Thoughts on Closing the Gap Between Science and Spirit
Starting centuries ago, with the Enlightenment, the paths between science and
spirituality were divided and have not yet been completely reconnected. The causes of this
division are varied and it is not our task to stop and list them. However, it is a fact that there
is only one Reality and that it is indivisible. This fact can only be discovered through an inner
search for answers to some fundamental questions:
- Does life exist outside the dense physical plane?
- Is there an end to life and the development of consciousness?
- When we talk about the soul, are we referring to an abstract and metaphysical entity or to a very specific nucleus of consciousness?
The goal of this essay is not to present absolute theories on these topics, but to try to
offer a logical and intuitive approach to each of these questions. It will be divided into three
parts.
PART 1
Does life exist outside the dense physical plane (the physical earth plane and the physical bodies of living creatures including the human being)?
Much of the thinking of modern science quickly dismisses the subject of life and death by claiming that life depends solely on the activity of DNA and RNA. This affirmation introduces to humanity a subliminal message of cosmic death because it believes that life can only exist on the dense physical plane of the earth, and perhaps potentially on very distant unknown planets with physical characteristics almost identical to those of our planet.
The collective imagination has been greatly limited by this kind of education and mass conditioning because it produces a vision of the cosmos that is composed almost exclusively of large “stones” that rotate meaninglessly in empty space.
Modern physics and astrophysics have moved away from this archaic vision of the cosmos, through the results of research into areas such as black holes, parallel universes, the nature of atomic matter and interstellar and interplanetary space. We now know that much that exists cannot be seen by the physical human eye. In addition, space is no longer considered empty as it used to be. If that were the case, it could not even support the light that is projected from stars toward other stars and planets. But let us go deeper into the human and the pragmatic to see whether conscious life can exist exclusively in the physical body or not. We will start with the physical body of the human being.
We know that identical twins have an identical genetic inheritance, derived from the subdivision of a fertilized egg. Therefore, if life is determined exclusively by DNA and RNA, two identical twins should be exactly the same. To be consistent with materialistic thinking, we would affirm this statement. But we must recognize, in all honesty, that to do so would be an act of blind faith.
It is obvious that identical twins think independently of one another, just like other human beings. They experience unique feelings and emotions even when they are physically close to each other. And although they may have similar qualities of character, they demonstrate different consciousnesses. An identical genetic heritage would create similar neuronal pathways in their brains, but the consciousness moving through those pathways may be entirely different.
Let us now expand our view to include other realities that cannot be denied by those who think clearly. Experiences of consciousness existing outside the physical body, such as near-death experiences and spontaneous memories of other incarnations, have been well documented. Testimonies in this field are so numerous that denying their existence would make us no different from the cruel and narrow-minded inquisitor of the Middle Ages, who ruthlessly affirmed his prejudices without having any proof to support them.
In the field of out-of-body experiences, we must make distinctions between those who have had a near-death experience, those who have undergone a spontaneous (possibly selfinduced) “astral journey,” and those who have experienced an astral journey following an anesthetic.
Near-death experiences are most often accompanied by the vision of a tunnel, at the end of which one sees a light that draws the consciousness towards an opening, as if it were a point of liberation. The individual who arrives at the end of the tunnel often has feelings of great well-being and peace. But when returning to the normal state of physical alertness, the individual usually remembers receiving an incentive for returning, conveyed by entities met at the end of the tunnel.
It is important to remember that this is the common account of all those who have experienced near-death, regardless of their faith or intellectual leanings. Since it is constantly repeated among people who encounter this experience, any thinking person would have to conclude that it is objectively factual. Some neurophysiologists have hypothesized that a lack of oxygen to the brain could cause this “hallucination,” but this would not explain why this “hallucination” would always be the same or very similar. It is curious that while hallucinogenic substances create different hallucinations from individual to individual, this “hallucination” of the tunnel is the same for everyone. This sameness suggests a real experience inherent in the nature of human consciousness.
There are many people who have been subjected to total anesthesia for surgery, who have lived and retained the memory of the out-of-body experiences they had during surgery. Some have said they observed the surgeon’s work, while operating on their body, while others reported flying out of the operating room. As the surgeon worked on their bodies, they could see and hear the people in the rooms adjacent to the operating room.
Some people have had the experience of spontaneous flight out of the physical body during sleep. These experiences are referred to as astral travel and differ from the dream state. They are characterized by the ability of the person to consciously and voluntarily guide the movements of the astral body exactly where they want to go, just as it happens in the waking state with the physical body.
Another noteworthy phenomenon is the spontaneous memory of incarnations prior to the current one. In this field of research, very important psychiatric studies have been conducted that analyzed the spontaneous memories of thousands of children aged between two and six years old. (See especially the work of Jim B. Tucker).
Following the compilation of these children’s testimonies, checks were carried out in those places to which the children had made reference, without them having visited those places in their current life. The findings have been astounding. In many cases, the memories of the children have been accurately confirmed.
There is another practice that causes one to reflect on the immortality of the soul: this technique is called regressive hypnosis. Under hypnosis, human beings are able to talk about engaging experiences related to very ancient times, and which are not attributable to available knowledge or awareness in their current life. Sometimes they speak about experiences dating back hundreds or thousands of years and describe these experiences with a logic that is typical of waking consciousness and is totally distinct from the dream experience. This, too, occurs regardless of the culture, age, sex, and religious (or other) convictions of the individual.
PART 2
Is there an end to life and to the development of consciousness?
Even from the materialistic perspective of our race, it is clearly observable that some individuals are much more gifted than others in terms of intellectual and emotional capacity, awareness of the world, plus talents and abilities. Again, the materialistic view maintains that this diversity is determined by genetic heritage, by education, and by different life experiences in the present lifetime. However, this view does not explain the evidence discussed in the previous section, or the range of different capacities among human beings, as evidenced by child prodigies.
The blind faith, of those who adhere to the material view of life, denies those realities that cannot be explained by the limited view of modern science, which perpetuates a belief solely in the existence of life in dense matter, and which denies all the types of experience described above, i.e. the experiences of consciousness that exist outside the range of visible and physical perception. It also denies the reality of “thinner” or more subtle layers of matter and consciousness, as recognized and demonstrated by modern physics.
When we talk about the soul, are we referring to an abstract and metaphysical entity or to a very specific nucleus of consciousness and reality?
Everyone is free to accept or deny what they will. Nowadays there are those who still deny the reality of the extermination of Jews during the Second World War. But if we are being honest, we cannot deny that extensive testimony has been accumulating that supports a continuity of consciousness (in human experience) towards an infinite horizon. This would explain the different levels of consciousness existing between one human being and another.
The denialistic attitude that some people hold towards the continuity of life after physical death, often coincides with a strong attachment to dense physical matter, and to a voluntary non-recognition of a higher Self—the real ‘I’ which speaks when the many “voices” that are linked to personal desire and to separative thinking are silent.
Those who are able to look honestly within themselves will see life everywhere, even in the apparently lifeless plastic that is also composed of living atoms. Each unit of life behaves like a solar system, and this applies both to the smallest hydrogen atom and to the largest galaxy in the universe. It is difficult to deny the existence of consciousness at the heart of every living and pulsating system of energy, because in the life that is inherent in every small or large system there is a logic and a consciousness at work, even if it may seem imperfect or incomprehensible from our limited point of view.
Within us all is an inner project that is revealed gradually through both the positive and painful experiences that we inevitably encounter in life. These experiences lead us to the understanding of what is fundamental and true, helping us to discard whatever is ephemeral, and freeing us from the suffering caused by unfulfilled expectations and material desire: those desires and expectations ranging from the most earthly to the intellectual, and from those in the sphere of affection to those that secure individual progress on the spiritual path.
They are the underlying causes of all the pain we experience and are linked to a wrong perception of reality and the illusive flow of time.
The possibility for liberation from all this exists always within us—in the inner Silence at the center of our being. This real and unequivocal perception of the deepest consciousness springs from that core of pure Energy that leads us forward into the experience of life— incarnation after incarnation—and from one profound realization to another that is always more profound.
Thought and sensitivity are ever linked to this onward progression. When combined, they are the engine of life existing on several levels simultaneously—when we are embodied in dense physical matter and also on more “subtle” levels as we go beyond the dense physical plane in the process called death. Thought and sensitivity together lead us to the realization that the evolution of consciousness inevitably expands towards existences on more refined and “more subtle” levels of matter and energy.
The evolutionary path does not begin for everyone at the same time, and this allows for the diversity of creation in the many kingdoms of nature, and the different levels of consciousness among individual lives within the different kingdoms. This diversification is necessary for the expression of Life in manifest creation. Wherever we are on the evolutionary path, we can perceive realities that cannot be perceived by those who follow us on the same path, and we cannot understand those realities that exist on levels of existence higher than those we have reached. However, every consciousness is linked with those that follow it and those that precede it through the etheric substance of space.
It is fundamental to understand that there is no limit to the development of consciousness, as there is no limit to the development of experience, and this is true regarding both external and internal experiences. The concept of exterior and interior are only human intellectual perceptions, because everything, every being, and every particle of energy, are simply parts of a larger Whole that is part of a project determined by Someone or Something, enfolding us all in its Being and in its Consciousness, the purpose of which is to evolve into a superior collective Whole.
By analogy, we now turn our gaze to the Human Being who is composed of energy, matter, tissues, organs, thoughts and consciousness. All these physical and subtle characteristics which form the human being are intrinsically similar to the characteristics that form the different realms of nature on the planet Earth—a greater entity than the human being and the realms of nature that is therefore beyond our limited understanding.
Yet from another viewpoint, we may look at the realms of nature as the organs and energy centers of the Being called Earth which, like us, has no limits to the development of consciousness. Everything progresses and transcends by opening a door that leads to another and higher state of being and consciousness. This applies to individuals, to the kingdoms of nature, and to the Earth in which we live and exist as cells of Its body and units of Its consciousness.
Everything in creation is in constant flux: the mineral kingdom at the end of its evolutionary development evolves into the plant kingdom; the vegetable kingdom evolves into the animal kingdom, which evolves in its turn into the human kingdom— all developments occurring through the expansion of consciousness. Transformation occurs also within those pioneers of the human family at the peak of their development, at which point they are naturally absorbed into a Fifth Kingdom. All lives, including the Fifth Kingdom itself, are a part of the same Great Entity that includes us all in its Being.
From our understanding of human physiology, we know that every organ of our body is made up of matter and consciousness, representing energies that must necessarily collaborate and communicate with each other. The system of communications existing between the various organs—the free circulation of biochemical processes, organic substances, blood, energies and electrical impulses—must work perfectly for the health and sustenance of the whole individual. Good health is attained only when the body’s apparatuses work together in perfect rhythm and harmony like the players in a symphony orchestra.
Today, on our planet Earth, We can observe an analogous occurrence playing out. The planetary life is undergoing profound crises, which are symptoms of a process of transformation of the planetary life. It will lead to a complete regeneration towards Beauty on every level, a beauty that will be determined by a greater and more harmonious communication between all the various Kingdoms which constitute the Life of this great Being, our planet Earth.
The natural communication and respect for law that should exist between individuals and the various kingdoms of nature are being interrupted by wars, environmental disasters, climate change and global economic and political unrest. These crises reflect the pain and injustice experienced by humanity at this point in the evolutionary cycle and are the result of subtle and powerful changes that are coming into effect through a planetary process of regeneration. This will expand into a complete transformation of planetary life.
PART 3
The Fifth Kingdom of nature in the Earth’s development scheme
We can see in the world around us that two streams of human thought exist: one is engaged increasingly in heated conflicts and divisions, and the other envisions a resurgence of interest in the Soul.
The need to invoke a New World is growing stronger within the human heart, and this suggests a prelude to the reunion between the Fourth kingdom of nature, the human, and the Fifth kingdom, the Spiritual Hierarchy of the Planet. The mutual recognition of the two is the Bridge of Light that we are now consciously building.
The Fifth Kingdom is composed of beings more advanced than humans, who have exceeded every limitation imposed by separative thought. As liberated souls, they are exposed to experiences on higher planes of existence.
Separative thought, as a condition of mind, is determined by the development of the concrete mind, to the exclusion of higher aspects of mind. It reaches its maximum expression in the human kingdom. Self-awareness in this state of mind is conditioned by a sense of separation from the rest of creation: every living being is perceived as a separate entity unconnected to the rest of Creation. This frame of mind is responsible for every kind of division, friction, conflict, and lack of respect we experience daily among ourselves. Its ubiquitous effects are commonly observed in family discords, friendships, plus national and international conflicts, religious and racial divisions, and the fierce competitions existing between business conglomerates seeking exclusive possession of a commodity.
Separative thinking is based on the perception of the outer form alone—the physical form—with no awareness of the subtle aspects of life that connect all forms. It leads to the segregation of individuals and nations by opposing factions that classify each other “good” or “evil”. The human being at this stage of evolution sees others as either attractive or repellent, depending on their affinity, or lack of affinity, with those others. This separative approach to life results from an egotistical and judgmental view of other persons and situations.
At this level of human thought, there is no awareness of being connected with the One Life in Whose Being we all exist. There is no sense of brotherhood with other human beings, or connectedness with the natural world. The awareness of inner connection with the One Life is only possible at a higher stage of knowledge, understanding, and experience. It results from awakening to the inner Life existing within all forms; the One Life that pervades all of creation.
In individuals who become identified with the flow of life, this higher state of consciousness, of being part of the One Life, is continuous. In them, the personality is infused by the light of the Soul. Their consciousness could be defined by unconditional Spiritual Love. They have learned mastery over physical, astral (the field of emotions and desires) and mental levels of consciousness, which places them within those vibratory frequencies of more refined levels of awareness that are superior even to the level of the Soul.
The Age into which we are entering will see the full collaboration between the Fourth Kingdom of Nature (the human) and the Fifth (the Spiritual Hierarchy). It will bring to light the realization that there exists a Plan for planetary evolution that will lead to the enlightenment of the human consciousness. This enlightenment will, in turn, bring about universal Brotherhood and an end to all suffering on the planet.
The part that humanity must play, now and in the future, is to recognize and acknowledge the existence of the spiritual Hierarchy—a collective of Beings of great wisdom and compassion, far more evolved than humans. The unfoldment of the plan of evolution will depend upon the collaboration between the human and spiritual kingdoms. As this occurs, the Light and Love of the Soul will radiate throughout the planet and humanity will experience the meaning of unconditional Love.
The fourth and fifth kingdoms of nature, as mentioned above, represent two organs or energy centres of the Entity in Whom we live and move and have our being. This Entity, called the Planetary Logos in spiritual nomenclature, is otherwise known by the generic name of God. It has been said that the Logos of planet Earth was a human being at some point in the distant past: a difficult concept for the human mind to perceive. It is also said that all the kingdoms of nature inhabiting the earth make up His body of manifestation, in the same way that all the organs of our bodies make up our physical manifestation as human beings. We are told that the consciousness of the Planetary Logos is now in the process of taking a leap into a higher dimension, one that will transform the consciousness of the Logos Himself—and all life-forms within His body—into a more “subtle” and powerful level of being: a level in which the One Soul will become manifest externally.
It is important to consider these concepts deeply, as they point toward a human and planetary future of a degree of unity that is not yet imaginable for most. Yet, even now, signs of the evolution of consciousness can be seen. There are many signs of new tendencies in human awareness that transcend separative thinking, and have the potential to neutralize the conflicting and competing forces of the waning world order. A new sense of unity will inevitably be born of the higher level of consciousness now emerging.