Religion and Science - Karma and Quantum Mechanics
by anagarika eddie*
Our thoughts and emotions create themselves in the mind from what could be considered nothingness, thin air. They then disappear, no different from atomic particles arising from a field of energy which also could be considered nothing, lingering awhile, then melting back into immaterial existence. Creativity abounds in a universe in which science searches for truth. Should spirituality do no less? And when both science and spirituality agree on something, isn't that is worth noting?
Meditation and science seem to merge when it comes to our thoughts and sub-atomic particles. In quantum mechanics, particles are accelerated at extremely high speeds before being crashed together in confined spaces in infinitesimal amounts of time. This event causes particles to behave in peculiar ways, akin to thoughts appearing and disappearing at will in our minds. To where these thoughts and particles come from and go is yet to be understood, but one thing science does understand; that although these particles are considered matter, they are not solid, and actually are considered as only probabilities - hardly existing at all.
Scientists define these particles as bits of information, again like thoughts. They exist in waves of probabilities, similar to the vast storehouse of information in not only our physical memory banks, but deeper in our spiritual memories as well. Only when these particles are closely observed do they pop their little heads up for a moment appearing in one of a myriad of possible positions, similar to random memories popping up in our minds (or karma popping up in our lives). Therefore, their reality relies on the surveillance of the observers in a seemingly symbiotic relationship.
Our memories and projections , however, become stuck in a groove with the same old thoughts appearing in the same positions. This limits the scope of our brain and results in mechanical progression. Whenever a thought arises in our minds, the same processes go into action. Lust or strong desire can form when something desirable either contacts our senses or arises in our minds, and our underlying karma will affect how we react to these things. One person will be attracted to wealth, and another to meditation. This feeling strengthens when a gland in our brain preps our body for action by churning out chemicals, then, another gland releases these tailored chemicals into the bloodstream where they seek out specialized cells with little docking ports on their exteriors. As soon as these cells receive this transfer of chemical information, then sexual organs, for example, get the signal to go to work.
This flurry of activity began with a single thought, but where did that thought come from? Here we have the analogy of an atomic particle that arose from a wave of probabilities . . . and a single thought, which arose from billions of bits of information. We can see that everything begins inside; this is where the action is - and this is where meditation is focused.
A thought begins in small cells in the brain, but before that happens, each cell is affected by its karma. Each of these neurons has branches that connect to other cells during the thinking process, and each time the same thought comes up, these little branches become fatter, with the connection becoming stronger. Over time, if a lustful thought is repeated enough, it might become an obsession with associated thoughts appearing in the mind every few minutes. This creates strong connections, and strong connections create dependency. Then if we don't activate these connection by repeating that particular thought, mental pain in the form of withdrawal occurs.
Soon, of course, the brain is crowded with dependencies like sex, security, and self-esteem, and since each connection becomes stronger with stimulation, it becomes increasingly difficult to break our habit patterns. This describes our life - a series of thought cycles repeated in certain patterns to create identities.
Our brain handles billions of snippets of information a second, but we are only aware of a small fraction of them, and the ones that we are familiar with and believe in pop up most often. As a result, our life becomes a "groove in a record" that we can't stop playing.
This is fine while we are satisfied with our lives - and our grooves - but over time, our cravings, supported by our habit patterns, become desensitized and require increasingly stronger stimulation. This could lead to dire results if we then frantically seek out additional stimulation to reinforce old habit patterns. This only deepens our grooves and causes constant stress. . . . Hello karma!
Karma, simply stated, is habit patterns - cause and effect. Whatever habit patterns we die with will be reborn into another form. Why is this? It's because the habits are left hanging and unresolved. Until we neutralize every one of our strong habit patterns, we will endlessly be reborn into the world of form, and once we are born into this physical world, we have two strikes against us. The first strike is that we are born with senses, and the second strike is that these senses require stimulation - hence action - hence more karma - and where does it all end?
So, what determines, out of the field of billions of possibilities in our brain, what becomes our experiences - and who is it that actually experiences this? The answer is . . . nobody! There is nobody behind anything, only arising of thoughts out of a vast field of karma, causing continuous stimulation that in turn creates more memory - and thus creates the idea of "me," the idea of a "self."
If we could either weaken our repetitive and limiting brain cell connections, or weaken our karma and prevent the connections from forming in the first place, we would open up unlimited fields of possibilities. These are the fields of the mind hinted at by the sages, far beyond ordinary minds, which are caught up in their mere thousands of bits of information per second. This new, amazing, inward experience of dipping into billions of bits of information would be a separate reality never before imagined, and this could change human beings forever.
Then, (and this is the metaphysical part), we will find ourselves transcending the mind itself and its billions of bits of information. Here, in a singularity, we find ourselves having conversations with Reality, or God, or however we describe the ineffable - and our karma is permanently resolved. No more births into the world of form to suffer again as we did before, before we understood the mind. The "I" that we thought was "us" is now transcended into a unity with all beings, and with all things spiritual and material. How could it be different from this? How did we ever consider ourselves separate from everything else?
These possibilities are why intelligent people meditate - to change themselves in a radical way that will in transform a world that has always thrived on the negative energies of hatred, greed, ambition, and killing. The truth is not something to believe in, the truth is to be experienced through insight, only then will truth be expressed through our actions. Wanting to end hatred doesn't end hatred, but "seeing" hatred up close and personal does. The critical question remains, however, "Who will want to meditate?"
In society's present mindset, the last thing it wants is peace and love. Society mouths the words, but peace and love is frankly boring, especially for young people. They want action, and in the words of so many evil crusaders throughout history, "Give me your youth and I will give you victory." We are driven to action by senses that are starved for stimulation, and since action creates karma and karma in turn leads to rebirth of the senses, our cycle of cause and effect goes round and round eternally, with no end in sight. How can we ever wake up to the fact that within all of this action is lifetime upon lifetime of horrible torment? We just don't get it.
Is there anything that will convince us of life's double-cross? Probably not; not while we are deeply involved with pleasurable sense stimulation. It's only when these excitements begin to wane that one looks around, puzzled. Until then, however, until our karma ripens, we have little chance of being coerced into being aware.
So what can we do? We see the worry and tension in the other guy's face. We see the anxiety and suffering that results from his never-ending manic quest for the things that he feels are important. But we can't see it in ourselves. We are somehow immune to all of that, or at least we think that we are.
This whole subject is confusing to anybody who has not meditated. This is why the Buddha almost didn't teach, because the whole thing was too difficult to comprehend. But then, he could see that a few would always be ready to hear, just as he was, and he wanted to help them. But who these days will listen? When we meditate, we reach for the Reality, trying to end our habit patterns of karma forever and reach unknown depths. We want to change our patterned life from one of hopelessness to one of joy and passion - we want to become enlightened.
With our negative passions reduced, and with our positive characteristics enhanced through meditation, the doubt, the drag of a false personality, the misguided beliefs that drag our attention outward instead of inward, our anger, our pride, our egoism, our insatiable sense desires, and our self-righteousness, restlessness, and ignorance . . . all of these lessen. These negative aspects are replaced by insightfulness, where we are passionate in our endeavors and curious about everything and anything that come into our field of awareness. Our concentrated minds now cultivate a tranquility and equanimity that will someday shine its light on all the worlds.
We can never hold truth; it is far too fast and immense for us, however, we could be truth if only we can remain in the moment where no karma exists. If we can remain there, then our minds will experience a profound, fundamental transformation that discovers the oneness of everything, and the myth of individuality. Reality wants to introduce us to this beautiful, eternal moment. Why won't we let it do that?
*
Anagarika eddie is a meditation teacher at the Dhammabucha Rocksprings Meditation Retreat Sanctuary www.dhammarocksprings.org and author of “A Year to Enlightenment.” His 30 years of meditation experience has taken him across four continents including two stopovers in Thailand where he practiced in the remote northeast forests as an ordained Thervada Buddhist monk.
He lived at Wat Pah Nanachat under Ajahn Chah, at Wat Pah Baan Taad under Ajahn Maha Boowa, and at Wat Pah Daan Wi Weg under Ajahn Tui. He had been a postulant at Shasta Abbey, a Zen Buddhist monastery in northern California under Roshi Kennett; and a Theravada Buddhist anagarika at both Amaravati Monastery in the UK and Bodhinyanarama Monastery in New Zealand, both under Ajahn Sumedho. The author has meditated with the Korean Master Sueng Sahn Sunim; with Bhante Gunaratana at the Bhavana Society in West Virginia; and with the Tibetan Master Trungpa Rinpoche in Boulder, Colorado. He has also practiced at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, and the Zen Center in San Francisco.
He lived at Wat Pah Nanachat under Ajahn Chah, at Wat Pah Baan Taad under Ajahn Maha Boowa, and at Wat Pah Daan Wi Weg under Ajahn Tui. He had been a postulant at Shasta Abbey, a Zen Buddhist monastery in northern California under Roshi Kennett; and a Theravada Buddhist anagarika at both Amaravati Monastery in the UK and Bodhinyanarama Monastery in New Zealand, both under Ajahn Sumedho. The author has meditated with the Korean Master Sueng Sahn Sunim; with Bhante Gunaratana at the Bhavana Society in West Virginia; and with the Tibetan Master Trungpa Rinpoche in Boulder, Colorado. He has also practiced at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, and the Zen Center in San Francisco.
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