We are I AM’s in the I AM. Our Fractal
Nature
The awakening to Oneness
knowing ourselves to be ourselves yet
One with the Whole
image: D. Carroll
A challenge in anyone’s spiritual
journey, at some point, seems to arrive at our individual consciousness and
one’s relationship with thoughts of God/Godhead/Universal Consciousness. Am I separate? Who am I? What happens to me
if I am one with Universal Consciousness? I am advised to surrender myself;
will I still exist? These can be some of the
disquieting thoughts of many who have been raised in a culture of separation
reality of identification of I, versus not I, duality reality versus and
non-duality reality.
In turning to both
Religion/Spirituality, (consider religion as institutionalized spirituality, which
unfortunately sometimes sacrifices the individual uniqueness of such
experiences) and Science for answers, ultimately both sides have to answer; it
is still a mystery. In religion the
mystery is considered unsolvable; one is often told to take it on faith. The concept of faith transcends physical
proof and embraces the greater reality of mind and spirit from the religious
view; importantly, not a blind faith but a knowledgeable faith. For faith is an experience, therefore
observable and often repeatable, it is living and growing, it is active, not
passive, it is participating with each other and the universe acting on its
power and transmuting its concept into a known experience.
In science consciousness and reality are
generally viewed as mysteries not yet solved, possibly never to be solved. One
may ask how science explores such questions as consciousness and reality. Science does so in trying to understand what
consciousness is and how and where the universe/reality exists and comes from. In
each example there is no consensus. For consciousness tumultuous debates
continue as to whether consciousness is Prime (acting as the fundamental ground
of reality rather than just a byproduct of physical brain processes) or in
other words, just an epiphenomenon (a subjective experience of conscious
thought as a byproduct of the physical brain neural processes).
Religions commonly approach
consciousness as an individual soul, an individual consciousness, an offspring
and portion of God or universal consciousness, a unique yet unitive aspect of
Godhead. This explanation is
interestingly akin to the discoveries by science of fractals. A fractal is described
as self-similar shapes across different scales that can continually reiterate
themselves in such a manner to create an infinite perimeter in a finite area. This
definition alone illustrates the paradoxes (mysteries) in scientific inquiry,
infinite perimeters in finite areas. Science has many examples of fractals; one
can view such as Mandelbrot sets and Sierpinski triangles. Further, science
states that they can be found throughout nature such as ferns, trees, leaves, lightning,
coastlines, clouds, snowflakes, and seashells.
Nature fractals include those throughout the human body such as in the
branching of lungs, blood vessels, and nervous systems. It is also posited that DNA appears to be
fractally based.
The comparison of Fractals in science
and spirituality is inevitable, self-similar shapes with infinite perimeters in
finite areas throughout nature. Then
universal consciousness with individual consciousness made in its own image,
the infinite in the finite. The
individual I AM united with the great I AM.
For an interesting personal experience
of fractals, from both perspectives, try, safely, placing two dressings room
mirrors face to face to create a reflection of the mirrors reflecting each
other and you “ad infinitim” within their frame.
I believe science and religion will,
over time, resolve many of the differences with shared observations, though
different perspectives.
The religious approach is more of an
immanent, individual, internal process where science tends towards separate
external observation. As an example, the
experiences of meditation (an internal experience); meditation in various forms
have been in existence for thousands of years with its adherents extolling not
only the spiritual experience of the practice but the physical health and
mental the practice also provided.
Science saw these claims as subjective and anecdotal, primarily because
they could not observe the actual workings of the experience, then the EEG
(Electroencephalography) was invented in the 1920’s and further refined in the
1950’s. (And still is being refined) Now the experience of meditation can be
observed and measured. Now science will say it is “real”. It also was real for all those thousands of
years before also, just not accepted by science because there was no equipment
to measure it. That did not make it
spurious.
This example shows the limitations of
both religion and science. Religion, the
spirituality of its purpose, is not easily measured, it is primarily an
immanent consciousness experience, not easily repeatable or measurable, and
this does not mean it is not real.
Science is bound by repeatable, observable, measurable evidence and
limited by its need for equipment to measure.
As for the fabric of the universe and
reality, in general, spiritual view of reality suggests that the universe is
more than material, that it is primarily rooted in a deeper, spiritual
dimension that governs existence, viewing the physical world as a temporary or
subordinate experience to an eternal, spiritual truth. (Sounding more like the
holographic theory) It emphasizes that true reality is found through conscious,
divine (universal consciousness) connection. Spiritual perspectives emphasize
that the ultimate, true nature of existence is divine and is both immanent and
transcendent, rather than merely ordinary or temporal, that all life is
interconnected, of universal unity; that "the kingdom of God is within
you," making spiritual reality an internal experience of consciousness.
In science, physics, where Newtonian
physics (mechanics) works on the surface, quantum physics (mechanics) is the
most recent avenue to plumb such mysteries at a deeper level, finding evidence towards
an ultimate reality that is connected; entangled, even doing so, still with no
consensus and, if anything, finding more mysteries. Many such physicist are noting that their
results are sounding more like spiritual writings found in such writings as the
Hindu Vedas, mystic Judaism and Christianity. (It does seem to me, in a wry
irony, Newtonian physics is ceding to what can be seen as a physics of immanent
reality analogous to spiritual reality.)
The perspectives of defining reality:
Religion is fairly clear about; that it is primarily rooted in a deeper,
spiritual dimension that governs existence, viewing the physical world as a
temporary or subordinate experience. Science using observable measurable data is
creating their own mystery of a deeper reality beyond its observing or measuring,
other than it is “missing”; Modern physics only explains and observes about 4
to 5 % of the material (visible) universe (dark matter and energy make up the
rest). They cannot measure or observe over 95% of the universe. So, whether it is the Spiritual perspective
of the science perspective it seems were a barely in engaging in true reality
in our daily lives.
And why is this? Perhaps the best
suggestion for this is from Aldous Huxley.
“Each person is at each moment capable of
remembering all that has ever happened to him (her) and of perceiving
everything that is happening everywhere in the universe. The function of the brain and nervous system
is to protect us from being overwhelmed and confused by the mass of largely
useless and irrelevant knowledge by shutting out most of what we should
otherwise perceive or remember at any moment and leaving only that very small
and special selection which is likely to be practically useful. According to
such a theory, each one of us is potentially Mind at Large.
But in so far as we are animals, our
business is at all costs to survive. To make biological survival possible, Mind
at Large has to be funneled through the reducing valve of the brain and nervous
system. What comes out at the other end is a measly trickle of the kind of
consciousness which will help us to stay alive on the surface of this
particular planet.”
“Most people, most of the time, know
only what comes through the reducing valve and is consecrated as genuinely real
by the local language.” Certain persons, however, seem to be born with a kind
of by-pass that circumvents the reducing valve.
In others temporary bypasses may be acquired either spontaneously, or as
the result of deliberate “spiritual exercises or through hypnosis…”
Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley
p.8
Ultimately, here in the study of the
nature of the universe and the study of ourselves the sciences and religions can
begin to be reconciled. Both explore these natures from microscopic to
macroscopic levels with all the paradoxes and mysteries encountered. The
fractal concepts and examples in nature also beautifully illustrate such
religious thoughts as everyone is a unique consciousness (soul) yet also one
with God (Universal consciousness). It is something to ponder; a fractal Universal
consciousness having infinite consciousness’s within it. I Am’s In IAM.
Sciences and religions can be collaborative
and synergetic in understanding nature.
To quote Albert Einstein; "Science without religion is lame,
religion without science is blind".
And others:
To see a world in a grain of sand and
a heaven in a wildflower. William Blake
Deism is the belief that nature and
God are one and the same thing. If you study nature, you're getting insights
about God. Dr. Bruce H. Lipton
Look deep into nature, and then you
will understand everything better. Albert Einstein
He who understands nature walks close
with God. Edgar Cayce ECR 1904-2
No comments:
Post a Comment