Science and Spirituality: Dimensions [2]

Holography records a three-dimensional reality in a hologram. Each part of the hologram has the inherent capacity to reconstruct the entire image. Holography is both scientific and technological, as well as being suggestive of the basic metaphor that is emerging for describing existence at all levels. Its basic tenets are simply that the whole is in every part, and every part of every reality contains the whole.

Spirituality begins with the awareness of the whole. It analyses the particular as organically related to the whole. One proceeds from the whole and with the awareness of the whole he observes the parts. The particular separated from the whole has really no meaning for the spiritual enquirer.

Thought is successive and discon­tinuous, so the unit of life is experience. Experience is the product of the experiencer (subject), the experienced (object) and the experiencing (subject-object relationship), when they all come to play at a particular moment in a given field of time-space matrix. This brings in subject-object dualism. In spirituality the experience is based on the frame of reference in the mind spectrum and each frame has its own level of perception. To understand the unit of perception, we have to explore the act of perception, the quality and potential of the mind-brain system employed for perception, interconnectedness of networks and webs, and heterarchical [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterarchy ] expression of consciousness that sustains the perception.

Spirituality introduces "level of perception" as a new element in the description of a particular. Each of these levels of perception is characterized by a set of concepts, which is governed by the quantum energy potential of consciousness in that frame of reference of the mind spectrum. As the whole mankind shares the conditioning or the content of consciousness, so spirituality is the act of exploration that one conducts on behalf of the whole human race, it is investigating the psychodynamics of the conditioned mind-brain system, which we share with mankind.

A scientific mind takes up "the role of a non-concerned observer", in the words of Schroedinger.[5] It is unrelated to our beliefs, our ambition, our hopes", in the words of Prigogine.[6] It must not construct a pseudo-observer, it must see the present and reject the past remembrances or future projections. The values in science are objective truth, openness, integrity and honesty. In a scientific mind, the attentivity takes up the role of the subject, so the subject is non-variable. The scientific mode is very factual. It moves from fact to fact. Discovery is its mission, its perception. It is precise, clear, unprejudiced, which does not condemn, which observes, which sees. When attentivity watches every thought without interfering in its flow (which means no energy exchange), the thought blossoms and withers away; the scientific frame of reference makes a quantum jump to the state of observation/attentiveness.[7] This is the beginning of spirituality, the subjective research. Both spirituality and science are the non-authoritarian approach - an approach not conditioned by the authority of the past. The subject of cognisance in both cases is the trans-psychological dimension of consciousness, which is called non-variable attentiveness. In the non-dual frame, thought-time goes to abeyance. Both deal with ending of violence, terrorism, war and usher in sustainable peace. Both deal with ending human misery and suffering.

Spirituality bestows perception of the wholeness and this leads to emergence of values. It leads to a new ethical outlook. Spirituality will lay foundation for a global ethics, without which peace and genuine progress are not possible and never will be.

Many eminent scientists have stated that the present objective science must restructure itself, which implies that holistic or true science must include subjective research in its realm. Karl Pribram stated, "Brain science must deal with the awareness of awareness. It could no longer afford to shut out that part of the world which we call subjective".[8] Seen in this light, there is no conflict between holistic science and pure religion between physical sciences and the science of spirituality. These are two complementary disciplines in the life of man and the real aim is to produce fully integrated human being.

Knowledge and the activity of knowing is a cerebral activity having many built-in limitations in it. The process of knowing is the process of measurement with the known - it is an additive process. In spirituality there is no additive process. The Buddha said, "Ignorance is the cause of sorrow.“ I know this, but it does not eliminate my sorrow, or take away my ignorance. It is just a statement for me, unless I discover the truth myself. All knowledge or ideals cannot transform the human psyche, these are sterile; Spirituality is to see in the present, which is ever new. Everybody has to undertake psychological experiments and actually verify for himself, so that he really begins to see that these are true. We are spiritual when enquiry is going on and we are ourselves exploring, instead of sticking to a conclusion. Only the truth can liberate the mind from its own ideation, to see the truth, the mind must realize the fact so long as it is agitated it can have no understanding. Understanding comes into being from the now, the present, which is always timeless.

Moment of knowing is a cerebral movement. When observer goes to abeyance, understanding is born. Human being seems to be born with the faculty of self-awareness and understanding. That understanding which is not knowing has a perceptive sensitivity. Intelligence leads to self-awareness, to perception, to understanding, and to action. Spirituality awakens the intelligence.

Spirituality aims at self-actualization of the hidden human potential It leads to a quantum jump from intellect to intelligence, from knowledge to understanding, and this results in psychic growth from successive consciousness to simultaneous consciousness. This involves a major paradigm shift to complementarity in place of competition convergence in place of conflict, holism in place of hedonism.

We are gradually learning to admit that creative problem solving is possible when we deal in whole systems. And whole systems include everything - my family, my community, my state, my nation are all parts of a larger whole. The fate of the whole of planet earth, at least, stands or falls, matures or decays together. "Pluck a flower and move a star", "displace an atom and shake the universe", "the action of a single electron affects and is affected by the action of the entire universe, and in this matrix all past, present and future collapse", are powerful new metaphors for our world and our day.