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Ivan Frimmel

PARALLELS BETWEEN MYSTICISM & SCIENCE

From the time of arrival of the relativity theory and quantum physics on the scientific scene there have been
some very exciting and revolutionary developments in science, especially in the field of quantum physics.
Many long-held scientific theories have been challenged, some had to be modified and some abandoned in
favour of better ones, i.e. better corresponding to the reality of the world in which we live. Physicists arrive at
their conclusions through scientific experiments, mystics through their meditative insights or divine
revelations, but their discoveries and utterances now seem to resemble each other more and more.

The old, mechanical, Newtonian view of the Universe has taken the back seat to a more appropriate, organic
view, in which the Universe is seen as One Organic Whole, consisting of interdependent events (rather than
separate “things”) affecting each other even at great distances. This is what some mystics and sages have
been saying for millennia. Greek philosopher Heraclitus (536-470 BC) maintained that all things in the
Universe are in a constant state of flux; the starting point of Buddha (born about 563 BC) was his teaching
about impermanence (anicca); in The Upanishads there are references to Brahman as unformed, immortal,
moving impersonal being, who transcends all forms, and Shiva as being involved in a perpetual cosmic
dance; Tao, the unmanifest and unseen origin of all “things” may be “seen” by observing the interplay
between its manifested, interdependent, inseparable, seemingly opposite but harmonious events...

The modern physicists are now beginning to confirm what mystics have been saying all along: that nature, at
least on the atomic level, is not composed of some solid, static, fundamental building blocks, particles,
“things”, but consists of networks of dynamic, interrelated events, probability waves, processes and patterns.
(Thus, in language, verbs would be more appropriate for describing WHAT IS, rather than nouns). The
holistic mystical awareness of the essential Unity and mutual interrelation of all events as part of the same
Ultimate Reality is now slowly but surely finding its way into the realm of science, medicine, psychology,
education, etc.

In the old scientific paradigm scientific descriptions were believed to be objective, i.e. independent from the
human observer and the process of obtaining his knowledge. Heisenberg challenged this notion and pointed
out the crucial role of the observer: the role the observer’s intentions, hypotheses, expectations and methods
play in obtaining the results of any experiment. In quantum physics the observer and the observed can no
longer be separated, as they affect each other. The Buddha, Lao Tzu, Hui Neng, Krishnamurti, Wei Wu Wei,
Alan Watts, Ramana Maharshi, Osho and many other mystics had similar insights about the true nature of
reality.

The “solid” foundations upon which the old science (and epistemology – the philosophy of knowledge) has
been built is crumbling up and being replaced with a more flexible network of interrelated scientific (and
linguistic) models that may be applied to reality - but always only conditionally and locally, i.e. only within
certain limits and boundaries. This makes all scientific theories and models (and the language we use)
limited, relative, symbolic and approximate.

The new metaphor of knowledge as an interrelated network of events with no firm, solid, permanent
foundation blocks, the realisation that nothing is absolutely certain, only a probability, that “empty” vacuum
is the background of all energy, and other seemingly paradoxical conclusions of quantum physics may be still
quite uncomfortable to some scientists and philosophers. Perhaps they can find some comfort in the
statements of many mystics, ancient and modern, who have been telling us that everything comes from no-
thing, void, and that we can find security and certainty only by plunging into the heart of insecurity and
uncertainty, in the flux of life.

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