The Spiritual Connection Evolution, through the development of our consciousness, self-awareness, imagination, and abstracting intelligence, has conferred upon humanity an unique awareness of our connection to the Cosmos, which we call spiritual awareness and which, as social animals, we symbolize and institutionalize as various forms of religion. Spirit subsists in the connectedness of things; human spiritual awareness is our self-conscious connection to the Universe. While it is undoubtedly true that other animals feel their connections with the rest of nature, humans are probably unique in their ability to abstract, symbolize, and objectify this feeling (think their connection), often in this process actually losing the comfort of the more basic intuitive feelings. We are certainly the only animal to formally codify spiritual concepts and produce organized and ritualized spiritual/religious practices, including priests, shamans, and prophets, sacred texts, philosophies, cosmologies, social structures, traditions, religious art, music, architecture, etc. Human spirituality constitutes a further emergent property of the connection between matter and the Universe, produced at the natural organizational level of species and abstract consciousness. Here, too, we find as we might expect, a reflection of the 4x3 universal fractal form in our religions, mythologies, legends, and cosmologies. In its emphasis upon divinely ordained religious law (God as Lawgiver),human religion seems to reflect an intuitive awareness of the highest form of connectivity in physics, the existence of, and connections among, the conservation laws that govern all natural interactions. Science is a rational, social expression of our awareness of cosmic law and connection, also unique to humans. Conflict between science and religion occurs when both lay claim to the same set of cosmic laws and phenomena - as in the case of Darwinian evolution vs special creation. The origins of human spirituality lie in our animal feelings of connection, but are developed out of these through the abstracting abilities of our minds into the elaborate religious forms we see today, universally present in human society. The feeling of connection to our fellow creatures, nature, and the Cosmos is the psychological and emotional basis of mental health; insanity is the consequence of its loss. Mental illness is the evolutionary price humans pay for their big brains and their ability to abstract their feelings, for in this abstraction process lies the risk the physical/intuitive contact with reality may be lost. There is always a thin line between genius and insanity; it takes a very healthy individual to survive the onslaught of genius, just as only a very healthy animal can deal with abstraction at all. The immense length of time it required for humans to evolve from walking apes to modern Man is a testament to this difficulty, which plagues us still in the precarious balance of our mental health. Death as Disconnection The psychological price of human awareness, self-consciousness, and abstract thought is expressed in a single word: Death. When humans began to have the ability to think about the meaning of death, of the annihilation of the personal consciousness, identity, individuality, and life experience of which they were just becoming aware, they stepped over a gigantic threshold in psychological evolution, the mythical expulsion from the Garden. One can only suppose that their strong evolutionary heritage of animal intuitive feelings of connection carried them through this terrible time, and resulted in the first religions, a means of social comfort and solace, celebrating their connections with the spirits of the dead and with the spirits of nature and the animals. Early forms of religion always emphasize mans connection to nature and the animals; purely spiritual, abstract, intellectual, or scientific forms of religion come much later,when the human psyche is more comfortable with its sense of isolation. We would indeed wonder if any evolutionary form which had no spiritual awareness or religious practice was fully human (speaking here of species not individuals). Death is the great test of our conviction about connectedness. If we become too abstract, we tend to lose this conviction. In the end we are all forced back to feel our way, through our physical and animal connections, to the brave new world, the undiscovered country we all must enter. This is why our animal pets provide such comfort - they dont have the disconnection problem. The whole intent of this paper is to give some comfort to the rational, abstracting mind that these intuitive feelings of connection are valid and can be trusted. Death as Connection Death became perceived as the great disconnection; life, in contrast,was the experience of connection. This psychological crisis, created by the abstract mind, was also bridged by the abstract mind through the invention of spirit, the connection that is immortal, that persists after death, that is the abstraction of connection itself. In the spiritual interpretation, death becomes not a loss of connection, but a return to the pure realms of connection itself - life becomes in fact a lesser expression because the body contaminates or interferes with the essence of connection, spirit. This concept eventually took the extreme form that life itself was to be less valued than spirit. This view, widespread in the western religions of today, as well as those of the past (the Aztecs and the Egyptians come to mind), had the unfortunate result of separating humans further psychologically from their true feelings of the connection to other living things, each other, and ultimately, self-reflexively, themselves. Mans vaunted spirituality became more real and valued than life itself; the abstraction became of greater significance than the physical model, and life was (and is) gladly sacrificed to spiritual or abstract truths and conceptual realities. Scientific and evolutionary theory has been at pains to repair this gap, demonstrating rationally our physical connection with nature and the Cosmos as a whole. Our spiritual awareness grew out of our animal feeling of connection with all things; ironically, religion has ended by separating us from the rest of nature (as a unique species and creation), asserting that we alone are truly connected spiritually to the Cosmos and its Creator (only humans have souls). The Separation of Self, Matter, and Historic Spacetime A fundamental physical cause for humanitys unease at the thought of death is our feeling of separation from the rest of the Universe - our awareness of self and personal identity necessarily means a distinction between me and the environment. Matter, and all massive entities such as ourselves, are in fact (as well as in thought) separated from our true conservation domain,historic spacetime, the conservation domain of matters causal information matrix. Massive objects do not inhabit historic spacetime in the way light inhabits its conservation domain,space: we live not in history, but only in the universal present moment. Time is connected to space only tangentially, at right angles to all three spatial dimensions; that tangential point of connection between space and time is the present moment of our experience, our touch upon expanding history. Only information can pass from space into history, massive objects such as ourselves cannot. There are several very good reasons for this physical arrangement, beginning with the fact that matter cannot travel at velocity c and hence cannot participate in the entropic expansion of lights conservation domain,space. (See: Spatial vs Temporal Entropy.) When light is converted to matter, or when any form of free electromagnetic energy with intrinsic motion c is converted to massive, immobile, bound forms of electromagnetic energy, the symmetric (all-way) spatial entropy drive of light (the intrinsic motion of light), is replaced by an alternative, asymmetric (one-way) historical entropy drive, the intrinsic motion of matters time dimension. The historically expansive march of time is the metric and entropic equivalent of the spatially expansive intrinsic motion of light (the march of space - seen as the red shift of distant galaxies). Time is an alternative, asymmetric (one-way) form of space, providing the primordial entropy drive of bound electromagnetic energy. Time is derived from space by the gravitational annihilation of space, exposing a metrically equivalent temporal residue. (See: The Conversion of Space to Time.) Light, space, and the spatial entropy drive of free energy (lights intrinsic motion) are all bound up together. Because of this lack of separation between the energy form (light), its conservation domain (space), and its entropy drive (the intrinsic motion of light), the energy of light is subject to extremely rapid vitiation via lights spatial entropy drive, gauged by velocity c. The energy of light is dissipated rapidly as light expands and cools along with space, its entropic conservation domain. Light creates its own (spatial) entropic conservation domain by the action of its own intrinsic motion, that is, lights embedded entropy drive. The conservation role of lights embedded entropy drive is precisely to create a dimensional (spatial) conservation domain in which lights energy can be transformed and used, while simultaneously being conserved. But when light is converted to matter and bound energy, a different form of entropy drive must be found, since matter cannot travel at velocity c. Natures solution is to allow the energy form (matter) to remain stationary and allow matters time dimension and entropic conservation domain (historic spacetime) to move and expand instead. (See: Gravity, Entropy, and Thermodynamics.) Matter remains stationary in space and is only tangentially connected to its entropic, historical conservation domain via the point-like touch of the present moment, while history expands, at right angles to all three spatial dimensions, moving at the metric equivalent of the entropic expansion of space, all gauged by the electromagnetic constant velocity c: time flies. (See: The Time Train.) Nevertheless, today is real only because yesterday remains real. Our yesterday is some other observers today and vice versa. We are all immortal in historic spacetime. (See: A Spacetime Map of the Universe.) The tangential connection between matter and its entropic conservation domain (historic spacetime) means that the charges of atomic matter, and even (to some extent) its rest mass energy, are protected from times entropic dilution: diamonds are forever. Atoms simply do not age: the rest mass energy and, more especially, the charge of an atom, is invariant through time. Atoms can only be (completely) destroyed by black holes, proton decay, or antimatter annihilation. Gravity is weak because of this tiny tangential connection (the present moment) between matter and its historic, entropic conservation domain (bulk historic spacetime, matters causal information field or causal matrix). (See: Proton Decay and the Heat Death of the Cosmos.) This is the basic physical reason why we feel separated from the Universe - we are separated (connected principally by the present moment and gravity). But this separation is only partial and temporary, and exists for very good reasons, because it allows us personal freedom of action and experience, while also guaranteeing that when it does come time to redeem the symmetry and energy debts represented by atomic charge and rest mass, they will be undiminished in magnitude by time or use. Conservation will eventually be complete and in full measure. Temporary separation is simply the only way the entropic conservation domain of matter (history) can function to allow a free will, personal, individual, physical experience and still guarantee complete conservation in the fullness of time. Gravity is actually our (and all of matters) physical connection to the greater Cosmos; so long as gravity functions, you can have faith, and trust in the physical reality and security of our connection to the immense conservation domain of historic spacetime that constitutes our Universe. (See: A Spacetime Map of the Universe.) The Psychic Connection Psychic phenomena of all kinds offer further examples of what we suppose are uniquely human expressions of our connection to the Universe. They are obviously related to spiritual connections in an antiestablishment way, an undernet of intensely personal experiences of connectivity. I have myself experienced them on at least one memorable occasion; it was for me an experience of pure connection, a state of knowledge, explicitly manifest in my own mind in very concrete images. These personal experiences must forever lie outside the range of scientific analysis, since the essence of science is its repeatability on demand by other observers; no personal experience of this kind can be repeated at will even by the individual who reports it, much less by others. This says nothing about their reality however, only that they are personal, subjective experiences of connection, which by definition cannot be replicated, and hence are not susceptible to scientific analysis or validation. I have come to believe, as did my father (he wrote extensively about this topic), that psychic phenomena of many kinds (not all kinds) are real experiences of the wholeness, integrity, connectivity, and conservation function of the Cosmos. Genius lies in an exceptional quality of connectivity; madness lies in either its absence or an overexposure. Quantum physics is telling us there remain purely physical phenomena of connectivity we do not yet understand; we may also be sure there are corresponding emergent properties of our minds in terms of connectivity (metaphysical phenomena) that we do not understand. They may well be the harbinger of a new evolutionary state of consciousness, a higher connectivity, attempting to break through the barrier of mental instability into normal mental health, a process we have been through before, long ago when our species discovered death and the abstraction of spiritual connection, when we were emerging from our animal cousins in the Garden of Nature. Connections Between Religion and Science Conservation The principle of Conservation is one of the major conceptual linkages between religion and science; another is Causality or Karma; a third is Energy, and a fourth is the Unity or wholeness of the Universe; others include Symmetry (beauty), Entropy (evolution) and Information (knowledge). Conservation is the basic principle of science and indeed of religion as well; neither could function without it. In science it refers to a quantity that remains unchanged (as in the total energy of a system) despite the variety of transformations that quantity may undergo. In mathematics, it is familiar as the conservation of number. In religion we find the notion of the conservation of the individual soul, or personalized human spirit, its immortal or unchanging identity. Similarly, the notion of heaven corresponds to a conservation domain of the spiritual realm (in which individual souls may be saved or conserved -perhaps for rebirth in another physical form). Energy A second idea common to science and religion is energy. In both cases energy is the prime mover or First Cause of the Universe, physical or spiritual. No prior explanation for the existence of energy can be given in either science or religion; energy cannot be derived from any preexisting or more primitive source. What we can say about the essence of energy is very limited: 1) it is the principle of action, expressed through change, including entropy; 2) it is the cause of all reality, taking various forms (including information and life); 3) it is absolutely conserved; 4) its source is unknown. Are these terms religious or scientific? The case could be made for either view. Entropy The principle of change inherent in energy is called entropy in scientific (thermodynamic) terms. The Universe must expand or contract, it cannot stand still; time and evolution march forever onward. The intrinsic motions of light, expanding space, time, and gravity are common expressions of entropy in its primordial mode. There are two forms of entropy, positive and negative (entropy and negentropy). The intrinsic motions of light and time are examples of positive entropy, causing expansion, cooling, aging, dilution, dispersion, decay, and destruction. Gravitation and evolution are examples of negative entropy, or negentropic processes, causing the gathering and warming of matter and spacetime, and the progressive increase in the complexity of abiotic and biological information systems (life forms). In spiritual terms, we recognize this constant progressive (negentropic) motion as the never-ending evolution or redemption of the spiritual nature of the World (matter). The traditional view of constant spiritual struggle against a competing and equally constant destructive force (sin - evil - the devil) is the analog of the worldly competition between the forces of negentropy (gravitation, life, evolution) and positive entropy (death, decay, destruction). This constant force for good, redemption, or evolutionary progress, we associate in the (Christian) religious sense with the activity of the Holy Ghost. Christs resurrection is the ultimate symbol of the triumph of spirit over the entropy of the World - via the conservation function of the Father. In physics, it is symmetry conservation in the service of energy conservation which wins the battle over matter and temporal entropy - the conversion of bound to free energy in stars, quasars, and Hawkings quantum radiance of black holes being the primary examples. Symmetry Another important characteristic of energy is expressed in Noethers Theorem: not only energys total amount (quantity) must be conserved, but also energys symmetry (quality) must be conserved - which is the reason for the existence of the conserved charges of matter: charges are all symmetry debts of light waiting to be repaid. Noethers Theorem relates conservation and symmetry: where we find one, we find the other. The charges of matter are the symmetry debts of light. Noethers theorem is the mathematical, rational equivalent of Keats poetic intuition that Beauty is truth, truth beauty, where conservation = truth, symmetry = beauty. In poetic terms, then, the beauty of energy must also be conserved. Beauty in nature, or rather our ability to recognize and appreciate beauty, is an emergent expression of Noethers Theorem in biology at the human level of consciousness. Ethics and morality are also emergent expressions of this theorem: the Golden Rule is an excellent example of symmetric behavior in human relations. Finally, beauty and our aesthetic appreciation of it are our native, inborn guides to truth, enlightenment, and salvation -spiritually, intuitively, socially, and rationally. This is why the arts are such an important part of the educational curriculum. Political analogs include the principles liberty, equality, fraternity, all men are created equal, and one man, one vote. Finally, physical beauty has long served as a significant reproductive and evolutionary guide/force in our species and in many others -the Birds of Paradise offering a remarkable example among the animals. Karma and Information A third link between science and religion is the notion of causality or karma, and the sequential linkage of cause and effect. The notion extends to the proscription of action-at-a-distance; in physics there must be an intervening field of particles, virtual if necessary, to transmit a force - causality requires time, connection, and information. In the case of light, gravitation, and inertia, spacetime itself supplies the connecting field. The connectivity of all life is demonstrated by the DNA field; the particle field extends this principle to all matter; spacetime and gravitation are examples of metric fields which bind together all forms of energy at the cosmic scale. Matter-antimatter annihilation reactions demonstrate the universal character of electromagnetic energy. In the temporal domain,at astronomical scale, our yesterday is part of some other observers today, and vice versa. Today is real only because yesterday remains real: historic spacetime is the conservation domain of matters causal information field, network, or matrix. Light is connected by space, matter is connected by history; gravity connects all. The connectivity of the Cosmos is complete in a physical sense. But this very connectivity is the essence of spirit and causality, in both its religious and scientific sense. (Chaos and quantum theory do not describe a lack of connection, but only the lack of certain kinds of predictability concerning these phenomena.) Information is a necessary adjunct of Causality, and in its most primordial and biologically significant form, it corresponds to atomic charge. Information in the form of charge (including gravitational charge) controls the fate of the Cosmos, providing on the one hand a roadmap for the lawful return of the material Cosmos to its symmetric origins in light, and on the other, a pathway to life, consciousness, and the self-awareness of the Universe. Gravity is matters memory it once was light. Monotheism and Genesis A fourth link between science and religion is found in the notion of the unity of the Cosmos. Theologically, this is expressed in the concept of monotheism; scientifically, in Einsteins quest for a unified field theory, or in the notion that all energy is electromagnetic in origin. Both science and religion have produced cosmologies describing the creation of the universe, and in several respects they are strikingly similar. Of particular interest, beyond its explicitly 4x3 (and 4x4) pattern, is the evolutionary process described in western religious cosmology, which proceeds from the Creation Event and a period of symmetry or golden age (the Garden of Eden), to a fall from grace in both Heaven and Earth. From thence there is the promise of redemption and salvation, a life everlasting, and the return of the world and humanity to the golden age of symmetry, connection, and grace in which it began (in obedience to Gods Will or Divine Law). This cosmology is strikingly similar to the scientific cosmology which has been developed in the 20th century: The Cosmos begins as light in a discreet event (the Big Bang - light being the most symmetric state of free electromagnetic energy), subsequently descending or falling into the asymmetry of particles and matter (bound electromagnetic energy -manifestation), eventually returning to its original unified and symmetric condition, with particles giving up their individual identities as they are reconverted to light (in obedience to Noethers Theorem or Natural Law). This story applies not only to the Cosmos as a whole, but to each individual life and particle, again the fractal expression of a nested pattern, great and small. (See: Symmetry Principles of the Unified Field Theory.) The
Posted on: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 10:41:12 +0000
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