My spiritual blog & articles - My Spiritual Coach

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

12/29/2022

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.

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.

Do enlightened people believe in aliens?

11/14/2022

An enlightened person would probably call them, “extraterrestrials.” The word “Alien” means that we think we are the center of the universe and any other life form is a foreigner and doesn’t belong. But we all share the same Universe. It’s almost racist to call them aliens because it is such a people-centered outlook. It’s like, we are the only ones that count. Everyone else not on this planet, is strange and somehow not good.

It is also very people-centered to believe we are the only ones out there. There are about 125 billion galaxies consisting of 100 billion stars on the average. It is preposterous to think that everything in all this centers on earthlings and that the only possible form of life in all grandeur and complexity, is on earth.
Some have postulated that the reason extraterrestrials have not made significant contact with us is because we are not enlightened enough for them to communicate with. They are operating on a higher level of consciousness and why would they bother hanging out with a species still involved in petty ego conflicts as well as large-scale wars.

If they already have the resources to break through earth’s atmosphere and land, what possible benefit could it be to them to befriend us? Some say so they can make us into slaves and mine our resources for their project, but this is just a human view of grabbing things, enslaving people, and being a menace. The human view of extraterrestrials comes from TV and films. For example, Star Wars or Star Trek, where the extraterrestrials indulge in warfare and other power struggles, simply based on human social interactions.

Enlightenment is about expansion of consciousness to ackowledge more than the finite human struggles for survival. It is about acknowledging the vastness of the Universe itself. As Neil de Grasse Tyson says, “To declare that Earth must be the only planet with life in the universe would be inexcusably bigheaded of us.”

How can belief in something that cannot be seen or measured provide strength and comfort?

11/5/2022

We can't see electricity, nor the interconnections of the Internet that makes our communication with each other possible. We don’t see the air, yet we rely on it for our very lives. We put our trust in so many things that we cannot see or measure.

We can measure the outcome or output of these invisible forces, such as how much light or heat electricity puts out. But the actual invisible energy is not quantifiable in that way. All we can do is rely on the thermodynamic laws and laws of electrical flow to predict their outcomes.

Belief and trust are two different things. Belief means, “I don’t know. I’d like to think it’s such and such a way. But I don’t really know.” Or, belief is based on blind trust, as a child believes in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.

But when it comes to finding strength in unseen forces outside ourselves and our sensory apparatus, it is more a matter of deep feeling, and an inner knowing that comes from profound experience. If it is based on belief alone, we could find comfort in the Great Rabbit in the Sky, if that is what our culture teaches. Then, a new belief system comes along, such as the Great Turtle beneath the Earth, and we believe that as well. Because belief is not based on knowledge or experience.

The most important things in the world are those unseen things, such as love. We can’t see love or peace. We can only feel love, peace, and joy. Also, it doesn’t depend on sight at all. Sighted people rely so much on what they see to believe what they think is real. What about our blind brothers and sisters? They can feel the presence of the Holy Source Energy of the Universe too. Because, Spiritual forces are not dependent on our senses, which can easily be lost, destroyed, or diminished by age.

Therefore, the only things that are truly comforting, are the eternal things, which cannot be destroyed or diminished. That is what brings comfort. But don’t try to measure them with any scientific instruments. You must feel them to know them.

Does consciousness depend on the brain, or is it dependent on something else like soul or spirit?

10/23/2022

There are different levels of consciousness. They range from simple mental awareness, depending on the brain, to body-levels of consciousness that include the gut and the endocrine systems. We also exist within a higher level of consciousness, called Cosmic Consciousness, which is the organizing intelligence of the Universe.

The level of awareness that most call consciousness is dependent on the brain and body. It would go away if we starved ourselves to death or didn’t drink anything for 10 days. That level of consciousness, which is what helps us survive and navigate through the physical world, would just vanish. When we are brain dead, we don’t know our name, gender, or any of our physical attributes.

Yet we also have a circulating nervous system, or second brain or layer of consciousness. It is called “the Enteric Nervous System.” It is located inside of our gut. It causes us to feel emotions, such as butterflies in our stomach when we’re excited or nervous. Or feeling sick to our stomach when we’re frightened or repulsed. The Enteric Nervous System is made up of more than 100 million nerve cells. These cells line our gastrointestinal tract that runs from our esophagus all the way down to our rectum.

This second brain communicates directly with the brain in our head. But it is non-verbal. This is called the brain-gut connection or gut brain link. For a long time, doctors thought that anxiety and stress were the root cause of gastrointestinal problems, but it’s actually now thought to be the opposite. Poor gut health can send signals to the central nervous system and influence our moods, and how we perceive the world.

The endocrine system, our hormones, are also another layer of consciousness within the Enteric Nervous System. Hormones and other neurotransmitters travel along the gut-brain axis to send chemical messages. So we now know that he brain is not the only origin of thinking, feeling, and the operation of intelligence. “Messenger molecules” associated with the brain circulate throughout our body via the bloodstream. They also affect our health, the way we think and perceive our environment and other people.

As I said, outside the brain, intelligence and consciousness is nonverbal. For example, the immune system can identify and fight invading bacteria and viruses, and is sometimes called “the floating brain.” Yet it does not use language to communicate. It can be influenced by our thinking but it can also influence our thinking, causing us to have moods and other reactions, inducing ill health.

Then there is Cosmic Consciousness. That is the overall, underlying organizing intelligence of the entire Universe, in which we live. We abide within this level of consciousness and it is beyond our control. Even after we are brain dead, that level of consciousness, of which we are a part, exists for eternity. That is our Soul. It is felt within our hearts as well as all around us. Most have to enter a mystical state to perceive this level of consciousness. Yet, even people in a coma exist within this Cosmic Consciousness, for it is the underlying structure of the universe and all that is.

In other words, our Cosmic Consciousness is using the physical brain and the circulating brain as processing devices, moving molecules where they are needed to create the sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell of the world. Cosmic Consciousness does not depend on the brain’s mechanics of thought, perception, and transforming raw data into the world around us. The brain depends on it.

Does stoicism have a cosmology and views of a soul or life beyond the human experience, or is it more so a philosophy of how to effectively live life?

10/18/2021

For the most part, people think of Stoicism as an extremely practical way of living. It is about accepting what we cannot change. It is also about living life to the fullest because we never know when it’s going to be our last day.
But the Stoics also had a cosmology and a concept of the soul.

They believed in what in Hinduism is called Prana—the breath of life. But they called it the pneuma The pneuma a mixture of the elements air and fire.

This pneuma is the creative force behind the all life, all inanimate objects, and the cosmos as a whole. The highest form of the pneuma is our soul, which they called the “psyche.”
The psyche is a a small part of the overall pneuma, which is the soul of God. Everything that exists is part of the pneuma in some way. Stoics divide it all into two categories:

Passive—matter and the material world, including us and our bodies

Active—divine purpose, or the “logos”

The Stoics saw the cosmos as an all-encompassing presence, with a mega-soul. This is where the god Zeus come into play. He’s the one that holds it all together with the power of the pneuma. And everything in the world is imbued with the pneuma.

I am completely in agreement with this view of the cosmos, minus Zeus. But I understand the need for humans to embody the forces of the Universe, and put a label on them, such as “Zeus” or “God.”

As part of the divine consciousness, do we already know everything?

7/13/2021

As part of the divine consciousness, we really don’t know anything from the standpoint of our limited brains. We think we know things because we have accumulated many facts and educated ourselves so we can gain some measure of control over our lives. We believe that “knowledge is power” and on one level it is. It is better to have skills and understanding than to be completely clueless, especially when performing tasks.

But when we talk about divine consciousness, we are talking about something that is so large, we are simply not equipped to know about it fully. We may be able to see pieces of it, like an ant looking at an elephant. The ant may see just the toenail and think it is a huge mountain. It could never even see the whole elephant.

That is how we are in the realm of divine consciousness. We can get glimpses of it and live in it. We can experience it. But it is difficult to put words to what the experiences are. We can only hint at it. We can only talk about sensations but we can never pin it down. We aren’t meant to. It is arrogance to think that one day we will know everything.

The human race knows a lot already and it still hasn’t increased in happiness or peace. It has not taken itself into higher levels of consciousness and continues to chase after things that do not last. Knowing a lot does not provide much consolation on a cold and stormy night.

Is the law of attraction/manifestation simply a way for people to just believe in themselves, and therefore take action, or is it more than that?

1/25/2021

The Law of Attraction, which is “like attracts like,” makes a lot of sense when we see it in nature. Geese don’t hang out with skunks, they attract other geese. It is also about the energy that we put out there. It is invisible, but is comes back to us as we magnetically attract it.

However, I take issue with people thinking that they can sit on their sofa all day long and pet their cat and all the goodies they ever wanted in life will magically appear. My experience is that you have to meet the Universe at least half way, through action, to manifest anything you want in your life.

It is the lazy way out to think that you can lose weight, for example, by just thinking thoughts that you are thinner. You have to put in the work and the discipline. You must take some form of action. That is what sets the whole Universal ball rolling. If you just sit there and indulge in magical thinking that just because you are a good person and think nice thoughts everything good will come to you, I’m sorry, it won’t work.

Unfortunately, the Law of Attraction has been so commercialized, it has lost its original meaning. It is all about the energy forces of the Universe, which are unseen but can be harnessed by our own energy fields. It is not about brining in all the stuff money can buy and everyone lives happily ever after.

The physical plane is not easy and we a driven by the media to believe we need so many things to be happy. The Law of Attraction appeals to people who want lots of things. And therefore, it has become tarnished from misuse. We believe all these things lead to a happy, successful life. But they don’t. Inner peace, joy, love, bliss—our minds need to be all of those first things to attract them.

But we cannot be a huge SUV, a McMansion, a $1,000 pizza, and those things all go away or get digested and turn to excrement or dust. So, using the Law of Attraction for such things may be amusing, but it is not fulfilling and often doesn’t work. We are coming from an energy level of need and want, rather than fulfillment and that is the flaw. Law of attraction, without the necessary energetic work to supplement it, will not work.

Can you trust the law of attraction to solve all our problems?

7/11/2020

No, solving all our problems is not so easy as sitting on a couch and thinking positive thoughts.

The Law of Attraction does work. Like always attracts like, as we can see in nature all around us. Skunks don’t hang out with geese and fish don’t fraternize with sparrows. But it is not so simple as just being a positive source of energy and opening yourself up to the abundance of the Universe. All the goodies are not going to fall into our laps automatically.

The way it is designed, which many people would not like to face because they think it is easier to just wish and hope, is that we must meet the Universe at least halfway with action. It sounds like such a wonderful fairy tale to think that all we have to do to lose weight is to think about being thin. No, sorry, we must also stop eating fattening and non-nourishing foods and do some form of exercise.

And if we want to be wealthy, all we have to do is stop our negative vibes about cash flow and money. But again, this is wishing and hoping. It is not the whole picture. Yes, we can be unobstructed conduits for all the good of the Universe, but we must put in the effort. Not the struggle, not the grueling slavery, but the effort that shows our intentions.

The goal of “solving all our problems” is unrealistic and not the reason for our existence on this planet. Our problems are instigation for growth. And once they are “solved,” opportunities for new growth appear. It is never solved. It never gets done. and our opportunities for growth are endless.

Is it possible to get everything that you desire (not just physical/worldly but on a mental scale as well)?

7/11/2020

No, it is not possible to get everything we desire. And this is a good thing. Many of our desires are selfish and unconscious of the rest of the people on this planet. Criminals desire to kill and destroy. Sexual predators desire to dominate a frightened victim. Therefore, what we desire is not even desirable for many people who are led astray by their ego-minds.

The Universe is not designed to pamper our every whim just because that is what we want. We need to calm down with our demands as well as with our expectations of how we can bend the Universe to our will. People living in abundance are miserable because they still haven’t fulfilled all of their desires. Like spoiled children, they bang on their highchairs and cry because the world isn’t living up to their fairy tale dreams.

They would love to believe that if they said enough affirmations and think positively enough, they will get all the goodies they crave and climb Mount Everest too without training. But that is not how it is designed. Yes, we may think positively and emit positive vibrations to attract good into our lives. But we are not in control of how or when that good comes to us. And we must put in the work. It is not enough to desire and think it will all happen. If that were true, everyone would win the lottery.

How can one separate feelings from ego and from the soul? How can one differentiate the two from each other?

7/4/2020

Feelings from ego are based in fear—even the happy feelings have a fearful component to them because we worry about how and when they are going to end. Ego-feelings are also based on external circumstances and are not generated from within.

Something happens and it makes us happy. The next minute something happens and it makes us sad. These feelings are all based on what our ego wants and how the world is bending to our demands at the moment. We want the perfect life for ourselves according to some definition we have in our heads and we will not allow ourselves to be happy until we have attained it.

Feelings from Soul are based in an underlying joy, regardless of the cards that are dealt to us by the Universe. The Soul is already complete and is not seeking completion in something else. It sees that the Universe is well-put-together and we don’t need to strive to bend it to our wills. Therefore, the Soul abides in peace while the ego-world goes on in its turmoil and strife.

The ego-based emotions are perfect for survival tactics, reproducing our species, and creating social structures. The Soul-based emotions of love, peace, and joy are perfect for understanding the meaning and purpose of our lives.