We’re at a crossroad in the evolution of consciousness where many refuse to bridge the gap between science and religion. For them it’s an either/or scenario where one position or the other defines what we call reality. One belief is concrete and fact laden, while the other is faith-based or worse, woo-woo. And yet through the ages, teachers of the arcane proclaimed that the esoteric teachings would be validated when science realized that an “unknown something” (think God) was behind all manifestation (think “Reality”) and science and spirituality would merge. Backing up that claim, a late 19th century Sufi master said, “If scientists touch the summit of their knowledge they will agree with the mystic that the point behind the whole of creation, the whole of manifestation, is a subtle trace of life that can be found. That trace is movement or vibration.”
Today, scientists question creation as fervently as religious fundamentalists who adamantly affirm that God created the world in 7 days. Could the two converge? The academic world was stunned when Cambridge University scientist John Polkinghorne a member of the elite British Royal Society, left the scientific community to become an Anglican priest. He left to study the questions that he felt science could not answer, saying it would allow him to “see the world with two eyes.” And so he did, blending science with religion when he said, “Science cannot tell theology how to construct a doctrine of creation. But you can’t construct a doctrine of creation without taking into account the age of the universe and the evolutionary character of cosmic history.” His words echoed those of the extraordinary physicist Albert Einstein, who said, “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind!”
By the 20th century science began to understand there was something subtle behind the whole of creation. That study of the subtle unseen was called Quantum Physics. But something even more challenging to the scientific mind was coming out of the new study. It was called Quantum Mysticism, a term associating metaphysical and mystical beliefs with the theories of quantum physics. Some physicists had difficulty separating science and mysticism which was generally debunked as pseudoscience by many researchers. But the truth is, the leading quantum physicists credited their scientific findings to their studies of the mystical Vedanta teachings. The physicists were careful not to use the word “God” in their research articles. Instead, they substituted the word “whole” to represent the concept of consciousness because anyone suggesting that “God” (however defined) was behind creation was treated with ridicule.
The researchers of Quantum Physics though were intent on proving existence emerged from something. So they began searching for something called “the God Particle.” In 1964 Peter Higgs proposed a theory describing a universal field, similar to an electric or magnetic field, that all particles interacted with. This field gives particles their mass or density. But how to prove it? Enter the Hadron Collider at the CERN laboratory in Switzerland!
Particle Physicists used the Hadron Collider to learn what happened at the moment of the Big Bang. They were determined to find out what everything was made of and how the pieces fit together. They knew that the universe was made out of 12 particles of matter held together by four forces of nature. They had discovered an exquisite mathematical formula explaining why the sky was blue, why the sun shines, and every other question imaginable. But the formula could not identify the missing element of the one “super force at the beginning of time” that they were looking for. That is until the Collider showed them that the whole universe was made up of a “Field” which gave particles their mass or density. (Think form)
Particle physicists had presented a new scientific view of religion’s creation story. The Universe, given 13.7 billion years to expand, cooled and produced 75% hydrogen and 25% helium. Exploding into light, hydrogen and helium formed stars where carbon, oxygen and the elements of life were created. Now, almost fourteen billion years later, we have planets, DNA, technology, and people who search for God, not just through religion but through the laws of physics.
So where does this leave the non-scientist or the non-religious? Perhaps some are still caught on one side of the discussion or the other. But for others the gap is disappearing as science and religion merge. Scientist Polkinhorne said he wanted to “see the world with two eyes.” Perhaps it can be seen with more than two eyes. Science and Religion present a view of “reality” and of “God” that is based on a set of physical laws or on faith based opinions. Those views are two sides of the same coin. But, what if there’s a third way to see reality or God? What if we look at reality and ‘sense’ God through actual experience? Or ‘intuitive’ perception?
Mystical teachings say we can never really “know” God. We can go down the rabbit-hole intellectually through research, but that doesn’t really answer the three big questions: What is God, Who is God, and Why did creation happen? Those questions can only be answered through insight. In a deeply reflective or meditative state, the insight comes in a flash. Unbidden, it offers a glimpse of something that exalts us. It happens so fast we proclaim a “knowing” that is seldom explainable. The insight occurs then disappears faster than our realization of the fact that it happened. And, it only takes us close enough until the mind, tilling on the insight, runs aground once more on the notorious mental merry-go-round.
But the memory of the experience remains. And that memory of the insight is what propels the mystics, the scientists, the religious, and the seekers to continue the quest of searching.