The Mysteries of Consciousness

The Head Doctrine

The Diagnosis of Modern Psychology

The Heart Doctrine

Zero Point Origins

The Mysteries of Space and the Aether

Back to the Fool

What is the nature of human consciousness?  Psychologists, scientists and philosophers use this term in a hundred and one ways–with a thousand and one meanings and interpretations.  Within the scientific and popular literature as well as in common discussion, there is widespread confusion and misunderstanding regarding the issues of consciousness.  Further, people do not generally even question the nature of consciousness within themselves or have a language in which to talk about such things.

The contemporary scientific literature demonstrates how much scientists are in the dark about the mysteries of consciousness.  This is exemplified by a Scientific American article–“The quest to find Consciousness”–published in a special issue of MIND (2004). The most certain comments offered by author G. Roth regarding consciousness are that “a true understanding of the phenomenon remains elusive,” and further that, “For now, no definitive explanations exist ….”   Science journalist John Horgan in The Undiscovered Mind (1999) came to a similar conclusion: “Mind-scientists and philosophers cannot even agree on what consciousness is, let alone how it should be explained.” (p. 228)   The Dalai Lama simply states: “I do not think current neuroscience has any real explanation of consciousness itself.” (2005, p. 130)

In his investigations of consciousness, John Horgan quotes Harvard psychologist, Howard Gardner, who suggests that someone may find “deep and fruitful commonalities between Western views of the mind and those incorporated into the philosophy and religion of the Far East.”  Gardner states that a fundamentally new insight is necessary in order to understand consciousness; although unfortunately, “we can’t anticipate the extraordinary mind because it comes from a funny place that puts things together in a funny kind of way.” (p. 260) These comments are ironic, as indeed there is a fundamental difference between Western scientific views of consciousness and the mind as centred in the brain and both Eastern and Western spiritual traditions with their emphasis upon the heart.  Understanding this difference between the head doctrine and the heart doctrine will certainly provide a novel perspective on the issues of consciousness and put things together in a “funny kind of way.”

What are the nature and origin of human consciousness?  These are big league issues of profound importance not only to science, but also to us individually–in terms of understanding the meaning and significance of our human life.  Unfortunately, the whole basis of the modern scientific approach to consciousness has been fundamentally flawed and misguided.  The mysteries of consciousness are far deeper than imagined by author Roth–who ends up associating the “seat of consciousness” with the association areas of the cerebral hemispheres in interaction with other mid-brain structures.  Roth embodies ‘the head doctrine.’ Further, scientists have no idea of the profound alternative mystical and spiritual viewpoints on these issues of consciousness.

James Moffatt (2003) offers an amusing perspective on the intriguing enigmas of consciousness:

 
“Consciousness”–what do I mean when I use that term? What is consciousness?  Well, that is the big question. As far as questions go, it is pretty much in a class of its own. It is the World Series, the Stanley Cup, the Superbowl, the Greater Intergalactic Open, and the heavyweight championship of the world of Big Questions all rolled into one.  People win Nobel Prizes, receive huge research grants, become knights of the realm, gain international acclaim and celebrity as scholars and thinkers, and much, much more–just for beating around consciousness’ bushes or hanging out under its porch light looking for its keys. Mathematicians forge its signature; physicists trace its shadow. Chemists scour its soup pot; biologists listen to its heartbeat, draw its bloodlines, and chart its pulse. In the most remote ranges of the Himalayas, there are said to be monks who draw closer to consciousness’ door simply by chanting its postal code. ... Ah, consciousness ... the cosmic key that unlocks the doors to eternal mysteries ... the straw that stirs the universal fluids ...  the meaning of meaning ... the mirror with which God does His tricks ... but what, pray tell, is it?  You can know it–more or less. You can lose it–without missing it–for the longest time. You can focus it, reflect on it, summon it ... elevate, expand, and divide it .... You can refine it, define it ... you can wine & rhyme & divine it ... you can even make space and time for it ... but the one thing you can never do is to know consciousness when you do not have it.  Pretty tricky business–trying to think of what consciousness may or may not be. Questions about the nature of consciousness have stymied some major league thinkers, driven others to the intersection of Angst & Despair, and simply worn out the rest.  (p. v)

 The issues of the origin and nature of consciousness indeed pose big league questions.  Moreover, these subjects have to be approached from various perspectives in order to wine, dine and then divine them.  The issues of nature of human consciousness are also central to the contemporary debate between science and religion, and to the issue of the existence of God.  The debate between science and religion hinges on the issue of the origin and nature of consciousness–because this is linked to that of the existence or non-existence of the human spirit, soul or divine nature.  Is consciousness a product of material processes as science claims or does it originate from within a spiritual, metaphysical or divine realm?

 To begin, the term consciousness can be taken generally to refer to the inner awareness of being, which each of us has or is within our lives.  Although we might see another persons’ physical body, we can never directly view their inner world of consciousness or their inner experience of being.  Yet, in a very real sense, it is within this inner world that each of us has our existence.  Hence, in order to understand consciousness, we must make an effort to understand it within ourselves–through direct inner awareness and experience.  This approach is necessary to supplement other scientific approaches which rely upon external observers and intellectual theories.  It is also the essential method of the mystics, yogis and masters of the esoteric traditions who study consciousness within themselves.  Such self study explorations of consciousness have been hardly considered within the mainstream of modern thought, which also propagates varied misleading ideas on the subject.  As the Dalai Lama explains, “it is clear that the third-person method—which has served science so well in many areas—is inadequate to the explanation of consciousness.” (2005, p. 133)

 The issues of consciousness are profoundly important from both a scientific and an individual perspective.  What is “I” in me—this inner self awareness?  Could there be some type of mystical I, that is not simply a collection of molecules or a pack of neurons?  Where could such come from and what types of experience are possible for human beings–during life and after death?   The Heart Doctrine is an inquiry into the ultimate origin and nature of human consciousness, as well as into the issues of the existence or non-existence of the human spirit and soul.  The approach is to contrast ‘the head doctrine’–the major twentieth century scientific theory of consciousness—with ‘the heart doctrine’ derived from ancient and modern mystical and spiritual teachings.  This comparative study provides a profoundly valuable alternative approach to the deep mysteries and enigmas of consciousness and it highlight many of the assumptions underlying the modern scientific views.  We must at least sound the postal codes of consciousness or beat around its bushes.

2. The Head Doctrine

          For decades, psychologists dismissed the study of consciousness as it was too difficult to study empirically and borders on such unscientific pursuits as religion and metaphysics.  Behaviourist John Watson remarked that no one had seen a soul in a test tube and that the study of consciousness was just as elusive as that of the soul.  Nevertheless, in the second half of 20th century, consciousness re-emerged within psychology and neuroscience as a legitimate area of study.  However, scientists embraced an extremely limited conceptualization of consciousness and most often equated it with thinking and other cognitive processes of the mind or the electromagnetic activities of the brain.  It was assumed that consciousness is produced by the brain’s material neurological processes and/or by their information processes. The head doctrine became the most commonly accepted western scientific and psychological model of consciousness.   However, the nature of consciousness has remained the most mysterious of all psychological phenomena. 

          The MIND article by Roth, The Quest to find Consciousness, is illustrated by an artist who depicts “the mysterious brain activity involved in consciousness.” (2004) .   The image is of the top portions of a human skull with the interior brain illuminated yellow, red and orange, and with lightening bolts extending from the brain into surrounding space.  Although Roth comments that “a true understanding of the phenomenon remains elusive,” and further that, “For now, no definitive explanations exist …,” it is simply assumed that the consciousness is generated somehow within the brain from material processes.  Many modern books on human consciousness and the mind are illustrated simply with pictures of the head and/or the brain on the front cover.

          If we read Roth’s article for scientific insights into consciousness, we come up quite empty handed.  A small table in Roth’s article is entitled “FAST FACTS: The Rise of Awareness” and includes these three points: 

 1.  How does consciousness, with its private and subjective qualities, emerge from the physical information processing conducted by the brain? ...

2.  Recently neuroscientists have focused on the neural correlates–the

activities in the brain that are most closely associated with consciousness.

3.  To date, no “centre” for the phenomenon has revealed itself, but advances in imaging have helped in the study of the brain areas that are involved during consciousness.  (p. 34)

Of course, there is not a single ‘fact’ in the table but only questions or assumptions.  There is no “proof” that consciousness emerges “from the physical information processing” in the brain or from “the neural correlates.”  Although these views are presented as ‘fast facts,’ they are really nothing more than simple assumptions.  

          The basic assumption that the brain produces consciousness seems most reasonable and few scientists question it–despite the fact that they are completely unable to establish how or where the brain produces consciousness or what exactly this consciousness is.  Nevertheless, putting aside these uncertainties, theorists share the view of prominent neurologist Roger Sperry, who remarked: “I don’t see any way for consciousness to emerge or be generated apart from a functioning brain.”  (1984)

         
    While most people would consider that understanding human consciousness is somewhat irrelevant to their life
apart from posing issues in science, this is simply not the case.  In fact, if the strictly material conceptualization of
consciousness is true, then this has profound implications for the nature and significance of human existence. 
Isaac Asimov identifies the most important of these implications:

“The molecules of my body, after my conception, added other molecules and arranged the whole into more and more complex forms, and in a unique fashion, not quite like the arrangement in any other living thing that ever lived.  In the process, I developed, little by little, into a conscious something I call “I” that exists only as the arrangement.  When the arrangement is lost forever, as it will be when I die, the ‘I’ will be lost forever, too.”  (Asimov, 1981, p. 158)

 This is the gist of the head doctrine.  Human beings are material beings who live and die with their functioning brains.  When the molecules or neurons are destroyed, consciousness is no more and so life ends at death and the “I” is lost forever.

              In the same vein, Carl Sagan elaborated a strictly materialist position:

                      “... the mind is merely what the brain does.  There’s nothing else, there’s
                     no soul or psyche that’s not made out of matter, that isn’t a function of
                     10 to the 14th synapses in the brain.” (Psychology Today, 1995, p. 65)

In this view, human consciousness and the mind are nothing more than electrical processes within the brain, which generate the experience of consciousness and “I” for a limited period of time until they are extinguished at death. There is no individual singular ‘I’ in a living being and we are instead nothing but a ‘pack of neurons’ or an arrangement of material molecules.

              When it comes to ‘states of consciousness,’ Roth offers a pretty limited scheme of consideration from a so-called scientific perspective:

Any effort to understand consciousness must begin by noting that it comprises various states. ... At one end of the spectrum is the so-called alertness (or vigilance) state.  States of lower consciousness include drowsiness, dozing, deep sleep and on down to coma.”(p. 34)

            A normal state of ‘alertness’ is put at one end of the continuum, as if this is the highest possible state of consciousness a human being can experience and the other levels are below it–down into coma and the extinction of consciousness in death.  It is assumed that there are no states of consciousness beyond basic vigilance–hence no ‘Self consciousness,’ cosmic consciousness, spiritual or God consciousness.

              Current scientific thinking also tends to regard consciousness as non-substantive–that is, as nothing in itself.  According to this conception, there is no way for consciousness to exist separately from or beyond the mind and the body, because consciousness has literally no substance in itself–it is no thing.  It is an epiphenomena produced by material and electrical processes. Psychologists and scientists reject animistic or vital principles in the life of human beings and deny the existence of soul.  There is no modern psychology as a science of the soul. Similarly, scientists have banished spirit from their considerations of nature and the universe.  Life is regarded as having been created according to natural laws and principles rather than being created by any form of supernatural or metaphysical means.

           Given the extraordinary achievements in many areas of the physical sciences over the course of the past century, there seems to be little reason to question the basic assumptions and methods of science. However, when it comes to the central enigma of modern psychology and science concerning the origin and nature of consciousness, scientists have made no progress at all and in fact have many different wrong ideas and misguided theories. 

              Whereas humans used to invoke God or gods to make sense of the unknown and to interpret the meaning of life in terms of supernatural forces, scientists suppose that their discoveries of natural forces and laws have done away with the need for such religious and mythic explanations.  Carl Sagan, the esteemed popular science writer, gave voice to this spirit when he declared:   “As we learn more and more about the universe, there seems less and less for God to do.” (1979)

     According to the mainstream of contemporary science, human beings are material biological beings, the result of the blind evolutionary processes of random mutation and natural selection.  In fact, all the phenomena in nature are believed to have occurred in a God-less Universe, governed by chance and the mechanical functioning of natural laws.  In this view, human life and the life of the universe are the fortunate by-products of material processes–ranging from those of subatomic physics to those of evolution and neurology.  Consciousness and mind are most frequently equated with the sum of neurological and psychological processes located within the material brain centred in the head.   This is the basic ‘head doctrine’ of modern science and there is considered to be no real ‘I’ within a human being.

3. The Diagnosis of Modern Psychology        

      In a Psychology Today interview (1976), Guru Bawa, an Eastern wise man, made these rather startling comments about western psychology and the common misunderstanding of Self.  According to the guru, psychologists are quite deluded about the origin of the mind (or consciousness):

“I studied psychology once, and I became crazy,” Bawa responded in a playful tone. “I lost all my powers. ... Psychologists don’t know where the mind is.  Some think it is in the brain. Others think it is in the genitals. Others think it is in the ass.  But the mind is in the heart, and that is what psychologists do not know.  Unless the heart opens, you will be driven crazy by the monkeys of the mind.” (April 1976)

 This is a telling diagnosis of modern psychology and science.  Certainly scientists are in a sad predicament if they do not know where the mind is or where consciousness originates!  Yet, from a mystical and spiritual perspective, this is precisely the case.  There are fundamental errors in modern scientific approaches to understanding of consciousness and the mind.

Guru Bawa describes some psychologists as thinking that the mind is in the brain–as in the modern head doctrine.  Others relate it to the genitals–in reference to Freudian psychology with its focus on human sexuality;  or ‘in the ass’ –in reference to the Kundalini, a primordial instinctual energy locked within the root chakra, as described in yoga psychology.  However, Bawa insists: “The mind is in the heart.”  The deepest, most essential Mind and Self are established within the heart and more primary than what the yogis refer to as the “monkeys of the mind.” In this viewpoint, mainstream psychology, philosophy and science alike are fundamentally mistaken about the nature of consciousness, mind and self.  They are not ‘Knowers of Self’ as described throughout the mystical literature.

          Sri Chinmoy, another contemporary spiritual teacher, stresses the heart doctrine and also diagnoses human beings’ common ignorance as to the true nature of self:

 He does not know himself precisely because he identifies himself with the ego and not with his real ‘I.’ What compels him to identify himself with this pseudo ‘I’?  It is Ignorance.  And what tells him that the real ‘I’ is not and can never be the ego?  It is his self-search.  What he sees in the inmost recesses of his heart is his real ‘I,’ his God.  (1970, p.16)

 Human beings lack true self-knowledge and are asleep to their deeper nature as spiritual beings.  According to the mystics, we live in ignorance –identifying Self with the thoughts, feelings, desires and sensations which make up the contents of the mind and the personal daily life dramas.  All the while, we do not know Self or “real I”–as related to the subtle mystical dimensions of the heart.

            Ramana Maharshi, an Indian sage and mystic, similarly described the Self as related to the Heart Centre–deeper than the personal or ego level of the mind centred in the head:

 ... the final goal (of yoga, or life) may be described as the resolution of the mind in its source which is God, the Self; in that of technical yoga, it may be described as the dissolution of the mind in the Heart lotus. ... The mind and the breath spring from the same source. They arise in the heart, which is the centre of the self-luminous Self. ... Where the ‘I’ thought has vanished, there the true Self shines as ‘I.’  ‘I’ in the heart. ... The ‘I,’ the Self, alone is real. As there is no other consciousness to know it, it is consciousness.  (1977, pp. 90-1)

             Ramana Maharshi makes a number of important points concerning consciousness and self.  Firstly,  “I” or “Self” is identified most intimately with the spiritual and soul dimensions of the heart, and is connected therein to God.  Secondly, the goal of yoga is the dissolution of the mind into its source–within the heart lotus or centre.  Thirdly, the Self is “self-luminous” and “shining”–having an inherent light nature.  Fourthly, the self-luminous Self is “consciousness itself.”  Consciousness is the light of Self. 

            If scientists and psychologists are unable to locate consciousness, the soul and spirit in the material brain processes, perhaps they are looking for it in the wrong place: firstly, in the head, rather than within the heart and secondly, in the materiality of the physical world rather than in the subtle matters and metaphysical dimensions which underlie and sustain the physical dimensions.  The Heart, not the mind, is the centre of a human being considered as a whole electromagnetic quantum system, as a living breathing being or as a spiritual being ensouled through the heart.  Modern psychology and philosophy has failed to explore the psychology of the heart and soul and therefore is faced with such enigmas as to how and where the brain is producing consciousness.

“Speak to us of Self-Knowledge.” And he (the prophet) answered, saying:
 “Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights.
But your ears thirst for the sound of your heart’s knowledge.

  Mystical and esoteric teachings and practices can enable an individual to overcome the illusions, conditioning and limitations of pseudo-I--the sense of ego or I associated with the personality and mind centred within the head brain—and to realize the deeper dimensions of “I” within the heart.   The realization of Self within the Heart is the basis for the mystical declaration “I AM.”
      The heart doctrine is found throughout eastern and western religious teachings—including Hinduism, Tibetan Buddhism, Islam and Sufism, Judaism and Christianity, as well as in numerous other esoteric mystical and spiritual teachings—from The Secret Doctrine of Blavatsky, to A. Crowley and Kabbalah.     The heart doctrine is illustrated most simply in this Aboriginal tale about creation and the gods:

 One day ... the gods decided to create the universe.  They created the stars, the sun and the moon.  They created the seas, the mountains, the flowers, and the clouds.  Then they created human beings.  At the end, they created Truth.

   At this point, however, a problem arose: where should they hide Truth so that human beings would not find it right away?  They wanted to prolong the adventure of the search. 

   “Let’s put Truth on top of the highest mountain,” said one of the gods.  “Certainly it will be hard to find it there.”

   “Let’s put it on the farthest star,” said another.

   “Let’s hide it in the darkest and deepest of abysses.”

   “Let’s conceal it on the secret side of the moon.”

   At the end, the wisest and most ancient god said, “No, we will hide Truth inside the very heart of human beings.  In this way they will look for it all over the Universe, without being aware of having it inside of themselves all the time.”   (Mills, 1999)

         Truth, wisdom and understanding are all associated with the awakening of the Heart.  The Self within the heart has inner connections to the universe, to spiritual realities and even to God.

            In the Upanishads of ancient India, the heart doctrine is elaborated most eloquently:                    

Within the lotus of the heart he dwells, where, like the spokes of a wheel in its hub, the nerves meet. ... This Self, who understands all, who knows all, and whose glory is manifest in the universe, lives within the lotus of the heart, the bright throne of Brahman. … Self-luminous is that Being, and formless. He dwells within all and without all.  …  The Self exists in man, within the lotus of the heart, and is the master of his life and of his body. ... The knot of the heart, which is ignorance, is loosed, all doubts are dissolved ….  Mundaka Upanishad  (Prabhavanada & Manchester, 1957, pp. 45-6)

As large as the universe outside, even so large is the universe within the lotus of the heart.  Within it are heaven and earth, the sun, the moon, the lightning, and all the stars.  What is in the macrocosm is in this microcosm   ...  All things that exist ... are in the city of Brahman.  (Chandogya, ibid, 1957, pp. 74)

Sacred religious texts from the world’s religions associate states of illumined, spiritual and cosmic consciousness with the sacred space of the Heart.   Such teachings suggest that there is a deep holographic physics and metaphysics to the human heart and Self.

            These teachings have practical application within self study, as is evident if we consider these profound comments provided by a yogi and medical doctor Dr. R. Mishra:

The physical heart and physical consciousness are related.  In the same way, the spiritual heart and spiritual consciousness are related. ...  Life and consciousness are byproducts of the heart. ... Biological heart and consciousness are physical in nature and they depend on the metaphysical heart and consciousness.  In reality, consciousness is not created but manifested and this manifestation depends on the evolution of the nervous system ... and blood ... Your principle aim is to reach the spiritual heart and spiritual consciousness by means of the physical heart and physical consciousness.   (1969, pp.139-40) 

Mystical teachings elaborate an alternative model of the higher dimensional origins of human consciousness and self.  Whereas modern science presupposes that material processes within the brain produce consciousness and the experience of self, mystical perspectives suggest that consciousness ‘comes from above’ or from ‘within-without’ through some incredibly profound physics and metaphysics of the human heart.  These claims will be elaborated throughout this WWZP series and illustrated with references to the sacred literature of the world’s religions and mystical teachings, as well as through explorations of modern physics and science.

Mystical teachings suggest profound possibilities for states of awakened consciousness, enlightenment, illumination and liberation—associated with the awakening of the heart and the illumination of higher centres.  These provide an alternative viewpoint to those perspectives offered by so-called “exact science” –with its denial of spirit, soul and any transcendental or religious principle.  If we speak off the tops of our heads, we can simply assume that the head-brain produces consciousness and mind, but if we penetrate to the heart of being, to the Heart of ourselves, might we indeed become “Knowers of Self?”   H. P. Blavatsky, a prominent occult scholar, notes, “Learn above all to separate Head-learning from Soul-Wisdom.” (1877) and quotes the ancient Stanzas of Dyzan:  “The Sons expand and contract through their own Selves and Hearts ... each a part of the web,” (The web as woven between spirit and matter.)   

            From a mystical and spiritual perspective, modern psychology and philosophy are filled with head knowledge but lack the secret wisdom of Self within the Heart.  Consciousness and Self are substantive and should not simply be used as generic terms to identify the flow of thoughts, feelings and sensations that occur within subjective experience generated by the brain.  There is something far deeper happening   within a human being as concerns the origin and nature of consciousness.

            Ramana Maharshi elaborates upon the mysteries of the heart.  He explains how the Self emerges as a point source of light and consciousness associated with the true Heart centre and that its influences circulate as light throughout the interior dimensions of a human being:

The effulgent light of active-consciousness starts at a point and gives light to the entire body even as the sun does to the world.  When that light spreads out in the body one gets the experiences in the body.  The sages call the original point ‘Hridayam’ (the Heart). ... The Individual permeates the entire body, with that light, becomes egocentric and thinks that he is the body and that the world is different from himself. ... The association of the Self with the body is called the Granthi (knot). ...  When Atma (the Self) alone shines, within and without, and everywhere ... one is said to have severed the knot.... (Bhikshu, 1966, pp. 39-42)

            The Self is inherently self-illuminating and this light emerges from a point source within the heart and then permeates the body and mind.  This light is associated with consciousness itself.  A human being is thus ‘ensouled’ through the electromagnetic activities of the heart, the breath and the blood flow. 

Yogic and mystical teachings articulate also that the light energies of Self are dispersed through three major channels to seven major wheels or chakras within the subtle anatomy of human beings.   The Heart Chakra is the central and original chakra with three above and three below

 The Self exists in relationship to a hierarchy of interpenetrating world orders—spiritual, divine and metaphysical dimenns of being, which underlie and sustain the realm of gross matter.  These dynamics allow for afterlife existence and for complex relationships of the individual to the Sun, to the larger Universe, and most importantly to spiritual and divine realities.

5. Zero Point Origins

 “ ... “material points without extension”  are Leibnitz’s monads,
  and at the same time the materials out of which the ‘Gods’ and
other invisible powers clothe themselves in bodies.
… the entire universe concentrating itself, as it were, in a single point."
H. P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine,
Vol. I. Cosmogenesis, 1888 (p. 489)

“… such a point of transition must certainly possess special
and not readily discoverable properties.”  (I, p. 628)

            The term “zero point” was used by the mystic scholar Helena P. Blavatsky, founder of the Theosophical Society (1875) and author of The Secret Doctrine (1888).  Blavatsky does not elaborate extensively upon zero point dynamics within The Secret Doctrine or elsewhere, but her few discussions are immensely valuable.  The zero point teaching has been largely overlooked within modern theosophical studies.  In the Within-Without from Zero Points series, the obscure zero point teaching extrapolated from The Secret Doctrine is illustrated by explorations of modern science and physics, and through consciousness studies.

            Volume I of The Secret Doctrine is entitled Cosmogenesis and deals with the origin of the universe and creation metaphysics.  Blavatsky used the symbol of a point within a circle to represent the zero point origin of the cosmos—a point source of unfolding wherein the finite Kosmos emerged from the Infinite at the beginning of time.  The Kosmos expands within-without when the Breath of the Father is upon it and then eventually contracts without-within when the Breath of the Mother touches it.  The Kosmos returns to a neutral zero point centre at the end of time.   Relative space-time worlds, or ‘Sons,’ emerge out of an underlying Eternal Parent Space and eventually return again to it.  Cycles of the Seven Days and Nights of Brahma occur with Days of creation or Manvantara, alternating with Nights of Brahma—a period of Pralaya, or rest.  Blavatsky depicted innumerable worlds over eons of time being created in cycles from such zero point sources or ‘laya centres.’  

            Blavatsky uses various terms to depict these invisible points–labeling them also as “layu centers” and “laya centers.”   The influences of divine or spiritual realms upon the physical realm emerge through these laya centres, which exist at or beyond the level of material differentiation. 

 … the Laya condition, the point from which, or at which, the primordial substance begins to differentiate and thus gives birth to the universe and all in it.  (Transactions of the Blavatsky Lodge, 1889, p. 5)

Laya does not mean any particular something or some plane or other, but denotes a state or condition.  It is a Sanskrit term, conveying the idea of something in an undifferentiated and changeless state, a zero point wherein all differentiation ceases.  (p. 7)

… from the “Zero-state” (or layam) it becomes active and passive, … and, in consequence of this differentiation (the resultant of which is evolution and the subsequent Universe),--the “Son” is produced, the Son being that same Universe, or manifested Kosmos, till a new Mahapralaya.  (p. 38)

             Not only did Blavatsky depict the point source origin of the universe, but also she described zero point laya centres as existent in all living beings—including ourselves.  It is through zero point laya centres and dynamics that ““the “Gods” and other invisible powers clothe themselves in bodies.”  

            Zero points are beyond the level of material differentiation:

 The chemist goes to the laya or zero-point of the plane of matter with which he deals, and then stops short. ... But the full Initiate knows that the ring “Pass-Not” is neither locality, nor can it be measured by distance, but that it exists in the absoluteness of infinity.  In this “Infinity” ... there is neither height, breadth nor thickness, but all is fathomless profundity, reaching down from the physical to the “para-para-metaphysical.” (S.D. I, p. 131)

 What Blavatsky describes as the zero point or the Ring Pass Not is at the level of the Planckian units in physics, beyond which physical measurement becomes impossible.   In fact, one might find zero point transitional states and dynamics at varied levels within the Aethers of Space.

The true Atoms for Blavatsky exist at zero point levels in the unmanifest condition—in the laya state.  Beings differentiate from a Laya condition or centre at the beginning of each new Manvantara or age, to manifest as a Kosmos, Son or quanta.  At the end of time, elements resolve back into the laya state with the dissolution or ingathering of the cosmos.  For Blavatsky, atoms are eternal in the laya or zero point condition, prior to physical differentiation.  All material matter is impermanent and will ultimately return to the laya state.  This is a remarkable alternative concept of the nature of cosmoses, quanta and atoms, and the teaching can also be applied to human beings.

            The informing life principle withdraws into the neutral laya centre at the dissolution of the Cosmos “at the hour of the Pralaya.”  Blavatsky describes the “path onward” from matter into Spirit, and further, “… the necessary gradual and final reabsorption into the laya state, that which Science calls in her own way “the point neutral as to electricity” etc., or the zero point. Such are the Occult facts and statement.”  (S.D., I, p. 551)

            Blavatsky gives this overview of the evolution and dissolution of the Cosmos:

… evolution … may be thus formulated as an invariable law; a descent of Spirit into Matter, equivalent to an ascent in physical evolution; a re-ascent from the depths of materiality towards its status quo ante, with a corresponding dissipation of concrete form and substance up to the LAYA state, or what Science calls “the zero point,” and beyond. (S.D., I, p. 620)

The Secret Doctrine postulates the dissolution of the universe, or Son, into a Laya Centre or neutral zero point centre at the end of time. 

            When examined from a physical perspective, zero points are infinitely small and disappear from view. Zero points mark the transition between varied world orders within the hierarchies of creation.  They are points at which something passes over from this world to THAT; where the physical dissolves back into the metaphysical or the material resolves back into the spiritual and divine.  Somehow, it is as if as Blavatsky suggests: “… the entire universe concentrates itself, as it were, in a single point.”  Zero points are rooted into higher dimensional Space.  The actuality of human beings being based upon such a multidimensional physics of zero point dimensions allows for a much expanded view of human nature. 

             A century after the publication of The Secret Doctrine, theories in modern physics and cosmology now illustrate Blavatsky’s seemingly bizarre concepts of the zero point origins of the Kosmos.   In modern cosmology, the universe is described as emerging from a singularity point, 10^-33 cm. in diameter at the beginning of time, 10^-45th of a second.  It emerged out of the quantum vacuum—a seeming void and plenum, a realm of hidden dimensions of being and non-being.  Scientists have traced material nature back to its origins and passed from physical to metaphysical dimensions at the singularity.  Modern scientists consider that the universe emerged from such a singular point and it could ultimately return to such a dreaded singularity at the end of time, in what is referred to as the ‘big crunch’ to contrast with the ‘big bang’ creation event.   The Secret Doctrine similarly described creation emerging from such a point source and eventually returning to such a state.  However, in The Secret Doctrine, the zero point or laya centre is not just there at the beginning and end of time, as the alpha and omega points, but instead it exists throughout.   It is the means by which the higher dimensional intelligences fashion and bring life into the material coverings or bodies.  It is the means by which the entire universe concentrates itself in a single point!

            Within the metaphysical teaching of Blavatsky’s The Secret Doctrine, a Kosmos is labeled as a “Son,” as a “wink of the Eye of Self-Existence” and as a “spark of eternity.” It is suggested that there are such zero point laya centres, elements and dynamics within all living beings.

           A Monad is such a zero point source of light and life within self.   Blavatsky wrote: “...  the Monad  ...  is not of this world or plane, and may be compared only to an indestructible star of divine light and fire, thrown down on to our Earth.” (1888)   Just as the Macrocosm might have a first point of supernal lux, so also does the Microcosm of a living breathing human being.  This is in accord with the mystical axiom “As above, so below.” Thus, there might theoretically at least be a “God spark’ or divine element, or jivatma, within a living human being.  This would constitute an ‘I’ unlike any of the materialist scientists which are only the impermanent and illusory composites of molecules, cell or neurons in the brain.   A zero point laya centre within the heart would be an “I” for which there could be a whole inner physics and metaphysics. 

             It is suggested that such elements at zero point levels are the true ‘atoms’ within living beings.    

“MATTER IS ETERNAL, becoming atomic (its aspect) only periodically.”  ( I, p. 552)

 
“Matter is eternal,” says the Esoteric Doctrine.  But the matter the Occultists conceive of in its laya, or zero state, is not the matter of modern science; … when the adept or alchemist adds that, though matter is eternal, for it is PRADHANA (‘original base’), yet atoms are born at every new manvantara, or reconstruction of the universe.  (S.D., I, p. 545)

             The Secret Doctrine maintains that the universe is founded upon an original zero point and the laws of nature are based upon a further differentiation into seven zero point centres.  Whether a Universe, a quantum or an individual divine spark, the laws of nature manifest in the material worlds are due to Divine and spiritual forces and intelligences emerging within/without through seven dimensional zero point dynamics.   Blavatsky describes seven minute ‘holes dug in space’ as the means by which higher dimensional forces sculpt the void through the processes of creation.   Blavatsky offers this explanation of the “Forces of Nature:”

 ... all the so-called Forces of Nature … are in esse, i.e., in their ultimate constitution, the differentiated aspects of that Universal Motion. ...  Fohat is said to produce “Seven Laya Centres” … the GREAT LAW … modifies its perpetual motion on seven invisible points within the area of the manifested Universe.  “The great Breath digs through Space seven holes into Laya to cause them to circumgyrate during Manvantara.”  (Occult Catechism). We have said that Laya is what Science may call the Zero-point or line; the realm of absolute negativeness, or the one real absolute Force … the neutral axis, not one of the many aspects, but its centre.  … “Seven Neutral Centres,” then are produced by Fohat ….  (S.D., I , pp.147-8)

Blavatsky describes the great Breath or Law as “digging holes in Space” to channel intelligence and influences into the material realm.  Thus, seven invisible zero point holes dug in space are established as a foundation for physical manifestation and the laws of nature.   Any Cosmos, any Universe, any Monad (a divine or spiritual spark), any atom or quantum, is thus “worked and guided from within outwards” through the dynamics of such zero point centres.

 Seven Manifest Physical  Dimensions  -- Earth Below

            A zero point is not exactly a ‘thing’ in itself—as much as it is a condition or a place at which certain processes occur.  Divine and Spiritual Intelligences above ensoul the material body through such zero point dynamics.  A zero point can be considered as a ‘point particle’ —like a monad in hyperspace, or as a portal or transitional point between dimensions.  In fact, there could be multiple zero point transitions between dimensions and lives.  The human being is ensouled through zero point dynamics and a higher dimensional holographic physics of the heart.

Another Stanza of Dzyan, from Blavatsky’s The Secret Doctrine (1888) reads: “The Sons expand and contract through their own selves and hearts; they embrace infinitude. ...  Each is a part of the web.  Reflecting the “Self-existing Lord” like a mirror, each becomes in turn a world.”  (p.489)  The expansion and contraction of the Sons is through the zero point laya centre associated with the heart and each individual in turn becomes a world.  At the heart of the universe, a galaxy, the sun, a quantum and a human being are such zero point laya centres, whereby the gods and other invisible powers clothe themselves in bodies.  Thus, life within a living being originates within/without out of higher space dimensions through the dynamics of a multidimensional heart.

            According to the heart doctrine, a divine spark is the essential point source of individual light consciousness and of the life force within a living being.  There is a “quantum Self” or real “I,” a Monad or jivatma, established within the higher seven dimensional Space embodied within the Heart.  This ‘God spark’ or divine source emanation is brought down into a spiritual world, then a psychical (soul) world and embodied as the electromagnetic centre within the physical heart.  The presence of Self initiates the heartbeat and diffuses the light of consciousness and life energies through the blood and subtle matters to various levels of the body and psyche.  The presence of the Self as a ‘self-illuminating element,’ the Sun of the body, serves to illuminate the psychological and psychic processes within the inner world. 

            The idea of a living human being growing within/without from a point source is actually illustrated by the dynamics of the conception and growth of the physical body.  A fertilised ovum is barely visible to the naked eye—essentially a zero point source.  In turn, the ovum is a whole world into itself on a different scale of being from our usual perception. By some unexplained magic, a human being’s physical body grows from an original zero point condition, as did the universe.   It is not constructed from without, by external shaping or building, but it unfolds from within/without. 

            P. D. Ouspensky (1949) wrote: “The zero-dimension or the point is a limit.  This means that we see something as a point, but we do not know what is concealed behind this point.  It may actually be a point, that is, a body having no dimensions and it may also be a whole world, but a world so far removed from us or so small that it appears to us a point.”   This description of a point source as being a whole world in itself certainly applies to a fertilised ovum and to the emergence of the universe.

             Although the scientist must concede that the body of a physical human being and the body of the Universe grow from such zero point sources, they do not imagine that human consciousness might similarly be understood in terms of such zero point dynamics. In this view, the origins of human consciousness are traced to the higher dimensional physics and metaphysics of the human heart and the heart chakra; while the seven fold zero points form the centres of the seven chakras. 

            Consciousness does not arise from material, neurological activity within the material brain.  The mind merely reflects the light which originates from within the spiritual heart and space itself.  Mystics compare the mind to the moon, which has no light of its own but simply reflects the light of the sun.  Similarly, the egoic mind reflects the light of the self within the heart.  The zero point centres are inherently “living” and “self-illuminating” and the heart is the Sun of the body.

            The mystical conjunction of zero point divine sparks within the nothingness and hyperspace dimensions associated with the heart ultimately gives rise to human consciousness.  The zero point divine spark is a quantum self—a point source of divine light and life and of spiritual consciousness.  It is the source of the “I” that “I AM,” the hidden Self pointed to by mystics and sages throughout the ages.  There is an inner physics and metaphysics to such zero point dynamics, light and the higher dimensions of the human heart. 

6. The Mysteries of Space and the Aether

Space is, ever was, and ever will be, and you cannot make away with it.
(Blavatsky, 1888, p. 12)

In order to understand zero points dynamics, we have to consider the nature of space, as the zero point centres exist within the ‘medium’ of space.  This includes the three dimensional space with which we are familiar (or the four-dimensional space-time continuum) and the subtle, higher dimensional Space which underlies and sustains it.  The mysteries of consciousness are intimately interrelated to the mysteries of space and the hidden dimensions of being. 

            Each divine spark “reflects” the life of the “Self-Existing Lord,” as a point source of supernal (or supernatural) light arising out of a sea of infinite light.  These sparks are the sources of consciousness or divine light “emanating” out of hidden dimensions of higher dimensional Space.  The individual experience of consciousness arises from the conjunction of such divine sparks within the Divine Mother, the Aether of Space itself.  The zero point reflects the qualities of the Divine Father, the Self Existing Lord, a point source of supernal light.  The sacred Aether of Space embodies the mysteries of the Divine Mother–the akasha, the Aether or ether–the medium of space itself, within which we live, move and have our being.  Understanding the conjunction of the zero points within the heart space is a key to unlocking the mystical origins of consciousness and self, as well as that of life and the universe.  Mystical teachings depict a world of profoundly subtle dimensions, interpenetrating and sustaining life through the mysteries of the heart.

            The zero point is a portal by which influences of higher dimensions are channelled into physical manifestation.  Without, the zero point dynamics gives rise to the four dimensional space-time complex, while within, the zero point is established within a seven dimensional Aether of Space.   According to Blavatsky, the sevenfold nature of creation and of Space is a basic teaching of the divine wisdom.  Blavatsky offered these profound comments on the nature of Space:  

 
Space is ... a ‘limitless void’ (and) a conditioned fullness ... the Plenum, the absolute Container of all that is, whether manifested or un-manifest. ... Space is called in the esoteric symbolism “the Seven-Skinned Eternal Mother-Father.”  It is composed in its undifferentiated to differentiated surface of seven layers. (The Secret Doctrine, p.8)

The whole range of physical phenomena proceeds from the Primary of Ether--Akasa....  Modern science may divide its hypothetically conceived ether in as many ways as it likes; the real Aether of Space will remain as it is throughout.  It has seven principles, as all the rest of Nature has, and where there was no Ether there would be no sound, as it is the vibrating soundboard in nature in all of its seven differentiations. This is the first mystery the Initiates of old have learned.  (The Secret Doctrine, p.536)

 
            In the Cosmogenesis of The Secret Doctrine, a key to the mysteries of creation lies within this arcane teaching of the seven-skinned Eternal Parent Space.  In this view, the entire phenomenal world is regarded as an outgrowth or unfolding of patterns of creation inherent within this root principle of the divine essence.  The Eternal Parent Space is the ultimate Aether or hyperspace dimension, which sustains physical reality.  Blavatsky maintains that the sevenfoldness of things is latent in the Eternal Parent Space and then manifest within all realms of nature and creation.

            Blavatsky was highly critical of the scientific views of her era, particularly when it came to conceptualizing “space.”  She wrote: “... Space is, in the sight of the materialists, one boundless void in nature–blind, unintelligent, useless.”  (p.587)  Blavatsky explains that instead of regarding Space as an “abyss of nothingness,” the occultist regards it as a substantial living Entity, the “real world” in contrast to the illusory world of visible causes and effects.  Space is the Plenum, the Unity in which there is an interconnectedness of all matters and forces.  It is the container and body of the universe with its seven principles.  In the language of modern physics, Blavatsky’s Eternal Parent Space refers to the void/plenum of the quantum vacuum as a hyperspace with an inherent seven dimensional nature. ²   Without this Aether of Space, there would be no forces of nature, elements or creation.

            According to Madame Blavatsky, cosmic manifestation–within both spiritual and material dimensions of creation–entails the unfolding or expansion of this inherent sevenfold nature.  “Everything in the metaphysical as in the physical Universe is septenary.”  (Blavatsky, S.D. p.158)  In the process of cosmic creation, the “first born” are Seven Luminous Sons, or the Seven Lords, or Seven Logi, or Seven Rays.  These Seven Divine Intelligences are “the builders of form from no-form.”  The seven Luminous Sons sculpt the void through inner processes of quantized geometric differentiation.   Seven Sons are born from the Web of Light, which manifests out of the Darkness of Non-Being and the Eternal Parent Space.  Blavatsky explains that the Divine Essence then becomes “Seven Inside, Seven outside.”  Sevenfoldness is inherent in the Eternal Parent Space, which gives birth firstly to the Seven Luminous Sons, which in turn create seven Laya Centres and materialize within the seven dimensional patterns of manifest existence.

            The multidimensional holographic universe consists then of a realm of primary creation, in light and spirit, and a realm of secondary creation, in darkness and matter.  Thus, God creates the Heavens and the Earth. The Sevenfoldness is evident throughout and even in the Eternal Parent Space before the emergence of the Universe.  The Seven inside inform the Seven outside. Blavatsky describes the seven inside as “digging holes in Space” to channel their intelligence/influences into the material realm.  Thus, Seven Laya Centres, seven invisible zero points, are established as the foundation for physical manifestation; seven invisible centres beyond the level of physical differentiation. The causative forces within the four dimensional spacetime thus emerge from within/without from zero point dynamics and an individual is ‘clothed’ in different bodies.

            Blavatsky’s archaic doctrines are beautifully illustrated by modern physical and cosmological theories. Scientists have penetrated into the void/plenum and hyperspace in their attempts to unify the physical laws and to understand the creation of the universe.  In doing so, they have arrived at singularities, the quantum vacuum, seven dimensional hyperspace and a hierarchy of broken symmetries, which generate form from formlessness, matter from nothingness to sculpt the void.  Blavatsky explained similar concepts over a hundred years ago.  Of course, Blavatsky expected the rejection of such concepts in her time but predicted that “in the twentieth century of our era scholars will begin to realize that The Secret Doctrine has neither been invented or exaggerated, but, on the contrary, simply outlined.”

            Scientists and consciousness researchers should take up Blavatsky’s challenge to science and explore the depths of occult wisdom.  The materialistic conception of blind matter moving about in empty four-dimensional space-time is no longer valid even within the domain of established science.  The concepts of zero-point centres, the seven-skinned Eternal Parent Space and the void/plenum are the stuff of science and mysticism.  Generally, of course, the physicist remains ignorant of the relationships of contemporary theories to the ancient wisdom and the issues of consciousness are left to the neurologists and psychologists to think about.

            Mystics suggest awesome possibilities for human consciousness and experience in a profoundly deep universe.  Humans live in forgetfulness and are ignorant of the true nature of self and the higher dimensional Space within which we live, move and have our being.   The mysteries of consciousness as light and the zero point centres are intimately tied into the mysteries of the Aether of space.

            In the Transactions of Theosophical Society, Blavatsky provides some commentaries on the nature of the real ‘atoms’ and of matter:

 
… the hypothetical atom, a mere mathematical point, is not material or applicable to matter, or even to substance. The real atom does not exist on the material plane.  The definition of a point as having position, must not, in Occultism, be taken in the ordinary sense of location: as the real atom is beyond space and time.  … the atom is in its eternal state, invisible even to the eye of an Archangel; and becomes visible to the latter only periodically, during its life cycle. … An atom may be compared to … the seventh principle of a body or rather a molecule.  (1889, pp. 107-109)

In the symbol of the Theosophical Society, the Self is depicted by the ankh as the seventh principle within the six sided seal of Solomon or the Star of David.  The ankh represents the eternal life principle in Egyptian magic.  The Snake swallowing its own tail represents the processes of creation and dissolution or involution and evolution of the whole; while the swastika represents the four elements of nature and the four worlds.  This is a profound symbolic representation of the monadic essence established within the seven fold higher dimensional physics of the human heart.  This image depicts what might be such a ‘wink of self-existence’ as referred to by HPB.   In reference to the Sun, Blavatsky notes: “The Sun has but one distinct function; it gives the impulse of life to all that breathes and lives under its light.  The sun is the throbbing heart of the system; each throb being an impulse. But this heart is invisible; no astronomer will ever see it.  … This impulse is not mechanical but a purely spiritual, nervous impulse. ” (p. 117)

            Zero point laya centres are established within the Eternal Parent Space as the true Atoms, or I’s.  Blavatsky describes the Eternal Parent Space as the “upper space.”  

 … the “upper space” is the space “within,” however paradoxical it may seem, for there is no above as no below in the infinitude; but the planes follow each other and solidify from within without.  It is in fact, the universe as it first appears from its laya or “zero” state, a shoreless expanse of spirit, or “sea of fire.”  (p. 119)

 Living beings have such zero point laya centres, the means by which the universe somehow concentrates itself as it were into a single point.  The metaphysical dynamics of these atoms in seven dimensional hyperspace, gives rise to the manifested forms of molecular and atomic structures which surround the central point.  This is the basis of a holographic model of the physics of the human heart. 

          The true “substance,” “atoms” or “laya centres” are “on the seventh plane of matter counting upwards, or rather from within without.  This can never be discovered on the lowest, or rather most outward and material plane.”  (p. 6)   Might a human being actually then have such a Monadic essence within the seven dimensional hyperspace of the Aether?    This is a meaningful scientific hypothesis. Such an “I” is not simply a material composite of molecules and neurons but instead is inherently self illuminating as consciousness and the life principle within the living being.

These chapters are missing from this online version:

7.   The Kabbalist Universe and Self   ............. 19

              a. Three Realms of Negative Existence................... 20

              b. Supernal Points ................................................ 21

              c. The Zimzum & the Vacated Heart Space ............ 23

              d. The Tree of Life              .................................. 24

 
    8. Back to the Fool

Divine sparks descend through higher space dimensions within the seven depths of the Divine Mother.   The mystic poet Kabir depicts this: “Inside this jar there are seven oceans and innumerable stars.”  Such a seemingly bizarre teaching of cosmic and self-origins is articulated by H.P. Blavatsky in her magnum opus, The Secret Doctrine and it can be found within the Kabbalists teachings of the Tree of Life.  Such teachings offer a profound view of the origins of life emerging “within without from zero points,” all through some profound and mysterious inner chemistry or alchemy of multi-dimensional existence.

            Unfortunately, scientists have failed to explore the possibility that there are essential links between physics and the study of consciousness, or even to consider the metaphysics of existence.  According to a mystical perspective, this is an error of unfathomable proportions as all cosmoses embody the same metaphysical and physical principles of creation and design: “As above, so below.”  All living cosmoses, including the microcosm of human consciousness, emerge from zero point sources and are rooted into the same subtle underlying realms.  In this view, the development of a more comprehensive science demands “a science of the soul” and with this, a physics and metaphysics of consciousness and the Heart.  In fact, the basic concepts of physics and cosmology can be applied to thinking about the origin and nature of consciousness and the heart, if we have the missing links provided by esoteric mystical doctrines.

       The Within-Without from Zero-Point series involves a complex synthesis of ancient wisdom and modern science.  The framework developed allows us to understand how human consciousness might be related to the metaphysical root principles of creation, to a spiritual and soul life, to the larger universe and ultimately to what people call God.  These things can all be described in terms of a complex physics and metaphysics of consciousness, light and the heart Space.

            Mystical teachings claim that in higher dimensional Space, all things are ultimately integrated into one unifying Source—God or the Absolute.  In this vein, all separate individuals around us in life and we ourselves are expressions of the same Unifying Life, which lives through us all.   We are all individual “eyes” or “I”s of “THAT”–the divine unity within which we live, move and have our being.  Mystical experiences involve penetrating various veils of nature which allow for the realization of these higher Space dimensions and experiences of the unity of things.   Human beings have long known in their hearts that such realities exist.

            A mystical axiom states: “Know thyself, and thou shalt know the Universe and the Gods.”  In fact, such possibilities are suggested throughout the spiritual, religious and metaphysical teachings of the ages.  God is traditionally described as omnipresent—present everywhere, omnipotent—containing all potencies; and omniscient—all knowing.  Thus if God exists, then ultimately as we penetrate to the heart of being, to the heart of matter or to the heart of self, then we must arrive at this Unity.  Somehow, the universe concentrates itself, as it were, into a single point.

            A zero point is a source of light consciousness, life and will, established within the void/plenum, the darkness and fullness of seven dimensional cosmic Space.  Every man, woman and child has such a zero point centre –the star nature—established within a higher seven dimensional space. What exactly does this mean and what are the implications and applications of such deceptively simple concepts?   These are the deep mysteries to be explored by the fool at the zero point.

            This introduction summarizes essential teachings of the Within-Without from Zero Point series—concerning the zero point hypotheses, the heart doctrine and the basic metaphysical principles concerning the triune and seven dimensional nature of creation.  We turn now to a broader discussion of the issues of science and mysticism, the enigmas of consciousness and the heart, studies of creation physics and metaphysics, to gradually elaborate upon such arcane claims and ideas.  Certainly, the enigmas of human consciousness are deep indeed if we consider seriously the claims and theories of the mystics, saints and alchemists.