“Consciousness Is Everywhere”
Buddhists & Leading
Neuroscientists Agree
by Arjun Walia
“Broadly
speaking, although there are some differences, I think Buddhist philosophy and
Quantum Mechanics can shake hands on their view of the world. We can see in
these great examples the fruits of human thinking. Regardless of the admiration
we feel for these great thinkers, we should not lose sight of the fact that
they were human beings just as we are.”
– the Dalai Lama
Scientists
and Buddhists from all over the world are starting to see the similarities
between their disciplines,
and the research which is emerging as a result is truly exciting. A
classic example of a scientist diving into ancient wisdom is Nikola
Tesla, whose work was heavily influenced by Vedic philosophy. You can
read more about that here.
Here is a great clip of world renowned quantum physicist
Dr. John Hagelin at an event discussing transcendental meditation.
Findings within
neuroscience, dealing with things like past lives and reincarnation, also
correlate with Buddhist philosophy; perhaps this is why Carl Sagan said that
reincarnation deserves serious study, and since his passing, it has received
some. In 2008 University of Virginia psychiatrist Jim Tucker, for example,
published a review of cases suggestive of reincarnation in the
journal Explore. You
can read that study and find out more about it here.
Without
a doubt, various ancient Eastern traditions are closely tied with
certain aspects of modern day science. Though it may seem counterintuitive
to some, it seems as though science is actually working to catch up to
the teachings of ancient philosophy and mysticism rather than the
other way around.
“I
regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative
from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk
about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness.”
– Max Planck, theoretical physicist who originated quantum theory, which won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918
It’s
great to see that in today’s day and age, multiple prominent scientists from
all over the world have started to study non-physical phenomena and human
consciousness.
Christof
Koch, the Chief Scientific Officer at the Allen Institute for Brain Science and
a leading American neuroscientist, has illustrated how new theories in
neuroscience suggest that consciousness is present in all things. A couple of
years ago he took a trip to India to discuss the topic with a group of Buddhist
monks and ended up debating with the Dalai Lama for an entire day.
During
his conversation with the Dalai Lama, Koch was most struck by his
ideas about ‘panpsychism’: the belief that consciousness is
everywhere, “and that we have to reduce the suffering of all conscious
creatures.”
Sam
Littlefair Wallace from Lion’s Roar offers some insight into Koch’s background
and views:
Below
is the video of Koch at the event in India:
Integrated Information Theory (IIT)
IIT is a
theoretical framework for understanding consciousness which was developed
by Giulio Tononi, MD, PhD, from the Center for Sleep and Consciousness at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison. Koch collaborates with Tononi on a regular
basis, and believes ITT to be the only truly promising fundamental theory of
consciousness.
The
theory states that physical systems all contain consciousness, and that this
consciousness can be measured as a theoretical quantity, which they are
calling phi.
Tononi
has developed a measuring system for phi in the human brain, where scientists
send a magnetic pulse into a human brain and observe the pulse echo through the
neurons. The idea is that the longer and clearer the reverberation, the
higher the tested subject’s level of consciousness. The test can be used
to tell whether a patient is awake, asleep, or anesthetized.
What
Tononi and his team are trying to do is measure consciousness. The fact that it
has yet to be measured explains why a large portion of mainstream academia
rejects the notion of consciousness existing as a separate entity, outside
of the brain.
Tononi
and Koch recently published a paper in Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society B, emphasizing that
consciousness is a fundamental aspect of reality, like other aspects that we
can see and perceive with our senses.
The
theory states that any object with a phi greater than zero possesses
consciousness. This would mean that even protons are conscious beings, which
wouldn’t be too far off considering that when you observe them at the
quantum level, their behaviour changes, almost as if they know they are
being watched.
In
the video, Koch describes how Buddhist teachings led him to study
consciousness scientifically:
It’s
fantastic to see this merging of science and philosophy, even if determining the
source of consciousness remains a task beyond our grasp. Scientific
theories like IIT help to further push the much-needed study of consciousness
into mainstream academia.
At the end
of the nineteenth century, physicists discovered empirical phenomena that could
not be explained by classical physics. This led to the development, during the
1920s and early 1930s, of a revolutionary new branch of physics called quantum
mechanics (QM). QM has questioned the material foundations of the world by
showing that atoms and subatomic particles are not really solid objects—they do
not exist with certainty at definite spatial locations and definite times.
Most importantly, QM explicitly introduced the mind into its basic conceptual structure since it was found that particles being observed and the observer—the physicist and the method used for observation—are linked. These results suggest that the physical world is no longer the primary or sole component of reality, and that it cannot be fully understood without making reference to the mind.
– Dr. Gary Schwartz, Professor of Psychology, Medicine, Neurology, Psychiatry and Surgery at the University of Arizona (source)
Below
is a great video from Dr. Gary Schwartz (quoted above) in which he
discusses whether consciousness is the product of the brain or a receiver
of it. It’s a fantastic and short overview of an immense amount of
research; this subject has tons of peer-reviewed scientific
research behind it which not many people have the time to go through
themselves, and he has thoughtfully condensed that research to allow more
people access to it.
From Collective
Evolution @ http://www.collective-evolution.com/2016/04/01/buddhists-leading-neuroscientists-agree-consciousness-is-everywhere/
For more information about consciousness see http://nexusilluminati.blogspot.com/search/label/consciousness
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