Science and Religion redux

Since the beginning of thought, there’s been a disconnect between science and religion. Science has always been about the observable, namely energy. Religion has been about the unobservable, namely spirit (awareness). It’s as if they were two different things.

It could be useful to look at them as different sides of the same thing. Einstein gave us the concept of E = m, the two sides of energy. E, electromagnetic energy, is the non-material (spiritual) aspect of energy. Mass is matter, the material aspect of energy. Both consist of exactly the same particles of energy. So what’s the difference? As Harry, an un-notable physicist once told me, “It’s the spin, baby; it’s all in the SPIN!” As it turned out, particles of E (the spiritual, non-material aspect of energy) have twice the spin of the particles making up matter. Otherwise, they’re the same.

If that’s true, then science and religion are talking about the same thing, just from two sides – two different points of view. At least eastern religions are - western religions only talk about one side, spirit, the positive/E side of the equation. They basically ignore one part of reality.

So is electromagnetic energy really God? Is the sun God? Is the Earth God? If they aren’t, then God is limited. And who would want to believe in a limited god!?

2070

Rouse, my first grandchild, is due in July. I was trying to imagine what kind of Earth Day he will have if he survives til 2070, when he would be about my age. The worst case scenario I could come up with was if there was runaway methane melting, such as described in: http://www.energybulletin.net/3647.html. Poor Rouse!

The best case I could think of would be if humans somehow learned or were forced to control their desires (especially for energy), and were living in a new economic paradigm in harmony with all existence. Then Earth Day would be a celebration rather than a wake.

Unfortunately, I am pessimistic about human nature. I think we will continue our profligate life-style, thus dooming the Earth to the first scenario. Good luck little Rouse!

Earth Day

Imagine, 1 billion people doing something on Earth Day! I can’t. But I thought I’d join the crowd. So I walked to school this morning (though I rode my motorbike in the afternoon – it was too hot (a poor excuse, but don’t come to Saigon in April!)). And then we discussed it in my class (I learned that by 2040, over half of the Mekong Delta will be unsuitable for agriculture because of the rising sea level!). And then I was talking with Mary Jane, and she suggested we write something about it, like how it relates to Haiku God. Well, basically, the Earth IS Haiku God, in the form of matter (contractive energy). “Mother” Earth as contractive energy is one side of the equation (E=mc2). The other side is E, electromagnetic energy (spirit). Unfortunately, most westerners only think about and worship this form of Haiku God, the “God” which appeared in the burning bush as electromagnetic energy. This is the masculine side of Haiku God, as opposed to “Mother” Earth, which is being raped and trashed.

Does this make Haiku God mad? By definition It is beyond emotion, only being unconditional love. However, Haiku God as man is starting to get pissed off, and it’s probably about time. The big question to me is: will enough people get concerned enough to get something done about it? Or is it too late?

Even more on becoming not-I

Thanks for the comment and advice, hotdzit. I believe everyone has experienced not-I. As someone said, it was our face before we were born. We just can't remember it because it wasn't an experience of our I. And maybe I'm not so lucky to have tasted it, because I don't believe that someone can be truly happy when one knows there is greater happiness to be had; when one knows there's something more which is attainable in this life.

I and not-I form a continuum ranging from complete separateness/self-centeredness (devil) to complete unity (love/goodness), Christ being the best known example of the latter in the West. As I/ego is lessened, selflessness (not-I) grows (and vice versa). This usually happens naturally over a lifetime or more, but some people often experience temporary limited states of not-I such as being in extreme danger (near death), a religious rebirth, revelations, usage of certain kinds of drugs, orgasm, satori, extreme acts of kindness... These experiences usually speed up the process of moving along the continuum towards not-Iness. However, they can also become a hindrance if they give the ego the illusion that it “knows,” which leads to the ego being strengthened. That’s probably why many have said that if you start on the quest for not-I, you should never stop, even though you think you’ve reached the goal – because there is no final goal: the process itself is the goal. Which comes back to your advice - be happy (with the process).

More on becoming not-I

In my last post, I ended by saying "good luck," because I have been trying for 30 odd years to live in the state of not-I, and haven't had much luck. I have glimpsed and tasted not-I, enough to know it exists and is far superior to the state of I, but I seem to like being I too much to give it up. Adding to that the necessity of practicing self-discipline to achieve a state of not-I, my chances of living in that state are much diminished. So again I say, good luck!

Becoming not-I

If the purpose of life is to become not-I, then how is it done? The I (ego) is made up of all mental functions, such as senses, feelings, thoughts and emotions, which lead to a perception of separateness as an individual self. To reach the state of not-I (union/selflessness), one must go beyond/transcend all the aspects of ego. All religions provide methods of becoming selfless, be it through practice of positive energy/love (service, charity and worship), practice of contractive energy (inward looking through meditation/prayer), or simply stepping back and practicing bare attention/awareness. Since every I is unique, every I will have its own particular method of transcending ego. Good luck!

Purpose of Life

I was asked, “so what’s this Haiku God thing mean?” Well, I thought, in reality there is no meaning, just isness. But man needs meaning and purpose. Well, the primary purpose of all life is staying alive. After that, some life seeks security; staying alive in the future. And some life, including man, adds a third purpose, pleasure. There are two kinds of pleasure, material and spiritual. Material pleasure is directed at I, spiritual pleasure comes from outward direction (giving/not-I). From all accounts, spiritual pleasure is far superior to material pleasure. So the obvious purpose of man’s life should be to attain spiritual pleasure, which means becoming not-I. The more not-I one becomes, the greater the spiritual pleasure (the more you love, the more you get). Of course "I" can never experience the ultimate pleasure of being completely not-I. Well, something experiences it, and it can only be awareness itself. So I disappear, undifferentiated awareness remains. That would be Heaven, Nirvana.

So I answered “awareness.”

More about energy

Certainly God as electromagnetic energy is well accepted, especially in the Judeo/Christian tradition. A burning bush is definitely electromagnetic energy, as is light (a common description of God). Life itself is electromagnetic energy.

What is not accepted is that the strong and nuclear forces, as well as gravity (all of which are "negative" energies), are God. This is probably due to the following reasons:

First, people's natural conception of God is usually as a person, and negative energy would not seem to have any personality, though we could say that the earth, the best example we have of negative energy, has a personality of sorts (as Mother Earth).

Further, God is personalized as being male. Under this limited view, electromagnetic energy can be accepted as God, because it is the positive (male) form of energy. But negative energy (the female/attractive form) is excluded. Of course any strictly male god is by definition limited, and thus cannot be true God. If we are to say that true God is unlimited, then It must include negative energy.

Resurrection

Resurrection is commonly defined as becoming alive again, the best example being Christ’s return from death. The promise is that death is not the end; that we can also survive death. This must be, as energy cannot be created nor destroyed, only change forms. Thus awareness/energy as spirit or soul changes form from incarnated as matter (life) to pure spirit. Resurrection implies that this individual spirit will take on a body and become “alive” again (reincarnated?). However, being resurrected as an individual means being separate from not-I. So if the goal is to become not-I (true heaven), then being resurrected as an "I" would miss the mark.

Reincarnation

Reincarnation is an individual spirit taking on a new physical body. The circumstances of birth are determined by karma (how good/bad you were in the last life). In Christian jargon, it is going to purgatory, where one works off the legacy (karma) of past sins in order to qualify for heaven.

(For an instructive guide to the after death state and reincarnation, read the “Tibetan Book of the Dead”)

The Trinity

God is all energy, but different forms of energy have different attributes (expansive, contractive and neutral). These attributes are hereinafter called Godness. Christians would see Godness as being expressed in the concept of the trinity: the father as light (radiation/spirit), the son as matter (incarnated) and the holy spirit as dark energy, the formless, transcendent ground of the other two.

Man has divine nature

God exists in every living being in the form of energy/awareness, which is life itself. “I” am simply one of countless individual points of view of God as awareness/energy. God is totality; every individual I is but a part, one frequency among countless. If divine nature is awareness/energy, I must have it. To say I don’t is to say that divine nature is limited (there is someplace where it isn’t) and to escape the obligation to discover and express it.

Light

Electromagnetic radiation (Einstein's E), including visible light, is the energy carrier for the radiant/positive energy produced by chemical reactions of matter. Light (radiating energy) consists of photons, a kind of boson, which is an elementary particle of energy identical to a fermion, but with double the spin. This double spin somehow allows photons to be indiscrete, so they can be in the same place at the same time. On the other hand, Fermions (the basis of matter) are discrete, thus cannot be in the same place at the same time. They are “solid.” The virtuality of photons, considered with their mass of 0, qualifies them as non-matter. However, it’s important to note that light, although non-matter, is still individuated (in the form of separate quanta/photons/waves).

Creation?

Since all is energy, and energy can neither be created nor destroyed, there logically can be no creation - something out of nothing. There is only change from one form of energy to another (E to m). However, creation is sometimes thought of as the appearance of something new. Matter creation, in which bosons (energy as non-matter) change into fermions (energy as matter), is a good example. It seems that something (matter) has appeared from nothing (non-matter), but it's just a transformation of energy. From this point of view, "creation" is continually occurring (as is annihilation, as when fermions change to bosons). Thus Haiku God is continually "creating" Itself.