A study in the relationship between Quantum Theory and
Vedic Cosmology © 1996
written by Robert E. Wilkinson
Robert E. Wilkinson is a writer and astrologer in
the Asheville area of North Carolina. His specialized area of expertise is the
role of applied cosmology in the areas of science, psychology and human
development. He has written extensively on Time and Vedic Cosmology as an aid in
the realization of a Supramental Consciousness.
"Science has missed something essential; it has seen and scrutinised
what has happened and in a way how it has happened, but it has shut its eyes to
something that made this impossible possible, something it is there to express.
There is no fundamental significance in things if you miss the Divine Reality;
for you remain embedded in a huge surface crust of manageable and utilisable
appearance. It is the magic of the Magician you are trying to analyze but only
when you enter into the consciousness of the Magician himself can you begin to
experience the true organisation, significance and circles of the Lila."
An excerpt from The Valley of the False Glimmer by Sri Aurobindo.
In their search to explain the mechanics of creation, the world's leading
theoretical physicists have determined that there are four fields of force in
the universe. Scientists have been able to reduce and classify these fields in
categories according to the strength of the force that they carry, and the
particles with which they interact. The first of these categories is the
Gravitational Force. It is the weakest of the four forces and has two special
properties; it is able to act over large distances and is always an attractive
force. The gravitational force is present in large bodies such as the Sun, Moon
and Planets. The second category is the Electromagnetic Force which operates
over short distances and interacts with electrically charged particles. While it
is much stronger than the gravitational force, this force operates on the very
small scale of atoms and molecules which possess two kinds of electrical
charges, positive and negative, that tend to attract or repel one another. The
third category called the Weak Nuclear Force, is responsible for radioactivity
and is found in many nuclear decay processes that involve neutrinos. In 1979,
scientists were able to develop a theory which successfully unified the weak
nuclear force with the electromagnetic force as they had earlier been able to
unify the forces of electricity and magnetism. It is now called the Electro-weak
force. The fourth category, called the Strong Nuclear Force, binds particles
together into combinations. Matter is mostly made up of protons and neutrons
which in turn are made up of quarks. The strong nuclear force holds the quarks
together in the proton and neutron and hold protons and neutrons together in the
nucleus of an atom.
While these four forces account for the theoretical dynamics of matter they
do not appear to interact with each other in a manner sufficient to suggest a
single unified field theory which could explain the natural ordering of the
universe. This problem has forced scientists to continue their search for an as
yet unidentified 5th field in nature which they hope will provide the basis for
this long sought unification. Their search for this mysterious 5th field has led
them to speculate about a sub-quantum reality described by the ancient sages as
the Luminiferous Ether. It was believed to be an invisible medium that would
fill all space and convey extremely subtle effects over large distances. To the
world of science, this metaphysical possibility was not considered viable
because physicists were not convinced that etheric forces played any significant
role in physical interactions. But, upon closer investigation, they have come to
believe that the Etheric may hold the key to the elusive 5th field. Leading
theoreticians now conclude that this invisible sub-quantum field, capable of
being the ground state of the universe, would be free of matter as well as the
effects of gravitation. Since it resembles empty space, they appropriately named
it the Quantum Vacuum. However, following more recent discoveries, they were
forced to revise their notion of an etheric void in favor of new theories which
suggest that the Quantum Vacuum is a highly charged cosmic medium; an
energy-filled plenum whose subtle order measurably influences the space-time
motion of the material universe. Scientists now agree that it was the Quantum
Vacuum which gave birth to the observable universe. And they also believe that
the 5th field which they are seeking is the interactive face of that plenum. A
number of physicists now suspect that the dynamics of that interactive face hold
the key to joining the fields of gravitation, electromagnetism, and the strong
and weak nuclear forces in a Grand Unified Field Formula.
The discovery of the Quantum Vacuum appears to represent a major paradigm
shift for modern science but, at this point in time, very little is actually
known about this puzzling phenomenon. Physicists cautiously agree that the
Quantum Vacuum gave birth to the observable universe; that it is the source and
sink of all matter and, that it may prove to influence the space-time motion of
matter. There is even a growing consensus among scientists that Vacuum Physics
lie at the core of everything. But, in spite of all these advances, they are
still faced with a monumental problem; the discovery of the Quantum Vacuum has
not really solved anything, it merely postulated a zero point beyond which
empirical science cannot go. They have finally arrived at the womb of creation,
but it is exactly as the ancient sages always said, unmeasurable. The laws of
physics break down at this resonant threshold because they are unable to measure
its infinite density.
In order for science to arrive at a new system of knowledge which can unveil
the interactive face of the Quantum Vacuum and measure the density of the
Transcendent, it must first be willing to entertain a new understanding of Time.
For Time is the key which unlocks the secrets of matter. For centuries
physicists have been laboring under the illusion that Time was a derivative of
Space even to the point of calling it 'Space-time' but, according to the sages,
it is quite the opposite; Time is what gives birth to Space.
In his commentaries on the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, one of India's oldest
and most profound metaphysical texts, the philosopher-sage, Sri Aurobindo
discusses the occult imagery associated with this fundamental principle:
" ... The [image of the] horse is a physical figure representing
like an algebraical symbol, an unknown quantity of force and speed. (Time is
its breath, the year is its body, the seasons its limbs, the months and the
fortnights its joints, the days and nights its feet.) From the imagery it is
evident that this force, this speed, is something universal. Time in its
period is the Self of the Horse Sacrificial, so not Matter but Time, is the
body of this force of the material universe... Space then, is the flesh
constituting materially this body of Time which the sage attributes to his
Horse of the worlds, by movement in Space its periods are shaped and
determined. Hence the real power, the fundamental greatness of the Horse is
not the material world, not the magnitudes of Space, but the magnitudes of
Time... for Time is that mysterious condition of universal mind which alone
makes the ordering of the universe in Space possible."
Sri Aurobindo, The Upanishads; 'The Great Aranyaka', Sri Aurobindo Ashram
Press, 1971
In the higher ranges of consciousness, which the sages identify as the realm of
pattern, all things exist in potentia, they are not here manifest. They may
exist in Being but not in Time. They are precipitated into physical reality by
the contracting power of Time. For it is Saturn/Chronos which differentiates the
infinite energy-consciousness of the Supreme Godhead into material form.
In its native state, the Absolute is unbound, undifferentiated and eternal;
One without a second. In order for the Incomprehensible to become intelligible
to itself, it becomes dense, first becoming audible and then visible. It does
this through a process of contraction which slows down the vibrations of the
infinite consciousness, gradually congealing it into a spatial field containing
material forms. It manifests first as Cosmic and Planetary harmonies before
reaching a highly specific individuation in the human domain. Through this
alchemical process, the Absolute is reduced from its original state of
undifferentiated Unity into Form and Multiplicity. This act of contraction, is
the basis upon which the Greek myths portray Saturn/Chronos as having
dismembered his father.
In order to break the code of the Transcendent dimension, science must
reverse this process of divine alchemy. It must abandon its philosophy of
continued dismemberment or scientific reductionism in favor of a cosmological,
or whole systems approach. Scientists must learn to embrace the view that
material reality is not a collection of separate objects as it appears, but an
undivided whole in which all parts merge and unite in one totality. Fortunately
there are some theorists who recognize this possibility and are beginning to
agree that the next great paradigm shift in science will be a cosmological
revolution, because Cosmology, once the mother of all science, embraces the
whole of reality and describes its order.
One of the most impressive theories emerging out of scientific cosmology
respecting these ancient truths was set forth by the late physicist, David Bohm
in his book, Wholeness and the Implicate Order. Using the language of
mathematics, Bohm set out to describe the transcendent reality and its graded
energetic hierarchy in four basic states or orders of energy beginning with the
physical world, which he called the Explicate Order.
"The Explicate Order, weakest of all energy systems, resonates out of
and is an expression of an infinitely more powerful order of energy called the
Implicate order. It is the precursor of the Explicate, the dreamlike vision or
the ideal presentation of that which is to become manifest as a physical
object. The Implicate order implies within it all physical universes. However,
it resonates from an energy field which is yet greater, the realm of pure
potential. It is pure potential because nothing is implied within it;
implications form in the implicate order and then express themselves in the
explicate order. Bohm goes on to postulate a final state of infinite [zero
point] energy which he calls the realm of insight intelligence. The creative
process springs from this realm. Energy is generated there, gathers its pure
potential, and implies within its eventual expression as the explicate
order."
Will Keepin, David Bohm, Noetic Science Journal
When Bohm's resonant fields are arranged in a vibrational hierarchy they
represent energy in successive states of manifestation from infinitely subtle to
the gross physical reality.
The Zero Point Order which Bohm identified as the realm of
insight-intelligence bears an unmistakable resemblance to the supreme spiritual
realization of Indian metaphysics known as the Brahman, a perfectly inactive,
pure noetic plenum realized as Absolute Being. Realization of the Brahman is
characterized by a complete fusion of Time and Consciousness which we experience
as Timelessness, or undifferentiated Time. In this state Time-energy vibrates at
such an intense rate that is appears static and thereby lacking any element of
periodicity or denseness. Hence it cannot produce any form or any division of
Consciousness-substance into distinct crystallised objects in Space.
In the language of physics the Brahman would be infinite creativity in a
resting or seemingly non-vibratory state, realized as Emptiness or a Void. It
appears this way because, as energy moves toward an infinite state, its wave
frequency increases. The amplitude or vertical distance between wave crests
becomes smaller and smaller until the points of rest overlap, turning the
oscillating wave into a straight line. In this manner, infinite energy may be
realized as utter stillness or a zero point, precisely as the sages have said.
Bohm obtained laboratory evidence of this phenomenon by proving the existence of
wave lengths as small as 10 to the minus 34th power. His calculations indicate
that one cubic centimeter of this Zero Point energy contains more power than all
of the matter in the known universe.
Bohm's work with Zero Point energy is extremely helpful in understanding the
metaphysical nature of the universe, especially the process by which the
Absolute or Brahman becomes manifest in Time and Space. And while he was never
able to define the details of that process, his groundbreaking theories
represent a major paradigm shift, not only for the world of science but for
spirituality as well, because, like Sri Aurobindo, Bohm's discoveries contradict
the perennial philosophy which posits Emptiness or a Void as the highest
spiritual realization.
"Nothing can arise from Nothing. Asat, nothingness, is a creation of
our mind; where it cannot see or conceive, where its object is something
beyond its grasp, too much beyond to give even the sense of a vague
intangibility, then it cries out, "Here there is nothing." Out of
its own incapacity it has created the conception of a zero. But what in truth
is this zero? It is an incalculable Infinite... Our sense by its incapacity
has invented darkness. In truth there is nothing but Light, only it is a power
of light either above or below our poor human vision's limited range."
Sri Aurobindo, The Web of Yoga, Centenary Edition, Vol. 17, p. 48
Bohm's breakthroughs in quantum physics have opened the way for a new and
productive relationship between ancient wisdom and modern science because, for
the first time, they establish Fullness rather than a Void as the ground state
of the universe. The implications of this discovery are immense, not only
because it offers science a new conceptual paradigm which may hold the key to
grand unification but it lays the foundation for a new cosmology in which the
polarities of Spirit and Matter may finally be joined in an integral synthesis
harmonizing the various expressions of mind, life and matter.
While these new theories hold exciting possibilities for science, they have
been known and understood for millennia by the philosopher-sages of Vedic India.
Long ago the Rishis postulated the existence of 5 fields with the 5th being the
Etheric Plenum, or Fullness from which all things emerge. According to them, our
material universe arose from a point or seed which lies at the resonant
threshold of that Etheric Plenum. The Atharva Veda describes that point or seed
as an 'Embryo [Hiranyagarbha] which, in the beginning, poured forth upon the
universe a stream of gold.' This embryo or seed lies at the intersection of Time
and Space, Spirit and Matter, where involutionary forms move across the event
horizon and begin their linear evolution. In the language of scientific
cosmology, this point or Seed is the singularity from which the universe
exploded into being. In metaphysical terms it is the Luminiferous Ether, the OM
or primordial vibration out of which the universe emerges and has its origin.
All material creation issues from this original involved point or seed as
involutionary forms move across the spatial threshold and begin to evolve
linearly in accordance with the laws of causation and the principles of time.
Once it crosses that resonant threshold the material universe is obliged to
unfold in a manner that allows the Seer to follow the evolving in our Time
measure of what was involved in that seed by compression or contraction.
Knowledge of this involutionary process was the most coveted secret of the
Vedic Rishis because It allowed them to follow the unfolding of that Seed and
'See' with an understanding which could be infinitely extended to all orders of
reality. They were able to observe this occult process by using a unique system
of cosmological knowledge which could measure from the Transcendent reality to
its physical manifestation in an unbroken line. This knowledge was hidden in the
symbol language of the Rig Veda but over the millennia its meaning became
clouded over. The Seer became displaced by the Nirvani as emphasis shifted from
Gnosis to a philosophy of Illusionism which denied the material world in favor
of the attainment of a Transcendent consciousness. As a result of this
development, the bridge between the Transcendent and the Physical became lost
and was soon considered irrelevant. It was understood that the Brahman permeated
everything, but how it had become the All was once again a great mystery.
"When the realiser could no longer use the cosmos to express his
spiritual experience, he introduced the cleavage...between form and essence.
More importantly, that essence itself became deformed. The experience conveyed
an unfocused vision of what is and immediately nothingness and voids became
the way to describe that higher truth. This was a logical development in a
world in which the cosmos lost its sense, its purpose and its relation of
oneness to the human being and evolution of consciousness on Earth. Above all,
creation became divested of true sacredness."
Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet, The Vishaal Newsletter, October, 1988
Today, some two thousand years later, Science and Spirituality must face the
consequences of these philosophies of illusionism which taught that Truth or
Salvation, if it is to be attained at all, may only be realized in an afterdeath
heaven or Nirvanic void - anywhere except the physical world we inhabit. The
influence of these nihilistic philosophies has driven Science and Spirituality
to the threshold of a major crisis in which both must discover a new and
integrative paradigm in order to experience a meaningful continuity of
existence. The key to that paradigm is a new understanding of Time and its
primary role bridging the Transcendent and the Physical world.
"It cannot be denied that Time is a major feature of our material
universe. In consequence, it stands to reason that when spirituality decides
that the universal manifestation is unreal and illusory, Time is immediately
shunned and the seeker is required to go 'beyond time', i.e., to the
experience that appears to obliterate Time. Conversely, if we are engaged in a
path that seeks a transformation of matter and an experience of the highest
planes of reality in this material creation we are obliged to accept the
instrumentation of Time. Furthermore, we must seek a means or a key by which
Time itself becomes the element utilized in the gestation of a new and
superior consciousness-form in the material creation."
Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet, The New Way, Vol. 3, 1983
In the early 1970's Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet, the world's leading authority on
Vedic Cosmology, began to publish her ground breaking discoveries. She had
recognized in the scriptures and mythologies of ancient India evidence of a
highly enlightened cosmological culture. The Rishis, had developed precise
formulas describing the dynamics of the involutionary process, and had woven
these celestial equations into the structure of their myths and legends. Their
knowledge of Time and the cosmic mysteries formed the basis of an ancient Yoga,
the practice of which led to a supremely enlightened state known as
Truth-Consciousness or Swar of the Veda. The Rishis understood that the Cosmos
was a whole organism, multidimensional and sacred in its structure and form.
They also knew that the difference between man/woman and the Cosmos was a matter
of degree, rather than essence; that the Macrocosm and Microcosm had a
correspondent equivalence. Through the repetition of certain rites, the sages
believed that man could recover an awareness of his intrinsic identity with the
Cosmos and thus perceive the hidden order of the world. Since this order was
embedded in the structure and periodic movement of the Macrocosm, it was
understood that a corresponding order could be discovered by the individual in
the cycles and events of his own life. If man could learn to align himself with
the harmonies of Cosmic Time, he would gradually become imprinted with their
rhythms and realize within himself an immutable center or axis, from which he
could acquire an entirely new orientation to his lived experience. Since the
same Zero Womb, which gave birth to the universe is also the core of the human
being, the unveiling of this Soul/center/axis in the individual led to a
simultaneous realization of Truth-Consciousness or Gnosis.
This was the essence of the Rig Vedic Yoga, lost for millennia until it was
unveiled in the 1970's by Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet. From the principles of
these ancient teachings, Ms. Norelli-Bachelet developed and articulated a new
applied cosmology which she demonstrates in her book, The Gnostic Circle, a
synthesis in the harmonies of the cosmos.
"The Gnostic Circle is merely the combination of the zodiac the occult
circle which contains the knowledge of the evolution and the structural
pattern of the solar system. The Circle of 12 is the zodiac, and the Circle of
9 is our actual solar system, each orbit representing one year of Earth life.
The joint harmony of these two, superimposed or synthesized in one circle, is
what constitutes our key to the evolution and flowering of the seed of the
Spirit. In fact we can say that the Gnostic Circle is mainly for this purpose:
it shows mankind the ultimate and ideal perfection that can be attained during
this particular phase of the evolution, during this great transition point
from animal-mental to the more divine mankind."
Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet ,The Gnostic Circle, p. 159, 1975
Ms. Norelli-Bachelet deals with what, for centuries, has been divorced from
traditional spirituality, the question of Time and Measure. Her cosmology
reverses the long-standing perception of Time as the destroyer and presents
mankind with an entirely new awareness of Time as the integrative mechanism by
which a Divine purpose is expressed in the world. Her seminal work discloses the
deepest truths of material Reality which include the Being as well as the
dynamics of the Becoming of that same Being. "Time", says
Norelli-Bachelet, "is the vehicle, the medium for the Absolute or Supreme
Consciousness to be and to become and it is knowledge of this principle which
integrates the Spiritual and Physical dimensions and grants the individual a
direct experience of the Supreme within the physical manifestation ."
In Ms. Norelli-Bachelet's Cosmology, the Zero Womb or what science is now
calling the Quantum Vacuum, has a symbolic correspondence to the Sun or primary
Axis of our own Universe. The nine planets which orbit about the Sun represent
the octaves or archetypes of form which have issued from that Zero/Womb/Axis.
The planets also represent the number powers from 1 to 9 which form the
mathematical basis of an ancient system of number harmonies called Cabalistic
Reduction. Since every higher number is reducible to a simple number from 1 to
9, it is by means of number power that one is able to integrate the planetary
harmonies with the harmonics of Number and relate the movement of the spheres to
the Calendar which measures time periods on earth. Through this system of cosmic
harmonies, the Gnostic Circle unveils the dynamic correspondences between Time
and Space and describes the occult process by which energy-consciousness becomes
crystallized into material forms.
By unveiling the Quantum Brahman or body of the Absolute, Ms.
Norelli-Bachelet reveals for the first time the complete details of the
involutionary process which occurs in the Zero Womb, and the reversal, or
emergence from its interactive face of solidified energy or material form. She
has rebuilt the bridge between Spirit and Matter in a seamless continuum, using
the harmonics of our very own cosmos to describe its order. Through the use of
her Gnostic Circle we now have the means to measure the dynamics of that
Implicate reality and follow its manifestation in time as the Explicate
universe. Ms. Norelli-Bachelet's work represents a quantum leap in cosmological
knowledge and contains the seeds of a unique synthesis which promises to open
the way for new and revolutionary advances in both science and spirituality.
2/12/96
Robert E. Wilkinson <[email protected]>
P. O. Box 396
Accord, New York 12404
References:
Norelli-Bachelet, Patrizia, The Gnostic Circle, (Aeon Books, 1975)
Norelli-Bachelet, Patrizia, The New Way, (Aeon Books, 1983)
Sri Aurobindo, The Upanishads; 'The Great Aranyaka', (Sri Aurobindo Ashram
Press, 1971)
Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis of Yoga, 'Toward a Supramental Time Vision' (Sri
Aurobindo Ashram Press, 1976)
Keepin, Will, David Bohm, (Noetic Sciences Review, Summer 1996)
Bohm, David, Wholeness and the Implicate Order, (Routledge Press, 1980)
Hawking, Stephen W., A Brief History of Time, (Bantam Books, 1988)
Dyczkowski, Mark S. G., The Doctrine of Vibration; an Analysis of the
Doctrines and Practices of Kashmir Shaivism, (SUNY Press, Albany, 1987)
Laszlo, Ervin, The Creative Cosmos, A Unified Science of Matter, Life and
Mind, (Floris Books, 1993)
Bentov, Itzhak, Stalking the Wild Pendulum; On the Mechanics of
Consciousness, (Bantam Books, 1977)
Eliade, Mircea, The Sacred and the Profane, (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1957)
You can find more articles by Robert E. Wilkinson at www.aeongroup.com.
You can contact Robert Wilkinson at [email protected]
