Posted by Kevin Boon. Follow me on Twitter.
Deepak Chopra through his books and recordings was the first to explain to me God or consciousness from a scientific perspective. On Monday April 27th I had the opportunity to hear Deepak once again during his visit to Toronto.
What Does Science Really Know About God?
There are many perspectives on what we call God or consciousness, so many in fact that we rarely agree. Our religious or spiritual traditions teach us how to live and within stories we are encouraged to have faith however the biggest challenge is so much is un-provable from a scientific perspective. Chopra and other ground breaking philosophers and scientists we are getting closer to helping us understand God.
We are not our bodies
Chopra tells the story of life from the perspective of our bodies, our minds, beliefs and our emotions. He says science shows us today that we are none of these. He uses examples from quantum physics that describe how with each breath we take in 10 to the power of 22 atoms from the universe. That’s 10 plus 22 zeros atoms from just one breath. When we breathe out we do the same and with the simple act of breathing these atoms are re-creating our bodies, our organs, our heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, etc.
He says within 3 years the human body recycles 98% of itself and what makes up your body today might be atoms from a plant, a snail or other human beings. He says each human living today has over a million atoms that were once in the body of Christ or Buddha but we also have a million atoms that once belonged to Hitler or Saddam Hussein.
We intimately share our bodies and yet we live in this illusion that we are separate.
Science has proven that we are not our bodies.
Our thoughts, beliefs, emotions, possessions and relationships
What about our thoughts, beliefs or emotions?
Deepak describes while we can understand the physical nature of the body and mind there is something within that is unexplainable.
He calls it awareness. Other philosophers call it consciousness, aliveness and some call it God.
Deepak goes on to say that awareness is non-local meaning it’s not necessarily located within our body or brain. In fact we don’t know where it’s located. He says it is both local and non-local at the same time meaning awareness within you or me is part of a much greater universal consciousness or universal mind.
Why Does Knowing about Awareness Matter?
Our bodies, our possessions, our relationships, our jobs and those things we think are real are actually not real at all. He says our interest in the material world is more like a “superstition” or even an “addiction” especially when they take over our life.
If our bodies, minds, relationships or possessions are not real then why are we here? This is where most people get lost in this teaching because each one of us has a job, families, mortgages, wants and desires. This is where it becomes important to listen to the next phase of what he says. By knowing we are awareness we have the ability to tap into that awareness and improve the quality of our lives.
What I like about Chopra is his willingness to go after the highest truth and although is a little mind bending what he speaks of makes sense. The next part describes how he gets in touch with that awareness.
A Meditation to Connect with Awareness
Here is a meditation for getting in touch with that awareness.
- Close your eyes, relax, breathe, listen to your breathe and get comfortable.
- Think about those areas of your life where you feel grateful. Having gratitude opens the doorway to awareness.
- Put thought in what you want from your life from relationships, career, health, abundance, prosperity or whatever it is for you.
- Silently meditate and repeat within your mind the mantra “I AM” “I AM” and continue to repeat for 15 or 20 minutes. If you get off track then just bring yourself back into the “I AM” mantra.
This meditation is designed to connect us with the universal consciousness or awareness. By connecting with our awareness we can tap into the power of the creative process or the universal mind.
Everything in this world once started as a thought. To create a chair there is first the thought, the planning, assembling the materials and then construction. All things from buildings, to artwork, and even relationships are created with thought first.
Art and it's Connection to the Soul
The day after Deepak we went to the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario) in Toronto and as I walked around looking at the works of art I began to connect with that sense of the awareness. Artwork sometimes can allow us to connect deeper within our soul.
One thing I know for sure is the awareness can only be explained to a certain point with words. In reality it can only be experienced.
I’m going to practice Deepak’s meditation of Gratitude, Desires and then the mantra of I AM and I’ll keep you posted on how that meditation comes together.
Here is an interview with Ellen and Deepak.
What a great post, Kevin!
It's so awesome when we experience something that *does* increase our 'awareness'... something that feels so aligned that we're in the zone.
This is the key/ticket to our ever increasing joy/bliss/abundance on all levels in life.
Deepak Chopra is a conduit to our awareness. If his vibe is a close match for ours then we are synced up; our vibe goes sky high and we're in the vortex (as Abraham likes to put it).
From this place of 'awareness', in the vortex, we are able to see, feel, hear, etc. with the utmost of clarity and suddenly everything within and without seems to be aligning in a congruent flow.
I love that you mention the "I AM" meditation. I wrote a post about this a couple weeks ago, after having the chant potential brought to my awareness while chanting to Lakshmi (Hindu Goddess of Prosperity & Abundance)
The power of I AM is immense...such an amazing way to sync up with that which we are.
When we become consciously aware that every thought is indeed creation, we become aware of the magnitude of potential our thoughts carry.
Here's to 'awareness'. Here's to being aware of our thoughts and the knowing that our thoughts shape our reality. Here's to choosing consciously and taking responsibility for creating the experience we desire!
In Harmony,
Debra
Posted by: Debra | April 30, 2009 at 02:04 PM