“Americosmos,” by Darrin Drda, uses American and Tibetan Buddhist mandala iconography to poke fun at the meaninglessness of existence
Huge thanks to artist Darrin Drda, who graciously allowed us to spotlight his incredible Buddhist mandala “Americosmos.”
It’s an American version of the Bhavachakra or Tibetan Wheel of Life, a diagram that shows the inherent suffering in all modes of existence, from the lowest hell realms to the highest heavens—suffering caused by the impermanence of all phenomena and the mind’s constant attempts to cling to and entrap the illusion of reality instead of embracing the truth of impermanence and emptiness.
Here’s what legendary Tibetan teacher Chögyam Trungpa had to say about this incredibly important Buddhist mandala:
“The whole Dharma is the language of samsara. That is why this painting is called the wheel of life, of bhavachakra—the wheel of existance, or becoming (samsara). This wheel is the portrait of samsara and therefore also of nirvana, which is the undoing of the samsaric coil. This image provides a good background for understanding illusion’s game, based as it is on the four noble truths as the accurate teaching of being in the world. The outer ring of the nidanas describes the truth of suffering; the inner ring of the six realms describes the impetus of suffering; and the center of the wheel describes the origin of suffering, which is the path.
“The wheel of life is always shown as being held by Yama (a personification meaning death, or that which provides the space for birth, death, and survival). Yama is the environment, the time for birth and death. In this case, it is the compulsive nowness in which the universe recurs. It provides the basic medium in which the different stages of the nidanas can be born and die.
“The outer ring of the evolutionary stages of suffering is the twelve nidanas. Nidana means ‘chain,’ or chain reaction. The nidanas are that which presents the chance to evolve to a crescendo of ignorance or death. The ring of nidanas may be seen in terms of causality or accident from one situation to the next; inescapable coincidence brings a sense of imprisonment and pain, for you have been processed through this gigantic factory as raw material. You do not usually look forward to the outcome, but on the other hand, there is no alternative.”
My success as chief economist at a major international consulting firm was not due to the lessons I learned in business school. It was not due to the competence of my staff of brilliant econometricians and financial wizards.
Those things may have helped at times. But there was something else that made it all happen. That something else was the same something else that elevated George Washington, Henry Ford, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King Jr, Steve Jobs, and other successful people to the heights of their success.
That something else is available to everyone of us.
It is the ability to alter objective reality by changing perceived reality, what we might think of as the Perception Bridge.
As described in my book The NewConfessions of an Economic Hit Man, my job was to convince heads of state of countries with resources our corporations covet, like oil, to accept huge loans from the World Bank and its sister organizations. The stipulation was that these loans would be used to hire our engineering and construction companies, such as Bechtel, Halliburton, and Stone and Webster, to build electric power systems, ports, airports, highways and other infrastructure projects that would bring large profits to those companies and also benefit a few wealthy families in the country, the ones that owned the industries and commercial establishments. Everyone else in the country would suffer because funds were diverted from education, healthcare and other social services to pay interest on the debt. In the end, when the country could not buy down the principal, we would go back and, with the help of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), “restructure” the loans. This included demands that the country sell its resources cheap to our corporations with minimal environmental and social regulations and that it privatize its utility companies and other public service businesses and offer them to our companies at cut-rate prices.
It was a strategy of using perceived reality to change objective reality. In these cases, Objective Reality 1 was that the countries had resources. The Perceived Reality was that using those resources as collateral on loans to finance the building of infrastructure projects would create economic growth and prosperity for all the citizens. Objective Reality 2, however, was that economic growth occurred only among the very wealthy. Since economic statistics (GDP) in such countries are skewed in favor of the wealthy, the fact was that only our companies and the wealthy families benefited. The rest of the population suffered. In many cases this has led to political unrest, resentment, and the rise of various forms of radicalism and terrorism.
We know from quantum physics and chaos theory that consciousness, observation, and changes in perception have impacts on physical reality that can expand exponentially. Modern psychology teaches that perceived reality governs much of human behavior. Religion, culture, legal and economic systems, corporations – in fact, most human activities – are determined by perceived reality. When enough people accept these perceptions or when they are codified into laws, they have immense impact on objective reality.
Human activities – individual, communal, and global – are driven by this process of altering human perceptions of reality in order to change objective realities. A couple of cases from US corporations illustrate this.
Case #1: Ford Motor Company
In 1914 Henry Ford’s Objective Reality was: A) His company sold Model T cars that were produced through the assembly line process by workers who were paid a standard minimum wage; and B) Because the assembly line was monotonous and workers were under a lot of pressure to reduce the amount of time to build a car from 12.5 hours to less than 100 minutes, there was an extremely high turn-over rate in Ford’s work force.
So Ford perceived a new reality. He raised wages from the standard $2.34 for a nine-hour day to $5 for an eight-hour day – at a time when every other car manufacturer was trying to reduce wages. In addition to keeping workers on his assembly line, Ford was motivated by a second perception. He understood that the company, its workers and the buying public all came from the same population and he reasoned that “unless an industry can so manage itself as to keep wages high and prices low it destroys itself, for otherwise it limits the number of its customers. One’s own employees ought to be one’s own best customers.” Ford perceived that increasing the buying power of his workers would have a multiplier effect; it would also increase the buying power of many others.
Objective Reality 2: Ford sold 308,000 Model Ts in 1914—more than all other carmakers combined. In 1915, sales soared to 501,000. In 1920, Ford sold a million cars.[1] In the process, Ford’s actions helped stimulate unprecedented growth in the US middle class.
Case #2: Nike, Adidas and other Retailers
Objective Reality 1: These companies design high-end footwear and clothing that is manufactured in factories that the companies do not own in China, Vietnam, and other “sweatshop” countries.
Perceived Reality on the part of management at these companies: A) Outsourcing production releases their companies of worker-rights responsibilities and minimizes wages; B) Hiring highly-paid athletes to promote products counterbalances the negative publicity generated by activists who advocate more pay for sweatshop workers; and C) These policies, that are diametrically opposed to those of Henry Ford, will maximize profits.
Objective Reality 2: A) Low “non-living” wages and poor working conditions in overseas factories result in high worker turnover, illnesses, and adverse publicity; B) By negatively impacting consumer economic growth, such policies destroy opportunities for new markets that would result if workers were paid enough to buy the products they make and at the same time stimulate the multiplier effect; and C) Neither corporate profits nor overall economic growth in the countries where the factories are located are in fact maximized.
I had the opportunity to highlight the difference between the two cases above when a Portland Oregon (home of Nike) radio station interviewed me. The host inquired “If you could ask Nike founder Phil Knight one question, what would it be?”
I didn’t have to give it much thought. “Hey Phil, why don’t you follow Henry Ford’s advice?” I went on to say, “Imagine if as part of an international advertising campaign those athletes were to say something like, ‘Instead of $X millions, I and a bunch of my friends – other Nike celebrities – have agreed to have Nike cut our fees by Y%. Nike’s top managers have agreed to similar cuts. That extra money will go toward paying workers who make Nike products around the world higher wages. We believe that by Just Doing It we will help make the world a better, more peaceful place.’” I paused.
“That’s an awesome idea,” the host said.
I couldn’t help adding, “What do you think that might do to Nike sales? How would it impact the rest of the industry?”
“It’s all in the mind.” -George Harrison
The above are two examples of how the Perception Bridge works. There are countless others. These range from the individuals to corporations and all the way to governments. Human activity is determined by the ways perceptions impact physical reality – both consciously and unconsciously. Here’s an example of the global impacts that a perceived reality in the 1950s has had on every subsequent generation throughout most of the world .
Case #3: US Government Policies in Iran
Objective Reality 1: A) Mohammad Mosaddegh was democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran in 1951; B) He introduced progressive reforms including social security, rent control, and land reform; C) He insisted that foreign oil companies pay a fair share of their income from Iranian oil to the Iranian people and when one – now known as BP – resisted, he set about nationalizing it.
Perceived Reality: The US government labeled Mosaddegh a Communist, Soviet puppet, and threat to democracy.
Objective Reality 2: A) The CIA overthrew Mosaddegh in 1953 and replaced him with the Shah, a brutal pro-Western dictator who “auctioned” Iran to foreign oil and other companies; B) Growing discontent led to the Iranian Revolution of 1979; C) The Shah was overthrown, Ayatollah Khomeini took control, 52 US diplomats and citizens were held hostage for 444 days, US and European countries broke relations with and initiated sanctions against Iran; D) Islamist militarism expanded rapidly during the next decades throughout the Middle East; and E) The entire region has been torn by wars and political instability; this has impacted relationships between countries far from the Middle East, including the US, China, Russia, much of Africa and Europe.
We can only imagine how different the situation might be in Iran, the Middle East, the US, and so much of the world if the perceived reality had been different – something like:
Perceived Reality: The US government supports Mossadegh’s policies and announces that it will only purchase oil from companies that pay a fair share of their income to the people of the countries where they extract oil.
The US overthrow of Mossadegh resulted in a series of tragic events that might be considered as “unintended consequences.” In my experience, such consequences occur because the people making the decisions do not fully understand the power of the Perception Bridge.
I’ve found in my role as advisor to corporations, governments, executives and as a lecturer at MBA and other programs that taking a good, hard look at the impact of perceived reality on objective reality is one of the most efficient processes individuals, businesses, and other institutions can employ in order to achieve their true objectives. I’m struck by how much the perceived realities in business have been altered since I was in school during the late 1960s.
I was taught that a good CEO earns a decent return for his investors and also makes sure that his company is a good citizen, that it serves a public interest. We were instructed to take care of our employees, giving them health insurance and retirement pensions, to treat our suppliers and customers with deep respect, and to honor the idea that good business is a win-win for all stakeholders. In many cases, CEOs made sure that their companies not only paid their fair share of taxes but also contributed money to local schools, recreational facilities and other such services.
All that changed in 1976 when Milton Friedman won the Nobel Prize in Economics and stated, among other things, that the only responsibility of business is to maximize profits, regardless of the social and environmental costs. This was a perceived reality that became the defining goal for businesses. It convinced corporate executives that they had the right – some would say the mandate – to do whatever they thought it would take to maximize profits, including buying public officials through campaign financing, destroying the environment, and devastating the very resources upon which their businesses ultimately depend.
That perceived reality has resulted in a failed global economic system, one that is on the path to consuming itself into extinction – what some economists refer to as Predatory Capitalism.
It is time that we turn this around. How about:
Objective Realty 1: The glaciers are melting, the oceans rising, less than 5% of the world’s population lives in the US and we consume about 30% of the resources while half the world’s population lives in poverty, and the resource base that feeds the economy is in rapid decline.
Perceived Reality: A) When Milton Friedman espoused profit maximization in 1976, financial capital was seen as scarce while nature was considered abundant; the planet’s ability to absorb pollution and provide natural resources was considered practically unlimited; that has since changed; B) We can build an economy that rewards businesses that clean up pollution, regenerate devastated environments, and develop new technologies for energy, transportation, communications, trade, and just about everything else – that recycle instead of ravaging the planet; and C) The responsibility of business is to serve a public interest while earning decent rates of returns for investors who develop an economy as defined in B) above.
Objective Reality 2: An economic system that is headed for disaster is converted into one that is itself a renewable resource.
The success stories of humans – as individuals and as communities – revolve around the relationships of perceived reality to objective reality. At this critical time in history, it is essential that we commit to consciously building Perception Bridges that will take us into a world that future generations will want to inherit. By understanding that simple changes in perception bring about monumental changes in objective reality, we also realize that creating a better world is not just possible; it can be inspiring and fun.
[1] Jeff Nilsson, “Why Did Henry Ford Double His Minimum Wage?” January 3, 2014, The Saturday Evening Post, http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2014/01/03/history/post-perspective/ford-doubles-minimum-wage.html
It’s human nature to look for resting places. Naturally there’s a time to rest in many aspects of life, but when it comes to the pursuit of truth and increased awareness and conscious activation there really is no stopping place.
Awakening has its own form of peace and rest by its very nature as we’re tapping into other wondrous realms of empowerment and inspiration. Nevertheless, like swimming, our challenges to learn and grow are ever present and cannot be ignored without serious consequences.
While there’s a mistaken idea that once awakened, always awakened, and everything is clear sailing from then on, the truth is that awakening is a continual process, one which we’re only just embarking upon.
Crossroads and Off Ramps
It’s interesting watching the alternative research community evolve. Many are talking about the increased infighting and the apparent new belief system adherence that’s distracting so many. These things are bound to arise I suppose, especially with those that want to see the community implode, but it’s also endemic to the very nature of truth pursuit.
The closer one gets to the summit of any climb, the more intense the external conditions. Even the air is thinner up high, and the temptation to find an off-ramp to a road side place of comfort is strong.
However not all are simple side tracks. Some are cleverly devised and very appealing distractions. Some appear as very plausible alternatives that we think might be worth exploring, even just out of curiosity, but sometimes become a lifelong diversion. Look at any belief or religion, including materialism and scientism. The soul is aspiring to find answers and solutions and here are ready-made closed systems with seemingly all the answers.
“Ah, peace at last. Now we can lay down and camp out with no more serious worries or climbing to do, especially in that increasingly harsh weather further up the mountain. Besides, here are all these other people who feel the same as I do.
“What a comfort – this must be right. After all, we’re endorsed and accepted by the system. Peace at last.”
To Go On, or Not Go On
Most of life’s serious choices aren’t easy. That’s why so many avoid the conditions that may bring them on. However, life has a habit of getting in the way of our gravitating towards safety and security. Things go “wrong”, or so it seems. Our plans get thwarted for one reason or another, or our stability is rocked by some event or life change.
While we’re programmed to think of these as bad turns of events, they invariably lead to greater opportunities to develop what really matters in life regarding our true purpose here and our soul’s progress. However, most fight these changes or spend countless years in unnecessary anger, denial, remorse and bitterness, never getting the point life was trying to hand them.
It’s not easy in a world engineered to halter human spiritual development. But this too brings out the fighter within us and checks our determination to really progress, not just for ourselves but for the good of those around us.
It’s a sifting process. We can go on and keep learning and growing and letting go of the old, or hang on to what we find comfortable and convenient. This usually takes the form of a nice, easily justified place of compromise, with just enough truth wound in our new found chosen life fabric to keep our conscience at bay.
Or so we think. Again, life has a way of reaching into every corner of existence and testing us regardless.
All of this is ours to interpret and integrate into our lives. If we so choose. We can take the bunker mentality and try to close it all off but in the long run that won’t work, just as the death of our physical bodies is inevitable.
The challenge we’re each presented with is a beautiful one. It’s fear that freezes people into a defensive stance rather than taking life on as the challenge that it is. And as we know, that is why fear is incessantly pumped into the body politic in any and every form possible, to paralyze humanity and keep it from waking up to its true nature.
Follow the Questions
A simple remedy to stagnation is asking questions – continually. Don’t take anything at face value. Why are you feeling the way you are? What caused you to make that last decision or set some goal? Why do you value this over that, or have the attitude you do that makes you take the course of action you’ve chosen in your life, immediately or overall?
Then there’s the external world. Why is all this happening? Who or what is causing it? What information is reliable and how do I find it and discern right from wrong? And most of all, what’s my real place in all of this? Why am I here and who or what am I? What is my true purpose for being here?
It’s in the question – and our determination to pursue meaningful answers.
With courage. Then act on it. Make the sacrifices needed to do the right thing. Screw the consequences to your former paradigm.
As more do so, we’ll continue to see a major shift here and now, not just later. Don’t judge by all the zombies running around – look for the awakening. It’s alive and growing. We may not see the ultimate fulfillment of our heart’s desires for humanity and our planet in this lifetime, but this is all part of the process. Ours is simply to fulfill our rightful role.
Yes, it’s few compared to the many, but how much light does it take to light the darkness? Because the task seems so great at times, is that reason to not keep advancing? To hell with the naysayers and downers who can’t see this. They’re clearly not looking in the right places, never mind being in the right frame of mind.
Light your torch and that of as many others as you can. I’ll be there with you.
Bonfire or bust! Let that be our motto – but it happens one lit candle at a time, starting with ours. The numbers don’t really matter. It’s the intention and commitment – all else follows.
Time once again appears to be behaving strangely. Not just the surreal blender of the whirled news, but the little slippages here and there, abrupt realizations that it’s not the time or date you thought it was. Things like that. Are you noticing? Time moving very quickly, strange sort of head spinning feelings when trying to track your thoughts, memory lapses, sense of fatigue for no good reason, or ringing in the ears with a touch of vertigo? It’s freaky. There are a lot of influences at work right now. Some good, some bad.
Perhaps we may have hit the edge of the wormhole in some sense. Or are there competing wormholes?
That’s an exotic thought perhaps. But that’s what appears to be happening in many ways. The overall perspective of the awakening was easier to see from afar just a year or two ago. Now the picture is getting muddled and appears like a hodgepodge of swirling influences and resultant reactions. Things are mixing together like the colors in a young child’s finger painting.
It’s apparently because we have entered some kind of vortex perhaps, where time and space subduct like esoteric tectonic plates. What we’re seeing in the surreal whirled about us is just another manifestation. The rapid acceleration of their plan is designed to throw us off, much like fast changing scenes in an action movie. If you get swept into it the results can be distracting and very disempowering.
We need to be careful to dodge the spiraling flak while maneuvering into and even reveling in the true energetic vortex. It’s nothing to fear as long as we’re aware of what’s going on around us and stay on our toes. The changes are changing and the winds are picking up.
It’s a great time for letting go – but it will not be a pleasant ride for those who refuse to loosen their grip.
Mixed Signals
Who knows the full plan? But we can track and watch and learn and experience. Knowing it’s all just a ride will save our spiritual hineys and keep our engines cooled during all this insanity.
It’s a strange dichotomy – watching the pre-placed dominoes fall yet being so enraptured with the awakening that’s happening, with so many catching on to what’s really going on. That’s the part I like to tune into but I have to admit this other stuff whirling around us doesn’t make it easy.
It’s clearly happening at a faster rate as the whirled stage antics escalate, yet it’s hard to put your finger on in many ways with all the crap we’re being told and so many swallowing the almost unavoidable fear propaganda campaign being waged. Some of those strange vibes you’re feeling are all the antennas picking up and resonating with this fear channel as the war on consciousness escalates. These and other signals interact causing a kind of wave interference.
Steer clear of it. That is not the wormhole to be anywhere near.
What we’re being shown by the big media projector is the exact opposite of what’s really going on. Thankfully dot connecting makes things very plain, and when you learn to speak that language, damn it’s clear.
Don’t Get Sucked In
Funny thing about a wormhole – it can be a good one or a not so good one. These exterior manufactured influences are obviously meant towards more control and containment. Conversely, the positive spiritual influences are drawing us to deeper understandings, but they’re subtle and not that easy to identify in such an environment.
Discernment is the key, but it takes manning the rudder and sails intelligently. The threats to the alternative and independent media they’re making aren’t anything new. Clearly they’ve pre-decided this staged Paris event would be a kick off to the next level of many of their programs. Massively increased war budgets are passing without a whimper of consensus or protest while the NATO countries try to make an end run to occupy Syria and overthrow Assad and stave off Russia’s clean up job, something no one else would do since as we know ISIS is the West’s creation.
All while initiating draconian clampdowns anywhere and everywhere they can, fueled by continued terror events around the world which we’ll no doubt be seeing a lot more of to keep this tide of confusion rolling out.
Your Personal Choice
So, we’re again at a crossroads, a place we should all be familiar with since we’re constantly having to make decisions on what to let into our spiritual field. It’s important to be aware of what’s supposedly, yes supposedly, going on but more importantly it’s a time to dig deep and remain grounded in loving, encouraging truth.
And revel in it.
The whirlpools are spinning. We’re continually swept into more choices, and it’s much like vortecies pulling us in different directions. Most importantly, we’re being pulled into a wormhole of Truth and Transformation, one we’ve been in for some time, and we can’t lose track of that.
So what do you do? Run in fear and hide from what could be a path to a greater reality and cling to the old world addictions to whateverthehell keeps you entrapped and ensnared?
Or venture on.
It’s an easy choice for me, thankfully. Adventure towards freedom vs trudging towards slavery should be a clear cut decision for anyone who’s even half awake. That may not be clear to those being played like pawns in the whirled matrix but it’s always obvious to the awakened.
Don’t let yourself get confused or discouraged by all of this. We’re sailing through very choppy waters and we need to move forward with dead reckoning, knowing our direction and with full confidence in the ships of our lives – even if it leads to heretofore unexplored territory as we navigate around the whirlpools of deceit.
Conscious, awakened truth calls, and it’s a place of safe refuge in times of rapid change and seeming uncertainty.
We experience material reality in the form of separate objects. However, modern physics is developing a conceptual understanding of the physical universe as an interconnected whole. New scientific insights concerning the nature of reality in relation to quantum theory are beginning to produce a new understanding in which nothing is separable from anything else. We are beginning to find that although this perceived separation between material objects is experientially real, it is not ultimately real.
Quantum Crystalizations of the Non-local Universal Mind
Let us begin with the classical misconception by addressing the fundamental assumptions of Newtonian physics. In a very general sense, it was thought that science could be used to lift the veil of man’s ignorance to reveal the ultimate reality that existed out there. It was assumed that physical objects existed separate from each other. They were also seen as existing separate from space. The classical conception of the relationship between physical reality and space is analogous to the relationship of billiard balls to a pool table. The behavior of physical reality was described as the interactions of the billiard balls. The table itself was seen as completely separate from what occurred on it. In this way, classical physics viewed space as nothing more than an arena where the interactions of physical objects took place.With the advent of Einstein’s theory of relativity, new relationships were taken into account. Specifically, it was observed that physical reality was inseparable from the spatial structure. In relativistic physics, material reality was still described as separately existent objects interacting like billiard balls. However, the connection was made between the structure of the billiard balls and the structure of the pool table on which the game was played. Ultimately, time and space, which were previously considered independent of each other, were now seen to be relative or related to each other through the underlying spatial structure of space-time.
It wasn’t long after Einstein’s insight into the interconnectedness of space and time that a new science began to emerge which we call quantum physics. This strange new science, which physicists encountered as they peered deeper and deeper in the structure of the atom, revealed a reality that was everything but consistent with common sense. By this I mean that the predictions the theory makes about the nature of reality do not correspond to our usual sensory perception of physical reality. However, quantum theory is the most accurate method physicists have for predicting the behavior of physical reality.
One startling feature of the quantum model is that electrons, as well as other subatomic particles, are not really objects at all. In addition, an electron can manifest as either a wave or a particle. An electron can be fired at a screen to reveal a tiny point of light, thus clearly revealing the particle-like side of its nature. However, the electron can also behave as a blurry cloud of energy. If fired at a barrier, in which two slits have been cut, the electron can go through both slits simultaneously.
A popular interpretation of the evidence suggests that the electron manifests as a particle only when it is being observed. For example, when an electron isn’t being looked at, experimental findings suggest that it is always a wave. In another slightly different interpretation, it is the method of observation that determines which aspect of the electrons nature will manifest. Conceptually, we could say that what we experience as physical reality does not exist in a defined or definite state prior to the act of observation. Similarly, it is the act of observation itself which somehow defines the state of physical reality. This line of thought represents a radical break from classical physics in that there is no longer any reality out there which we are struggling to uncover. For indeed, any interaction we make somehow effects that which we are trying to observe.
Quantum theory also predicts another fascinating phenomena which is known as non-locality. It is quite obvious to our sensory perception of physical reality that things have specific locations. However, David Bohm, a protégé of Einstein and one of the world’s most respected quantum physicists, held the view that at the quantum level, location ceased to exist. In other words, all points in space became equal to all other points in space, and it was meaningless to speak of anything as being separate from anything else. A non-local interaction links up one location with another without crossing space, without decay, and without delay. Simply put, a non-local interaction is unmediated, unmitigated, and immediate.
Bohm’s conception of non-locality enabled him to give an explanation for what is known as the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox, or EPR paradox. In short, the paradox describes the problem of how two twin particles can seemingly communicate instantaneously which each other. The problem is that, according to Einstein’s theory of relativity, nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, let alone instantaneously. Bohm’s interpretation of the EPR paradox is that the twin particles are not separate, but non-locally connected.
In 1964, a theoretical physicist named John Stewart Bell devised a simple and elegant mathematical proof which demonstrated how non-locality could be experimentally verified. This proof is known as Bell’s theorem. The only problem was that the testing of his theorem required a level of technological precision that was not yet available. It wasn’t until 1982 that physicists Alain Aspect, Jean Dalibard and Gerard Roger of the Institute of Optics at the University of Paris succeeded in verifying the twin particle test that had been outlined by Bell.
In what is now known as the Aspect experiments, the non-local effect was demonstrated by producing a series of twin particles, allowing them to travel in opposite directions, and then measuring certain characteristics of the particles. Quantum particles, when observed, display what is known as a spin state. In general, this characteristic comes in complementary pairs, such as an up or down spin state. In order to understand the type of experiments performed by Aspect and his team, let’s consider the following simple variation. Imagine two particles which together have a zero net spin state. That is they each have opposite spin states relative the other, thus cancelling when they are combined. However, according to quantum theory, the precise state of each particle’s spin characteristic is undefined until it is observed. Since the two particles must have opposite spin states, determining the spin state of one of the particles through observation determines the spin state of the other particle.
In quantum theory, the spin states do not just exist to be revealed by observation. The spin states are in some way the product of observation. So, the observation and determination of one spin state then gives the other particle a spin state. Prior to the initial observation, each particle has only a potential spin state, which when determined, has to be the opposite of the other. In the experiments led by Aspect, the particles fly away from each other at the speed of light and are allowed to travel a relatively great distance. Then, a primary measurement is made to determine the spin of one of the particles. After this measurement has been made, the spin state of the second particle is measured and is always observed to be in the opposite spin state relative to the first. For a more rigorous explanation of the actual way this experiment would be conducted, please refer to the text of Quantum Dynamics of Morphing Psy ~ Trance ~ Formations.
The amazing thing is that the observation of one particle instantaneously determines the spin state of the other particle regardless of the distance separating them. It doesn’t matter if they’re ten feet apart or ten billion miles apart. The question could be stated, how is information transferred between two apparently separate particles faster than the speed of light? A number of theories have arisen which attempt to account for hidden variables that somehow facilitate the unseen cause and effect relationship whereby one particle affects the other. However, these theories avoid the most obvious conclusion, which is that the apparent separateness of the particles is itself an illusion. The separateness is not ultimately real. Non-locality is simply a manifestation of the ultimate unity underlying what we experience as separate physical objects.
Holographic Mental Interference
As we shall see, these ideas are very consistent with concepts which describe the universe in terms of holographic principles. Before we proceed further into our exploration of unity, it is necessary to understand some of the basic ideas of holograms. A hologram is produced when a single laser beam is split into two separate beams. The first beam is bounced off the object whose image is to be recorded. The second beam is reflected off a mirror and allowed to collide with the reflected light of the first. When this happens, the two parts of the beam create an interference pattern that is recorded on a piece of film called a holographic plate.
It is this phenomena of interference which makes holography possible. Interference is simply a pattern that is created when waves move through each other. Consider what happens when if you drop two pebbles in a pond. Each pebble will produce a set of waves that form concentric circles which radiate outward from the point of impact. As the waves from each pebble expand, they will at some point collide, and the pattern that results is known as the interference pattern.
The pattern that is recorded on the holographic plate looks absolutely nothing like the object which was used to make the recording. Basically, it looks like a bunch of chaotic swirl’s and concentric rings. However, once another laser beam is used to illuminate the film, a three-dimensional image of the original object reappears. You can walk around the image and view it from different angles, but if you attempt to grab it, you’ll find that there is really nothing there.
The most striking property of holograms is that the whole image is contained in each part of the film. If you take the original film, on which the interference pattern is recorded, and cut it in half, you will find that the entire image can be projected by illuminating only half of the whole. In fact, you can cut the holographic plate into as many pieces as you want and you’ll find that each piece, when illuminated, produces smaller versions of the whole image.
At this point, we can easily begin to draw some very interesting connections between the concepts we’ve addressed. In the holographic model, we say that the information of the whole is contained in each part. This is the same thing as saying that the information is distributed non-locally. We have also found that, at the quantum level, all particles are also waves. Thus, all of physical reality is essentially nothing but interference patterns.
It might be a good idea for us to contemplate the meaning of this last statement for a moment. Imagine an endless web of energy patterns. Science has discovered that, at the quantum level, these waves of energy are connected non-locally. This means that every portion of the pattern is infinitely interconnected with every other portion. It is essential to remember that we are not objective observers to this field of crisscrossing frequency patterns. We are it.
David Bohm suggests the possibility that this underlying unity of existence produces the physical world in the same way as a holographic plate produces a hologram. Could it be that our experiential perception of separateness is nothing more than a holographic illusion? Bohm describes the deeper level of reality as the “implicate”, or enfolded, order. He refers to the level of reality of our everyday experience, as the “explicate”, or unfolded, order. This is not to say that our physical existence is unreal. However, it is helpful to understand it simply as a secondary reality.
Let us consider what we are really observing when we perceive a physical object. Consider the paper you are reading and words on the page. What you see out there is not what exists directly where it seems to be. You are perceiving a holographic blur of frequency patterns that are translated into a pattern of neural stimulation, which in turn is experienced as the object out there. In fact, the process of determining that the object exists out there occurs only in your mind’s interpretation of the neural stimulation. When you look up at the stars, you are seeing light that left the stars millions and perhaps billions of years ago. Again, we are not seeing what is there directly; we are seeing a pattern of neural stimulation created by our interpretation of the light. “The same holds true for all the physical senses.
What you see, hear, taste, touch, and smell are all ultimately patterns of neuronal stimulation that in some way correlates with what is out there, but still are not really that.” The frequencies that are translated into neural stimulation are, in and of themselves, colorless, textureless, and tasteless. The qualities we experience through sensory perception are created by the mind and represent an “explicate” order or secondary reality.
Our material reality is but a filtered version of the ultimate unity which connects everything. This filtered version creates separateness because it only perceives bits and pieces of the whole at a time. If we could remove the filter, we would experience reality directly as an interference pattern where all information is distributed non-locally. Again, let’s not forget that we are this pattern. Your hands, this paper, the trees outside the window, our solar system, the entire universe; it’s all a seamless, unbroken extension of everything else. It is one thing. If this is true, then there can be no objective reality because the observer, the process of observing, and the observed become one thing.
Morphogenesis & Dynamic Relativity
Let us contemplate and consider how the uncut fundamental wholeness of all reality became the differentiated reality of our experience. Firstly, we’ll begin by introducing the concept of absolute existence. Absolute existence is the uncut whole from which the pieces of reality emerge. Conceptually, absolute existence is undefined and un-bordered existence. As we will see, absolute existence is equivalent to existent nothingness. Nothing does not mean non-existence. It simply means that what does exist is not definable as this or that, and therefore, no-thing. Absolute existence has no structure, and thus, contains no boundaries that could be used to define here in relation to there. “Physical reality is the reality of objects, the reality of things.We hear things, we see things, we feel things, we taste things, we smell things. Throughout life we have assumed that all those things exist as defined things independent of our experience of them as those things.” However, as noted in our discussion of quantum theory, science has found that this may not be the case. The defined thing-ness of those things we experience cannot exist except in relation to our experience of them.
In fact, any thing that can be experienced only exists in relation to something else. We may experience up and think that up is independently up; however, up can only be up in relation to down. Likewise, we experience hot and think that hot is independently hot, not aware that hot can only be hot in relation to cold. “The same is true for everything that we experience, in that whatever we experience something to be, it can only be that in relation to some other aspect of existence that is not-that.” This form of existence can be termed relational existence: existence that is what it is in relationship to some other aspect of existence.
While absolute existence is structureless, relational existence has structure. In order to get from the uncut boundless non-structure of absolute existence to the structure of relational existence, the system must undergo some transformation or process. In order for the one thing to become two things, the one thing must polarize itself. It is this process of dualization whereby absolute existence forms a relationship with itself. Thus, some relational existence is defined in terms of some other relational existence. “Once relative realities exist, there exists a level of structure within existence. The existence of this relational structure allows existence to form other relationships with itself.”
In other words, absolute existence does not dualize just once, but does so over and over again, repeatedly and progressively. What this means is that the relational realities produced by each level of dualization themselves undergo the process of dualization, resulting in the creation of two new relational realities within each preceding level of relational existence. This process of repeated and progressive dualization creates an interconnected structure of relational realities which we can call a relational matrix.
Regardless of how many times existence dualizes, the underlying reality will always be that of unity and interconnectedness. Although we experience reality as seemingly separate pieces, the fundamental reality form which that perception arises is that of oneness, whereby nothing is separable from anything else. Each part of the structure, each reality cell, contains some of the existence of all the other reality cells. Thus, each part of the structure is a reflection of the whole.
Since any localized area of existence has the quality of a-where-ness, then a non-localized area of existence, which would be everywhere, would not have a-where-ness, but would have the quality of every-where-ness or no-where-ness. This unbordered every-where-ness is consciousness. Consciousness exists everywhere, and thus no-where. Absolute existence, as we’ve defined it, can be considered as existent nothingness, because it exists without the borders which define a thing. It is no-thing and no-where, because it is everywhere. Absolute existence is consciousness.
Any attempt to transcend the duality of existence inherent to our experience can seem hopeless until one realizes that they are an inseparable part of whatever it is that exists. Therefore, we have access to whatever it is that exists directly because of the inescapable fact that we are that. At the deeper “implicate” level of reality, you are infinitely connected to everything else that is. You are connected to every other person, organism, and atom in the universe; thus, you are all these things. Similarly, your thoughts are infinitely connected to all thoughts. Being that the image of the whole is contained within each part, the whole universe is within you. The information of the whole is distributed non-locally, and therefore you have access to all of it. Your mind is the Universal Mind.
All relative realities are created by consciousness existing in relation to itself. “We are that consciousness. We are that consciousness existing in relation to itself and interacting with itself.” There is nothing else. None of the things we perceive as separate have an independent existence, as all are in actuality relational extensions of the underlying unity of consciousness. “Physical reality is a product of consciousness. Consciousness is not a product of physical reality. Physical reality does not interact with itself in some unknown fashion to cause consciousness to come into existence. Consciousness in the process of repeated and progressive self-relation becomes the awareness of experience, and thus creates physical reality.”
We have seen that we cannot directly experience the true texture of quantum reality because everything we look at crystallizes into matter. For the same reason, we can never experience consciousness as consciousness. When the unbordered, structureless-ness of consciousness attempts to look at itself, it creates a relational structure or frame of reference, experienced as a relative state of awareness. Consciousness can only experience itself through its creation. This a wonderful thing because here we are, armed with the understanding that nothing is truly separable from anything else, and experiencing ourselves as all that is. Separateness is an illusion. Fundamentally, your true self is not other than the indestructible, unbordered, structruless-ness of consciousness. To put it another way, you are the Source. The Universe is your body. The understanding of this truth gives rise to the experience of unconditional love for all frequencies because they all exist within you.
A lot of people ask me, “How do you know about incarnations?” I haven’t experienced my past incarnations, but from being with my guru, Maharaji, who’s farther up the mountain, I have an understanding of how it all works. He would speak of reincarnation as a reality, and I and the other people around him had a very deep relationship with him and each other that clearly had not come from our family backgrounds or upbringing in this life.
Our human forms are composed of and surrounded by an infinite myriad of forms, all in constant motion, from the subatomic to the cosmic in scale. This is the lila, the enchanted dance of existence, the divine interplay of consciousness and energy. Amid this divine play we seek fulfillment, perfection, flow, freedom, enlightenment, Oneness.
The dominant quality of form is change, because all forms are in time. That’s another way of saying we don’t know what will happen from one instant to the next. Or, as one of my guru brothers is fond of saying, “Don’t be surprised to be surprised!” For instance, I didn’t anticipate I’d be living in a wheelchair today. The way to live with change is to be completely present in the moment (remember, Be Here Now).
We cannot cling to forms or our experience of them, because they decay and dissolve back again into their formless state. Attempting to hold on to anything in time is ultimately futile and a cause of much suffering. What is really there to hold on to? In reality there is nothing permanent, nothing solid, nothing constant except relativity and change themselves.
When we realize how finite are the limits of gratification or possible fulfillment within the play of forms, then despair arises. That despair is born of the world-weary understanding that nothing in form can provide ultimate meaning. It also forces and demands awakening and seeks transcendence of suffering.
If futile clinging to impermanence creates our suffering, letting go and making friends with change is joy, liberation. In youth our lifetime seems to stretch infinitely before us. As we age, the accumulation of our experiences seems to have occurred in the blink of an eye. Even now that I’m seventy-nine years old, I realize there’s plenty of change to come before dying – change in the body, change in friends and family, change in memory. These experiences lead to deepening wisdom and freedom and to diving deep within to the realm beyond form.
Long before recorded history, human beings were awakening out of the illusion of form or separateness that the Indians call maya. A tiny fraction of humanity, but still many beings, finish their work and complete the process of realization, the integration of form and the formless. These awakened beings pass beyond the illusion of birth and death and attachments to this physical plane and every other plane. Their hearts fill with the bliss of that realization and with the infinite love that permeates the universe the way that dark matter permeates the space between stars. That love is the subtle texture of our material world, the unseen energy, the fullness of emptiness (sunyata).
When they finally emerge from the illusion of separateness, these free beings can either merge back into that formless state or remain in form on one plane or another, or they can continue their evolution to the point where it makes no difference. They may or may not take birth again on the physical plane.
– Ram Dass (excerpt from Be Love Now, co-authored by Rameshwar Das)
— www.ramdass.org —
Modern studies repeatedly suggest that a significant proportion of people in the Western world now believe in reincarnation. Although this phenomenon can be traced back to various esoteric movements that flourished from the second half of the 19th century, it gained significant ground with the explosion of popular interest in Eastern spiritual approaches in the 60s. And it was reinforced by a proliferation of therapists offering to regress people into their past lives.
Yet now the tide seems to be turning again. For some years the emphasis has been moving more towards the idea that we are all part of the One, the All, the Source, the Absolute, the Ultimate, the Great Spirit or whatever we choose to call the ‘universal consciousness’. Of course this is not a new idea. But what is changing is that especially more intellectually minded spiritual seekers are tending towards the view that anything outside of the ‘One’ is mere ‘illusion’.
In fact this word illusion is used a great deal in spiritual circles these days, although actually in quite different contexts, and it is perhaps worth considering what these are. Of course readers would all agree that the physical world itself is to some extent an illusion, at least inasmuch as it is underpinned by the nonphysical planes and states of being that science is increasingly pointing towards. But what about the idea that we only reincarnate for as long as we fail to see through the ‘illusion’, and that as soon as we gain ‘enlightenment’ we can ‘break the bonds of karma’ and ‘reunite with the Source’? More radical still, what about the idea that any notion of individuality is completely illusory on all levels, and that as soon as we die there is no sense of continuation of any sort of individual soul consciousness?
Whether or not they make it explicitly clear, these latter two are the ‘illusion models’ supported by a significant proportion of our best-known spiritual commentators of modern times – be they proponents of, for example, the ‘power of now’, or of ‘cosmic ordering’, or of ‘quantum mysticism’. Yet to see the world in this way is entirely at odds with what we might call the ‘experience model’, which holds that we lead many lives in order to see all sides of every emotional coin, and to learn to deal with the manifest challenges that life on this planet provides. In other words, a model in which the emphasis is on an individual soul growing by experience over many lifetimes.
If we are to adopt a rational approach then, rather than relying on ‘revealed wisdom’ ancient or modern, it is surely sensible to consider which of these models is best supported by logical analysis and the available evidence.
We can start with the premise that there must exist some sort of ultimate force or energy that underlies the entire universe, both seen and unseen, which is the Origin or Source of everything in it. However ineffable it may be, this principle of a universal consciousness is almost a logical necessity, and it is certainly supported by scientific research at both the quantum and the macrocosmic level. The idea that ‘we are all one’ is also a common element of transcendental experiences, whether spontaneous, meditative or induced by hallucinogens. So our next step must be to investigate whether, at the same time, there is any real evidence to support the idea of an individual consciousness that exists or survives independent of the physical body.
The most relevant area of research here is near-death experiences. In particular we are interested in cases that involve subjects returning with factual information that is subsequently verified, and yet so obscure that they could not reasonably have acquired it in any ‘normal’ way.
Near-Death Experience & Reincarnation Cases
One of the most fascinating cases on record took place in the early 70s, and involves a gifted young Russian scientist called George Rodonaia. His work on chemical brain transmitters was sufficiently valued by the KGB that they were not prepared to lose his expertise to the US by letting him take up an invite to further his research at Yale. On the day of his departure, as he stood on the pavement in Tbilisi waiting for a taxi to the airport, he was deliberately mown down by a car and pronounced dead at the scene. His body lay in a morgue for three days, but as the autopsy began his eyelids flickered and he was rushed to surgery.
As a man of science George had never had any time for religion. So those close to him were bewildered when, three days into his lengthy recovery, he began to describe what had happened while he was ‘dead’. In fact his was a relatively non-typical and highly transcendental experience, but for our current purposes he also claimed he had also been able to travel anywhere he liked while ‘out of body’. In particular he was drawn to a newborn baby in the hospital adjoining the morgue because she would not stop crying, and doctors had been unable to diagnose the problem. Much to his surprise he found that he was able to communicate with her telepathically, and also to scan her body and establish that her hip had been broken, probably at birth. Incredibly, as soon as George was well enough to pass on this information, the doctors x-rayed the baby and found that she did indeed have a fractured hip.
There are other, similar cases of near-death experiences involving obscure, factual information that combine to strongly suggest that our individual awareness or consciousness does indeed continue to exist even when the physical brain is absolutely non-functional. So far so good. But is there any evidence to support the further idea that individual souls have many lives?
Here we encounter two important areas of research, the first involving children who have spontaneous memories of past lives. Although historically most of these cases have come from Asia, one of the finest involves a young American boy called James Leininger of Lafayette, Louisiana. Born in 1998, his fascination with toy planes from the earliest age took a more sinister turn as he approached his second birthday, when vivid nightmares began. He would thrash around in his sleep, kicking out with his legs up in the air and moaning: “Airplane crash, on fire, little man can’t get out.” His mother Andrea had no particular religious convictions but, when her mother suggested these might be memories of a past life, she began to encourage little James to talk about them. And he began to reveal startling details, such as that the pilot of the plane was also called James; that he had been shot down by the Japanese; that he had flown Corsairs; and that one of his fellow pilots went by the name of Jack Larsen. He also mysteriously mentioned the single word Natoma.
His father Bruce remained dubious about any sort of spiritual explanation, but he knew that neither he nor any other member of their family had any particular interest in aircraft or the war. So he began to research, and quickly established that an aircraft carrier called the USS Natoma Bay had been stationed in the Pacific during World War II and had taken part in the notorious battle for the Japanese island of Iwo Jima early in 1945. He ordered a book about this, and was flicking through it one day when James pointed to the island of Chichi Jima on a map and exclaimed, “Daddy, that is where my plane was shot down.” He then made contact with the ‘Natoma Bay Association’, who confirmed that Jack Larsen had been one of the pilots, and also that only one pilot had been lost at Chichi Jima: 21-year-old Lt James M. Huston Jr.
Bruce also knew that Huston had flown Wildcats, not Corsairs, on the Natoma Bay. But when he made contact with Huston’s elderly sister she kindly sent him some photos – including one of her brother standing proudly next to a Corsair. Military records then showed he had originally been part of an elite special squadron who test-flew these planes. But the real clincher involves three ‘GI Joe’ dolls. When Bruce asked his son why he called them Leon, Walter and Billie he replied, “Because they greeted me when I went to heaven.” Again military records confirmed that three of Huston’s fellow Natoma Bay pilots were Lt Leon S. Conner, Ensign Walter J. Devlin and Ensign Billie R. Peeler – and that all three had diedbefore Huston on other engagements. None of this detailed information is available on the internet pages about the Natoma Bay even now, let alone in popular books and so on.
Past Lives & Hypnotic Regression
The second area of past-life research is hypnotic regression. With this we must first appreciate that the human brain appears to store a complete record of everything we have ever been exposed to, no matter how briefly or how long ago, and that although most of these memories remain inaccessible to our normal consciousness they can be accessed in trance. So apparently authentic and detailed past lives, even including strong emotions and strange accents and so on, have sometimes been proved to come from perfectly normal sources – not least historical fiction, which is often overlooked by spiritual researchers. Nevertheless, there remain some cases involving information so obscure that only a paranormal explanation seems appropriate.
One of the finest involves a young woman dubbed Jane Evans, who was one of many subjects regressed by the Welsh hypnotherapist Arnall Bloxham. She first visited him in the late 60s and proved a responsive subject who, over the course of a number of sessions, regressed into six separate lives from Roman times onwards. She would go on to be the star of a 1976 documentary made by the initially sceptical BBC producer Jeffrey Iverson, entitled ‘The Bloxham Tapes’. Her most celebrated past life was that of a persecuted Jewess in 12th century York, but on close investigation this case is somewhat inconclusive. In fact her strongest life in terms of obscure evidence involved Alison, a young servant to the 15th century French financier and merchant, Jacques Coeur.
Some of the historical information Jane came up with in trance was relatively obscure, and could only be verified by professional French historians. For example, she said that Charles VII’s nickname was “heron legs”; that his son Louis had poisoned his wife; that his mistress Agnes Sorel had two pet dogs clothed in “coats of white fur with jewelled collars”; and that Coeur was Jewish and his father was a goldsmith. Perhaps more impressive was her knowledge that Coeur was an avid collector of art, with paintings by Jean “Fouquet,” the court painter to the king and one of Coeur’s debtors; by Jan “van Eyck,” the court painter to the nearby Duke of Burgundy; by “Giotto,” an Italian master from the previous century; and by the little-known “John of Bruges” who, Iverson established only with great difficulty, was also known as John Bondolf and was a Flemish court painter for the king’s grandfather. More impressive again was her report that Coeur had a “body servant” called Abdul, who was “dressed differently from the others” – because it was only from obscure French court records of the time that Iverson was able to confirm that he did indeed have an Egyptian body slave.
Impressive enough, yet the clincher in this case is Jane’s recall of a “beautiful golden apple with jewels in it” that she said had been given to Coeur by the Sultan of Turkey. All of Iverson’s initial attempts to verify the existence of such a piece drew a blank until his last night in Coeur’s home town of Bourges, when he returned to his hotel to find a message from a local historian. The latter reported that he had been searching through contemporary archives when he found “an obscure list of items confiscated by the Treasury from Jacques Coeur”; and in that list was a “grenade” of gold – a pomegranate. Of course this is so like an apple in shape and size that the English word contains the French root pomme. It is also worth noting that one sceptic’s supposed attempt to trace all these details to a historical novel is a complete travesty, because the novel has an entirely different plot and contains virtually none of these obscure details.
Again there are other, similar cases of both childhood recall and regression that involve equally obscure yet verifiable information about past lives. But could all these merely result from subjects tapping into some sort of universal memory, or even from possession by the deceased? Probably the strongest evidence that these are indeed memories from the subjects’ own, individual, past lives comes from subjects also being regressed into the time between lives, or ‘interlife’.
This stems from the research of a number of pioneering psychologists and psychiatrists around the world, who each stumbled on the interlife independently in the 70s and 80s. Their subjects’ reports are extremely consistent, so that the experience can be broken into five main elements: transition and healing, past-life review, soul group interaction, next-life planning and returning. This evidence from what now constitute thousands of subjects from diverse backgrounds suggests strongly that there is a continuity of individual soul identity across many lives.
The Holographic Soul
So how do we properly bring this evidence of individual soul survival and reincarnation together with the idea of a universal consciousness that underlies everything? Although the most profound spiritual sources have hinted at the truth throughout the ages, the most simple yet elegant solution has only become available to us in recent decades with the discovery of the hologram. And it involves applying this principle not to the brain, nor to memory, nor even to the universe as a whole, but instead to soul consciousness itself:
Soul consciousness is holographic. We are both individual aspects of the Source, and full holographic representations of it, all at the same time. However this does not mean that soul individuality is in itself an illusion. The principle of the hologram is that the part contains the whole, and yet is clearly distinguishable from it.
The other message that comes through loud and clear from interlife research, as well as from the most profound spiritual sources, is that free will and personal responsibility reign supreme. This is what allows us to learn from our mistakes, and to grow as souls. So any next-life previews seen between lives merely represent major probabilities and lesser possibilities, and there is no karmic punishment or predestiny. Indeed the idea of karma itself has arguably outlived its usefulness, because it is clear that the dynamics of how our attitudes, intentions and experiences feed into the futures we create for ourselves, both across and within lives, are far too complex to be reduced to simplistic ‘laws’.
In conclusion it appears that there are no ‘flaws in the grand plan’. The physical world is not an abomination created by fallen angels. Nor is the reincarnation cycle something to be escaped from at all costs, either by suddenly gaining the enlightenment to see through the illusion, or by learning to give up all ‘attachment’ so as to generate no more karma. Although we would do well to aim for a degree of emotional detachment and balance, and regular meditation is absolutely invaluable in trying to bring our ‘higher selves’ to the fore, life is to be lived and experienced!
So where does it all end? Interlife evidence, again backed by the most profound spiritual sources, suggests that we continue to reincarnate until we have exhausted all the possibilities for growth in the physical plane. And this is only the ‘end of the beginning’ of the soul’s journey, because there are many other opportunities for new experiences in other realms. As for the idea of ‘reuniting with the Source’, the concept of the Holographic Soul suggests that we never split off from It in the first place, and that It is always within us and us within It.
What about the million dollar question from which ‘illusionists’ tend to shy away? What is the whole point of the universe in the first place, and how do we humans fit into the ‘big picture’?
The Source’s primary aim, in diversifying into all the billions of holographic soul aspects of itself that operate in the various realms throughout the universe, is to experience all that is and can be. So as individualised aspects of the Source who have chosen to reincarnate on this planet, we are merely fulfilling a small part of that objective by gaining a balance of all the experiences available via this route.
James Leininger’s amazing story is documented in the book Soul Survivor: The Reincarnation of a World War II Fighter Pilot.
About the Author
IAN LAWTON is a spiritual philosopher, the architect of ‘Rational Spirituality’ and one of the world’s leading authorities on the interlife. Further case studies are available in the simple, pocket-size Little Book of the Soul (2007), while the full research for this article can be found in The Big Book of the Soul (2008). For further information and to order The Big Book of the Soul, see www.ianlawton.com.
We have been discussing here the nature of The Holy Experience, and the difference between God and human beings. And one thing we noted is that…
…the difference between Divinity and Humanity is that Divinity seeks only to distribute, and Humanity seeks only to gather.
God cannot gather anything, because God IS everything. Therefore, there is nothing for God TO gather.
Yet if God cannot gather, and if you are God, then you cannot gather, either. Perhaps you’ve already noticed this. Perhaps you’ve already noticed that, even if you do manage to collect a few things along the way, sooner or later it all disappears. At the end, none of it is there. You go on, but none of it goes with you.
What is it they say? “You can’t take it with you.”
In fact, it’s all starting to disappear right now. You don’t have the friends you had. You don’t have the stuff you had. You don’t even have the feelings you had. Everything you thought was “you,” or that at least helped to define you, has disappeared. There is nothing that is permanent. There is nothing that stays. Everything goes.
Which is an interesting fact about life.
Everything goes.
And when you understand this, everything goes. There are no restrictions anymore. You can do anything you wish, say anything you wish, think anything you wish, because you’re not trying to hold onto anything anymore.
What’s the point? You can’t hold onto it anyway. It’s all going to go away. In the end, if not before.
This may sound like a desolate and despairing scenario, yet the truth is, it’s liberating. You can’t have anything forever. If you had it forever, the having of it would mean nothing.
The Holy Experience is knowing this.
Each moment becomes truly holy, because each moment ends. It cannot be held onto forever. Not a single moment can. Therefore, every single moment is sacred.
Like a snowflake, the moments fall and form a collection that melts into the stream of our lives that evaporates into nothingness, disappearing from sight but not from Reality, condensing and forming cloudy formations, which then drop down as new snowflakes, new lives, starting the whole cycle over again.
Each snowflake, each moment, is utterly magnificent; cryingly, achingly, tearfully beautiful, unfathomably perfect. As is each life.
…
Reincarnation, the ‘Interlife’, Universal Consciousness & the Holographic Soul
towards. But what about the idea that we only reincarnate for as long as we fail to see through the ‘illusion’, and that as soon as we gain ‘enlightenment’ we can ‘break the bonds of karma’ and ‘reunite with the Source’? More radical still, what about the idea that any notion of individuality is completely illusory on all levels, and that as soon as we die there is no sense of continuation of any sort of individual soul consciousness?
Past Lives & Hypnotic Regression