Religion And Science:
Does Quantum Physics Bridge The Gap?

...Continued from Page 3: Religion Versus Science

9. Those Working With Both Religion And Science

Please note that I use the word religion loosely here. These people would probably be more comfortable with the labels of mysticism and spirituality. They work with the paradigm that we are spiritual beings.

I have been helped by the work of Matthew Manning, and I am delighted to have heard Rupert Sheldrake, Deepak Chopra and Jude Currivan speak live. I have less knowledge of the others.

In my spiritual journey, I am the experiment and the experimenter, and I have not felt the need for additional research data to guide my journey.

So, I leave it to you to look up these resources and decide for yourself whether they suggest that religion versus science, or, instead, move us towards a view that religion and science can be compatible.

• Matthew Manning
  
  

  "[Matthew] has been involved in more scientific research and testing than any other healer in the world and has addressed the Royal Society of Medicine and spoken to MPs in the Houses of Parliament about his healing work." “Matthew Manning has a remarkable track record of working at the interface between body and soul. His knowledge is outstanding in both breadth and detail.” KAROL SIKORA Professor of Cancer Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, London

• Jude Currivan PHD
  “She holds a PhD in Archaeology at the University of Reading researching ancient cosmologies, and an Oxford University Masters Degree in Physics specializing in cosmology and quantum physics.”



• Masaru Emoto
  
  

  "What has put Dr. Emoto at the forefront of the study of water is his proof that thoughts and feelings affect physical reality. By producing different focused intentions through written and spoken words and music and literally presenting it to the same water samples, the water appears to "change its expression"."

• Lynne Taggart, author of "The Field".
• Rupert Sheldrake
• Deepak Chopra
• The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels Between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism.
  This is a book by physicist Fritjof Capra, published in 1975 by Shambhala Publications of Berkeley, California. It has been published in 43 editions in 23 languages.
• The film, What The Bleep Do We Know?
  

  “fourteen top scientists and mystics [are]interviewed in documentary style...adding further emphasis to the film’s underlying concept of the interconnectedness of all things... Through the course of the film, the distinction between science and religion becomes increasingly blurred, since we realize that, in essence, both science and religion describe the same phenomena.” To buy “What the Bleep do I know” from Amazon USA, click on the icon on the right. To buy it from the UK see the links below. My apologies if you are from another country!

  
  

• Andrew Newberg, MD and Mark Robert Waldman, "How God Changes Your Brain: Breathrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist," Ballantine Books, 2009

10. Books On Religion Versus Science

11. Do Beliefs Create Our Reality?

There is a lovely myth that touches on the religion versus science argument.

		Where To Hide The Truth? The gods are sitting around deciding how to create a world where the humans will not finish the game of life too quickly. They therefore want to decide where to hide the truth. One suggests: Let us hide it in the depths of the oceans. Another says: Let us hide it in outer space. But the third and wisest says: No let us hide it in their minds. For they will plumb the depths of the ocean, and they will travel to outer space before they think to look for the truth within their own minds.

I would compare the use of logic with the act of building something.

A good logical argument means you are building with skill.

Nonetheless, if the building blocks you use are not sturdy, it doesn’t matter how high the building goes, or how good the building looks, it will not last.
Someone who builds poorly but with good materials will still gain better and more enduring shelter.

Religion and science take different initial building block for their decision about how to live their life. This is communicated in the following bible quote.

“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”

Now to you who believe, this stone is precious.

But to those who do not believe,
“The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone,” and,
“A stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.”
(1 Peter 2:6-8)

Many religious teachings start from the belief that either the world is not real or that there is a greater reality beyond and running through this level of reality. Because they believe this, it is logical for spiritual seekers to commit their lives to allowing awareness of this greater loving reality to replace their own limited understanding of how the world seems to be.

Many (definitely not all) scientists start from the belief that the world is real and that the religious and spiritual seekers are – in the words of the Bible above – building their lives on a capstone that they themselves have rejected.

12. Calling In A New Reality

For myself, as a student of both A Course In Miracles(ACIM) and the Bible, I believe that as I shift my perception I call into my reality the peace that is always present in God.

If I see evidence for fear, it is my job to hold to my belief that I am held in God’s love.

If I stand in front of a crucifixion, it is my job to call on the resurrection.

“I walk by faith, not sight.”
(2 Corinthians 5:7, NIV)

My belief is – if you like - a portal. As I allow myself to access a different reality, I change the filter through which I see the world.

But, more than this, Because my mind is part of The Mind and we are all interconnected, this change in my mind can not only change the filter, but literally change the world.

Both religion and science now have some agreement around the idea that belief literally changes the world we see. Quantum physics now puts forward the idea that the expectation of the observer influences not only what is seen, but what is actually there.

It is interesting that religious seekers have been doing the experiment of changing their mind to change the world for thousands of years.

When it comes to religion and science, perhaps science is now catching up with the idea that by changing our mind we can change our world.

Some scientists are now choosing different material for their building block and using their wonderful skills of logic to build a structure of substance that is an integration of the wisdom of both religion and science.

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