THE SCIENCE OF THE SOUL - Soul Growth

340 Pages·2004·1.05 MB·English

THE SCIENCE OF THE SOUL

THE
SCI EN CE

OF THE
S O U L
On Consciousness and
the Structure of Reality
Geoffrey D. Falk
Blue Dolphin Publishing
Copyright © 2004 Geoffrey D. Falk
All rights reserved.
Published by Blue Dolphin Publishing, Inc.
P.O. Box 8, Nevada City, CA 95959
Orders: 1-800-643-0765
Web: www.bluedolphinpublishing.com
ISBN: 1-57733-131-1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Falk, Geoffrey D., 1966-
The science of the soul : on consciousness and the structure of reality /
Geoffrey D. Falk.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-57733-131-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Consciousness. 2. Reality. 3. Physics—Philosophy. 4. Religion and
science. I. Title.
B105.C477F35 2003
191—dc22
2003024011
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
Introduction vii
I As Above, So Below 1
II The Consciousness of Light 5
III The Essence of Creation 10
IV On Good and Evil 36
V Freedom of Choice 45
VI On the Nature of Om 49
VII Holograms 64
VIII Psychology and Motivations 77
IX Symbolism and Structure in Mythology 102
X Chaos, Light and Manifestation 170
XI Wholeness and Fragmentation — I 183
XII Wholeness and Fragmentation — II 206
XIII Psychology and Transcendence 240
XIV Summary 257
XV Conclusions 267
Bibliography 303
Permissions 315
Index 317
v
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS my sincere gratitude to Paul and Nancy
Clemens at Blue Dolphin Publishing, for helping to make this publica-
tion dream a reality.
My heartfelt appreciation also goes out to James Fadiman and
Huston Smith, for their valued words of support and encouragement.
vi
INTRODUCTION
IT IS WELL KNOWN TO ALL who have undertaken a thorough investigation
of the quantitative ideology underlying the practice of meditation as a
means toward the attainment of expanded states of consciousness, that
consciousness is the fundamental reality at the basis of all creation. The
fact that the only difference between matter, energy and dualistic con-
sciousness is in their respective rates of vibration has also been much
emphasized.
Given, then, this nature of matter as a low rate of intelligent vibration
or consciousness, and given also the validity of “As above, so below,” we
must find the behavior of consciousness reflected in the conduct of
physical matter; the former qualities being ascertainable through medi-
tation-born intuition or mystic insight, while the latter are measurable in
the physicists’ laboratories. However, the quantitative relations between
the behavior of the physical world and the characteristics of its constitu-
ent consciousness have rarely been elucidated. What I have attempted to
provide in this book is a non-reductionistic model of the behavior of
consciousness as the basic stuff of the cosmos, to explain as many
aspects as possible of the expanded or mystical states of awareness; as
well as a concomitant demonstration that the principles upon which the
operation of the physical world is based occur as a necessary conse-
quence of the characteristics of the inner realms of consciousness.
Such a non-reductionistic model will, therefore, not attempt to
explain mystical experiences in terms of Pribram’s holographic model of
vii
viii THE SCIENCE OF THE SOUL
the brain’s storage of memory, for example. It might, however, embody
a higher universal or archetypal structure, of which physical holograms
are merely a lower reflection on the plane of matter.
Further, since all individualized finite consciousness is only a subset
of the Infinite Ocean of Consciousness which has become all waves of
matter, any valid explanation of the basic nature and behavior of mind
and consciousness (such behavior being essentially the domain of psy-
chology) must include within its scope the root of all physics and
philosophy. Physics, for all particles are simply waves of certain rates of
vibration of the Ocean of Consciousness; and philosophy, since freedom
of choice, the fundamental question of philosophy, is a function of
consciousness, not of anything at a reductionistic atomic or molecular
level (e.g., the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle):
Quantum physics has nothing to do with the free will problem. If there
is such a problem, it is not furthered a whit by the latest development in
physics.
—Erwin Schrödinger
Thus, the model we are seeking will necessarily bridge the disci-
plines of psychology, physics and philosophy. This cannot be avoided,
nor should it be: once we acknowledge that consciousness is the basic
stuff that has become all mind and matter—this, however, not at all
implying a naïve idealism in which “I create reality through my percep-
tion of it”—we cannot inexorably compartmentalize psychology, phi-
losophy and physics as separate from one another. As with any symbolic
model, however, it is crucial that one remember that the map-model is
not the territory of reality, but is merely a mental representation of that
territory: it is the “menu,” not the “meal.” The “territory” of reality-in-
itself can be known only through the direct experience of consciousness
by consciousness in intuition, not through any sensory experiences or
concepts of the intellect.
August, 2003 Geoffrey D. Falk
Toronto, Ontario www.geoffreyfalk.com
CHAPTER I
AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
The world is illusory; Brahman alone is real; Brahman is the world.
—Ramana Maharshi
WE ARE INDIVIDUALIZED WAVES of consciousness on the Infinite Ocean of
Spirit; so say the sages. But, although the Ocean has become the wave,
and the wave, when it dissolves the illusion of ego-separation and
limitation, realizes that it has always been one with the Infinite Ocean,
the form-bound wave itself is not the Ocean. Nor is the Ocean merely the
sum of its waves—the Ocean can exist without the waves, but the waves
cannot exist without the Ocean. Everything you can see, hear, smell,
touch, taste, and much more, is part of this Ocean. For all matter, energy
and consciousness is merely waves of certain rates of vibration on the
surface of the Ocean of Consciousness; Spirit has become, and is present
in and as, every created thing. That is, consciousness is the “water” of the
Infinite Ocean of Spirit, and all phenomena arise as modifications of this
one stuff, or ripples on/of this Ocean of cosmic consciousness.
When the wave rises, it is the water; and when it falls, it is the same
water again. Tell me, Sir, where is the distinction?
Because it has been named as wave, shall it no longer be considered
as water?
—Kabir
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2 THE SCIENCE OF THE SOUL
Though difference be none, I am of Thee,
Not Thou, O Lord, of me;
For of the sea is verily the Wave,
Not of the Wave the Sea.
—Shankara
The intellectually understandable characteristics of this rippling
Ocean of Consciousness are in some measure articulated in the teachings
of great spiritual personages such as Jesus Christ, the Buddha, Krishna,
etc. While the individual emphases of these sages have varied, they have
all acknowledged, implicitly or explicitly, the metaphorical basis of
universal design expressed in the aphorism “As above, so below.” The
implication of this aphorism—expounded in scriptures as old as the
Upanishads—is that the microcosm reflects the macrocosm. Thus,
atoms (in the view of classical physics, at least) are miniature solar
systems. Likewise, the human body mirrors the structure of the cosmos
(the “body” of God)—so that humankind is created “in the image of
God”—etc. In the words of the Buddha, “Verily, I tell you, the world is
within this six feet high body!”
Also, “As above, so below” correspondences generally take the form
of metaphors—e.g., “creation is waves on the Infinite Ocean.” And, as
Gregory Bateson noted, “metaphor is the language of Nature”: creation
is built on “As above, so below.” As an alternative expression of this
principle, consider that archetypes are said to be the first forms to emerge
from Spirit in the creation of the cosmos, upon which all subsequent
creation is patterned. These archetypes determine the form of every
structure on every level of creation, from high to low. The lower
structures (including myths) are not themselves the archetypes, but
rather reflect a higher universal basis.
It is in imitation of the angelic works of art that any work of art such as
a garment or chariot is made here.
—the Rig Veda
That which is below is like that which is above, and that which is above
is like that which is below for the performance of the miracles of the
One Substance.
—Hermetic saying