Quantum Physics and Spirituality

Pure spirituality and quantum physics compliment each other. Each is essentially asking the same questions. The world of quantum physics provides an explanation for those who believe in God, how this divine energy infiltrates the world we live in. Quantum physics is the way God works throughout the universe, on this planet, in you, and in me.

The existence of the soul is one of the most debated topics volleyed back and forth between science and religion. But is the matter of a soul really so vague, and is there really no empirical evidence for a practical theory? Vedic philosophy and quantum mechanics may offer some interesting ideas to consider.

The Vedas are a large body of knowledge texts originating in India, constituting the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, considered not of man but from something beyond - anonymous. Einstein, Shroedinger, and Tesla were all considered Vendantists. Along with Bohr and Heisenberg, they regularly sought the wisdom of the Vedas in their pursuit of higher truths outside the narrow parameters of classical science.

In quantum physics, elementary particles called quarks and gluons which in turn make up protons and neutrons are well accepted by science as real, yet there have been no experiments that validate their existence since their discovery by Gell-Mann and Zweig in 1964. Furthermore, no one ever expects to directly observe or measure proof of them. The experiments that confirmed their existence never actually detected them and no one really demanded such proof. So indirect detection with no expectation of direct detection is still valid to confirm the detection of something as real in science.

In a like manner, Vedic philosophy tells us about the existence of another type of particle called the atma – the soul – having different properties from that of anything else. For someone to declare there is no soul just because we cannot observe and measure it with our current instruments is no different than saying that there are no quarks because they cannot be detected in our laboratories. Both the soul and quarks can be inferred indirectly by their effects – living symptoms and consciousness in the case of the soul; particle interactions in the case of quarks. This reminds me of Hebrews 11:1 - “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Is the soul something just waiting to be observed to make it real? No more than quarks.

We do not see with our eyes how many things work. For many things we must conceive them inside our heads first. A cosmos without end cannot be understood using cardinal ways of thinking. Many things can only be conceived and agreed upon, and understood that it can be no other way.