written 26 November 2023
published 3 December 2023
I am spiritual, but not religious. To me, spirituality is awareness of being part of something larger than myself. All religious organizations have a spiritual root, which is then described, and codified, as rules and cultural strictures.
Spirituality is an experience, and religion is a concept. Experience only happens in the moment, the eternal NOW. Remembered in the past, or planned for, or worried about, in the future, concept is never in the moment. In brain physiology, experience favors the right brain and concept favors the left brain. Ideally, both are in dynamic balance.
Without the childhood burden of an imposed religious structure, feeling part of something larger has led me to a lifetime of spiritual exploration, inspired first by quantum mechanics, and then Buddhism, eventually appreciating the spiritual truth within every religion.
When I first encountered quantum mechanics in college, it felt like a recipe for getting from here to there, without much description of the landscape one traveled through. The fundamental paradoxes are mind boggling. For starters, depending on how one is looking, matter is either a wave or a particle, each with very different measurable qualities. Matter can become entangled through interaction, with subsequent changes made non-locally, without regard for space or time.
Physicist Richard Feynman is credited with saying, "If you think you understand quantum mechanics, you don't understand quantum mechanics." Yet the rules of quantum physics have been understood well enough to successfully create the technologies of semiconductors, computers, the Internet, and cell phones, which have transformed the entire planet in just a few decades, giving validity to the underlying theory.
Matter is energy (E=MC2). Every speck of matter represents a huge amount of energy because the speed of light (C) is so larger. For example, the mass energy equivalent of a bottle of beer is 1,000 times more powerful than the nuclear device that destroyed Hiroshima. But physicist David Bohm stated there is energy present even when "empty" of matter: vacuum, or zero-point energy. Further, he calculated the quantity of this energy, within each cubic centimeter, is the enormous mass energy equivalence of the entire universe.
This means that all matter, despite representing significant energy in itself, is really only a very small local increase over the background energy, much like a wave at sea is only a small additional amount of water relative to the ocean depth below.
While we can identify individual ocean wave peaks, describing each one uniquely in space and time, we know there is no absolute division between one wave and the next, because we can see they all arise from the same ocean. Within material reality, we don't see the ground energy common to everything, so we are misled into believing the illusion of absolute material separation, and everything goes downhill from there.
However, spiritual leaders throughout the ages, have pointed toward the deeper truth of fundamental unity in life. Aldous Huxley did a survey of all spiritual traditions, looking for common denominators, and found a version of the Golden Rule everywhere. "Do unto others as you would have done unto you". This speaks directly to unity. Since you and I arise from the same ground energy, "other" is only relative.
When individuals "get it", they share with others, and help them "get it" too. Over time, religious structures grow up, writing down guidance, which becomes sacred texts. As political and economic power accrues, the entire organization can get distracted from the original inspiration of unity. A finger pointing toward the moon can be helpful guidance, but when people get too obsessed with the finger, or the person pointing, they soon lose sight of the moon itself, and begin to fight with others who are following a different finger pointing at the same moon.
This error of separation has dominated human history for thousands of years. But we are growing up, increasing both our population and material power, and generations of unresolved rage and resentment are destroying not only other people, but the very planet we all inhabit. Our challenge, if we wish to survive, is to acknowledge our hurt and trauma, and begin to heal within. We can no longer follow hateful leaders into the collective suicidal illusion of endless rounds of hating each other.
This won't be simple, and will require fundamental changes in our culture and economy, in order to experience the full potential of being human.
