Towards a Science of Consciousness

Marcus Schmieke
Kraenzlin Castle
16818 Kraenzlin
Germany
Marcus.Schmieke@t-online.de
www.TimeWaver.com

Copyright: Marcus Schmieke 1997

INTRODUCTION
THE LAST ENIGMA ?!

Enigmas always have exerted a special attractiveness on human beings. The history of modern western science is
characterized by the aspiration to wresting nature of its mysteries and making them accessible to our rational
understanding. The past centuries have been a triumphant advance of science, which is intruding increasingly
into fields formerly reserved for philosophers and mystics. Just recently, a book with the title "Physics and
Immortality" 1 was published, has meanwhile become a best seller and, seems to subjugate, apart from notions
such as Immortality and God, even the mystery of angels and resurrection, under the explanatory power of
physical thinking. Jacques Monod is declaring in his famous book "Chance and Necessity" 2 that the mystery of
life has already been revealed.
Due to such statements, many scientist may protest against considering life to be still as a mystery. Do we really
have explained life? Will scientific progress imply that there won´t be any more mysteries? Will modern man´s
rational mind be able to triumph as Emperor over subdued nature?
Just by these kind of questions it is becoming evident, that knowledge created by our modern science is a
dominating knowledge. It is meant to supply us with the intelligence and means in order to lord it over and
control our surrounding, nature. We are learning to calculate in advance its actions and to influence them
according to our desire.
Simultaneously, this kind of knowledge, which apparently can uplift us to the position of being the controller of
nature, is creating just those problems which have induced many people to adopt a healthy attitude of scepticism
towards this kind of scientific progress. When Darwin had published his evolution theory, the western world
integrated the principle of competition, which is based on the belief that only the fittest can survive in the
struggle for existence. Power and wealth became the insignia of personal strength, poverty and outsider-
existence the insignia of the weak. Also the theory of relativity, having been established in our century by
Einstein, has had a noticeable effect due to an erroneous understanding of his concepts. It has triggered the
conviction, that everything was relative, even freedom, health, morality and justice.
Of course, these developments are not necessarily a result of scientific discoveries, but they are corresponding to
the motivation of control which is hidden within the modern scientific approach nowadays, where everything we
do is pervaded by the consequences of scientific thought.
Therefore, since already quite some years, more and more prominent scientists are focussing in a different
direction. Instead of proceeding according to Caesar´s slogan "divide et impera" 3, thus reducing life and its
functions to smaller and smaller units, which seem conceivable to that degree, in which one defines, observes
and describes them separately, they are trying to understand the united effects of complex network systems,
which attributes an individual, undivisible individuality and uniqueness to great systems like an organism, the
planet earth, a human society or nature as a whole. The extensive consequences of this new understanding are
presently changing again man´s way of thinking. Gradually, people are coming back to the understanding, which
has been dominant long time before the appearance of modern scientific methods and ideas. Since Capra´s "Tao
of Physics", countless books have been published, which are hinting towards an approach between science and
spiritual concepts. Comparisons of ancient mandala drawings and graphical displays of elementary particle
symmetries are indicating that both schools of thought are based on the same underlying principles, and also the
parallels between the elementary genetic code structure and the I Ging 4 are giving rise for hope to connect
ancient spiritual knowledge with modern scientific discoveries.
On the one side, science seems to come closer and closer to the thousands-of-year-old knowledge of spiritual
traditions like the ancient Indian or vedic tradition and buddhism, on the other side, it wants to elicit from nature
its last secrets, or to subjugate those secrets under some mechanistic explanation. Even though science is giving
so many indications of coherences in the theories of quantumphysics, theory of relativity, chaos theory and
complexity theory, which one formerly would have called spiritual coherences, still it attempts to reduce them to
the function of systems, which are existing exclusively out of material substance. If there are no more mysteries
left, there will be no more place for spiritual concepts like consciousness, the soul, free will and God, in view of
a complete scientific explanation of nature. Those concepts won´t appear merely as superfluous, but even
incompatible with the scientific world view. Will modern science render those spiritual concepts superfluous, or
instill a new content and a new meaning into them, or will those concepts endure as irreducible spiritual concepts
within a scientific world view?

1
Frank J. Tipler, Physics of Immortality, Munich 1994 (Piper)
2
Jacques Monod, Chance and Necessity, Munich 1971 (Piper)
3
lat.: Divide and rule
4
Katya Walter, Chaos, I Ging and genetic Code, Munich 1992 (Diederichs)
This paper will discuss this question and establish the assertion that science has to be built on a spiritual
platform, which, within the framework of a comprehensive spiritual science, assigns its place and function.
Consciousness
Irreducible Non-material Aspect of Reality
(University of Ljubljana 1995)

In this paper I am not going to find a flaw in the system of modern science but I want to discuss a concept of a
broader-minded science, which can also deal with consciousness and with spiritual experience. The term
"consciousness" is to be focussed in our discussion.
I would like to understand consciousness as a non-material irreducible aspect of reality. This is not commonly
accepted at present.

Materialistic publications from Dennett and Crick

Most of the publications about consciousness which have been published in the last years like "Consciousness
explained" by Daniel Dannett and "What the soul really is" by the Nobel-laureate Francis Crick hold a different
opinion. Crick's book has a very interesting title, considering that a hardheaded scientist is the author, but the
first sentence of his book is, "The astonishing hypothesis is, that there is no soul. The soul is not more or less
than the neural processes in our brain."

The Congress of Arizona

In reference to this problem there is a lot of publications written by scientists who make a very strict claim. For
example in April 1994 there was an important conference of natural scientists with the topic "towards a scientific
explanation of consciousness" and the principle claim of this meeting was made by Francis Crick. He said, "For
more than 2000 years the philosophers have been speculating about consciousness and their result is very very
poor. Therefore they should be humbler and should hand over the topic to us scientists." His assistent Christoff
Koch surpassed his statement even by announcing that the time was ready for a general assault on consciousness.

The last enigma

Now the philosophers, the mystics and transcendentalists should be deprived of their last argument for rejecting
the pure rationalistic worldview. Whenever the scientists have claimed in the past to have revealed all the great
enigmas, the riddle of matter, the origin of the universe, the origin of life a.s.o., they could always cut short the
enthusiasm of the scientists by mentioning the enigma of the human mind or consciousness. Therefore the
scientists want to explain consciousness purely on the basis of matter.

Artificial Intelligence

Especially from the representatives of computer-science who deal with artificial intelligence the claim is made
that sooner or later they will be able to construct a machine which will even surpass human intelligence and will
naturally have consciousness. Marvin Minsky well known as the pope of artifical intelligence said that the
machines which they will build in some time will be so intelligent that we can be lucky if they keep us as their
pet-dogs. In this connection he also made the statement, that philosophy is a kind of mental disease.

Searle's Chinese room

Another philosopher absorbed in the study of consciousness counters this materialistic view with his famous
Gedankenexperiment of the Chinese Room.
If science advances it may become possible in the future to build a machine which we may call a cerebroscope,
able to analyse the complete structure of a human brain, let us say Mr. Jones's brain. The scanned pattern of Mr.
Jones's brain could be transferred to a computer, which could perform all the functions of Mr. Jones's brain, if it
were equally connected with his senses.The computer would have exactly the same information processing
structure as Mr. Jones's brain but the question arises if the Jones-Computer would also have Mr Jones's
consciousness. To answer this question, Prof. Searle devised the example of the Chinese room. A man is sitting
in a room and is moving little slips of paper from one basket to the other following simple processing-rules, so
that this little machine could very slowly duplicate the function of each computer, also of the Jones's Computer.
It could for example answer questions which are asked in the Chinese language as well as answer in the Chinese
language, even if the person who is moving the papers and who is the very essence of this simple computer is not
at all able to speak or think or even read Chinese. He definitely would not have the Chinese consciousness of a
person who is answering Chinese questions and who could easily pass the Turing test. Prof. Searle's conclusion
is that this Chinese room may even pass the Turing test to identify an intelligent machine, but it does not have
the consciousness of its functions. So we have three systems with identical information- processing structures:
The brain, the computer and the Chinese room simulating the functions of both of them. The question is now:
Which of these three systems has consciousness? Daniel Dannett makes the following proposal: To escape all
the illusions of the mystics and spiritualists we should unterstand the brain simply as an information processing
machine.
I asked this question many times and I got all kinds of different answers. One student said that if one of them had
consciousness then all of them should have, because they are actually identical. If you claim that one of them has
consciousness and the others have not you have to show, which additional principle in that particular system
which is obviously the brain of the real person causes this difference because their material structure is identical.
This was Prof. Searle's conclusion. In the human brain there must be some principle of causation for
consciousness to connect it with the processing functions. Is the movement of the electrons the cause of
consciousness or is it a special feature of a complex system?

Dennett's definition of consciousness

Daniel Dannett proposed a quite materialistic solution to this problem. He suggests to think about the brain as a
computer run by a certain software. This software creates a virtual machine, that runs on the hardware of the
brain. This virtual machine has qualities different from our brain. It is very slow and one function follows the
other as in our consciousness. On this basis he tried an extreme definition for consciousness, which appears to be
a software-virus on this virtual machine.

Two possibilities: dualism or materialistic monism

Now we are in the situation to face two alternatives how to understand consciousness. On the one hand,
consciousness is understood to be identical with the brain functions or it is produced by these functions and
depends completely on them. This could be expressed by the formula: No matter no mind. On the other hand,
consciousness is accepted as an additional quality or substance to the brain activities. In this case it would not
completely depend on the brain, but could also exist without a working brain, with which it interacts through a
certain mechanism which has to be discovered yet. In this case consciousness would remain an irreducible non-
material aspect of reality but we are challenged to demonstrate how these two substances can interact.

Dennett's dogma and its implications

Interestingly enough Dennett states in the beginning of his "Consciousness explained", that there should be only
one dogma in his book. This dogma should be, that the dualism of matter and consciousness is wrong. He admits
that he has no good arguments but it seems very difficult for him to understand how a non-material
consciousness could interact with matter without violating the laws of physics like the conservation of energy
and momentum. But if the dualism of matter and consciousness is rejected and consciousness is accepted as a
function of matter, identical with matter and dependent on matter the statements of all spiritual traditions and
religions is lost and have to be considered as illusory or misguided. If this dogma is accepted it is not possible to
deal properly with religion and spirituality and we would even be involved in great difficulties with ethics, moral
and the principle of responsibility. Free will, at the base of responsibility and ethics will lose its foundation. If
we make friends with the materialistic dogma we will have no place in science for all these terms and topics and
we will be responsible for the alienation of science and the human being, which is already preprogrammed now.

Jaques Monods conclusion

Jaques Monod, another Nobel-laureate in the field of molecular biology said in his book about "Chance and
necessity" that humanity has to finally wake up from its thousand year old dream and has to recognize its radical
isolation and its radical strangeness. Now it is aware of the fact that its place is like that of a gipsy at the outskirts
of the universe, which is deaf to its music and indifferent towards its crimes and sufferings. This is the
conclusion of a consequent materialistic worldview: alienation, strangeness, the consequent subjectivity of all
hopes, sufferings and crimes. I once talked to a biologist, who tried to convince me that there was only one
divine law, the law of the jungle.
We have two possibilities: To identify consciousness as matter which means that we are matter in this worldview
and the other possibility is to accept consciousness as something spiritual or non-material which could not be
described by a science uniquely based on matter. This consciousness may not even be affected by birth and death
but here we enter the realm of different religions and spiritual traditions.

No external criterion for consciousness

On the level of pure logic we have externally no possibility to distinguish between a conscious and an
unconscious system.
I want to close this section with a little story about one very famous representative of the artificial intelligence
research, who claimed in an interview with a journalist, that he would definitely build a machine, which would
be more intelligent than human beings in this lifetime. The journalist asked him if it would have the
consciousness of a human being and he spontaneously said yes. Then the journalist asked him, how he would
prove this and he was thinking for some time. After some pause he responded, that actually he could also not
prove that a toadstool is not an intergalactical space-ship which landed here as a spy. Then he was thinking for a
while, because he recognized the originality of his answer and said, that actually he could not even demonstrate
that anybody has consciousness except himself.
The conclusion is that we have to start with our very self if we want to understand what consciousness is. We all
understand ourselves as conscious living beings equipped with free will and not as predeterminded machines
completely controlled by the laws of nature. Therefore we should reject materialism in the very beginning.
Now I come back to the beginning of my lecture with my desire to understand consciousness as something
irreducibly non-material. There are also philosophies as the one Roger Penrose expresses in his famous book
"The Emperor's New Mind", which looks at consciousness as an irreducible but material quality of matter. This
philosophy is called irreducible materialism. This view is also to be rejected.

Proofs of consciousness

Now hints should be discussed, which back up our thesis that consciousness is spiritual, does not depend on the
brain, and is superior to matter a.s.o. We find such hints in different fields of science and human experience.

Quantum Physics

Heisenberg's Picture of QM

One hint comes from modern quantum-physics as it was developed in the twenties of this century by physicists
like Werner Heisenberg and Erwin Schrödinger. A look at the world view which is suggested by quantum-theory
will show that matter melts away in our hands. If we take the Heisenberg-picture of quantum-physics we can
draw very interesting conclusions. In this variation of the Kopenhagener interpretation there are two different
levels of description: On the one hand, the Schrödinger equation describes the steady, deterministic evolution of
the wave function. But on the other hand there is the unsteady actualization of the wave function. The wave
function describes what is measurable. It does not describe an electron to be at a certain place with a certain
momentum, but it describes the possibility to detect the electron at a certain place if its position is measured or to
detect the electron to have a certain momentum, if the momentum is measured and this possibility is specified by
a calculated probability. If one performs such a measurement, this measurement chooses one real event from all
the possibilities and realizes this possibility which is called the actualization or the collapse of the wave function.
By performing a measurement we choose one branch of a wave function. Heisenberg said, that the physical
events are not described by the wave function but the physical events are the actualizations of the wave function.
These actualizations are the basic units of the world of our physical experience, because they are the physical
reality of what really happens. When the wave function evolves in a deterministic way nothing really happens,
because nothing creative happens. Whatever evolves like this is already determined by the initial conditions.
Time does not bring anything new. It just creates newer and newer possibilities. But through this unsteady
actualization of the wave function which is not described by the equation itself the element chance celebrates its
entry into science. The future is open. Exactly in this place consciousness has its opportunity, because the
actualization of the wave function is always caused by a measurement and a measurement is obviously
connected with the process of bringing the measured facts to one's consciousness. Eugen Wigner, Henry Stapp
and other famous physicists interpret the measurement in quantum-physics as an interaction of matter and
consciousness. More precisely formulated, the physical event or the actualization of the wave function which
means that one of the possibilities is chosen to be realized in the physical reality by a concrete measurement is
the interaction of matter and consciousness and Stapp expanded this idea in his book to a model of the brain and
its interaction with consciousness.

Modell of the brain

So the brain has to be finally described by quantum physics. He claims that if we apply the Schrödinger equation
to a certain state of the wave function of the brain which corresponds to a certain perception of ourselves and our
environment, it produces different possibilities how we can perceive ourselves and our environment in the future.
It is not deterministic anymore. The brain becomes an open system. Then by the actualization of the wave
function one of the possibilities is chosen and Stapp considers this event to be a conscious act like making a
certain decision, for example to move a finger. Like this our consciousness or our self actualizes the wave
function of the brain and transforms the uncertain state of the brain into a concrete state, which corresponds to a
certain perception of ourselves and a certain conscious act. His interpretaion of the quantum physical measuring
process is, that it is an interaction of matter and consciousness.

Chance or free will

If we did not accept this conscious influence, we would have to explain how this choice is actually performed. Is
it the element of chance like all our school-books present to us? If we accept this we also have to accept, that all
our decisions are accidental processes. Our free will would be a hidden form of a random process and the
independence and sovereignty of the conscious self would just be an illusion.

Hans Primas

One Quantum physicist from Freiburg, Prof. Primas, studied this fact and published a paper of six theses. He
presented this paper to a conference honoring the work of Erwin Schrödinger and his third thesis is: The chance
is the deus ex machina of molecular biology. The scientific standing of the essential chance is not very clear. In
classical mechanics there are no intrinsic random events. Everything happens in a deterministic way. The
principal probabilities of quantum mechanics depend on the context. Chance is not due to a lack of cause or a
lack of knowledge but due to the neglection of the free will of an experimentator, who can choose between
different experimental set-ups which exclude each other. This freedom of choice is based on the existence of his
consciousness and not on any physical system. But because we have to neglect the basic quality of
consciousness, its free will in a mechanistic model like quantum theory, we have to introduce chance. In the last
century chance was considered to be a measure of the amount of ignorance - a lack of knowledge about the real
causes. Nowadays chance is accepted as the final cause of everything what happens.

Jaques Monod

In another place of his book "Chance and Necessity" Jacques Monod says that "Chance and nothing but pure
chance is the cause of all creative developments in this universe."

Wolfgang Pauli

Wolfgang Pauli, a well known physicist mentioned something about the introduction of chance in biology. He
said that the model of evolution is an attempt to theoretically hold on to the complete elimination of all final
processes in nature. This had to be in one way or another compensated by the introduction of chance. If we do
not want to ask questions about the goal or the sense or the purpose anymore and want to substitute terms like
finality with terms like causality we are forced to allow the introduction of chance in our model of reality. But
why should we restrict ourselves like this?

Jahn`s experiments on consciousness

Another hint from science is given by the experiments from R. Jahnet, all from Princeton university. They used a
device for producing random impulses (a random-generator) by electronical means and also by mechanical
means and displayed the result of these random signals to many different test-persons. They were sitting in front
of the display and were instructed to want to influence the result of the display in a certain way. Some were
instructed to want a maximal number of impulses and some were instructed to desire the opposite. In the
diagrams one can clearly see how the curve which represents the number of random events depends on the desire
of the person, who watches it and tries to influence the results in a certain way. The deviation from the normal
distribution is statistically relevant and was proved to not depend on the distance of the observer to the place,
where the random signals were generated. Also it could be shown that even signals which were produced let us
say a day before they were displayed could be influenced in the same manner. One could quote many such hints
from physics but I would like to progress to the field of neurophysiology.

Eccles modell: quantumphysics of the neo-crtex

In this field there are many materialistic publications about the relationship of brain and consciousness but there
are also some few other publications like the new book by Sir John C. Eccles, who already 1974 published his
famous book "The Self and its Brain" together with Sir Karl Popper. He published his new book "How the self
controls its brain" together with the German quantum physicist Friedrich Beck from Darmstadt University and in
this publication he shows that there are micropocesses in the brain, or in the synapses, which control the
information processing functions of the brain, because they constitute the interfaces between two neurons, which
cannot be described by classical physics but have to be understood as pure quantum processes, which take place
with a certain probability. If a nerve impulse runs through the axon of one neuron and arrives in the synapsis it
can cause an excitation which sets free the neurotransmitters which conduct the impulse from one neuron to the
other. These neurotransmitters are stored in little bubbles or vesicles which are ordered in a lattice of such
vesicles. Prof. Beck calculated that the energies envolved in causing this lattice to set one vesicle free is so small
that it has to be described by quantum physics and cannot be completely determined by the exact physical
circumstances. Normally such an excitation takes place with a probability of twenty percent but Eccles
demonstrated that the selfconscious mind can increase this probability for a moment to one third or even a half,
which means that each second impulse would cause an excitation. He demonstrated how this model fits very
nicely with the modern experiments in neurophysiology. Indirectly it could be proved that a conscious intention
like for example to move one finger can cause the increase of the excitation-probability up to one half. This
suggests that the selfconscious mind is able to control the information processing functions of the brain through
interacting with the dendrons of the neo-cortex on the quantum-level. In this wonderful book he describes many
details and he challenges all the materialists to defeat his clear theory of brain-consciousness interaction. At the
end of his book he makes very interesting statements about his conclusions of a lifetime of intense brain-
research.

New Trend in Bio-Physics

What quantumphysics achieved in physics, a modern trend in biophysics is promising to achieve in biology.
Quantumphysics gives the chance to introduce consciousness as an additional epistomological category into
physics. It gives hints how do describe it`s interaction with matter also. In a similar way the modern research
regarding the spontanous light-emission of the cells of any living system nowadays called biophotons promises
to give good reason to reintroduce consciousness back into biology to understand the enigma of life. It also gives
hints how do describe the interaction of a non material consciousness with the material body.

What are bio-photons?

Bio-photons are quantums of light, which are emitted by the cells of any living organism. Before they were
rediscovered by Prof. Fritz Popp from the University of Kaiserslautern they were called the ultraweak cell-
radiation and were considered to be some secondary product of physical or chemical reactions in the cell. Popp
called them biophotons to stress their important biological function. This radiation is 18 over 10 times weaker
than normal visible daylight, wich corresponds to the intensity of a candle, which is observed from a distance of
20 km. It should not be mistaken with biolumineszence beacause it reacts in a very sensitive way on all different
kinds of external influences or intrinsic changes of the organism and is therefore an ideal indicator for such
influences or changes. The most important argument for the biological relevance of this radiation is it`s
coherence. It is light with an extreme high degree of order like a kind of biological laser-light. Because of it`s
stable intensity and high order it is capable for interference which is responsable for effects which are not
possible with ordinary light. Therefore it can create order and is also capable to transfer information. A proof for
this quality of coherence is the experimental fact that the decay of the so called induced biophoton-emission
shows a hyperbolic form.

Regulation and control of the organism as a whole and its parts by the biophoton field

There are many hints that the organism as a whole uses this coherent field of biophotons for regulatig it`s
functions on different hirachical levels. It seems to be the central regulating instance in the cells but the cells
seem to communicate also by the way of this holographic field of standing waves. This holographic field can
transport the information of a broad spectrum of frequencies and polarizations with the velocity of light to all
parts of the body wherever it is neccessary to activate biochemical reactions or to reduce them or to create
sructures. The sender of this radiation seems be the cromatin of the cell-nucleus. Calculations have shown that
the spiral-formed DNS-molecule is an ideal device for storing light. Originally this light comes from the sun,
which we catch by eating, seeing and by our skin. Especially the coherent part of the sunlight is absorbed by the
cells.

The biophoton-field as a bipolar state of matter

To find a good approach to vedic physics let us further consider the special properties of the biophotons which
may play an importan role in the interaction of different levels of reality:
The biophotons belong to an electromagnetic field which exists exactly at the laser-border. The laser-border
seperates the chaotic regime of normal light from the highly ordered regime of laser-light. At the laser-border a
phaseshift happens from thermic equilibrium to a cristallin structured photon field with important new
properties. It exists far beyond the termic equilibrium. The condition for a laser or laser light is that more
electrons of the source have to be in an excited state than in the groundstate so that the emitted light will have
high structure or order like a cristall. Biological systems stabililze their biophotonfield around this border of f=1,
because like this they can use the advantages of the coherent mode as well as of the incoherent mode with a
minimal expenditure of energy. They can quickly switch from one mode to the other. The chaotic mode is
important for changes, creative developements or healing and the coherent mode is important for the
organization and structure of the system. Lets consider more qualities of the two modes of light, energy or matter
in general:

Two modes of the field

In the chaotic mode the behaviour of the system is determined by localized interactions which corresponds to the
particle state of energy whereas the ordered state acts in a collective wave-like manner. The measured field of
the chaotic state shows high intensities whereas the coherent state is characterized mainly by very low intensities
so that it is very difficult to measure. It is connected with the biochemical reactions whereas the coherent field
contains just possibilities of biochemical processes. In the chaotic state molecules, cells, organs and even whole
organisms are combined to one unit and its longterm interactions cover long distances, whereas the chaotic
individual state acts in short time-intervalls on short distances also. Life and especially the biophotonfield exists
at the border of this two states which is a state of minimal uncertainty. If you consider the two polar states to
represent the Ying and the Yang principle of the chinese I Ging then the bipolar state of the biophoton-field
constitutes the bipolar state of the TAO. It is the physical state of a wavepacket at the connection of matter and
vacuum.

Actual and potential information

The two poles are carrying actual realized information and potential information, which expresses only the
possibilities of certain physical events. They can be compared with the dynamic state of the dissipative structures
which were discovered by Prigogine and could connect the material and the conscious aspect of reality.
In the vedic system of knowledge the two poles are represented by the elements earth, water and fire
representing the material pole of manifested matter and ether representing the potential information behind this
manifested level of physics. The vedic ether consists of vibrational states or sound, which carry information as
well as its meaning regarding to the senses of the living entities. This meaning has to be expressed in first person
perspective terms like sound, touch, form, taste and smell. Like this the bipolar state coresponds to the active
processes of perception, extracting the meaning out of the manifested SpaceTimeMatter and transformation of
information to structure in a physical sense.

Near death experiences

The third field of research I want to shortly speak about is the field of Near Death Experiences and reincarnation-
research. In this field we find much evidence for the non- material nature of consciousness. In each hospital there
are doctors who have come in touch with near death experiences through their patients' experiences. In many
cases patients who were considered to be clinically dead during an operation, for example could be reanimated.
After being reanimated many of them could give very detailed descriptions of the technical procedure of their
reanimation. Dr Michael Sabom made a medical investigation with heart-patients and could confirm the
hypothesis, that during their period of being unconscious they had out-of-body-experiences. These out of body
experiences imply, that consciousness is able to make perceptions without using the senses and the central nerve
system of the body. The only explanation for this phenomenon is that the conscious self had actually been
separated from the material body for some time.
I personally know four people I can trust very much, who told me about their out-of-body experiences. In this
field a lot of systematic material is available but the majority of the scientists reject this kind of research as not
scientific because of ideological reasons. It just does not fit in their worldview.

Evidences about reincarnation

Another aspect of this research was done by Dr. Ian Stevenson who until 1988 investigated more than 2500 cases
in which people especially children were speaking about spontaneously remembering details from former lives.
From these cases he investigated 881 completely and in 546 cases he could prove the former identification of the
children to be one that really existed. In all these cases he could reject all other explanations for their detailed
knowledge about their previous lives as hypotheses that they in a former life had actually been that person. Also
these cases suggest that consciousness survives the death of the physical body and is non-material.

A field beyond the bio-photons

A possible conclusion could be that he biophoton-field is the top-level of a regulation-hierachy in that aspect of
our body, which can be perceived by our material senses. Now of course the question can be raised if there is
another field behind that biophoton-field which may controll even the biophoton-field. In that case we could at
least draw conclusions on the more subtle field by studying the properties of the biophoton field. Otherwise the
common methods of science could make no statements about such a field. The gerneral theory of relativity
brings our attention to the properties of space itself which structure could be compared to the concept of ether.
This ancient concept of ether corresponds to modern models of the quantumvacuum or the zero-point-energy of
the vacuum-state. By a change in the space-time-curvature as caused by electromagnetic or gravitational
influences the erngy-density of the vacuum could be changed. The vacuum could possibly be that part of the
human aura which can just still be perceived by physical methodes but which can be perceived directly by highly
sensitive people.
Possibly vacuum itself is influenced by the activities of consciousness. Maclay assumes that this happens
through a phaseshift so that the average intensity of the field differs from zero.

A bridge to consciousness

Max Planck was very much excited by the behaviour of photons: They always take the shortest possible path to
reach their goal. He assumed that this is an expression of some kind of teleological principle or intelligence
governing the dynamics of the photons.
The coherent states of the biophoton-field are states of a minimal uncertainty and therefore they combine the
particle and the wave-picture of light. They seem to represent the structure- or informational aspect of energy
and could be the bridge to consciousness. They could be the interface through which the spiritual realm could be
perceived in matter and through which it could interact with matter. Prof. Popp is convinced that also the
macroscopic dissipative structures, which where discovered by the nobel-laurate Iliya Prigogine are a possibility
to transform an implicite order into the manifestation of SpaceTimeMatter. Basically the dissipative structures of
Prigogine are nothing else than macroscopic quantumstates. Like this the same principle of the uncertainty-
relation of Werner Heisenberg which gives consciousness the chance to enter into physics reappears in the
macroscopic quantumstates of a coherent biophoton-field.

International Symposium on Bio-Physics

Last week I attended a very interesting international symposium on Biophysics in Neuss, which was organized
by the International Institute for Biophysics founded by Prof. Popp. In his introductory lecture I asked him
exactly this question and his answer was very clear. This new developement in Biophysics will lead to the
introduction of the irreducible consciousness into biology and a completely new understanding of the nature and
the science of life and living systems, which most prominent feature is consciousness and a teleological
behaviour.

Prof. Lipkinds lecture about the vitalistic tabu in biology.

The most interesting lecture was given by one professor of virology from Israel who also attended that
conference in Arizona about consciousness within science and who is a desciple of the famous Alexander
Gurwitsch. He explained very sharply how in nowadays biology there is a verry strong tabu. Physicists can
openly declare themselves to be spiritually inspired and speak about the interaction of spirit and matter and even
us words like world-mind or universal spirit without loosing their name. But if a biologist expresses sympathy
for the concepts of the vitalists or presents vitalistic opinions he is imedialtly considered to be out of the
scientific community. It is considered to be anti-scientific or at best mystical. Even nowadays it is a very strong
tabu. The definition of vitalism can be given as follows: Living processes can not be reduced competely to the
known laws of physics. He proposed to add the quality of an object to be aware of it`s own state to the
commonly accepted epistomological frame of modern science which includes properties like mass, charge,
momentum aso. He considered consciousness to be so important for the vitalistic theory out of two reasons. The
first is the presence of free will in living systems and the second is that consciousness connects the basic
biological processes by the manifestation of intention and other features. Science has to deal not only with a
explanation of a third person perspective of reality but should also consider the presence of a first person
perspective which creates a basic assymetry in our scientific description. Like this he formulated the real enigma
of science: How does a system become aware of itself?
With this new field of research in science and the new perspectives on the epsitomology of science a great
chance is created to integrate most essential features of reality into science which have been neglected until now.

Expereinces of the mystics and saints

Another field of hints for the non-material existence of the self are the collected experiences of mystics and
transcendentalists form all different times and cultures. In all cultures we find these mystics who did not
approach the phenomenon of the self in a theoretical way like we do now but from inside by the agency of their
own experience. They did the inner experiment to find out what was their real identity, what was their real self, if
they had an existence beyond matter, beyond their body. All of them made the experience in their meditation,
that they were different from their body, that they had a conscious identity beyond the body and also that they
had a conscious identity beyond their material mind. We can compare the experiences from saintly persons and
from mystics from all cultures and all different ages and we will find this overwhelming agreement:
consciousness has no material basis but is a purely spiritual phenomenon which is the very essence of our
eternal, immortal self.

Spiritual scriptures

These saints developed a complete spiritual science about the self and the evolution of consciousness which we
can study by reading the books which were written by some of them. Especially in the Vedic tradition of ancient
India but also in other traditions like the Kabbala we find a profound knowledge about spiritual subject matters
which can be verified by a sincere person who follows a certain process of self-realization. The Nobel-laureate
Prof. B.D. Josephson expresses the desire to introduce these processes in the training of future scientists. They
should follow a process which develops their consciousness so that they could study this kind of phenomena by
direct experience. On the first world conference for the synthesis of science and religion 1986 in Bombay he
said:
"These investigations would differ from common scientific investigations in an important aspect. A great part of
the research would result in knowledge which is not new, but it would just confirm what the mystics of different
spiritual traditions have already said before. The reason for this is, that spiritual science is already highly
developed. Sources like the Vedas or the Kabbala make detailed statements about the regions which we have to
explore and a scientist who tries to discover these regions will mainly not discover new territory."
The last source of information I want to mention are the spiritual scriptures which we find in all different
cultures. In our European cultures as well as in the Asiatic or South- American cultures we find ancient
scriptures which try to tell us, that we have an eternal identity which is spiritual and does not depend on any
material arrangement for its existence. Our nature is consciousness. The body is always changing and finally has
to die, whereas consciousness is observing all these changes and is not really influenced by all this essentially. It
changes from body to body and accepts newer and newer material identifications until the self realizes its true
identity.

Conclusion of the evidences

If we put all these fields together we have more than strong evidence for our hypothesis of a non-material
conscious self and we find a lot of information for the foundations of a spiritual science which tries to discover
the territory of the self and its own reality. We got evidence from empirical experiments, how consciousness
influenced physical events like a random generator. We also got hints from quantum-mechanics that
consciousness may play an important role in the measuring process and in the control of the brain. From
neurophysiology we got evidence that consciousness might control its brain through the quantum-level of the
neural functions like excitations. Stronger evidences were available in the field of investigations of near death
experiences and reincarnation. And finally we dared to shortly enter the realm of spiritual culture by looking at
the experiences of saints and mystics and the spiritual scriptures of their cultures.
We mainly try to work on the basis of the Vedic knowledge which is written down in Sanskrit language and
deals with all different aspects of human knowledge. We try to learn from these sources about consciousness,
matter and their interaction and relationship and to translate this knowlegde also into the language of modern
science and to get new impulses for the advancement of modern science.

Foundations of a spiritual science

At this place I would like to demonstrate to you, how we want to create an inspired science. This inspired
science has two directions. One descends from above and one rises from below. From below we have empirical
knowledge and experience of nature which has to be distinguished from the modern empirical method, which
establishes a very tricky dialogue with nature.

Dailogue with nature and it`s motivation

Using the modern method, scientists try to trick nature so that it reveals to them its most confidential secrets and
they try to find knowledge which will help them to control nature and finally exploit it. We are not interested in
this kind of knowledge. Our method should be the method of naturally naive observation, which transforms
consciousness in such a way that it becomes aware of the essential nature of an object. If we want to understand
life, we cannot apply a method which kills the object of investigation. If we want to understand nature we have
to be able to percieve its life. If we want to understand consciousness we have to understand our own conscious
nature and to investigate the phenomenon equally on this level.

Theodor Schwenk`s proposal

Theodor Schwenk, a very successful researcher of currents in liquids formulated this idea very nicely in his book
"The Sensitive Chaos": Through naturally naive observation of wind and water our thinking transforms and
becomes appropriate to understand life.

Which kind of knowledge are we looking for?

The question is, which kind of knowledge we are looking for. Are we looking for truth and for a knowledge
which helps us to live in this world in harmony or are we looking for a knowledge to dominate nature? Hans
Primas said in the same six theses I have already mentioned that the common scientific method will not lead us
to truth or knowledge for orientation but to a knowledge of domination. We want to calculate nature and by this
control we want to exploit nature for our goals. Science always means a dialogue with nature. We ask questions,
and the answers we get depend on the motivation with which we ask the questions.
Imagine somebody would ask you if you had some valuables in your house and if you were sometimes absent
from your house in the evening or if you had an alarm system. If somebody would ask us in this way we might
not necessarily be inspired to give him true answers especially if we do not know that person. We may suspect
an unfavourable motivation behind these questions. In a similar way, our approach to nature asking embarrassing
questions may only lead to a certain kind of knowledge. This may not be the truth.

Weizsäckers "Erkenntnis ohne Liebe"

In this regard I want to read one quotation from C.F. v. Weizsäcker to you which I appreciate very much. He is a
very famous philosopher and physicist from Germany. He said, "Humanity undertook a great risk with modern
science to answer this question: Erkenntnis (knowledge) without love. But real Erkenntnis is always loving
Erkenntnis and if there is no love there is no truth in it." This is a very important sentence because it implies a
relationship to the object of Erkenntnis completely different from what we find in the methodology of modern
science and philosophy. How can we love the neutrons, electrons and galaxies which constitute our view of
nature? How can we establish this relationship of loving Erkenntnis with nature? Which understanding of nature
is expressed by this statement? Later I will come back to this question. In this connection I want to speak about
an alternative science in Europa which has already been developed by Viktor Schauberger and others. Tomorrow
we will see and hear more about this approach to nature and how we will try to connect it with the information
from the Vedic scriptures.

Spiritual source of knowledge

But the inspired science for which we are looking is so inspired by having another important source of
Erkenntnis which actually gives life to the empirical direction. This source is spiritual knowledge which comes
down from the spiritual platform to that platform on which we try to create this new science. These are sources
of knowledge which are not empirical by nature but give us information about possible experiences which are
presently beyond the range of our senses. These may be holy scriptures or traditional knowledge which is present
in old spiritual traditions and to bring this knowledge down by processes of spiritual realization, which help us to
realize this spiritual knowledge through our own experience. The Vedic tradition offers different paths of yoga
for the scientific realization of this knowledge. The inspired science which we are looking for exists between
these two directions so that the process of perceiving nature directly meets the realized spiritual knowledge on a
practical platform of experience and knowledge.

I Ging and the genetic code

I would like to give the example of a physicist from America, Katya Walter, who did this regarding the
traditional knowledge of the Taoist tradition. She connected this knowlege about the ancient oracle I Ging with
the modern knowledge about the structure of the genetic code. She could draw very interesting conclusions by
the comparison of these two kinds of knowledge, which may help to understand better how the platform of the
chemical structure of our life is connected to the mental platform of our thinking and experiencing the world.
She describes in her book, how these two aspects of human knowledge may be connected through the principles
of deterministic chaos.
Hertz`s theory of perception

Let us now consider how we experience the reality of the world. Heinrich Hertz was thinking about this and he
described that while perceiving the world we actually create a picture of this world within our mind, which we
identify with the reality itself. These pictures are called Hertzian pictures. The pictures are created by the three
basic functions of consciousness. We cannot understand consciousness within a mechanistic model but the
functions of consciousness can be represented in such a picture. There is the perceiving function of
consciousness which is the passive function or the receptiveness. The active function of consciousness is called
the executing function of consciousness and it produces the desires or intentions. This is called spontaneity. But
between the active and the passive function of consciousness functions rationality which connects perception and
reaction to the perception with each other - the thinking function of consciousness. Together they create a picture
of reality and by the unity of all these functions, the cognitive function of consciousness identifies this picture
with reality. These three functions of consciousness cannot be defined separately. They can only be defined in
relation to each other. Heinrich Hertz defined each science as such a picture of reality.

Validity of the pictures

According to Heinrich Hertz such a picture is called a valid picture, if the logical consequences of these pictures
according to the process of our thinking result in another picture which corresponds again to reality in the sense
that we can identify it with the reality we perceive. This means that the conclusions our mind draws from a
picture of reality is again a picture of reality. This implies that there is a certain correspondence between nature
and our mind. Nature has certain laws according to which it evolves and our mind has a certain way of
processing its pictures. If these two processes correspond to each other we can speak about a valid picture of
reality.

The space cone

Now I would like to present to you a diagram of space which I call the space-cone. Because it is a graphical
representation of space the consciousness which is not extended in material time and space can only appear as a
point in this diagram. But consciousness influences, structures or generates space by its three functions which are
respresented here as three directions. On this level these three functions of consciousness generate the space in
which every science exists.

The science-space

The three dimensions or directions of this space are the axioms which are generated by the perceiving function,
the terms which are generated by the executive function and the laws which are postulated by the thinking
function of consciousness. Thus we can understand science as a picture of reality, which has this basic structure.

Clarity of the pictures

Hertz also defines the term of the clarity of a picture. The rule is that a picture is considered to be clearer than
another picture if it describes more essential relations of the objects of reality. We can restrict our picture of
reality to basic relations of the objects of our perception like their distance or their relative mass but we can also
add other relations to our picture. As we may have the relation of distance, this relation generates a certain space
with a certain mesurement. But we also have other relations as I may like you very much but you may not like
me at all. These relations generate another space with a different measurement and other qualities. Likewise
different relation-spaces are generated in which we find ourselves. Thus we can compare different Hertz pictures
of reality and converge at a limit-picture HP-lim which contains all essential relations of reality. Such a picture is
not different from reality anymore and so we come from theory to a direct experience of reality.
The upper part of the diagram represents the inner space or the space of consciousness, which we can identify
with our mind or our subtle body with its perceptions, desires, intentions, feelings and thoughts. But today we do
not want to deal with psychology but with natural science.

The outer space as an object of science

The outer space is represented here in the lower part of the picture and is also structured by the basic functions of
consciousness. According to Emmanuel Kant space appears as the Vorstellungsform (manner of imagination) of
the executive function which means that we imagine our intentions in relation to the outside reality in the form
of space. Time is the principle of order for the perceiving function and matter connects both time and space in
the form of laws which correspend to the rational function of consciousness. In this analogy we derive the
structure of the outer space which is divided in time, space and matter from the space of consciousness. Time
and space are the poles of this space and matter is in between these two poles as a mediator. Prof. Lange, a
contemporary philosopher, called the unity of space, time and matter the existential time. This existential time
corresponds to the cognitive function of consciousness.
Before going deeper into the explanation of the material aspect of this diagram which will lead us to natural
science I want to work a little more on the differentiation of the concept of consciousness.

Differentiation of consciousness. The analogy of the book

Let us consider the anology of a book. If you read a book something quite astonishing happens. The book is a
physical object of our experiences, which has a certain weight and is filled with pages on which symbols are
printed in a regular way, but by reading the book I become conscious of the contents or the meaning of the
book. I become aware of what is written in the book and everybody who knows how to read may become
conscious of the same meaning or sense. The question is now, if this sense or meaning of the book is contained
in the physical object of the book. Obviously not because somebody who can only read the Chinese language or
who is not able to read at all cannot extract the meaning of the book by any physical measurement he performs.
By looking at its physical properties or investigating the statistical distribution of the different letters in the text
we will not get any hints of the meaning of the text. How do we experience the meaning or sense while reading
the book?

The author of the book

If we think a little about this example we will recognize that we forgot an important factor in this picture. If we
just consider the relation of the book and its reader and the physical process of reading the book we will not be
able to understand how the meaning is generated. We have to consider the author of the book also with whom we
as the reader are connected by a certain level of language and consciousness. We have to have the same
language-consciousness as the author and we have to associate with all the words he uses the same meanings to
understand him properly. Otherwise the reading- process could not generate the meaning in our consciousness.
But by reading the book we establish a communication with the author through the medium of the book and like
this the meaning of the book is revealed in our consciousness.

An anology for perception

This is an anology for the perception of matter. We as an individual conscious self try to experience matter, but
how do we perceive matter? How do we perceive its meaning? By meaning I do not understand the physical
properties of matter like momentum and mass but its sensual qualities which we actually perceive with our
senses like taste, smell, form, sound and touch. Take for example a rose, which has a certain smell. But this
quality of rose-smell has no foundation in the physical properties of the rose matter. How do we perceive the
quality of the smell of the rose? This is a classical philosophical problem. How are the material forms translated
into conscious experience of these subjective qualities or impressions like pleasurable smell? This question is
analogous to the question how the meaning of the written text is generated through the reading-process. In this
analogy we also forgot the author or the common level of consciousness which connects all the conscious beings
and which exists behind manifested matter and on which level the relationship of material form and its sensual
meaning is established or coded. This is not a strong analogy and it is not complete but it helps us very much to
understand the process of perception. We have to think a lot about these parallels in order to decide if we accept
this analogy as a valid one. Thus this we can complete our picture. We do not have to just deal with the
individual consciousness but also with the universal consciousness which connects all the individual conscious
selves with each other and establishes their relationship with the dull material forms.

The complete picture: Universal consciousness

Like our individual consciousness pervades our material body and establishes the relation of body and self the
universal consciousness or universal observer pervades the whole cosmic matter and establishes the realationship
of matter and spirit in general. That all the individual conscious selves have similar capacity of perception and
consciousness is guarantied because we are all part of the universal consciousness which is ultimately not
different from matter. Our bodies are connected through this material energy of which they are a part and
through which they communicate with each other. But if we also exist on a spiritual platform we have to be
related or connected on this platform also and this connection must be of the same nature like ourselves. It has to
be conscious which means that it is a conscious self either. This universal self is called the paramatma or
supersoul in the Vedic terminology. The functions of our consciousness are parts of the universal functions of
the universal conscious self.

God, Nature and Soul

We do not generate the basic categories of reality by our infinitesimal functions of consciousness but these
categories are generated by the conscious functions of the universal self or by god. We communicate with the
universal self through the medium of matter. Or simply formulated we experience god in our present condition
through nature. Presently we perceive the reality through matter but also the possibility of direct experience
exists. We can directly perceive the spiritual reality without perceiving matter or we can perceive it through
nature, if nature becomes transparent for the Erkenntnis of god.

Again Weizsäcker

I am sure that Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker was speaking about this, when he was speaking about Erkenntnis
without love. How can you have love for the objects of our senses if you do not see the personal or conscious
aspect of reality. Love means relationship or exchange between persons and the personal dimension of existence
is only manifest on the level of consciousness. This means that we have to recognize the conscious background
or origin of nature and then establish this loving relationship with god if we want to create a spiritual science.
"Earth, Water, Fire and Air" - Metaphors for Processes in Physics, Biology and Consciousness
(Scientific and Medical Network; Schloß Weißenstein 1996)

Abstract:
On the basis of vedic concepts the terms earth, water, fire, air and ether are introduced as metaphors for
processes which manifest the material structures as well as the mental perception of those structures. They
provide a holistic understanding of processes and structures in quantumphysics, chemistry, morphology of living
organisms, medicine and other fields of science based on the fundamental functions of consciousness.

1. Matter, life and consciousness

In his book "Mind and Matter" Erwin Schrödinger points out, that the basic problems of modern science arise
due to the Cartesian dualism of matter and mind which is expressed in the attempt to describe the material
properties of an objective world independent of any conscious subject. If this concept of objectifying all
scientific statements is combined with the claim for completeness of the scientific worldview we arrive at the
problem of finding our very conscious self to be part of the objective external world, which is actually a
construction of our mind from what we experience through our senses. This has two important consequences:
1) The world of our scientific theory is colorless, silent, has no smell and no sensual qualities at all.
2) The search for the point where matter and consciousness interact has to remain unsuccessful.
Modern physics draws the picture of an unconscious, unanimated substance, called matter, which might fit into a
mechanistic mathematical model of reality.
In opposition to this understanding, this paper will briefly deal with a few aspects of three theses concerning life,
matter and consciousness.

i) matter and mind have a common conscious origin, which is the ultimate reality
ii) matter is a life-process (not life a material process)
iii) energy is life-energy and thus always subject-related

To overcome the problems we have to consider matter and its perception as two aspects of one process in which
the original conscious energy evolves in time to manifest the objects of our perception as well as their perception
simultaneously. Different evolutionary steps of this process can be identified with the classical elements of the
alchemy of the Vedas, which are useful metaphors for even more complex processes in biology and medicine.
Important philosophical, psychological and linguistic questions also arise in this connection but here I would
like to focus on basic physical concepts.

2. Vedic Metaphysics

In Vedic metaphysics reality has a manifested and an unmanifested aspect, which in modern terms can be
related to an implicit and an explicit order. Order is due to intelligence which is considered to be a function of
consciousness. The underlying implicit order of the physical as well as the mental reality is called buddhi and is
conscious by nature. In the element buddhi polar vibrations inhere. If these vibrations refer to the conscious
whole they appear as the objects of perception; if they refer to the individual conscious self they appear as the
perception itself.

3. Foundations of Vedic Physics and Quantum Mechanics

Diagram 1 starts with these vibrations constituting the etherical space. They carry information and its meaning as
well, which refers to the quality of its potential perception through the senses of a conscious observer. According
to the structure of our five senses this meaning will appear in the categories of sound, touch, form, taste and
smell.
The original polarity of an implicit and explicit order manifests again on the level of information, which can be
devided into actual and potential information. This diagram shows an interpretation of the information
processing structure in terms of modern quantum physics. Other interpretations could be given on various
different levels like electromagnetic fields of organisms (biophotons), neuralnet-pattern-reconstructions (Mitya
Perus), Prigogines dissipative structures etc.
Actual information arises as the result of an actualization of the wave function and the potential information
refers to the steadily evolving wave function of a physical system. To derive actual information from potential
information an actualization has to be carried out which may be identified with the subtle quality of the element
air or touch. Touch as the subtle quality of the element air may be simultaneously identified with the meaning of
this actualization which can be analyzed in terms of the sensual qualities of the concerned elements - sound,
touch, form, taste and smell.
Information and its meaning appear as the two qualities carried by the subtle vibration (sound) carried by the
Vedic element ether. The potential information represented by the wave function corresponds to the element air
which cannot be measured and consists of all the higher hierachical influences on our perceived system. The
potential information does not strongly determine the behaviour of a physical system, because each mechanistic
description like that of the Schrödinger-equation or that which will be offered by Vedic physics must neglect
nonmechanistic influences like free will as a non causal conscious decision, the complexities of the law of karma
and the will of God.
The actually measured quantum-state fits into a classical description of the physical reality in three-dimensional
space as a continuum of matter, fields and particles as described by FVP. In this continuum the element air acts
as an interruptor controlled by the informational platform of the Vedic ether.

4. Foundations of Vedic Science

According to the Vedic knowledge the three-dimensional physical reality is constituted by the three elements
which are called earth, water and fire. Matter is the dynamic surface structure of time and space. Time is
perceived through fire and space through earth. Water is the middle agent between this two elements. Time
controls the process which manifests the three-dimensional space via its form of the cakra or spiral. Fire
corresponds to the one-dimensinal linear movement, water to the two-dimensional spiral movement and earth to
the three-dimensional double-rotative movement, which manifests the full space-time-matter. From this structure
of three phases of movement and the fourth element air as the controlling influence various different structures
of nature can be derived:
i) the periodic table of the chemical elements
ii) the basic categorization of the elementary particles
iii) the basic forms of particles and orbital structures in physics
iv) basic cosmological dynamics
v) a new concept of evolution
vi) the forms and dynamics of biological systems

In the medical knowledge of the Ayurveda the metaphors of the elements are helpful on various levels to
understand the physical and mental constitution of a human being and in the energetic body the same dynamic
principles can be analyzed in terms of the movement of prana. To develop a mathematical formalism for this
morpho-energetic structures a mathematics of qualities has to be created, which understands the quantitative
aspects of numbers as well as their quality or meaning.

Literature

Stapp, Henry P., A Report on the Gaudiya Vaisnava Vedanta Form of Vedic Ontology, Bhaktivedanta Institute
(1995); german: in Tattva Viveka 3/4, INES-Verlag (1995)
Schmieke, Marcus, Das letzte Geheimnis - Naturwissenschaft und Bewußtsein, INES-Verlag (1995)
Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 1-12, Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (1988)
Quantumphysics as a Bridge between Mechanistic and Nonmechanistic Science.
(Scientific and Medical Network; De Voerde 1996)

Abstract:
The mechanistic concept of science is characterized by a sharp seperation of the physical and the mental aspect
of reality. It also rejects the existence of intelligent factors, which are not reducible to mechanistic systems with
exclusively physical properties. Therefore mechanistic science tries to understand life mainly on the level of
molecular biology.
Quantumphysics offers a description of reality which could include the mental realm as well as the physical
realm and describes a holistic universe in which the introduction of irreducible personalities is no metaphysical
addition.

The personal bridge

Before I start with a more formal diskussion I want to speak something more personal from my experience of
quantumphysics as a bridge. When I learned quantumphysics spiritual questions arose in my mind, especially the
question about the nature of consciousness. If one wants to deal properly with modern quantumphysics and take
it as more than just a tool of calculation, which makes predictions about material systems, but as a theory that
describes reality, one has to deal with consciousness. One can not answer the question „What is matter?“ if one
does not answer the question „What is consciousness?“. Even the greatest physicists, who were thinking a lot
about quantumphysics, could not answer this question. Therfore I was looking for other means to deal with the
question „What is consciousness?“. Like this quantumphysics served me as a bridge to spirituality, which starts
with the question about the nature of consciousness. That time I dedicated my life to spiritual studies and
practice in the vedic tradition, studying the ancient sanskrit-scriptures from India. Now after almost ten years
quantumphysics serves me as a bridge again, but this time the way back. This time it helps me to combine the
spiritual knowledge which I learned and experienced in the last years with the modern scientific worldview. It
helps me to find the parallels between both systems of thought and knowledge and to exchange inspirations or
impulses from one to the other.

The principles of limitation and touch

In the vedic ontology ahankara or ego is the basic principle of creation. In the terms of phyiscs it corresponds to
the principle of limitation or creating a border. Life uses this principle for creating a cell, which puts a membran
around itself, so that a distinction between inside and outside can be made. To devide one in two requires to
draw a line or to create a border. The basic substance/nonsubstance with which vedic ontology starts the process
of creation is a field which is neither matter nor mind but the origin of both. I like to call it a matter-
consciousness-field. Its nature is activity because it is under the direct influence of time. If the active processes
of this unified field are limited by creating borders one comes to quantumphysics. If one for example starts with
an dynamic process like an oszillation which propagets as a wave and if one limitates it by creating reflecting
borders around it, standing waves are produced. If the wavelenghts of the vibration geometrically fits into the
limited space a stationary structure or wavepattern comes about, which is called a standing wave. This stationary
structures are called the quantumstates of the system, whereas other cases, in which the wavelenght does not fit
in the borders do not create visible stationary systems. From this consideration one can derive the
quantumconditions which relate the wavelenght of the vibration to the geometry of the borders. The stationary
systems or quantumstates are isolated, because between them (for other realtions of wavelength and the
proportions of space) no other stationary sytems exist.
If you devide one in two by creating a border, another important principle comes about. The separated parts have
to either touch each other or there has to be a third object in between. In this case the intermediate part touches
both of the other parts. The importance of touch has allready been recognized by some scientists and
philosophers. Gerhard Häberli wrote a book called „Die Berührung“5 (the touch), in which he tries to reduce all
the laws of phyisics to the geometrical principle of touch. The philosopher Wild explains in an article about the
nature of time, that touch is the basic principle which is neccessary to construct three dimensional space. There is
a certain limit of bringing different objects, whisch coexist in space, closer to each other. In the moment they
touch each other, they can not be brought closer to each other or the inner structure has to be changed by their
interaction. Therfore the individulity of an object which is esssential for quantumphysics is very much related to
the principle of touch. Touch is a quantized principle. Either two objects touch each other or they do not. It
represents the quantized aspect of reality.

The sequence of the elements

5
Gerhard Häberli, Die Berührung, COSAT-Verlag, 1986, Düsseldorf
In vedic philosophy the evolution of the material elements is explained. Under the influence of the power of
limits, which devide the matter-consciousness-field, it becomes transformed into the element ether, the level of
information, language and meaning. From ether the element touch arises, which resolves the informational
platform in a binary discrete way. Touch is the subtle form of the element air (prana), which is very much
connected with the wavefunction of quantumphysics. From air comes form or geometrical space. This
corresponds to the insight, that touch underlies the manifestation of space. Touch corresponds to the discrete
events in quantumphysics, the quantumjumps, because they connect the quantumstates and separate them
simultaniously. Touch is also very much connected with consciousness. This aspect of touch will be dealt with in
the more formal discussion in the end of this article.

The basic polarity

The polarity of creating a border and touching each other again is a basic feature of matter, consciousness and
life. Life is based on this polarity. It starts by creating a border like a membran around itself. By this means
inside and outside are distinguished and the individuality and stability of the system is acomplished. Then the
system has to open up again and comunicate with its environment, so that it can create another bigger border and
a broader hole. Like this life developes more ande more complexe systems with a higher degree of
interconnectedness. Teillhard de Chardain experssed this basic principle of evolution as „higher existence means
higher interconnectedness“. Life exists in this polarity of identity, individuality and isolation on the one side and
comunication and the ability of integration on the other side. This polarity corresponds to the polarity of ego or
limitation and touch.

Touch in the biofeedback therapy

The principle of touch is nicely illustrated by a medical application. One and a half year ago I published some of
this ideas in a book called „The last enigma - Science and Consciousness.“ When Richard Breuer, an energy-
therapist, read the chapter about „vibration and the principle of touch“ he phoned me excitedly and expressed the
similarity of this ideas with his direct experiences. He developed a vibrating percussing massage which is based
on the perception of the fingertips. With each touch of his fingers on the skin of the patient he perceives the
actual state of the touched organs or the relatd bioenergetic systems. In the touch he perceives the quality of the
touched in a subtle way. In his therapy the quality of the energies of the body is perceived by the therapist
through vibrating touch. This corresponds to the vedic understanding, which describes touch as the main
principle of information transfere. Exactly the same happens in quantumphysics in the collapse or actualization
of the wavefunction. The collapse of the wavefunction may correspond to the principle of touch, whereas the
wavefunction corresponds to the element air. The collapse is a transfere of information between a sender and a
receiver. This will be the topic of the following formal discussion of the topic. Now we work together and we try
to develope a „Physics of Qualities“ as a scientific model to describe the dynamics of subtle or consciousness
related energy. The main difference of this new approach will be, that it includes the qualities of energies to
determine their dynamics.

Physics of Quality

The quality of an energy or an object is only defined through its relationship to consciousness and the connected
personalities. The world may be without qualities if it is cosidered to be just for itself. But if the world has any
relevance for personalities who perceive it and act in it, it posesses qualities. It becomes green and yellow,
beautiful or even good and bad if we think in this categories. In the worldview of mechanistic science
consciousness, personalities or any intelligent influence from outside have no standing at all, and therefore it can
not deal with qualities. We may describe the light in terms of frequencies, brightness, velocity and so on, but we
do not understand what is meant by this in the terms of our direct experience. If we want to come to a
nonmechanistic science which can also deal with qualities of reality we have to reintroduce consciousness and
personality into science.

Mechanistic and nonmechanistic science

The term “mechanistic science“ characterizes the majority of modern scientific views and models of reality. The
term mechanistic refers to the theoretical system of modern physics, which is based on measurement and
calculation. The fundamental premise of physics is, that all phenomena are produced by an underlying stuff
called matter. The mechanistic worldview considers matter to be the ultimate reality. It does not consider any
influences on the physical reality, which act from outside into this closed system of matter. Physicists have
developed different theoretical descriptions of matter, and they still have to agree on a final theory, yet all of
their theories share the following two features:
(1) Matter can be represented by numbers that correspond directly to experimental measurable properties.
(2) The behaviour of matter can be described by mathematical expressions called the „laws of nature“. 6
The modern scientific worldview is essentially mathematical, and to a person steeped in this way of seeing
things, the mathematical abstractions of physical theories seem more real than the tangible phenomena they are
used to describe.
The consequences of this premise become especially visible concerning the questions „What is life?“, „What is
the origin of life?“, „What is the mind?“ and „What is the origin of the universe?“.
- A living organism is described as a combination of material elements, which arises from earlier states by purely
physical processes.
- The mind appears merely as a name for certain patterns of electrochemical interactions in the brain.
- The universe evolves from random processes of an underlying field, which is often referred to as „nothingness“
or just „nothing“.
Therefore mechanistic science reduces persons to mere subpatterns of an inherently meaningless universal
pattern in which psychological terms such as „purpose“ or „meaning“ correspond to nothing more than patterns
of behaviour.
In this article I do not want to speak about all the consequences and problems of mechanistic science but
concentrate on the possibility of building a bridge to a scientific nonmechanistic worldview by using the ideas of
modern quantummechanics. In this regard quantummechanics may serve as a means to introduce the mind and
consciousness as an irreducible aspect of reality and to understand its relationship to nonphysical personalities.
From this new perspective life will be understood to be more than a complex system of molecular interactions.

Time and Experience in Quantummechanics

Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker describes quantummechanics as the most general theory which makes predictions
about future events7. As such it fullfills the qualifications for a mechanistic theory of the physical reality. In his
system of an axiomatic foundation of quantumphysics the first premise is the distinction of past and future. The
past consists of facts whereas the future consists of possibilities. This distinction corresponds to our experience
and Weizsäcker considers it to be a precondition of experience. In the mathematical model of quantummechanics
it implies the term „probability“ related to the possibility of future events.
Events happen in the present. The events of the past are accessible as facts to us through our memory or other
means. The past is already fixed. It is a fact. The facts are the present form of the past (Gegenwartsform).
As opposed to the past the future is still open and offers different possibilities or alternatives. She represents a
continuous spectrum of possible events, out of which some will be realized, whereas others will not.
In the present one event takes place. In the present one event is chosen from the continuum of possibilities,
which then becomes a fact and belongs to the past.
In the present the continuum of possibilities is transformed continuously into the discrete spectrum of the past.
The time can therefore be defined as the process, which continuously transforms the continuum of possibilities
into the discrete spectrum of facts. This process is the present and increases the set of facts.
The present seems to be constituted by a multitude of events. Actually present refers to awareness of the moment
and as this it is one event. As the action of becoming conscious to someone it is one conscious wholeness and is
represented in quantumphysics as the actualization of the wavefunction.
Classical physics postulates space as an order for all physical objects and considers time to be a passive
parameter of order. Quantumphysics reverses this picture. Classical physics understood the essence of the
objects to be their extension in space and all physical transformations where theoretically reversible. The being
of matter in its spacial extension was in the center of attention.
In quantumphysics the three dimensional space of our experience can be derived from the logics of temporal
propositions, which accepts the asymmetry of time and the becoming of physical reality as a precondition of
experience. According to this view the irreversibility of time is based in the conscious experience itself. This is
not considered in the view of classical physics.
Quantumphysics is based on the term „probability“ and introduces chance into physics. The crucial question ist,
what choses the fact from the continuum of possibilities. It cannot be done by the laws of physics or the physical
mechanisms, otherwise there would be no difference between the past and the future or the facts and the
possibilities. This choice happens in the present through the process of time and is identified with chance by
modern mechanistic science. In this way they identify time, chance and present which is a consequence of
incomplete knowledge about the underlying causes. Exactly this is the original definition of chance: It is the
result of incomplete knowledge about the exact causes.

6
Richard L. Thompson, Mechanistic and Nonmechanistic Science, An Investigation Into the Nature Of
Consciousness and Form, Bala Books 1981, p. 1
7
Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker in: Erhard Scheibe, The Role of Experience in Science, Berlin 1988 (de
Gruyter) and
Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker, Der Mensch in seiner Geschichte, DTV (1993) München, p. 92 ff.
The Observer Effect in Quantummechanics

Eugen Wigner proposed that the actualization of the wave function is carried out by the consciousness of the
observer, which finishes the observation or measurement. Others have argued that there is no theoretical or
empirical evidence or necessity for such an assumption.8
Actually there are a number of experiments which investigate the observer effect in quantumphysics and which
give evidence for Wigner´s hypothesis.
One example is a series of experiments carried out by Robert Jahn et all at Princeton University. These
experiments turned out to show robust results, which are repeatable in the usual range of psychological
experiments.9
More recent result from Princeton even show a significant yet very small observer effect, if the observed signals,
which where caused by a real alpha-decay, had been saved on a computer disc for three months before they were
displayed to the observer.10 These astonishing results where considered to be serious by some physicists like
Henry Stapp from Berkeley, who suggested a slight modification of the mathematics of quantumphysics to
explain such observer effects, which act backwards in time. 11
These results are in perfect agreement with our considerations about time. As long as nobody observes the result
of any physical process, it belongs still to the continuum of possible events, which we call future. Even if the
computer recognized the physical process by memorizing it on a disc, the wave function of the whole system
seems to be in a state which is open to the observer effect. This seems to reject the thesis that the reduction of the
wavefunction is already carried out by the contact of the quantumsystem with a macroscopic device.
From these results we can draw three conclusions:
1) The understanding of the progression of time in quantumphysics depends on the knowledge or content of
consicousness of all potential observers.
2) Physical events only take place, if a choice of the facts from the possibilities takes place. This choice
corresponds to the event, that a person becomes conscious about it. This does not answer the question, who
chooses.
3) Time is the process, which selects the facts from the possibilities, but it is also the process of conscious
experience of an event by a person.
These conclusions point out the neccessity to consider the knowledge of persons and the structure of their
experience to construct a consistent picture of physical reality.

Personality and Knowledge

Personality can be defined as an expanding body of knowledge, connected with an inherent power or energy,
which is characteristic of this person and generates the continous expansion. This individual, characteristic
energy can be called „his personality“. In general a person is a knower of such a body of knowledge. This
definition is much more abstract and much broader than our general idea of a conditioned personality.
According to Henry Stapp the introduction of irreducible personalities into physics does not introduce another
inscrutable element into the theory, because this inscrutable aspect is already represented by the question „What
chooses, what happens really in the individual quantum event?“.
He writes: „The basic point is that GVV suggests enlarging the set of mathematically described elements of
„physical“ theory to include the objective forms of the sensible and perceptual objects of direct knowing,
together with those aspects of Absolute knowledge that are represented by the wave function of quantum theory.
The inscrutable aspects of nature then get concentrated in the „personalities“ of various entities, which can be
seperated to some extent from the associated bodies of knowledge. Since in quantum theory we have in any case,
the inscrutable aspect represented by the unanswered question „What chooses what actually happens in the
individual quantum events?“ no additional inscrutability needs to be introduced into the theory by introducing
persons. Rather we have expanded the domain that is open to mathematical description by separating out the
knowledge of these persons, which in principle can be described independent of their „personalities“, which
remain outside the framework of our mathematical description. The uncontrolled stochastic elements in quantum
mechanics are naturally to be assigned to the uncontrolled and undescribed „personality“ factors of the GVV
ontology.“12

8
Walter von Lucadou, Wigner`s Friend Revitalized?, Springer Series in Synergetics, Vol. 63, Inside Versus
Outside
9
Jahn, R.G., Dunne, B.J., An REG Experiment with Large Data Base Capability, III: Operated Related
Anomalies, School of Engeneering/Applied Science, Princeton University 1985
10
Jahn, R., Y. Dobyns und B. Dunne, J. Sci. Expl. 5, 205 (1991); B.J. Dunne and R.G. Jahn, ibid. 6, 311 (1992)
11
Stapp, Henry P., Physical Review A, Volume 50 Nr. 1, July 1994, S. 18-21
12
Stapp, Henry P., Report on the Gaudiya Vaisnava Vedanta form of Vedic Ontology, Bhaktivedanta Institute,
1994, p. 45
Knowledge and Absolute Knowledge

In his analysis of the Vedic ontology in relationship to modern quantum theory Henry Stapp expresses his
understanding of the ontological meaning of the wave function: „The wave function of quantum theory, to the
extent that it represents not merely a tool of calculation for scientists, but also a theoretical representation of
some objective (externally existing) counterpart, is probably most aptly thought of as a representation of some
aspect of „absolute knowlege“. This wave function certainly does not represent „substance“, in the usual sense of
the word. It represents only probabilities, or propensities, or objective tendencies, for certain observation-type
events to occur. The probabilities for observation-type events to occur are more mind-like than substance-like in
character: they represent a quality of nature that is more akin to knowledge and expectations than to fixed
concrete reality. Also, the way that the wave function suddenly jumps to a new form (Collapse of the wave
packet) when an appropriate observation-type event occurs is a behaviour more characteristic of a change in
knowledge than a change in substance. Finally, the underlying notion of an observation-type event itself suggests
a change in knowledge. Quantum theory thus effectively converts the scientific image of the objective world
from that of the „giant machine“ of classical mechanics to that of an evolving body of absolute knowledge;
quantum theory, insofar as it is constructed to be more than just a set of mysterious rules of computation, can
quite reasonably be said to have brought the mind of God back into science, after its banishment by Descartes.“ 13
In this interpretation of quantummechanics physical reality is experienced in the exchange between the body of
absolute knowledge or the „mind of god“ and the individual sets of kowledge or the individual souls. The
actualization of the wavefunction corresponds to such a transfer of information or knowlege, which is a certain
vibrational excitation and simultanuously a transfer of a unit of meaning in form of a quantum. This meaning can
be experienced as the coordinated change of knowlege in the receiver and the sender. and absorption of a
particle, whereas the transmission takes place by a vibrating wave
For an atom this process takes place by the emission. Like this an atom jumps from one stable state to the other.
Knowlege and consciousness may even be present in the microworld.
For a human person this process can be experienced by the reception of an „idea of an object“, which changes
the state of mind of this person or its knowlege of the world.

Consequences for a nonmechanistic science

a) It enlarges the set of the matematically described features of science, because quantumphysics as understood
by Weizsäcker makes no difference between mental and physical events. He writes: „Quantumtheory is our
theory of mathematical prognoses. As far as I myself can become an object of my own realization, I should be
subject to quantumtheory.“14
Henry Stapp points out that Bohr`s classical description gives rise to many contradictions and paradoxes. Instead
of a classical representation of the observables numerical values of sensible qualities, including their perceivable
rates of change, could be appointed to the points of space.
In such a representation of material reality the mental part (subtle matter) would be represented in terms of 3-
dimensional arrays of quantified sensible qualities and the physical part (gross matter) would be represented in
terms of quantum concepts.

b) It overcomes the seperation of mind and matter. According to Weizsäcker quantumphysics defines matter on
the basis of „Gestalt“. It is allowed to assume, that „Gestalten“ are potentially conscious. Consciousness exists in
the form of possibilities (unconscious psyche) und in the „Gestalt“ of the factum.
According to Vedic ontology, which was investigated and reported about by Henry Stapp in the quoted article,
the underlying substance from which mind and matter evolves is a matter-consciousness-field, which has the
potentiality of manifesting matter as well as mind as two parallel processes. This field, called mahat tattva,
manifests as the individual mind in relationship to the individual consciousness and as the objective material
reality in relationship to the universal consciousness of God.

13
Stapp, Henry P., Report on the Gaudiya Vaisnava Vedanta form of Vedic Ontology, Bhaktivedanta Institute,
1994, p. 40
1414
Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker, Der Mensch in seiner Geschichte, DTV (1993) München, p. 97 ff.
c) It allows the influence of irreducible intelligence. The process of creation according to the mechanistic
worldview is taking place inside the polarity of chance and neccessity. According to the insights of
quantummechanics the process of creation is controlled by an implicite order, which represents an underlying
intelligence. This intelligence is guided by an unmanifest consciousness and works from inside a transcendental
personality. Henry Stapp describes this idea in the same article: „The purpose of this example is to bring out the
idea that we are considering the process of creation as a process occurring within the realm of absolute
knowledge, rather than within the realm of a conserved substance. We are adopting a point of view wherein the
totality is considered to be a coherent, personified expanding body of absolute knowledge endowed with the
power to control its own expansion, and specifically to produce (without diminishing Himself) offsprings
endowed with those specific portions of the potencies of the parent that are needed to perform certain portions of
the task of the parent.“
This model of creation begins with purposes of the Supreme person which become materially realized by a
hierarchy of processes that can become increasingly mechanical as one descends to the lower levels of
processing.

d) It connects the molecular level of life with a more subtle and holistic dimension of life which is in contact with
consciousness. The more subtle forms of gross matter like photons and the quantumvacuum are characterized by
a holism which is a specific consequence of quantummechanics.

e) It introduces personalities and their knowledge into science. By this the qualitative aspect of reality which is
only defined in the relationship of the physical with the personal aspect of existence becomes accessable to a
scientific description.
The qualitative aspect of nature is defined in regard to personalities` values and purposes. Therefore it is a
subjective aspect of reality. According to a subjectivistic interpretation of quantummechanics the objective and
the subjective aspect of reality are two polar features of nature which cannot be absolutely separated. This
approach may allow a new „physics of qualities“ to develop on the basis of energies subjective relationships to
personalities and consciousness.
A vedic model of the multidimensional universe based on consciousness
(Schloß Weißenstein 1997)

In vedic philosophy consciousness is considered to be the underlying reality. Inert unconscious matter is not
considered to be an independent substance but a form of covered consciousness. Mind and matter are two poles
of the basic polarity in this world. They are both generated by the influence of time from the underlying field of
consciousness, which is called mahat-tattva in sanskrt. The mahat-tattva is on the one hand the unmanifested
form of matter and on the other hand pure consciousness by nature. Therefor we will call it the matter-
consciousness-field. It is a dynamic combination of the two basic energies of the supreme: the unconscious
seperated energy of material space (pradhana) and the conscious energy (cit-sakti) which includes the individual
spiritual souls as well as the universal conciousness of the supreme person (god). Under the influence of eternal
time they interact which each other and create a dynamic surfacestructure with new qualities. This dynamic
sufacestructure is the mahat-tattva which manifests it`s internal aspect as mind and it`s external aspect as
matter. Therefor the material enegry which evolves from the mahat-tattva is a complex hierachical strucutre of
internal (conscious) and external spaces which interact with each other within the etheric space or field.
This etheric space evolves from the mahat-tattva if the dynamic processes and vibrations of this matter-
consciousness-field are limited. The principle of limitation, which creates borders and divides the one filed into
different areas with different qualities is called ahankara in sanskrt and refers to the principle of the material
ego. Under the influence of time it transforms the original field into an unlimited set of vibrations, which are
geomterically orderd. This vibration-space condenses into the etherical field. Further this field is transformed
step by step into a sequence of the five elements, which make up gross matter. This process of densification first
transforms the element ether into the element air, then air into fire, fire into water and finally water into earth,
which is the most dense form of matter. Parallely to this densification-process of external matter, the mind
evolves as the internal space of consciousness.
From a higher perspective both matter and mind are internal conscious space which refers to consciousness. The
individual mind refers to the individual consciousness of the spiritual soul, whereas the external matter refers to
the universal consiousness of the supreme being.

Individual consciousness and the consciousness of the supreme being pervade the whole material creation.
Through the subtle body individual consciousness is spread all over the material body of the living entity,
whereas the universal consciousness is the background of the whole material creation.
The notion, that consciousness is spread all over the material body means, that all over the body processes take
place, which connect the gross physical processes of the body and the senses with consciousness. According to
modern scientific investigations this processes seem to be connected with quantumeffects on different levels of
the physical system. Most of this models are quite complicated and can not be discussed in detail here. To give
an idea we will just briefly discuss a model of the Serbian Biophysicist Djuro Koruga, which was presented at an
international conference abaout cnsciousness in Belgrad 1995. In his paper he distinguishes between
subconsciouness, consciousness and selfconsciousness. Alltogehter they make up our conscious experiece, but
they are based on different hierachical levels of the physical system. On the deepest level, subconsciousness may
be connected with microtuble-water clusters: „On the quantum machanical level of microtuble-water clusters
interaction, the interior of the tube may provide electromagnetic-gravity waves coupling. On that level dynamics
of equilibrium gravity-electromagnetic state under environmental weak fields influence may change states of
subconsciousness and determine ist activities.“
On a more complexe level of neuronal interactions the sub-conscious processes may be condensed to conscious
experiences: „The parallel actions of many microtuble-clathrin interactions on synapses and dendrites by Golden
Mean oscillations (molecular wave functions) are organized in many interconnecting networks, giving a new
quality of inforrmation processing - consciousness.“
Finally Koruga suggests that „Coherent control of quantum dynamics of microtuble-water clusters inside the
tube may be the basis of self-consciousness.“
In Korugas model quantum-processes on three levels (molecular, cellular and brain) create three levels of
consciousness (sub-consciousness, consciousness and self-consciousness). This does not mean that cosciousness
has to be a product of physical processes, but that the physical and the mental aspect of reality are related to each
other through quantumprocesses on different levels. This idea is supported by the quality of quantumprocesses,
to have both material and mental characteristics like discussed in a previous chapter.
According to vedic philosophy quantum processes correspond to the element air and its subtle form touch. The
physical level of reality corresponds to the three spacial elements earth, water and fire, which make up all
continous physical processes and elementary particles. This physical level of reality is connected to the etherical
field which is the implicite order behind the material manifestation. The three-dimensional level of earth, water
and fire forms the multidimensional structure of the physical universe. Different dimenisonal levels of this
structure can be distinguished by their different densities. The density of a certain material substance depends on
the curvature of the corresponding energyflow. According to our understanding of the vedic elements fire
corresponds to an one-dimensional linear energy flow, water to a two dimensional rotative energyflow and earth
to a dubble-rotative three-dimensional energyflow. Together theese three elements form the three-dimensional
energyflow which creates all the atoms, elementary particles and photons as stationary systems of flowing
energy.

The element air embodies all discontinous influences on this energyflow wich interupt it, change its direction or
bifurcate it. This discrete impulses are controlled by the underlying etherical informationstructure, which
represents the unmanifested intelligence behind material creation.
The curvature of a certain system of flowing energy has to be related to an observer. Therfore the curvature has
to be compared with the size of the observer. What appears to be strongly curved for a big observer, will seem to
be quite linear for a very small observer, who ca not perceive the curvature because he only sees a small part of
the whole energyflow.
Like this the different dimensions of the multidimensional universe exist parallely and pervade each other. They
can be perceived in principal by all living entities according to the abilities and consistence of their own senses
and the developement of their consciousness. The higher the consciousness is developed, the more subtle levels
of reality can be perceived by a living being.
The following graphics gives an idea about how systems with different curvature and size can be connected to
each other and be part of one universal dynamic process.

This whole system is controlled by various intelligent beings who are situated on different levels of the cosmic
hierarchy according to the developement of their consciousness. All theese controllers depend on the supreme
being, who gives the power to controll to all the other. He pervades the whole creation by his consciousness and
is present in all atoms. Additionally he is situated in the hearts of all living entities and accompanies them on
their journey through hundreds and thousands of incarrnations in the material world. Situated in the heart of the
living beings, the supersoul supervises their desires and activities, and arranges their karma accordingly. In her
different forms she even controlls the functions of the subtle body, like consciousness, ego, intelligence and
mind. The supersoul is the origin of all abilities and facilities of the living entities, which completely depend on
her guidance and shelter. Being conscious about the presence and guidance of the supersoul the living entity can
strive for elevation to the spiritual world and liberate itself from the influence of material nature. Forgetting its
relationship with god the living entity considers himself to be independent and tries to lord over the material
nature by his own stenght. In this way he entangles himself more and more in the complex reactions on his
activities and gets hoplessly lost in material struggle. His only chance for liberation is to realize his dependence
on god and to surrrender unto him. This process of bhakti-yoga is described in the Bhagavad-gita as well as in
other vedic scriptures, but it is also the essence of all religions on earth. This process can be started by sincerely
calling out the names of god, which are revealed in different spiritual cultures around the world. The Vedas
especially recommend to recite the maha-mantra, which consists only of names of god:

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

This powerful spiritual soundvibration refoms the desires of the living entities, so that they will direct them
towards god-realization and devotional service. It transforms the false material ego of the soul into its real
spiritual identification as an eternal part and parcel of the Lord, who is meant to be eternally situated in his
transcendental loving service. This is the state of pure consciousness, which is characterized by eternal
knowledge and divive bliss.
Spiritual soundvibration is identical with the represented spiritual object. On the spiritual level no diffference
between an object and its name exists and therefor the name of god and god are nondifferent. By chanting the
names of god in a mode of love and surrender one can realize ones eternal relationship with god and finally
attain liberation in his own abode.