written 20 January, 2025
published 2 February, 2025
Everyone has seen the iridescent rainbow patterns in an oil sheen on water. Oil is hydrophobic, which repels water and doesn't mix. It spreads out across the surface of the water, and if the quantity of oil is small enough, the layer gets very thin and the rainbow patterns become more distinct.
White light is composed of different colors, which are different wavelengths of energy. A thin layer of oil reflects some light from the surface, but also allows some light to penetrate into the layer. When that light hits the oil/water interface, some is reflected back toward the source, where it interacts with light reflected from the top surface. For a given color, or wavelength, the interaction can be constructive (in phase) or destructive (out of phase) depending on the depth of the oil layer. When constructive, that color is enhanced, when destructive, that color is diminished. The rainbow patterns we see on the surface are a visual map of the subtle, varied thickness of the oil film.
The human eye "sees" from red to blue, with red having a longer wave length than blue. The wavelength of red light is 700 nanometers, 28 millionths of an inch, and blue light is only 16 millionth of an inch. The rainbow patterns result from oil layer thickness differences as small as 10 millionths of an inch, 100 times finer than a human hair. While we can't directly experience those small distinctions, we clearly perceive the material consequences, seeing patterns without realizing the subtlety underlying those patterns.
The same can be said for our experience of what we call the "material" realm. Most people have heard of Einstein's famous equation E=MC2: energy equals mass times the speed of light squared. All material form is concentrated energy. Because the speed of light is so great, the energy represented by even a modest amount of mass (material) is enormous. For example, a single 12 ounce bottle of my favorite beer, Boont Amber from Anderson Valley Brewery, has the energy equivalence of 13 megatons of TNT, 1000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb. Fortunately, beer is a very stable form of energy, delicious to drink, and easy to experience.
The physical perspective resulting from Einstein's equation has been validated by transformative technologies ranging from the destruction force of nuclear weapons to LED lights, computers, cell phones, and solar cells. No person alive today is untouched by the consequences of this view of reality.
Like seeing the patterns in the oil sheen, yet unable to directly perceive the underlying subtle reality, our material experience misses another deeper reality. The concentrated energy we experience as material form arises from a vast ocean of energy, much like the waves we see on the ocean ride on the invisible depth of water below. We see only the surface patterns, not the volume.
Enormous as they are, the energy concentrated in the matter pales to insignificance when compared to the vast energy ocean from which all matter arises. The most concentrated mass known, and therefore the most energetic, is the core of a neutron star, yet the difference between that and "nothing" is a billion trillion times less than the distinctions we see in an oil sheen.
Why is any of this important? How does it apply to my daily experience?
The fundamental dysfunction of our times, the root of every "ism" that bedevils us all, is the persistent illusion that we are all completely separate, apparently supported by our limited experience of material reality. The ways we divide reality are everywhere, and have been perpetuated through centuries, but they all rest on the belief that the differences we experience are absolute differences, instead of only relatively superficial distinctions. To the extent we can open to the idea that all form is simply waves on the surface of the same ocean, we can begin to experience the unity of reality, instead of eternally fighting against what is inherently actually ourself.
This idea is not new, as the mystical core of every spiritual tradition teaches the same message. For thousands of years, as far back as written history extends, the unity of life has been known and taught. But over the same period of time, it has been ignored by the fanatics seeking power and domination. However, we are now too numerous, and too powerful to be so ignorant much longer.
