In 1987, this column, formerly called “Inner Mind,” was intended to discuss topics to develop one’s inner faculties.

But somehow, due to many questions asked by readers of this column and on my DZMM radio program (which ran for 21 years) about their unexplainable supernatural and psychic encounters, I got diverted into discussing more about paranormal and psychic phenomena rather than mind development and inner awareness.

But it was all worth the effort because the intelligent and analytical discussions of these once forbidden topics have helped many people to realize their meaning and why they occur.

I changed the title of this column sometime in the 1990s to “Inner Awareness” to reflect my attempt to go back to my original intention of calling attention to our inherent but hidden human potentials, especially how to access the tremendous powers of our subconscious minds.

As a young boy, I was extremely and inexplicably fascinated by people who were able to access information or perform tasks ordinary people could not, like predict future events accurately, read the minds of others, or open up a patient’s body through psychic surgery without the use of instruments.

I have seen stage magicians make a pigeon appear from an empty hat or make it disappear with a pass of their hand. I have also seen some magicians accurately “read” the thoughts of a volunteer from the audience and guess their birthdays.

I know these were all done through clever tricks, sleight-of-hand or deception, but growing up, I wondered whether these were really all trickery, or if there was something we do not know about how the human mind works.

Trickery and illusion

Unfortunately, in the Philippines, I don’t know of any scientist or academician interested to delve into these mysterious fields. Many consider them to be mere trickery and illusion.

In other countries, especially in Russia and some parts of Eastern Europe, serious scientists began looking into these so-called psychic phenomena, which they preferred to call “paraphysical phenomena” to avoid using the much-maligned “psychic” or “paranormal” phenomena. They invented the terms psychotronics or bio-energetics to refer to the science that studies this.

One of the early discoveries of the former Soviet Union scientists was that a hypnotized subject can access information completely unknown to him in his ordinary waking or conscious state. A hypnotized person is in a state of high suggestibility, which is the classic definition of hypnosis.

A Frenchman who doesn’t know a word of Chinese speaks, for example, in perfect Mandarin while in a trance or a hypnotic state.

Where does his knowledge of Chinese language come from? Are there hidden powers of the human brain unknown to orthodox Western scientific paradigms? If so, how can we tap or develop them? What are the practical uses of such faculties if they do, in fact, exist?

In succeeding columns, I plan to give tips or guidelines on how to tap these hidden faculties we call “psychic” or “esoteric” for our benefit.

I shall also discuss such topics as how to use the pendulum to get answers from your subconscious minds, and even how to do remote viewing or bend a metallic spoon with one’s mind or through telekinesis.

Hopefully, through this column, I can help readers develop their inner awareness or hidden mental faculties for practical purposes, since I can no longer actively conduct seminars due to health concerns.

But these seminars will still be available through my trained lecturers, who will be conducting them under my guidance and supervision.

If you have any question you want answered or topic discussed in this column, e-mail [email protected] or call 09989886292.