What Could It Be?

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field.
I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass the world is too full to talk about.”

~ Rumi [emphasis by this author]

In the previous blog post, I described six attributes that, for me, are central to defining the nature of God. These ideas are the result of decades of reading, thinking, and talking about the works of numerous ‘New Age’ spiritual authors, Emerson, Holmes, Fox, Hay, Dyer, Chopra, Troward, Walsch, and so many, many more.

If you haven’t read that post yet, consider this your formal invitation to do so.

At the end of that post, I asked if there was anything (any thing) that could possibly fit that description. It was a rhetorical question because I believe there is … there is a something, some thing, which, from my perspective, appears to fit these characteristics very well.

In addition to my interest in spirituality, I am also fascinated with science, particularly biology and quantum mechanics. While reading one of my favorite books about ‘bleeding edge’ science, The Field by Lynne McTaggert, I was struck by the similarity between her description of the zero-point field and my developing understanding of the nature of God, or Spirit.

My Purpose for This Post

To be exceptionally clear, I make no claim to have identified the actual manifestation of God. What I do claim is to have found a ‘model’ that gives me more peace and makes it easier for me to fully open my heart to God, or Spirit.

This idea gives me comfort in contrast to the image of God that I grew up with: a powerful old man sitting on a throne in heaven scowling down at me, recording every mistake I make, and dolling out appropriate punishments.

I offer this idea here with no recommendation that anyone else ‘should’ adopt it. Heaven knows it was hard enough for me to figure this out for myself. I leave it totally up to you to identify what works best for you. However, if you would like to discuss this with me and/or anyone else reading this post, leave a comment.

Although I frequently refer critically to artistic visual representations of God, I am not criticizing their artistic value or beauty. I am evaluating how those representations have affected my relationship with the Divine.

Finally, to be clear, I am not a physicist. I have done some reading in the area and thought about it a lot. I make a few leaps of faith here in my description of the zero-point field (ZPF). I have marked these ideas with a “^^” to be clear that they are suppositions on my part. I sought the opinions of experts to clarify these suppositions, but have been unable to connect with any. If you are or know of such a person who might be willing to advise me, I would appreciate an introduction.

Zero-Point What?

The ZPF is a field of energy discovered by physicists studying the nature of matter itself. To say that they have made some startling discoveries is a gross understatement. We have not yet begun to realize the implications of these most basic discoveries.

In high school science classes (mid-1950’s), I learned that all matter is made of elements and that the smallest particle of an element is an atom. Atoms in turn are made of subatomic (smaller than an atom) particles. In the simplest model, the atom is like a tiny solar system with electrons swirling around a nucleus like the planets swirl around the sun. I was taught that these were all very tiny bits of matter.

But as I was learning this, physicists were discovering that this was an oversimplification. They had reason to believe that the electron might not be a teeny bit of matter, but instead an energy wave. Turns out that it is somewhere in between, a very small bit of matter that occasionally reverts back to a packet of energy. That energy becomes part of the ZPF. And in an ever-repeating cycle, the energy once again becomes an electron.

It appears to me that the chair I’m sitting on and the desk my computer is on are stationary. Yet science tells me that the atoms and molecules in them are all vibrating, moving, at very high speeds. Initial assumptions were that if you removed all heat energy from an object, these vibrations would cease. Yet at absolute zero (-459.67º F), a state devoid of all heat energy, some fluctuations persist due to the energy in this field, hence the name zero-point field, ZPF.

also So …

Meet my good friend, my current model for what God, Spirit, is, … the ZPF of quantum mechanics.

Again, I am not saying that God is the ZPF. I have no idea how anyone would go about proving that, nor would I care to do so if I knew how.

I have been looking for a model, an idea, a way of thinking about God that works better, that better fits my understanding of the qualities of God as I described them in this previous post.

For my purpose, it doesn’t have to be a perfect fit, it just has to work much better than the flawed image of an old man on a heavenly throne. I don’t think this is much of a challenge.

Comparison of Models of God

Description

Father model: God is a one-of-a-kind old man sitting on a heavenly throne possibly surrounded by angels. Since He created the universe, He occupies Himself with keeping track of the mistakes and grievous misdeeds of his most special creation, humans, us. He records our errors of thought and deed and metes out appropriate punishment (or reward).

ZPF model: My new model is God as the zero point field of quantum mechanics. According to this model, God is (or uses) an intelligent energy field that is creating the universe anew at every moment.

Let’s examine how well each of these fits the characteristics of God identified in the previous post. (Your opinion may well vary from mine according to the unique understanding and beliefs we each have about God. And that’s fine. Let’s discuss it.)

Infinite Nature

God is infinite, therefore every thing and every one is part of It.

Father model: It is difficult for me to imagine that something/someone that looks human can be infinite, encompassing everything and everyone.

ZPF model: According to physics a field that exists anywhere, exists everywhere. For most (maybe all) fields the strength of the field diminishes as you get further from the point of origin. However, the strength of the ZPF is uniform throughout the universe because it is a field that is generated (or regenerated) throughout the universe.^^

Omnipotent

All-powerful.

Father model: It is also a challenge for me to imagine a Divine Being that looks like a human has access to so much power that it is, for all intents and purposes, infinite.

ZPF model: It is very easy for me to imagine a field that encompasses all the power in the universe. After all, the ZPF is the reservoir of energy from which all matter results. So it must be a repository of unimaginable quantities of energy.

In fact, the amount of energy contained in the ZPF has been calculated. The calculation is for a cubic meter of space (shaped like a sugar cube but 39 inches in all three dimensions) with all matter removed (as you would find in the void of space), pure vacuum. This is like a totally empty box that you could carry but not put your arms around. That relatively small amount of space contains enough energy in the ZPF to boil all the oceans of earth.

Let me repeat that. There is enough energy in a cubic meter of the ZPF to boil all the oceans on earth. And this is true for every cubic meter of space stretching out to the farthest reaches of the universe in all directions. Now that is a whole lot of energy and power.

When we learn to tap into that energy reservoir, life on this planet will change forever.

Omnipresent

Present everywhere

Father model: Once again, it is hard for me to imagine a Being that looks anything like me being present everywhere. Is It just so enormous that It encompasses the universe. I don’t get it.

ZPF model: It is easy to imagine a field that is everywhere, every where. As discussed above, all fields spread out from their point of origin to reach the farthest edges of the universe. It is part of its nature to be everywhere.

Omniscient

All-knowing

Father model: The paternal image of God as Father is an old, wise man sitting on a heavenly throne. My mind can grasp Him having vast knowledge and wisdom, but knowing everything is a bit too much for me to grasp. It probably is difficult for me because I am equating Its abilities with mine since this image looks like a human.

ZPF model: Knowing is a function of your mind and your brain. Your brain is a physical organ within your skull and your mind is a collection of conscious and unconscious thoughts that are recognized by your brain. It is similar to the relationship between your eyes and vision.

As discussed above, the ZPF is the source of all matter. All subatomic particles like electrons spring into being from the energy of the ZPF. And yet some of those electrons become part of very different elements. As far as we know, the same basic building blocks, electrons, protons, neutrons and their component parts, combine in different numbers to make over 100 different elements like hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, sodium, potassium, gold, uranium, etc., etc.

So this is not raw energy (see previous post) like the electricity in your outlets, but an intelligent energy more like the TV and wifi signals filling the space where you are now. Somehow this energy must be encoded with information that directs one electron to join with others to form helium and another electron to join in a way that forms iron.

Since a thought is not a physical/material thing, it must be an energetic phenomenon and the ZPF is the collection of very high frequency energetic vibrations. It has an infinite capacity to store information as energetic vibrations.

It is much easier for me to grasp that the ZPF is all-knowing than it is to attribute this to a Being, even a Divine Being, that looks human.

Creator of All That Is

Father model: As noted in the previous post, I make a clear distinction between creation and transformation. Although we frequently refer to our achievements as ‘creations’, I maintain that they are transformations. Creation is the act of making some thing from nothing, no thing.
Despite this distinction in my mind, there is a lot of reference to human activities as creative and so it is possible for me to imagine that a Divine Being that appears to be human could be the Creator of All That Is.

ZPF model: Physicists tell us that the ZPF is the storehouse of energy from which all subatomic particles are created. Therefore all matter, the entire physical universe, is created from if not by the ZPF. This is the current understanding of very sophisticated science. It is not opinion.

Unconditional Love

Father model: In this case, the classical model works a bit better for me. It is easier for me to imagine being loved by a Divine Being that looks like a human rather than an amorphous cloud of energy. Although, and this is clearly my issue, my childhood image of a Father God has that figure scowling at me for all my failings and shortcomings. This, despite the fact, that I can’t remember my earthly father ever looking at me (or anyone else) like that.

ZPF model: It is just difficult to imagine an amorphous, immaterial energy field wrapping its arms around me in love.

When I think about this a bit more, it makes sense that the ZPF is unconditionally loving. It is the source of the energy that forms all the material objects in the universe. From the air you are breathing now to the stars in a galaxy in the far reaches of space, every thing is created from energy of the ZPF.

One definition of unconditional love is giving what is needed to all, all the time. That sounds like a perfect description of the ZPF.
It gives of itself unconditionally to all all the time.

Summary

So that wraps it up. This completes the discussion I’ve had with myself about the nature of God. It is now clearer for me having written this. I hope this brings you some clarity also, eventually if not immediately.

Feel free to leave a comment. Thanks for taking some of your precious time to read this.