I've been reading again (dangerous activity!).
I've always been fascinated with quantum physics, even though I struggle to comprehend so much of it, as I guess most of us do.
But I dig around through heavy stuff and then try to find more simple explanations before my brain implodes.
What's becoming the clearest thing so far, that cuts through all the pseudo-science, metaphysics and philosophical assumptions are a small handful of facts. Facts that are now beyond question. We may have heard some of these facts and thought "wow isn't that amazing!" or just put it in the too hard basket, because really, they are so far reaching in their impact that the implications are, for most of us, just too bizarre.
So here we go (this is my best shot at a short summary and may not be the most accurate description):
- Solid matter does not exist - everything is simply energy
- Energy can be waves or particles depending on whether they are being "observed"
- Before they are observed they can be anywhere - the act of observation gives them location
- Time is not "linear" in the quantum world - things don't happen in a logical series of events in the way we understand. Our observing something can change its past
- Quantum particles can be synchronised and affect each other instantly, no matter where or when they are
- The world as we observe and understand it, only exists in our minds
The list goes on. Suffice to say that things just don't play nice. They stuff up our tidy little world on a scale that defies sanity.
So, here's the crunch - the quantum world IS THE REAL WORLD!
That's right, we have a tiny range of senses that can only grasp an infinitesimal part of this interaction of energy, creating the illusion of time and matter. We are so much more than what we see around us that its a bit like asking an amoeba to write a thesis on philosophy.
The simple fact is that we are just a synchronised assembly of energy vortices that comes from and interacts with the unfathomably immense sea of energy that simply IS - and some fields of physics are even saying that this sea of energy could actually be universal consciousness, that consciousness is the source of all energy, not the other way around!
We can use this knowledge to begin to interpret what spirituality really is, and that's where we can only make assumptions. For me, I now think that "god" is this sea of conscious energy. But not God in the sense of a being who has ultimate control over our destiny, but simply the source that brings life. We are, for a brief moment, a focal point of synchronised energy that is self aware, and that will return to the greater awareness and perhaps continue in its growth, in union with the universal consciousness again.
I don't really know, and of course no one does! Religion, ALL religion, is nothing more than a construct to try and give meaning and purpose to our current existence as defined by our tiny physical senses. That's OK, we need it to some degree, especially as we are still learning so much about the real universe. But the need for religion is crumbling rapidly (yes, I know all the theological responses to that!) but the de-constructing of religion is bringing real purpose, life, unity and love to this world, despite the frantic claims of theists. Perhaps the ultimate fact is that unity through the synchronising of energy is actually the definition of love - its the only thing that holds the universe together and brings life!