The Nature of Reality
What is reality? If you were to take something and look inside it, you would see the cells that it was made of. Looking even more closely, you would see even smaller organelles floating around in the cells. Looking more closely still, you would see proteins, enzymes, and even DNA. And if you were to look inside DNA, you would see individual atoms. Going inside the atoms would reveal even smaller parts —subatomic particles. And looking inside them you would find even smaller particles, and then even smaller ones inside them. Eventually you would come to a place with nothing there. Scientists call this the “quantum field.”
This is the domain of the science of quantum physics. At this level, everything is connected. You are connected to the forests, the flowers, the weeds, the animals, the insects, the fish, the mountains and clouds, even the planets and stars. There are no exceptions. Nothing is left out. No one is alone. Everything that exists was born in the quantum field. Everything condensed out of the field in the same way as, say, raindrops condense out of clouds.
These theories actually parallel those of some Eastern mystical teachings, which also talk of all things condensing out of a field of energy. The only real difference is that Eastern mystics say the field is alive. What we call “the quantum field” they call “a field of qi” or “a field of conscious intelligence.”
Some scientists believe that this idea describes reality more accurately than Western scientific theories do, and maybe experiments will eventually confirm this. Even Albert Einstein believed that matter was a point in space where the field was very intense and that the quantum field was the only reality.
If you take the Eastern belief, then at the most basic level everything is composed of consciousness. Therefore, in the human body, at the root (quantum) level, a diseased organ is not an inanimate object but one made of consciousness. This is perhaps why it is possible to heal organs with visualization. It may also be why our genes switch on and off according to how we think and feel. There is an interaction between mind and matter at the quantum level. In other words, consciousness is affecting consciousness, in the same way that steam and water affect ice. Just as steam or hot water can be used to sculpt ice, so thoughts and feelings may sculpt atoms and molecules, restoring health and vitality to any part of the body.
The Collective Unconscious
The famous psychologist Carl Jung proposed the existence of a “collective unconscious,” which is a group unconscious mind that connects everyone together.
According to Jung, each of us has a conscious mind and an unconscious mind. The conscious mind is the day-to-day part of our mind that we think with. We use it for everyday efforts like moving our arms and legs, speaking, smiling, singing and dancing, and to alter our breathing.
The unconscious mind is much larger. Just as you use your conscious mind intentionally to move your body, so the unconscious mind intentionally moves your cells. It also controls your heartbeat, the workings of your hormones, and even the production and movement of your neuropeptides. Because it is controlling many more things, it is usually out of reach of our conscious mind. This is why it is called the unconscious.
Jung proposed that we all share a collective unconscious mind to which we are connected through our individual unconscious minds. It’s a bit like the way computers are connected to the Internet. And just as all of us (with the right equipment) can access the Internet, so all of us can access the collective unconscious.
Most people imagine that the Internet is the network of computers, but it is not. Neither is it the cables or servers. It is the information. The computers are merely devices used to access the information. When a new website is uploaded, it changes the Internet slightly, not because it affects the computers, but because the total information is now different.
Similarly, the collective unconscious is the total information, or intelligence, of all of us. Whenever new thoughts arise or ideas are generated, it is as if a new website has been posted. It changes the information and intelligence of all of us.
Imagine a room full of people and imagine that they are all holding a single piece of rope so that it connects everyone, like a net. Call it an “inter-net,” or a “web.” If someone were to shake one strand of the rope, everyone would feel it because they were all connected by it, just as a spider instantly feels the vibrations of something trapped in its web. In the same way, with web-strands of consciousness, a vast web connects everyone and everything and so the entire universe vibrates to the tune of the tiniest thought or idea.
You could also draw an analogy with the human neural network in the brain. Every thought sends a pulse of electrical energy throughout the brain, along organic strands that connect the brain’s billions of nerve cells (neurons), lighting up the cells in its path. Each nerve cell, then, “hears” the thought and responds to it (by releasing chemicals). And thus, as the microscopic mirrors the macroscopic, every thought sends a pulse outward and is heard, or felt, everywhere.
This is the underlying reason why knowledge travels so quickly. It rarely waits until it is read or heard; it is intuitively known by everyone as it vibrates along every strand that connects us. We may learn things through books, newspapers, or from TV, but at an unconscious level we knew them already. These physical devices, whose creation was unconsciously inspired, merely tell us what is already in our unconscious minds. In a way, they also act like the computers that we use to download information from the Internet.
We are limited, then, only by our speed of connection. And just as modern advances are providing faster ways of accessing information from the Internet, so we are evolving in our level of consciousness and enhancing our abilities to access information from the collective unconscious.
Indeed, looking at the expansion in the number of books published in the mind-body-spirit field in recent times, it would appear that more and more people are expanding their consciousness, so it is likely that our ability to access unconscious information will also improve. And as it does, we will discover faster and faster ways to communicate.
Also, as each new person’s consciousness expands, their ideas further vibrate throughout the web, inspiring similar ideas and intuition in others. Looking at our changing world, I believe that this knowledge is already inspiring us to feel differently and therefore to act differently. And the consequences of our feelings and our actions are profoundly affecting the world.
For instance, we intuitively know that the health of the web, just like a spider’s web, is dependent upon every strand. If one strand is broken, the overall health suffers, even though other strands may appear to be strong. Therefore, we are becoming more responsible in our actions, seeking ways of living that are of mutual benefit to all.
It is not always obvious, but there are growing pockets of change occurring everywhere in the world where ways of working together are being created upon principles of kindness, fairness, peace, unity, honesty, connectedness, and love. For example, a growing number of businesses with visionary leaders, while retaining their goals of continuous growth, also recognize that they are part of a whole and ensure that their growth benefits that whole. If something is gained at the expense of another, or of any part of nature, then we all lose in the long term.
In his paradigm-shifting book Birth of the Chaordic Age, Dee Hock, founder of VISA International, explains how and why some corporations are adapting in this way. He says that within some businesses, the leaders and all of their employees have created a shared moral and ethical sense of purpose and a shared set of principles of conduct concerning how they will treat each other. Common sense will tell you that such corporations and organizations will flourish because everyone shares a similar vision.
Typically, employees of many corporations and organizations don’t feel, at a deep level, that they are part of such a moral and ethical vision for the betterment of humanity. However, intuitively, they feel they should be. The knowledge that it is possible is vibrating throughout the web. This is why cracks appear in corporations that still operate by the old rules. In these companies there is often a huge gulf between the goals and behavior of the company and the inner sense of purpose and behavior of its employees. So stress and employee dissatisfaction can reach epidemic proportions. The rules are changing, however, because people are changing, because what’s in the collective unconscious is changing. The true value and power of a business, or of an individual, is evolving from who has the most to who serves the most. Watch, over the next few years, and you will be able to see this happening.
Even now, if you look around, you can see more of the changes. For example, investment in ethical businesses is now higher than ever before. There is also a growing desire in the world to respect nature and protect the environment. There is more focus on human rights than ever before in history. More people than ever before are refusing to accept the bullying or abuse of another person. They understand that it doesn’t have to be that way. There is also a growing Fairtrade movement, in which a fair price is paid for goods and services, particularly from developing countries.
Charities are also expanding. People from all over the world often race to help their brothers and sisters in need. On December 26, 2004, for example, when a tsunami struck East Asia and caused untold devastation, in a demonstration of global compassion unrivaled in modern times, the people of the world rallied together to donate money to help the survivors and to help rebuild the communities that were destroyed. In my own country I read of children giving up their Christmas presents or selling some of their personal belongings. People were donating money over the telephone and the Internet, and loose change was being collected in cans in numerous shops and businesses. Musicians, athletes, and entertainers even organized special events in aid of the people affected. Together, we helped repair a deep wound and give others hope in the strength of the human spirit.
The world is becoming a more loving place every day as we grow in consciousness and recognize that we are all members of the same human family.
Our intuitive sense of connection to one another is also reflected in science. In medicine, more and more scientists are beginning to realize that our mental and emotional attitudes are linked with disease and that we can participate in our own healing process and that of others. The number of health-care practitioners who integrate complementary and allopathic medicine is growing fast.
People are seeing the world differently from the way they did only a few years ago, and their decisions are changing to benefit all of humanity. And as these changes occur, they vibrate the web, inspiring similar changes in other people in other parts of the world. We are all affected, because everything is connected.
