 Reflections
on Spiritual Practice
A Scientific Proof of
By brother-initiate David R. Brooks, Perth, Australia (Originally in English)
Some 30 years ago, I had read about Cleve Backster’s work on the ability of plants to detect human emotions. I mentioned this to my work colleagues, who showed considerable interest; thus we decided to test this over our lunch break. There was a leafy green indoor plant in the office, which we used as the test subject. We set it on a table and arranged to measure the electrical resistance between two leaves, using damp paper towel pads on each leaf, and a digital ohm-meter. According to Backster’s procedure, the next step involved burning one of the plant’s leaves in order to measure a reaction. Who would volunteer? We looked at each other. Even though as far as I know none of us followed a spiritual path then, no one wanted to harm the plant. While we were considering, the meter reading did not change appreciably. Finally, one of us, who liked to appear as a ‘tough guy’ said, “Give me a lighter, I’ll burn the ...” But before he had a chance to get up from his chair, the meter jumped to double its previous reading! Of course we stopped him, saying the case was proved and no need to harm the plant. The meter then sank slowly back to its previous level. Thinking about this later, I realized that the increased resistance we saw was exactly what one would expect. To a plant, fire must be about the most terrifying thing possible. The plant could not run away, so it withdrew its life-force from the threatened leaves. With less moisture in the leaves, less electric current would pass. This was registered by the meter. The plant’s response further
demonstrates the very principles Master has mentioned regarding the
importance of purifying our thoughts and speech as well as actions.
In this case, the meter did not move appreciably when our thoughts
demonstrated a reluctance to harm the plant. However, it responded
immediately to the change of intention shown by the words that were
spoken next. This example is a small but powerful reminder of Master’s
teachings that everything we think and say has an effect on our environment.
Note: Please refer to News No. 163 “Introductory Book Notes” section for related article about Cleve Backster’s work on the sentience of plants.
|
||||||
