PARALLELS BETWEEN MYSTICISM&SCIENCE

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PARALLELS BETWEEN SCIENCE & MYSTICISM

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Ivan Frimmel

>From the time of arrival of the relativity theory and quantum physics

on the scientific scene there have been some very exciting and

revolutionary developments in science, especially in the field of

quantum physics. Many long-held scientific theories have been

challenged, some had to be modified and some abandoned in favour of

better ones, i.e. better corresponding to the reality of the world in

which we live. Physicists arrive at their conclusions through

scientific experiments, mystics through their meditative insights or

divine revelations, but their discoveries and utterances now seem to

resemble each other more and more.

 

The old, mechanical, Newtonian view of the Universe has taken the

back seat to a more appropriate, organic view, in which the Universe

is seen as One Organic Whole, consisting of interdependent events

(rather than separate "things") affecting each other even at great

distances. This is what some mystics and sages have been saying for

millennia. Greek philosopher Heraclitus (536-470 BC) maintained that

all things in the Universe are in a constant state of flux; the

starting point of Buddha (born about 563 BC) was his teaching about

impermanence (anicca); in The Upanishads there are references to

Brahman as unformed, immortal, moving impersonal being, who

transcends all forms, and Shiva as being involved in a perpetual

cosmic dance; Tao, the unmanifest and unseen origin of all "things"

may be "seen" by observing the interplay between its manifested,

interdependent, inseparable, seemingly opposite but harmonious

events...

 

The modern physicists are now beginning to confirm what mystics have

been saying all along: that nature, at least on the atomic level, is

not composed of some solid, static, fundamental building blocks,

particles, "things", but consists of networks of dynamic,

interrelated events, probability waves, processes and patterns.

(Thus, in language, verbs would be more appropriate for describing

WHAT IS, rather than nouns). The holistic mystical awareness of the

essential Unity and mutual interrelation of all events as part of the

same Ultimate Reality is now slowly but surely finding its way into

the realm of science, medicine, psychology, education, etc.

 

In the old scientific paradigm scientific descriptions were believed

to be objective, i.e. independent from the human observer and the

process of obtaining his knowledge. Heisenberg challenged this notion

and pointed out the crucial role of the observer: the role the

observer's intentions, hypotheses, expectations and methods play in

obtaining the results of any experiment. In quantum physics the

observer and the observed can no longer be separated, as they affect

each other. The Buddha, Lao Tzu, Hui Neng, Krishnamurti, Wei Wu Wei,

Alan Watts, Ramana Maharshi, Osho and many other mystics had similar

insights about the true nature of reality.

 

The "solid" foundations upon which the old science (and

epistemology – the philosophy of knowledge) has been built is

crumbling up and being replaced with a more flexible network of

interrelated scientific (and linguistic) models that may be applied

to reality - but always only conditionally and locally, i.e. only

within certain limits and boundaries. This makes all scientific

theories and models (and the language we use) limited, relative,

symbolic and approximate.

 

The new metaphor of knowledge as an interrelated network of events

with no firm, solid, permanent foundation blocks, the realisation

that nothing is absolutely certain, only a probability, that "empty"

vacuum is the background of all energy, and other seemingly

paradoxical conclusions of quantum physics may be still quite

uncomfortable to some scientists and philosophers. Perhaps they can

find some comfort in the statements of many mystics, ancient and

modern, who have been telling us that everything comes from no-

thing, void, and that we can find security and certainty only by

plunging into the heart of insecurity and uncertainty, in the flux of

life.

 

Love,

 

Ivan.