Everything about him is eerie. As someone who has been trying to unravel the mysteries of paranormal experiences, eeriness may be part of his life. The forest patch amidst which he lives only adds to that. A former head of psychology at the University of Kerala, Professor George Mathew has developed a new approach called Holigrative Psychology.
In an introspective chat with TNIE, George Mathew takes us through the contours of psychic experiences, ghost riddles, why he thinks everything operates within a predetermined framework, and the ultimate concept called Universal Consciousness. Excerpts
You live in a forest patch, which is quite eerie... aren’t you scared?
I don’t have the emotion called fear. I created this environment. One needn’t be scared of nature. It’s humans that I fear. Scare over parapsychology is a wrong notion… a misunderstanding. One need not be scared of anything paranormal.
Paranormal experiences have always been a mystery. How do you explain it?
The term ‘paranormal’ was recently coined after a foreign film titled itself that way. Poltergeist or ‘kuttichathan’ is termed paranormal. It involves involuntary movement of things inside houses, stones falling on roofs, etc. However, this is just a minor aspect in the larger paranormal sphere. Parapsychology usually looks into psychic capacities like ESP.
Does kuttichathan actually exist?
It’s a fact that such incidents (allegedly caused by kuttichathan) do occur. Poltergeist is a German word which means mischievous ghost… called kuttichathan in Malayalam. A deeper look tells us such things occur due to the mental processes of psychologically disturbed people, and not because of external factors like spirits.
How do you scientifically explain such incidents?
We call it psychokinesis – mind over matter. Consider the example of healing. Some people may have their illnesses cured because of their own psychokinetic experiences or that of someone else’s; for example, pranic healing or reiki. All these come under psychokinesis. It’s like physical change caused by psychological means.
We often hear about people being possessed by spirits. Is this linked with multiple personality disorder?
Need not be. Poltergeist is just part of what people generally call possession by spirit. In the case of a mental disorder, things can happen at many levels. The first level is hysteric, which is what we generally call possessed by a spirit. When negative experiences become intolerable, there could be a hysteric manifestation. If it isn’t contained at this level, it goes to a paranormal level. When we get distressed, at times, the paranormal pathways in us open up.
What do you mean by paranormal pathways?
Aspects such as ESP are potentially present in every human. We usually suppress it because our notion of reality is based on everyday regularities. With education, what we reinforce is ground reality rather than our mind’s spectrum of potentials.
How do you explain cases like a 13-year-old Hindu girl suddenly behaving like an old Muslim woman?
When mind is distressed, it opens up paranormal pathways and yesteryear memories access such minds. In this case, maybe the memory of some Muslim woman who lived there ages ago would have accessed the mind of the distressed child. This happens due to a physical parameter called resonance. If there was someone like us who lived before, we share some resonance in our minds with that person. We may or may not know. When distressed, this may get activated. Generally, psychic aspects are more accessible to small children. By natural resonance, memory of another individual could be received.
But to resonate, somewhere in the past, such residue has to be present in our mind too, right?
No. Resonance can happen across time and space. If there’s someone in America with your mental make-up, if he’s tired, you may also feel it. If he’s happy, you too may feel happy, without reason. It can happen automatically. For resonance, there must be someone whose mind is similar to yours. At times you may be resonating, but because of education and conditioning, you suppress it. If you open up, you may feel it.
How do we open up our minds?
Many who visit the Himalayas say their minds open up. The Himalayas are just an open environment. When people go there, inhibition and suppression wear off; telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition may hence start working. This can happen at a beach or even in Ponmudi. Closeness to nature helps the mind open up.
Does that mean every place has a different kind of energy?
‘Energy’ is a misleading concept. When we sit here, our mind works one way. In a temple, it works differently. Environment can condition or decondition the mind.
What is ESP?
It stands for extrasensory perception. Normally, we understand things through our five sensory organs. These sensory organs actually block ESP. Our education is centred around these five senses. People without modern linear education sometimes have a higher chance of ESP working, because their minds are less restricted. There are two types of people with ESP – those who develop it because they are distressed and those with no fear, whose minds are stable.
What counts as a paranormal experience?
An experience beyond everyday regularities, such as ESP… like dreams coming true or automatically reading someone’s mind. Surveys show that approximately one-third of people may have had at least one genuine paranormal experience in their lifetime.
Of 100 dreams, maybe five come true. People may just remember those five and forget the rest…
A precognitive dream means you dream something, and the next day it happens in real time. In a genuine precognitive event, this will happen. Even an attempt to avoid may not stop it from actualisation.
What is meant by psychic capability?
People who frequently experience things beyond ordinary reality. All of us have this psychic nature; we use the term for those who have it to a greater degree.
There are cases where psychics are said to help solve investigations. How do they do it?
Some people have more control over such abilities and can use them intentionally.
What about things like the Ouija board? Is that real?
The idea of a ‘spirit’ is an interpretation. Actually, a psychic can do this without an Ouija board. If someone dies and it’s unclear whether it was a natural death, suicide, or murder, a psychic may use clairvoyance, tune the mind to the dead person’s mind, and collect information, depending on ability. Other than that, parapsychology doesn’t really explain it in terms of spirits.
Does the mind still linger after death, or are the waves of thought recorded somewhere in nature?
Past, present, and future are how we see it. In reality, all of them coexist. Of late, physicists too say the same.
If someone sees a ghost, is it purely their own psychic experience?
All paranormal phenomena involves more than one person. Sometimes it gets blocked in one individual’s presence, knowingly or unknowingly. In my experience, when I visit the place, the phenomenon stops. This happens mostly, though not in all places.
It’s said that animals are psychic. Dogs howl when death is near...
This is due to telepathy. Some dogs can sense their owner’s arrival; they go to the gate and wait. I had an experience where a goat in a neighbouring house sensed the death of an aged, bedridden woman.
Does soul exist? Is soul the ultimate?
Consciousness is the ultimate. Everything is based on consciousness. When it operates through our limited system, it becomes the individual we are. Once the individual is gone, only pure consciousness remains. Our mind forms when universal consciousness functions within our system.
You mentioned that ghost is a psychic experience. Does a paranormal source harm anyone?
I have studied many haunted houses. What I understood is that if someone is completely fearless, even the most haunted place turns positive.
Who are more psychic, men or women?
Not much of a difference. I think women are a bit more psychic, because they have less ego. Ego stands in the way of paranormal sensitivity.
Spiritual gurus of yesteryear talk about being in a state of samadhi…
Many have the misconception that samadhi is a trance. Samadhi is where the mind is extremely flexible, free, and open. Beset with numerous fears, our minds tend to run on a single track. But since their minds are open, they travel to the past as well as the future. Those are people whom we call trikalajnanis. If they wish, they can tune their minds into both past and future.
Is whatever happening in our life already recorded in nature?
Parapsychologists have been saying so for long. Duplicative precognition is very common; for instance, some people foresee things in their dreams. Maybe it will take many days, months, or years for it to happen. But it will, for sure.
Can consciousness exist away from the physical body?
We have been hearing about astral projection these days. Many have successfully experimented with it. It has different explanations. Earlier, it was termed travelling clairvoyance.
Can you explain the three stages of the mind: conscious, preconscious, and unconscious?
There are many theories. What you mentioned is the Freudian theory. (Carl) Jung added collective unconscious to it. But, according to modern consciousness theorists, there is another element as well, known as universal consciousness.
Spirituality speaks about the ‘parabrahman’ concept. Is this the same as universal consciousness?
You may say so.
What about rebirth?
We have come across over 2,000 cases where children aged between 3 and 6 have said they belong to another place. When taken to that place, the child recognises relatives. In some instances, the child is born before the person in question dies. It could be because the mental makeup of the child is similar to the person who died. By resonance, the child accessed the other person’s memory. Since the child lives in a society that believes in rebirth, he or she expressed it.
How would you explain instances where one visits a place and realises that one has been there before?
It is called deja-vu. There is nothing paranormal about it. Deja-vu often transforms to precognition. Continuous precognition enables a person to see what would happen a few seconds later. It is a psychological phenomenon.
Can rebirth be consciously experienced?
Some spiritual individuals may have some control over this process. In Tibetan Buddhist traditions, advanced lamas are believed to consciously predict their next birth before death.
Is everything predetermined?
Yes, both at the individual level and at the level of the universe, everything operates within a predetermined framework. Our actions do have consequences but they are part of the same system. They are not outside the predetermined chain.
Is free will just a myth?
‘Free will’ exists only in a limited sense. It feels free because decisions arise from our own mind, rather than from external forces. But even those decisions are part of a predetermined process.
If everything is predetermined, how do we explain willpower?
Willpower depends on the stability of a person’s mind. If someone decides to stop drinking and succeeds, it is because they have a higher level of mental stability. The ability itself is predetermined. We function more like instruments within a system. We are expressions of a larger universal consciousness.
Can a powerful mind change reality?
Only to the extent of its capacity. Not all minds are equally flexible or powerful. Just like machines or robots with different capabilities, people have different mental capacities. A highly stable and flexible mind can achieve more.
Is creativity predetermined? What about harmful actions... are they too predetermined?
Yes. Take the example of Rabindranath Tagore. His creative achievements were possible because of his unique mental capacity, resulting from heredity, experience, and training – all part of a predetermined chain. Think of life as a play. A play needs both good and bad characters. Similarly, society functions through different roles being played out. Everything unfolds according to a larger script.
What happens after death?
When a person dies, the physical body ends. But consciousness does not function as an isolated unit. We are not closed systems... we are expressions of a larger collective mind (family, social, and psychological influences). After death, only the individual point of expression ends.
Why don’t we remember past lives?
That’s because what continues is not a fixed individual identity. Instead, psychological patterns may be expressed through different individuals. In rare cases — especially involving sudden or accidental death – strong unresolved mental impressions may carry forward. These can appear as memories in another individual.
Can you explain the concept of telepathic communication?
Parapsychological experiments have proved that telepathy exists strongly between identical twins. Generally, it is more common among relatives. This also changes based on the personality of people. I had a psychic relative who would predict my arrival at the right time, but to avoid needless gossip, she would say that a crow had cawed (chuckles)!
We know about predictions by Nostradamus. Were these written by clairvoyant people?
Psychics have commented that the more their psychic abilities increase, the more silent they become. If they voice it, contradictions would abound. Most psychic people can know of their date of death, but they won’t check because life would then become stupid. We may think Nostradamus tops the list, but scholars have remarked that they were less talented in that line and could have made many mistakes too.
How difficult are the lives of psychics… with their premonitions, knowing what would happen tomorrow?
People with lesser psychic ability get premonition, try to change, fail, and end up in a vicious cycle. Those with more psychic ability suppress it and live like normal people. They know everything is predetermined and are hence not worried about anything. People with ESP and psychokinesis are called psychic, but spiritual people will have more stability, with flexible minds. But they do not use these psychic capacities, or deliberately cut these off.
Do paranormal experiences happen to abnormal people?
Studies show that abnormal people have more such experiences than normal people. Normal people usually suppress these things. Abnormal people are free-minded in that sense.
You have said that it is possible to lure people…
Yes. You would have to meet a sorcerer. They give you ‘ashes’ that have been prayed over with luring chants. Sometimes it can work... not because of the ashes, but because you gain confidence believing it is powerful. You invite the person with greater assurance, and that confidence can draw them in. I have seen that happen.
Isn’t it more of a gimmick?
Everything is a gimmick. It is our mind that wields power, not the physical object. The ash is just a gimmick; it works only if one believes it will.
How should a person ideally respond to a psychic experience?
Do nothing. Just ask how they are (smiles). Usually, people fear ghost encounters, but I am looking for one to happen. Ghosts are mostly time-slips.
What exactly is a time-slip?
Imagine I am standing somewhere at night and see an apparition. If it is a legitimate time-slip, the environment will not look the same. If the figure is from 200 years ago, the surroundings will also appear as back then. That is the litmus test. If that happens, I would try to interact. The figure may not see me; it is usually just the situation replaying itself.
Can you tell us about a personal psychic experience you have had?
I have not had spectacular experiences like people imagine. But small things happen daily. When I go for a walk and observe a bird, it senses it, turns toward me, and flies away. If I don’t observe it, it continues to sit there. When we observe a being, it can sense it... that’s telepathy. A cat I see daily greets me in its language, knowing I am watching. These are psychic experiences.
Does scent create any psychic experience?
Certainly. Scent is a chemical phenomenon. Ganja intake can give psychic experiences. Psychedelic drugs suppress higher brain centres and hence people can transcend their physical limitations. This brain transcendence is the psychic experience.
Can hypnosis be used to detect or alter the psychic experience of a person?
A lot of experiments have proved that hypnosis cannot alter psychic experience.
Will hypnosis help in crime investigation?
Very rarely. It won’t work on hardened criminals and hence evidence collected this way is not legally accepted. Police may do narcoanalysis and get some clues.
Films show demonic presence in artefacts like dolls…
It’s a big misunderstanding that spirits possess objects. The reality is that all objects have associated vibrations. If you hand over a handbag you use to a psychic, he may be able to tell your name and major incidents that happened in your life.
Is that perception scientific?
Many things are hypothetic. In science, hypotheses are allowed. Definite evidence is rare. But to explain many things, we need to use it as a hypothesis.
Do people who believe in occult practices come to you? Are such practices increasing in society?
It’s mostly linked to superstitions. When those who strongly believe in sorcery/occult practices come to me, instead of counselling I send them to occult practitioners. They have certain rituals. Mostly, they do nothing; but because of the clients’ faith in the rituals, they get relief.
How do you perceive self-styled godmen?
Many godmen are deluded; they may have had a little bit of psychic experiences. They then decide on their own that they are God. We can’t do anything about it.
There’s a social trend called manifestation. How do you explain it?
If we do something to trigger an artificial result, its reverse will also work, while doing it. When someone who believes she isn’t beautiful writes down hundred times ‘I’m beautiful’, she’s inwardly telling herself hundred times that she isn’t beautiful. It’ll only add to her inferiority complex. Only those without confidence go in for such artificial methods. I don’t think manifestation is effective. Confidence and hard work are the best way to manifest. If we don’t have fear in our minds, we can manifest anything.
What exactly is the aim you are moving towards?
Aimlessness is my aim. Whatever has to happen, keeps on happening. We don’t need to go in pursuit of anything.
Do you pray?
We pray because we don’t have trust. In fact, trust should not be based on a specific concept. Absolute trust/faith is universal. If we think that whatever happens is part of the universal scheme of things, then we need not pray to change it (smiles).
TNIE team: Cithara Paul, Anil S, Aparna Nair, Unnikrishnan S, Parvana K B B P Deepu (Photos) Pranav V P (video)