the planet project

Science and religion have always been at loggerheads. Their disagreements have been many, varied and colourful, but centre around their opposing ontological approaches i.e. religion sees nature as spiritual and science sees nature as material. Mysticism goes beyond religion and science to combine both points of view.

Mysticism demands that its followers verify and question beliefs until they discover the truths themselves. Followers are called verifiers or seekers and should not accept doctrine, but question it; “In mysticism, then, we find a type of spirituality which has close epistemological parallels to science – a spirituality that begins with faith but ends in a certainty which each of us can and must discover in our own practice.” Joel Morwood.

The certainty of science has been damaged by quantum theory. The experimental approach is debunked as ‘facts’ recorded by empirical observations are flawed by the subjectivity of the senses. Time and space are no longer thought of as constant or linear; sub-atomic phenomena behave differently in the presence of observers and are now thought of in terms of both waves and particles. This idea demands a ‘complementarity’ or the necessity to hold two seemingly opposing ideas in the mind at the same time – something mystics are usually ridiculed for.” Quantum theory has led the physicists far away from the simple materialistic views that prevailed in the natural science of the nineteenth century.” Werner Heisenberg. This seems to suggest that the fundamental realities of mysticism and science are moving closer together.

Many scientists have published books that show the similarities between the beliefs of mysticism and science. Even Stephen Hawkings can ‘…see God in my equations.” People who believe they are ‘serious’ scientists say this is all stuff and nonsense. They claim that this is pop science and does nothing but get book deals and lucrative grants.

Still, the mystics smile knowingly and beckon us to the ‘dark side’, to enlightenment.

They claim that, in order to understand nature, we must abandon empiricism, materialism and knowledge itself in order to ‘know’. The truths of science are not the same as the mystical truths, although there was a time when we thought they were. Mystical truths are absolute; beyond concepts, subjectivity, culture and world views.

Whether you are on the side of science or religion, there is undeniable evidence of phenomena which cannot be explained solely by one side or the other. If we thought of both science and mysticism in terms of energy, we seem to be talking the same language.

In China, the essence of everything is believed to be ‘chi’ – a kind of divine energy which polarizes into yin and yang (positive and negative). In India, Brahman is the creative power flanked by Vishnu and Shiva. Matter is condensed energy; “By energising of consciousness, Brahman is massed; from that, matter is born and from matter, life and mind and the worlds… “Mundaja Upanishad. Tibetan philosophy also sees the essence of everything as a pulsing, dynamic energy or vibration. According to these approaches, ‘consciousness’ is simply an awareness of this energy. Mysticism is a way to lock into this energy – to channel, change, read and direct it. Practitioners initially learn from it, but with time and practice are able to use it to heal or change the environment around them. In a controlled lab experiment, Beverly Rubick (a biophysicist at San Francisco State University) tested the effects of psychic healers: “I knew when… I intoxicated my bacteria with a dose of a certain chemical agent, that indeed they would not swim. And what we found with some of the psychic healers … is that they were able to revive a certain percentage of them. We found about seven percent motility in that experiment, as I recall.”

In the wonderfully entertaining “What the Bleep Do We Know” – an insightful documentary explaining the ideas of energy and mysticism – Dr. Masaru Emoto conducts an experiment where droplets of water are frozen under controlled lab conditions. Before each droplet is frozen, the good doctor projected an emotion and phrase like “You make me sick” or “Love and gratitude”. The resulting ice formations leave us with much food for thought. "Half of the earth is water; our body is three-quarters water. Many studies have shown subtle effects of healers upon hydrogen bonding and infrared absorption of water. None of these scientific studies can compare with the beauty and clear messages shown by Dr. Emoto's elegant work. The impact of thought and beauty has never before been demonstrated so well."

You make me sick                                              Love and Gratitude

Heavy Metal Music                                    Mozart

It seems then that perhaps one may not have to entirely abandon spirituality in order to be scientific. In fact, our scientific endeavours are pointing to the fact that a more holistic, balanced way of thinking needs to be adopted if we are going to make any headway in the fields of science or spirituality.

References:

Dr. Emoto’s website: http://www.masaru-emoto.net/

Joel Morwood: http://www.centerforsacredsciences.org/teachings/science.html