QUANTUM PHYSICS AND EVOLVING CONSCIOUSNESS

[Guest guest]

(The following discussion is based on Bohm's theory of

the 'Implicate Order', developed in the 1980s in order to explain the

strange behavior of sub-atomic particles. The central underlying

theme of Bohm's theory is that there is a unifying reality which

underlies physical reality called the 'implicate order'.

This 'order' unifies the totality of existence so that nothing is

separate from anything else).

Today, we can venture into a discussion of quantum physics and its

relationship to consciousness because much has been written about

this in recent decades, and also because analogies taken from the

physical world can often help us understand the spiritual world. This

is because the principle " as above, so below " is universally true,

whether we perceive it to be so or not.

Since the 1920s, the field of quantum physics has catapulted us

forward in our understanding of the physical world. It has taken some

physicists to the edge of this world, to the place where the physical

interfaces with the spiritual. One area of quantum physics in which

this is true involves the creation and destruction of sub-atomic

particles. It is because of the inherent mystery at this level, of

things coming into and going out of existence, that we can explore

the fertile ground of present knowledge and ask broader questions

regarding being and non-being - spiritual questions arising out of

this mystery.

Within quantum physics, it is understood that in a vacuum - a

space that has, as much as possible, been emptied of both matter and

energy - that some background energy still remains. Out of this

background energy, particles continually emerge and disappear.1 Some

of these particles have a 'virtual' reality - a reality that is

similar to that of 'real' particles, but different from them in the

length of time that they exist.

'Virtual' particles appear out of the 'nothingness' of the vacuum

and disappear back into it again after such a very short time in

existence, that one could almost say that they did not exist at

all. 'Virtual' particles can also become 'real' particles, becoming

measurable and lasting longer, depending on how much energy is added

to the vacuum.2 Also, both virtual and real particles can change into

other particles before they disappear from existence.

The fluidity of this landscape of sub-atomic particles is like

the foam frothing on a turbulent sea. However, the seas of the earth

are something we know and have ideas about. We observe their tides,

their wave-patterns, and foam. What we don't know is where sub-atomic

particles - the constituents of the 'quantum foam' - go when they are

not 'real' or even 'virtual', or what the generating force is for

this turbulence.

This is a serious question. Some physicists define the vacuum

state as a state of nothingness. However, it has also been defined as

a state of being which appears on the physical level to contain

nothing, but which plays an active role in determining which

particles emerge from it and become 'explicate' or real.

The 'implicate order' can be seen as both a physical and metaphysical

construction - the name for a vast Intelligence which contains all

things within itself and which 'en-folds' or 'un-folds' these things

so that they emerge into the reality we experience as real.

The 'implicate order', should it exist, would appear to have the

capability of creating separate particles which appear to us as real

(un-foldment), and also of reabsorbing these particles (en-foldment)

so that they disappear into it and become part of the background

again. Whether we are talking about muons, electrons, pions, or

positrons, there are a number of questions that arise out of this

focus:

Why do certain particles arise then disappear?

Why do they change into other particles?

Is there a guiding Intelligence that is continually creating physical

matter out of background nothingness?

Is the Implicate Order something close to what we think of as God?

The view that nothingness is filled with something, though not

something we can see or measure, takes us from the realm of the

physical into the realm of the spiritual. From a spiritual

perspective, we may be seeing our own future - the future of

consciousness. For there is an analogy that can be made between the

way sub-atomic particles operate - the way they come into and go out

of existence - and the way individual consciousness has the potential

for operating as it evolves. For example, we can hold the possibility

that individual consciousness, like sub-atomic particles, has the

capacity to 'un-fold' and 'en-fold' as particles do - hovering

between being and non-being, and that this dual awareness is the

result of an evolving awareness, a consciousness infused by

Divine 'breath'.

Divine 'breath' is the infused life of God as it affects all

beings. It is not restricted to any particular belief system,

tradition, or religion. Sacred 'breathing', which is the experience

of Divine 'breath', does not just involve taking in air, but rather

taking in the higher frequencies of Light. Such breathing contains

within itself both the capacity to individualize consciousness, and

also to return it to the state of non-duality.

The infusion of Divine breath involves a process analogous to

inhaling and exhaling on the physical plane but with this

qualification - that the pulsations of Light which polarize and unite

consciousness between time and eternity, between form and

formlessness, do not necessarily alternate in time in the way that

inhaling and exhaling do. Rather, they may be considered to be ponts

of reference on a continuum, both ends of which can remain in

consciousness. Also, in contrast to the physical act of breathing

which is within the awareness of every creature, the awareness of

Divine breath is not automatic within human consciousness at the

present time. Rather, it corresponds to a consciousness that has

developed a capacity to attune to the higher frequencies of Light.

For such a consciousness, the inhalation pulse of 'sacred

breathing' brings consciousness into a state of self-discernment -

one in which the individualized self becomes a unique expression of

the Infinite. The exhalation pulse, by contrast, brings consciousness

into oneness with the Universal - with that which is All. In the

latter state, individualized identity disappears, and, like a drop of

water in the ocean, becomes part of the All.

Divine breath is the origin of life in the Universe. It is the

gift of the Mother/Creatrix/God who infuses life with Light and

brings consciousness into awareness of being both a self and also

merged within a greater Unity. The role of Divine intention is that

consciousness on all levels, the human as well as the sub-atomic,

will come to realize itself as unified so that matter and

consciousness will no longer be separate. Though such movement is

only in its beginning stages at this time, the purification of the

earth and of individual consciousness will accelerate this process,

bringing the fruits of sacred breathing to each soul who seeks the

light, as naturally and inevitably as physical breathing takes place

today. In this way the un-folding and en-folding aspects of reality

will ultimately be realized.

The means to the deepening experience of Divine breath are

purification and purity which allow the greater incorporation of

light within the cellular structure of the body. These awaken the

capacity to see and feel the Divine behind individual physical life,

as well as the capacity to feel One with All. As a model for this

dual experience, quantum physics illustrates in the behavior of the

tiniest sub-atomic particles, life's purpose and the purpose of

consciousness, down to the smallest dimensions of physical reality.

1. Zukav, . The Dancing Wu-Li Masters. New York: Harper

Publishers, Inc., 1979, 2001, p. 266.

2. Cole, K.C. The Hole in the Universe. New York: Harcourt, Inc.,

2001, p. 84.

3. Bohm, . Wholeness and the Implicate Order, Routledge & Kegan

, London, Boston, 1980).