Why would someone want to learn to do telekinesis (move objects, even on a small scale, without any physical contact). To answer this question it is helpful to look at why people are interested in the field of spiritual and paranormal studies.

Many people are interested in this field because they are searching for something - for answers; for hope. Usually when introduced to the subject they begin to learn of the different schools, teachings, paradigms which describe our world including the beyond-physical and subtle levels. Many times such descriptions are appealing and attractive. A person begins to accept certain elements of such descriptions and form his version of a worldview containing many levels besides the physical one. But at this point such a worldview is purely theoretical, existing on a mental level. A person can live for years believing in the existence of many things but for certain people, believing is not enough. For some people it is necessary to reach for real knowledge.

A person’s view of himself influences interest

There is another important aspect that influences a person in his exploration of esoteric studies – a person’s view of himself. You see even though many talk about existing on other levels, having other bodies, having a soul, this information can be somewhat theoretical, accepted on faith or logical appeal rather than direct evidence. And so, some only “hope” that they do exist on other levels and even though they may feel certain things, experience synchronicities and even obtain certain abilities, doubt that this could all be an illusion, that they could actually be imagining things is still present. Their existence on the “other” side, for them, is an unknown; an uncertainty, as well as many other things they begin to believe. And until a person obtains certain experience this will remain so.

But how can a person separate his own illusions from reality? How is it possible to separate the “desirable” which you read in books, hear in lectures, or would like to believe about yourself, from that, which is actually real?

This is a difficult question which may be different for different people. I can only talk about myself and for me it is a matter of having a baseline of personal experiences which can be used to compare all new pieces of information and re-evaluate old ones. This is not on a mental level – this is deeper. It is related to one’s real sense of himself and an inner knowing of what is real.