The Unity of Psyche and Matter

Exploring the inclusional nature of reality

Wendy Ellyatt, 2006

The Unity of Psyche and Matter

Einstein's goal of unifying the laws of physics under a single model survives in the current drive for unification of the forces. We continue to seek unity in the midst of

apparent diversity

In recent years the question of the relationship between the human psyche and matter has been increasingly debated

Jung’s exploration of the ‘collective unconscious’ – that part of the unconscious mind that is common to all humans – convinced him that the seemingly divergent sciences of psychology and modern

physics might be approaching a unified world model

Finally the dualism of matter and psyche might be resolved

‘The unexpected parallelisms of ideas in psychology and physics suggest, as Jung pointed out, a possible ultimate oneness of both fields of reality that physics and psychology study. . . . The concept of a unitarian idea of reality (which has been followed up by Pauli and Erich Neumann) was called by Jung the ‘unus mundus’ (the one world, within which matter and psyche and are not yet discriminated or separately actualized).’

Marie-Louise von Franz, 1979

‘There are grounds for cautious optimism that we may now be near

the end of the search for the ultimate laws of nature.’

Stephen W. Hawking, A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes, Bantam, NY, 1988,

p 157.

The physicist David Bohm’s idea of an implicate order behind quantum physics is similar to what Wolfgang Pauli and Jung felt in that Individual consciousness might have the ability to come into relation with this implicate order.

Could the implicate order unfold with the help of an act of consciousness related to this unified reality beyond the split into quantum physics and depth psychology?

Do we have the ability to tap into this implicate order?

Could the wave-particle complementarity in quantum physics actually be paralleling the unconscious-

conscious complementarity in psychology?

‘Since psyche and matter are contained in one and the same world, and moreover are in continuous contact with one another and ultimately rest on

irrepresentable, transcendental factors, it is not only possible but fairly probable, even, that psyche and matter are two different aspects of one and

the same thing’

Carl Jung

And what of the role of number?

and that of Geometry?

For thousands of years five regular platonic solids have been recognised as the building blocks of nature..

Two semi-regular solids appear in nature but were not mentioned by ancient philosophers…

Modern neuro-physiology reveals that the rules of logic and grammar (the underpinnings for mathematics and language) appear to be “hard-wired” in the brain. As a consequence of evolution, we are born with the capacity to do mathematics and to learn language…

‘Number helps more than anything else to bring order into the chaos of appearances. It is the predestined instrument for creating order, or for

apprehending an already existing, but still unknown, regular arrangement or "orderedness." It may well be the most primitive element of order in the

human mind.’

Carl Jung

Scientists have discovered that the Mundurukú people, who live deep in the Amazon jungle, have a core understanding of geometry..

Science Journal 2005

"the spontaneous understanding of geometrical concepts and maps by this remote human community provides evidence that core geometrical knowledge ... is a universal constituent of the

human mind."

Ancient philosophers called God the Great Geometer ‘for his creation is ruled by geometry and musical ratios’.

Human understanding of geometry predates Plato by a very long time...

In 2001, this stone was found deep in a cave in South Africa. It has been shown to be more than 75,000 years old.

And in the United Kingdom carvings of the platonic solids have been found that are over 4000 years old…

Over three thousand years ago the inscription over the entrance to Plato’s Academy said:

"Let no one ignorant of geometry enter here."

As archetypes of our representation of the world, numbers form, in the strongest sense, part of ourselves, to such an extent that it can

legitimately be asked whether the subject of study of arithmetic is not the human mind itself.

G. Tenenbaum and M. Mendès France,

The Prime Numbers and Their Distribution (AMS, 2000)

Many ancient religious texts suggest that all physical appearance in the Universe has a common origin in an omni-pervasive field of infinite energy

Ancient sages professed to have knowledge about the world construction, from the micro cosmos to the universe

Modern science is now affirming this link between the seen and the unseen..

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The same was in the beginning with God.All things were made by him;

and without him was not any thing made that was made.

In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

The BibleJohn (1:1-4)

 

This body, Arjuna, is called the field.  He who knows this is called the knower of the field. Know that I am the knower of all the fields of my

creation; and that the wisdom which sees the field and the knower of the field is true wisdom.(Krishna to Arjuna)

Bhagavad Gita13,1-2

A new integrative understanding

With the rapid advance and integration of physics and psychology, our theoretical understanding of the universe beyond the range of our present consciousness is expanding to the point where we see hints of the identity of psyche and matter at profound levels.

The evolution of consciousness that is explicating and integrating more of the unconscious appears to be bringing into an explicate unity an original

implicate unity.

Thomas J McFarlane, 2000

‘Science has missed something essential; it has seen and scrutinised what has happened and in a way how it has happened, but it has shut

its eyes to something that made this impossible possible, something it is there to express.

There is no fundamental significance in things if you miss the Divine Reality; for you remain embedded in a huge surface crust of

manageable and utilisable appearance.

It is the magic of the Magician you are trying to analyze but only when you enter into the consciousness of the Magician himself can you begin

to experience the true organisation, significance and circles of the Lila.’

Sri AurobindoThe Valley of the False Glimmer

Lila = divine play" - life as a spontaneous game played by lighthearted forces beyond our understanding

Nature demonstrates a dynamic, unfolding beauty and unity that constantly integrates, transforms and grows...a magical mathematical dance of life

Our physical design as human beings echoes the harmony and proportions of the natural world.

Our collective thoughts and experiences constantly shape and influence our reality – are we, in fact beginning to realise our relationship with the implicate order? And does this mean that we can own our collective responsibility for the whole?

If we are, indeed, co-creators of our reality and, by definition, our future, what kind of future do we want?

"A Human Being is part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and

feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our own personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from

this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."

Albert Einstein 

How can you buy or sell the sky? The land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you

buy them?

Every part of the earth is sacred to my people. If we sell you our land, remember that the air is precious to us that the air shares its spirit with all the

life that it supports.

Teach your children what we have taught our children--that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons and daughters of the earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves. This we

know. The earth does not belong to us; we belong to the earth.

This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons and daughters of the earth. We did not weave the web of life; we are merely

a strand in it.  Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves...

Chief Seattle 

It seems that we really may be the future we have been waiting for

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Wendy Ellyatt, 2006