So in light of talking about how science and spirituality/metaphilosphy I found a little article about a man who is studying them both.
I chose this article not for its overwhelming depth but for the simplicity of understanding Buddhist and Quantum theory.
Introduction
An overview of the current debate concerning the relationship between the intellectual arenas of the nature of religious reality, including Western theology, and the scientific worldview; in particular the polarisation between the viewpoints of extreme materialism and dogmatic theism are examined. Recent attempts to bridge the gap between theology and science are examined and shown to be inadequate. In contrast to the seemingly unbridgeable gap between theology and modern physics, the essentially empirically oriented perspectives of the Chittamatra (Mind-Only) and Madhyamaka (Middle-Way) Buddhist philosophies are presented.
Initial evidence for a deep connection between these worldviews and the evidence of modern quantum physics is offered. In particular the quantum evidence that consciousness comprises the nature of the quantum realm is viewed in the light of the similar Mind-Only (Chittamatra-Yogacara) assertion:
Nothing, such as atoms and so on, exist externally,
As anything other than cognition.
This is clearly echoed by many assertions within quantum physics such as the following by one of the founding fathers of quantum theory, Erwin Schrödinger:
Mind has erected the objective outside world … out of its own stuff.
An initial survey of such remarkable correspondences is presented.
The quantum view that the universe creates itself through the agency of the perceptions of all sentient beings, which derives from the vision of the significant twentieth century physicist John Archibald Wheeler, and is exactly paralleled by the Yogacara Mind-Only perspective, is outlined, and the supporting views of other significant physicist cited. This Mind-Only self-creating view of the universe is contrasted with the currently more prevalent materialist viewpoint; and the logical incoherence of the materialist perspective is intimated.
At the same time as the unsatisfactory nature of the materialist view of reality is indicated the equally logically unacceptable theological view of the necessity of an independent creator God is also outlined. The fact that both unacceptable viewpoints derive from equally dogmatic approaches to the understanding of conceptual systems is suggested and argued for. The fact that the Buddhist Mind-Only and Middle-Way correspond exactly to the evidence of quantum theory, without drawing further metaphysical conclusions which go beyond the evidence is clearly shown. The resulting quantum Mind-Only metaphysical model of a self-creating universe, which effectively acts through the agencies of the perceptual activities of participating sentient beings, is finally presented; and the religious implications of this metaphysical viewpoint, that all sentient beings are individual sentient beings are responsible for the nature of the future universe, indicated.
Quantum Material Vanishing Act
A historical exposition of the quantum revolution in physics which led to the necessary abandonment of the concept of an ‘independent’ external material world; the perspective emphasizes the fact that a correct understanding of quantum theory requires an acceptance of the fact that the ‘stuff’ called ‘matter’, which was once thought to exist as the foundation of reality independently of the human mind, does not exist in this manner. The presentation involves a gentle, non-technical account of the historical development of quantum theory, emphasizing the increasingly disbelieving reactions of the physicists concerned. The fact that these physicists were ‘forced against their own wishes’, as Professor Roger Penrose describes the situation, to accept the experimental evidence and the ensuing theoretical developments is highlighted.
This leads to an initial presentation of the central Buddhist concept of ‘emptiness’, the concept that all the phenomena lack any self-sufficient and independent inner core of reality. The notion of emptiness is introduced from two perspectives. Firstly, the fact that all experiences indicating the assumed existence of an external world are the result of the famous quantum ‘collapse of the wavefunction’, and is therefore dependent in some fashion upon the observer, shows that the Buddhist Mind-Only (Chittamatra) assertions regarding the primacy of consciousness within the functioning of
reality are completely correct.
Secondly, the fact that increasingly subtle and precise experiments at the quantum level indicate that certain characteristics of quantum phenomena are not ‘inherently’ existent aspects of the phenomena themselves, electron spin for instance, clearly shows that the assertion by the Buddhist Madhyamaka, or Middle Way, philosophical analysis that:
Phenomena are empty of a certain mode of existence called ‘inherent existence’, ‘objective existence’, or ‘natural existence’
From this basis the fundamental Buddhist idea of the two truths, or ‘realties’, is explained. These are the conventional reality of appearances and the ultimate realm of reality which of the nature of consciousness and is given the metaphysical label ‘emptiness’, a realm of non-dual potentiality for experience. This metaphysical division is related to the levels of the quantum realm and the realm of the experience of everyday entities.
The chapter closes with a consideration of the extremes of, firstly, new age appropriations of the new quantum worldview such as the film What the Bleep Do We Know, which have drawn considerable criticism because of their both their over-simplified and over-sensationalised presentation of the ‘quantum mystical’ viewpoint that mind creates matter and much more. Secondly, more sober accounts and evaluations of the terrain such as the physicists Rosenblum and Kuttner in their book who, although distancing themselves from more exuberant, and therefore thought by many to be dubious, expositions, still find that the evidence now clearly indicates that consciousness and the quantum realm must be entangled in some way.
Illusion of Reality
This chapter presents an in depth investigation into the nature of the illusion of reality uncovered by quantum theory and Buddhist philosophy.
This chapter begins with an in depth but non mathematical explanation of the quantum wavefunction; the mathematical entity describing the potentialities for experience which ‘exist’ independently of observation. The manner in which consciousness interacts with the wavefunction is described; one of these potentialities appears to actualize when observed by consciousness. The fact that ‘material’ entities which appear to exist independently of the minds of sentient beings is clarified. The respective physics and Buddhist divisions into quantum - macroscopic and ultimate –conventional/seeming are elucidated from the perspective of the functioning of the wavefunction in interaction with consciousness, in both cases the dividing line seems to reside in the phenomenon of consciousness.
Quantum physicist David Bohm’s notion of the holographic implicate order, which he derived from his philosophical reflection upon the nature of the wavefunction, and the Buddhist concept of the dharmadhatu, the ultimate expanse of phenomena are presented and contrasted, brining out a remarkable similarity. Bohm’s consideration of Descartes’ delineation of the natures of consciousness and matter is considered in the light of the Chittamatra-Yogacara (Mind-Only [iii] ) demonstration that reality can only be of the nature of consciousness.
The significant quantum physicist Henry Stapp’s demonstration that quantum physics clearly indicates that reality can only be the nature of consciousness which, prior to observation, is a field of potentiality embodied in the wavefunction is presented. Stapp’s view that the experienced world results from an interaction of subjective and objective wavefunctions is overviewed. The ideas of the quantum physicist Wolfgang Pauli and analytic psychologist C. J Jung regarding the common source of the experiential realms of consciousness and matter are also reviewed in this context.
This chapter clearly shows the necessity of considering the appearance of the material world and the individuated subjective experiential realm of consciousness as deriving from a deeper ‘implicate’ realm of consciousness. The quantum split between the micro, quantum, realm and the everyday realm of macroscopic experience and the Madhyamaka ‘two truths’ of reality are presented from this perspective.
So tonight you better stop and rebuild all your ruins, because peace and trust can win the day despite of all your losings
Linear Mode
