Two stories from a recent issue of the excellent magazine, Resurgence, illuminate the shifting sands of Science.

Remaking the World

Frontier research into the nature of human consciousness has recently upended everything that we have hitherto considered scientific certainty about our world, giving us new scientific stories with which to reimagine our future.

The American writer Joan Didion once observed that we tell ourselves stories in order to live. Of all our stories, it is the scientific ones that most define us. Those stories create our perception of the universe and how it operates, and from this we shape all our societal structures: our relationships with each other and our environment, our methods of doing business and educating our young, of organising ourselves into towns and cities, of defining the borders of our countries and our planet.

Although we perceive science as an ultimate truth, it is ultimately just a story, told in installments. We learn about our world in piecemeal fashion, a process of constant correction and revision. New chapters refine – and often supplant – the chapters that have come before.

Our current scientific story is more than 300 years old, a construction largely based on the discoveries of Isaac Newton, of a universe in which all matter is thought to move within three-dimensional space and time according to certain fixed laws. The Newtonian vision describes a reliable place inhabited by well-behaved and easily identifiable matter.

The worldview arising from these discoveries is also bolstered by the philosophical implications of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, with its suggestion that survival is available only to the ruggedly genetic individual.

These, in their essence, are stories that idealise separateness. From the moment we are born, we are told that for every winner there must be a loser. From that constricted vision we have fashioned our world.

IT IS NOW clear that the story we’ve been told is about to be replaced by a drastically revised version. Frontier research into the nature of human consciousness has recently upended everything that we have hitherto considered scientific certainty about our world.

To continue reading this story, click here.

God is not Dead

The evolution of consciousness is taking us towards a greater capacity for processing the meaning of our lives and the world around us.

A paradigm shift in science is taking place. This shift is taking us from a divisive, God-denying, matter-based science to one that integrates science and God or spirituality. This new scientific paradigm rests on solid theory-based quantum physics and solid evidence-based empirical data, not on fanciful ideas. And like all creative endeavours, the paradigm shift has come with a surprise: that science itself has to operate within a spiritual metaphysics.

In the 1980s there was strong emphasis on the ‘holistic paradigm’ which incorporated ‘pantheism’ or Nature-based spirituality. Holistic thinkers dominated such avant-garde thinking: Gregory Bateson, Fritjof Capra, Eric Wantsch, Francisco Varela, Humberto Maturana, John Lilly, Ilya Prigogine, Karl Pribram, David Bohm, Ervin László, and Roger Sperry. The list is very distinguished and very long. According to holism, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. It is greater because the emergence of novel phenomena cannot be reduced to the sum of its parts. Life, mind, consciousness, spirituality – all were explained as the holistic emergent phenomena of matter. Although holism was an integrative view, most holistic thinkers and writers still believed that everything was made of matter. Holism was not the only integrative track. Depth psychologists, starting with Freud and Jung, were openly positing the concept of the ‘collective unconscious’ that presupposed an irreducible consciousness.

Many holistic thinkers such as Capra depended on systems theory for their analysis; however, the scope of this kind of analysis is limited, as only generalities can be discussed. Others, Pribram, Bohm and Edgar Mitchell among them, expounded the idea of ‘hologram’, both literally and metaphorically. But the hologram is an object, whereas consciousness has both subject and object aspects. So how does subject-object awareness come about? This ‘hard question’ cannot be addressed from a materialist point of view.

Spirituality is more than pantheism, and an integrative theoretical foundation to provide a bridge between holistic thinking within science and psychological thinking within consciousness was lacking. Such a foundation came about only when quantum physics was properly interpreted in a paradox-free way.

To continue reading this story, click here.

From Huffington Post
Dr. Gino Yu

“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”-Albert Einstein

In late October, many luminaries of the nondual community will be gathering in San Rafael, California, at the Science and Nonduality Conference. For those unfamiliar with the term, nonduality is like the final destination for those wanting to uncover the ultimate Socratic quest to “know thyself.” Nonduality is the sudden and absolute realization that all perceived separation is entirely illusory, and that, instead, everything that you experience is, quintessentially, only One. To explain this sense of unicity that underlies the multitudinous universe, nondualists often resort to the metaphor of a movie that’s being projected on an infinite screen. Even though the characters and the scenery appear to be separate and interactive, the only thing that’s really real is the white, seamless screen that’s accepting the melodramatic and illusory story that’s being projected upon it. Nondualists claim that, instead of you being just a small and limited character playing a part in your life’s story, that, in truth, you’re actually the entire infinite screen itself! From their point of view, you are the very context in which ALL of life itself is showing up in. According to the nondualist, your fundamental nature is Pure Consciousness, Itself. In short, “you-are-what-is.”

Obviously, a nondual perspective like that has a built in problem: the moment that you start talking about nonduality is the very same moment that you’ve re-entered the wonderfully wacky world of duality. So the logical question then becomes; what are all of these nondualists going to be talking about anyway??

Well, the issues that are addressed often take the form of the ultimate, primordial questions of life itself: e.g. Who or what am I? Am I my feelings, or do I just have feelings? Am I my thoughts, or do I just have thoughts. Can there be thoughts without a Thinker. Can there be feelings without a Feeler? And, of course, WHO is the one who’s asking all of these questions, anyway? In short, “who’s the who?” Nondualists claim that, by tracing the origin on the “I” thought back to its true source, these answers can be found. But, in these amorphous areas, the answers cannot be clearly articulated in ways that make sense to our logical minds. The realization of this absolute Oneness that underlies everything is more of a kind of “knowingness” than it is a scientific conclusion that’s been arrived at through any form of linear cerebration. And, because its base position is logically “un-figure-out-able,” it’s not something that is, well….debatable. Either you get it or you don’t get it. And here’s the real kicker: nondualism has absolutely nothing to do with “belief.”

In fact, it’s this very belief in the separation of all things that is the root cause of much of the suffering in the world. Separation creates borders which, in turn, invites defenses, both internal and external. Instead of having beliefs, we then make an inward shift to, in a sense, becoming those beliefs. After that unfortunate reframing, then any perceived attack on my beliefs is likely to be experienced as a personal attack upon my own self and will be answered accordingly.

Most people struggle with the possibility that they are not their body. This belief is a lot tougher to let go of because our experience is of peering out into the world though these two holes in our skulls. Our senses seem to validate that we are walking through the world and that, in turn only reinforces our beliefs that we are separate and alone.

But the nondualists tell us that we are really the underlying fabric from which all-that-IS mysteriously emerges. You are, they insist, the entire context in which the entire universe shows up in to play in your play. In other words, you are not as much in the world as much as the world is in you.

Indeed, the scientific evidence is beginning to show that we live in a holographic universe where everything is contained in everything else. From that perspective, there are no separate parts. There’s only the One indivisible whole that appears to be fragmented and separate. When enough people really get this Truth, the understanding would radically alter the way in which we interrelate. That’s what makes conferences such as the Science and Nonduality Conference so important.

Media and culture play an important role in shaping how we perceive reality. Today’s media promotes fear, consumerism, and a “dualistic” (or “multiplistic”) worldview. Fortunately, the subject of Nonduality is making its way into films and new media. The Science and Nonduality Conference also includes a film festival which will include a new film, The Quantum Activist, about the work of Amit Goswami who will be tying the science of quantum mechanics to consciousness and to the many world’s religious traditions. Professor Goswami will also be in attendance.

My friend, author Chuck Hillig wrote a book called Enlightenment for Beginners that will be shown as a short animated film at the October conference in San Rafael. His talk will include how and why we began this playful game with nothingness. Chuck’s website is: www.chuckhillig.com.

Isaac Allan and Chad Cameron, the co-producers of the Leap! Movies will also be screening their latest movie called Leap 3.0. which further explores this whole idea of the material world as illusion.

Among the speakers participating in the event are authors Stephen Wolinsky and Jeffrey Martin, Stuart Hameroff, the director of the Center for Consciousness Studies, Marilyn Schlitz who heads up the Institute of Noetic Sciences, Futurist Peter Russell , Master Teacher Olga Louchakova, and investigators into altered states of consciousness including Frank Echenhofer, Reality Sandwich maker Daniel Pinchbeck, and Tom Ray just to name a few.

For more information about the exciting lineup the organizers have planned at the upcoming Science and Nonduality Conference which will be held from October 21-25, 2009, at the Embassy Suites/Marin Civic Center in San Rafael, California, please visit their website at http://www.scienceandnonduality.com/.

In this interview, artist Rupert Spira beautifully covers our inner landscape. Enjoy.

To be transported to the source of this video and much more on Advaita, click here.

Leonard Jacobson is a Advaita teacher, writer and playwright. His play, Liberating Jesus is now available on DVD and illuminates what Jesus would say if he were alive today. It’s thought provoking ideas seem to cross many boundaries and ring true to me when I saw the play. You can learn more about Leonard, his books, CD’s, the play and the DVD by clicking here.

Here Leonard answers a probing question.

Question:
What are we to make of the myriad of teachers out there today who claim or imply that they are self-realized. Are there levels of realization? If not, are they short of the mark and deluded somehow? Can teachers of a lesser attainment (if there is such a thing) guide their students only so far, and then they would have to meet a more evolved teacher or Master to finish the journey? Surely not all of the Advaita teachers today are fully awakened.

Answer:
Let me begin with your question, are there different levels of realization?

To be fully awake is to be so deeply present that you enter into a timeless and eternal state. You experience Oneness with all things. You experience Is-ness itself. You experience the source from which everything arises. You experience the nothingness at the very heart of everything. Your mind is silent and you are awake in the truth of life.

You have seen through the veils of illusion and you are fundamentally established in the present moment, which is the truth of life. You are no longer identified with the story unfolding within the world of time. You are no longer identified with experiences as they arise and pass. You know yourself as the one experiencing. You have awakened to Oneness, and you have transcended duality.

But one can have the most profound experiences of Oneness and still not be fully awake.

These experiences are life transforming. They open you up to a very deep level of consciousness. However all experiences, including peak experiences, pass. The real question is who is experiencing? That question cannot be answered or known with the mind, but it is revealed at the deepest level of Presence. If you do not become identified with the enlightenment experience, but rather focus on the question, “Who is experiencing?” then you will be released into the fully awakened state. It is a state of pure consciousness, beyond all experience.

On the spiritual path, there are many who have become lost by identifying with an enlightenment or peak experience, and they try to hold onto it. They will need to release themselves from that identification in order to fully awaken. We must continually release the past if we are to remain fully present, and that includes releasing those peak experiences. Then we can relax into the moment of Now, knowing that this moment reveals all that is, and that this moment is enough!.

In those moments that you are truly present and awake in Oneness, there is no distinction between you and any awakened Master you care to name. In those moments of perfect Presence, there is only one consciousness and we are all expressions of the one consciousness.

As for the myriad of teachers out there who claim or imply that they are awake, they are all of value to those still seeking liberation, and of course there are differences between them. The differences can be understood in the context of depth of Presence, and the degree to which an individual is established in Presence.

The present moment is the doorway through which we enter the essential nature of existence. There are levels of Presence in the sense that you can be more or less present. The deeper the level of Presence, the more you will experience Oneness and the eternal.

There are also varying degrees to which you can be established in the awakened state of Presence, in the sense that it has integrated within you. If you are well established in the awakened state, you will remain fundamentally present, even as you participate in the world of time.

Some teachers have penetrated into the deepest levels of this awakened state and they are fundamentally established there. They exist in an ongoing realization of Oneness and a Way of awakening has been revealed to them, which they can share with others. Some are not as fully realized, and some are deluded and do not realize that the ego has in fact become spiritualized and believes that it is enlightened.

However, we have to be careful when we speak of categories of consciousness. This is only possible with the thinking and dividing mind. It is only with the mind that you can compare one person’s consciousness with the consciousness of another. When you are fully present, your mind is silent and all these divisions and categories dissolve. Even the concept of enlightenment dissolves.

July 10-18, 18 kilometers from Iquitos, Peru

A nine day celebration in the heart of the Amazon, Convergence is a combination Ayahuasca Shamanism Seminar, Retreat and Visionary Gathering of shaman’s visionaries, leading edge thinkers, scientists, spiritual teachers, healers, filmmakers, and other artists. discovering common ground in multiple disciplines through presentations, workshops and ayahuasca ceremonies. Together, the group will explore it’s outer and inner worlds, push the limits of perception and challenge their consciousness through sharing individual and collective experiences, spirited dialogues, leading edge lectures, indigenous art workshops, traditional indigenous and “on the brink” music, visionary art exhibitions and ayahuasca ceremonies in the sensuous, vibrating rainforest of Amazonian Peru.

Convergence will unfold at Espiritu de Anaconda, a rustic and beautiful spiritual and botanical retreat center in the Peruvian Amazon. The center is a botanical sanctuary and healing center resting on 15 hectares where traditional shamanic medicine from the Shipibo culture is still practiced.

Using the ancient knowledge of Amazonian medicinal plants, the purpose of the Center is to teach, revitalize, disseminate, and preserve the ancestral practice of Amazonian plant medicine. The techniques practiced here promote spiritual, psychological, and physical well-being.

To learn more or to make a reservation visit www. http://www.amazonconvergence.com