Anyone who equates myth with superstition would claim that we live in a world that has gone beyond mythology. Science is proud of vanquishing superstition, and a certain vocal contingent of atheists use science to bolster their belief that God is pure superstition. However, mythology is harder to vanquish that that. It crops up in new guises, because myths aren't superstitions. They are mental templates, operating assumptions, the beliefs that bolster a world view and, above all, a way to explain nature. In any infinite universe, the human mind finds ways to tell a story that will bring the infinite within reach, and myths serve that function.
Sometimes myths are so strong that they pen reality in, building a fence around it and forcing every natural event to stay inside the fence. When God or the gods were the cause of earthly events, the fence was tight and inescapable. But the rise of quantum theory a century ago revealed that even stronger fences were hemming in our sense of reality. We explained the universe through matter and energy governed by physical laws. In the pre-quantum world this scheme wasn't theory; it was reality, pure and simple. Everything inside this fence acted the same way. It operated by cause and effect. It never went faster than the speed of light. It conformed to mathematical formulations. It excluded the mushy emotions and shifting moods of subjectivity. Science claimed to have found a model for nature that was based on reason alone. How strange, then, that reason was actually the seed of a new mythology, and even stranger, that this rock-solid system is crumbling all around us.
In previous posts I've given the simplest indications of the cracks in the pre-quantum scientific mythology. It turns out that matter has no real existence but is a pattern of waves entangled in the quantum field. It turns out that events are not localized in time and space but have ramifications that go beyond spacetime and travel faster than the speed of light. And in the end, the entire universe, including space and time, emerged from a state of potentiality that transcends visible creation. None of this is disputable, yet we all lead our lives as if the old boundaries hem us in. In fact, these boundaries were self-created. They are part of our accepted mythology.
Seeing what the next stage might be, after the old mythology totally crumbles, falls to a handful of speculative thinkers, many of them physicists, since they are the direct heirs of the quantum evolution. The key ideas that are catching hold, at various stages of acceptance, include the following:
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Steven and Michael Meloan: Science And Spirituality Can Transform Our World... Together
Gregg Braden: The Wisdom of a Spirituality-Based Science
Duane Elgin: Humanity's Second Spiritual Age
Bruce Lipton: Has Modern Science Bankrupted Our Souls?
Cognitive science is answering questions about consciousness.
What religion panderers need ask, "Is consciousness the last place to hide god?"
A Living Param Saint.
We all need a competent guide on the inner levels of consciousness. If we are sincere in our quest, the Master will appear and make him/herself known. Eventually, we are all masters of our own worlds. Suggested site: www.masterpath.org.
Observe how the trees cover themselves with green leaves and bear fruit: wherefore give ye heed and know with regard to all His works, and recognize how He that liveth for ever hath made them so.
And all His works go on thus from year to year for ever, and all the tasks which they accomplish for Him, and their tasks change not, but according as God hath ordained so is it done.
And behold how the sea and the rivers in like manner accomplish and change not their tasks from His commandments'.
But you -you have not been steadfast, nor done the commandments of the Lord,
But ye have turned away and spoken proud and hard words
With your impure mouths against His greatness.
Oh, you hard-hearted, you shall find no peace.
Observe everything that takes place in the heaven, how they do not change their orbits, and the luminaries which are in the heaven, how they all rise and set in order each in its season.
Look at the earth, and give heed to the things which take place upon it from first to last, how steadfast they are, how none of the things upon earth change, but all the works of God appear to you.
Behold the summer and the winter, how the whole earth is filled with water, and clouds and dew and rain lie upon it.
Observe and see how (in the winter) all the trees seem as though they had withered and shed all their leaves, except fourteen trees, which do not lose their foliage but retain the old foliage from two to three years till the new comes.
(Refer Parts 1 to 4)
But the important thing to be realized is that we the human beings of the planet Earth may not be among these elite observers, as this Anthropic Principle is not earth centric , and there is a good chance that we may self destruct ourselves long before that. We might be among the top one hundred most advanced technological civilizations of the Milky way, but we are unlikely to reach the top ten as our civilization may collapse long before that- possibly in the next few centuries itself. Even with a 1 in 200 chance of a nuclear war taking place in a calendar year combined with a 1 in 4 chance of a global chain reaction per nuclear war is enough for a greater than 50 % probability of a collapse within the next 250 years , and near certain collapse within the next 5 centuries. We need to create probabilities to prevent our civilization from collapsing. For this, the conflicts between nations must end. For this, the conflicts between religions must end. Going back to Part 1 of this response. Lets divide `z` (the unknown) into two parts `z1`, and `z2` , where z1 pertaining to religion is of immediate concern to us – and `z2` pertaining to such questions as what happened before the big bang and whether there are multiple universes etc , that are not urgent.
(to be continued
Now this universe – as per present indications – may last trillions and trillions of years more and there will be ample time to get at the ultimate truth `x` and all `z2` type questions can wait.
But we need to survive the next few centuries – considered the danger zone - and we must understand `z1` to the extent necessary for a comprehensive convergence of Science with religion, which will pave the way to end the conflict between religions.
At least in the following four aspects, there must be a convergence between religions:
1) To be tolerant of other religions.
2) To live and let live.
3) To be good to your fellow beings, and take care of the environment.
4) To reduce our numbers.
So the question that must be answered is : What should be these `z1` category statements that have the best chance of being acceptable to all the religions of the world, are compatible with `y` and have a good chance of being true - they do not carry any metaphysical baggage - and are easy to believe? .
To my mind the best statement in this regard is the one made by the Scientist Paul Davies as given here:
``Whatever the differences of opinion about the nature of God, I know of no religion that does not teach that God is a mind`` ….. ….. God and the new Physics …. By Paul Davies
(to be continued)
Consider also Erwin Schrodinger’s concept pertaining to the unification of minds or consciousnesses. ``Their multiplicity is only apparent, in truth there is only one mind. Its just that consciousness is always in the singular``. Consider his appreciation of the doctrine of the Upanishads and the equation ``Atman = Brahman`` signifying that the personal self equals the omnipresent, all comprehending eternal self. Is it not the grandest of all thoughts? And this is not too far fetched to comprehend as explained in an earlier part.
Does not this omnipresence of the mind (called God) prove God and immortality at one stroke?
And there is nothing Hindu about it just as there is nothing Greek about the Pythagoras theorum
And it does not contradict any part of `y`.
And finally a serious understanding of the laws of causation will reveal that it is the `Interactions of the world `that enable millions of cells to arrive in this world as a tiny speck of jelly and it is the `interactions of the world` that lead to the said speck of jelly to go on to become either Hitler, or Gandhi, or Einstein or you and me.
And we have the understanding, that we have the freedom to cause such interactions that will create such probabilities that will enable us to survive the danger zone.
(To be continued after a gap)
4) The way the cosmos presents itself depends on how you look at it :
Perhaps you are referring to the Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics according to which it is the act of observing a system that forces it to select one of its options, which then becomes real. At the heart of this interpretation is the phenomena called `The collapse of the wave function` or the `Reduction of the state vector` that is used to describe the procedure that is adopted when an effect is magnified from the quantum to the classical level. Essence of this interpretation is that The world must be actually observed to be objective.
It is of course in the `z` category. It is speculative and has to vie with the Many Worlds Interpretation (Multiple and parallel universes). In this interpretation (MWI), initiated by Hugh Everret, wave functions never collapse and every conceivable outcome embodied in the wave function materializes albeit in different parallel universes. Whenever the world is faced with a choice at the quantum level the universe divides itself into as many parts as there are choices so that all possible options are followed. Thus in a Cricket match if England wins the toss and decides to bat first then there exists a parallel universe where India wins the toss and decides to field.
And of course there are several parallel universes where you have not been reading this sentence.
(To be continued)
5) The human mind may be creating what we call reality, which mirrors us but contains infinite possibilities unreachable by the human mind :
Possibly this refers to John Wheeler`s concept that this Universe of ours is a `Self excited circuit` . Starting small, it grows loop of U, and in time gives rise to observer- participancy which in turn imparts `tangible reality` to even the earliest days of the universe. This too is a `z` category concept, but to tell you the truth, one of my favorites and I am a strong believer in its possibility.
In order to understand this we must first understand the mechanism of an experiment called the `Delayed choice experiment` also conceptualized by the great John Wheeler. But I`ll come back to this DCE later.
Here I wish to highlight that this aspect has a profound as well as an inextricable linkage with the `Anthropic Principle `, that the constants of nature are designed for consciousness to emerge and theoretical physicists to arrive and understand the universe. That the performance of the universe at the time of the big bang and afterwards, was after all not something that was carried out in front of empty stalls, but that these stalls will get filled up by observers in the future, and that at some stage the universe will be so jam packed with consciousness as to become the future cause of such past events.
( To be continued )
But I would like to say something in simple words, about what I understand about the three words `Philosophy`, `Religion`, and `Science`. Guess I`ll use some Mathematics for this purpose:
If `x` corresponds to the ultimate truth that is to be arrived at ( may not be possible before a few more billions of years ), and `y` corresponds to the portion of truth that is fully understood and established by Science, then `z` = x – y obviously corresponds to that portion of truth which is either unknown or partly known and not yet established by Science. The entire philosophy of the world – whether written in books/websites, or discussed in seminars/get togethers – is dealing with `z`, and that portion of it which is related to such topics as `mind`, `consciousness`, `soul` , `spirit`, and `God` etc etc is called `Religion`. As and when a portion of `z` becomes an established truth by Science (By experiment/observation), it gets added to `y`, till such time, it remains in the domain of philosophy/religion. In my opinion the basic fundamental criteria to be adopted in arriving at one`s religion is that it should be fully compatible with `y` and should not be required to reject an already established truth.
(To be continued)
Having said that let me respond to the eight statements you have made:
1) The universe is evolving: True
2) The universe is conscious :
This is a category `z` statement. It is speculative. Possibly it is true but the degree of consciousness has a phenomenal variation between the smallest parts, the intermediate level parts and the whole. Our body contains trillions and trillions of cells. Each one of these cells is a unit life in itself. Each of these cells has an awareness – in the singular- which is infiniteously smaller than our consciousness. In turn our consciousness – which is also in the singular – and which is equal to the sum total of the awarenesses of the individual cells, is infiniteously smaller then the overall consciousness of the universe as a whole – in which we are contained - which incidentally is also a consciousness in the singular.
3) The universe is a living organism :
To understand this, we go down to the quantum level, say the level of an electron. We know that in the double slit experiment, an electron seems to know if it is under observation of a conscious observer and behaves differently in accordance with that knowledge. It acts like a wave when not observed, and like a particle when observed. In short the said observation collapses the wave function of the electron and the electron is aware of this – albeit in a very very insignificant way.
(to be
What is clear is that both religion and neuro-science have failed to crack consciousness. This may be a common goal but both are self limiting enterprises. Science refuses to contemplate a soul and religion refuses to accept the scrutiny of Enlightenment science as the basis for testing and confirming secure knowledge. If ever a religious conception exists that meets both criteria, we will know just how limited our species, rooted in a materialist, evolutionary biology is. A humanity honest enough to know and accept it's limitations, may even discover how those those limitations can be broken. It may have happened already? http://soulgineering.com/2011/05/22/the-final-freedoms/
common is also this life’s source,
One purpose one common ground
the life source’s transcendent course.
No man alters life’s purpose
from what life is meant to be,
bees being kissers of flowers
and flowers embracers of bees.
Process is used on aviation
as on bare desire no one flies,
it takes process on deification
to unlock man’s divine skies.
For man to know life’s true meaning
the real Christ one must taste,
divine love is life’s only healing
only in Christ life is lasting grace.