Playing with language is much the same as playing with perception. On August the 26th-27th (the night of Tuesday-Wednesday) 2025 – we stayed in an old Church in Bratton Fleming (St Peter’s) – with myself having the task of objectively observing my surroundings and seeing if I could discern any disembodied spirits. After-all, we sat in an ancient stone building surrounded by the graves of hundreds of deceased people. When you think of it, and weigh-up the odds, the deceased certainly possessed the numerical advantage – if not the actual high-ground (an Undertakers joke). Of course, as we – the “living” – possessed functioning legs, and given the fact that we were not occupying graves at the time, it was ourselves who occupied the “high-ground” – almost by default.
My family, who are not particularly “religious”, or at least not in the theistic sense, simply got on with life around me, enjoying the historical experience of it all. Was I looking for a headless horseman – or horseless headsman? Well, which is it? With most of the lights off by 11pm, I sat on my religious chair (the Church dates back to the 14th century – and so does the chair). I cleared my mind and immersed myself into the ancient nature of the stone-work. The stone was cool to the touch – I went bare-foot to ground myself – and felt the calm structure of the place. No fear, no deception, and nothing to worry about. Although I neither support or oppose theology – I sensed the spiritual feel that all the attendees developed and projected into old physical structure of the place. In many places in the UK, the Christians deliberately built their Churches on already existing Pagan sites of ancient spirituality – with nothing to do with a Christian god. The mistake that Christians make is that their own mind creates the religion they believe in – but they mistakenly believe that their religion exists “outside” their heads, independent of the mind that creates it. The perception is inverted and the wrong way around.
This is just my opinion. In this sense, the “spirit” is rarefied conscious awareness. Given this is the case, perhaps we see in the external world what we imagine exists in it from the depths of our mind. We see what we expect to see. However, if ghosts exist in an objective sense, then it would make no difference what I believe, a ghost would manifest in front of me and I would be able to record its presence. There would be photographs, video-footage, and audio-files, etc. The interior of the Church was humid to say the least – even though the temperature was not that high. I was bathed in sweat (with hot and cold flushes) around 6pm-8pm – but that suddenly ended and a sense of utter calmness prevailed within and without. Once the mind was relaxed and cleared of superficial activity – I kept in-mind the possibility of experiencing disembodied spirits. This could be a bodily manifestation – or perhaps a noise or objects moving about in the environment. In some cases I have read about – there has even been the possession of those trying to make contact “with the other side”! My family remained utterly indifferent – and so I soldiered on into the night!
Noises came and went. I switched on the torch and pointed its beam here and there – nothing. All sounds had a logical origin and purpose. No ghosts manifested themselves bodily in anyway. I even went outside to stand amongst the dead – and nothing happened (there was the sweet smell of grass in the Summer air). The stones, being old, all reminded me of crooked teeth. No graves opened – no graves shut. No deceased person made any noise. As I am not programmed to fear or accept the Judeo-Christian worldview – I do not possess the required inner fear that would force myself to see things that are not there. I think this is a good base-ground – as if an objective ghost did appear – then we would all be happy (or unhappy so-to-speak) – as we would have scientifically proven the existence of ghostly phenomenon! I am not out to “disprove” theistic religion (or Christianity) – but the scientific method requires an explanation as to what it is doing – and why it is doing it. I make no apology for science – and religious people need to develop a similar attitude of “tolerance toward difference”. If we have to be culturally conditioned to see what is not there – that is not science – it is religious oppression. Think for yourself and do not be afraid.
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 