IANDS brochures are now spread all over Istanbul, at a large university on
the Asian side of the city, and in the hands of conference attendees. And
I made certain just as many people heard of IANDS in the talks I gave, as
well as during the press briefings and media interviews.
The occasion for my being in Istanbul, Turkey, was to present a paper
on my research of children's near-death experiences at the First
Annual Parapsychology
Conference, sponsored by the Bilyay Foundation, an organization committed to
bridging science and spirituality. I was one of eleven speakers for the two-day
affair, held at the large convention center in downtown Istanbul. Translations
were concurrent and done without delays by a fabulous staff of people. Yes,
we had submitted our papers beforehand so they could be studied, but many of
us, myself included, deviated greatly from our written material. I focused
mostly on children's drawings and what we could learn from their stories about
them, and on some of the profound differences between child and adult experiencers
in how they integrate or deal with aftereffects. The translators kept pace,
perfectly.
This conference was extremely important and for many reasons. The
Bilyay Foundation, athough maybe only 60-some members strong, is
unusually active and dedicated
in what they do. They insist on research to back up claims of the so-called "paranormal;" their
membership work as staff in the sense of volunteering labor, ideas, and talent.
The Bilyay Foundation is non-profit, yet they have a "wing" called
Ruh ve Madde Yayinlari that, as a publishing company, translates, prints,
and distributes books throughout Turkey. Ruh ve Madde Yayinlari earns enough
profit
to not only clear its own expenses, but undergird many of the costs of Bilyay
and its many projects. Smart people!
Interestingly, they stay away from best sellers and most personal
testimonials (depends on the author's reputation), and focus instead
on books that are
grounded in research, education, or self-help. To my great joy, they debuted "The
New Children and Near-Death Experiences," now in Turkish, while I
was there. I have never signed so many books, purchased by so many enthusiastic
people. And my translator, Tufan, and cover designer, Gulcan, autographed
a copy for me. To meet my translators and designers in other countries
is
a great
thrill.
But Bilyay's utter professionalism and vision extended far beyond
a conference attended by around 550 people. They arranged a Press
Conference for us where
we were literally treated as if "rock stars." I've never had so many
flash bulbs going off in front of me, nor have I been treated to several hours
of non-stop newspaper interviews, later CNN Turkey, and more television and
more reporters. My mug wound up on the front page or the feature page of every
major newspaper in the country! All of us were treated this way throughout
our entire stay. You should see the bundle of newspapers I came home with.
As exciting as this news is, the city itself was the biggest surprise.
Allow me to explain. Istanbul has a population of 17 million people,
the largest
city in all of Europe (half of Istanbul is on the European continent, the
other half is in Asia – it straddles the Borporus Straits). That's 17 million
people in the daytime. At night, it has 11 million. That means that during
its six-day work week, 6 million people are on the road commuting back and
forth, on narrow roads in narrow cars and buses – and no one over there
has ever heard of road rage! We were all over that city – no one
screamed at or cussed another, there was no anger evident or hard words
spoken. In
a city where you would expect road rage, there wasn't any.
Istanbul was a capital of three empires: Eastern Roman, Byzantine,
and Ottoman. It is the sacred bridge between East and West, the
historical center of Islam,
Orthodox Christianity, Eastern Christianity, Rumi the poet, Whirling Dervishes,
Emperor Justinian and the Council of Nicea (which forever changed the Bible
as we know it), and on and on. The energy there is ancient, spirituality runs
deep. Turkey is a republic, has a constitution, equal treatment under the law,
and is secular. Their "George Washington" is Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
In this incredible city all things come together. Fundamentalist Muslims live
virtually next door to fundamentalist Jews and Christians and Buddhists and
Hindus and pagans and, you name it. And they get along. For the most part,
all these differing religions, cultures, political points of view, work together
in harmony for mutual benefit. This is called a "holon." In case
you are not familiar with the term, a "holon" is where opposing forces
agree to cooperate with each other to help each other. None of this stuff about
changing anyone. They embrace differences. Holons are where we must go as a
society, as a world, if we are to survive and prosper in the years ahead. Yes,
Istanbul has its problems. Still, in a city of 17 million people, they live
surprisingly well.
The visible evidence of holons at work on a daily basis was so
striking that it deeply affected me. In near-death circles we
speak of harmony, of love,
of people getting along with each other. Folks, 17 million people in one
city are already doing this and have been for some time. We need
to learn from them.
They should be our teachers.
Ready for more? We met the former Mayor of Istanbul while we were
there. A master politician, he speaks openly of intuition, dreams,
and visions. The
spiritual side of life is very important to him. During his term in office,
he had a vision that the Bosporus, the color of sludge at the time, could
be made blue again. Now, imagine for a moment a deep waterway
that is a major
shipping lane between the Black Sea (and what was formerly part of the Soviet
Union) and the Aegean leading into the Mediterranean. Huge tankers ply these
waters. Well, the man knows his holons and how to build them (whether or
not he ever heard of the term). That's how he became a master
politician. Yup,
the Bosporus is blue. You can swim in it, eat fish from it, near shorelines
you can see the bottom far below. We boated the Bosporus, thanks to the Bilyay
Foundation, and ate excellent fish caught that day.
Scientists and spiritual people hold places of honor in Istanbul.
Left and right brain hemispheres together in a city that embraces
differences to create
projects of mutual benefit. Isn't that the revelation we all have when we
come back from a near-death experience? Our brothers and sisters
of Istanbul, in
many ways, are ahead of us. I salute them. And I am forever grateful to the
Bilyay Foundation for bringing me there and for their dedication in bridging
science and spirituality. They produced a major conference with the type
of professionalism and excellence seldom seen anywhere. I cannot
praise them enough.
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