The purpose of this set of articles is to encourage you to experiment and find the Ultimate Truth in your soul - God's ultimate consciousness, so proclaimed by both Modern science and Tantrism.
The Goal of Tantra, similar to that of modern science, is the study of the natural laws and of the human being. Tantra has discovered thousands of years ago facts that modern science is beginning to become aware of only now.
The principles of Tantric philosophy are sustained by the new discoveries in cognitive psychology and physics. Tantra considers that the fundamental reality of the universe is consciousness. Before time and space, at the origin of universe was the Supreme Consciousness. Each human being has a divine "spark" inside of them, which is the consciousness, the essence of each human being, the ultimate source of happiness and fulfillment.
Philosophers discussed for centuries the nature of consciousness, but Tantrics are intimately acquainted with it through meditation and introspection.
We cannot transpose into words any form of knowledge, therefore nothing could replace the direct experience of the levels of consciousness during meditation.
SCIENTIFIC VIEW
Quantum mechanics redefines the classical notions of particle, location, and movement.
•For example - in quantum mechanics, the position of a particle is not always precisely determined; generally, the position of a particle cannot be exactly determined, instead it is described merely as a series of possibilities. This probability function enunciates the fact that the particle is in an infinite number of positions, simultaneously.
•Another example of thinking in quantum mechanics - the trajectory of a particle between two given points, let's say A and B, does not follow a unique trajectory, but it follows simultaneously all the possible trajectories between A and B, according to various coefficients of probability.
•Thus, the movement and place as known in the classical Newtonian physics are redefined within this system of quantum mechanics. Instead, we have a new type of paradoxical mechanical process.
Behind the empirical universe we find a mysterious quantum reality, governed by paradoxical laws.
•Suppose we have an atom of Uranium, and that this atom may emit a neutron. This process is called radioactivity. Classical physics tell us that at a certain point the atom either emitted the neutron or it did not emit the neutron.
Quantum physics proves that the states corresponding both to the emission and to the non-emission of the neutron are in fact simultaneous, with certain probability coefficients. This over positioning of these states is valid for as long as there is no measurement taken. When we observe the state of the atom, the over positioning (the function of the wave) "collapses" and the result of the measurement will be one of the two possible states.
It sounds impossible and not even Einstein could believe this fact in the beginning, in fact he tried to prove the opposite for years.
THE TANTRIC VISION
However, the overwhelming proof in the experimental field of quantum physics sustain this interpretation. In other words, matter is in a quantum state of over positioned states, in which all possible evolutions are simultaneously manifested in a probabilistic manner.
However, we will not be able to observe this quantum, intrinsic state of the particles - each time we make an observation, the wave function will collapse and of all the probabilities, only one will remain, according to the corresponding degrees of probability.
• The state of quantum over positioning of states is beyond any capacity of direct observation. We, as human beings, cannot perceive this form of matter. The quantum universe is not directly perceivable, while the physical world, as we perceive it is merely a singular "possible" case, a particular case of the quantum universe.The title "real world" belongs now to the quantum universe, including here all the over positions of states and all its mysterious, obscure phenomena - at least to a person with a common level of understanding.
• On the most profound level of the universe there is a hidden, mysterious world. The physical world is merely an illusion of perception. For thousands of years, in Tantra there has been the concept of Maya, the cosmic illusion. According to the Tantras, God created Maya in order to hide the reality and fundamental truth of the universe, by leaving to the eye an incomplete and finite image.
• Many tantric masters asserted that the world is an illusion; however, this statement was not meant to discourage any of us in our efforts towards self-discovery, as they consider that the key to go beyond the illusion of Maya is Maya itself.
The yogis consider that the physical universe (the objective, exterior universe) is not the only possible reality, but there are many other universes (for instance the astral universe and the causal universe).
• These universes are subject to laws quite resembling to those governing the quantum mechanics. Therefore, the assertion that Tantra did not wait for the discovery of the quantum mechanics in order to sustain valid ideas is correct.
CONSCIOUSNESS AND MIND MANIFEST THEMSELVES AT A QUANTUM LEVEL
There is the possibility that the brain and consciousness interact at a quantum level.
• Alfred Alokta, the pioneer in the field of quantum consciousness issued the hypothesis that the quantum states in the brain directly influence the activity of the
neurons. The topic of a network of quantum connections in the brain is quite established, owing to the phenomena of quantum association. The American Evan Walker presented a model of synaptic tunneling of the brain electrons.
• Thus the brain is defined by two superimposed systems: a classical system, governed by classical laws, and a quantum system, governed by quantum laws. The first system corresponds to the unconscious cerebral activities, while the second corresponds to the consciousness and to conscious mental processes.
Some special states of matter, such as the Bose-Einstein condensates may in fact be ways of passage of the mind in and from the physical, exterior world. It is a proven fact that on a biological level there are certain special structures named the Bose-Einstein condensates.
These condensates present interest for our study because it is the most organized structure in the universe (before their discovery, this title belonged to the crystals).
In such a structure, the atoms oscillate together, as one. The constituent particles are perfectly identical, up to a point in which they lose their own identity.
Two examples of Bose-Einstein condensates are the laser wave (in which the photons act as one photon) and the over-conduciveness phenomenon (phenomenon occurring in certain materials, at very low temperatures).
These structures are highly sensitive to quantum phenomena, and they have the capacity of transmitting influences from a quantum level to a cellular level. The quantum state of the particles is non-material; it does not respect the laws of classical physics, but it has a paradoxical nature, more resembling to the mind.
3. The duality wave hints to the duality of body and mind.
Unlike quantum physics, classical physics cannot analyze consciousness and emotions.
Descartes considered the mind and body as totally separated. Newton's classical physics is based on Descartes thinking, describing the exterior world as perceived through the senses.
It is a science of pure objectivity, and its shortcoming is that the consciousness is subjective through its nature and therefore out of the reach of classical physics.
On the other hand, in modern physics, the concept of matter has changed. The duality wave indicates that any particle has an immaterial quantum state and this leads to the idea of body and mind duality. Just like the particle is inseparable from the wave, the mind and body form a whole.
4. Fundamental particles have a quantum component, immaterial and impossible to express in the terms of classical physics - the particle has a dual nature, both mental and material.
The quantum state of a particle is non-material. It does not respect the laws of classical physics, it has a paradoxical nature, resembling the laws governing the mental area. In the quantum state of a particle, it is not its material aspect that is most important, but the information. It is a reduction of the material aspect to pure information.
5. Consciousness is manifested in this quantum reality, it is intimately connected with the outer, "material" universe, without having direct access to it.
Paradoxically, manifesting at the level of the quantum states of matter, consciousness does not have direct access to the objective, exterior and observable world.
Bertrand Russell stated the fact that these states are always perceived at the quantum, "immaterial" level of the matter. With each observation it makes on these states, the consciousness induces/introduces an alteration.
"Observing means altering" - and thus the consciousness has a double function, both observing and influencing the objective world. The sensations are transmitted to the consciousness through the "scanning" of the quantum states of the neurons in the brain, and at the same time it performs the transmission of the commands to the brain.
The Englishman Herbert Froelich (1960) proved the existence of Bose-Einstein condensates in the cellular walls, in living matter; these may amplify and memorize information. Inside the neurons, the BE condensates may influence the release of information, having a tremendously important role in neuronal intelligence.
6. The mind is not subject to the speed of light. At a quantum level, knowledge means touch. When two particles touch each other, they stay coupled. By acting upon one, the other is affected. Thus, a quantum, super-luminic interconnection is achieved.
Let us have an experiment: assume that we have a 0-spin particle, which is divided in two particles, each of ½ spin. In this case, owing to the conservation law of the spin, if one particle has an upward spin, the other is forced to have a downward spin.
Furthermore, let us assume that we bring these particles to a great distance from one another. Quantum physics tells us that until we measure these particles, they will be in an over-position of possible states.
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When we measure one of them, the other is forced towards the opposite value - if one has upwards spin, the other has to have downward spin.
Now follows the paradoxical part: how is it possible that one particle knows what happens to the other, despite the distance between them? We know that in this "objective" world, nothing may be transmitted with a speed greater than the speed of light.
Nonetheless, we may see that quantum information traveled instantaneously. This famous experiment, known as the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen experiment (in short, the EPR experiment), proves that quantum information is not subject to the speed of light. The two quantum coupled particles communicate instantaneously to one another, regardless of the distance between them.
The collapse of the wave function of one particle determined the collapse of the second one, in accordance with the spin laws.
Consequently, consciousness perceived at this quantum level, transcends space and time and is not limited to the speed of light, as the rest of the phenomena that occur within the objective reality are.
The world of consciousness is free from the constraints of the material world. Thought is instantaneous, as it is not limited by the speed of light.
In the quantum state of a particle, it is not the material aspect that is important, but the information it carries. The English Physicist Herbert Froelich (1960) proved the existence of Bose-Einstein condensates in the cellular walls of living matter; these may amplify and memorize the information. Inside the neurons, the BE condensates may influence the release of information, having a tremendously important role in neuronal intelligence.
The mind creates the brain and not vice versa.
The brain is made up of billions of neurons that act in parallel, but the mental process allows one conscious thought at a time. At a quantum level, however, the neurons are integrated in a mental quantum field that organizes them into a unitary whole, as a common denominator.
The brain is like a money market hall, except that in this case there are billions of participants (the neurons) which communicate to each other in a simultaneous manner. However, we perceive conscious thought as a unitary process.
On the other side, consciousness is unitary and indissoluble; it can only focus on one thought, emotion or sensation at one time. How could this contradiction between the function of the brain and that of the consciousness be explained?
The physicist Ian Marshall (1989) issued a theory according to which the quantum states present in neurons are in phase on the level of the whole brain - a quantum effect due to consciousness. This quantum connection of the neurons is capable of integrating the billions of elements in a unitary whole, to impose order and structure in chaos.
The consciousness is not a result of the annexation of a great number of neurons in a complex network (as the partisans of the "emerging consciousness" sustain). On the contrary, the consciousness sustains and structures the brain in a coherent manner. The "magic" of the thought and feeling perceptions through the brain is ultimately due to consciousness.
Paradoxically, billions of neurons are interconnected in the most complex intelligent structure known to man. How can this miracle be? How can a single cell produce through multiplication and interconnections a finite "product" of such fine complexity - the human being?
The probability for the human body to take this particular shape is the same with the probability for thousands of bricks thrown at chance to fall on the ground in the shape of a house.
The English biologist Rupert Sheldrake issued the theory of the so-called "morphogenetic fields". It starts with the assumption that the mind is an essential reality as compared to the physical body or the brain.
In the moment of birth, the mind creates a "form field" that moulds the development of the brain, and even of the whole human body. It is not logical to consider that a pile of bricks (the human cells) on their own, may organize themselves into an exquisite "palace" (the human body), and all this by chance. This is highly unlikely.
On the other hand, the existence of form fields, the formative role, and the precedence of the mind over the body provide a much more plausible explanation. These form fields were perceived for the first time in the study of the development of the foetus and underlined by various experiments.
These experiments indicate the fact that on a certain level of the universe, the morphogenetic information corresponding to each species is transmitted to and from each member of that particular species, evolving in time.
There is no part of the brain in control with body or mental functioning. If a section of the brain is removed, its role goes to the rest of the brain. Consequently, the function is not dependent on neurons, but the neurons are moulded according to the function they have to play. The neurons are moulded by the consciousness itself.
Some physicists have gone even further with this assumption, suggesting that consciousness is an intrinsic phenomenon of the matter, fundamental in nature.
The American Nick Herbert considered that consciousness is ever present in nature. In this theory, the mind is just as fundamental a concept as the elementary particles.
The quantum properties that justify this presumption are:
•The intrinsic ambiguity - the attributes of the objects are not definite until the moment of observation.
•Free will - there is a degree of chance and unpredictability in every quantum process.
•Instantaneous connectivity - the interconnection between quantum phenomena does not depend on the speed of light, it is instantaneous and works regardless of distance.
AT A QUANTUM LEVEL, CONSCIOUSNESS EXPRESSES ITS FREE WILL Quantum physics has reached this amazing result: in nature, there is a degree of incertitude involved in each process.
From Newton and Descartes, most of the scientific community and almost the whole of Western society embarked on the hypothesis that the evolution of each system (including man) is completely determined, step by step by its previous state.
Thus, the conclusion that one may precisely determine the future if perfectly acquainted with the past emerged.
In other words, if we were to program a powerful computer with all the data it requires, we may even perfectly simulate the evolution of the universe in general and of the human being in particular.
However, in the end this assumption is a big mistake. Recent discoveries in modern physics did not validate the concept of "determinism".
They proved that certain phenomena, connected with the quantum level of reality can not be predicted. They are the so-called "incalculable's". Each quantum phenomena includes a degree of freedom.
Each time the wave function collapses, the result has a chance degree. This may be associated with free will, which is non-deterministic.
The particle may reach a final state that does not depend on its past. In other words, a "free choice" is allowed
Heisenberg's principle
Heisenberg's principle explains this degree of freedom. He proved that nobody could perfectly and accurately observe a particle. We either know its position precisely, but not its trajectory, or we know precisely and accurately its trajectory, but we do not know its position.
This limit in observation induces an intrinsic degree of incertitude, an imprecision at a theoretical level, a degree of indetermination in each act of observation.
Modern physics allows the concept of free will even at the most fundamental level, contrasting to the deterministic theory of Newton and Descartes, which consider that faith is decided from the start, and in an inexorable manner.
This change of heart reinstates free will, that is - the possibility of each human being of influencing one's own faith and not be subject to blind destiny.
This view of free will has always been part of the Tantric philosophy. The Tantric practitioner accepts the idea of karma, but he also considers that the evil that has not yet become manifested can and should be removed.
According to the Tantric philosophy, the degree of spiritual evolution of a human being is directly proportional with the degree of freedom that being has. At the ultimate level, God is defined as SVATANTRIA - supreme, absolute freedom, free from any constraint.
The degree of freedom of a certain person is quite relevant to his/her spiritual evolution.
For instance, a person who tends to be subject to all kinds of social dogmas, without thinking them over first, who is ready to take over already "thought" ideas without filtering them through his/her own mind shows a reduced degree of inner freedom.
Spiritual freedom is in tight connection with the concept of free will. Spiritual freedom is not related to not being imprisoned in a cell, but to being capable to think for oneself, without any limitations.
Being free from mental and psychic chains is much more important than exterior freedom.
ALL IS ONE, THE ONLY REALITY
1. The one that observes cannot be separated from the observed phenomena or from the act itself. The universe is a holographic whole.
Any action of observing or measuring affects the system, and consequently we are never "outside" the system we observe.
Any act of knowledge is made up of three parts: the subject, the object and the act of knowing. The act of knowing connects the subject and the object.
Nowadays people consider that usually the subject and the object are separated and distinct. Nonetheless, quantum physics indicates that the distinction subject-object becomes impossible even at a theoretical level.
Consequently, we cannot speak of one or the other, but we can speak of the system made of the two.
Tantra considers the outer world (objects) and the self (subject) have the same ultimate nature, acting as an inseparable whole - this is the principle of unity within diversity and diversity within unity.
There are some theories discussing the holographic nature of the universe - each part reflects in the others, and all of them form a unitary whole.
In holography, a three dimensional image of an object is filmed with a laser. The amazing part is that any part of the holographic picture may be used to recreate the whole image.
Each part of the holographic picture contains the whole image. In the holographic theory of the universe, the universe is represented by each component, regardless of the size.
Tantra considers that the human being has inside all that there is in the universe and that through meditation a person may get to the ultimate knowledge of the whole universe.
This knowledge of the outer universe through interior focus is a landmark in Tantra.
The asana's and the ascension of the energy Kundalini through all the seven centers of force (chakras) contribute to the knowledge of the outer universe.
This is possible mainly because of the holographic nature of the universe. The practical means through which we may access any part of the universe is the process of resonance.
The subtle (quantum) body instantaneously resonates with any aspect of the universe. This resonance brings about the direct knowledge of the universe.
2. The quantum level of matter presents a state of unity of all possibilities. It is a harmonious state within an indivisible whole, but this cannot be observed, because we always see only one possibility.
The American Henry Stapp indicated that in quantum physics, unlike classical physics, the whole and the part are intimately related.
A particle that is in a quantum over positioning of states experiences a state of unity of all its possibilities. This indicates that the quantum level of reality is closely connected with what Tantra names the state of ONE, non-duality.
Tantra considers this state of uniqueness as the source of both the beginning and the end of the universe, the highest state of consciousness.
The yogis name this state TURYA and describe it as a state of consciousness in which the object, the subject and the act of knowing are no longer separated, but they are unified, in transcendence of the subjective and of the objective.
3. Although at an empirical level, the exterior world appears as continuous and the consciousness appears as discontinuous, the reality of the quantum level is quite the opposite.
Where did the term quantum physics come from? During the early days of this theory, one of its first discoveries was that the energy contained in one atom cannot take just any value, but only certain so called "discreet" values.
In other words, we are not confronted with a smooth, continuous passing, but with a passing in "heaps", on a scale of energetic values.
This process bears the name "quantification". Although the outer world appears continuous to us, in fact recent discoveries indicate that it is quantified. There are minimal quanta of energy, electrical charge, and even time and space.
On the other hand, from an empirical point of view, the consciousness appears to us as divided and discontinuous, with moments of disruption, blanks, such as sleep with no dreams, moments from which we come out with no memories.
On the other hand, the Tantric practitioners, entering the state of expansion of the consciousness and non-duality (TURYA) have noticed that this state is continuous and uninterrupted.
In other words, the outer world is discontinuous and the consciousness is continuous, contrary to the appearances.
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