Dear Michael,
I would argue that we cannot make our faith in Spirit or holism dependent on science. As it happens, modern physics currently sounds ‘holist.’ But what if that changes and science decides that atomism is more accurate? Are we then to abandon our spiritual beliefs? I’m prepared to be a holist whatever science says, because my belief comes from listening to those who have experienced the whole, not from scientists.

I’m sick of the argument that philosophers have been mistaken because of their adherence to the atomism of the scientists, and they need to update their science and embrace the holism implicit in new physics. They’re not going to, and that’s that. Their views aren’t really based on anything, except an intuition that the spiritual is full of nonsense.

In my opinion WE MUST STOP NOW OUR PHYSICS ENVY.  Physicists have NOTHING TO TELL US ABOUT ULTIMATE REALITY.  Physicists study atoms – not life and
certainly not CONSCIOUSNESS, the one thing you always said you really cared about. That thing that made behaviorism so pernicious.
 
Consciousness is what is important, and not just that, but LEVELS of consciousness. Human existence represents a steady progression from low levels of consciousness to higher levels. The omega point is to find your own original face existing outside time and space. The infinite and eternal are not understandable conceptually and are not objects of discursive knowledge. If you want to find it, you must let the creature out to let God in. Thinking is terrific, but is in fact an obstacle to directly experiencing our divine nature.

David Bohm has nothing to tell us about ultimate reality. He can tell us about the physical universe only – that’s his job description. The belief
of many of the greatest twentieth century physicists that Spirit is at the heart of reality is a private belief unrelated to their findings as physicists.

 You know why humans are better than atoms? Because, although atoms are as perfect a manifestation of God as we are, they will never know it. Human beings possess the potential to know that they are God made manifest. This is achieved by the possibilities inherent in human consciousness; requiring us to access levels of consciousness unknown to the majority of the human race. Certainly not accessed by me, or you, or David Bohm.  It is not known by theory, by words, by synchronicity, or physics – it is known by direct experience dependent on the level of consciousness attained. Jesus Christ did not speculate about the existence of God. Jesus Christ was not a theorist. He did not have to wait for a physicist to tell him about atoms changing their spin. The reason why most of Christian teachings are screwed, is because they teach us to revere what others have said, but not experience what they have. The levels of consciousness which express a lived reality, not a wish list of ‘wouldn’t it be nice.’ Our goal should be to attain those levels of consciousness ourselves. Until you KNOW your neighbor is yourself,directly, not that you INFER your neighbor is yourself, or you SPECULATE that your neighbor is yourself, or you mumble nice words  about your neighbor being yourself, or receive synchronicity suggesting that your neighbor is yourself,  it is hot air – it will remain forever an unobtainable idyll.

Atoms can change their spin at the opposite ends of the universe in unison, but they will never know they are doing so. They do not have the necessary biological machinery that is required for conscious experience of the sort we care about.  Focusing on physics is to lock yourself into the physiosphere.  It’s the wrong end of the stick. Our goal should not be to be unconscious atoms mechanically changing our spin, but conscious human beings celebrating our emergence into the noosphere, which is a precondition of emerging into the theosphere, which is a precondition of emerging into Spirit – where Spirit finally comes to know itself as Spirit. Atoms and physics is at the wrong end of the Great Chain of Being. It is true that atoms are an expression of Spirit, but as I said, they will never know it! And what’s the point of your neighbor being yourself if you are incapable, even potentially, of knowing it? You and I may not know it (and I’m not talking about ‘know’ as prepositional knowledge), but at least we have to potential to. So let’s head in the proper direction instead of wasting one more second of our valuable lives looking for some kind of indirect confirmation of our ultimate goal. Hurry up and believe already, and then get prepared to move beyond the level of mere faith, of mere belief, and into direct experience of the face of God – our own face before we were born.

Physicists might point to physical ‘all is one’ness. But this level of all is one, is unaware of this unity. It is our MINDS that are aware. We need to get out of the physiophere, into the biosphere, and then into the
noosphere before any ‘unity’ can be part of our  consciousness.

Physicists like Bohm speculate that Spirit is the ultimate ground of all being. Spirit is at the top of the Great Chain and also at the bottom. Beneath the smallest subatomic particle lies Spirit. This is where Bohm wants to locate Spirit. But Spirit beneath the smallest particle is Spirit slumbering in nature. If we want to KNOW that the Father and I are one, we must climb the great chain of being in the opposite direction. Not because the destination is completely different, but because self-awakening, awakening to your true Self, lies in the direction that Eros is pushing us. (You know, Teilhard de Chardin). We don’t want to be spirit slumbering, we want to awaken. Wake Up, St. Paul says. Not, Go to Sleep, sleepy head.

Reading about spirit lying beneath atoms and possibly making atoms do interesting mind-like things does nothing to raise your own level of consciousness one little bit. Science is based on sensory experience and
sensory experience is limited to the physical universe and the physical universe is spirit asleep.  Even at a much higher level, that of life, the biosphere, where life emerges out of dead matter, we are still limited to instinct. We have a sex drive – we mate indiscriminately with anyone of reproducing age. Once the noosphere emerges, and mind is attained, we attain a freedom from instinct and things like romantic love are possible.
Here ideas of merit become relevant. We loved our beloved for his or her moral beauty (possibly imagined). In the theosphere love for all sentient beings becomes a possibility, and then nonsentient beings and at the highest levels, love for absolutely everything without exception.

One must avoid flip-flopping between the Spiritual and Materialism. It is no solution to simply say that Spirit underlies the material as the ultimate ground of being because spirit in that case is asleep and unaware
of its own nature. The material universe is at the bottom of the great chain of being becoming less and less important and determining as one progresses up the levels.  We become freer and freer from instinct, from ego, from nature’s programming, which we relied upon before we had a mind to start programming ourselves.  Your task, Dad, is to encourage growth up the great chain, not to convince someone that it is terribly important that they think physical reality emerges from Spirit.

God save us from a universe in which we are merely physically connected. We need saving from the physiosphere which is mindless and mechanistic. God may manipulate the physiosphere for some higher purpose, but we cannot look in the direction of the physiosphere for our salvation.  Direct knowledge of the spirituality of atoms is had once Christ consciousness has been achieved.

If someone got a stick and glued it to both of us, physically connecting us, would we have been improved? Would we think loving thoughts? Would we be better people?  No. If we are connected in thought, we can at least empathize with each other. If we are connected in soul, we can share our higher natures – if we are connected in Spirit, no mental, or emotional, barriers separate us. Proof of merely physical connection does none of this.