Science vs Spirituality

Spiritual traditions have touched on Ultimate Reality, often considered knowable not by experimenting with particle colliders or making complex equations, but by simply observing the mind through meditation. This is metaphysical idealism.

Materialists (also known as physicalists) on the other hand presume reality is fundamentally physical or mathematical and outside the mind, therefore Ultimate Reality is not directly knowable in the same way, but may or may not be inferred through experiments, logic, and the scientific method.

Both approaches have merit. The scientific method is part of the “slow approach” in schools of enlightenment, helping free those more deeply trapped and in need of assistance, whereas meditation helps scientists think outside the box and grants us deep insight into the mind.

For clarity: When we use the word ‘spirit’, we aren’t referring to a supernatural entity. We use the word in its older sense of “breath” or “life essence”, referring to the innermost, experiential dimension of life, rather than life’s measurable material structure. This isn’t to dismiss spirituality-as-supernatural, but remove unnecessary, divisive assumptions when reflecting on a reality we all in a sense share. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_spirituality.

We’re concerned with the the mind’s reality on a universal scale, therefore we need both approaches. We need the rigors of science, because not everyone can simply meditate out of suffering right now. But meditation is powerful. It shows in the end, freedom is not a complex, far away goal, but something many can already attain on an individual scale by simply freeing their mind through peaceful meditation. The ideal theory would combine the best of science and spiritual teachings, illuminating extensive physical laws and the origin of consciousness, while pointing out where our inner experience fits into this mess and how to unburden it.

• non-attachment as removing domination

From Science to Enlightenment

The biggest missing puzzle piece in our current scientific understanding is a theory of “Quantum Gravity”, because the Standard Model of quantum physics (how stuff works on the really small, sub-microscopic level) accounts for all known forces except gravity.ljlg a

Quantum physics has often become associated with a lot of mystical thought because scientists don’t

Orchestrated Objective Reduction

We’re partly attracted to this theory for its beauty, but also because it meets our criteria beautifully and is a well-respected theory invented by the genius of Roger Penrose and Stuart Hameroff. It has yet to be experimentally proven, but it’s the most promising candidate for our metaphysical framework.

Determinism

Determinism means, if we perfectly understand the inner workings of the universe, we can predict anything with 100% certainty. Quantum mechanics suggests this is not the case. There are theories which state a “hidden variable” exists determining exactly how the wavefunction collapses, but this is generally considered implausible.

It doesn’t explicitly solve ‘the hard problem of consciousness’ (why we experience stuff at all), but we believe this is simply where the gap between materialism and idealism must be bridged (see Bridging the Gap).

Consciousness is non-computational. Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorems reveal that no consistent formal system/algorithm can capture all mathematical truths (there are always true but unprovable statements inside it). Yet humans can recognize the truth of those “Gödel sentences” anyway. This suggests our understanding goes beyond what an algorithm can achieve.

In the simplest terms: A consistent “truth verifying system” cannot prove the statement (rendered mathematically): “This sentence is unprovable by the system”, because that would make it false. If the system cannot prove it, then it’s true. Therefore, a system cannot prove all mathematical truth.

Consciousness is quantum

Bridging the Gap

Physicists lean toward the view that objective reality is inherently unknowable, because when we get to such a tiny microscopic level, it becomes too delicate to interact with using any kind of measuring instrument and sort of, “collapses” or “decoheres”. That’s how we get concepts like “superposition”, which as far as we know is just a way to measure probability.

The quantum superposition is extremely similar conceptually to ‘Brahman’, ‘Anatta’, or ‘God’ in various schools of spirituality and enlightenment.

It is not a thing in itself (it is beyond all things)
It lacks a definite value (it is beyond multiplicity)
It lacks attributes, there are no physical properties, reality lacks physical properties until measurement

The similarity is cinched by Orch OR, which theorizes that superposition is the precursor to consciousness. Wavefunction collapse produces primordial consciousness throughout the entire universe. This makes consciousness integral to the universe, not just an emergent product. Advanced, animal consciousness is due to orchestrated decoherence. ‘Collapse’ is similar to “creation”, but superposition is no creator.

Suffering

There are those who’d blame the creation of suffering on some malicious entity, or characterize the entire universe as malicious or deeply evil. We dispute the concept of malice in _. The baby universe had no knowledge its inception would result in pain emerging from the random intermingling of basic elements, and no power to stop itself. Given enough time and lack of fundamental boundaries, all possibilities would surely be realized.

The Omniverse

This universe is likely to be a black hole. Somewhere exists a single white hole, a door to its parent universe. This black hole is escapable except for energy (Hawking radiation) slowly leaking out.

God

True faith

Enlightenment

Soto Zen holds “we are already enlightened” as an eloquent way to draw attention to the freedom already felt within us, and snap us out of habitually searching where we ultimately won’t find it — outside us, or in the future or past. But this doesn’t mean we’ve materially realized (expressed) freedom. It’s unnecessary that freedom “materializes” at all, but this is what makes our mission so beautiful and free.