Soul Existence

Victorian doctor who weighed the human soul

Dr Duncan MacDougall tried to prove the existence of the human soul by measuring the weight of a person at the moment of death. He had 6 patients, all of which experienced weight loss of an average 21 grams.
This happened exactly in the year  1901 in Massachusetts where surgeon Dr. Duncan MacDougall attempted to prove the existence of the soul by weighing a person before, and right after, death. He hacked an industrial beam scale so that it could be attached to a hospital bed. Then, he began to seek out a subject in the terminally ill patients at the hospital. First up was a man dying of tuberculosis. 
According to MacDougall, “The instant life ceased, the opposite scale pan fell with a suddenness that was astonishing – as if something had been lifted from the body.” Apparently, 21 grams was missing from his body. MacDougall reproduced the experiment several more times. The physician's work has become a classic tale that, of course, is still widely cited by philosophers, skeptics, and "believers." And yes, it's MacDougall's experiments that inspired the film 21 Grams too. Fourteen Times weighs the truths, half-truths, and unknowns of "the strange deathbed experiment of Dr. MacDougall." 

 Sources:
From FT,facebookgroup,boingboing.net

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Yoga Mudras for Life

Image
YOGA - HAND & FINGER POSTURES Mudra is the science of hand and finger postures. It can help to cure bodily ailments in a wonderful manner. It affects the body's energetic sysytem and the flow of prana (life energy) within it. It actually helps in balancing the five elements ( panch-tattvas ) in the human system to their optimal levels. A mudrā [muːˈdrɑː](Sanskrit: मुद्रा, lit. "seal") is a symbolic or ritual gesture in Hinduism and Buddhism. While some mudrās involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers. A mudrā is a spiritual gesture and an energetic seal of authenticity employed in the iconography and spiritual practice of Indian religions and traditions of Dharma. In yoga, mudrās are used in conjunction with pranayama (yogic breathing excercises), generally while seated in Vajrasana pose, to stimulate different parts of the body involved with breathing and to affect the flow of prana in the body. A brain research paper publishe
Read more

Phalaharini Kali Puja

Image
An event in Dakshineswar Bhavatarini Kali temple that took place at 9 p.m. on May 25, 1873. During the years 1862 and 1863, Sri Ramakrishna did his tantric sadhana. He had vision of various Devi’s forms. Although all those forms of Hers were of extraordinary beauty, he said later that they were not worth comparison in that respect with that of Sri Rajarajeswari, otherwise called Shodasi. He said about His vision of Shodasi, “I saw in a vision the beauty of the person of Shodasi which melted, and spread all around illumining the quarters.” That form of Devi he chose to worship, after a gap of 10 years, in the person of his own wife Sri Sarada Devi. It was May 25, 1873, on a new-moon day, the holy occasion for the worship of the Phalaharini Kalika Devi. It was 9 p.m. Master had got everything prepared for the mystery-worship of the Devi privately in his room. Holy Mother was sitting on a wooden seat decorated with Alimpana, facing north to the right of the Master, who was s
Read more

Sadasiva Brahmendra

Image
The Adhisthaanam (holy resting place) of Shri Sadashiva Brahmendra, an enlightened saint who lived about 350 years ago and composed many scholarly treatises on philosophy and also devotional songs on Rama, Krishna etc. Sadasiva Brahmendra was a great saint and composer of Carnatic music and an Advaita philosopher who lived near Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu during the 18th century. He composed mainly in Sanskrit. Only a few of his compositions have survived but they are recognised as great compositions of Carnatic Music. Early life Sadasiva Brahmendra was born to a great pandit named Moksha Somasundara Avadhani. He prayed to Rama and Krishna while his wife Parvathi prayed to Shiva. As a result their son was named Siva Rama Krishna. Right from his birth, he proved himself different from other people. He had vairagya which reached its zenith in his youth but as typical parents, his parents assumed that he would behave perfectly normal after he was united in wedlock. He tried to
Read more