Tapping into the Universe Within
Human beings are but a manifestation of the universe, a collection of matter and energy so highly organized that we possess intelligence, consciousness, and self-awareness. As mere expressions and extensions of the universe (of God, if you prefer), we can look within ourselves to discover many of its secrets.
Life can be a wondrous and magical journey when it is revealed through series of discoveries and awakenings, small and large, about ourselves and thereby the larger universe to which we are connected.
This is how the ancient spiritual masters were able to accurately describe many characteristics of the physical universe without the aid of modern telescopes, satellites, and other advanced technology. I highly recommend the book, The Tao of Physics, which beautifully explores the remarkable parallels and convergence in Eastern mysticism and modern science.
That’s not to say that everything in the universe can be known experientially. Certain physical phenomena like nuclear fusion, a nuclear reaction in which atomic nuclei of low atomic number fuse to form a heavier nucleus, simply do not happen in the human body. It is a physical process that can be studied by observing the sun and other stars where it takes place and described through mathematical and chemical equations, but it’s not something that we perceive or experience directly.
In fact, our sense perceptions are quite crude in what it can pick up from the environment. For instance, a very tiny portion of the electromagnetic spectrum – about 0.0035% – is visible to the human eye. If we had super-vision and were able to “see” the entire electromagnetic spectrum, including gamma-ray, x-ray, infrared, and radio waves, our perception of reality would be quite different from what it is now.
Because of our limited perception, we develop technology to observe aspects of reality that cannot be perceived through our senses. Night vision goggles, for example, allow us to see in the dark by picking up infrared light (heat) emitted by objects and living things.
Even with these limitations there is much more information that we can learn from ourselves than we think. Every one of us has been conditioned to look without– to our surroundings, our parents, our teachers, books, and the media– for information, yet there is a wealth of truths within us that can be appreciated through introspection, reflection, and meditation.
In fact, the most precious books we read do not necessarily teach us anything new but simply remind us of what we already know. That’s why we keep a spiritual text like the Bible, the Quran, the Vedas, and Tao Te Ching (read full text here) rather than the almanac at our bedside.
Life can be a wondrous and magical journey when it is revealed through series of discoveries and awakenings, small and large, about ourselves and thereby the larger universe to which we are connected.
