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Can you explain how quantum mechanics or something similar can be used to understand spirituality?

12/29/2022

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Quantum physics and mechanics point to underlying energy forces that are not perceivable through the physical senses. They extrapolate that the entire material world is dependent on the observer. What we consider to be solid matter, composed of atoms and molecules, is actually patterns of energy that can either be a particle or a wave, depending on the observer and on probability.

The observer interacts with the particle or wave during the act of observation, for the scanning electron microscope alters what it is aimed at through light energy that interacts with the observed. This makes it almost impossible to pin material objects down to solid forms when we are examining them at this level. The basic building blocks of all that is felt, seen, heard, tasted, so elusive that we cannot measure them under laboratory conditions. Furthermore, they are not blocks or structures that can be quantified.

Spirituality is also based on the unseen and unmeasurable. It is observer-dependent. The observer perceives through spiritual senses the underlying energy patterns from which all material forms arise. As Lao Tau says in verse 25 of the Tao, “There was something formless and perfect before the universe was born.” From this formlessness, all forms arose and all perished. But the underlying formlessness from which it arose is eternal, unchanging, and One.

Lao Tzu said this 2,500 years ago and it still perfectly describes the paradox that all this stuff around us that we think is real, perishes and therefore cannot be “really” real. Yet it comes from something that never perishes. It comes from something eternal. Some will call it God, some the Source Energy of the Universe, some the Tao, all in an attempt to understand what seems to be illogical. But it cannot be pinned down to one name.

In Newtonian physics we have measurable laws of cause and effect, gravity, and thermodynamics. In Quantum physics, cause and effect don’t apply because an atom might be a particle or a wave based simply on probability. Everything exists in the realm of possibility. And so it is in spirituality as well. It is a space of infinite possibility, unbounded by physical, material laws. At it’s root, matter is not real because it is not eternal. The only thing that is eternal is the fountainhead from which everything that exists proceeds. And that cannot be seen, heard, named or quantified in any way.
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The underlying structure holds all in place, and yet we cannot “see” it. And cannot “see” the atom either. This requires a leap of faith that all is well and perfectly organized, even if the human brain cannot grasp it. And this is the same faith that pervades spirituality, regardless of the form it takes.
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What are some of the pitfalls that people often fall into while pursuing enlightenment?

12/23/2022

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One of the greatest pitfalls in pursuing enlightenment is in the word “pursuing” itself. For in pursuing, we are always in the act of trying to get there. Enlightened existence is being acutely present in the here and now. It is not about something in the future that we need to strive for but may never achieve.
Many people, if we think of enlightenment at all, see it as an end state. We’ve finally arrived after so much time of practice. It is something that once achieved, is done permanently and we’ve reached at the end; the destination. And if we practice certain methods, we will be enlightened too.

In India I saw sadhus who stood on one leg for the majority of their lives, or stood with one arm permanently raised to hasten their enlightenment. I witnessed all kinds of self-punishing practices that were supposedly the ticket to getting off the wheel of death and rebirth. I saw all manner of deprivations, including the naked nagas, up in the sub-zero temperatures of the Himalayas. One one level it is admirable to show sincerity and deep desire to be free. Yet, on another level, it is very body-centered and unnecessary for attaining the deep peace of really living in the present moment.

People also see enlightenment as a state in which all our problems are permanently solved and we will never feel pain, fear, or suffering again. And so we will sit in the lotus position for twelve hours a day, chanting, thinking that this state will bring us into emotional. freedom. The more difficult the positions and practices, supposedly the better. It sometimes becomes a situation of spiritual one-upmanship. “I sat and chanted for 18 hours straight.” “Really? Well, I did it for 20 hours!”

All this self-immolation and punishment centers on the idea that we can bribe the Universe through certain acts and we will finally feel safe. That’s not what enlightenment is. Enlightenment cannot be defined in one sentence but it is about being conscious, in the present moment of the beauty and grandeur of the Universal energy at the core of everything that is physical and non-physical. Enlightenment is about living in the Now, and taming the wild monkey mind that anxiously hurls into the future or depressingly focuses on past hurts and failures.

Therefore, people can carry on with their entertainments according to the cultures in which they were indoctrinated—this is holy, this isn’t, this will lead to enlightenment, this won’t—but it has nothing to do being in a state of Now-ness no matter what we are doing or not doing. If we think that doing something now is going to bring us enlightenment in the future, we are missing the point altogether. We chastise ourselves for not meditating enough or properly and feel like failures because “everyone else seems to be able to do it.”

Pursuing enlightenment has become a tourist industry, with people going to far-flung regions to take ayahuasca or visit remote temples to make sacrifices. That may make people feel they are doing something to achieve enlightenment, but usually it wears off and they are back to their anxieties and self-doubts, self-comparisons, and hoping one day they will “arrive.” Enlightenment is not a state at which you arrive and it’s all free sailing from then on.

It is a constantly evolving deepening that we cannot influence through trade-offs, public display of spirituality, or wishful thinking. While we are in the physical, we will all feel pain and suffering. Enlightenment is not about pain-free euphoria. People have been trying for that for centuries and it has worked its way into major opioid epidemics. Being in a drugged-out trance in hopes of escaping the ups and downs of life is not enlightenment, though it masquerades as such.
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No, pain is still there, no matter how enlightened any human is. But it hinges on how we view pain. How we hold it in our consciousness that makes the difference between enlightenment and mere suppression. Suppression is like holding our hands over a child’s mouth so she won’t cry—instead of alleviating her pain. Enlightenment is holding the pain in a state of presence, understanding that “this too shall pass,” It is also understanding that no one in the physical form is exempt from suffering, therefore, not taking pain personally—as if we are singled out to be picked on because of something we did or didn’t do.
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Have you ever had an interaction with a guru that left you feeling changed or enlightened?

12/1/2022

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I was walking through the forest in Rishikesh, in the foothills of the Himalayas, when I encountered a solitary, old sadhu. I had been walking all over India, from Kerala in the South all the way as far north as I could get. Until that time, I had not felt as powerful a presence as I felt with this man.

He told me of his daily routine, which consisted of arising at 4:00AM and beginning his meditation. His servant went down to the Ganges to get water for his tea. And wood with which to boil the water. It was a simple life and he was happy, in a serene way that I could feel in the air around him.

He conveyed his teachings to me wordlessly, for my Hindi and Sanskrit were lacking in some respects. But in his case, I didn’t need language.

I don’t even know his name.

The next day, I went to that same area of the forest. Or, at least I thought it was the same place. But there wasn’t even a trace of him, his fire, his hut. Nothing. I tried the next day, thinking I had taken a mistaken path, but no. Nobody. It was a one-day occurrence from which I osmotically received the powerful vibrations of this being.
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And he has affected me ever since.
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    As a spiritual guide, healer, and lecturer, I have had the privilege to touch the lives of people who long to understand their higher selves. Please leave questions and comments for me. Hope to see you often here!

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