Olympus Blog

In view of the Pam Reynolds story, and the approaching reality that it is exceptionally unlikely that we will be able to explore any significant fraction of the physical universe before our planet becomes uninhabitable:
The capability of physical exploration of the entire material universe –– 0%
The capability of non-physical exploration of all aspects of the universe –– 100%
Dependence of physical existence on existence of consciousness –– Complete
Dependence of existence of consciousness on material existence –– None
This satisfies the scientific quest of the ages to attain an understanding of the entire universe. The benefit derived from the physical realm comes through
developing an understanding of causality, followed by the eventual realization that consciousness survives the physical realm. The awakening of consciousness throughout the non-physical realms of time and space serves to reveal that the universe is effectively infinite, and that one must secure the guidance of those who have the knowledge of the universe beyond time and space, the Eternal Realm, in order to complete the evolution of consciousness within any practical amount of time.

As long as the scientific community supports the Doctrine of Materialism, this is equivalent to proclaiming that consciousness cannot survive death. And if science were to accept the evidence that consciousness survives death, that would be equivalent to finally confessing that there is much more to the universe than has been taught. As long as science maintains that consciousness does not survive death, this can only delay the discovery of our true nature. This is science denying its true purpose. Accepting the true nature of consciousness would be the greatest advancement ever for science. It is time to leave black holes to the movies. There are monumentally significant realizations for each individual to attain by turning the attention away from the physical to explore non-physical realities.

The following is based on my personal ND-OBE, over 40 years of practice of a contemplative discipline, and over 50 years in the study and teaching of physics. Rather than postulate a theory first and subsequently validate it through experimentation, we will initially focus on experimentation to validate mystical claims, and use this to formulate of the theory. It is likely that some of my characterizations will be imprecise, but my experimental results are consistent with the experiences of other students of the same discipline. And fundamentally, since existence beyond time and space is devoid of any relationships or interaction, there cannot be any sense of causal understanding, but only the acceptance of its reality through replication of the experience, not describing it.

Starting with the mystical and religious stories of creation, without consideration of concepts such as sin, we begin with the Eternal Realm. The name “Eternal Realm” is enigmatic, but the assumed state of The Big Bang, prior to expansion, could offer insight how such a realm might exist. A synonym of “Eternal” is “unchanging,” and prior to particle formation, the entire Big-Bang universe is assumed to be sufficiently dense that everything is squeezed out of any individualized existence into some homogeneous, primordial substance. With no particles in existence, and no energy being exchanged, there are no interactions and nothing ever changes, so neither space nor time can be defined. Therefore, prior to particle creation, this state of the Big Bang would be beyond space and time, and is the only convenient example of how something as expansive as a universe might exist without space and time.

A priori, consciousness in an eternal, or static realm, would not be able to make any sense of such a realm if relationships and interactions necessary for development of understanding did not exist. In fact, one of the mystical creation stories states: “God looked over all His creations at that time and found all was not right in the lower worlds, and that man needed something else. That something else was a mind, which could be used as an instrument for perception through which to understand and reason out his experiences.” And from another part of the same mystical teaching, it is stated that “The entire contents of all time and all space, while experienced in a time sequence, actually coexist in an infinite and eternal now. … In short, it appears that events change, but what really happens is that we shift our viewpoint from event to event; the events are stationary and fixed.” This shifting of viewpoint from event to event transforms a collection of static events into a movie reel-like sequence, which creates the impression of the passage of time. And since relativity theory relates that space and time cannot be defined independently, this creates the sense of space as well.

Since nascent consciousness cannot evolve in a realm of eternally static states, the appearance of causality through the simulation of space and time serves to promote a primitive state of understanding of the physical universe. The eventual realization that consciousness survives death and can separate from the body at any time prior to death provides the next evolutionary step in exploration of non-physical existence, eventually leading to complete understanding of the entire universe.

The statement that “The entire contents of all time and all space, while experienced in a time sequence, actually coexist in an infinite and eternal now” provides an interpretation allowing mystical teachings to be understood as being consistent with a fundamental assumption of quantum mechanics, in that all quantum mechanically allowable states exist simultaneously, except that quantum mechanics doesn’t explain why we never experience all allowable states at the same time. What we do experience in the physical realm are always causal sequences of states, and quantum mechanics states this is because all allowable states always collapse into whatever it is we experience, which sounds like magic. In contrast, mystical teachings say it is the mind that limits the perception of consciousness to only causal sequences, which is equivalent to the theory of quantum mechanics actually admitting it has no physical explanation for the causal relationships among the states we observe. Neither explains the situation by itself, but mystical teachings do open a door to a test for the reality of an eternal realm.
Since both consciousness and the mind separate from the body at death, or during OBE events during contemplation, would it be possible to separate consciousness from the mind as well as the body during contemplation? Many believe that consciousness and the mind are the same and cannot be separated, but if such separation could be attained, that would prove them to be fundamentally distinct. Indeed, the most advanced mystical teachings make the claim that the only way to attain the ultimate, universal consciousness, or God Consciousness, is to achieve separation of consciousness from the mind as well as the body. Mystical teachings also claim there are two ways to attain this profound experience. The most obvious approach would be mastery of contemplation. This certainly seems reasonable, but after more than 40 years of daily contemplation, I don’t claim to be close to mastering the practice yet, so one would hope there might be a more rapid means of achieving this state. Indeed, the second option offered by mystical teachings is to achieve this state of consciousness through grace. That is, if a student is deemed worthy, a spiritual master capable of facilitating the realization of God Consciousness could grant this experience at an appropriate time.
So the fundamental goal of mystical teachings requires the separation of consciousness from the mind to reveal the most fundamental state of the entire universe. Although there is significant variation among the many mystical teachings, for our purposes, we will restrict ourselves to those teachings which emphasize the ultimate experience of God Consciousness mentioned above. And all of these teachings are functionally equivalent because God Consciousness is unchanging. That is the nature of an Eternal Realm.

To attempt to describe the experience of acquiring God Consciousness, there are a number of historical and contemporary accounts available from individuals. Such accounts from various mystical teachings can be found online, but the most helpful commentary I have come across regarding the nature of this experience is found in the book Kabbalah—Tradition of Hidden Knowledge, where the author, Z’ev ben Shimon Halevi (Warren Kenton), describes his experience: “A heightened physical awareness changes into a psychological lucidity which then transforms into a profound consciousness of the totality of the universe and the Presence of Divinity. One is in direct contact with all the Worlds at once, and perceives both the complexity and the unity of everything. Although the moment may last just one second, it is always unforgettable.”

Kenton’s description prompts comment. Roughly four decades before I became aware of his book, I had a spontaneous experience during contemplation which fit the major aspects of his description precisely. I find perception of “the complexity and the unity” of everything to be an apt characterization, in that I had the realization that this was an instantaneous, conscious awareness of absolutely everything in the universe. It wasn’t a homogeneous state as I might have supposed from the Big Bang Theory, but it did seem static and somehow appeared to make complete sense. As a result, I characterize one aspect of this experience as the Death of Desire, because at that moment, I had everything. Not in any exclusive sense, as everyone has complete access to this state, but the vast majority are simply not aware of it. But in another sense, the experience created one specific desire, and that was to share the realization with all who are ready for it. So if it seems at all disappointing that one might abruptly run out of universe to explore and things to do, there are an infinite number of others in need of guidance as they struggle with their personal evolution of consciousness. Also, Kenton s comment of the “Presence of Divinity” resonated with my experience, in that I also had the overwhelming realization that I was sharing this universal consciousness in that instant. And it is also of interest to note that more than 20 years after I had this experience, I became aware that two of my friends who also follow the same discipline as I, have had the same experience.

One aspect that complicates any discussion of this experience is that although consciousness is uniquely capable of becoming aware of the entire universe in a single instant, the mind can only go as far as to register that the realization did actually happen and that it made perfect sense in that instant. The mind is an artifact of space and time and is therefore finite, so when consciousness returns to the realms of space and time, the mind regains its influence on consciousness and reduces what was an infinite ocean of awareness to a single drop of water. The memory of the event remains, but the event itself is far beyond words or description and certainly cannot be communicated with any precision. One’s direct, personal experience is the only means of any sort of comprehension.

It is not at all clear what the mind is or how it accomplishes what it does, but there is clear historical and current evidence that beyond the mind, one’s consciousness is capable of experience far beyond anything described by physical science. It is available to us all and evidently comprises everyone’s eventual realization. So as an overview of the progression of the evolution of consciousness, since one cannot achieve any comprehension within the Eternal Realm “in the beginning,” at the inception of consciousness, it is quite logical that one must begin by establishing a primitive understanding, such as the principle of causality within the physical realm. From there, the next step appears to be discovery and implementation of the capability of separation of consciousness from the body, and finally the separation of consciousness from the mind as well. A simple progression in concept, but its completion typically takes an exceptional amount of experience over a significant period of time.

Of course I may be mischaracterizing my experience as God Realization, but the instantaneous realization that I was experiencing everything in existence was overwhelming and consistent with the experience of others. As soon as I manage to experience and maintain this state of consciousness on a continuous basis, I will be delighted to publish the results. However, my experience definitively established that a verbal description can only hint at this reality. In review, learning of the existence of ND-OBEs creates a concept. Next, having either an ND-OBE or an OBE as a result of contemplation transforms the concept into an unforgettable experience in your most vivid and persistent memory. And finally, experiencing the entire universe in an instant leaves one speechless and wondering how the experience can ever be assimilated. However, on a positive note, my friend who
experienced this event twice reported that the second occurrence was not nearly as unsettling as the first.

So what is Real? The point of this story is very much the same as in the original Star Wars movies. You really do have something within you which will allow you to accomplish incredible things. But that was just a movie. However, in many ways, it appears to me that our physical lifetimes can be considered as little more than movies being viewed by our consciousness. Realization through experience is truly the only way to achieve comprehension. And when one finally graduates from these physical lifetimes, one abandons materialism to gain freedom within the universe. Materialism is the illusion. As long as one continues to embrace Materialism, one will not be able to realize the benefits of non-physical existence. And as long as one exclusively embraces time and space, one will not be able to realize the entire universe in Eternity. Until we accomplish this, we are ignoring our greatest gift. If all this is true, other than creating interesting technology, science has been largely focused on busywork. We have been unwittingly restricting ourselves to this lonely little planet stuck in the most primitive aspect of the universe.

Upon acceptance that consciousness is not a result of brain activity, but that it can exist and function independently, it is natural to attempt to characterize it. However, since consciousness is non-physical, there are very few meaningful characteristics available, other than noting it can function in both physical and non-physical realms. So without meaningful guidance from physical science, it is natural to turn to mystical teachings, as they have focused on consciousness for millennia. Rather than provide a theory, or attempt to explain consciousness, mystical teachings simply emphasize the development and attainment of the direct experience of the entire universe through one’s consciousness, independent of any space-time limitations. Beginning steps necessarily involve more modest accomplishments in the psychic (space-time) realms, but a central point is not to become distracted with psychic experiences, but to attain the ultimate accomplishment as quickly as possible.

My personal study of mystical teachings began with a significant degree of skepticism, as much of what I read sounded far too grandiose. However, I reasoned that if the mystical teachings were based in reality, I would eventually find them to be completely consistent with theoretical physics, as required by the Correspondence Principle. The primary means of non-physical exploration in this teaching is the daily practice of separation of consciousness through contemplation, and this routine soon produced conclusive results. Early in my contemplations, I would often find myself in other-worldly settings with a non-physical body and abilities such as flying and walking through walls. Many might find this sufficiently intriguing to hold their attention and go no further, but I was strongly drawn to the fundamental goal of separation of consciousness from all
constraints of time and space, in order to eventually experience complete and total awareness.

One noteworthy experience among my many OBEs was finding myself driving a large truck through a desert that seemed endless in every direction, forcing me to realize that I had no idea which way to go to reach my destination. I took this as a metaphor to emphasize the reality that I would likely never find my way to any ultimate realization by myself. And this is a defining characteristic of a “living” mystical teaching. Such a teaching has a living master who operates from a state of total, or God Consciousness, and who functions as a guide for spiritual students by actively accompanying them during contemplation. Since such guides operate outside of time and space, there is no limit to the number of students they can serve. Much of their guidance goes unnoticed in order to foster increasing independence of the student, but such guides occasionally make personal appearances to the student during contemplation to validate the genuine nature of the process.

Returning to Characterization vs. Utilization, consciousness can be most simply characterized as the eternal essence of the individual, and the many bodies we utilize during our incarnations are simply avatars used in the various realms of time and space to gather experience and express ourselves. The separability of consciousness is essential in order to become aware of our purpose and freedom in the universe. In terms of the instruction provided by mystical teachings, the primary emphasis is almost completely on developing the functionality of consciousness rather than obtaining an understanding of it.

For roughly 2500 years there have been two competing theories that describe vastly different versions of our universe. The Doctrine of Materialism holds that all that is real and exists is composed purely of physical matter, and that phenomena such as mental states and processes are produced purely through brain activity. In contrast, various mystical teachings represent an approach which generally describes the universe as both physical matter, which is in a state of continuous change, and non-physical manifestations, including consciousness. The Materialist view holds that one can only explore the physical realm, as that is all there is, so any theory incorporating non-physical phenomena is considered pseudoscience and should be dismissed. Mysticism realizes the need for a basic understanding of physical causality in order to function within the physical realm, but as soon as is practical, one should master the separation of consciousness from the realms of space and time as the most expedient and productive means for exploration of the entire universe. If it were ever to be proven that consciousness could function independent of the brain, the Doctrine of Materialism would be disproven, and the description of the universe would necessarily include non-physical phenomena and states.

The scientific threat to Materialism began to materialize when psychiatrist Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross undertook her research of 20,000 Near-Death Experiences in the 1960s. Since more than 75% of NDEs are accompanied by strikingly similar Out-of-Body Experiences (OBEs), promoting conjecture for evidence of an afterlife, and perhaps immortal consciousness, the scientific community lost no time in defending the dogma of materialism by dismissing such experiences as mere hallucinations due to oxygen deprivation of the brain during the process of dying. To counter this, Kübler-Ross restricted her case studies to those subjects who had been completely blind for at least 10 years prior to their OBEs. Since roughly 1% of the population has severe visual impairment, and approximately 10% of those are completely blind, this likely reduced her dataset to just double digits, but only
a single case of a corroborated visual account of surroundings with no physical means of processing vision would be sufficient to prove that a non-physical process produced real results.

Although Kübler-Ross never published a focused study of these results due to destruction of her research by arson, she did report in her book On Life After Death that, for the completely blind subjects, “Those who had an out-of-body experience and came back can tell you in detail what colors and jewelry you were wearing if you were present. Furthermore, they can tell you the color and pattern of your sweater, or of your tie, and so on.” Although this evidence couldn’t be refuted, it was largely ignored by the scientific community, because then, as now, the embrace of scientific materialism was pervasive and strong.

In 1997 the psychologist Dr. Kenneth Ring followed up on her research, publishing his Study of Apparent Eyeless Vision of 31 blind subjects, with some individuals instantly gaining crystal-clear vision during ND-OBE events, corroborating Kübler-Ross’ results. And once again, the scientific community found little reason to abandon its belief in materialism. Materialism couldn’t explain these undeniably real results from those incapable of vision, but since no proof existed that the brain was non-functional during the event, it was still possible that the brain might somehow be mysteriously responsible.

Fast forward to 2014, when Dr. Sam Parnia, the lead author of a study begun in 2008 of over 2,000 patients from 15 hospitals in the U.K., U.S., and Austria, reported on one ND-OBE case that “… was validated and timed using auditory stimuli during cardiac arrest. Dr. Parnia concluded: ‘This is significant, since it has often been assumed that experiences in relation to death are likely hallucinations or illusions, occurring either before the heart stops or after the heart has been successfully restarted, but not an experience corresponding with ‘real’ events when the heart isn’t beating. In this case, consciousness and awareness appeared to occur during a three-minute period when there was no heartbeat. This is paradoxical, since the brain typically ceases functioning within 20-30 seconds of the heart stopping and doesn’t resume again until the heart has been restarted. Furthermore, the detailed recollections of visual awareness in this case were consistent with verified events.’”

Notice that Dr. Parnia characterized this functionality of consciousness during a three-minute period without heartbeat as “paradoxical,” implying that this shouldn’t have been possible. Claiming the universe “shouldn’t” behave one way or the other is not scientific. The point of scientific experimentation is to determine how nature actually functions, rather than to assert how one believes it should function. The evidence reported here is consistent with consciousness functioning in the absence of heartbeat and brain activity. But since the electrical activity of the brain wasn’t being monitored by an EEG, one still can’t absolutely rule out brain activity. The following case lays this concern to rest.

This is the well documented report mentioned by Dr. Pim van Lommel, a retired Dutch cardiologist, where Pam Reynolds, “… a patient with constant registration of the EEG during surgery for a gigantic aneurysm at the base of the brain, operated with a body temperature between 10 and 15 degrees Celsius. She was connected to a heart-lung machine, with VF (ventricular fibrillation), with all blood drained from her head, with a flat line EEG, with clicking devices in both ears, with eyes taped shut, and this patient experienced an NDE with an out-of-body experience, and all details she perceived and heard could later be verified.”

Regarding the EEG monitoring, “Earbuds equipped with two little loudspeakers were inserted into her ears. The loudspeakers emitted 11 clicks per second at 95— 100 decibels in one ear and loud white noise in the other; periodically, the clicking sound was switched to the opposite ear to avoid hearing damage. The earbuds were molded to completely fill her ear canals and then covered with gauze to keep them in place so that all other sound was blocked out. An anesthetist monitored her closely, including keeping track of her EEG to measure her brain activity and, particularly, possible reactions of her brain to the clicking sounds. Such reactions can indicate that the brain is inadvertently still active, even if there is an otherwise flat EEG.” Based on this report, I find it completely beyond reason to imagine that the brain of such a patient could generate accurate and detailed recall of events under these conditions. Her consciousness was proven active and accurate, but there is no justification to attribute this to her brain function. This case of Pam Reynolds’ ND-OBE is related in much greater detail in The Self Does Not Die, pp. 113-122, by Titus Rivas et al., and in Consciousness Beyond Life, pp. 169-176, by Pim van Lommel.

On the basis of the accounts above, this evidence disproves Materialism. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and Kenneth Ring proved that a conscious, non-physical process can produce real results, but the Pam Reynolds event goes further to prove that consciousness can function whether the brain is functional or not. By separating from the physical body, consciousness becomes independent of the physical body and survives death. This will come to be recognized as the greatest revolutionary event within the scope of science. It is a tall mountain to climb to convince the scientific community that it has been in error for hundreds of years in claiming the physical universe as the totality of existence, but unless someone can prove the records of Pam Reynolds’ story to be false, her consciousness was proven to be functional in the absence of brain function, which compels the conclusion that materialism is false. Continued support of materialism by the scientific community is indefensible and only serves to further delay our understanding of the universe.

So if we ever hope to comprehend the entire universe, we are now required to investigate the non-physical realms of space and time and beyond which manifest properties and behaviors unfamiliar to us. And since mystical studies have long taught that consciousness and the mind can be intentionally separated from the body without dying, such separation would seem to be the most obvious option for non-physical exploration, as there are no physical means to instantly traverse astronomical distances, much less explore any non-physical realms. The remainder of this presentation will consider how non-physical phenomena might be integrated into a new branch of purely theoretical physics, as it cannot be proven in any traditional manner. There is a massive amount of empirical evidence in existence, but that only serves as proof to the individuals who have had an equivalent experience. My personal evidence consists of thousands of my personal OBEs over more than 40 years of contemplative research. Once one is convinced of the validity of this study, it is simply unimaginable to intentionally limit one’s experience to the kindergarten-like confines of our bodies, having realized that our capabilities can be infinitely expanded through the separation of consciousness and the mind. At this point, the significance of physical science diminishes rapidly.

However, it is common that most who develop the capability to experience intentional OBE activity fall prey to hubris similar to that exhibited by materialists,
in believing that nothing could be more significant than the newfound capability of being able to explore a non-physical realm. It is true that exploration beyond the physical realm is essential in order to gain further understanding of the universe, but this new realm is just one of multiple realms beyond the physical. Thus, logic would suggest that in order to gain a complete understanding of the universe, one would require an understanding of all of these realms.

The mystical principle called the Wheel of Life describes this process and states that without guidance, an individual would require on the order of 8,400,000 lifetimes in the realms of time and space to attain an understanding of all of the realms of space and time and attain the capability of consciousness to go beyond all such realms, and detach from the mind as well. Fortunately, a long line of spiritual masters exists, specifically to provide the guidance necessary to bypass the vast preponderance of complexity comprising all the space-time realms, culminating in the simultaneous awareness and comprehension of the totality of the universe within the Eternal Realm. A meaningful description of this experience in words is not possible, but I like to characterize this event as the Death of Desire. Consciousness is aware of absolutely everything at this eternal instant.

I maintain that if something can be done, it probably has been done, so I prefer to research the efforts of others before blindly attempting to blaze my own trail. There is an extensive review titled A Landscape of Consciousness by Robert Kuhn covering a broad spectrum of theories. It is no surprise that theories accompany research, but I do find it surprising that it is rare to find a theory representing an eternal universe, as is commonly represented in creation stories. For the subject of consciousness, it is fortunate there is also an experimental approach offered by masters of contemplative study. Such spiritual guides accompany their students within their contemplation, and ensure that truly serious students gain the necessary experience. There is no need for a Grand Theory of Everything. The puzzle of Consciousness and the Universe has already been solved. Perhaps the analytic approach of physical science has become too much of a habit to consider contemplation as a serious approach. The scientific community just hasn’t been able to accept that the only valid approach to solving the puzzle of the universe is to ask the gatekeeper for assistance, and then spend a few years contemplating the guidance provided.

This most profound mystical attainment will be the subject of the next segment where mystical teachings are unified with mainstream theoretical physics and provide an explanation for what Quantum Mechanics has previously treated as an assumption. Fortunately it is exceptionally straightforward to integrate non-physical phenomena with mainstream quantum mechanics to produce a theoretical framework which characterizes the entire universe.