth and spiritual transformation associated with the abduction experience. Their self-reports say they have experienced constructive improvement in qualities such as love, tolerance, gentleness, harmonious relationships with others, respect for the Earth, and so on.

"Let's not question the degree of accuracy in these self-reports. Let's accept them.

"There are a lot of methodologies that make similar claims. These include: sensitivity training, EST, primal therapy, sensory deprivation tanks, holotropic breath work, transcendental meditation, ingestion of LSD, and so on.

"There are many differences of opinion concerning whether any of these methodologies actually deliver on their claims. Some people swear by them, while others feel quite dissatisfied with their encounters with these methodologies.

"Similarly, as I indicated earlier, not every 'abductee' reports having mystical-like experiences. Many of them have only terror, trauma and pain to show for their experiences, and they are not enthralled with what the abduction phenomenon has to offer them.

"Even amongst those 'abductees' who report having mystical-like experiences, the issue may not be straightforward. For instance, there is a tendency among many people to suppose that because the language which different people often use to describe their spiritual experiences is somewhat similar, this means everyone is talking about precisely the same thing.

"Thus, many people believe that all forms of cosmic consciousness or all instances of becoming one with the universe are completely coextensive with one another. Or, many people believe that the joy and knowledge that comes to different people bathed in the intense light of Divinity must all be the same.

"Where is the proof of this assumption? Absolutely every other dimension of human affairs points in a very different direction.

"We all have different kinds, degrees and combinations of: wealth, health, talent, intelligence, creative abilities, friends, education, families, troubles, athleticism, beauty, success, fame, failure, status, power, children and length of life. Why should we suppose that spirituality is any different?

"We have the reports of some of the 'abductees' concerning cosmic consciousness and spiritual illumination and a joyous 'Home'. But, in reality, we don't know what any of this means or how, or if, it compares with similar descriptive reports of the mystics with whom we are somewhat familiar.

"Moreover, we don't know if any of the 'abductees' experiences of cosmic consciousness or spiritual illumination are indications of permanent, or only transitory, spiritual transformations. We don't know if, say, through alien psychic projections,'abductees' might have been given a taste of certain spiritual states, but that these states and conditions disappeared when the psychic projections of the aliens were withdrawn.

"Such transitory experiences could, indeed, have a profound effect on any individual undergoing them. Nonetheless, such transitory conditions are, at best, only small steps on the way to the sort of full, permanent spiritual realization alluded to by many mystics."

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