The War of the Worldviews: A Zen Review

OK, so I haven’t read the book. Or have I? Quantum theory would say that there is at least one Universe in which I have.

But we’ll stick with the consciousness that I am experiencing now. I haven’t read the book. I’ve seen Deepak tweet about it for a while now. I follow Leonard Mlodinow, and he actually followed me back.

Once I tweeted him saying, “God is Symbol for that which is beyond all thought, beyond what is even capable of being thought.”

He replied, “You sound like Deepak!”  I must admit that made me happy. Happy because Deepak is a hero. Happy because not only did he reply, acknowledging me, making me feel part of the conversation, but also because, though I disagree with him (Do I? Again, there is at least one Universe in which I agree with him, but also one in which I am him!) he was cheery. That was nice.

I don’t like debates. That’s one reason I’ve been reticent to begin reading this or even to watch the videos, but I do feel like the fact that Leonard is such a cheery, warm, nice person, that perhaps some benefit can come from it.

My sister put it best on the phone just a while ago, “Maybe he isn’t coming from it from a place where he needs to win.” Debates could be productive activities if neither side had an absolute need to win, in as much as having a desire to come to the truth.

So I don’t know if this post will even be finished. I’m just doing it “stream of consciousness” starting with a couple tweets I sent today (10/8/11) after watching the first 10 minutes of a video of them debating. Again, not liking debates, that’s all I could watch for now.

So if this goes on, if I can continue and actually read the book, this post might actually get done, or at least expand.

My niece who works at the Wall Street Journal, actually sent me a copy that she saw at their offices without even knowing I knew anything about it. I guess lying around. It is definitely an advanced copy. On it read, “Not for resale.” I feel special. Thanks Michelle!

That fact seems kind of Zen to me already.

So here goes the beginning of my ‘real’ post or the beginning of what I’m thinking:

•  The Scientific Method didn’t create Relativity or Quantum Theory. Inspiration did. It merely verified them.

OK, so what I’m saying here is that the two greatest scientific discoveries of the 20th Century did not come by way of the “Scientific Method” of which Dr. Mdlinow seems to constantly refer. Those discoveries came through imagination and inspiration. They weren’t discovered through a calculatory method, but rather through a creative method, and then later verified by calculations. These achievements have more in common with the revelatory nature of spirituality and mysticism (at least in their birth) than they do with the systems (Science! Physics! Computers!) that they gave birth to.

• The Kingdom of Heaven is spread upon the Earth, yet men do not see it.” – Jesus

Why don’t they see it? Here’s a story that might explain:

A young yogi came to his master.
“Master,” he said, “You say ‘Buddha is in all things’?”
“Yes,” replied the master.
“Is the Buddha in me?” asked the student.
“No.”
“But you said he is in all things.”
“He is in all things, but not in you.”
“But why?”
“Because you are asking the question.”

Do you get it? So the sense of asking the question is actually creating an “Ego” type separation consciousness, actually cutting one off from Unity Consciousness to which one must re-link (“re-ligio” .latin) or re yoke (“Yoga”) in order to have an understanding of that which is beyond thought.