When Spirituality meets Quantum Physics meets Psychology meets Philosophy
Photo by Arnaud Girault on Unsplash
Rene Descartes said:
“Dubito, ergo sum, vel, quod idem est, cogito, ergo sum”.
This is roughly translated as “I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am” or “it is not possible to doubt whilst I exist. The fact that I think therefore means that I am”. Or “I cannot doubt of my existence while I doubt.”
Or can I?
Antoine Léonard Thomas (1765) translated this as :
“Puisque je doute, je pense ; puisque je pense, j’existe.” The English translation is “Since I doubt, I think; since I think I exist” which then became “I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am”, or in Latin, “dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum”.
It is interesting to me that “ dubito” (I doubt) was taken out and shortened to “cogito ergo sum”? It never made sense to me growing up why that was so. It seemed incomplete, misinterpreted and misunderstood. After years of psychology and studying spirituality, meditation and yoga perhaps there are different ‘I’ or as Eckhart Tolle said, ‘who is the I that is doing the thinking’?
Consciousness and the work of Eckhart Tolle – Spirituality meets Science
Eckhart Tolle’s teachings might help shed some light here. He has helped me a lot on my journey, personally and as a therapist, psychologist and yoga/meditation instructor.
Many of the clients I have assisted who were termed ‘treatment resistant’ by our health and diagnostic system also responded incredibly well to his teachings.
Tolle often credits other perennial teachings from around the world, including philosophy. But it is also another form of many therapeutic modalities I was taught. Tolle delves deeper into ‘thought forms’, ‘mental constructs’, the nature and content of the mind and asks ‘Who is this I that is doing the Thinking?’ He challenges, like Carl Rogers also did, the construct of the Self. If I can observe and see this Self, who is the observer? The word for the observer in yoga teachings is called the ‘Seer’. The Sanskrit word is Rishi.
What Tolle shares, intermingles with philosophy (who is the I that is doing the thinking question), elements of evidence-modality Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), or Albert Ellis’ form of it called Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy (REBT) and in particular his ABCDE model or, elements of metacognition and even schema therapy and so much more.
Spirituality meets Philosophy meets Psychology – Socratic Thinking
“Reality is not so much what happens to us; rather, it is how we think about those events that create the reality we experience. In a very real sense, this means that we each create the reality in which we live.” Albert Ellis, founder of REBT
Additionally, Tolle’s teachings complement or criss cross with modalities helping clients dialogue with ‘inner parts’ ( like inner child work) and what they/we are telling ourselves.
Like Ellis said ‘what we tell ourselves will also lead to an emotional response and that will create our reality.‘
He also refers to the importance of quiet time, silence, mindfulness, meditation, yoga, relaxation techniques, somatic work, breathing… Many of these are recommended as adjunct by the American Health Association and in part by the NHS.
Most importantly all he discusses leads to ‘consciousness’ not studied much in psychology. This is a vast subject and beyond the scope of this article. To keep it simple, Meta-cognition, according to the Oxford dictionary is “the awareness of our thought processes, being aware of what we’re thinking and what we’re telling ourselves”. This can also be a definition of ‘bringing consciousness’ to things.
This might be one of the most profound skill we can build, including for anyone who might be struggling in their life.
Why?
Many of my clients, including neurodivergent clients or those who have experience of trauma, have had to live in a world not built for them and have reported feeling different and processing the world differently. Many reported feeling bullied, misunderstood or feeling like ‘aliens’. Those who have experienced traumatic events or who have experienced oppression also report feeling misunderstood, having undergone experiences others have not and having changed as a result, they too process the world differently but for different reasons. Sometimes both converge – one can be neurodivergent and have had trauma.
The bottom line is that when we are steeped in our suffering, when we’re in our pain, stuck in our limitations, whatever they are, and we reproduce repetitive patterns, and all around as well.. we recreate the same.
Quantum Physics and Psychology and Spirituality
We don’t resolve our problems at the same levels of consciousness they were created.
“a new type of thinking is essential if mankind is to survive and move toward higher levels” (Einstein, 1946)
There is a reality, or multiple realities from different multiple points of view. However, what we observe can be the result of past thinking/feelings/actions or a result of the past.
Unfortunately, when we focus on the problem from the same dimension of reality ( or consciousness) we only focus on the problem and might miss solutions. Additionally, when we are intent of steeping ourselves in the same consciousness where our problems lie and focus from that place, our energy levels or emotions tend to be very low. We narrow our fields of possibilities and become ‘solution focused’ only. By narrowing our fields of possibilities, we are solely focused on lack. It is like trying to solve problems after a car crash.
The Observer (with a large hammer!) Effect Hypothesis
The “observer effect” hypothesis, very simply put, is a hypothesis whereby when under observation, electrons are “forced” to behave like particles and not like a field of waves. The mere act of observing something, the narrow focusing on an object, seems to alter this object’s inner quality – wave or particle.
When the electron does not react to being observed it looks like a field of possibilities (Weizman, 1998). Another way scientists explain it is that we have not yet been able to invent a way to measure things without altering their essence – like when using a very big apparatus to measure something very tiny will break it.
So, what can we do? A return to simplicity
“Sometimes thinking is helpful but most of the time until there is enough awareness thinking is a prison.”
Eckhart Tolle
We could expand on this hypothesis and open our mind to the notion or the possibility that the moment we re-direct our attention from the problems in our life, a field of new potentialities opens up.
There are various steps we can take any time. Every second is a new moment you can start new.
Below I share some practices widely regarded as beneficial across multiple modalities:
- PAUSE. Stop what you are doing when safe and possible to do so.
- BREATHE. We cannot think and breathe at the same time. This is why concentration meditation has proven so helpful.
- REST. Sleep often re-sets our being and refreshes us.
- LISTEN. Once you have returned to some form of balance, you can think from a better place about what you might need to support you.
- CONNECT for support. As a therapist and psychologist, I’d say if you need support reach out to a professional for help.
In sum, we might be entering an era which is not so Newtonian and reductionist where there is US and THEM, or US and the OBJECT BEING OBSERVED. We are discovering as science evolves that we are part of a whole and interlinked. What is most important is not what’s happening out there. Our state of awareness now in this moment is primary. Another way to say this is ‘taking responsibility’. The opposite of this is believing that what is happening to us is more important. What is more important is how we choose to respond, which is also the essence of many therapeutic modalities.
If you are interested in learning to bring some quiet, stillness and meditative practices into your life, you can learn more about my programme here.
If you’d like to work with me, feel free to contact me here.
You might also be interested in learning more about our RETREATS and opportunities to work with me in person in various locations around the world. CLICK HERE to learn more.
References and Resources
Eckhart Tolle interview with Oprah Winfrey HERE.
Descartes, R. (1960). Discourse on Method and Meditations. Laurence J. Lafleur (trans). New York: The Liberal Arts Press. First published in 1637 as “Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting One’s Reason and of Seeking Truth in the Sciences.”
Einstein, (1946) in New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/1946/05/25/archives/atomic-education-urged-by-einstein-scientist-in-plea-for-200000-to.html
Reference 1, letter from Einstein:
Our world faces a crisis as yet unperceived by those possessing power to make great decisions for good or evil. The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking and we thus drift toward unparalleled catastrophe.
We scientists who released this immense power have an overwhelming responsibility in this world life-and-death struggle to harness the atom for the benefit of mankind and not for humanity’s destruction.
Bethe, Condon, Szilard, Urey, and the Federation of American Scientists join me in this appeal and beg you to support our efforts to bring realization to America that mankind’s destiny is being decided today—now—at this moment.
We need two hundred thousand dollars at once for a nation-wide campaign to let the people know that a new type of thinking is essential if mankind is to survive and move toward higher levels.
This appeal is sent to you only after long consideration of the immense crisis we face. Urgently request you send immediate check to me as chairman, Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists, Princeton, N.J. We ask your help at this fateful moment as a sign that we scientists do not stand alone.
(Einstein, 1946, telegram quoted in the New York Times, May 25, 1946, Italics added)