The Great Age - When science proves spiritual concepts

At Yoga Journal’s Boston conference in April 2010, Deepak Chopra presented a summary of the parallels that exist between modern scientific thought and ancient spiritual wisdom, in relation to human consciousness. The thesis of his lecture was summarized by his simple, yet profound quote:

“I am not a mind in a body, I am a body in a great big mind”.

In his talk, Chopra referenced quotes from scientists about the nature of reality that mirrored the words of great spiritual figures or closely matched concepts found in ancient spiritual texts.

 He implied that some great scientific breakthroughs have been inspired by spiritual ideas. 

Like Chopra, author Gregg Braden also feels that spirituality and science need to come together if we are to solve the mystery of consciousness, the key to unveiling the ultimate truth of our existence:

"When we talk about the power of 'invisible forces' such as belief, to many scientists, we've crossed the line that separates science from everything else. Maybe it's precisely because this line is so hard to define that we often learn about it only after we've already crossed it. My personal belief is that by relaxing the boundaries that have traditionally kept science and spirituality separate, we'll ultimately find the power of a greater wisdom. With the new discoveries showing that consciousness affects everything from the cells of our bodies to the atoms of our world, belief is clearly at the forefront of that exploration today. Interestingly, it has also become the place where science, faith and even spirituality seem to be finding common ground."
Gregg Braden - The Spontaneous Healing of Belief

The New Age freed us from the need to follow any one spiritual system or religious dogma, and gave us the ecumenical awareness to consider all beliefs.

We could pick and choose what principles or insights we found most helpful, from any spiritual teacher, religion or ideology that we encountered on our individual path to enlightenment.

This revamping of beliefs may also have helped inspire new, more existential scientific ideas.

Some of these ideas, especially those about the composition of matter at the quantum level of reality, seem to be on the verge of proving that the metaphysical, (that which lies beyond matter), is “real”.  What we should now call The Great Age is upon us, when science reveals the existence of other dimensions or facets of reality that we can not see, touch or feel. 

Quantum Super String theory assumes that there are 11 levels of vibrational reality, some of which are "non-material". It is a fascinating and hopeful idea to think that if non-physical, higher dimensions or levels could exist, they could be what mystic masters have called the higher planes, or levels of the heavenly worlds.

 Another profound revelation of modern Quantum Physics is called the “measurement problem”, which states that the intention and beliefs of the observer affect the outcome of controlled experiments, whenever scientists try to analyze reality at it’s smallest measurable level. If our individual consciousness influences reality, then the possibility exists that we are all linked to a larger, collective consciousness which could be the organizing force behind manifest creation.

The current belief that consciousness arises from matter could be replaced by a realization that matter is an illusion of consciousness, an idea that saints, sages, swami’s and philosophers have echoed over the centuries as well. 

While the New Age allowed us to grow individually, the hope of The Great Age is that an understanding of the unified nature of consciousness will brings us to a realization of our oneness with each other, and our interconnection with all life everywhere. Our potential as a civilization has been limited by by the divisions caused by a mistaken belief in our separateness.

We will only achieve lasting harmony and peace when we overcome what the Dalai Lama calls “the myth of individuality”. We now have the option to move away from the old model of greed, fear and competition and into a new paradigm of love, peace and cooperation where utopia awaits. Heaven on Earth is not a destination, it’s a realization.

Why the Paranormal is Normal

An article in the Washington Post On Faith section in response to their question:
Polls routinely show that 75 percent of Americans hold some form of belief in the paranormal such as astrology, telepathy and ghosts. All religions contain beliefs in the supernatural. Is there a link? What's the difference?

In general, it's fair to say that the popular belief in the paranormal falls outside the official picture of reality. The official picture is grounded in science, rationalism, and materialism. It takes a definition of "natural," after all, before "supernatural" can exist. God was natural in the medieval world, and thus miracles, healings, apparitions of the Virgin Mary, stigmatics, and so on, were considered natural. At the moment, it doesn't matter how many people believe in the supernatural. Until the official picture changes, astrology is bogus, astronomy is legitimate. Ghosts are bogus, apparitions of the Virgin Mary are -- well, that's the rub. Religious people are allowed to cling to a different model of reality, tolerated by the official gatekeepers but not believed in. This gives rise to the curious phenomenon of religious scientists, who manage to hold on to two totally conflicting worldviews at the same time.

Any of us can hold conflicting viewpoints at the same time -- it's called compartmentalization. If the various compartments are tight enough and separated by thick walls, a whole range of phenomena can be believed in without making them consistent. I can imagine a cell biologist who is Catholic, has seen a UFO, reads the astrology column in the newspaper, and hopes to go to Heaven when he dies. It would be far better, however, to promote a consistent worldview, one that allows the walls to come down so that official reality might open up to unofficial reality. And vice versa, since popular belief in certain kinds of totally unproven folk cures, for example, can do harm, just as the official insistence on pharmaceuticals and surgery does its own brand of harm at times.

The only consistent worldview that I've ever discovered places all phenomena, natural and supernatural, on the ground of consciousness. The noted Australian neurologist Sir John Eccles pointed out a truth that materialists, including both scientists and ordinary people, don't remotely grasp. There is no sight or sound 'out there' in the world, Eccles declared, no touch or taste, no beauty or ugliness, no sensation of light or objects. All these things are created in subjectivity, which is to say, they exist only in consciousness. The fact that your hand seems solid is an illusion. A neutrino passes through the entire Earth without encountering an obstacle. Every atom in your hand is 99.9999% empty space. Measured in proportion, the distance between the electrons and nucleus of an atom is greater than the distance between the Earth and the sun. At the next level of reality, atoms disappear into energy waves and then into pure potential, the ghostly state of so-called virtual reality. Only perception makes a hand solid. and perceptions are interlinked to create the world you and I inhabit, so that color, light, sound, smell, solidity, etc. all fit together.

In my view, paranormal events are neither fringe nor unreal. They are simply things not yet admitted into consciousness by our official belief system. Reality has this curious habit of keeping certain things under wraps until the human mind is willing to look at them, and then all at once they appear, changing the world when they do. Germs and gravity were once waiting in the wings but now stand center stage. In ancient India, astrology was center stage and now has retreated again, for the coming and going of phenomena works both ways.

Even so, consciousness never retreats. In the darkest ages, people know that they are aware, and from that basic premise they create a personal reality, and when enough individuals agree, then collective reality comes about. Trying to base common reality sheerly on material objects has been wildly successful in the West, but that means little about ultimate reality, which transcends individuals and groups. In the ultimate reality there is only pure consciousness, which can be conceived of as the modeling clay or box of paints that Nature provides, adding the simple instruction: Use as you please.

www.intentblog.com / Deepak Chopra