Science and the Akashic Field: An Integral Theory of Everything
by Ervin Laszlo
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Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions 2004. 205 pp 12 pp references and bibliography $14.95
Ervin Laszlo is a brilliant French former professor of philosophy, systems theory and futures studies, who holds the highest degree awarded by the Sorbonne (State Doctorate) and four Honorary PhDs. In this book he presents a wholistic view of the world from the vantage points of quantum physics and systems theory. He marvels at the amazing combinations of factors that make it possible for the basic subatomic particles and energetic forces of the universe to harmonize and balance in ways that created matter in the universe and that provide stable conditions on our planet for life to exist.
He does not hesitate to question the commonly held beliefs within quantum physics, pointing out facts that do not fit within currently popular theories explaining the universe. For instance, he summarizes evidence that the so-called "empty' space between stars is not really empty, but contains enormous amounts of energy, and provides the medium for the transmission of light throughout the universe.
In a clear and succinct summary, he points out the unlikelihood of chance coincidence alone providing an explanation for the development of the universe as we know it. There is an extremely minute possibility that the "fine-tuning' of the properties of subatomic particles, the forces that govern interactions of these particles, and the timing of the big bang, and the conditions on earth that permit life to exist could have occurred by random combinations of factors.
Coming from the opposite direction, Laszlo suggests that living organisms have similarities with quantum systems:
No matter how diverse the cells, organs, and organ systems of the organism, in essential respects they act as one. According to Mae-Wan Ho they behave like a good jazz band, where every player responds immediately and spontaneously to however the others are improvising. The super jazz band of an organism never ceases to play in a lifetime, expressing the harmonies and melodies of the individual organism with a recurring rhythm and beat but with endless variations. Always there is something new, something made up, as it goes along. It can change key, change tempo, or change tune, as the situation demands, spontaneously and without hesitation. There is structure, but the real art is in the endless improvisations, where each and every player, however small, enjoys maximum freedom of expression, while remaining perfectly in step with the whole.
The "music" of a higher organism ranges over more than seventy octaves. It is made up of the vibration of localized chemical bonds, the turning of molecular wheels, the beating of micro-cilia, the propagation of fluxes of electrons and protons, and the flowing of metabolites and ionic currents within and among cells through ten orders of spatial magnitude.
The level of coherence discovered in the organism suggests that in some respects it is a macroscopic quantum system. Living tissue is a "Bose-Einstein condensate": a form of matter in which quantum-type processes, hitherto believed to be limited to the microscopic domain, occur at macroscopic scales. (p. 83-84)
Laszlo argues that all matter is conscious, on the one hand, and on the other, that we are hard put to define exactly what consciousness is. He marshals cogent arguments to support his argument that the entire universe is conscious, interconnected through a universal field. He cites scientist after scientist who postulate theories that can explain a universal, collective consciousness which has been called in mystical tradition the akashic field, and which he calls the A-field.
His view of survival after death is that of the consciousness of the individual.
Nothing in this world is evanescent; all things continue to exist through the traces they leave in the cosmic information field. We humans, too, create an Akashic record of our lifetime experiences, a record that can be retrieved by others. Our individual experience is not limited to ourselves and to our individual lifetime. It can be re-experienced and thus relived at any time and at any place, today and at all times in the future. (p. 161-162)
This is one of the few points on which I find myself in disagreement with Laszlo. My personal view is that we survive as spirit, not only as parts of a vast collective consciousness.
This book is an excellent summary of the overlaps between science and mysticism, with materials that will interest those familiar with this field of discussion as well as newcomers to these explorations.
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