What is the philosophy behind numerology?

The fundamental premise of numerology is that life, and the universe as a whole is an orderly
system, and that numbers reflect that orderliness. Numbers are by definition orderly.
When we confront the question of numerology, we are facing the same dilemma that we all
face with the larger questions of life: Is there meaning and order to life, or is it purely a
random and chaotic universe?
There are three possible answers to this question: the universe is ruled by randomness and
chaos the universe is infinitely orderly or both randomness and orderliness e!ist.
"andomness is a state in which there is no order or larger meaning. #uch a state of affairs
would mean that the universe is ruled by chance events, and there are no orderly laws
governing the universe. In fact, we $now this premise to be untrue, since the natural sciences,
such as physics, mathematics biology, chemistry, and astronomy are all based on the
orderliness, even predictability, of natural law. %oreover, if the universe were ruled by
unpredictable events, there would be no sustainable structure to it. &n the contrary, the
universe not only maintains form and structure, it also changes in precise and orderly ways.
We are continually witnesses to this process of change: 'ay turns into night, and night turns
into day winter is followed by spring, and summer is followed by fall and apples grow on
apple trees, and figs grow on fig trees, and they never, ever, get confused.
&rderliness can be seen in every aspect of e!istence, from the subatomic world to the world of
stars and gala!ies. Therefore, we can cancel the first possibility to our original question: There
is, at the very least, some orderliness.
(ut is it all orderly? When we loo$ at the very basics of life)the world of deo!yribonucleic acid
*'N+,, the molecular world, and the developing child)we see an awesome sequence
unfolding. 'N+ is of such profound orderliness that it has been the template for producing
literally billions upon billions of human beings with the same universal characteristics, two
eyes, ten fingers, ten toes, et cetera. That no two sets of eyes are ali$e only shows the
remar$able creativity and energy that are contained within this 'N+ molecule.
The gestation and birth of a child are also e!amples of remar$able orderliness: It still ta$es
egg and sperm to produce an ovum, and nine months for a child to fully develop and to be
born. The growth pattern of humans has remained essentially the same too: We are born very
young, and grow through adolescence, puberty, adulthood, maturity, and old age, at which
point we die. The arc of life is consistent and stable. This has been happening for about -
million years, the length of time humans have inhabited the planet.
If we loo$ up at the stars and see the planets, we see a further e!ample of great orderliness.
In creation, there is no randomness, a fact that is the basis for all physical sciences.
.et, all of us e!perience events that we perceive as arbitrary or random. /ow can we reconcile
the awareness that beneath our feet and above our heads)indeed, our very bodies)are the
products of profound orderliness, while our lives seem permeated by random events of which
we can ma$e no sense?
We seem forced to say that, at first glance, both order and randomness e!ist simultaneously.
(ut wait)doesn0t our perception of how much order there is in the universe constantly grow
as we learn more? 1or e!ample, only three decades ago, heart disease and cancer were
regarded by most of us as random and terrible events in life. Today we believe that these
illnesses are of the result of our daily behavior and eating pattern. (oth illnesses have very
logical etiologies. 2onsequently, they are the products of order. The illnesses have not
changed only our understanding of them has.
%any e!amples of so3called 4natural disasters,5 such as famine, drought, and mud3slides, are
often perceived as random events. It is only later that the cause is usually discovered to be
man$ind0s ignorance. #pecifically, we have not had *and still don0t have, a perspective large
enough to understand all the variables that come into play when we begin to tamper with the
underlying orderliness.
The point here is that our perception of what is random $eeps changing as we learn more.
%eanwhile, our appreciation of an underlying order was always implicit in these events that
were previously regarded as random we simply didn0t see the order.
&ur growing understanding of order also changes the way we e!perience space and time. We
all have had e!periences that we cannot e!plain that fall in to the category of synchronicity or
e!trasensory perception. These e!periences violate our normal perception of space and time.
We thin$ of these things as out3of3the3ordinary, but they are really glimpses of the underlying
order that our rational minds cannot comprehend, and that we perhaps were not designed to
understand.
Nevertheless, this underlying order, which can only be fully appreciated intuitively, is being
proven by our most advanced science, quantum physics.
+s quantum physicist 1rit6of 2apra points out in his boo$ The Tao of 7hysics, scientists have
now discovered a universal unity among all phenomena. +nd quantum physicist Niels (ohr
emphasi8ed that the main consequence of these theories is that we cannot separate any part
of the material universe from the rest without ma$ing an error. The new vision of reality is a
spiritual vision in its very essence.
7rogress for the human spirit, as I0ve come to see it, is an elevation of consciousness to where
the individual becomes fully aware of being an integral part of the cosmos as a whole, and of
its ma$er. This mode of consciousness is much, much broader than anything that could
possibly develop from a rational thought process. 2ontrary to the $nowledge of the mind, this
understanding is rooted in seeing, recogni8ing, and reali8ing at a much deeper level. It
typically occurs in meditative e!periences, but it can also occur in many other settings.
/owever, science is trying to reach that $ind of understanding. +s 2apra indicated, quantum
mechanics is demonstrating that the fundamental reality of the universe)while not
immediately apparent to our rational minds)is a vast unity in which all things are related.
In ancient times, this understanding formed the basis for all natural and spiritual sciences. In
fact, natural science was merely the tool that was used to discover the underlying orderliness
of the universe, otherwise $nown as 9od. &ut of this consciousness came such spiritual
sciences as numerology. Numerology is based upon this underlying unity, a unity that
manifests itself in a very intimate way in all of our lives. &ur names and dates of birth, for
e!ample, are connected with our deepest inner being in a way that the rational mind cannot
immediately understand. The intuitive mind, however, is capable of perceiving these
relationships, and of interpreting them to help us better understand our lives.
The act of giving something a name is not a superficial or intellectual effort, but a reflection of
our deep e!perience of the essence of the thing we are naming. It comes out of our
connection, or our intuitive feeling of that thing.