The View of Modern Science
“The birth of science as we know it arguably began with Isaac Newton's formulation of the laws of gravitation and motion. It is no exaggeration to say that physics was reborn in the early 20th-century with the twin revolutions of quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity.” ~ Paul Davies (physicist, writer, b1946)
“Yet, at the dawn of the 20th century, while civilization was transforming under the influence of this Newtonian vision, a few adventurous souls were being guided by another vision which would take them to an unknown frontier, beyond the limits of Newton's universe, beyond space and time itself. These would be the future pioneers of a strange new world, a wonderland that defied common sense. But no one could then imagine what profound implications this revolution would have.” ~ Thomas J. McFarlane (scientist, philosopher and author, b1964)
“The outstanding achievement of twentieth century physics is not the theory of relativity with its welding together of space and time, or the theory of quanta with its present apparent negation of the laws of causation, or the dissection of the atom with the resultant discovery that things are not what they seem; it is the general recognition that we are not yet in contact with the ultimate reality. We are still imprisoned in our cave, with our backs to the light, and can only watch the shadows on the wall.” ~ Sir James Jeans (highly regarded physicist, astronomer, and mathematician, 1877 – 1946)
“The science of physics, for all its denial of the supernatural reality, has done more in the last one hundred years to dispel the notion of the substantiality of the material world than all the theologians throughout history.” ~ Swami Abhayananda
“Western science is approaching a paradigm shift of unprecedented proportions, one that will change our concepts of reality and of human nature, bridge the gap between ancient wisdom and modern science, and reconcile the differences between Eastern spirituality and Western pragmatism.” ~ Stanislav Grof (Dept of Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness, California Institute of Integral Studies, b1931)
“Yet, at the dawn of the 20th century, while civilization was transforming under the influence of this Newtonian vision, a few adventurous souls were being guided by another vision which would take them to an unknown frontier, beyond the limits of Newton's universe, beyond space and time itself. These would be the future pioneers of a strange new world, a wonderland that defied common sense. But no one could then imagine what profound implications this revolution would have.” ~ Thomas J. McFarlane (scientist, philosopher and author, b1964)
“The outstanding achievement of twentieth century physics is not the theory of relativity with its welding together of space and time, or the theory of quanta with its present apparent negation of the laws of causation, or the dissection of the atom with the resultant discovery that things are not what they seem; it is the general recognition that we are not yet in contact with the ultimate reality. We are still imprisoned in our cave, with our backs to the light, and can only watch the shadows on the wall.” ~ Sir James Jeans (highly regarded physicist, astronomer, and mathematician, 1877 – 1946)
“The science of physics, for all its denial of the supernatural reality, has done more in the last one hundred years to dispel the notion of the substantiality of the material world than all the theologians throughout history.” ~ Swami Abhayananda
“Western science is approaching a paradigm shift of unprecedented proportions, one that will change our concepts of reality and of human nature, bridge the gap between ancient wisdom and modern science, and reconcile the differences between Eastern spirituality and Western pragmatism.” ~ Stanislav Grof (Dept of Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness, California Institute of Integral Studies, b1931)
Albert Einstein
physicist, Nobel Prize winner, 1879 - 1955 
Richard Feynman
physicist, Nobel Prize winner, 1918 - 1988 
Niels Bohr
physicist, Nobel Prize winner, 1885 - 1962 
Werner Heisenberg
physicist, Nobel Prize winner, 1901 - 1976 
Erwin Schrödinger
physicist, Nobel Prize winner, 1887 - 1961 
Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington
astronomer, physicist, and mathematician, 1882 – 1944 
Sir James Jeans
physicist, astronomer, and mathematician, 1877 – 1946 
Quotations by Physicists on the Mysterious Nature of Matter 
Quotations on How our Senses Interpret the World by Peter Russell 
Quotations by Mystics on The Role of Consciousness in Creating Matter 
Star Trek holodeck
Mystic Jiddu Krishnamurti with physicist David Bohm
Bernard Haisch
astrophysicist, author of The God Theory 
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Prior to the twentieth century, the universe was believed to be populated by innumerable solid objects floating in vast space. The location and motion of these objects had been accurately defined by the mathematical laws formulated by Isaac Newton in the 1680s. Prior to that, Johannes Kepler had formulated the laws of planetary motion, based on the earlier ideas of Nicolaus Copernicus. Light was assumed to be electromagnetic waves that behaved according to well-defined equations that had been developed by James Maxwell in the 1860s. This classical universe appeared to follow these laws so well that around 1880, the British physicist Lord Kelvin, proclaimed that "there is nothing new to be discovered in physics now.” Mankind lived in this universe as conscious beings but appeared to have minimal impact on the world around him, which was seen to be separate and independent. No longer. The twentieth century dramatically re-defined our understanding of the universe and ourselves, so much so that the universe and our bodies can no longer be considered as “real” in the classic definition. Further, the self-consciousness of human beings has been found to play a striking role in the unfoldment of the universe. The universe and mankind can no longer be seen as separate and independent entities. Scientists have struggled to comprehend a world that no longer seems “real”. Many have opted to ignore the implications of their discoveries and have chosen, according to physicist David Mermin, to “shut up and calculate.” These findings are leading to a view of the universe that is becoming quite similar to that described by the mystics. The key scientific discoveries of the last century that will be briefly addressed herein are the following;
The Big Bang Theory The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological model for the birth of the universe. It was put forth by Georges Lemaître in 1931, building upon his own initial proposal in 1927 as well as work by Edwin Hubble in 1929. The theory, which suggests that the expanding universe might be traced back in time to a single originating point, offers a comprehensive explanation for a broad range of observable phenomenon. According to this theory, shortly after the initial “big bang” expansion, the universe was in a state of high density and high temperature and then gradually cooled sufficiently for the formation of subatomic particles and then atoms. Giant clouds of these primordial elements eventually coalesced through gravity to form stars, galaxies and planets. Modern measurements place the origin of the Big Bang to about 13.8 billion years ago. Roughly 9.3 billion years following the Big Bang, planet earth is estimated to have been formed. Various models for how things end for the universe have been developed by cosmologists, including expansion forever leading to loss of heat and an eventual Big Freeze, and expansion to a maximum size followed by a contraction leading ultimately to a Big Crunch. Recently, cosmologists have been speculating on the possible existence of a multiverse resulting from more than one Big Bang. Such a model helps scientists deal with a few problems, like (i) how did a singular point of incredible energy burst forth into the creation of the universe, (ii) what was happening prior to the Big Bang, and (iii) how did the chaotic expansion beat the incredible odds and create the necessary conditions such that the universe became capable of supporting life. If there are multiple universes, then the odds that things evolved as well as they did for our universe would be balanced by presumably poorer outcomes for many of these other universes. During their experience of oneness with the Supreme Being, mystics have consistently described the awesome spectacle of seeing the creation, expansion and ultimate destruction of universes occurring over and over again in a cyclic fashion – each universal unfolding permeated with the omniscient consciousness of Spirit. During their experience of attunement with the Supreme Being, the dimension of time became such that the birth and death of a universe occurred within the interval of an outgoing and incoming breath. Each of these outbreaths resulted in the creation of a vast number of universes followed by their recall with each inbreath. The Big Bang theory appears to be a consistent one amongst scientists and mystics. However, mystics also understand what happens before each Big Bang and how each universe evolves with the omniscient consciousness of Spirit to create the conditions that sustain life. “Having been graced, in the contemplative state, with a unitive vision of the transcendent Reality … it is my contention, my certainty, based on that spiritual revelation, that the universe originated in the eternal Consciousness of God, and was initiated by His Divine Power in the manner of a great Burst of Energy, which transformed as it expanded into a world of material substance. The conscious essence of the Divine Mind was then infused into that burgeoning universe as an expiration and subsequent inspiration on the part of that eternal Self, corresponding to the expansion and eventual contraction of the material universe in evidence today … According to the standard scientific Big Bang model of the origin of the universe, the Big Bang was the explosive expansion of a pre-existent primary state consisting of an ultra-dense concentration of mass-energy. Yet those scientists who accept this model have refused to speculate on where, why, and how such an ultra-dense concentration of mass-energy came to be in the first place. That, they say, is beyond the purview of ‘empirical science’; and of course it is.” ~ Swami Abhayananda “At the end of a universal cycle, the expansion of the material universe is reversed, and matter, as it is compacted, returns to its Energy state, as it existed in the beginning; and is withdrawn back into the Divine Mind … The Divine Mind returns to dormancy in the One, and there follows a refreshing period of eternal rest. Then, again, at Its own pleasure, the One reawakens Its creative Power, the Divine Mind … and a burst of Energy is once again initiated to produce a bright new expanding universe.” ~ Swami Abhayananda “Contemplative visions comprise some of the oldest treatments of the cosmic origin ever enunciated. We find this vision in the Vedas, in the Egyptian Pyramid texts, in the Torah, in the Bhagavad Gita, in Heraclitus, Pythagorus and Plato; and it is expressed in the declarations of mystics up to the present day. According to this ‘revealed’ view, there was, prior to the Beginning of Creation, no space, no time, no matter, no universe; there was only the one singular eternal Consciousness resting blissfully within Itself. And from that one Consciousness arose a creative impulse from which a breath of conscious Energy streamed forth, expanding as the universe.” ~ Swami Abhayananda Einstein’s Special Relativity Special relativity was introduced by Albert Einstein in 1905. It was the first of many remarkable theories and discoveries of the twentieth century. Some of special relativity’s fascinating findings about our mysterious universe include the following;
Einstein’s special relativity was the first major conclusion to rock the boat of the classical Newtonian view of the universe. As will be seen shortly, the discoveries of quantum mechanics blew the boat right out of the water. The Strange World of Quantum Mechanics “In the field of science, the last hundred years has wrought a revolution that has been, quite literally, world-shattering. The revolution we are talking about is quantum physics, and the "world" it shattered was the materialist world which the older classical physics seemed to support.” ~ Joel Morwood “Do not keep saying to yourself, if you can possibly avoid it, 'But how can it possibly be like that?' Nobody knows how it can be like that.” ~ Richard Feynman (physicist, Nobel Prize winner, 1918 - 1988) “Einstein said that if quantum mechanics is right, then the world is crazy. Well, Einstein was right. The world is crazy.” ~ Daniel Greenberger (physicist, American Physical Society Fellow, b1934) “It is ironic that physics, long considered the most “objective” of all the sciences, in pursuing its dedicated quest to understand the deep nature of the material universe, has dispelled the very notion of an objective universe. According to quantum theory, the idea of a world independent of our observation has conventional meaning, but ultimately speaking, is incorrect.” ~ Paul Levy “The point is no longer that quantum mechanics is an extraordinarily peculiar theory, but that the world is an extraordinarily peculiar place” ~ David Mermin (physicist, Cornell University, b1935) Startling revelations about the nature of matter and the universe followed shortly after the development of technologies that allowed physicists to measure and observe the world of the ultra-small. The term “quantum mechanics” (or quantum physics) was coined in 1924 by Max Born, but the initial work began right at the start of the twentieth century. Much has been written on this topic for those interested, but for the vast majority, I suspect that this subject holds little interest. What is fascinating, however, is the literally “world shattering” implications of the discoveries of quantum mechanics. The first wave of discoveries came in the 1900 to 1930 timeframe. The discovery of the true nature of the atom opened the door to experimental work on electrons and other subatomic particles as well as investigations into the properties of light. Some of the key players involved in this initial phase included a number of Nobel-prize winning physicists, i.e. Max Planck, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Albert Einstein, Erwin Schrödinger, Louis de Broglie, and Wolfgang Pauli. Two highly regarded British astronomers, physicists and mathematicians, Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington and Sir James Jeans, were thoughtful commentators on the work of their contemporaries. The second round of discoveries and quantum theories was primarily in the 1960 to 2000 timeframe. This phase was a bit different, in that most physicists were being encouraged to avoid discussing or even acknowledging the incredible implications of quantum mechanics. It was as if they wanted to return to their Newtonian world of classical physics in which they felt comfortable. New graduate students in physics were clearly directed away from these topics. This was the period that physicist David Mermin described as the “shut up and calculate” phase. However, that did not stop or discourage some of the great scientific minds of the century from taking on the big questions. Some of the key players involved in this second phase included Nobel-prize winning physicists Richard Feynman, Eugene Wigner, and Gerard 't Hooft as well as renowned physicists David Bohm, John Bell, Alain Aspect, and John Wheeler. Physicist Amit Goswami’s recent work on quantum mechanics and consciousness is truly fascinating. Below is a brief overview of the implications of quantum mechanics discoveries, not a summary of the experiments or theories themselves. In other words, there is no discussion of the double slit experiment, the Schrödinger equation, the uncertainty principle, quantum entanglement, etc. Just right to the implications. The implications of the key discoveries of quantum mechanics include the following; The Mysterious Nature of Matter – until an observer looks at it, matter resides in a fuzzy state of unmanifested non-existence, i.e. background waves of possibilities with associated probabilities of manifestation. Once observed, matter will come into being and appear as solid forms but will actually be waves of manifested light, frozen into forms and objects. More on this shortly. Everything in the Universe is Connected – an “entangled” particle on the far side of the universe will instantaneously react to a change in state of its associate particle on this part of the universe. It has been experimentally verified that the response time is quicker than could be achieved by a speed of light communications link between the particles, thereby eliminating that possibility. More on this shortly. “Thou canst not stir a flower Without troubling of a star.” ~Francis Thompson The Holographic Universe – the universe is a holographic projection of light-forms into space. Such a model for the universe is consistent not only with quantum mechanics but is also the view of modern mystics. More on this shortly. The Role of Consciousness – as noted earlier, quantum mechanics discovered that until an observer looks at it, matter resides in a fuzzy state of unmanifested non-existence. Once observed, matter will come into being and appear as solid forms but will actually be waves of manifested light, frozen into forms and objects. In recent years, it has been argued that “consciousness” is the true creator of matter. In this hypothesis, consciousness replaces what had previously been considered the role of the “observer.” More on this shortly. The Enigma of Time – the “delayed choice” quantum experiment suggests that a choice made in the present affects what occurred in the past. As with Einstein’s work on special relativity, “time” once again appears to behave differently that our normal experience of it. More on this later. Not surprisingly, most quantum physicists had much difficulty dealing with these implications. Schrödinger is quoted as saying, “I don't like it [quantum mechanics], and I'm sorry I ever had anything to do with it.” Einstein had a problem with the quantum indeterministic nature of matter, “I like to think the moon is there even if I am not looking at it." He also did not like quantum entanglement (what I have called everything in the universe is connected above) which he called “spooky action at a distance”. Einstein was so perturbed with quantum entanglement that he proposed a model to explain this phenomenon in classical physics terms. However, Einstein’s model was proven wrong in the 1960s by physicist John Bell and then, in 1882, physicist Alain Aspect’s experiments proved conclusively that quantum entanglement indeed exists. “It is as if physicists themselves haven’t fully comprehended and don’t quite know what to make of the great truth that they have unwittingly stumbled upon. They have been forced to wrestle, not just intellectually but emotionally, existentially and spiritually with their own discoveries in the quantum realm.” ~ Paul Levy Some comments from the physicists on the nature and implications of quantum mechanics are provided below. “If quantum mechanics hasn't profoundly shocked you, you haven't understood it yet” ~ Niels Bohr (physicist, Nobel Prize winner, 1885 - 1962, quote attributed) “The world of physics is a world of shadows, we were not aware of it; we thought we were dealing with the real world.” ~ Erwin Schrödinger (physicist, Nobel Prize winner, 1887 - 1961) “Let us not imagine that scientists accepted these new ideas with cries of joy. They fought them and resisted them as much as they could, inventing all sorts of traps and alternative hypotheses in vain attempts to escape them.” ~ Banesh Hoffmann (physicist, associate of Einstein, 1906 – 1986) “The ultimate shock of quantum theory came when Bell’s theorem and subsequent experiments proved the so called entanglements to be right” ~ Kashyap Vasavada (physicist, professor emeritus, Indiana University, b1938) “When we compare the universe as it is now supposed to be with the universe as we had ordinarily preconceived it, the most arresting change is not the rearrangement of space and time by Einstein but the dissolution of all that we regard as most solid into tiny specks floating in void. That gives an abrupt jar to those who think that things are more or less what they seem.” ~ Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (highly regarded British astronomer, physicist, and mathematician, 1882 – 1944) “I remember discussions with Bohr which went through many hours till very late at night and ended almost in despair … Can nature possibly be so absurd as it seemed to us in these atomic experiments?” ~ Werner Heisenberg (physicist, Nobel Prize winner, 1901 - 1976) One can understand the difficulty these physicists had. Their whole world had been turned upside down. The universe not only was completely different than what they had been taught but was looking quite unreal. Some of the founding fathers of quantum mechanics as well as subsequent physicists turned to the mystic writings of ancient India as a means to help understand this new world. “I go into the Upanishads to ask questions” ~ Niels Bohr (physicist, Nobel Prize winner, 1885 - 1962) “Quantum theory will not look ridiculous to people who have read Vedanta” ~ Werner Heisenberg (physicist, Nobel Prize winner, 1901 - 1976) “The unity and continuity of Vedanta are reflected in the unity and continuity of wave mechanics” ~ Erwin Schrödinger (physicist, Nobel Prize winner, 1887 – 1961 “Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe - a spirit vastly superior to that of man” ~ Albert Einstein (physicist, Nobel Prize winner, 1879 – 1955) “It was not by accident that the greatest thinkers of all ages were deeply religious souls” ~ Max Planck (physicist, Nobel Prize winner, 1858 – 1947) “Whenever the essential nature of things is analysed by the intellect, it must seem absurd or paradoxical. This has always been recognized by the mystics, but has become a problem in science only very recently.” ~ Fritjof Capra (physicist, author of the pioneering book The Tao of Physics, b1939) “Access to the Vedas is the greatest privilege this century may claim over all previous centuries” ~ J. Robert Oppenheimer (physicist, director of Manhattan Project which developed the world’s first atomic bomb, 1904 – 1967) "Is it not good to know what follows … Suppose for example that quantum mechanics were found to resist precise formulation. Suppose that … we find an unmovable finger obstinately pointing outside the subject, to the mind of the observer, to the Hindu scriptures, to God, or even only Gravitation? Would that not be very, very interesting?” ~ John Bell (physicist, originator of Bell’s theorem, 1928 – 1990) It is hard to accept the conclusions and implications of quantum mechanics. It is human nature. Even though in our modern age we know that the earth is round, in our everyday life in our small, localized part of the universe, we can and do pretend that the earth is flat because it seems to be. If we go on long airplane flights, however, it is important to know the reality. Similarly, in our modern age we know that the earth revolves around the sun, however, we still say that “the sun rises in the East” and “sets in the West” as if the sun revolves around the earth. It is just convenient to pretend that this is so because it seems to be that way in our everyday lives. Similarly, quantum mechanics is now telling us that our solid universe does not exist. It exists only as ethereal holographic objects made of light vibrations that are projected onto the screen of our consciousness and the screen of space. In our everyday existence, it is alright to pretend that the universe is solid and real, as it seems to be. But as we acquire higher states of consciousness in our evolution back to Spirit, we will be ready to recognize the true nature of reality. The Mysterious Nature of Matter “Physicists have announced it, astronomers have proclaimed it, and technicians have proven it without a doubt in their laboratories; and yet hardly anyone in the world seems to be aware of the fact that everything is made of light” ~ Swami Abhayananda “The fact of the matter is that matter is no longer a fact.” ~ Wes Nisker “From science, then, if it must be so, let man learn the philosophic truth that there is no material universe; its warp and woof is maya, illusion. Under analysis all of its mirages of reality dissolve.” ~ P. Yogananda “With the development of quantum theory, physicists have found that even subatomic particles are far from solid. In fact, they are not much like matter at all–at least nothing like matter as we know it. They can’t be pinned down and measured precisely. Much of the time they seem more like waves than particles. They are like fuzzy clouds of potential existence, with no definite location. Whatever matter is, it has little, if any, substance.” ~ Peter Russell (scientist, psychologist, futurist, b1946) The first hint that matter is not what it seems followed the discovery of the structure of the atom. From there the astonishing features of sub-atomic particles were soon revealed, leading to an astounding conclusion as to the unreal nature of “matter.” The idea that matter is made up of discrete units is a very old thought, appearing in many ancient cultures such as Greece and India. The word "atom", in fact, was coined by ancient Greek philosophers around 2500 years ago. Democritus decided that there must be a point where you could no longer reduce matter into smaller pieces. He named the atom after the Greek word atomos, which means 'that which cannot be split.' He considered it the smallest piece of indivisible matter. And so the thought remained until modern times. The physicist J. J. Thomson overturned the belief that atoms are indivisible particles of matter with his discovery of electrons, for which he received the 1906 Nobel Prize in Physics. However, Thomson incorrectly postulated that the low mass, negatively charged electrons were distributed throughout the atom in a uniform sea of positive charge. In 1909, Ernest Rutherford proposed that the positive charge of the atom is concentrated in a tiny nucleus at the center of the atom. In 1913, Niels Bohr proposed a model in which the electrons of an atom circled the nucleus in a finite set of orbits and could jump between these orbits with discrete quantum changes of energy. Bohr’s model of the atomic structure has largely stood the test of time, with the exception that electrons are now seen to orbit the nucleus not as discrete particles but as an “electron cloud.” This work won Bohr the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physics. Later came the discovery that the nucleus of an atom was made up of neutrons and protons, which in turn are the manifestation of particles called quarks. With the discovery that matter is made up of a vast collection of atoms which in turn are composed of relatively large electron clouds surrounding tiny nuclei came the discovery that over 99.99999999 % of matter is empty space. This is such an astounding discovery that it bears repeating; over 99.99999999 % of your body, the table in your room and all other objects around you are essentially empty space. The fact that your hand does not pass through the table is due to electromagnetic forces that give essentially empty matter the feeling of hardness. As well, you cannot see through your hand or a table because everything is vibrating at such a high rate that your eyes see them as continuous objects. But they are not. And as if that were not hard enough to fathom, along came the discoveries of quantum mechanics. As mentioned earlier, until an observer looks at it, matter resides in a fuzzy state of unmanifested non-existence, like background waves of possibilities with associated probabilities of manifestation. Once observed, matter will come into being and appear as solid forms but will actually be waves of manifested light frozen into these forms and objects. Based on the commonly-held Copenhagen Interpretation of quantum physics, the likely form in which the frozen light will appear follows a probability distribution that is defined by Schrödinger’s wave equation. When an act of observation (or consciousness, as we shall see shortly) brings an object into “existence” in a particular form, it is referred to as “collapsing the wave equation” by choosing a value from the probability distribution. The probabilistic nature of matter means that while there is a most-likely shape that matter will manifest as, there is always at least a small chance of matter manifesting in any form, or a small chance of anything occurring. As well, quantum mechanics abrogates the notion of causality. Physics no longer rigorously provides an answer to the question “what caused this event?” Some words from physicists and scientists themselves on the mysterious nature of matter are shown in the quotations on the left. As mentioned earlier, we may live our everyday lives as if matter is real, because that is what it seems to be and behaves like. As we acquire higher states of consciousness as part of our evolution back to Spirit, we see matter as it truly is, as mystics see it. Following are some thoughts from mystics and others on this topic; “What is matter? Nothing but a particular rate of vibration of God's cosmic energy. No form in the universe is really solid. That which appears so is merely a compact or gross vibration of His energy.” ~ P. Yogananda “Our physical universe very convincingly appears to have the continuity of being something that seems solid and objectively existing, but we shouldn’t be fooled or entranced by the seeming concreteness of the universe’s dream-like display.” ~ Paul Levy “The discoveries of physicists have reminded us of the declarations of the Upanishads that the appearance of matter, i.e., the phenomenal universe, is an illusion, a product of Maya, the creative power of the One (Brahman). Contemporary science has shown that the universe does indeed consist of an Energy that transforms into material particles; but these material particles are really nothing more than submicroscopic electromagnetic impulses, mere ‘points of Energy’, interacting in such a way that the appearance of substance is produced - forming, in other words, an illusory world.” ~ Swami Abhayananda “God has condensed His creative thoughts to produce all phenomena of this dream world, and by the cosmic hypnosis of maya has suggested those dreams so powerfully to our human consciousness that we accept the cosmic chimera as material reality.” ~ P. Yogananda “All things, all created planets and living beings … are nothing but the frozen imagination of God.” ~ P. Yogananda “Thought, energy, and matter differ only in terms of relativity of vibration, thought being the subtlest vibration, which condenses into the light of life energy and ultimately into the gross vibrations of matter. Thoughts when energized become images, as in dreams; matter is the crystallized thought of God, the crystallized dreams of God.” ~ P. Yogananda “Fundamentally, there is no reality in external objects.” ~ Buddha “Remarkably, both physics and mysticism teach us that the appearance of an objectively existing world independent of observation is an illusion. Moreover, they both say that even the observed world does not exist objectively with anything like the definiteness that we imagine.” ~ Thomas McFarlane “All matter is just a mass of stable light.” ~ Sri Aurobindo “The phenomenal spheres were created by God by condensation of light, projected out of the Divine Vibration.” ~ P. Yogananda “Modern science is moving closer to truth in acknowledging the body to be an expression of electromagnetic waves.” ~ P. Yogananda “It is not the physicist but the Self-realized master who comprehends the true nature of matter.” ~ P. Yogananda “Everything is made of shadows and light. I see it all the time.” ~ P. Yogananda “The world but seems to be, Yet it is only a blending of light and shade” ~ Fakhruddin Iraqi “Even this body which we label “I” is but a fleeting shadow, a flickering image on a passing screen … We exist in a dream-world, a projection of a dancing spray of light beams.” ~ Swami Abhayananda “Light is a unique form of energy, neither wave nor particle, though it can appear in either guise. It is not a substance, but an intangible and indefinable essence that some have likened to a mental rather than a physical reality; and yet all that we perceive as the physical, ‘material’ world is made of it. This ‘stuff’ called light is miraculously endowed with the ability to transform itself into what we call ‘material’ particles; and, even though we can describe and predict this transformation, it is clearly an a priori capability that can only be described as ‘miraculous’. We may justly say, therefore, that this Light, which contains the potentiality of all forms, is God’s creative power, the substance of His imagination - though scientists prefer to call it, ‘the electromagnetic spectrum.’” ~ Swami Abhayananda “Anyone who has studied the analysis by modern-day physicists of the sub-atomic world of matter must have come to the realization that … every form that exists is merely an ‘appearance’ conjured by this mysterious chimera called ‘Energy.’ That Energy is God’s Power of illusion; i.e., Maya. It is Maya that creates what we regard as the “objective” universe.” ~ Swami Abhayananda “Among the trillion mysteries of the cosmos, the most phenomenal is light … light remains the most subtle, the freest from material dependence, of any natural manifestation.” ~ P. Yogananda “A yogi who through perfect meditation has merged his consciousness with the Creator perceives the cosmical essence as light; to him there is no difference between the light rays composing water and the light rays composing land.” ~ P. Yogananda “Through a master's divine knowledge of light phenomena, he can instantly project into perceptible manifestation the ubiquitous light atoms. The actual form of the projection - whether it be a tree, a medicine, a human body - is in conformance with a yogi's powers of will and of visualization.” ~ P. Yogananda “My illusion of a solid body was completely dissipated, and my realization deepened that the essence of all objects is light.” ~ P. Yogananda “Great saints who have awakened from the cosmic mayic dream and realized this world as an idea in the Divine Mind, can do as they wish with the body, knowing it to be only a manipulatable form of condensed or frozen energy. Though physical scientists now understand that matter is nothing but congealed energy, fully-illumined masters have long passed from theory to practice in the field of matter-control.” ~ P. Yogananda “You never will enjoy the world aright till … you are intimately acquainted with that shady nothing out of which the world was made. ~ Thomas Traherne “The analogy of light radiating from the Sun is often used by mystics to describe the ‘radiation’ of the world-appearance from God; but it must be remembered that this is an analogy only, and, though perhaps the best possible, it is an imperfect one. That ‘radiation’ is of a kind utterly unique, and its like is not to be found in anything in the heavens or on earth.” ~ Swami Abhayananda And, of course, we should always try to keep things in perspective; ‘We might imagine a dream-scientist in one of our own projected dreams taking samples of the dream-landscape in order to analyze it, then placing the pieces under a dream microscope. We can imagine such dream-scientists coming up with pronouncements about what this dream-terrain is made of, such as: “It seems to be made of waves!” “No, it is made of particles, but the particles themselves seem to be nothing more than a kind of energy!” “I’ll be damned! It’s both waves and particles! What is this stuff?” Truly, it is clear that such efforts would be utterly futile, and that, in order to really know the truth about the reality in which he lived, our dream-scientist would simply need to wake up. Our dreams thus show a close parallel to the nature of our ‘real’ universe. While I do not wish to denigrate the efforts of scientists, I have seen that the true nature of ‘reality’ can only be realized by those who ‘wake up’ to the eternal Self.’ ~ Swami Abhayananda How our Senses Interpret the World Around Us “It seems undeniable that out there, around us, independent and apart from us, stands a physical world, utterly real, solid and tangible. But all is not what it seems … All that I see, hear, taste, touch, smell and feel has been created from the data fed to me by my sensory organs. All I ever know of the world around are the images produced in the mind. I think I am seeing the tree ‘out there’, in the world around me. But all that I am actually experiencing is the image created in the mind. This simple fact is very hard to grasp. It runs totally counter to all our experience. There seems nothing more certain than the fact that I am seeing the world as it is, around me. But however nonsensical it may sound, this is the conclusion we are forced to make … However real it may seem, it is, in the final analysis, all in the mind. We never experience the physical world directly; all we ever know is the image of the world generated in our awareness. And that image is no more ‘out there’ than are the images of our dreams.” ~ Peter Russell (scientist, psychologist, futurist, b1946) “In vision, we do not perceive the world as it actually is, but as the brain computes it most probably to be” ~ John Smythies (neuropsychiatrist, neuroscientist and neurophilosopher, FRCP, b1922) “Eyes do not see. Take away the brain center which is in the head, the eyes will still be there, the retina complete, and also the picture, and yet the eyes will not see. So the eyes are only a secondary instrument, not the organ of vision. The organ of vision is in the nerve center of the brain.” ~ Swami Vivekananda “We do not see things as they are. We see them as we are.” ~The Talmud “Cathedrals and primroses, works of art and works of steel – what a world the mind has constructed from the electrical storms in a few cubic centimeters of gray matter” ~ Raynor Johnson (physicist, author, 1901 – 1987) “Through myriad transactions in the brain, we perceive, our senses select from the stimuli, cerebral structures in the brain interpret the data, but there is no ultimate model of reality out there against which our perceptions can be measured as true or false … a rose is a rose because man sees it as such; without him it would only be a pattern of energy vortices” ~ Marilyn Ferguson “The veil before our eyes is the creation of our senses. They act only within a particular range. Areas beyond that range are completely shut out from us.” ~ Gopi Krishna In addition to matter not being what it seems for the reasons outlined in the previous sub-sections, our view of the universe is impacted by how the human senses work. As an example, our eyes do not directly see what’s “out there.” Rather, the light information that is received by our eyes is converted into an electrical signal and sent to an area of our brain for processing. The information is compared to the storehouse of data within the brain upon which the brain concludes that the incoming information is a “tree” with green leaves and a brown trunk. Our consciousness then projects the tree with all its colors out in front of us and we “see” it. The process is not un-similar to that of a digital camera. In any case, we do not actually “see” what is “out there”; we see what our brain says is “out there”. Optical illusions and magic tricks work using this understanding by fooling our minds into interpreting the incoming signals in a way that is not correct. Of course, one could now have an argument on what is correct in the first place. Once again, that Cosmic Magician, maya, works with the mind-processor associated with the body-suits we wear to impact how we see, feel, and interpret this mysterious universe we find ourselves in.
The overall conclusion of this sub-section is that our experience of this enchanted universe is primarily a function of our mind and it is this that creates our reality. Peter Russell, a scientist, psychologist and futurist has written much on this topic. On the left are several extracts from his writings. The Role of Consciousness As noted earlier, quantum mechanics discovered that until an observer looks at it, matter resides in a fuzzy state of unmanifested non-existence. Once observed, matter will come into being and appear as solid forms but will actually be waves of manifested light frozen into shapes and objects. In recent years, it has been argued that “consciousness” is the true creator of matter. In this hypothesis, “consciousness” replaces what had previously been considered the role of the “observer.” When any object is not in your conscious awareness, it is in an unmanifested, potential state, as far as your world is concerned. The object may well be manifested in the world of other conscious beings, should they be consciously aware of that object. The idea that consciousness creates matter is a relatively new one within the science community and, not surprisingly, is still a contentious one. However, many physicists have embraced the concept, including some of the founding fathers of quantum mechanics. The main argument against the view that “consciousness creates matter” is the fact that the universe appears to have been manifested long before conscious, sentient human beings came along. According to the Big Bang theory, the universe is about 13.8 billion years old and planet earth is 4.5 billion years old. The first link to humanity goes back 6 million years and early forms can be traced back about 2 million years. Modern man, homo sapiens, have only been on earth some 200,000 years. Even if conscious life existed on other planets in other galaxies, it is safe to say that for the vast majority of time since the universe was created, there were no self-conscious, sentient human beings to bring matter into manifestation. And yet matter appears to have been there – vast numbers of galaxies, stars, etc. for billions and billions of years. The solution to this quandary is the recognition that there was one sentient being within creation right from the start – Ishvara. In fact, the basic creation was conceived of and brought into manifestation by the consciousness of Ishvara. It has only been during the relatively short time of our existence in the universe that human beings, as co-creating “gods”, have modified the universal structure through our acts of consciousness. In the meantime and even now, Ishvara has carried the load. Of course, some physicists are loathe to acknowledge any role for Spirit in Its own creation. However, many physicists have embraced the concept that “consciousness creates matter”, including some of the founding fathers of quantum mechanics. “The Universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a great machine. Mind no longer appears to be an accidental intruder into the realm of matter... we ought rather hail it as the creator and governor of the realm of matter.” ~ Sir James Jeans (highly regarded British physicist, astronomer, and mathematician, 1877 – 1946) “There is no matter as such. All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter.” ~ Max Planck (physicist, Nobel Prize winner, 1858 – 1947) “I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness.” ~ Max Planck (physicist, Nobel Prize winner, 1858 – 1947) “The frank realization that physical science is concerned with a world of shadows is one of the most significant advances….. the stuff of the world is mind-stuff. . . . matter and fields of force of former physical theory are altogether irrelevant except in so far as the mind-stuff has itself spun these imaginings.” ~ Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (highly regarded British astronomer, physicist, and mathematician, 1882 – 1944) “In the new metaparadigm, everything we know, including space, time and matter, manifests from consciousness … the world we see around us is not the physical world. The world we actually know, is the world that takes from in our mind. And this world is not made of matterstuff, but mindstuff.” ~ Peter Russell (scientist, psychologist, futurist, b1946) “Get over it, and accept the inarguable conclusion. The universe is immaterial - mental and spiritual.” ~ R.C. Henry (physicist, professor at Johns Hopkins University, b1940) “In what medium does space-time itself live and move and have its being? Is there any other answer than to say that consciousness brings all of creation into being.” ~ John Wheeler (highly regarded physicist, professor at Princeton University, 1911 – 2008) "I do take 100 percent seriously the idea that the world is a figment of the imagination.” ~ John Wheeler (highly regarded physicist, professor at Princeton University, 1911 – 2008) “This means that the whole universe must have existed originally as "potentia" in some transcendental realm of quantum probabilities until self-conscious beings evolved and collapsed themselves and the rest of their branch of reality into the material world” ~ Amit Goswami (physicist, retired professor from University of Oregon, b1936) “Quantum physics really begins to point to this discovery, it says that you can't have a universe without mind entering into it, the mind is actually shaping the very thing that is being perceived” ~ Fred Allen Wolf (physicist, former professor at San Diego State University, b1934) “Consciousness is the creative element in the universe. Without it, nothing would appear.” ~ Fred Allen Wolf (physicist, former professor at San Diego State University, b1934) “What if the possibilities discovered by quantum physics are the possibilities of consciousness itself? Remember there is already a class of people who think in this way. They are called mystics.” ~ Amit Goswami (physicist, retired professor from University of Oregon, b1936) “Thought creates our world, and then says ‘I didn't do it’” ~ David Bohm (highly esteemed physicist, Fellow of the Royal Society, 1917 – 1992) “It will remain remarkable, in whatever way our future concepts may develop, that the very study of the external world led to the scientific conclusion that the content of the consciousness is the ultimate universal reality” ~ Alain Aspect (physicist, noted for experimental work on quantum entanglement, b1947) “In quantum physics, as I said earlier, objects are not seen as definite things, as we are used to seeing them. Newton taught us that objects are definite things, they can be seen all the time, moving in definite trajectories. Quantum physics doesn't depict objects that way at all. In quantum physics, objects are seen as possibilities, possibility waves. So then the question arises, what converts possibility into actuality? … It is a paradox because who are we to do this conversion? … We are nothing but the brain, which is made up of atoms and elementary particles. So how can a brain which is made up of atoms and elementary particles convert a possibility wave that it itself is? It itself is made up of the possibility waves of atoms and elementary particles, so it cannot convert its own possibility wave into actuality … So who converts possibility into actuality? Consciousness does, because consciousness does not obey quantum physics. Consciousness is not made of material. Consciousness is transcendent … It is consciousness, through the conversion of possibility into actuality, that creates what we see manifest. In other words, consciousness creates the manifest world.” ~ Amit Goswami (physicist, retired professor from University of Oregon, b1936) “Atomic physics had already shown that solid matter did not really exist, our experience of solid substance being an appearance generated in the mind … When we speak of the material world we usually think we are referring to the underlying reality - the world that we are perceiving ‘out there’. In fact we are only describing our image of reality. The materiality we experience, the solidness we feel, the whole of the "real world" that we know are all aspects of the image created in the mind; they are part of our interpretation of reality. Paradoxical as it may sound, matter is something created in the mind. When we realize that everything we know, including the whole material world that we experience ‘out there’ is part of the phenomenon, the image constructed in consciousness, we find the truth is a complete reversal of our everyday view. Matter, as we know it, is a creation of consciousness … Space, time, matter, energy -- the whole substantial world built up from our sense perceptions - is created within consciousness.” ~ Peter Russell (scientist, psychologist, futurist, b1946) “Everything we know is part of the picture of reality arising in consciousness. This is true not only of the objects we experience in the world around; thoughts, feelings and ideas are likewise manifestations within consciousness, and so are the theories we construct about the nature of the world around. Everything we know is structured in consciousness. Consciousness is the fabric of reality. It is the medium from which every aspect of our experience manifests. Color, sound, taste, smell, space, time, matter -- every quality we ever experience in the world is a form or quality within consciousness. Our entire image of reality is generated in and from consciousness.” ~ Peter Russell (scientist, psychologist, futurist, b1946) “The universe and the observer exist as a pair. I cannot imagine a consistent theory of the universe that ignores consciousness” ~ Andrei Linde (physicist, Stanford University, b1948) “The universe does not exist ‘out there,’ independent of us. We are inescapably involved in bringing about that which appears to be happening. We are not only observers. We are participators. In some strange sense, this is a participatory universe.” ~ John Wheeler (highly regarded physicist, professor at Princeton University, 1911 – 2008) “The gradual recognition that what we think may physically influence what we observe has led to a revolution in thought and philosophy, not to mention physics.” ~ Fred Allen Wolf (physicist, former professor at San Diego State University, b1934) “Consciousness does not just passively reflect the objective material world; it plays an active role in creating reality itself.” ~ Stanislav Grof (distinguished faculty member of the Dept of Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness, California Institute of Integral Studies, b1931) “The stuff of which physical reality is composed is mind-stuff” ~ George Wald (scientist, 1967 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1906 – 1997) "When the province of physical theory was extended to encompass microscopic phenomena through the creation of quantum mechanics, the concept of consciousness came to the fore again. It was not possible to formulate the laws of quantum mechanics in a fully consistent way without reference to consciousness." ~ Eugene Wigner (physicist, 1963 Nobel Prize in Physics, 1902 – 1995) “The universe exists because we are aware of it." ~ Martin Rees (British cosmologist and astrophysicist, b1942) "The universe exists as formless potential in myriad possible branches in the transcendent domain and becomes manifest only when observed by conscious beings." ~ Amit Goswami (physicist, retired professor from University of Oregon, b1936) “In von Neuman’s interpretation, the world remains everywhere in a state of pure possibility except where some conscious mind decides to promote a portion of the world from its usual state of indefiniteness into a state of actual existence. ….. By itself the physical world is not fully real, but takes shape only as a result of the acts of numerous centers of consciousness. Ironically, this conclusion comes not from an otherworldly mystic examining the depths of his mind in private meditation, but from one of the world’s most practical mathematicians.” ~ Nick Herbert (physicist, author of Quantum Reality: Beyond the New Physics, b1936) "The doctrine that the world is made up of objects whose existence is independent of human consciousness turns out to be in conflict with quantum mechanics and with facts established by experiment." - Bernard d'Espagnat (physicist, philosopher of science, and author, 1921 – 2015) With such advances in science, modern day mystics can now safely refer to what they knew all along – that consciousness is key in the creation of “matter” and the universe. It was not long ago that such pronouncements would have been rejected outright. Of course, even today, this remains a difficult idea to apprehend. Some comments by mystics on the Role of Consciousness in creating matter are shown on the left. And so it is. Consciousness is the creator of all. Each of us brings into manifest form – as frozen light – our own localized part of the universe. The collective consciousness of many participate in bringing into being communities, towns, etc. And Spirit maintains the basic structure through Its consciousness within creation, i.e. through God within creation, Ishvara, or any other name that means the same thing. The above quotations refer to the impact of consciousness in general. Many more quotations on the role of individualized consciousness on our personalized universe will follow in the upcoming sub-section, Personalized Creation Model. The Holographic Universe “You go to sleep, and then you find yourself walking around the streets of a dream world. Did that dream world have to be "created"? No, because it's all in your mind. Is that dream world, as physical as it might seem, a "physical" world? No, because it is all in your mind. The same is true for this seemingly "real" world that you "live" in. This is a holographic dream world. It is all in your mind.” ~ Kenneth C. Dyer Jr (author on quantum physics, spirituality and other topics) “You’re holding a magazine. It feels solid; it seems to have some kind of independent existence in space. Ditto the objects around you - perhaps a cup of coffee, a computer. They all seem real and out there somewhere. But it’s all an illusion. Those supposedly solid objects are mere projections emanating from a shifting kaleidoscopic pattern living on the boundary of our Universe. The world is a hologram.” ~ J R Minkel (science writer for Scientific American, IEEE Spectrum, etc., 1980 – 2011) “We are not physical beings. We are beings of light (electromagnetic energy) experiencing the holographic illusion of being physical.” ~ Kenneth C. Dyer Jr (author on quantum physics, spirituality and other topics) “The illusion of solid objects in three-dimensional space … is fabricated within our brain and nervous system in such a way that a physical world appears to be really there outside of us, when in fact its real basis is a neurologically generated holographic pattern that is witnessed by consciousness in such a way as to trick us into seeing it as a solid external material world of physical objects.” ~ Paul Levy “The brain functions as a virtual reality computer, similar to in the movie called "The Matrix." Your entire reality is a virtual reality based illusion. What is "out there" is actually scientifically proven to be "in here," inside the brain. If you're wondering how the universe was "created" it was created in your brain and it is not real. The only thing that is "real" in this world is your consciousness. Physical matter is all a holographic illusion.” ~ Kenneth C. Dyer Jr (author on quantum physics, spirituality and other topics) A hologram is essentially a 3-dimensional photograph. When a coherent light source (like a laser beam) is projected through a holographic film or still frame, it produces a free-standing 3-dimensional object that can be seen without the aid of any special glasses. The 3-D objects look real but are actually composed of light. A holographic movie would be very similar to a cinema movie, except that the projected light would form 3-D scenes in space rather than two-dimensional scenes on a theatre screen. For movies, the still frames pass in front of the projector at a rate of 24-60 images per second. As a simple and fun example of a holographic scene, click on this link which takes you to a brief video by the company Magic Leap. Holograms are a recent technology, emerging in the 1960s and still being developed today. Activity is underway to make holographic projections appear real to all the human senses. For example, “haptic holograms” are being developed so that as the hand gets near the hologram, the display triggers a feedback mechanism, which feeds acoustic radiation pressure to the hand, creating the sensation that the person is touching a real object. At the same time, the hologram reacts to the hand's position, and can be moved based on the hand's trajectory. Creating a Star Trek holodeck was not long ago considered science fiction. Scientists and researchers now say we could have holodecks in the 2025 timeframe. According to a corporate spokesperson for Advanced Micro Devices, the computer chip maker, “The holodeck is something we’ve been fixated on here for a number of years … Ten years ago [2004], it seemed like a dream. Now, it feels within reach.” The company’s blueprint for a holodeck includes combining elements of computational photography, context computing, directional audio, tactile feedback, augmented reality and natural user interfaces to create its imagined worlds. AMD even has its own version of a holodeck built into the company’s California-based headquarters. Shaped like a dome and covered with wall-to-wall projectors, the room also uses surround sound and augmented reality to recreate the real world. The question of how you would walk around without hitting the holodeck wall has already been answered, too, with the United States Army Research Laboratory’s “omnidirectional treadmill” that lets you walk or run in any direction while the floor moves and you stay in the one place. The statement from their press release that “you walk or run in any direction while the floor moves and you stay in the one place” is fascinating. Let’s look at a statement made by the mystic Ramana Maharshi in the 1930s, “It follows that these fleeting objects are mere phenomena which appear on your being like pictures which move across a screen. The screen does not move when the picture moves. Similarly, you do not move from where you are even when the body leaves the home and mixes in society.” This sounds remarkable similar to AMD’s holodeck, in which the 3-dimensional scenes move around you but you stay in the one place. From a scientific perspective, looking at our universe as if it were a holographic movie projection of 3-D light images that change over time, like a cosmic motion picture show, is still in its early days. Michael Talbot’s book The Holographic Universe, published in 1991, summarized some of the early work carried out by Dr. Stanislav Grof and Dr. Karl Pribham regarding their work in modeling the human brain as a hologram. It also addressed physicist Dr. David Bohm’s view that everything in the universe is connected with everything else and any individual element can reveal detailed information about every other element in the universe. Such a model of the universe is consistent with some key features of holograms. However, as mentioned, it is still early days from a scientific standpoint. Having said that, viewing the universe as a holographic movie projection of 3-D light-based objects on the backdrop of space addresses many of the recent discoveries of our mysterious universe and is consistent with the world view as expressed by the mystics.
“You are not a drop in the ocean, you are the entire ocean in a drop” ~ Rumi “You see yourself in the world, while I see the world in myself” ~ Nisargadatta Maharaj “All space floats like an iceberg in my mental sea Colossal Container, I, of all things made” ~ P. Yogananda “To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour” ~ William Blake "Don't feel lonely, the entire universe is inside you” ~ Rumi “The whole treasure is within yourself” ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti “Anything that happens, events, or phenomena in people, are like ripples on the surface of Being … no ripple or wave has any separate existence from the whole. It just looks for a moment as if the wave or ripple was a separate entity. But it isn't.” ~ Eckhart Tolle “Thou canst not stir a flower Without troubling of a star.” ~Francis Thompson
“The experience of returning from that unitive vision to the world of duality, to the phenomenal world of space and time, does seem like re-entering a mind projection, a hologram, or a dream scene” ~ Swami Abhayananda “There is now a transparency to things in this new life - as though one’s body and all the objects were but holographic images with no substantial reality” ~ Swami Abhayananda “The ‘ray’ of the soul coming from Spirit produces a picture of the body on the screen of human consciousness and of space.” ~ P. Yogananda Is this a Holographic Universe, a projection from a two-dimensional holographic film, of 3-D frozen-light objects onto the backdrop of space? To some scientists, this is an attractive theory that matches recent discoveries of the universe, but too early for the experimental verification that is critical to the “scientific method”. To some scientists, it is a ridiculous concept. To the mystic, it is self-evident. “All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” ~ Arthur Schopenhauer (philosopher, 1788 – 1860) ____________________________ “We might be the holographic image of a two-dimensional structure” ~ Brian Greene (highly regarded physicist, author of Fabric of the Cosmos, b1963) “The three-dimensional world of ordinary experience - the universe filled with galaxies, stars, planets, houses, boulders, and people - is a hologram, an image of reality coded on a distant two-dimensional surface.” ~ Leonard Susskind (highly regarded physicist, Stanford University professor, b1940) “University of London physicist David Bohm, for example, believes Aspect's findings imply that objective reality does not exist, that despite its apparent solidity the universe is at heart a phantasm, a gigantic and splendidly detailed hologram.” ~ Michael Talbot (science writer, author of The Holographic Universe, 1953 – 1992) “There are indeed many interesting parallels between David Bohm's work in physics and Karl Pribram's work in neurophysiology. After decades of intensive research and experimentation, this world-renown neuroscientist has concluded that only the presence of holographic principles at work in the brain can explain the otherwise puzzling and paradoxical observations relating to brain function. Pribram's revolutionary model of the brain and Bohm's theory of holomovement have far-reaching implications for our understanding of human consciousness.” ~ Stanislav Grof (distinguished faculty member of the Dept of Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness at California Institute of Integral Studies, b1931) Virtual Reality World
The solid nature of matter is an illusion – it is now understood to be frozen light, i.e. the universe around us and our bodies are not solid but are essentially empty space with only an appearance of solidity. This sounds just like a Virtual Reality (VR) game in which the virtual environment and the virtual players are holographically projected into space. The actual players exist outside of this virtual world and can watch their virtual selves play in the game from beyond. This is exactly what our real selves, the god-like souls, do. From outside the virtual creation, they observe their virtual selves, the body-suits, playing in the cosmic game. What is different in today’s version of creation is that the body-suits think they are the real thing and that they and the universe they find themselves in are not part of a virtual game, but are their reality. It’s like a player in one of today’s VR games, assuming the role of a fighter pilot, puts on his headset, engages in his virtual battles in his virtual world, but becomes so caught up in the game, that he eventually thinks that he really is a fighter pilot. Imagine a future VR game, similar to a Star Trek holodeck, in which one enters the virtual world without the need for a headset – forgetting reality and thinking the virtual player is real will become even more prevalent. As co-creator’s within creation, we are creating VR technologies that simulate reality, much like Spirit does with this universe. Perhaps understanding a bit about where our VR technology developments will be taking us will help us understand the nature of the cosmic VR game we are already in. VR concepts have been around for decades, however until recently, the costs prohibited commercially viable systems. That is all changing now, as VR technologies make use of low-cost smart phone processing devices and displays to allow affordable commercial systems. Over the coming decade, we can expect to see a dramatic proliferation of VR devices and systems. Virtual reality is a fascinating technology. To date, it has been largely limited to providing an immersive experience for those playing interactive games on computers. With the use of VR headsets, gamers take on a new persona within a simulated 3-D immersive environment; perhaps finding themselves as a warrior on a true-to-life battlefield, either in ancient days with swords and spears or in modern times with drones and rocket propelled grenades. Part of the gamer’s consciousness identifies with the game persona and associated virtual world and part with his normal “real” existence. All the major players - Facebook, Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Sony, Samsung - have whole groups dedicated to these developments. Facebook alone has more than 400 people working on VR. There are also smaller start-up companies, e.g. Magic Leap, which began in 2010 and already has acquired $1.4 billion in investment funding. To say this is a huge upcoming field is an understatement. The following are extracts from an article on virtual reality entitled Inside Magic Leap, that appeared in the June 2016 issue of WIRED magazine, written by Kevin Kelly, Senior Maverick and founding executive editor of this journal. Virtual reality is creating the next internet. Today the internet is a network of information ... But what we are building with artificial reality in an internet of experiences ... VR does two important things: one, it generates an intense and convincing sense of what is generally called presence. Virtual landscapes, virtual objects and virtual characters seem to be there - a perception that is not so much a visual illusion as a gut feeling. That's magical. But the second thing it does is more important. The technology forces you to be present – in a way flatscreens do not – so that you gain authentic experiences, as authentic as in real life. People remember VR experiences not as a memory of something they saw but as something that happened to them ... This shift from the creation, transmission, and consumption of information to the creation, transmission and consumption of experience defines this new platform ... With a VR platform we will create a Wikipedia of experiences, potentially available to anyone, anywhere, anytime. Travel experiences – terror at the edge of an erupting volcano, wonder at a walking tour of the pyramids – once the luxury of the rich (like books in the old days) will be accessible to anyone with a VR rig. Or experiences to be shared: marching with protesters in Iran; dancing with revellers in Malawi; how about switching genders? Experiences that no humans have had: exploring Mars; living as a lobster ... One of Microsoft's ambitions for the HoloLens is to replace all the screens in a typical office with wearable devices. The company's demos envision workers moving virtual screens around or clicking to be teleported to a 3D conference room with a dozen co-workers in different cities. At Magic Leap, the dev team will soon abandon desktop screens in favour of virtual displays ... [the] founder of Meta, says that its new Meta 2 mixed-reality glasses will replace monitors in his company within a year. It's no great leap to imagine such glasses also replacing the small screens we all keep in our pockets. In other words, this is a technology that can upend desktop PCs, laptops and phones. No wonder Apple, Samsung and everyone else is paying attention. This is what disruption on a vast scale looks like ... The time is coming when, if someone says, "Let's meet," everyone will know that means let's meet in virtual reality ... Unbelievably real ... I knew I had seen the future.” There are limitations with the current state of the technology that require further development and investigation, including;
The next really big leap for VR could be a VR “body-suit” that includes feedback sensors from the entire body combined with less obtrusive headsets. This is likely several years away. The leap after that could be to a holodeck-like environment which would provide a true immersive experience. The gamer, without a headset or “body-suit”, would be inside of a room in which the walls, floor and ceiling would simulate a virtual world. Motion would be simulated by an “omnidirectional treadmill” or similar device. While the gamer would be immersed in a different world, he would limited to be “himself” rather than taking on another persona. Such holodecks would be very expensive and would likely be used primarily by the military and businesses like airlines, for simulation purposes. Perhaps entertainment centers would arise and consumers could go to be enthralled, like going to the cinema. This technology is some ten years away. Another leap could be to the Star Trek type holodeck that would be similar to the one mentioned above, but in which the participant could at least partially program himself to take on a different persona and the simulated world would include non-real simulated participants to interact with. Of course, VR could evolve in ways other than the above, depending on the evolution of technology and the imaginations of the developers. An interesting future full immersion virtual reality model comes from the FutureTimeline website and is based on advanced developments in nanotechnology. Here is their view of the year 2039 – “For the first time, human brains are actually being merged with computer intelligence. Rather than viewing games on a screen, users can now experience the program from within their own nervous systems, as though it were an extension of their mind. A simple, minimally invasive procedure inserts nanobots (blood cell-sized devices) into their bodies. These microscopic machines are self-guided towards the neurons in their brain responsible for visual, auditory and other senses. Here, they remain in a dormant state, but in close proximity to the brain cells. When the user wishes to experience a simulated reality, the nanobots immediately move into place, suppressing all of the inputs coming from the real senses and replacing them with signals corresponding to the virtual environment. If the user decides to move their limbs and muscles as they normally would, the nanobots again intercept these neurochemical signals – suppressing the "real world" limbs from moving, and instead causing their "virtual" limbs to move within the game. This means a user can be sitting in a fixed position, while experiencing a high degree of activity and movement. … Users now have the option of actually "being" in a game environment and experiencing its graphics, audio and other effects (e.g. tactile feedback) in a manner that is largely indistinguishable from the real world … Full immersion VR isn't just limited to games. With such huge creative scope, it can be used for a whole range of applications: from business to education, training, healthcare, engineering, design, media and entertainment. Tourism is revolutionized, since people no longer have to travel great distances or spend large amounts of money to explore the sights and sounds of another location.” As a related aside, the website FutureTimeline also predicts that by 2020, Holographic TV will be going mainstream. Holographic TV will be different than 3-D TV in that no glasses will be needed to see the life-like projections coming out from the TV and, unlike 3-D TV, the projected holographic objects will look different to viewers sitting at a different angle to the screen just as objects do in real life. Already, philosophical discussions are taking place about how people will react to future VR worlds. Will people like the VR worlds better than their “real” world and choose to move in? Will people confuse their “real” world and their virtual world such that bewilderment over what is really real reigns? “Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?” ~ Morpheus, from The Matrix “Once upon a time, I, Chuang Tzu, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Chuang. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man.” ~ Chuang Tzu (The Butterfly Dream) Note – Chuang Tzu’s real intent in telling this story was to try to make people understand that both our waking state and our dream state are dreams. “During our dreams we do not know we are dreaming. We may even dream of interpreting a dream. Only on waking do we know it was a dream. Only after the great awakening will we realize that this is the great dream. And yet fools think they are awake, presuming to know that they are rulers or herdsmen. How dense! You and Confucius are both dreaming, and I who say you are a dream am also a dream.” VR worlds have been the subject of books and science fiction movies. Many will be familiar with the 1999 movie The Matrix which depicts a future in which the “reality” perceived by most humans is actually a simulated virtual world called "the Matrix", created by malicious sentient machines in order to subdue the human population, while their bodies are stored in vats to be used as an energy source for the machines. The few humans who have escaped the "dream world" rebel against the machines. In recent years, a number of scientists, philosophers and others have speculated that perhaps we are already living in a virtual world, wherein the universe and ourselves are carefully constructed simulations or illusions that fool our minds into thinking this is reality. One respected philosopher, Nick Bostrom of Oxford University has suggested (“Are You Living in a Computer Simulation,” 2003) that one of three possible scenarios must be true (assuming there are other intelligent civilizations):
Here’s another thought on this, from Is Life a Virtual Reality Game, Illusion or Dream, by Dr. Ulla Sarmiento, 2014: Our True Energetic Selves are “mini-Me’s” of our Source Entity, who created us as fully sentient beings, i.e. we are self-aware and able to change ourselves and our environment … We and countless other True Energetic Selves … create the physical forms that we project our sentience into to explore our playground [physical universe] … The human form is a ‘wetsuit’ we use. And here are some more fascinating thoughts, this time from IS THE UNIVERSE A VAST, CONSCIOUSNESS-CREATED VIRTUAL REALITY SIMULATION?, by Bernard Haisch, 2014 (note - underlined words in the following quotation are mine and will be explained following); A digital reality whose laws are software is an idea that has started to gain traction in large part thanks to an influential paper in Philosophical Quarterly by Oxford professor Nick Bostrom. Writing in the New York Times John Tierney had this to say: “Until I talked to Nick Bostrom, a philosopher at Oxford University it never occurred to me that our universe might be somebody else's hobby … But now it seems quite possible. In fact, if you accept a pretty reasonable assumption of Dr. Bostrom's, it is almost a mathematical certainty that we are living in someone else's computer simulation.” … imagine instead a consciousness that can unwaveringly hold in its thoughts the detailed structure of the entire universe, down to the last atom, and indeed even down to the last quark and all other subatomic particles. And not only the structure, but the nanosecond by nanosecond – and even shorter timescale – dynamical behavior of each particle as governed by the laws of nature that this consciousness has also created in its thoughts … the great consciousness would be able to experience things like, for example, life as a human on planet earth… or life as a dinosaur on the ancient earth… or life in another solar system. This might be the way a vast consciousness comes to know itself, and perhaps even to evolve itself. Each one of us would be … a projection of consciousness into a virtual universe. In this view we, as consciousness, are real; matter, as physical stuff, is a simulation. Perhaps it is time to reconsider the very nature of physical reality. Could it be that the universe and everything in it is not material stuff governed by rigid physical laws, but rather some kind of virtual reality? This would be consistent with what Heisenberg wrote: “But the atoms or elementary particles themselves are not real; they form a world of potentialities or possibilities rather than one of things or facts.” And might the sole basis of this virtual reality be consciousness? Is consciousness the only thing that actually exists? Let's postulate that ultimately there is one "thing" and nothing else: a vast unbounded consciousness (or non-physical mind) beyond space and time, a consciousness that can think, imagine, reason, calculate and compute. Picture this consciousness acting as a self-programming computer, a computer so vast and powerful that it can store and manipulate "bytes of consciousness" and process "software thoughts" sufficient to model the laws of nature and the behavior of every single particle in the universe subject to those laws … The scale is beyond imagination; an amazing computer that has no processing or storage limits and thereby can create a simulated reality which models the entire universe. In fact, that simulation would be the universe … In this view we ourselves are projections of this consciousness into this virtual world. We and all other life forms interact with this universe in a way that is analogous to playing a video game. By attaching our projected real consciousness to a particular avatar (in the video game sense, not the Hindu god sense) we become a "real material" person in a totally realistic virtual world… even though in fact the only thing that is real is the fundamental consciousness along with its projections - us - into the virtual reality. But to us playing the game, it seems totally real and we can interact with the environment and other players as if they were made of matter, even though there is no such thing as matter. We become totally immersed in this virtual world … What is gained by this view? First off, this obviates the need for there to be anything else but consciousness itself. Real matter would be a figment of the imagination. It would not be necessary. All "data" and every "line of code" would be thoughts. So long as the universe simulation is held in the mind of the fundamental consciousness this creation persists and provides us an arena to play the game of life. And it may even be a way through which the fundamental consciousness evolves itself: through the actions and life lessons of its projections … If we accept the view that ultimately the only true reality is a universal consciousness, then it does not matter whether we as projection of that consciousness play a game of life by joining our consciousness with what we believe to be genuine physical matter or join a massive, incredibly detailed simulation. Neither is real, but living lives in such an imagined space and time affords both an adventurous experience and even a means for growth of the fundamental consciousness because the lessons we learn are quite real even if the world is not … This view also resolves the origin of space, time and other universes with different laws. You can make up any number of spatial dimensions and time dimensions in your software. You can also specify whatever laws you want a universe to have with software… provided they are consistent with each other in any given universe. The cause of the Big Bang would be the booting up of the simulation. And otherwise inexplicable quantum laws are easily explained by the software. Different universes could just be different subprograms within the fundamental consciousness … Now it would not be necessary to simulate the presence and action of every single particle or photon. It’s a question of realistic rendering. Take the moon as an example. An object called the moon along with all its characteristics would reside in the data base. But given that the simulation would undoubtedly be intelligently done so as to save effort and minimize rote computation, it would only be necessary to render the moon to whomever happens to be looking at it … Even with rendering being custom produced for every observer that still saves many orders of magnitude over calculating everything. And, yes, this would be relevant to the question of whether there is a noise in the forest when a tree falls. The falling of the tree would be recorded in the database, but without anyone to hear a sound, a noise would probably not warrant rendering.” Now go back and re-read the above excerpt from IS THE UNIVERSE A VAST, CONSCIOUSNESS-CREATED VIRTUAL REALITY SIMULATION?, by Bernard Haisch, this time substituting “the Supreme Being” or “Spirit” for every underlined word or phrase. Bernard Haisch’s vision of a computer-based virtual world is a remarkable match to the mystics’ views of the virtual world created by Spirit. This is a masterful description of creation and ourselves. One might ask why the last paragraph has been included in the excerpt above. It does not appear to add much to the analogy. However, let’s have another look. Excerpts from the last paragraph are shown below; Now it would not be necessary to simulate the presence and action of every single particle or photon. It’s a question of realistic rendering. Take the moon as an example. An object called the moon along with all its characteristics would reside in the data base. But given that the simulation would undoubtedly be intelligently done ... it would only be necessary to render the moon to whomever happens to be looking at it. You may recall that in the sub-section on The Strange World of Quantum Mechanics (from The Enchanted Universe section) that it was mentioned that Einstein had a real problem with the indeterministic nature of matter that quantum mechanics predicted, i.e. “that until an observer looks at it, matter resides in a fuzzy state of unmanifested non-existence, like background waves of possibilities with associated probabilities. Once observed, matter will come into being and appear as solid forms but will actually be waves of manifested light frozen into forms and objects”. Einstein is quoted as having said, “I like to think the moon is there even if I am not looking at it". Many years of subsequent work in quantum mechanics continued to support the view that matter remains unmanifested in the absence of a conscious observer. So much so, that in 1981, physicist David Mermin boldly asserted that, “We now know that the moon is demonstrably not there when nobody looks.” It is fascinating that in Bernard Haisch’s virtual world “it would only be necessary to render the moon to whomever happens to be looking at it.” As mentioned in the Introduction and again in this sub-section, a virtual reality world is an excellent analogy for understanding ourselves and the universe. In the upcoming section on Helpful Creation Analogies, this will once again be briefly mentioned, along with other creation analogies, some of which were initially prefaced in the Introduction section. The Enigma of Time and Space “Physicist Bernard Haisch invites us to ask ourselves how the universe of space and time would appear from the perspective of a beam of light. He explains that the laws of relativity are clear on this point. If you could ride a beam of light as an observer, all of space would shrink to a point, and all of time would collapse to an instant. In the reference frame of light, there is no space and time.” ~ Jay Alfred (Research Director at Dark Plasma Life Research Organization) “The distinction between the past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.” ~ Albert Einstein (physicist, Nobel Prize winner, 1879 – 1955) "The Laws of Nature are not rules controlling the metamorphosis of what is, into what will be. They are descriptions of patterns that exist, all at once... The four-dimensional space-time manifold displays all eternity at once." ~ from Genius; the Life and Science of Richard Feynman, by James Gleick, 1992 “For decades, quantum mechanics predicted that your observation not only creates your present reality, but also creates the past history appropriate to that reality, i.e., you actually produce something backwards in time. Most scientists found this difficult to comprehend, much less believe. Quantum cosmologist John Archibald Wheeler suggested what he called a “delayed-choice experiment,” which if carried out would determine whether or not one’s observation actually could produce something backwards in time. For a long time, this was just conjecture, but in 1987, the experiment was performed and it confirmed that backwards-in-time history is created by the observer. Scientists still find this difficult to comprehend or believe.” ~ James A. Cusumano, Ph.D., from Cosmic Consciousness, Are We Truly Connected? “Before Abraham was, I am.” ~ Jesus of Nazareth “When you view it from the highest dimension, there is no time and no space, nor any future or past.” ~ Edgar Cayce “Eternal consciousness has one time - the ever present. God looks through the window of infinite consciousness on the films of finite happenings of the past, present, and future shown on the screen of time and space, continuously moving backward and forward in an eternal now.” ~ P. Yogananda “There is only imagination. It has absorbed you so completely that you just cannot grasp how far from reality you have wandered. No doubt imagination is richly creative. Universe upon universe are built on it. Yet they are all in space and time, past and future, which just don't exist.” ~ Nisargadatta Maharaj “As form you are still in time. As the formless you are beyond time.” ~ Eckhart Tolle “From a purely theoretical point of view, Eternity can be a very daunting concept, one which cosmologists as a rule refrain from considering. But for those of us who have been privileged to experience Eternity directly, it is neither a theory nor a concept. We know, with absolute certainty, that it is the underlying foundation, support, and projecting power upon which this universe of time and space exists. We know that time exists only in the universal manifestation, with a recurrent beginning and end, and that in Eternity there is no such thing as time – no past, no present, no future.” ~ Swami Abhayananda As one can see from the above, this is a fascinating topic. It will be addressed in the What’s New section. |
