Having just experienced
a presentation at Cape Town Planetarium, I feel fascinated but also
frustrated. I am fascinated by the
technology and the incredible pictures of our neighbouring planets and even
more so by the Hubble telescope photographs of distant stars and nebulae. However, the presentation seemed hollow and
something vitally important was missing.
What could that be?
My frustration is, I
suppose, partly due to my knowledge of the spiritual dimension we each
possess. The presentation, though full
of interesting facts and suppositions was equally full of “we don’t knows” and
out and out guesswork masquerading as scientific expertise, even allowing for
the obvious influence of Hollywood. It
was hollow because it was so superficial.
Whilst I can just about forgive physicists for being so materialistic because
they are dealing purely with matter, I find it impossible to excuse astronomers
and astrophysicists. Surely what they
see should produce a greater sense of awe than they evince.
To my simple mind, the
vast distances and dimensions involved call for a recognition that only by
conceiving a methodology that goes beyond the brain, and the physical reaction
to what we experience and see, can sense be made of the universe as revealed by
space probes and telescopes. It is
impossible to imagine all this being the result of blind chance or “only give
us time to develop more sophisticated instruments and vehicles and all will be
revealed.” I lost count of the number of
times the commentator spoke of our children and our children’s children being
able to do what we find impossible.
Whilst this is undoubtedly true and even recognising the need to simplify
astronomy to meet the audiences’ ability to understand, I found the approach condescending.
In the majesty of the
heavens lie all the verities of human life:
Its grandeur, its boundlessness, its endless variety, its complexity and
yet also its simplicity. When reduced to
its basics, the universe and all its millions of worlds and suns is the result
of few, but incredible, natural laws.
Laws that for their comprehension demand the overwhelming and overriding
presence of mind: Mind through which the
spirit shapes, not just the physical worlds and all that is in them but also
those unseen spiritual worlds. (Unseen by our physical eyes at least): Worlds that cast the shadow that humanity
imagines as reality: Mind that is the
essence of the true, inner self and that Great Spirit we know to be God.
What we imagine as
reality is but the shadow. The shadow
cast by the spiritual world that is our true home and to which we all must
return. All physical manifestation
originates as a spiritual manifestation.
Every physical world is a duplicate of a spiritual original. A truth that one day Particle Physicists will
discover. We need to recognise that the
immortal, invisible portion of human beings, the part that gives us life and
consciousness, the part that we share with God, is both mind and spirit.
If only scientists
would abandon their obsession that everything can be measured by using
either physical instruments or purely physical observations and that the mind
is part of the physical brain. Abandon
this way of thinking and our understanding of all things would grow by leaps
and bounds. It would grow because in
abandoning their prejudices, scientists would open their minds. Open them to the influence of those in the
spiritual world who understand so much more about everything than even the most
knowledgeable amongst us. Once the mind
is accorded its true importance, it can be studied intensively and its power
recognised. We could learn how to
harness that power in the way earlier civilisations did and those in the
spiritual world do every day. The power
of the mind, properly focussed, can literally move mountains. Equally, it can devise ways, using its power,
to explore the physical universe without the need for rockets and space ships. As with any power however, the greatest
caution must be exercised to ensure access to it is universally available.
Many of the mysteries
of the universe, which have puzzled humanity for ages, could be demystified. If only we all accepted and sought to
understand more fully that life, animate and inanimate, is more about mind and
spirit than it is about its physical envelope.
It demands a sea change in human perception but unless this is achieved,
humanity will continue to wallow in fear and stagger from one materialistic
disaster to another. This world of
conflict need not be so. Given a real
understanding of our spiritual dimension, conflict can be seen in its true
perspective; i.e. the means whereby the individual spirit learns to develop
character and realise its true potential.
Once this is accepted, humanity will no longer see conflict in terms of “us
and them”. Fear and hatred would be
replaced by understanding and love.
What an opportunity
this presents to us, though we would need to take care the study of mind is
used to bring greater freedom to all and not a means for a few to enslave the
rest. Must we destroy much of what we
have achieved in making physical life more tolerable before we turn away from
materialism and embrace a philosophy that more closely reflects the totality of
human existence? All the competing religious
philosophies can be reconciled and peace prevail everywhere, if we would only
accept mind as a spiritual faculty and use it as it should be used. There would be so much to learn and so many
wonders to be seen and experienced we wouldn’t have time for petty feuds and
religious bigotry.
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