in the mind's eye

"His Mind's Eye Tree," Stratford-Upon-Avon (Photo: Philip Halling)

"Picture in your mind's eye..." Surely most of us have heard this phrase, captured so evocatively in the sculpture above. But what on earth does that mean?

Most of us have eyes that can see the world around us. Many of us have eyes that see within. Some call this capacity "the mind's eye." Some call it "subtle vision." People who refine their ability to see non-physically sometimes engage in remote viewing.

What is remote viewing? There are many different definitions, depending on how one thinks this is possible. Joe McMoneagle* writes:

remote viewing is the ability to produce information that is correct about a place, event, person, object, or concept which is located somewhere else in time/space, and which is completely blind to the remote viewer and others taking part in the process of collecting the information.

Some people classify this as a "psy" (or psychic) ability, a type of ESP (extra-sensory perception). I find a different explanation much more likely, and I base it in part on personal experience.

Remote viewing came to public attention via the CIA's Star Gate program (1972-1995), a secret effort to support gifted individuals to view remote locations. This was an effort to provide undetectable spying on our enemies' defense operations, a capability the U.S. believed was already being used in the Soviet Union.

I recently had a chance to experiment with remote viewing during a retreat with the Monroe Institute. We were given coordinates for a location (38° 27" 38' N/90° 11" 14' W) and asked to describe that place. For about 5 minutes, each of us scribbled, scrawled, and drew various descriptors. Interestingly, most of mine were words rather than images. Here is what I "saw" during the session:

The first things that came were images: an obelisk like the Washington Monument and a satellite dish. Then wavy symbols emerged. Then words started coming. As we neared the 5-minute mark, I circled "overview" and "wave-sound" because they felt most potent.

Then came the big reveal. The remote viewing target? The Gateway Arch in St. Louis.

When I saw the photo, I was thrilled! Some of my descriptors had been pretty good. Not bad for a first effort at remote viewing.

So, you may ask, am I psychic?

Whenever someone uses the word "psychic," I always ask myself, "Is this another example of retrocausation?" For me, this is a far simpler explanation for my experience of remote viewing. And here is how I believe it works.

When I was given the coordinates of the target, I dropped out of my standard thinking mode and opened to a more intuitive way of knowing. (Anyone who has meditated or done spiritual or inner work will understand this ability. It isn't magic.) I simply let things flow, not worrying about whether I would be right or wrong or even trying to guess the target. Then, when we learned the identity of the target, I was excited. That emotionally charged response is the magic ingredient that makes retrocausation possible.

Some of the well-known remote viewers also believe that this is the truth behind the practice. Joe McMoneagle has said that he feels the information he "sees" comes from his "future self."

So, no, I don't think I'm psychic. I do think we are all quite remarkable, though, and most of us haven't even begun to scratch the surface of what we can do.

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*** Remote Viewing Secrets: A Handbook, by Joe McMoneagle (2000, Hampton Roads Publishing Co.)