PureInsight | March 11, 2002
Abstract
The general, historical dialogue between religion and science goes back a long way – at least to Plato, Aristotle, and Leibniz. There is a striking coherence of Plato's Allegory of the Cave (Republic VII), Dr. Bohm's cosmology and Mr. Li Hongzhi's philosophy. Plato's light, Bohm's enfolded order, as well as Mr. Li's teachings on the nature of the universe can be apprehended only through insight, they lie beyond human language, and are inaccessible except to those willing to undergo arduous and single-minded change. The domains Bohm characterizes as "infinitely beyond" even the underlying order, namely " truth, intelligence, insight, compassion "– compare to Plato's ultimates: truth, the good, the one - compare to Falun Dafa principles: truth, compassion, tolerance.
Ever since the "quantum revolution" of about 70 years ago, various scientists have been finding the intriguing parallels between their results and certain mystical-transcendental religions. Heisenberg, Bohr, Schroedinger, Eddington, Einstein - all held a mystical-spiritual view of the world.
The goal of the paper is to show that the insights of some of the most prominent physicists and philosophers of our time: Dr. Bohm, Dr.Tiller and others make a perfect contact with Mr. Li Hongzhi's philosophy and views on science, structure of the universe, interconnectedness of matter, energy and consciousness.
Analysis and comparison of recent achievements of front edge sciences: quantum physics, theoretical mathematics, neuroscience etc. with many profound concepts of Falun Dafa demonstrates remarkable similarities between them.
However there is much more in Falun Dafa teachings that goes beyond even the cutting edge scientific theories. Although for now the most profound insights of Falun Dafa may sound inconceivable, eventually they will direct the course of development of future science.
A New Description of Reality
Before the seventeenth century, the goals of science were wisdom, understanding the natural order, and living in harmony with it.
About three centuries ago G.Leibniz, the discoverer of integral and differential calculus, said that a metaphysical reality underlies and generates the material universe. He postulated a universe of monads –units that incorporate the information of the whole. In his Monadology, Leibniz writes:
Each portion of matter may be conceived of as a garden full of plants, and as a pond full of fishes. But each branch of the plant, each member of the animal, each drop of its humors, is also such a garden or such a pond [1].
Leibniz' discovery of integral calculus enabled Gabor to invent the hologram two hundred years later, a discovery that would later earn him a Nobel Prize, but a demonstration of holography had had to await the invention of the laser. What is a hologram? Its main property is that each of its parts, in some sense, contains the whole. If any part of a hologram is illuminated, the entire image will be reconstructed.
About thirty years ago professor of neuroscience at Stanford University Karl Pribram, the author of "Languages of the Brain" which was acknowledged to be a modern classics, and professor of Theoretical Physics at University of London David Bohm, who had worked with Einstein, the author of "Quantum Theory", "The Special Theory of Relativity", etc. have proposed scientific theories which demonstrate an amazing similarity to the great mystical traditions of East and West.
This breakthrough fulfilled predictions that the long-awaited theory would (1) draw on theoretical mathematics; (2) establish the "supernatural" as part of nature.
The theory, in a nutshell:
"Our brains mathematically construct "concrete" reality by interpreting frequencies from another dimension, a realm of meaningful, patterned primary reality that transcends time and space. The brain is a hologram, interpreting a holographic universe" [2].
We read in Zhuan Falun: "
…actual messages from the human brain are not a function of the human brain itself – they are not generated by the brain…the human brain is only a processing factory. What is transmitted…is a message of the universe that represents a certain meaning. Upon receiving such a command, our brain will process this into our present language or other…forms of expression "[3].
The coherence between the above mentioned theory and Mr. Li Hongzhi's teachings is remarkable.
Dr. Bohm asserts that man's reality is shaped entirely by ideas.
"Natural reality goes beyond any human idea but the extent to which we can bring it in to our world depends on our ideas. So we may completely miss the natural reality because our ideas don't bring it in." He further elaborates, that the ideas which we have now to deal with reality are "sheer chaos. They may allow for some technical progress but in general they lead to chaos"[4]. David Bohm's work in subatomic physics and the "quantum potential" had led him to the conclusion that physical entities which seemed to be separate and discrete in space and time are actually unified in an implicit or underlying fashion. In Bohm's terminology, under the explicate or unfolded order of separate things and events is an implicate or enfolded order of undivided wholeness, and this implicate whole is simultaneously available to each explicate part. The enfolded order harbors our reality, much as the DNA in the nucleus of the cell harbors potential life and directs the nature of its unfolding.
So, the universe seems to be a gigantic hologram, with each part being in the whole and the whole being in each part.
"Every cell in our body enfolds the entire cosmos. So does every leaf, every raindrop, and every dust mole, which gives new meaning to William Blake's famous poem:
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 "[5].
Li Hongzhi likes to repeat that "Budda Sakyamuni said that at the microscopic level, a grain of sand contains three thousand worlds. It is just like a universe with life and matter within. If it is true, think about it: Is there sand in the world of that grain of sand? Are there three thousand worlds in the sand from that grain of sand?If the search continues on downward, it will be endless. Therefore,… Sakyamuni made this statement:" It's immense, without an exterior, and it's tiny, without an interior" [3]. This quotation may sound really mystical, but recently modern physics developed a very similar idea that self-consistency is the essence of all laws of nature.
The 'bootstrap' theory of hadrons (strongly interacting microscopic particles – NT), introduced by G.Chew [6 ] , not only denies the existence of fundamental constituents of matter, but accepts no fundamental laws, equations or principles. According to 'bootstrap' hypothesis, "each particle helps to generate other particles, which in turn generate it" [6 ].There is a fascinating logic in a fact, that if the poet sees the world in a grain of sand, the Eastern sage of Budda school sees three thousand worlds in a grain of sand, then the modern physicist sees the world in a hadron.
Dr.Bohm pointed out that ever since Galileo, science has objectified nature by looking at it through lenses. Or, like Pribram put it: "Maybe reality isn't what we see with our eyes. If we did not have that lens, we might know a world organized in the frequency domain. No space, no time – just events"[2]. Dr.Pribram pointed out the extraordinary insights of mystics and early philosophers that preceded scientific verifications by centuries.
"How did these ideas arise for millennia before we had the mathematics to understand them?"- Pribram asked. "Maybe in the holographic state – in the frequency domain – 4,000 years ago is tomorrow"[2].
In regards to the concept of time in other dimensions, Mr. Li Hongzhi states: "…humankind's time–space concept is different from that in another, larger time-space. Here, one shichen is two hours, which is a year in that space."[3]. One of the examples of mystical insights was the metaphysical description of the pineal gland as the "third eye". Recently it was found that the pineal gland may be something of a super master gland, since its secretion of melatonin regulates the activities of the pituitary, long considered the brain's master gland. Mr. Li Hongzhi states: "Modern medical dissection has already discovered that the front section of the pineal body is equipped with the complete structure of a human eye...This eye does not create false images like our pair of physical eyes, as it sees both the nature of matter and the essence of matter"[3].
A well known theoretical and high-energy physicist Dr.F.Capra in his famous book The Tao Of Physics says that "at present level of science it is already apparent that mysticism, or perennial philosophy, provides the most consistent philosophical background to all scientific theories"[7].
"Mystical experience", - said K.Pribram, - "is no more strange than many other phenomena in nature, such as the selective derepression of DNA to form first one organ, then another"[2]. "Eastern philosophy has come into the Western thought in the past. Every once in a while we have these insights that bring us back to the infinite,"- Pribram told on the Houston conference, New Dimensions in Health Care, - "Whether it will stick this time or we'll have to go around once more will depend on you. The spirit of the infinite could become part of our culture and not 'a little far out"[2].
Breaking Through the Conventional Scientific Paradigm
"If human beings are able to take a fresh look at themselves as well as the universe and change their… conventional thinking, the humankind will make a leap forward,"- affirms Mr. Li Hongzhi [3].
According to Bohm, starting from the early age we learn to see the world through a certain structure of ideas, with which we react immediately to each new experience before we even have time to think. "In this way we come to believe that certain ways of conceiving and perceiving the world cannot be otherwise, although in fact they were discovered and built up by us when we were children and have since then become habits"[4].
According to modern science, the light we sense with our eyes is but a very small range of the total electromagnetic spectrum existing in nature. It is also known that the sound we hear with our ears is but a very small portion of the acoustical spectrum existing in nature. Modern science limits our perceptive ability to five physical senses. It is necessary very often to go to a broader point of view. " We are continually being confronted," -elaborates Dr.Bohm, -"with what is not even implicitly contained in our earlier perceptions, thus we are being reminded that there is a reality beyond what we have already perceived, aspects of which are always in process of being revealed in our further perceptions"[4]. In Dr.Bohm's "Special Theory of Relativity" we further read:
"One of the main difficulties in the development of new concepts…- in the whole of science - has been the tendency to hold onto old concepts beyond their domain of validity; this tendency is evidently enhanced by our habit of regarding the entities and structures, that we know as absolutely permanent in their characteristics"[4].
Bohm insists that truth should be "apprehended in an essentially dynamic way, in the sense that our knowledge of it can undergo fundamentally new developments at any point, developments that contradict the older structure of ideas in unexpected ways and contain unexpected basically new features. So as in the case of relativity and quantum theory… older ideas (Newtonian-NT) are on a completely wrong track when extended beyond their proper domains"[4]. So the radically new ideas were needed.
"If people worship science," - said one of the most accomplished modern "natural philosophers" Herbert Spencer, - "and think it is fixed for all time, that it is right, and they know it, they are all making a great mistake"[8]. In his lecture in Frankfurt, Germany in 1998 Mr. Li Hongzhi called contemporary science a religion: "… it's a very well established religion." Scientific establishment tries "to make physics into a religion built on incontestable truths. And Special Relativity Theory (Einstein's –NT), together with Maxwell's equations, looked like the rock on which to found such a church" [9 ].
It's worth to be mentioned, what Einstein wrote in the letter to Ehrenfest: "As a result of numerous failures, I have now arrived at the conviction that this road (the theory of gravitation-electricity –NT) does not bring us closer to the truth" [10]. "Speaking of true science," - reaffirms Mr. Li Hongzhi, -"and in terms of our real knowledge of the universe, life and matter, the present day science cannot be considered as science"[3].Dr. Bohm confirms this in the following quote: "It is implied that the ultimate source is immeasurable and cannot be captured within our knowledge"[4]. And finally Dr.Tiller adds that "…science has placed humanity in a deep potential well with respect to consciousness and it has been, up until now, impossible to tunnel through this barrier for most humans"[11].
For those who were fortunate enough to come across Falun Dafa and absorb Mr. Li Hongzhi's teachings, tunneling through this barrier becomes really possible.
Matter <-> Energy <-> Consciousness
"All matter in the universe, including all substances that permeate the universe are living beings with thinking minds, and all of them are forms of existence of the universe's Fa (Law – NT) at different levels,"-affirms the founder of Falun Dafa Mr. Li Hongzhi [3].
Dr.Bohm also believes that consciousness is a more subtle form of matter, that "dividing the universe up into living and nonliving things has no meaning"[4]. " All objects have life."-continues Mr. Li Hongzhi, - "It is people living on Earth who categorize substances as organic and inorganic"[3].
"Even a rock is in some way alive, -says Bohm, -"for life and intelligence are present not only in all of matter, but in "energy", "space","time", "the fabric of the entire universe". And further: "Everything is alive. What we call dead is an abstraction"[16].
Ken Wilber, who was called the "Einstein of consciousness" states in "Quantum Questions": "The material realm, far from being the most fundamental, is the least fundamental: it has less Being than life, which has less Being than mind, which has less Being than spirit. Physics is simply the study of the realm of least- Being"[13].
Couple of years ago Dr.Tiller, one of the world's leading scientists on the structure of matter, for the first time in Western history introduced a scientific model of the Unseen in his groundbreaking book "Science and Human Transformation." His two previous monographs on the Microscopic and the Macroscopic Science of Crystallization (Cambridge Press 1991) certainly qualify him as one of the world's most knowledgeable research scientists in the basic structure of material substances. A Stanford professor for over thirty years in the Department of Material Science, Dr. Tiller takes a giant leap toward a unified theory of matter, energy and consciousness that appears to satisfy Einstein's attempt to quantify a paradigm of an energetic-field-like universe. Through his increasingly more abstract levels of mathematical modeling, Tiller found out that at higher dimensions seemingly disparate equations covering common as well as anomalous phenomena appear to merge. Consciousness radiating in the form of information at an infinite speed could simultaneously be present in an infinite number of places in an infinite expanse of space. Tiller states, that "consciousness will eventually be discovered to be a quality of the universe, that has the capabilities of generating radiations that eventually beget matter. In this respect, the properties of matter will eventually be found to depend on the local consciousness"[11].
We can only comprehend truth to the extent to which it resonates with some portion of already perceived reality. However, we are capable of raising our level of awareness, enlarging our consciousness. "…to transcend the ordinary human level," -according to Li Hongzhi, -people need "to fundamentally change …thinking" [3]. Compare to Tiller's: "By the entity's thoughts, attitudes and actions, transformational changes occur in the dense and subtle matter, which can produce a refined structure in the matter" [11].
And again strikingly similar quote from Mr. Li Hongzhi's Zhuan Falun: "By replacing cells' elements with high energy matter, the human body is converted into a body of matter from other dimensions" [3].
Structure of the Universe
"Lives with and without form exist simultaneously in this immense universe. And the enormous formless life with its influence balances everything in this immense universe, "- affirms Mr. Li Hongzhi [3].
David Deutsch is one of the world's leading theoretical physicists, a distinguished fellow of the British Computer Society. He created the theoretical framework for an entirely new discipline called quantum computation, which makes possible the construction of a fundamentally new type of computers with powers almost beyond imagination. Deutsch insists that in perfect accord with the laws of quantum theory there exist innumerable parallel universes. There must be many versions of all of us, earth and entire universe. "All possible events, all conceivable variations on our lives must exist, "- says Deutsch, – "We live not in a single universe, but in a vast and rich "multiverse"[14].
Deutsch is not the originator of the concept. It was Hugh Everett; whose 1957 Princeton doctoral thesis first presented what was called later the "many worlds" interpretation of quantum mechanics. "I don't think there are any interpretations of quantum theory other than many worlds," says Deutsch. "The others deny reality"[14].
Mr. Li Honghzi's views on the structure of the universe are very similar: "With the complexity of dimensions and so many levels the structure of the universe is very complex…there are many different vertical levels and dimensions." He continues: "Because at birth you were also born simultaneously in many dimensions of the universe, these other selves of yours make up a complete, integrated entity with you and interrelate to one another, being mentally connected" [3 ]. David Deutsch in one of the latest interviews said: "I'm sure that quantum theory will be proved false one day, because it seems inconceivable that we have stumbled across the final theory of physics. But I would bet my bottom dollar that the new theory will either retain the parallel universe feature of quantum physics or it will contain something even more weird" [14].
The Corruption of Humankind
The question that David Bohm asked so many times was: Has humanity taken a wrong turn somewhere in the past, which has brought about endless division, conflict and destruction?
Mr. Li Hongzhi's reasoning: "The human beings have come to the present stage when they are unable to solve any problems and are in deep trouble with no way out, and this is indeed caused by the moral decay of human beings"[3].
David Bohm confirms this when he talks about "the corruption of mankind," which was caused by "the pollution which has accumulated over the ages …in the nonmanifest consciousness of mankind, which we could call the sorrow of mankind because it leads to all this violence, corruption, disorder, self-deception…"[12]. The nonmanifest, according to Bohm, is n-dimensional and atemporal, and cannot be handled in any way by 3-dimensional thought. "And I think," -Bohm continues,-"that this present (…pragmatic) view of science has contributed considerably to the disorder in the brain. The origin of the chaos in human relationships is in our fragmented, atomistic… untruthful way of thinking"[12].
"The reality known by man is an illusion created by his ignorant view on the development of history and by the empirical sciences."- affirms Mr. Li Hongzhi, - "It is not the true manifestation of the great reality within the universe"[15].
Heading Back Home
As a result of his life's work Dr.Tiller arrived to a conclusion that was amazing for a modern scientist: "We have come from advanced societies whose special technologies suited the great mental capacities of the inhabitants and we are heading back in that direction. We have come from societies where the inhabitants reliably sensed deeper dimensions of the universe than we presently do, so that they readily manipulated space, time and matter, and we are heading back in the same direction"[11].
Mr. Li Hongzhi confirms Dr.Tiller's reasoning: "In comparison with those lives of higher wisdom on the planets throughout the entire universe, our human race's scientific level is quite low. We cannot even reach other dimensions that exist simultaneously in the same place, while flying saucers from other planets can travel directly in other dimensions. The concept of that time-space is completely different. Thus, they can come and go at will and at a speed so fast that the human mind cannot accept it" [3]. And one more quote from Mr. Li Hongzhi's Essentials for Further Advancement: "…the genuine reality is bound to bring about a new science and a new understanding. The laws and principles of the universe will appear again in the human world" [15].
Cultivation Or "Self-Deconditioning Process"
According to Dr.Tiller, "We need to realize that what we dislike in our society cannot be effectively changed from the outside because it is only symptomatic of that which is inside of us. The only real change takes place within us. We must change there first and then the outer consistent materializations will naturally occur "[11]. Dr.Tiller insists that it is very important "to pay attention to inner world self- development…and, by example, radiate our highest qualities to enrich those around us" [11].
And this is exactly what genuine cultivation practice, such as Falun Dafa, is about. As Tiller postulates, "the higher is one's consciousness the more there are …energy types and energy band correlations that function at higher dimensional levels…Thus, a person who is very enlightened… manifests fantastically large energy densities" [11].
Being a physicist, Dr. Bohm uses the analogy of an atom with thought, and with a thinker who authors the thought. When the binding energy of the physical atom is released in an accelerator, the resultant energy, staggeringly huge, becomes freed. Analogously huge amounts of cosmic energy are required to create and sustain the "thinker," to maintain his illusion that he is a stable entity. According to Bohm, "consciousness functioning as thought (as opposed to insight) cannot know truth and compassion (emphasis mine – NT) at first hand and herein lies the root of its failure to embody these energies in its daily life." "Dissolution of the thinker is the highest priority the seeker for truth can undertake", – asserts Dr.Bohm, –"The dismantling of the thinker yields energy that is qualitatively charged, not neutral or value-free. It is energy unbound and flowing, characterized by wholeness, n-dimensionality and the force of compassion" (emphasis mine – NT).
Dr.Tiller is reasoning in a very similar way. He insists that there is an inherent capacity of every organism, gland or cell to resonate to the frequency of love, which would occur automatically in a system without free will, which presents resistance. Isn't this similar to Bohm's "killing the thinker"? Or like Mr. Li Hongzhi points out: "…you need to achieve the state of nothingness and emptiness, letting go of every attachment…Only by doing so can you ascend" [3].
Such emptiness brings the cessation of thoughts and transforms us into an instrument "capable of stepping down the staggering cosmic energy in ways that permit us to focus it on the microcosmic level…"[17]. Professor of Philosophy Rene Weber in her article "Field Consciousness and Field Ethics" further elaborates: "The rare individual who functions as such a channel seems to those who come in contact with him to belong to a new species of man. Such a human being radiates clarity, intelligence, order and love by his mere presence. He seems capable of transmuting our chaotic interpersonal world into an ethical realm by his very atmosphere, which unmistakably is charged with energies for which we have neither names nor concepts" [17]. I cited this long quote here because I experienced exactly the same feeling when I first saw Mr. Li Hongzhi lecturing on one of the conferences.
According to Dr.Bohm, it is through individual that the general consciousness has to get cleared up. "It's something like the transformation of the atom. In the early days they transformed a few atoms, we could call that the transformation in germ… and then it spread like a flame and became… a power and chain reaction. The individual who sees the principles may be like the one who has discovered the transformation of the atom. In principle, he has already transformed mankind, but it has not yet come about…" [12].
Isn't it the precise description of Mr. Li Hongzhi's phenomenon?
David Bohm remarks further, that "it takes a still higher energy to reach the whole of the consciousness of mankind" [12]. Speculating on where this more intense energy may come from, Bohm says: "…it is possible now for a number of individuals who are in close relations and who can trust each other to establish a one-mind of that whole set of individuals. In other words, that consciousness is one, acting as one. If you had as many as ten people, or a hundred people, who could really be that way, they would have a power immensely beyond one…that would begin to ignite this whole consciousness of mankind…This is absolutely what has to be done"[12].
And this is what is being done now in the international community of one hundred million people in more than fifty countries around the world who pursue and promote the highest principles of the universe: Truth, Compassion and Tolerance.
Conclusion
I hope that I was able to show that the most sophisticated and advanced achievements of modern front edge science were already described in Zhuan Falun and other Mr. Li Hongzhi's works. The content of Mr. Li Hongzhi's teachings is far from being limited to the topics covered in the paper. In reality Falun Dafa is so profound that most of its insights cannot be comprehended by the majority of contemporary scientists. They may, in Deutsch's words, seem too "weird". But it is my deepest belief that the most profound concepts of Falun Dafa will guide the development of the science of the future.
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