What a fantastic piece of science! It projects images made
completely from light that are entirely realistic but at the same time,
illusory. The more powerful the projector the larger these images can
be. They have even been created as big as a ten storey building!
Isn't it amazing that
arranging light in a particular manner can create the illusion of a
realistic image. I guess movie projectors and televisions have also been
doing it for years. If you were to look at the image very closely you
would see millions of tiny dots of light that look nothing like the
image created, but arranged in a particular way they become very
realistic.
So real, in fact, that a virtual reality is created. We cry
and laugh and dance and sing at the exploits of these illusory
arrangements of light.
Another piece of
science that is both amazing and baffling is the latest 'string
theories'.
Have you heard of these? Apparently these are the smallest
building blocks that science has theorised about. Way smaller than an
atom, the average size of a string is somewhere near the length scale of
quantum gravity, called the Planck length, which is
about 10-33 centimetres, or about a millionth of a billionth
of a billionth of a billionth of a centimetre.
These ‘strings’ by
arranging themselves somewhat fractally in closed and open loops, form
atoms which go on to form matter. I guess they are a little like the
dots of light that make up the TV image. When looked at individually
they have little resemblance to the matter they create, in fact,
individually they are remarkably similar. (Watch PBS’s fantastic ‘The
Elegant Universe’ for more about string theory)
It seems that string
theory is telling us that everything is made of tiny, vibrating strands
of energy. The theory also dictates the existence of at least 11
dimensions, up to as many as 26, a few more than the 4 we all know
about.
So let’s take a breath
for a moment.
I
am always
Without I.
So where is the one
Who acts or enjoys?
And what is the rising
Or the vanishing of thought?
What is the invisible world,
Or the visible?
In my heart I am one.
What is this world?
Who seeks freedom,
Or wisdom or oneness?
Who bound or free?
-Ashtavakra
Gita 20:5-6
The physical universe
is made up of energy. Energy that when looked at in the models that we
know about today, look remarkably similar to each other, like the ‘dots
of light’.
What I would like you
to visualize is perhaps a tiny bit of a stretch, but
imagine if the whole universe was nothing more than a sort of 3D
hologram. Imagine that some amazing intelligence was projecting the
entire physical universe, arranging energy to create matter in the way
we see it with our physical senses.
Then let’s imagine that
the energy we are talking about is love. That all matter comes from arrangements of love. That if we were to look at any piece of matter not
with our physical senses
(that know only about the 4 dimensions) but
with our heart and intuition (which might be fathoming the other 22)
then we might begin to see that all matter is actually radiating love.
That we are all made up of the same energy, love, and that we are all a
part of each other.
Then imagine that if
you had a powerful projector with a few more dials and switches then the
basic one, you might be able to re-arrange that energy at will. Create
virtual realities, only these would be the physical realities we call
reality!
Perhaps this is what
we call ‘miracles’ – the parting of the sea, the healing of the sick,
astral travel, instant travel to other places thousands of kilometres
away. Perhaps if we were able to learn how to ‘project’ in this manner
we would literally be able to create reality. (loaves and the fishes
etc)
But possibly more
important than the ability to perform miracles would be the enormous
spiritual revelation all of us could experience. That the outer physical
reality is nothing more than a veil or illusory image belying the
powerful love energy within.
This would explain the
idea that God is omnipotent. That love is omnipotent.
It would explain why
if we look at anything with heart, anything at all, we eventually feel
love.
Try it.
With a raindrop or a rock or a piece of dirt and try and
feel it with your heart, you will feel love.