My Philosophy and Quantum Physics

• by BERNARDO KASTRUP, October 17, 2014
• in Dialogues, Quantum Physics
• 0 Comments

In my book Why Materialism Is Baloney, I argue that we do not need to postulate a whole universe outside consciousness – outside subjective experience – in order to make sense of empirical reality. The implication is that all reality, including our bodies and brains, are in consciousness, not consciousness in our bodies and brains. My worldview is compatible with a classical view of nature: it doesn’t exclude the possibility that objects may exist in definite states and locations even if no living creature is observing them. Indeed, my worldview accepts a non-personal form of consciousness underlying all nature, in which objects can still exist as non-personal experiences, with definite outlines, even when not observed by personal psyches. The latest experiments in quantum mechanics, however, seem to defeat this classical view of empirical reality.* They seem to show that, when not observed by personal psyches, reality exists in a fuzzy state, as waves of probabilities. Although this seeming implication of quantum mechanics is in no way incompatible with my worldview, this essay aims to make more explicit the harmonious – even natural and synergistic – relationship between the two.

Before we begin, let me briefly recapitulate the core ideas in the book. Consciousness is the only carrier of reality anyone can ever know for sure; it is the one undeniable, empirical fact of existence. My view is that we do not need more than this one undeniable fact to explain reality: all things and phenomena can be explained as excitations of consciousness itself. As such, underlying all reality is a stream of subjectivity that I metaphorically describe as a stream of water (water being analogous to consciousness). Inanimate objects are ripples in the stream, experienced subjectively by the mind-at-large that is the stream itself. Living creatures are localizations of the flow of water in the stream: whirlpools. The body-brain system is, as such, the image of a process of localization in the stream of subjective experiences of mind-at-large. The body-brain system doesn’t generate consciousness for exactly the same reason that a whirlpool doesn’t generate water. And since there is nothing to a stream full of ripples and whirlpools but water in movement, all reality is simply consciousness in movement. The movement of consciousness/water is what we call subjective experience.

Because of a natural mechanism of amplification that I explain in Chapter 5 of the book, and briefly summarize in this article, the movements of water within each whirlpool obfuscate the movements outside the whirlpool. Therefore, a living creature is self-reflectively aware only of the ripples that penetrate the rim of its own whirlpool – in our case, our skin, eyes, ears, tongue, and nose – but is unaware of everything else going on in the stream. This is the reason why we can’t see when we close our eyes: the ripples from the broader stream that we call photons can no longer penetrate the rim of our whirlpool and get amplified within it. And since our thoughts, emotions, and other forms of perception do get amplified inside, the outside ripples in the form of photons end up becoming obfuscated like the stars are obfuscated by the sun at noon. Yet, those ripples are still in consciousness, for the same reason that the stars are still in the sky at noon. They just aren’t in our personal consciousness; that is, they don’t penetrate our whirlpool. As such, all nature is in consciousness in the form of ripples (inanimate objects and phenomena) and whirlpools (living creatures) in the stream. But only certain aspects of nature enter personal consciousness, in the form of ripples that penetrate a whirlpool and get caught and amplified within its internal vortex.

A new religious movement (NRM) is a comprehensive term used to identify religious, ethical, and spiritual groups, communities and practices of relatively modern origins. NRMs may be novel in origin or they may exist on the fringes of a wider religion, in which case they will be distinct from pre-existing denominations. Scholars studying the sociology of religion have almost unanimously adopted this term as a neutral alternative to the word cult, which is often considered derogatory.^[1] Academics identify a variety of characteristics which they employ in categorizing groups as new religious movements. The term is broad and inclusive, rather than sharply defined. New religious movements are generally seen as syncretic, employing human and material assets to disseminate their ideas and worldviews, deviating in some degree from a society's traditional forms or doctrines, focused especially upon the self and having a peripheral relationship that exists in a state of tension with established societal conventions.^[2]

A NRM may be one of a wide range of movements ranging from those with loose affiliations based on novel approaches to spirituality orreligion to communitarian enterprises that demand a considerable amount of group conformity and a social identity that separates their adherents from mainstream society. Use of the term NRM is not universally accepted among the groups to which it is applied.^[3] Scholars have estimated that NRMs now number in the tens of thousands world-wide, with most in Asia and Africa. Most have only a few members, some have thousands, and very few have more than a million.^[4] Although academics occasionally propose amendments to technical definitions and continue to add newly emergent religious manifestations,^[5][6] the entities listed have been identified as new religions and new religious movements by scholars in the fields of the sociology of religion, psychiatry, history and theology.

Contents

  [hide] 

• 1 List
• 2 See also
• 3 Notes
• 4 References
• 5 External links

List[edit]

The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational psychology, holistic health, parapsychology, consciousness research and quantum physics".^[2] The term New Age refers to the coming astrological Age of Aquarius.^[1]

The movement aims to create "a spirituality without borders or confining dogmas" that is inclusive and pluralistic.^[3] It holds to "a holistic worldview",^[4] emphasising that theMind, Body, and Spirit are interrelated^[1] and that there is a form of monism and unity throughout the universe.^[5] It attempts to create "a worldview that includes both science and spirituality"^[6] and embraces a number of forms of mainstream science as well as other forms of science that are considered fringe.

The origins of the movement can be found in Medieval astrology and alchemy, such as the writings of Paracelsus, in Renaissance interests in Hermeticism, in 18th-centurymysticism, such as that of Emanuel Swedenborg, and in beliefs in animal magnetism espoused by Franz Mesmer. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, authors such asGodfrey Higgins and the esotericists Eliphas Levi, Helena Blavatsky, and George Gurdjieff articulated specific histories, cosmologies, and some of the basic philosophical principles that would influence the movement. It experienced a revival as a result of the work of individuals such as Alice Bailey and organizations such as the Theosophical Society. It gained further momentum in the 1960s, taking influence from metaphysics, perennial philosophy, self-help psychology, and the various Indian gurus who visited the West during that decade.^[7] In the 1970s, it developed a social and political component.^[8]

The New Age movement includes elements of older spiritual and religious traditions ranging from monotheism through pantheism, pandeism, panentheism, and polytheismcombined with science and Gaia philosophy; particularly archaeoastronomy, astronomy, ecology, environmentalism, the Gaia hypothesis, UFO religions, psychology, andphysics.

New Age practices and philosophies sometimes draw inspiration from major world religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Chinese folk religion, Christianity, Hinduism, Sufism (Islam), Judaism(especially Kabbalah), Sikhism; with strong influences from East Asian religions, Esotericism, Gnosticism, Hermeticism, Idealism, Neopaganism, New Thought, Spiritualism,Theosophy, Universalism, and Wisdom tradition.^[9]

History[edit]

Origins[edit]

The author Nevill Drury claimed there are "four key precursors of the New Age", who had set the way for many of its widely held precepts.^[3]

Stonehenge and other ancient sites are revered by many who practice New Age spirituality.

1. The first of these was Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772), a Swedish scientist who after a religious experience devoted himself to Christian mysticism, believing that he could travel to Heaven and Hell and communicate with angels, demons and spirits, and who published widely on the subject of his experiences.
2. The second person was Franz Mesmer (1734–1815), who had developed a form of healing using magnets, believing that there was a force known as "animal magnetism" that affected humans.
3. The third figure was the Russian Helena Blavatsky (1831–1891), one of the founders of the Theosophical Society, through which she propagated her religious movement ofTheosophy, which itself combined a number of elements from Eastern religions like Hinduism and Buddhism with Western elements.
4. The fourth figure was George Gurdjieff (c. 1872–1949), who founded the philosophy of the Fourth Way, through which he conveyed a number of spiritual teachings to his disciples.
5. A fifth individual whom Drury identified as an important influence upon the New Age movement was the Indian Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902), an adherent of the philosophy ofVedanta who first brought Hinduism to the West in the late 19th century.^[10]

The term New Age was used as early as 1809 by William Blake who described a coming era of spiritual and artistic advancement in his preface to Milton a Poem by stating: "... when the New Age is at leisure to pronounce, all will be set right ..."^[11]

The Meier case today

The situation today (2011) is virtually unchanged from 10 or 15 years ago, except that the teachings Meier has received have been accumulating into an ever greater bibliography. And increasing numbers of his prophecies and predictions, many stemming from his Plejaren contactors, have come true. Because many ufologists have mistakenly assumed the UFO aspects of Eduard Meier's experiences to be a hoax, the case remains unsettled within the ufological community, which generally ignores him. Six hours of presentations by Meier-case investigators at the 8th Annual International UFO Congress in Laughlin, Nevada, in 1999, did remind listeners that the eyewitness testimony in support of the reality of his UFO experiences, dating back to 1963, is exceedingly strong, and many of his 35mm photos and 8mm movie films show features that defy hoaxing. Yet most leading ufologists cannot accept this, and continue their efforts


to debunk the case whenever they perceive the necessity to do so. This "necessity" arises largely from the belief that ETs can not or should not be able to perform actions we cannot understand, and/or should not be intelligent enough to have a rational strategy of dealing with humankind that includes covertness in their interactions with selected individuals plus use of their highly advanced technology. Fear of ridicule from colleagues also contributes to their avoidance of the "Meier case." Hence the continuing controversial status of the case deters the news media from reporting on it and prevents it from becoming at all well known to the public at large. Similarly, the Talmud of Jmmanuel remains taboo for bible scholars to investigate and report seriously on, and this, combined with its heresies for Judaism, Christianity and Islam, deters the news media from bringing it to public attention.