Summary of the Faith and Science 21st Century mini meet up – 18 June 2009
Jay Lakhani opened the meeting eventually outlining his view on why Science and Religion were not two mutually exclusive spheres of human endeavour. He cited the influence of Wittgenstein, whose insistence that different models of belief could exist separately within their own universes, if they were internally self consistent with their own truths, as a key to why there has been some little integration between these two disciplines.
The resultant lack of reconciliation between Science and Religion has done untold damage both enterprises. Jay is extremely passionate about the benefits and achievements of Science which is the most enduring and widespread of all human systems. Science evolves by making hypotheses testing out theories and changing to encompass new discoveries. Scientific thought though is flawed with it’s fixation on matter. Religion though in comparison is stuck in a rut.
To understand the historical interpretation of religious experience Jay explained that the revelation of spirit or the absolute is always unchanging and transcendent in its nature yet has to be interpreted by the human experience through whatever the cultural filters and knowledge of the time. This explains the ancient tendency to create a personified aggrandised externalised God with superhuman attributes.
Today Science is struggling with the limitations of its own methodology; conceptually it is not generating notions with sufficient explanatory power to describe the phenomena that it is witnessing. As a quantum physicist Jay has been privileged to be taught by Roger Penrose and is very well acquainted with the key discoveries at the quantum level that challenge the underpinnings of scientific methodology.
Even Einstein as a physicist who was deeply committed to a rational material explanation of phenomena got himself into difficulties refuting the claims of Bohr Schrödinger and Heisenberg. Taking the group into the detail of quantum discoveries Jay demonstrated the limits of the materialist model to explain quantum entanglement and the uncertainty principle for example.
Jay drew the group’s attention to the fact that when you peered beyond the current limited scientific explanations all matter seems to be an appearance and also everything is inextricably interconnected. The deep introspection and contemplation of the mystics describe the essence of everything as non material consciousness.
Jays passionate evocation of the non material essence of reality, created a very receptive atmosphere for his claim that a new spiritual humanism was required, to embody the both the discoveries of Science and Religion.
Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
Friday, 26 June 2009
Sunday, 21 June 2009
Dr. Rupert Sheldrake: The Extended Mind, Morphic Resonance and Spiritual Experience
Notes based on a joint conference held by the Alister Hardy Trust and the London Science and Medical Network group at Kensington Unitarian Church 6th June 2009.
Rupert gave a perfectly organised and cohesive talk on this topic straying into areas that he does not frequently cover in public forums. Interestingly he talked about the use of psychedelics to catalyse religious experiences throughout the history of spirituality and also divulged the positive lasting impact of his own personal experimentation with these drugs. He included this comment within a comprehensive categorisation of the types of activity that induce or generate religious experiences.
He followed this by describing three theories of mind; the materialist view which he claims has failed to prove its case, those metaphysical theories that are in essence platonic because they claim that there are laws outside of nature that govern the mind. Finally he explained his own theories and evidence for what he terms the extended mind.
He then talked about his appreciation of religious place, ceremony and ritual observance, commenting on how acts of ceremony and liturgy repeated consistently over time provide us with a direct ancestral connection. Those identical acts performed by our forbearers have set up a sympathetic field of Morphic resonance that is so embedded in sacred spaces that they can induce spiritual experiences in people simply by entering them.Rupert also extrapolated on his recent musings on the nature of consciousness and the past as well as the realm of possibility.
In the plenary session he depicted his own views of the 'credit crunch of materialist science'. He states that conventional science has constantly offered promissory notes on it’s conviction that a complete explanation of various phenomena in scientific terms is not far off. He stated it was time to insist on an end to these promised explanations. Especially because these scientists have cornered all the available funding using just one modality of scientific research.
He proposed a Littlewoods football pools betting exchange, whereby scientists had to declare specific dates and then bet their personal finances on these predictions! Furthermore he proposed an ‘ecumenogenesis’ of western life sciences in order to properly pool information to create a more convincing explanation of the unexplained and conveniently ignored gaps in the current scientific model .
In the break I commented to Rupert that his musings on consciousness the past and possibilities had move forward since the time he had spoken on the topic, he replied by stating that it was constantly on his mind as he tried to come up with a coherent explanation for the relationship between past present and future.
Rupert gave a perfectly organised and cohesive talk on this topic straying into areas that he does not frequently cover in public forums. Interestingly he talked about the use of psychedelics to catalyse religious experiences throughout the history of spirituality and also divulged the positive lasting impact of his own personal experimentation with these drugs. He included this comment within a comprehensive categorisation of the types of activity that induce or generate religious experiences.
He followed this by describing three theories of mind; the materialist view which he claims has failed to prove its case, those metaphysical theories that are in essence platonic because they claim that there are laws outside of nature that govern the mind. Finally he explained his own theories and evidence for what he terms the extended mind.
He then talked about his appreciation of religious place, ceremony and ritual observance, commenting on how acts of ceremony and liturgy repeated consistently over time provide us with a direct ancestral connection. Those identical acts performed by our forbearers have set up a sympathetic field of Morphic resonance that is so embedded in sacred spaces that they can induce spiritual experiences in people simply by entering them.Rupert also extrapolated on his recent musings on the nature of consciousness and the past as well as the realm of possibility.
In the plenary session he depicted his own views of the 'credit crunch of materialist science'. He states that conventional science has constantly offered promissory notes on it’s conviction that a complete explanation of various phenomena in scientific terms is not far off. He stated it was time to insist on an end to these promised explanations. Especially because these scientists have cornered all the available funding using just one modality of scientific research.
He proposed a Littlewoods football pools betting exchange, whereby scientists had to declare specific dates and then bet their personal finances on these predictions! Furthermore he proposed an ‘ecumenogenesis’ of western life sciences in order to properly pool information to create a more convincing explanation of the unexplained and conveniently ignored gaps in the current scientific model .
In the break I commented to Rupert that his musings on consciousness the past and possibilities had move forward since the time he had spoken on the topic, he replied by stating that it was constantly on his mind as he tried to come up with a coherent explanation for the relationship between past present and future.
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
As a volunteer at EnlightenNext London I am and have been a key organiser, promoter and networker supporting the work and the mission to transform consciousness and culture. As well as meeting numerous people and going to an eclectic range of London talks and events, I spend hours writing copy for various Enlightennext events, sending e-mails and posting web listings to publicise these various happenings.
This year key tasks outside of working hours, have included the following; I have written copy and promoted Ursula King's talk at the Islington centre on Pierre Teilhard de Chardin: An evolutionary mystic with a global spiritual vision, worked with the London Integral Circle to present the Don Beck workshop Don Beck Spiral Dynamics in Action: Dancing the Integral Vision this last weekend do see the report below. The tasks for Don included a huge copy writing fest a massive mail out, endless to and froings via e-mail with Don, countless discussions on how to best organise present and partner, for an event that turned out to be a massive success.
Other work in the pipeline has included more copy writing and consultation around a partnership with Alternatives St James in Piccadilly for the third in a fantastic series of dialogues between Rupert Sheldrake and Andrew Cohen Creativity, Habit and Freedom . In addition I have been prinicpally responsible for drafting the copy for another EnlightenNext partnership event with Olivier Mythodrama Associates titled 'Men and the Quest:A weekend evolutionary journey for Men, with Richard Olivier, Linus Roach and Chris Parish. More on this to follow.
This year key tasks outside of working hours, have included the following; I have written copy and promoted Ursula King's talk at the Islington centre on Pierre Teilhard de Chardin: An evolutionary mystic with a global spiritual vision, worked with the London Integral Circle to present the Don Beck workshop Don Beck Spiral Dynamics in Action: Dancing the Integral Vision this last weekend do see the report below. The tasks for Don included a huge copy writing fest a massive mail out, endless to and froings via e-mail with Don, countless discussions on how to best organise present and partner, for an event that turned out to be a massive success.
Other work in the pipeline has included more copy writing and consultation around a partnership with Alternatives St James in Piccadilly for the third in a fantastic series of dialogues between Rupert Sheldrake and Andrew Cohen Creativity, Habit and Freedom . In addition I have been prinicpally responsible for drafting the copy for another EnlightenNext partnership event with Olivier Mythodrama Associates titled 'Men and the Quest:A weekend evolutionary journey for Men, with Richard Olivier, Linus Roach and Chris Parish. More on this to follow.
Saturday, 27 December 2008
A Record of an Emerging Culture?
The profound ramifications of Charles Darwin's scientific model of evolution are still barely unfolding within human understanding. The implications of his work stretch, far beyond the mere materialistic ordering of cosmic, planetary and ecological human development.
Whilst Darwin's discoveries, inform most contemporary scientific and technological developments to some degree. What is rarely considered, by even the most educated individual, is what Darwin's discovery implies, for the bio, socio, cultural and spiritual development of the human race as whole. Those few individuals that have deeply explored this subject, frequently characterise this approach as an evolutionary worldview.
This aim of this blog is to be offer, informative and educational content, concerning those events, notions, happenings and ideas, that might shape the progress of a culture based on an evolutionary view of human development. To some degree it will be a personal journal that aims to record my efforts to explore develop and link to people, events and experiences in London , that might apply, or uncover what it means to live according to evolutionary principles. My fellow pioneers charting these frontiers, believe that evolution has not stopped, but needs to be engaged with individually and socially at the level of consciousness and culture.
Though these evolutionary principles have only recently come to light within human consciousness, a growing number people are discovering, that the most exciting and positive way forward globally for all, is underpinned by an evolutionary worldview. This revolutionary perspective offers the immense possibility of utterly positive future for the human race.
This worldview is emerging through the efforts of a few radical, visionaries, thinkers and leaders who are integrating, science, religion and culture to create and formulate, a comprehensive rational and meaningful meta narrative, of the entire human story from before the big bang until now and forward to the future . These include but are not limited to Andrew Cohen, EnlightenNext the organisation and magazine, Ken Wilber and the Integral Institute, Brian Swimme, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Robert Godwin, James Gardner and many others.
As a former close student of Cohen and volunteer at EnlightenNext London, I wanted to add a voice and views on this blog, concerning the development and implications of an evolutionary worldview.
Whilst Darwin's discoveries, inform most contemporary scientific and technological developments to some degree. What is rarely considered, by even the most educated individual, is what Darwin's discovery implies, for the bio, socio, cultural and spiritual development of the human race as whole. Those few individuals that have deeply explored this subject, frequently characterise this approach as an evolutionary worldview.
This aim of this blog is to be offer, informative and educational content, concerning those events, notions, happenings and ideas, that might shape the progress of a culture based on an evolutionary view of human development. To some degree it will be a personal journal that aims to record my efforts to explore develop and link to people, events and experiences in London , that might apply, or uncover what it means to live according to evolutionary principles. My fellow pioneers charting these frontiers, believe that evolution has not stopped, but needs to be engaged with individually and socially at the level of consciousness and culture.
Though these evolutionary principles have only recently come to light within human consciousness, a growing number people are discovering, that the most exciting and positive way forward globally for all, is underpinned by an evolutionary worldview. This revolutionary perspective offers the immense possibility of utterly positive future for the human race.
This worldview is emerging through the efforts of a few radical, visionaries, thinkers and leaders who are integrating, science, religion and culture to create and formulate, a comprehensive rational and meaningful meta narrative, of the entire human story from before the big bang until now and forward to the future . These include but are not limited to Andrew Cohen, EnlightenNext the organisation and magazine, Ken Wilber and the Integral Institute, Brian Swimme, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Robert Godwin, James Gardner and many others.
As a former close student of Cohen and volunteer at EnlightenNext London, I wanted to add a voice and views on this blog, concerning the development and implications of an evolutionary worldview.
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