Inside the Chandian effect

David Christopher Lane is a professor of comparative religion who has written extensively on the Hindu-Sikh Radhasoami tradition (which he once followed). Unlike many other scholars who specialize in comparative religion, Lane is also a vocal critic of religious cults. His specialty is exposing sects and cults inspired by Radhasoami, specifically Eckankar and MSIA. Lately, he has also become a leading critic of Ken Wilber and Integral Theory. For some reason, Lane has republished a number of old articles on Kindle. Perhaps he knows that an omnivorous reviewer-fish known as the Ashtar Command lurks in the murky waters of Cyber-Saraswati…

“The Himalayan Connection: UFOs and the Chandian Effect” is an article probably written during the 1980's or 1990's. It mentions both Radhasoami and Wilber in a positive light. Indeed, the article argues in favor of a non-reductionist approach to UFO studies, based on insights from both Wilber and the Radhasoami guru Faqir Chand. Huston Smith is also referenced. To put matters very simply, Lane argues that UFOs are real, but that most UFO encounters are similar to mystical experiences and hence take place at (or rather “in”) another level of consciousness than “ordinary” waking consciousness. He also argues that the two levels, roughly the material and the spiritual, can be confused and combined. This explains the weird and quixotic nature of many UFO observations. The author also makes the interesting point that while some UFO experiences are “transrational”, others are “prerational”, which also explains part of the confusion surrounding the phenomenon.

But why should we believe that mystical experiences are real at all? Here, Lane appeals to something he calls the Chandian Effect, apparently an insight he derived from Faqir Chand in the Himalayas (hence the title of the article). The Chandian Effect states that the reality of our experiences cannot be empirically proven, rather all empirical proof is dependent upon a prior feeling of reality and certainty. This feeling is qualitative and hence cannot be scientifically observed or measured. It simply is, as the underlying deep structure of all consciousness. Since dreams and mystical state are also experienced as absolutely real while they last, they too *are* real under the Chandian Effect.

In a postscript, an older and “wiser” Lane argues that everything he wrote in the old article is wrong, that UFOs don't exist at all, and that all supernatural-religious claims are simply products of our brain chemistry. What the…?! Essentially, he collapses back into the reductionism his younger (and higher?) self argued so persuasively against.

As for the aliens, they are still out there, inside the Chandian Effect…