I Asked the Universe More Questions
THE ANSWER SPARKLES LIKE A DIAMOND

I have quietly and privately conducted numerous exploratory experiments on this topic in the privacy of my home, on mountaintops, in hotel rooms at scientific meetings, at spas and resorts, but I have yet to initiate a formal university research program on the topic of “asking the universe questions.” This will require human consent forms and Internal Review Board endorsement. But the time will soon come.

It was almost a decade after my original Sam conversation at Yale when I felt the need to initiate asking the universe some questions again. And to my astonishment, again I received answers. (Incidentally, I sometimes refer to the universe as “universe,” sometimes as “Samuel,” and sometimes affectionately as “Sam,” which is non-gender-specific, since it could mean “Samantha.” It doesn’t seem to make a difference. Answers come to me so long as I am genuine, I surrender, I am open, I am humble and nonjudgmental.)

There was always the possibility that my experience with hearing the “Sam” was a onetime occurrence, and therefore was coincidental, as in unrepeatable. That turned out not to be the case. Recently it has become essential to me to reveal the truth. But that doesn’t mean it’s my responsibility to share every shred of evidence I have received over the years. Between the constraints of space and, sometimes, in respect for people’s privacy, I include in these pages only what I deem to be appropriate. As Professor William James put it, there is wisdom in knowing what to overlook.

Late one afternoon while writing this book, I reminded myself that shortly after Christopher Robinson and I had completed the “Ten Days in Arizona” experiment, he confessed to me that he personally saw the greater purpose of our experiment as a “search for God.” I wondered at the time if Sam had sent Christopher to me in answer to my continued quest for tangible evidence of G.O.D.

THE MEANING OF THE DIAMOND

Alongside my OfficeJet printer in my home office as I write these words sits a special piece of Tiffany cut glass that is the size of an apple but shaped like a diamond. It’s one of those paperweights that is impossible to miss and brings “ah’s” from visitors. When the OfficeJet prints, my Tiffany “diamond” wiggles and its facets reflect light in various directions. While waiting for words to come to mind I sometimes gaze at this fine glass object, and often, when the light comes in at sharp angles, I see many colors in each of the facets. And often the rainbow of light within my paperweight takes my thoughts back to that astounding conversation I had with Sam and the remarkable confirmation that occurred the next morning. Now I need only look at my Tiffany glass diamond to get a feeling of being in touch with the universe.

I purchased my Tiffany glass diamond a few months after I received a surprising and special answer to my unanticipated question of the universe. It was April 2001 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and I had been invited to give two addresses at a conference on the science of consciousness. One of my talks was to be on The Living Energy Universe; the other would be on The Afterlife Experiments.

When I finished the Living Energy Universe talk, to an enthusiastic standing-room-only crowd, a rush of people wanted my personal attention; they had come to the podium to probe more deeply into the topics of my talks. A tall blond woman, whose sharp bone structure was matched in beauty by her intense and vital energy, raised her voice to be heard. “Do you really believe what you’ve told us? Are you saying there’s really a living energy universe? And do you really believe in survival of consciousness after death?”

I told the woman that as a scientist, what I would be willing to say at that point in time was that “when all of the data are considered, the simplest—and most parsimonious—explanation that accounts for the largest amount of the data is the one I gave in my talk.” Then I told her in an equally clear and loud voice that I did agree with survival of consciousness after death as a viable hypothesis.

She was not yet satisfied, and pressed on. “But do you believe? What do you personally feel?”

Believe? Feel? Scientists are not supposed to believe or feel our way to conclusions. What science is supposed to do is question, investigate, and evaluate alternative hypotheses. Scientists are taught to base conclusions on facts and research but not on feelings or belief systems, which should not be brought into the laboratory.

I suggested to her that we put off the conversation to another time, so I could answer other questions. But I was troubled by her challenge and the fact that I had set her curiosity aside.

AN ANSWER FROM SAM

I realized that I had been haunted by the mystery woman’s question of whether anyone can know scientifically that information and energy truly exist as invisible fields in the “vacuum” of space, as well as the “vacuum” that comprises matter. Quantum field physics tells us, in no uncertain terms, that matter is mostly empty space that is organized by invisible fields.

Returning from the speech I carried back with a responsible weight two heavy-duty questions. Does science know that informational and energetic fields play a fundamental role in shaping all things, great and small? And is a creative, intelligently organizing field process involved in the manifestation of all things? These were questions I had been pondering the previous night.

So, in the privacy of my hotel room, I decided to raise these questions with the universe. In a state of complete surrender and openness, prepared to hear whatever popped into my head, I asked Sam one question.

“How do I know, and how can I prove, that external organizing forces, mediated by invisible fields, play a role in the creation of all things, including physical matter?” In everyday language this means “How do I know that you (G.O.D.) are real?”

Scientists don’t typically seek proof but depend on collected data and then determine whether the data are consistent or inconsistent with the hypotheses. But I wanted more. I wanted to know what to believe, and I wanted to know how to reach a decision.

What I heard from the universe, as before, came as a stunning surprise. In fact, it shook me to my core. I heard, “Remember the diamond.” Three simple words—but a serious answer that was another mystery to be solved.

For the record, I didn’t own a diamond ring and had no intention at that time of buying one, not for myself, not for any lady friend. The idea of diamonds could not have been further from my conscious mind when I asked the universe the question. So I repeated the words, a reply that was a question. “Remember the diamond?”

As I spoke those words, three sets of visionary images flashed through my mind. The first was the fact that diamonds do not simply appear out of nowhere. The creation of one of these precious stones requires (1) extensive pressure (2) from the outside (3) for long periods of time (4) to collapse carbon into the supersolid state called a diamond. In my mind I experienced the carbon being organized through the external forces upon it. I felt myself, so to speak, becoming a diamond in the rough.

Take-Home-Message One: Patterns of outside force are required to give birth to the diamond in the first place.

The second image that came to me was of a diamond cutter planning to sculpt the raw diamond into a sparkling gem. The diamond’s potential to reflect light deserves the term “awesome.” However, a visionary and skilled diamond cutter takes a rough diamond and reveals its inherent potential for beauty. Diamonds stand alone in their combined magnificence and resilience. Mentally I experienced three things simultaneously—the rough diamond, from its own perspective, being turned into something spectacular … the diamond cutter, from his perspective, seeing his vision manifest through his hands … and an invisible outside intelligence smiling at this remarkable creative process (from Sam’s perspective?).

Take-Home-Message Two: Humans, using external force, continue the organizing process through deliberate planning and design. Moreover, this planning and design process is potentially co-creative with an invisible intelligence.

The third image that came to me was of a scientific satellite, the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) telescope, floating in space, taking pictures of the background radiation—infrared patterns of light at very low temperature, present everywhere in the universe. The COBE telescope was a stupendous human achievement of innovation, planning, design, and implementation.

What the COBE telescope revealed was that the background radiation of the universe is not random. The background radiation, purportedly 12 billion or more years old, was supposedly created shortly after the birth of the universe—the event that has been playfully termed the Big Bang. The background radiation is actually composed of photons—massless particles of light that are invisible to the naked eye but are detectable and ultimately displayable by means of modern technology. These ancient photons were clearly organized, expressing a pattern that is more than 12 billion years old (the exact age is debated). Do you know what the detector is made of that reveals these 12-billion-year-old organized photons? The answer is, the diamond.

In my mind I literally experienced myself in space. I was both inside the COBE telescope, inside the diamond detectors, and outside the telescope as well, witnessing the map of the background radiation present throughout the universe.

Take-Home-Message Three: The diamond reveals patterns of organized creation—in the “vacuum of space”—that go back to the beginning of time as we know it.

I trust you can sense the depth of awe and wonder I experienced when those three sets of images flashed through my mind: first the formation of the rough diamond, then the diamond being carved, and finally the use of the diamond to reveal the invisible order of the background radiation some 12 or more billion years old. The combined process literally took my breath away.

I said to myself, I must remember the diamond. I was struck by the thought that the diamond could serve as a symbol for an intelligent Guiding-Organizing-Designing process that potentially existed since the beginning of time. Let me not forget to include here what I later learned—that ancient religions viewed the diamond as a fundamental expression of “God.”

I decided that night that someday I would purchase a real diamond to remind me of my special symbol as well as this momentous experience.

I reasoned: if I can believe in the reality of diamonds, and what they reveal, then I can believe in the existence of an organizing universe that contains intelligent, dynamic, evolving fields of energy. And in the process, I realized that I had an answer to the blond woman’s question. Yes, even as a scientist, the time had come when I could believe and say so without apology.

The next morning, on the way to another of the conference presentations, I encountered the same woman, and once again she challenged me: “Well, Dr. Schwartz, do you believe?” But the answer I gave was not one I had planned or expected. My answer was one I would never have predicted. I looked furtively around, like a character on Law and Order, and determined that we could not be overheard. I was about to give her an answer that I had received to a question I had asked of Sam the previous evening.

THE UNBELIEVABLE IDENTITY OF THE MYSTERY WOMAN

Though I was not prepared to meet her so soon (if ever), I was ready with an answer to her question.

Needless to say, I was not about to tell her how the answer came to me, nor would I share the phrase “Remember the diamond” and how I was given it as a symbol for my answer.

I again explained to her that scientists are not supposed to believe. We are supposed to experiment, to investigate. However, I did admit that there must come a point in time when even a scientist has enough logic, data, and direct personal experience—the holy trinity of learning—be able to reach a firm conclusion.

Knowledge is like a three-legged stool—one leg is logic and reasoning, one leg is data and experimentation, and one leg is intuition and experience. When all three legs are present, science can stand on a knowledge stool that is well balanced and firm.

She listened carefully to my explanation that from this vantage point, I could honestly say that I believed in a living energy universe (from the title of my book that describes how energy and information express the fundamental properties of life). I was now prepared to definitively conclude that some version of the theory was true—including survival of consciousness after death and a G.O.D. process.

She smiled. And then she told me that her name was Barbara, that she lived in New York with her husband, and that he had come with her to the conference.

While we were talking, the woman’s husband joined us. She introduced him to me as Bruce Winston and I said, “Hello.” The Winston name did not sparkle in my mind—not yet.

She said, “You’re aware that Bruce is very well known, but he doesn’t like to talk about it.”

I confessed that I did not recognize the name.

Barbara said, “Bruce is Harry Winston’s son.”

I admitted that I was still in the dark.

Barbara looked at me with amazement. She said, “You don’t know that name? Harry Winston was one of the largest and most successful diamond dealers in the world. In fact, he was the man who donated the Hope diamond to the Smithsonian.”

Diamonds, again!

In the back of my mind was the memory that Sam had said I should “Remember the diamond.” And also that I had just decided to purchase a small diamond ring someday to wear as a reminder. Now I had met the son of one of the most successful diamond designers and dealers in the world. At that moment I didn’t classify these events as a coincidence. I felt as if I had been assaulted by the events and the experience—of Sam, diamond, and Winston. And, as well, by my open expression of my belief.

I did not say anything immediately to the Winstons about the remarkable synchronicity of all this. However, after Bruce left, I decided that maybe I should confess the “Remember the diamond” secret to Barbara. I explained how her persistent questioning the day before had challenged me. I described the unplanned conversation with the universe that night (but did not tell her about Sam). And I shared the three images that came to me when I heard the phrase “Remember the diamond.” Barbara was touched. She told me that when I was ready to purchase a diamond ring, I should purchase it through Bruce.

But as you already know, I subsequently did purchase a diamond—albeit a cut-glass one at Tiffany’s rather than a pricey, pure white cut diamond in a pinky ring. My “hope” diamond paperweight reminds me not only to “Remember the diamond.” It reminds me of the larger meaning and context preceding and following my surprise conversation with the universe: that the evidence for the existence of an experimenting G.O.D. process exists everywhere—not only in sand paintings and clothing, but in diamonds and the intertwining of people’s lives.

REMEMBERING TO BE CAUTIOUS AND OPEN TO ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATIONS

For the record, we cannot conclude from this incident that the phrase “Remember the diamond” necessarily came from Sam, aka the universe.

The superskeptic could speculate that somehow I had learned that the Winstons were staying at the hotel before I asked the universe my question (and furthermore that I actually knew who Harry Winston was but had forgotten this information). He could speculate that it was just a fluke that the woman who asked the question happened to be connected to diamonds. The more adventurous skeptic could speculate that I had somehow read Barbara’s mind telepathically and unconsciously learned of her association with diamonds. The truly courageous skeptic could even speculate that maybe I received the information from the deceased Harry Winston, who knew that his son and daughter-in-law were at the conference, and had witnessed Barbara asking me her important question!

At that time, all I could say with certainty was that I had innocently posed a question in my mind to Sam and that I immediately heard or experienced three words that caused me to have deeply meaningful images of diamonds—from the earth, through the gemstone designer, to outer space.

A very spiritual friend of mine had e-mailed me a quote that she thought I would enjoy: “There are no coincidences. They are miracles for which God doesn’t want to take credit.”

Consider the combination of (1) receiving surprising and meaningful information about diamonds (2) in response to a fundamental question from an unknown woman (3) who subsequently turned out to be the wife of one of the heirs to the Harry Winston diamond heritage. This pattern certainly leads one to wonder, Where is the information coming from that Dr. Gary Schwartz is receiving?

IS EVERYTHING, METAPHORICALLY, A DIAMOND?

When we see a diamond, are we being shown, metaphorically, the face of the G.O.D. process?

Contemporary science suggests that when we look at anything, we are potentially seeing examples of an infinite number of faces of what I have named the Guiding-Organizing-Designing process. This creative unfolding process, this seeing beyond the mere physical presence of the object, is flexible, complex, and sophisticated. And so for me, a diamond has become a master metaphor—a material symbol of the existence of universal intelligent organization expressed as exquisite beauty and sensitivity, in nature and in the cosmos.

It is true that nonrandom natural forces create the diamond in the rough. But it is humans who first saw the potential beauty of the diamond that is cut and shaped and perhaps set as a Winston might perceive it. It is a human who put a pattern of sparkles into a raw diamond by shaping it. And it is a human scientist who can use the diamond to potentially reveal the living history of the very creation and organization of the universe.

Is this potential ultimately a reflection of the mind of the G.O.D. process, expressing itself through the mind of human beings? Did the G.O.D. process create the diamond partly as proof of his existence? So that, in contemplating it, people like me would find ourselves contemplating the G.O.D. process? Perhaps the same is also true of a tree, a flower, a horse, an amoeba? Are humans as a species diamonds in the rough, readying to be transformed into gems of indescribable brilliance? Is the human race beginning to awaken to a divine garden that is already here? Sir Isaac Newton supposedly said, “I don’t know what ‘synchronicity’ means—but it’s the third time I’ve heard it this week.”

Paraphrasing James Taylor, I can honestly say that the following applies to me. And maybe to you, too?

I could never have guessed,
I was already blessed.
There I was, where we are,
In the garden.

A garden of flowering diamonds …

ALBERT EINSTEIN

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.