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Modern Science and the Illusion of the Material World - Pablo Sender
Modern Science and the Illusion of the Material World - Pablo Sender
Download handout
Modern Science and the Illusion of the Material World
As quantum physics shows, the material universe is composed of different kinds of energy, some of which is perceived by our senses as solid matter. The atom is just an aggregation of vibrating energy. Thus concepts such as “solid” and material” can be highly misleading.
Before the class takes place, the group will want to obtain the DVD The New Biology: Where Mind & Matter Meet by Dr. Bruce Lipton (Available from Henry S. Olcott Memorial Library - DVD 0173). Read through the handout as a group with a facilitator and / or any members familiar with the concepts and available to clarify for the group. During the activities section of the class you will watch portions of the Lipton DVD as a group.
Discussion questions
1- If atoms are made up of “particles” which are not solid but different kinds of energy, and if most of the volume of an atom is empty space, what is it actually “contacting” when our hand touches an object?
2- Do you think the way we perceive objects resembles their real nature? Is a red object “red,” or is the “redness” an image our brain creates from certain electrochemical reactions in our nerve cells? What are the implications of this?
3- According to The Secret Doctrine, human beings can affect matter through Icchasakti, Will Power, and Kriyasakti, Thought Power. Discuss the ways in which these powers may be important in terms of spiritual growth.
4- What do you think is the source of thought and will in the individual? In this context, what is the meaning of creativity? How can Will Power, and non-resistance or acceptance of what life presents us, work together?
5- At quantum-scale ‘particles’ are understood to behave in a way which resembles both particles and waves. Is it possible to apply this psychologically and/or philosophically? If so, what would be the implications of this statement to the nature of the process of knowing?
Proposed activities
1- Often the Zeitgeist of a time means that important breakthroughs are happening in several very different disciplines simultaneously. If there is access to the Internet with your group, research briefly as a group (or in groups) for timelines that might show what was happening in other cultural areas such as the arts, philosophy, technology, or business, around the times from the late 1890s to 1911. (See this year by year exmple or this decade example.) Compare these events to the handout’s list of prominent events in physics.
Watch the DVD The New Biology: Where Mind & Matter Meet by Dr. Bruce Lipton, and discuss (It may be most efficient to watch the DVD in the time segments listed here and then stop after each section to discuss.)
2- Mind-matter relationship (times: 1:10:15 - 1:24:05 and 2:25:31 - 2:30:03)
a) Does any person have Will Power and Thought Power? Are they developed to the same extent in different individuals? Can the normal activity of our mind affect matter easily? Some people say the world would be a chaos if people could unconsciously shape the physical reality according to their many contradictory desires; what do you think?
b) Based on your experience, to what extent can the normal functioning of our minds affect: i) matter around, ii) our health, iii) people and relationships, iv) our perception of facts?
c) Discuss the ethics of trying to shape circumstances through the power of thought and will. Is it right to try to attract money, job opportunities, relationships, etc., through these powers? In what way does theosophical literature suggest the use of these powers?
d) Do we create karma only through physical actions or do we also use the powers of our mind? Does the use of these powers imply a responsibility or are they at our disposal for use in whatever way we want?
3- We are not controlled by genes (times: 40:36 min – 50:52 min and 1:56:47 - 2:01:48)
a) What are implications of the concept that we human beings are not controlled by genes but by our perception?
b) Do you think illnesses are always the outcome of present bad habits of thinking or perception? Why did occultists and sages like Blavatsky, Ramana Maharshi, Krishnamurti, etc., suffer illnesses?
c) Do you think we can potentially cure any illnesses by modifying our perception and/or using the power of our mind? Why did these occultists and sages not cure their own illnesses?
4- Human brain as interpreter (times: 50:54 min - 59:15 min and 2:20:15 - 2:22:21)
a) What is “real”? Is reality (not only the objects but also the situations we are involved in) objective or subjective?
b) Are we aware of how we perceive the world, our “filters”? Or are our patterns of perception mainly unconscious?
c) How can we remove the “filters,” that is, make our perceptions more objective?
Resources:
Books
-Barr, Stephen M., Modern Physics and Ancient Faith, 291.175 BAR MPAF
-Davies, P. C. W., The Matter Myth : Dramatic Discoveries that Challenge our Understanding of Physical Reality, 530 DAV MM
-Goleman, Daniel, Measuring the Immeasurable: The Scientific Case for Spirituality, 201.65 GOL MI
-Gribbin, John R., In Search of Schrodinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality, 530.124 GRI ISS
-Herbert, Nick, Quantum Reality: Beyond the New Physics, 530.12 HER QR
-Jones, Roger S., Physics as Metaphor, 530.01 JON PAM
-Kaku, Michio, Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel, 530 KAK PI
-Pais, Abraham, Einstein Lived Here, 530.092 PAI ELH
-Penrose, Roger, Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness, 128.2 PEN SM
-Weber, Renée, Dialogues with Scientists and Sages: The Search for Unity, 501 WEB DSS
-Wolf, Fred Alan, Taking the Quantum Leap: The New Physics for Nonscientists,
530.12 WOL TQL
Videorecordings
-Johnstone, Gary, Einstein's Big Idea, DVD 0076
-Lipton, Bruce, The New Biology: Where Mind & Matter Meet, DVD 0173
-McMaster, Joseph, The Elegant Universe, DVD 0016-2
Download handout
Modern Science and the Illusion of the Material World
As quantum physics shows, the material universe is composed of different kinds of energy, some of which is perceived by our senses as solid matter. The atom is just an aggregation of vibrating energy. Thus concepts such as “solid” and material” can be highly misleading.
Before the class takes place, the group will want to obtain the DVD The New Biology: Where Mind & Matter Meet by Dr. Bruce Lipton (Available from Henry S. Olcott Memorial Library - DVD 0173). Read through the handout as a group with a facilitator and / or any members familiar with the concepts and available to clarify for the group. During the activities section of the class you will watch portions of the Lipton DVD as a group.
Discussion questions
1- If atoms are made up of “particles” which are not solid but different kinds of energy, and if most of the volume of an atom is empty space, what is it actually “contacting” when our hand touches an object?
2- Do you think the way we perceive objects resembles their real nature? Is a red object “red,” or is the “redness” an image our brain creates from certain electrochemical reactions in our nerve cells? What are the implications of this?
3- According to The Secret Doctrine, human beings can affect matter through Icchasakti, Will Power, and Kriyasakti, Thought Power. Discuss the ways in which these powers may be important in terms of spiritual growth.
4- What do you think is the source of thought and will in the individual? In this context, what is the meaning of creativity? How can Will Power, and non-resistance or acceptance of what life presents us, work together?
5- At quantum-scale ‘particles’ are understood to behave in a way which resembles both particles and waves. Is it possible to apply this psychologically and/or philosophically? If so, what would be the implications of this statement to the nature of the process of knowing?
Proposed activities
1- Often the Zeitgeist of a time means that important breakthroughs are happening in several very different disciplines simultaneously. If there is access to the Internet with your group, research briefly as a group (or in groups) for timelines that might show what was happening in other cultural areas such as the arts, philosophy, technology, or business, around the times from the late 1890s to 1911. (See this year by year exmple or this decade example.) Compare these events to the handout’s list of prominent events in physics.
Watch the DVD The New Biology: Where Mind & Matter Meet by Dr. Bruce Lipton, and discuss (It may be most efficient to watch the DVD in the time segments listed here and then stop after each section to discuss.)
2- Mind-matter relationship (times: 1:10:15 - 1:24:05 and 2:25:31 - 2:30:03)
a) Does any person have Will Power and Thought Power? Are they developed to the same extent in different individuals? Can the normal activity of our mind affect matter easily? Some people say the world would be a chaos if people could unconsciously shape the physical reality according to their many contradictory desires; what do you think?
b) Based on your experience, to what extent can the normal functioning of our minds affect: i) matter around, ii) our health, iii) people and relationships, iv) our perception of facts?
c) Discuss the ethics of trying to shape circumstances through the power of thought and will. Is it right to try to attract money, job opportunities, relationships, etc., through these powers? In what way does theosophical literature suggest the use of these powers?
d) Do we create karma only through physical actions or do we also use the powers of our mind? Does the use of these powers imply a responsibility or are they at our disposal for use in whatever way we want?
3- We are not controlled by genes (times: 40:36 min – 50:52 min and 1:56:47 - 2:01:48)
a) What are implications of the concept that we human beings are not controlled by genes but by our perception?
b) Do you think illnesses are always the outcome of present bad habits of thinking or perception? Why did occultists and sages like Blavatsky, Ramana Maharshi, Krishnamurti, etc., suffer illnesses?
c) Do you think we can potentially cure any illnesses by modifying our perception and/or using the power of our mind? Why did these occultists and sages not cure their own illnesses?
4- Human brain as interpreter (times: 50:54 min - 59:15 min and 2:20:15 - 2:22:21)
a) What is “real”? Is reality (not only the objects but also the situations we are involved in) objective or subjective?
b) Are we aware of how we perceive the world, our “filters”? Or are our patterns of perception mainly unconscious?
c) How can we remove the “filters,” that is, make our perceptions more objective?
Resources:
Books
-Barr, Stephen M., Modern Physics and Ancient Faith, 291.175 BAR MPAF
-Davies, P. C. W., The Matter Myth : Dramatic Discoveries that Challenge our Understanding of Physical Reality, 530 DAV MM
-Goleman, Daniel, Measuring the Immeasurable: The Scientific Case for Spirituality, 201.65 GOL MI
-Gribbin, John R., In Search of Schrodinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality, 530.124 GRI ISS
-Herbert, Nick, Quantum Reality: Beyond the New Physics, 530.12 HER QR
-Jones, Roger S., Physics as Metaphor, 530.01 JON PAM
-Kaku, Michio, Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel, 530 KAK PI
-Pais, Abraham, Einstein Lived Here, 530.092 PAI ELH
-Penrose, Roger, Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness, 128.2 PEN SM
-Weber, Renée, Dialogues with Scientists and Sages: The Search for Unity, 501 WEB DSS
-Wolf, Fred Alan, Taking the Quantum Leap: The New Physics for Nonscientists,
530.12 WOL TQL
Videorecordings
-Johnstone, Gary, Einstein's Big Idea, DVD 0076
-Lipton, Bruce, The New Biology: Where Mind & Matter Meet, DVD 0173
-McMaster, Joseph, The Elegant Universe, DVD 0016-2
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