Energy-Matter
Perhaps the most important discovery ever to made in the world
of physics was Einstein’s theory of relativity and his famous
equation E = mc2. The equation reveals that 1
kilogram of matter corresponds to 25,000,000,000 kWh of energy,
which could power a town for 3 years or a car for 100,000 years.
The equation shows that energy and matter are different
manifestations of the same thing. It shows that there is only
one substance "energy-matter", which has a dual nature and can
manifest as energy or matter. The same can be said about light,
which can either display the behaviour of a wave or the
behaviour of a particle. This does not mean that light changes
back and forth between waves and particles at will, but that it
is in some intermediate state which can express both aspects
simultaneously. It is possible that sub-atomic particles of
matter are actually standing waves of energy. Low frequency
waves vibrate slowly and behave like matter, and high frequency
waves vibrate rapidly and behave like energy. This clearly has
some similarities with "string theory" where everything is
believed to be composed of incredibly minute (10-33
centimetres long, or about a millionth of a billionth of a
billionth of a billionth of a centimetre) strings or loops of
energy-matter vibrating in ten dimensions. Our brains can only
comprehend four dimensions – the three spatial dimensions
(length, width and height) and one temporal dimension (time). So
there may be six hidden spatial dimensions.
The
cosmologies of eastern religions are based around seven planes
of existence with our physical plane being the lowest. Of the
six higher planes, some are said to be composed of subtle matter
and some of pure energy. So it seems that modern physics is
beginning to discover what has been known in the East for
millennia.
Higher Dimensions
As
we have just discussed, some of the current theories of
fundamental physics state that there are hidden spatial
dimensions beyond the three that we live in. It is impossible to
even imagine what a higher dimension would be like, but to get
some idea think of Dr Who’s TARDIS, which was bigger on the
inside than it was on the outside. Or you could imagine a house
with a special room that is much bigger than the whole house –
the room is so big in fact, it is the size of a mansion. Then
imagine that this mansion also has special rooms which are the
size of even bigger mansions, and so on. I believe this is what
Christ was referring to when he said, "In my father’s house are
many mansions" (John 14:2). We know that God lives in heaven, so
Christ is saying that the heavens are multi-dimensional and that
each higher realm is more expansive than the last. Think about
it – could you come up with a simpler description to explain a
multi-dimensional universe in a non-scientific manner to the
people of 2000 years ago?
Missing Matter
Studies on the rotation of stars around galaxies have shown that
96% of the universe is unaccounted for. In theory, stars on the
outer rim of a galaxy should not be able to rotate as fast as
those near the centre, because the increased centrifugal force
would cause them to fly off into outer space. However, it has
been found that stars on the rim of a galaxy do rotate just as
fast as those in the centre, which contradicts the laws of
physics! So scientists had to come up with a new theory that
would take this into account.
The
mass of all the visible matter within a galaxy only provides 4%
of the gravitational field that is required to stop it from
literally ripping itself apart. So why aren’t all the galaxies
flying apart? In the mid 1970s physicists and astronomers
started looking for the missing matter of the universe. They
called it "dark matter" because it is not visible.
More
recently the discovery of vast spherical energy auras, which
totally encircle the galactic disc, indicates the presence of a
large mass of dark matter and dark energy outside the galactic
nucleus. Dark energy is a hypothetical form of energy which
permeates all of space and has strong negative pressure, which
explains the accelerating expansion of the universe. It is a
relatively new concept that forms part of the "Standard Model",
which states that the universe is composed of approximately 4%
visible matter, 23% dark matter and 73% dark energy. This dark
matter and energy is the energy-matter of the aforementioned
higher planes of Hindu and Buddhist cosmologies and the hidden
spatial dimensions of string theory.
Quantum Foam
Quantum foam, also known as space-time foam, is a concept in
quantum physics proposed by Nobel physicist John Wheeler in 1955
to describe the microscopic sea of bubbling energy-matter. The
foam is what space-time would look like if we could zoom in to a
scale of 10-33 centimetres (the Planck length). At
this microscopic scale particles of matter appear to be nothing
more than standing waves of energy.
Wheeler proposed that minute wormholes measuring 10-33
centimetres could exist in the quantum foam, which some
physicists theorise could even be hyper-spatial links to other
dimensions. The hyper-spatial nature of the quantum foam could
account for principles like the transmission of light and the
flow of time. Various scientists believe that quantum foam is an
incredibly powerful source of zero-point energy, and it has been
estimated that one cubic centimetre of empty space contains
enough energy to boil all the world's oceans.
If
we could describe a microscopic standing wave pattern that
appeared particle-like and incorporated a vortex within its
structure, we might have a theory that could unite all the
current variants in modern physics. Figure 2a appears to meet
these criteria. It is a drawing of a subatomic particle
reproduced from Occult Chemistry by Charles Leadbeater
and Annie Besant which was first published in 1909, although a
similar diagram was published in a theosophical journal in 1895.
Leadbeater and Besant explain that each subatomic particle is
composed of ten loops which circulate energy from higher
dimensions. Back in 1895, they knew that physical matter was
composed from "strings" – 10 years before Einstein’s theory of
relativity and 80 years before string theory. The structure of
energy-matter may have been known for over 100 years, yet
completely ignored by conventional science. Figure 2a may be the
"holy grail" that physicists have long been searching for – see
Chapter 5 for further details.
Figure 2a – Subatomic Particle
We Are All One
The
universe is believed to have sprung into existence from a
singularity (a single point). The singularity expanded to become
the universe, so everything still remains a part of that
singularity. With this interpretation the paradoxes of
non-locality and faster-than-light communication become
meaningless because everything is connected and everything is
one – a concept that is by no means new to spirituality.
The Big Bang and Cosmic Inflation
Cosmic inflation theory states that the universe is not
expanding into space; rather space itself is expanding, dragging
stars and galaxies in its wake. A simple analogy is that of a
balloon, representing space-time, with some dots drawn on it to
represent the galaxies. When the balloon is inflated the dots
move further apart. So the big bang wasn’t matter exploding to
fill empty space – it was matter, energy and space expanding
together into an endless void of nothingness. But where did all
the matter come from? The theory of relativity states that
matter can neither be created nor destroyed, so if it wasn’t
created it must have been transformed into matter from energy.
But where did the energy come from? It must have always been
there and was just reawakened or recycled in the big bang.
Ancient eastern religious texts state that the universe goes
through cycles of "in-breaths" and "out-breaths".
Generally with an explosion there is an initial rapid expansion
followed by a gradual slowing down. Not so with the universe –
its expansion is accelerating, 14 billion years after the Big
Bang! The reason for the acceleration seems to be an increase in
the quantity of dark energy, which produces a vacuum effect
resulting in evermore rapid expansion. This subsequent influx of
energy from a higher source is clearly not what we would expect
from a typical explosion. So the Big Bang appears to be under
some sort of external control – perhaps the mind of God?
If
we stay with the assumption that dark energy exists in higher
dimensions, it seems that there has been a rush of energy
descending into the physical dimension (the out-breath) and that
at some point in the future it will return to the higher
dimensions and the physical universe will contract or dissolve
(the in-breath).
Beyond the Universe
What
existed before the universe began, and what, if anything, will
exist after the universe ends? Scientists believe that our
universe exists within a metaverse (meta-universe). The
metaverse is timeless and eternal because it is an absolute void
and totally unmanifest. Kabbalah has a term that exactly
corresponds to the metaverse: "Ain" is the infinite nothingness;
the void; non-existence; the eternal empty background; the zero.
The
universe is widely believed by scientists to have originated
from a singularity, a single point that contains the infinite
potential of the universe. Once again Kabbalah has an equivalent
term: "Ain Soph" is the limitless (potential); the absolute
source of creation; the one. The Hindu term "Brahman" has the
same meaning: God unmanifest; the transcendent reality that is
the source of all being in this universe; the singularity from
which "all that is" originated, including space and time.
Our
universe has been compared to foam floating on a sea of
zero-point energy – an energy so enormous that many physicists
ignore it and leave it out of their equations. Zero-point energy
is believed to exist at every point in the universe, even in
empty space, yet is currently undetectable because it seems to
lie just beyond our reality. No prizes for guessing that
Kabbalah also has a term to describe it: "Ain Soph Aur" is the
infinite light; the infinite energy that manifests our universe.
The ancient terms directly correspond to those used in modern
physics, so once again science is catching up with ancient
spiritual knowledge.
Gravity and Magnetism
Some
physicists have suggested that the force of gravity is much
weaker than the other forces because it leaks out into hidden
dimensions, so that we only feel part of its effect. I suspect
the reverse may be true and that gravity originates in a higher
dimension and leaks down into our reality, because if it
originated here "gravitons" (theoretical particles) would be
real and detectable rather than just hypothetical.
Science finds it impossible to explain non-physical phenomena
such as magnetic fields in physical terms. Magnetic fields are
clearly not based upon physical particles because, like gravity,
they exert a force even in a vacuum (where no physical particles
are present), so scientists have to come up with imaginary
particles like "virtual photons" to explain the phenomenon. As
with gravity, I believe that magnetic forces originate in higher
dimensions and only their effects can be felt in our physical
dimension. Extra dimensions are the only logical way to explain
all non-physical phenomena.
Black Hole Universe
Physicist Paul Wesson and his team at the University of Waterloo
in Canada have calculated that our entire universe could be the
inside of a higher-dimensional black hole. The theory provides a
better description of the beginning of the universe than the big
bang because it accounts for the creation of matter. In Wesson’s
model, energy from the higher-dimensional universe streams down
from the higher universe and condenses to form the matter of our
universe. This is consistent with the esoteric system of
creation which is fully described in Chapter 5.
Wesson’s model also predicts that a collapsing universe would
bounce back just before it became a singularity, and begin
expanding again. This is consistent with the Hindu belief that
the universe goes through cycles of "in-breaths" and
"out-breaths". Wesson is now considering the idea of "Russian
doll universes", with each world embedded in another higher
dimensional world, which is exactly how esoterics describe the
universe (refer to Figure 3d in Chapter 3).
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