We have been celebrating non-dualism and “oneing” and love as the mystics and activists define it and live it. Today’s science is an ally in moving beyond dualism.
Our universe is flooded with light, and light is far more prevalent in the universe than is matter.
Astrophysicist Arne Wyller, citing Nobel Prize–winner Ilya Prigogine, puts it this way: A flood of light dominates our Universe today and …matter is numerically insignificant among the stuff of the universe. For every particle of matter there are 1 billion particles of light.
Matter is just a minor pollutant in a universe made of light. Perhaps there is more to the phenomenon of light than meets the eye of the physicist. At the moment of almost ultimate compression, the light of the whole Universe was able to fit into a volume much smaller than the point of a needle.
Light is not just up in the sky. It is on our kitchen table. Thanks to photosynthesis, it seems that the very food we eat is light.
Farmer and poet Wendel Berry says that eating is more than a merely sensory or appetitive stimulation, but the last act of an agricultural drama.
It is more than that. It is a last act in a cosmological drama to which humans are very late on the scene. It seems that “this is my body, this is my blood,” are words baked into the history of the universe. At least that is how poet William Carlos Williams sees it:
There is nothing to eat,
seek it where you will,
But the body of the Lord.
The blessed plants
and the sea, yield it
to the imagination
intact.
The poet Rilke concurs:
All this universe, to the furthest stars
And beyond them, is our flesh, your fruit.
What more is today’s science teaching us about light in our lives and light in our food and stomachs? That light and matter are the same entities. Light and matter are ultimately interchangeable.
“There is no ultimate physical substance to matter.”
“Matter is frozen light.” (David Bohm)
“Matter is nothing but gravitationally trapped light.”
If matter and light are “interchangeable,” then dualism understood as spirit vs. matter is dead. For light is the most common synonym for Divinity found around the world. To be continued.
Adapted from Matthew Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh Transforming Evil in Soul and Society, pp. 77f, 80, 50.
And Fox, “Light,” in One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths, pp. 50-79.
To read a transcript of Matthew Fox’s video teaching, click HERE.
Banner Image: The interplay of light and dark; exquisite mutuality found in the midst of what is and what is unfolding. Photo by Manouchehr Hejazi on Unsplash.
Queries for Contemplation
What does it mean to you to hear that matter and spirit are not antagonistic but both are light?
Recommended Reading
Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society
Visionary theologian and best-selling author Matthew Fox offers a new theology of evil that fundamentally changes the traditional perception of good and evil and points the way to a more enlightened treatment of ourselves, one another, and all of nature. In comparing the Eastern tradition of the 7 chakras to the Western tradition of the 7 capital sins, Fox allows us to think creatively about our capacity for personal and institutional evil and what we can do about them.
“A scholarly masterpiece embodying a better vision and depth of perception far beyond the grasp of any one single science. A breath-taking analysis.” — Diarmuid O’Murchu, author of Quantum Theology: Spiritual Implications of the New Physics
One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths
Matthew Fox calls on all the world traditions for their wisdom and their inspiration in a work that is far more than a list of theological position papers but a new way to pray—to meditate in a global spiritual context on the wisdom all our traditions share. Fox chooses 18 themes that are foundational to any spirituality and demonstrates how all the world spiritual traditions offer wisdom about each.“Reading One River, Many Wells is like entering the rich silence of a masterfully directed retreat. As you read this text, you reflect, you pray, you embrace Divinity. Truly no words can fully express my respect and awe for this magnificent contribution to contemporary spirituality.” –Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit
10 thoughts on “Light, Science and Moving Beyond Dualism”
Matthew, Today you begin by tell us : “Today’s science is an ally in moving beyond dualism. Our universe is flooded with light, and light is far more prevalent in the universe than is matter.” As a matter of fact you show us that Nobel Prize–winner Ilya Prigogine has said that: For every particle of matter there are 1 billion particles of light. Later you say: “Light is not just up in the sky. It is on our kitchen table. Thanks to photosynthesis, it seems that the very food we eat is light.” Light and matter are ultimately interchangeable, for there is no ultimate physical substance to matter. In fact that’s why David Bohm says that: “Matter is frozen light.” So you conclude saying, “If matter and light are ‘interchangeable,’ then dualism understood as spirit vs. matter is dead. For light is the most common synonym for Divinity found around the world.” Finally, you ask us today: “What does it mean to you to hear that matter and spirit are not antagonistic but both are light?” Dualism vanishes and ultimately all is ONE–the Oneing.
Why had some other religious seekers and traditions already recognized the science of light and matter before the scientists did, let alone the Christian tradition? Is it that the Christian tradition does not readily lead followers into the Spirit life, the Spirit experience in which our eternal soul resides? Is that because many, not all, religious leaders from the top-down have not experienced their own soul consciousness in any significant way that others might follow? If others do follow a path and get to enlightenment before the religious leaders, is that not a threat to their, beliefs, status and perceived authority? — BB.
Bill, You raise a number of issues today that I would like to address. First, you say: “Why had some other religious seekers and traditions already recognized the science of light and matter before the scientists did, let alone the Christian tradition?” Answer: Because they lived before them. And if you read One River, Many Wells you will find that Matthew devotes a whole section to the use of Light in Other traditions, some of which predated Christianity and modern science. Second, you ask: “Is it that the Christian tradition does not readily lead followers into the Spirit life, the Spirit experience in which our eternal soul resides?” You are probably right on that, but I would only point out that you will find that in every faith tradition and on spiritual path. There will always be some in every spiritual group, of what ever kind, who are not as committed, not as serious about their practice, and who don’t always heed the promptings of the Spirit…
Beautiful DM Matthew and looking forward to upcoming series on Light!
Divine Love
Love~Light~Life
Sophia~Christ
Our Eternal Souls
Co-Creation~Evolution
Loving Diverse Oneness
Cosmic Consciousness
Multidimensional-Multiverse Cosmos
Apophatic Godhead~Cataphatic God
Loving Mystery….
🔥💜🌎🙏
Damian, Thank you for sharing your poem with us !!!
Pondering…. “God is light. Light is divinity. For every particle of matter, there are one billion particles of light. Light is therefore more prevalent than matter. Light and matter are ultimately interchangeable. Matter is nothing but gravitationally trapped light.”
So… when we say that we are in the season of the Dark Night of the Soul, what we are really experiencing is the gravity of the consequences of our choices that have directly influenced in a negative way, the particles of matter and light, as these are interchangeable. Through the illusion of tempting to seperate what is intimately joined asunder, that being the ultimate interchangeability between matter and light, we have lost sight of seeing the sacred; the unfolding, evolving emergence of the Divinity within all that exists and our interconnectedness, interreliabilty and interdependence within this relationship of being Oned With.
Within every moment of this Dark Night of the Soul, in the depths of the matter of the shadow work we are engaged in, one slowly discovers that there is no real substance to that illusion of seperation or duality, which we so tightly cling to… and that there is therefore, simultaneously a billion opportunities of ultimate inner changeability of this dark matter… manifesting as the light of our divinity, seeded and sealed within our humanity… the mystery of God/Goddess incarnate within… a prevalent presence and essence in our midst.
Jeanette, Today you wrote: “So… when we say that we are in the season of the Dark Night of the Soul, what we are really experiencing is the gravity of the consequences of our choices that have directly influenced in a negative way, the particles of matter and light, as these are interchangeable.” What I would say to this is, even though when we look up into the night sky we now know that the darkness is actually filled with light–that our universe is flooded with light, and so it is even in our Dark Night of the Souls. Even there, there is light, if we only have eyes to see. Remember it was said of Jesus that he is the light of the world and so, “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not over come it” (John 1:5).
“There is no ultimate physical substance to matter. Matter is frozen light.” (David Bohm)
If matter and light are “interchangeable,” then dualism understood as spirit vs. matter is dead.
What an idea to hold while considering Verse 3 of the Gospel of John: “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” If, as the next two verses imply, Jesus (the Word) is Light come into the world, then all things were made by Light. Once again science and mystical spiritual truths converge. Am I reading these things right?
Michele, Today you write about John 1:3 which says: “All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being…” and the next two verses imply, Jesus (the Word) is Light come into the world, then all things were made by Light.” And so it even says in v. 9: “The true light [the Cosmic Christ] which enlightens everyone…” Then you ask: “Once again science and mystical spiritual truths converge. Am I reading these things right?” Yes you are !!! Although, many atheistic and materialistic scientists would not. 🙁
This is the trinity of Divinity. Love/Light/Life. How blessed I am to be!