Guest guest Posted March 11, 2001 Report Share Posted March 11, 2001 In a message dated 3/5/01 6:27:02 PM Eastern Standard Time, muse@... writes: this came from Deb - > In Interview with > > Author of " The Global Brain Awakens " > & " Waking Up in Time " > > muses on the mysteries of light and humans' inner awareness > By NANCY HAUGHT > THE OREGONIAN > > If people really did go through life with light bulbs over their heads, > 's would be on most of the time. > Called a professional thinker and a free-lance philosopher, peddles > ideas as a corporate consultant for a list of clients from A (American > Express) to almost Z (Volvo). His ideas have to do with increasing > creativity, decreasing stress, preserving the environment and, lately, > light. > > " For the rest of my life, " he says from his houseboat in Sausalito, Calif. > " I want to try and understand what light is. " > This from a guy who earned degrees in theoretical physics, experimental > psychology and computer science at Cambridge University, studied Eastern > philosophy and meditation in India, and wrote an arm-load of books about how > human beings think, cope with change and face the future. It may all come > down, he says, to light, something we all take for granted and know very > little about. > > " There's something curious about light, which may be beyond human > understanding, " says. From a scientific standpoint, light does not > behave as we would expect it to behave. > > " What physics is telling us in Einstein's theory of relativity and quantum > physics is that light doesn't seem to be part of the material world, " > says. " Light doesn't seem td exist in time, space or matter as other > things do. Light, therefore, seems to occupy a very special place in the > cosmic scheme. It is in some ways more fundamental than time, space or > matter. " > The thing light is most like, it turns out, is consciousness, says. > Not Jiminy Cricket conscience, but the state of being conscious. Without a > Disney character to enlist, defining consciousness is tough. sees it > as " the fact that we are aware inside, that we have thoughts and feelings, > an inner life. " > > He is talking about your mind as opposed to your brain. Use both of them for > a minute here, and imagine a film projector showing images on a screen. > " These images are like the perceptions, sensations, dreams, memories, > thoughts and feelings that we experience, " says, " what I call the > 'contents of consciousness.' " The projector's light, which makes seeing the > images possible, is like consciousness itself. > > While science has made some headway in understanding how the human brain > works, it has learned little about consciousness, says. " There is > nothing in physics, chemistry, biology or any other science that can account > for our having an interior world. > > " Science today is very good at explaining how the physical world operates - > why balls bounce, how satellites orbit - but it's completely stumped when it > comes to consciousness. It's a paradox, that every scientist knows he or she > is a conscious being, but there is nothing in science to explain it. It's > the most obvious thing in the world, and we can't explain it. " > > Or can we? is taking a shot at it. What if consciousness and light > were more than similar? What if they were the same thing? What if they were > God? > > Pause for a moment and let that sink in while adds " theologian " to > the stack of hats he's wearing. In all the great religions of the world ½ as > in physics - light is a recurring theme, especially in the writings of the > mystics, he says. > " Consciousness is often spoken of as the inner light St. refers to 'the > true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.' The > Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation speaks of 'self originated Clear Light, > eternally unbom ... shining forth within one's own mind.' ... The sufi > Abu'l-Hosian al-Nuri experienced a light 'gleaming in the Unseen.... I gazed > at it continually, until the time came when I had wholly become that > light.' " > > Light may be more than a metaphor for God, or the ultimate reality, > says. " An oft-quoted phrase comes to mind, 'God is light.' God is said to be > absolute-and in physics, so is light. God lies beyond the manifest world of > matter, shape and form, beyond both~ space and time - so does light. " > > So, we simply must ask, what? What difference would it make if we understood > that our capacity for consciousness was a firsthand experience of the > divine? > > It would make a couple of differences, says. First, it might bridge > the chasm that seems to separate science from spirituality, and the rest of > us might find, as says he has, that the pursuit of physical truth > and that of spiritual truth do not lead in different directions. > > Understanding consciousness as light might also lead to a deeper recognition > that consciousness or light or God is the ground all human beings share. " We > are all exactly the same, " says. " Our many different histories make > us appear different, but when we recognize that deep oneness, it brings > about compassion the hallmark of all the great religious traditions > - and that leads to forgiveness. " > > It may also lead us to look inside ourselves for answers to life 5 tough > questions says It has been profound for me to realize that I have > all the wisdom I need deep within me instead of looking outside myself, " he > says. If we want to find God, thinks, we may need to look > within our own minds. > > > In Interview with > > Author of " The Global Brain Awakens " > & " Waking Up in Time " > > muses on the mysteries of light and humans' inner awareness > By NANCY HAUGHT > THE OREGONIAN > > If people really did go through life with light bulbs over their heads, > 's would be on most of the time. > Called a professional thinker and a free-lance philosopher, peddles > ideas as a corporate consultant for a list of clients from A (American > Express) to almost Z (Volvo). His ideas have to do with increasing > creativity, decreasing stress, preserving the environment and, lately, > light. > > " For the rest of my life, " he says from his houseboat in Sausalito, Calif. > " I want to try and understand what light is. " > This from a guy who earned degrees in theoretical physics, experimental > psychology and computer science at Cambridge University, studied Eastern > philosophy and meditation in India, and wrote an arm-load of books about how > human beings think, cope with change and face the future. It may all come > down, he says, to light, something we all take for granted and know very > little about. > > " There's something curious about light, which may be beyond human > understanding, " says. From a scientific standpoint, light does not > behave as we would expect it to behave. > > " What physics is telling us in Einstein's theory of relativity and quantum > physics is that light doesn't seem to be part of the material world, " > says. " Light doesn't seem td exist in time, space or matter as other > things do. Light, therefore, seems to occupy a very special place in the > cosmic scheme. It is in some ways more fundamental than time, space or > matter. " > The thing light is most like, it turns out, is consciousness, says. > Not Jiminy Cricket conscience, but the state of being conscious. Without a > Disney character to enlist, defining consciousness is tough. sees it > as " the fact that we are aware inside, that we have thoughts and feelings, > an inner life. " > > He is talking about your mind as opposed to your brain. Use both of them for > a minute here, and imagine a film projector showing images on a screen. > " These images are like the perceptions, sensations, dreams, memories, > thoughts and feelings that we experience, " says, " what I call the > 'contents of consciousness.' " The projector's light, which makes seeing the > images possible, is like consciousness itself. > > While science has made some headway in understanding how the human brain > works, it has learned little about consciousness, says. " There is > nothing in physics, chemistry, biology or any other science that can account > for our having an interior world. > > " Science today is very good at explaining how the physical world operates - > why balls bounce, how satellites orbit - but it's completely stumped when it > comes to consciousness. It's a paradox, that every scientist knows he or she > is a conscious being, but there is nothing in science to explain it. It's > the most obvious thing in the world, and we can't explain it. " > > Or can we? is taking a shot at it. What if consciousness and light > were more than similar? What if they were the same thing? What if they were > God? > > Pause for a moment and let that sink in while adds " theologian " to > the stack of hats he's wearing. In all the great religions of the world ½ as > in physics - light is a recurring theme, especially in the writings of the > mystics, he says. > " Consciousness is often spoken of as the inner light St. refers to 'the > true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.' The > Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation speaks of 'self originated Clear Light, > eternally unbom ... shining forth within one's own mind.' ... The sufi > Abu'l-Hosian al-Nuri experienced a light 'gleaming in the Unseen.... I gazed > at it continually, until the time came when I had wholly become that > light.' " > > Light may be more than a metaphor for God, or the ultimate reality, > says. " An oft-quoted phrase comes to mind, 'God is light.' God is said to be > absolute-and in physics, so is light. God lies beyond the manifest world of > matter, shape and form, beyond both~ space and time - so does light. " > > So, we simply must ask, what? What difference would it make if we understood > that our capacity for consciousness was a firsthand experience of the > divine? > > It would make a couple of differences, says. First, it might bridge > the chasm that seems to separate science from spirituality, and the rest of > us might find, as says he has, that the pursuit of physical truth > and that of spiritual truth do not lead in different directions. > > Understanding consciousness as light might also lead to a deeper recognition > that consciousness or light or God is the ground all human beings share. " We > are all exactly the same, " says. " Our many different histories make > us appear different, but when we recognize that deep oneness, it brings > about compassion the hallmark of all the great religious traditions > - and that leads to forgiveness. " > > It may also lead us to look inside ourselves for answers to life 5 tough > questions says It has been profound for me to realize that I have > all the wisdom I need deep within me instead of looking outside myself, " he > says. If we want to find God, thinks, we may need to look > within our own minds. > > > > When all things return to the One, even gold loses its value. But when the > One returns to all things, even the pebbles sparkle. > > > > " Look for the sacred in the commonplace! " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 13, 2001 Report Share Posted March 13, 2001 I loved this one! >> " What physics is telling us in Einstein's theory of relativity and quantum >> physics is that light doesn't seem to be part of the material world, " >> says. " Light doesn't seem td exist in time, space or matter as other >> things do. Light, therefore, seems to occupy a very special place in the >> cosmic scheme. It is in some ways more fundamental than time, space or >> matter. " >> The thing light is most like, it turns out, is consciousness, says. >> What does physics have to say about darkness? If it's the absence of light, is it most like unconsciousness? ne (Stumbling toward the light - Bo Lozoff) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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