Karma, Synchronicity and Those Damn Quantum Hooligans

AUM represents past, present and future,

It is also that which is beyond these.

- Mandukya Upanishad

The theoretical concept of karma which originated in antiquity represents recognition of causal events in time.  Or so it seems.  I have read numerous times of the equivalence of karma and Newton’s second law of thermodynamics which is generally understood as the law of cause (energy) and motion (effect.)  In actuality karma comes out of an early and much different concept of the cosmos.  Among other distinctions the yoga tradition is based, not on a linear, but a cyclical or circular understanding of time and causality.  It is the modern mind which took precedence in 18^th century Europe which has fixated on linear time and cause and effect.  It is so ingrained in us that it seems difficult to conceive of anything otherwise.

Just for a moment’s experiment allow us to conceive of a nonlinear universe.  As Albert Einstein stated, "The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once."  Quantum mechanics has brought into question the whole idea of the linear sequential separation of events in space and time.  As a recent article reports,

“. . . According to quantum mechanics, objects can lose their well-defined classical properties, such as e.g. a particle that can be at two different locations at the same time. In quantum physics this is called a "superposition."

      Now an international team of physicists led by Caslav Brukner from the University of Vienna have shown that even the causal order of events could be in such a superposition.” http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121002145454.htm#.UHDKdtARdA8.facebook

  Superposition means that a particle can be considered to be in more than one place at once.  Superposition in time means that it can be considered to be in the past, present or future at once.  In other words, at least on the quantum level, space and time as we ordinarily think of them do not exist.  This is very fitting in terms of the Yogic understanding of the nature of space and time as well.  In the Yoga Sutras (4:12) Patanjali states, “The past and the future exist in their own form as inherent characteristics.”  In other words past and future are superposed in the present.

According to Yoga the past and the future can be understood in terms of the actualization (karma) of latent potentials (vasanas.)  Both past and future exist within a field of possibilities which are experienced inwardly as desires and actualized outwardly as objects.  The past simply represents actualized potentials while the future represents latent potentials.  Because of memory and the cyclical (or perhaps, as in Gregg Braden’s terms, fractal) nature of time, these potentials recycle themselves endlessly. 

Again, according to Yoga and Sankhya, the presence and the constant modification of objects is based on the constant fluctuation of three basic principles: tamas, darkness or inertia, rajas, activity or motion and sattwas, balance or equilibrium (homeostasis.)  It is due to the fluctuation and combination of these three states of nature that time and objects appear to exist.  Purusha, the Self, is purely the witness of this passing show.  The Yoga Sutras state, “Purusha is the witness and the master of the fluctuations of the mind.” (4:18)  When we are able to experience this deeper aspect of our being in meditation or contemplation then we are able to rest in a state of pervasive bliss and inner peace. 

Synchronicity is another clue to the nonlinear aspect of temporal experience.  The term was coined by Carl Jung to describe the experience of two or more seemingly causally unrelated events that come together in a meaningful way.  In other words a “meaningful coincidence.”  It is common for meditation practitioners to report an increase in synchronicity in their lives.  The concept of synchronicity has been linked to the phenomenon of nonlocality, or entanglement in quantum physics as well. (Limar, Igor V., Carl G. Jung's Synchronicity and Quantum Entanglement: Schrödinger's Cat 'Wanders' Between Chromosomes (December 22, 2010). NeuroQuantology, Volume 9, Issue 2, pp. 313-321, June 2011. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2089541)

Synchronicity is an example of how quantum events might spill over into the macro-world.  I came up with the term “quantum hooligans” as a humorous way of referring to quantum events which seems to “violate the causal order” – for which they should be duly punished.  My sense is that linear world of space and time that we generally experience in our waking state is more or less a product of that state of consciousness.  In dreams, meditation or psychedelic experiences we get a glimpse of the open-ended, nonlinear field of potential that constitutes this mysterious universe.  Yoga tells us that it is crucial that we realize the underlying consciousness which actualizes this potential through the power of pure observation. 

Facing Pain

Pain is probably our greatest educator and can be used together with every other

experience in the quest for higher life, Kahlil Gibran, the Lebonese poet and mystic,

described pain as "the breaking of the shell which encloses our understanding". It

must be understood that the experience of physical, mental and emotional pain leads

to an expansion of our consciousness if we accept and use it positively.

The pain of life is removed when we expand and liberate our consciousness. Actually, it is not the pain we remove but its ability to hurt us. For in the blissful experience, pain and joy fuse so that all experiences of life lead to higher awareness. By seeking to create a world devoid of pain we are also removing the possibility of joy, for they are interdependent. We can only appreciate joy when we have experienced pain.

They are two extremes of the same experience.

<                      - Swami Shankardevananda Saraswati (http://www.yogamag.net/archives/1979/emay79/painrel.shtml)

Pain is something that we all experience from very early on in life.  Because we have this incredible human nervous system we experience many nuances and degrees of pain and pleasure.  We tend to like the pleasure and to hate the pain.  This opens us to the psychological level of pain experience.  The reality is that we go through a mixture of painful and pleasurable experiences through the course of life.  You don’t get one without the other.  Yoga encourages us to develop a stoic attitude towards both pain and pleasure.  The Bhagavad Gita extols the attitude of samatvam, or equanimity in the face of both painful and pleasurable experiences.  Interestingly, in my experience this attitude of openness and acceptance reduces the impact of pain and enhances the experience of pleasure.

On the physical level pain is the result of nerve endings being activated through some stimulus such as a cut, burn, etc.  This information is conveyed through the spine to the brain where it produces an immediate and unconscious reaction.  Our conscious awareness catches up a fraction of a second later.  In the case of chronic pain the stimulus is prolonged and seemingly constant.  This can be called the “objective” aspect of pain.  The subjective aspect has to do with our thoughts and emotions related to the painful stimulus.  Our psychological response to pain is of tremendous importance to our overall level of suffering.  Remember: “Pain is inevitable but suffering is optional.”  What we think, what we say to ourselves and others about our painful experiences is of crucial importance. 

If I say, “Oh my God this pain is unbearable!  I can’t stand it!  I hate it!” this only reinforces the power of the painful experience in my consciousness.  If I say, “This is a signal that something is amiss in my body and I must attend to it,” or “This is just an experience as my body heals.” or something more positive and rational, than my internal experience of the pain can change dramatically.  For the Yogi pain is simply a reminder to expand her conscious identity beyond her body and her circumstances.  Meditation helps us to develop a deeper, transpersonal sense of self in which we can say, “I am not this body.  It is only a temporary vehicle for my consciousness to evolve.  Pain does not belong to me but to my body.” 

From an “enlightened” perspective we can see that pleasures, pain and death are parts of an inevitable “cycle of life.”  The true spiritual aspirant has to be more on guard with pleasure than with pain.  Pleasure can suck us in and seduce us into wanting more while avoiding its alternative.  This is actually the true “gateway” to addiction.  On the other hand pain is a reminder to work on expanding consciousness, developing nonattachment or “witnessing awareness.”  “Counterintuitively” enough, a true spiritual aspirant does not seek to avoid pain but to use it as a means of awakening.  Meditation practice is crucial.  We need to cultivate our ability to witness or observe ourselves objectively.  We need to be able to “turn subject into object.” 

This process of nonattachment takes place through the koshas.  First we learn to observe and dis-identify with the body, then emotions, subconscious cognitions, and even with the intellectual ability for meta-cognition.  Finally we arrive at the anandamaya kosha, the embodiment of pure awareness/bliss.  This is the state of the observing self in and of her/himself.  It is our true inner nature – bliss beyond suffering.  It is our ultimate and most basic being.  Yoga practice - postures, pranayama, meditation, devotion, discrimination – is all aimed at helping us to connect with this most basic aspect of ourselves.  This inner self is beyond suffering of any kind.  As Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “All loss, all pain, is particular; the universe remains to the heart unhurt.  Neither vexations nor calamities abate our trust. No man ever stated his griefs as lightly as he might. Allow for exaggeration in the most patient and sorely ridden hack that ever was driven. For it is only the finite that has wrought and suffered; the infinite lies stretched in smiling repose.”  Our inner self is connected to its infinite source.

The importance of systematic relaxation in pain management cannot be overstated.  Chronic pain causes muscles to develop chronic tension.  It creates a feedback loop in which pain creates tension and tension creates further pain.  Unless we can learn a technique of conscious relaxation there is no way of breaking out of this cycle save for addictive and potentially toxic medications.  Yoga nidra is the most potent relaxation practice that I have come across.  Research has shown it to effective in managing pain and its associated problems: insomnia, depression and over-reliance on harmful medications (http://www.yogamag.net/archives/1979/ajan79/nidpain.shtml.) 

Yoga nidra as well as some other relaxation techniques has the added value of helping practitioners to have an actual experience of the power of mind over body.  We are not helpless victims of our physiological responses.  Through deep relaxation and visualization we can experience the reality of our inner being in a way that transcends theory or ideology.  We can experience our infinite self lying in smiling repose. 

Yoga nidra is a guided practice of deep relaxation with inner awareness.  It begins with a systematic rotation of awareness throughout the body. This is followed by focusing on “the pairs of opposites,” heaviness/lightness, hot/cold, pain/pleasure.  This is a powerful means of developing a nonattached, witnessing attitude to experiences.  The next stage involves visualization which can take many forms.  Places in nature, spiritual or archetypal symbols work well.  The specifics of the visualization are not as important as developing the ability to concentrate on the inner experience of the mind.  Not only does this redirect attention from the pain but it also empowers us to create our own experience.  The subconscious mind does not distinguish between and “actual” and a visualized reality.  Thus visualization is a powerful tool for “reprogramming” the mind.  Over time it helps us to develop new and more positive neural pathways through neuroplasticity. 

Even more important is the quality of mindfulness which underlies all meditation practices.  This is the ability to observe, or witness ourselves with nonattachment.  It is the ability to reflect upon our inner experience without judgment or reaction.  It takes practice but the incredible sense of liberation it brings is worth it.

Resources:

The most important resource on yoga nidra is Swami Satyananda Saraswati’s book Yoga Nidra (http://www.amazon.com/Nidra-Re-print-Swami-Satyananda-Saraswati/dp/8185787123/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1349211043&sr=1-1&keywords=yoga+nidra+by+swami+satyananda+saraswati)  It gives step by step instructions for guiding the practice along with a series of recommended visualizations.

      Another recommended article in Yoga Magazine is Yoga Nidra: A Healing Practice for People Living with Cancer by Julie Friedeberger (Priyashakti, UK) (http://www.yogamag.net/archives/2008/dapr08/yn.shtml)

Be Your Authentic Self

Smaller than a grain of rice is the Self; smaller than a grain of barley, smaller than a mustard seed, smaller than a canary seed, yea, smaller even than the kernel of a canary seed. Yet again is that Self, within the lotus of my heart, greater than the earth, greater than the heavens, yea, greater than all the worlds.  – Chandogya Upanishad

And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.  – Mat.17.20

Consciousness cannot be located anywhere.  It is tinier than the smallest seed and goes beyond the furthest extents of our known universe.  This is the range of our mind’s scope.  In our modern age we are more and more aware of the infinitesimally discrete dimensions of our apparent reality and the equally extreme reaches of space.  Wherever consciousness goes, we are.  Everything you encounter is none other than you.

At the same time we tend to look for ourselves in the three-dimensional display of the universe.  When we do so, we lose sense of our connection with the source field.  Our conditioning tells us to investigate the sensory realm for deeper answers.  Yoga tells us to look within, to honor and respect our subjective essence.  Whether we are ready to accept it, or not, there is no “reality” beyond what we are willing to be aware of. 

Spirituality vs. Religion

I know that I am one with God. I know that God in me is perfect. I know that my real nature is spiritual. I know that I exist in a boundless good, in a heavenly state, and in perfect being. I know that my mind is being acted upon by pure Spirit. Divine Intelligence guides me into peace, happiness and success, into joy, love and perfect life. – Ernest Holmes

Spirituality is inherent in the human psyche.  It is a drive within us which is more awake and more activated in some and seemingly completely dormant in others.  It is the impulse for self-transcendence, for deeper connection and meaning and for the development of higher possibilities within the mind-brain.  True spirituality is not tied to a religious tradition or dogma and in fact can only truly be developed by deeply questioning one’s religious tradition.  It arises when the carefully constructed culturally defined ego cracks under crises, through intense spiritual practice or through an epiphany that comes as grace.

Religion is a double edged sword.  On one hand religion serves to pass down tradition spiritual values.  On the other most religions seem to degenerate quickly into divisive fanaticism.  Most religions of the world help pull us developmentally from an ego-centric to an ethno-centric perspective.  Spirituality propels into a world-centric and even a universe-centric perspective.  Spirituality is not strictly separate from religion but transcends the ethno-centric perspective of earlier traditions.  The essence of spirituality is experiential, mystical and unitive.  The essence of religion is dogma which often regards actual spiritual experience with suspicion if not outrage.  It is empowered by the politics of us vs. them.

Right now we live in a world that is in crisis, hopefully a crisis of development which might lead to a transformation of consciousness on a global scale.  The negative aspects of religion are forces of devolution and destruction within a global society.  This morning we awoke to the news of a riot in Libya in which four members of US embassy were killed.  The whole thing seems to be orchestrated by the making of a cheesy film which insults the Prophet Mohammed: an obviously provocative piece of propaganda aimed at inflaming islamist fanatics.  This is the power inherent in the manipulation of ethno-centric religious followers.  It can be found here in the US in the believers who attack Islam by staging Koran burnings or murdering peaceful Sikhs in their temple. 

We can justifiably feel outrage at the attack on the US embassy and there is no question that the killers should be brought to justice.  It might be beneficial, though, to look deeper into the pattern of events and to seek out the illness which lies behind the outbreak of symptoms.  The roots of this violence can be found in the divisive, inflammatory and self-righteous belief systems (BS) parading as spiritual values.  They are not and there is nothing sacred or holy about them. 

Developing Your Love Connection: The Art and Science of Kirtan

Kirtan is both an art and a science. It is sung to evoke a feeling that is uplifting and

pure. It is not so much the chanting of the name that is important as the awakening

of the bhava, the feeling or emotion that is associated with it.

- Swami Niranjan Ananda Saraswati

Love is beyond our ordinary range of emotions.  The ego has many feelings associated with it: anger, desire, attraction, pride, resentment, but primarily self-loathing.  Deep inside of us we all feel a longing for love, for connection and acceptance.  Love is not just a personal feeling; instead it is our connection with the universe.  The mystic poet Rumi once wrote, “Love is the glue which holds everything together and it is the everything as well.”  When we are able to truly open to love, we go beyond ourselves and our personal limitations.  As the Bhagavad Gita states, “This supreme Lord who pervades all of existence, the true Self of all creatures, may be realized through undivided love.”

Love alone is real.  However, our egos have the actual free will to accept or deny that reality.  The problem is that our patterns of resistance become ingrained as samskaras.  These are unconscious patterns of thought and feeling that dominate our consciousness and which have been accumulated over lifetimes.  To get beyond these we need help, we need a method, grace, guidance as well as willingness and commitment.  Ego-clinging is worse than drug, alcohol or tobacco addiction and actually underlies all of them.  We tend to use these substances, as well as habits like sex or gambling, as attempts to relieve the suffering of our splintered ego selves; as substitutes for love. 

The ego always goes for a counterfeit: a substance, a “relationship,” career, or something.  It is a way of disguising our self-loathing; putting a pretty face over it and calling it “love.”  As Marianne Williamson wrote in “A Return to Love:” “Emotional energy has got to go somewhere, and self-loathing is a powerful emotion.  Turned inward, it becomes our personal hells: addiction, obsession, compulsion, depression, violent relationships, illness.  Projected outward, it becomes our collective hells: violence, war, crime, oppression.  But it is all the same thing: hell has many mansions too.”

The portal to love is not so difficult though.  It is just our convoluted defenses that make it seem so.  A powerful way to go beyond our ego defenses and open to love comes from the yoga tradition in the form of kirtan.  Kirtan is the devotional singing of mantras: the language of the soul which is incomprehensible to the ego-intellect.  Music itself is a language which transcends intellect and transports us into deeper emotional realms.  Mantras are sounds which, more than representing some rational meaning, are meant to open deeper energies and higher consciousness.  Kirtan is a means of transcending the ego and opening to the Self, who is love pure and simply.  Mantra along with melody and rhythm evokes bhava, or higher emotion.  You don’t have to begin with a specific feeling but simply allow yourself to enter into the experience. 

Prem, love, and bhakti, devotion, are certainly not things that we can fabricate through a technique.  Our true feelings emerge spontaneously.  If you have ever tried to love someone or something you know that it is impossible to make yourself do so.  Instead there is a reservoir of unconditional love and joy at the core of our beings.  It is our Self.  Ultimately, as St. Francis of Assisi put it, “What we are looking for is what is looking.”  Through Bhakti yoga, the path of devotion, we are reconnected with that greater being who lives in and through us.  To quote Rumi again, “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”

Currently kirtan is becoming popular in our culture.  There are a number of wonderful professional grade chanters out there today.  Much of the music is westernized and departs from the traditional kirtan of India.  This is not necessarily bad as it helps us to participate more easily.  The important point though is to join in and give yourself over to the music, mantra and the divine bhava of kirtan!

Mastering Mind and Emotions

"The only way to ease our pain is to experience it fully. Learn to stay with uneasiness, learn to stay with the tightening, so that the habitual chain reaction doesn't continue to rule your life." – Pema Chodron

When we are overcome with anxiety, depression, anger, lust or even joyful excitement, we can begin to understand that we are under the sway of our thoughts and emotions.  A panic attack or an episode of depression can actually be recognized as a call to awakening.  Our emotions both pleasurable and painful can be utilized as a means of developing a deeper awareness.  Instead of trying to avoid certain feelings and seeking others, we can learn to be present as a witness.  We can move in the direction of awareness.

Ordinarily we go along thinking that the world is as we think it is and that we are as we think we are.  It can be upsetting to challenge our core beliefs about our world and ourselves.  A crisis though, can bring forth some of our subconscious conditioning and enable us to release it.  There is a spiritual saying that ordinary people pray that they avoid catastrophes in their lives while a saint prays that she may be able to face all of them.  Spiritual development, just like psychological development, requires that we undergo crises as we transition between stages. 

The medical model of psychotherapy tends to medicate away the uncomfortable emotional symptoms of possible spiritual development.  Many clients complain of a general numbing effect on their emotions.  Mindfulness offers a different approach.  Instead of avoiding distressing thoughts and emotions, we learn to observe them.  Instead of following the chain reaction of stimulus-response we learn to sit put, observe and let go.  The main key is – don’t buy in, don’t take the bait.  Instead be aware of how you get sucked into negative thoughts and emotions.  Then make a conscious effort to develop more positive thoughts and emotions.  Reading spiritual books can actually be very helpful as long as you remember to put those words into practice.

Ultimately, and most importantly, we need to realize that we are not our thoughts or emotions.  We are not our minds or our bodies.  We are beings of consciousness, i.e. spiritual beings.  We are beings of love.  Love is much more than our ordinary emotions.  It is the presence of God, Self, True Being within us.  The only antithesis of love is our resistance to it. 

Becoming a Conscious Co-creator of Reality

Form is emptiness and emptiness is not other than form.

-    The Heart Sutra

To create reality: Focus beyond the outcome - as if it already happened.
- Gregg Braden

You and I live in a world of outcomes.  We tend to forget that they are the outcomes of our thoughts and emotions.  Our world is not given or inflicted upon us from outside but created within us by our conscious and (mostly) unconscious choices.  The idea of creating our reality is recently popular.  However we have been unconsciously manifesting our reality all along.  Our level of consciousness determines our experience of reality. 

According to yoga psychology we do not come into this world as “blank slates.”  Instead we are already “seeded” with the karma accumulated in past lifetimes.  As Patanjali states in the Yoga Sutras, “As long as the root of karma exists there will be various fruits: the birth of different species of life, their lifespan and experiences.”  In other words, our life experience is the outcome of our previous thoughts and actions (and I will add on to Patanjali here in light of our modern understanding of the cosmos) going back to the Big Bang 14 or so billion years ago. 

What we experience in this life – what we enjoy and what we endure – is indeed given to us – by ourselves.  According to Chagdud Rimpoche our life experience is like reading a book which we wrote but then put away and forgot.  Although we may struggle with the way seemingly “innocent” beings suffer, the real message is about taking personal responsibility.  In order to end suffering we need to look seriously into how we continue to create it.  Often the best way we can help others is to encourage them to take responsibility for themselves.  As Paul Ferrini writes, “It doesn't work when you take responsibility for how others feel or make others responsible for how you feel. It doesn't work when you ask others to fix things for you or when you try to fix things for others. These old patterns do not empower you, nor do they empower others.”  Does that mean you shouldn’t try to say someone who is drowning?  Of course not.

As we awaken, as we become more conscious, we can take control of our karma.  We can’t really go back and change the past and we sometimes have to endure the present circumstances of our lives, but the future is up for grabs.  Through awareness and through a commitment to positive thoughts, feelings and actions we can overcome negative karmic seeds before they ripen in our experience.  Through commitment to the spiritual path and the goal of awakening we can overcome karma altogether.

Desire is not necessarily a bad thing.  It depends again on the level of consciousness from which it originates.  The desire for personal wealth and pleasure is natural but if we seek to fulfill it at the expense of others we perpetuate our own ignorance and suffering.  If we suppress our desires and let others take advantage of us that doesn’t work well either.  A higher level of consciousness tells us that we need to balance our needs and desires with that of others, our communities, our world, our planet . . . We are all in this together as one being. 

A powerful Sanskrit mantra to help us develop this level of consciousness is:

Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu

(May all beings everywhere be happy and free from suffering.)

lokah: location, realm, all universes existing now
samastah: all beings sharing that same location
sukhino: centered in happiness and joy, free from suffering
bhav: the divine mood or state of unified existence
antu: may it be so, it must be so (antu used as an ending here transforms this mantra into a powerful sankalpa, or intention.)

We can use this mantra as a tool to develop a higher consciousness and to consequently create a better reality for ourselves and others.  Recite it daily as you meditate while entering into a state of oneness and feeling waves of peace flowing throughout all existence.  Try it and see what happens.