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The Nature Of Reality Quantum physics has established a relationship between subjective reality and objective reality. The key to understanding this is Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, which says, in short, that the position and momentum of a particle cannot both be predicted with certainty. The greater the direction is established, the more unknown is the momentum, and vica verca. This isn't just a matter of calculation, it relates to knowledge. As an illustration, Schrodinger posed the following thought experiment: A sealed box has a cat inside it with a container of poisonous gas and a radioactive element (this is just a thought experiment - no real cat has ever been harmed doing this). When the radioactive element decays it bursts the container, releases the gas and kills the cat. Let’s say the probability of the cat being killed over a 12 hour period is 50/50. So we set this up and leave it for 12 hours. When we come back is the cat alive or dead? Well, according to Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, not only do we not know until we look, but the cat is neither alive nor dead until we look. The reality is not ‘sealed’ until it is established by a conscious mind. Thus far, in essence, is conventional knowledge (at least in so far as any quantum physics is conventional), and can be read in books such as ‘In Search of Schrodinger’s Cat’ by John Gribben or in books by Paul Davies. The question arises, though, ‘what is a conscious mind'? My own theory about this takes it a stage further. Imagine that you have gone on a walking holiday to a remote area where you will be cut off from everyone for a week. At the end of a week you will meet up with your neighbour in a town. After you set off on your own you remember that you left the oven on, and you have visions of your house burning down. Now, we would think that either you did leave it on or you didn't - the house has either burned down or it hasn't But my theory on reality takes Schrodinger a stage further. In this view of reality the house has neither burned down or not burned down - it is in the same state as Schrodinger’s Cat before its fate has been ‘sealed’. When you meet up with your friend you ask him immediately about your house, and at that point the fate is sealed (assuming your friend knows). He tells you ‘yes, it burned down, rather a shame really’, or ‘You're an old worrier - it was OK when I left’. Now you may argue that someone knows about your house, even if you don't - the fireman for instance. But this doesn't change anything. In your reality until the fate is sealed, it is in an in-between state. So what is the relevance of this? Well, whilst the state of the house is indeterminate it can be changed by concentration and prayer. Because the house is neither burned down nor not burned down its fate can be changed. The essence of changing its fate is humility. Here's another example. Imagine that you have just been to an interview and you are convinced after it's over that you messed it up by saying something that was really stupid. You will get news of the interview - yes or no - the following day. Its fate is the same as the house. Until you know the result it is not sealed, and the outcome of the interview can be changed by concentration. It may transpire that what you thought was a really stupid thing to say actually impressed the interviewer. There is another effect of this and it relates to what we might call ‘consensus reality’. If our realities are all individual then the world we live is created by a consensus view. Scientific Sceptics, who debunk anything that hasn't been approved of by the established scientific community, have a view of reality that is quite different from an Aboriginal who depends on hunting and his relationship with nature for his living. It is not just that they view the world in different ways, but that they have different realities. I could elaborate on this at great length as it relates to, among other things, UFOs. The 'reality', which is really a consensus view of the world, is not changed by us as individuals, it is controlled by forces far beyond our understanding. There are keys to effecting this force and this is how magic and religious rituals work. However, if you try to manipulate this force for your own ends in an arrogant way you will have only limited success. And, to a certain extent, you should be grateful for this because if you change events thinking that you know what is best, there can be repercussions which will come back to bite you. So the more success you have in the short term, the more it may effect you in the long term. The exception to this is when there is a desire to effect events from a standpoint of humility, because you are then appealing to the Greater Force for change on its own terms. Note that humility is not the same as unselfishness. Christianity would have it that the way to enlightenment (or a Christian equivalent), is by 'doing good', but 'good' acts are acts, not intentions, and the intention behind them may be totally vain and filled with pride. On the other hand, humility may, in some respects, be apparently selfish. It may be the desire to improve yourself; to gain more knowledge; to be a better person but it acknowledges that there is force more powerful than yourself that you are prepared to submit to. Plato said once that he knew nothing but he was wiser than other people in Greece because he knew that he knew nothing, and was therefore in a position to learn. Similarly, Jesus said that you must become as little children, and that the meek shall inherit the Earth. The reason why we are on Earth is to evolve, and the Greater Force will always work to help us to evolve. True evolution can only take place when you acknowledge this. In the example I gave of someone leaving the oven on when they are hiking, there may be a number of ways that the individual meditates on this: He may think that it’s not his fault but it was because of noisy neighbours, or the telephone etc distracted him. He may blame it on his parents or his upbringing. He may indulge in self-depreciation: “I'm stupid and careless”, “I always do this, I'm a miserable wretch of a person”, etc. None of these are humble, in the real sense of the word. They either blame someone else or in the case of number 3, are essentially full of pride - it’s like being proud of being so useless. Such people may even say something like “I'm the most useless person in world”, and you can’t get much more vain than that! Real humility is an objective acknowledgment of our faults and a genuine desire to submit to a Greater Force that will act in our own best interests. Ultimately, advanced mystics have no desire of their own at all; their 'self' has all but disappeared. The irony is that when they are in a position to directly influence the Greater Force, the desire to has gone. Life is pushing us to learn. If we don't learn the easy way then the lesson is taught harder until eventually we are forced to submit.