Connecting Spirituality, Philosophy & Science.

[Kind of Blue]

Interesting article here about one scientist's work with the connections. http://seedsofunfolding.org/issues/6_07/feature.htm

Piet Hut is an astrophysicist and Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University, an institute whose members have included such luminaries as Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer, Kurt Gödel and Freeman Dyson. His interest is to bring the same rigor that has been brought to the objective world, the material world of space, time and energy, to the subjective world, that world in which spirituality and religion flourish.

One way to formulate his approach is to say that both science and the experiential cores of various religions are different ways of knowing, covering different aspects of the same reality. For the time being, however, a dialogue between science and spirituality should focus on what Piet calls "roots, not fruits,” a comparison of the experimental methods of investigation, rather than the resulting theories which often take the form of dogmas, both in science and religion.

[Celebration]

1. good interview, thanks

I liked this--

In science, you don't start off by saying that you believe something or you don't believe it, but you put forward a working hypothesis. You say, “Well, maybe it is like this. Maybe the earth is going around the sun or maybe the sun is going around the earth. These are two different hypotheses. Let’s explore them, let’s work with them. (That is why we say a working hypothesis.) Let us see what the consequences are.”

In spirituality, too, you can take a working hypothesis and apply it in your life and then see what happens with it. To take a very simple example, you can take as a working hypothesis that if someone is nasty to you, the best approach might still be to be nice and friendly to them. You can try it out and see what the consequences are. Rather than taking that as a direct command or fixed rule from God or your religious organization, you can take it as something to explore. I think that most of the so-called commandments of traditional religions probably originated in that spirit. They were given as a way to enrich your life and make it more balanced. Any rigid rule, if you follow it to the letter, can lead to all kinds of mistaken applications. It is generally the living spirit rather than the letter of the law that can really help you to live a good life.

I like the idea of continuing to explore life by investigating a series of working hypotheses. I doubt if there is any five year period in my life that my working hypotheses have remained the same. So, I wonder, how will that change over the next five years? Time will tell, I guess.

[Kind of Blue]

2. I totally agree.

:hi: Celebration. I worked for so long in the sciences and grew up in a family where precognition, apparitions, et cetera, were just a normal part of life. Pretty much kept the work and personal separate but after the NDE, the only way of trying to make sense of it all was through the investigation.

You're so right, five years ago, I had no idea of Gnosis. It's seems one thing leads to the next, and all of it so far gels. I don't know where the investigation will lead but it sure is fun and glad to have this group to share journeys with! :hug:

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. I like the "different way of knowing"

I see this when I work with the folks around me, who do medical healing but go into energy and spiritual healing as well. Investigation into this field may be rewarding for Hut and people like him.

[Kind of Blue]

4. Yes, thank goodness that

scientists like Hut, the good doctors you work with, as well as you, Ayeshahaqqiqa, exists, walking the middle line and discovering.

[Silver Gaia]

5. I'm bookmarking this to read later tonight when I have more time.

Thanks!