The Tao of Physics, Fritjof Capra, 1975 - Science or spirituality, our curiosity is always interested in the deeper nature of reality. This book tries to overcome the gap between rational, analytical thinking and the meditative experience of mystical truth. It refers to Greek natural science, Western science and philosophy, Eastern religious thought and mysticism, mainly from Hinduism, Confucianism, Taoism, Zen and Buddhism. This book took a lot out of me while reading (while also giving me back a lot) and took even more out of me while penning these notes
My notes -
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Culture has consistently favoured yang or masculine, over yin, or feminine counterparts. Self-assertion over integration, analysis over synthesis, rational knowledge over intuitive wisdom, science over religion, competition over cooperation, expansion over conservation
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Greek philosophy in the 6th century BC did not have science, philosophy and religion separated from each other. Physics in fact meant seeing the essential nature of all things
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Early Milesians (hylozoists) felt that matter was alive and so no difference between animate and inanimate, spirit and matter
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Anaximander saw the universe as an organism supported by pneuma (the cosmic breath), in the same way human body was, by air
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Division between spirit and matter took hold later and bifurcated philosophy (spirit) and science (matter)
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Descartes bifurcation of mind (res cogitans) and matter (res extensa) laid the seeds for the blooming of science as this ‘Cartesian’ division allowed scientists to treat matter as dead and separate from themselves
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Newtonian model of the universe started dominating scientific thought in the 17th century and the laws exposed by Newton were seen as laws of God
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‘Cogito ergo sum’ - I think, therefore I exist (Descartes) led people to equate their mind with their identity instead of the whole organism - people saw themselves as isolated egos existing ‘inside’ their bodies thus alienating themselves from nature and fellow human beings
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Western world view is thus ‘mechanistic’ (the science and technology the Cartesian division enabled to flourish) while Eastern view is ‘organic’ (All things and events perceived by the senses are interrelated and connected. Our tendency to divide the perceived world into individual and separate things and ourselves as isolated egos is an illusion due to our measuring and categorising mentality - ‘avidya’ or ignorance in Buddhist philosophy)
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The multiplicity perceived (me and the world) is a state of a disturbed mind and when mind is quieted, the multiplicity disappears (Buddhist philosophy). Transcending this notion to identify themselves with the ultimate reality is enlightenment (Taoism)
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In intrinsically dynamic Eastern world view, time and change are essential features and cosmos is one inseparable reality - forever in motion, alive, organic, spiritual and material at the same time
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Forces that cause motion are not extrinsic as in classical Greek view (and Newtonian view) but an intrinsic property of matter in Eastern view. Thus Eastern religions don’t see God as ruling and directing the world from above but as a principle that controls everything from within
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The modern physicist, like the Eastern mystic has come to see the world as inseparable, interacting, with the observer being integral part of the system
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Two kinds of knowledge, or two modes of consciousness - rational and intuitive typically associated with science and religion. ‘Upanishads’ call this higher and lower knowledge with lower associated with the sciences and higher with religious awareness. Buddhists talk of ‘relative’ and ‘absolute’ knowledge. ‘conditional truth’ and ‘trascendental truth’ (yin and yang in Chinese though) - gave birth to confucianism and taoism in China
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With its intellectual map of reality in which things are reduced to their general outlines, rational knowledge is a system of abstract concepts and symbols, expressed in linear, sequential structure in line with our “linear” thought (like this sentence)
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The natural world is not regular (no straight lines or perfect shapes) and things dont happen in sequences but all together and even empty space is curved
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Rational thought can thus only approximate reality and all rational knowledge limited (reason why science keeps patching itself up with new discoveries). We never know beforehand where the limitations of the theory lie. Thus Classical mechanics limitations ( only for larger objects and speeds much lower than light) were found in 20th century and gave rise to quantum physics (sub-atomic matter) and relativity (speeds closer to light)
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Every word or concept, clear as though it may seem to be, has limited range of applicability (Heisenberg)
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Our representation of reality is lot more easier to grasp than the underlying reality, we confuse the two and take our concepts and symbols for reality (mistaking map for territory)
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Absolute knowledge does not rely on discriminations, abstractions and classifications of the intellect. It can thus be definition, never be described by words and arose only in an non-ordinary state of consciousness, in a meditative or mystical state (Buddhism)
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“There the eye goes not, speech goes not, nor the mind. We know not, we understand not, How one would teach it” (Upanishads)
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While science takes pride in basing theories firmly on experiment (scientific method), it is complimented by intuition that provides the sudden clarifying insights which gives joy and delight to scientific research
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In Eastern view, mathematics with its symbols and structure is a conceptual map and not a feature of reality itself (Interestingly have a book called ‘Our mathematical universe’ which claims everything is mathematics)
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In Hindu Vedanta and Buddhist Madhyamika are highly intellectual schools, whereas Taoists have deep distrust for reason and logic. Zen grew out of Buddhism and strongly influenced by Taoism and prides for being ‘without words, explanations, instructions or knowledge’
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‘The instant you speak about a thing, you miss the mark’ (Zen saying)
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To silence the thinking mind and to shift awareness from the rational to the intuitive mode of consciousness - meditation by concentrating attention on breathing, or chanting or a mandala or through bodily movement in yoga or T’ai Chi. These are not learned by verbal instruction but by ‘doing’ in unison with the teacher (Japanese tea ceremonies, Chinese calligraphy). In intuitive mode, the environment is experienced in a direct way without conceptual filters
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The meditative state is similar to the mind of a warrior in awareness - and thus plays an important role in the spiritual and cultural life of the East (Bhagavad Gita with its battlefield and influence of Zen on samurai which gave rise to bushido, or the way of the warrior)
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Mystics are mainly interested in experience of reality, rather than the description of the experience. To deal with the problem, everyday factual language is replaced by mythical language which is not bounded by logic and common sense with its magic and paradoxical situations and suggestive images
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Taoists frequently used paradoxes to highlight the limitations of language (taken to extremes with Zen koans). Zen masters only used concise poetry about nature which inspired haiku in the Japanese
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Shiva’s cosmic dance or physicist’s quantum field theory are creations of the mind that describe their intuition of reality
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Our common language is inadequate to describe quantum theory and relativity theory which is why we resort to crutches like how light is both a wave and particle, caused by nothing but limitations of language
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“What was your original face - the one you had before your parents gave birth to you” (Zen koan).Riddles like these are how Zen school transmits its teachings. The student has to find the answers for these on their own. Nature just provides riddles
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What we see or hear is not the phenomena themselves but always their consequences (an audible click of a Geiger counter or a dark spot in a photographic plate). The subatomic world lies beyond our sensory perception (and thus our language). Thus physicists are dealing with what nonsensory aspects of reality and its paradoxes, much like the mystics
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Profound changes were needed in understanding of space, time, matter, object, cause and effect with discoveries of modern physics - unlike Newtonian notion of matter (points of mass) and time (flows uniformly, disconnected from space) and forces and utter deterministic nature of reality if all forces and positions were known (with the Cartesian division between observer and the observed)
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Faraday and Maxwell’s study of electromagnetism was the first to go beyond Newtonian physics because these fields existed in space and caused the potential of producing a force on a particle which was present in it - physical entities in their own right which could travel through empty space and could not be explained mechanically
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Realisation that mass is nothing but a form of energy and that space is not three-dimensional and time is not a separate entity but something that was an inherent property of the space-time continuum (you cannot talk of time without space and vice-versa) and Euclidean geometry doesn’t apply to reality with its curved space and that curvature itself is caused by gravitational field of massive bodies upended classical mechanics
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Radioactivity showed that while emitting various types of radiation, atoms were also transforming themselves into atoms of different substances which meant indivisibility of atoms or the fundamental nature of it being a building block had to be chucked (but we still keep finding and naming elementary sub-atomic particles by the hundreds)
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If the size of the atom was the dome of St. Peter’s cathedral, the nucleus would be a grain of salt. The planetary model of atom had to be thrown out as electrons weren’t particles but waves with tendencies to exist - the waves themselves were not like water waves but probability waves and the field equations of quantum theory more like koans with its paradoxes
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With so much empty space in each atom, what makes a solid a solid? The electrons are whirring around the nucleus at 600 miles/sec appearing almost like a rigid sphere
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The electron waves, like standing waves in a vibrating string can only take certain well-defined shapes which is what gives definition to orbits and explains excitation of electron to higher orbits when it absorbs a photon or descent into lower orbit when emitting radiation (and the quantum of energy it absorbs or emits, quanta - which again translates to specific wavelengths of light)
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Because particles in the nucleus are confined in very small space and move at speeds closer to speed of light, a full understanding of it has to incorporate quantum theory (due to extreme smallness) and relativity theory (due to high velocity).
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Because matter is simply energy, when we collide particles at high energy, we dont see particles break into its constituent pieces but rather create new particles out of the process as energy transforms into what we observe as particles - thus while trying to divide matter into smaller and smaller pieces we end up creating particles - thus matter is destructible and indestructible at the same time (particle physics is thus also called high energy physics)
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In Hinduism, connection between philosophy and religion is very strong (As in the Gita), thus all thought in India is in a sense religious thought and thus influenced its intellectual, social and cultural life. Hinduism cannot be called a philosophy, nor as a well defined religion (so beautifully put!)
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The multitude of things and events around us are different manifestations of the same reality, called Brahman, which gives Hinduism its monistic character despite numerous gods and goddesses for various aspects of the divine but reflecting one ultimate reality
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The manifestation of the Brahman in the individual is Atman and reflection the ultimate and the individual reality but are in essence one (Upanishads). God becomes the world which in the end becomes God again (the play of God, or lila)
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Maya is confusing the forms of the divine lila with reality, without perceiving the unity of Brahman underlying these forms (Maya doesn’t mean world is an illusion but that the illusion merely lies in our perception - illusion of taking concepts for reality, of confusing map with territory)
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Karma is the force of creation wherefrom all things have their life (Gita) although in western literature has taken a more psychological sense than a cosmic sense it was intended for. Under the spell of Maya, we think we are separated from the environment and are thus bound by karma. Being free from bonds of karma is to realize the unity and harmony of all nature
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To realize that all phenomena we experience are part of the same reality and everything including own self is Brahman is to experience moksha, the very essence of Hinduism. There are many ways to attain Moksha, some even contradictory to each other (in the realm of concepts), from which rises the tolerance and inclusivity of Hinduism
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Vedanta which is based on the Upanishads, being the most intellectual school, emphasises Brahman as nonpersonal, metaphysical concept, free from mythological content and recommends meditation and yoga to bring about the union with the Brahman
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Shiva is one of the oldest Gods and assumes many forms - Maheshvara personifying the fullness of Brahman. Nataraja as the god of creation and destruction sustaining through his dance the endless rhythm of the universe. Shakti, through her many forms representing the female energy of the universe. Vishnu through many guises as the preserver of the universe.
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The body being integral part of the human being unseparated from the spirit meant sensuous pleasure was never suppressed in Hinduism (Tantrism, in which each is both, enlightenment is sought through sensual love)
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6th century BC was extraordinary period that saw birth of several spiritual and philosophical geniuses - from Confucius and Lao Tzu in China, Zarathustra in Persia, Pythagoras and Heraclitus in Greece and Siddhartha Gautama in India
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Buddha was not interested in the origin of the world or the nature of the divine but instead solely on the human beings, with their sufferings and frustrations
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After Buddha’s death, Buddhism split into two sects, Hinayana (or small vehicle, was orthodox and stuck close to Buddha’s teaching, consummated as suttas, in the Pali canon in 1st century AD) and Mahayana (or Greater vehicle, was more flexible and stuck to the spirit of his teaching, consummated as sutras in 3rd century AD, in sanskrit). Former spread to Ceylon, Burma and Thailand and latter to Nepal, Tibet, China and Japan. In India, it was assimilated into Hinduism when Buddha was adopted as reincarnation of Vishnu
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First Noble Truth of Buddhism - dhukha or suffering arose from not realising the transitory and impermanent form of nature. Flow and change are basic tenets of nature
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Second Noble Truth - trishna or clinging or grasping onto life based on wrong point of view, avidya, or ignorance. Perceiving fluid forms of reality in fixed categories create by the mind. The vicious circle, or samsara, the round of birth and death, driven by karma leads to never-ending cycle of cause and effect
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Third Noble Truth - Suffering and frustration could be ended transcending the vicious circle of samsara, to free oneself of the bondage of karma, to reach total liberation or nirvana (not very different from early Hinduism)
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Fourth Noble Truth - Has prescription to end all suffering through right seeing and right knowing and right action with right awareness and right meditation with direct mystical experience of reality (Known as the Eightfold path of self-development)
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Confucianism was emphasised in kids to learn rules and conventions of society and Taoism by older people to regain and develop the original spontaneity destroyed by social conventions (Both were prevalent for 2000 yrs when Buddhism came in 1st century AD)
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Tao, the ultimate undefinable reality of Taoism wasnt much different from Brahman of Hinduism and Dharmakaya of Buddhism
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Whenever a situation develops to its extreme, its bound to turn around and become opposite. Avoid excess, extravagance and indulgence (Lao Tzu). Go further and further east and you end up west. Accumulate more money and end up poor. Increase standard of living and decrease the quality of life (as in modern industrial societies)
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Mistrust of conventional knowledge and reasoning is strongest in Taoism than any other Eastern philosophy. Beliefs - 1. Transformation and change are essential features of nature 2. Implicit unity of all opposites 3. In order to take, give first 4. Spontaneity in action
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Zen blends three different cultures 1. Mysticism of India 2. Taoists’ love for naturalness and spontaneity 3. Pragmatism of the confucian mind
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Zen has no special doctrine or philosophy, no formal creeds or dogmas with freedom from fixed beliefs making it truly spiritual.
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‘if one asks about Tao and another one answers him, neither of them know it’
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Enlightenment in zen is not withdrawal from the world but active participation in it (unlike the monastic character of Indian Buddhism). Everyday life was enlightenment in itself - from painting, calligraphy, garden design to serving tea or arranging flowers to archery, swordsmanship or judo
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In quantum theory, probability is a fundamental feature of atomic reality which govern all processes and even the existence of matter (tendencies to exist, tendencies to occur). No specific positions but probability functions
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Observer and observed cannot be separated. The preparation process of observation affected the measurements made in the bubble chambers. We cannot decompose the world into independently existing small units with independent properties
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What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning (Heisenberg)
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Mystics knew knowledge can never be obtained by observation but by full participation, with one’s whole being (Modern physics has come to the same conclusion)
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By the very act of focusing our attention on any one concept, we create its opposite (Tao te ching is filled with these. Positron was posited even before discovery as an anti-particle for the electron)
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Be in truth eternal, beyond earthly opposites (Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita)
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As opposites are interdependent, their conflict can never result in the total victory of one side
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Shiva in androgynous form symbolised the dynamic unification of male and female (in thought - it was symbolic for something like the yin and yang)
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The subatomic world unites concepts which were hitherto seen as opposite and irreconcilable where particles are both destructible and indestructible, matter was continuous and discontinuous, and force and matter were different aspects of the same phenomenon
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Field theory suggests that positrons moving forwards in time are same as electrons moving backward in time - mathematical interpretations are identical (applies to all particle/anti-particle combinations)
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It is believed that time passes, in actual fact, it stays where it is (zen belief). By transcending time, you transcend the world of cause and effect. In the absolute, there’s no time, space or causation. (Rovelli in his book on time explains that time doesn’t exist where there’s no cause-effect, as in prior to big-bang). Eastern mysticism and relativistic physics both provide a liberation from time
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The concept of force is no longer useful in subatomic physics. There are only interaction between particles, mediated through fields
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Particles are processes rather than objects. The age-old Western tradition of breaking complexity into smaller parts has led to search for basic particles by smashing them together
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EPR experiments that show entanglement of electron/positron pairs show the fundamental interconnectedness and interdependantness of reality
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To transcend words and explanations means to break the bonds of karma and attain liberation
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All in each, each in all (one of the fundamental tenets of Mahayana Buddhism)
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Human beings are living proof of cosmic intelligence. In us, the universe repeats over and over again its ability to produce forms through which it becomes consciously aware of itself
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He who knows does not speak, He who speaks does not know
The book sees science and mysticism as two complementary manifestations of the human mind - the rational and the intuitive. Both the physicist and the mystic see reality through observation that take place in realms which are not accessible to ordinary senses. The book has stood the test of time as there haven’t been factual errors in the physics in the book and has in fact been endorsed by Heisenberg (there’s a lot of it I have skimmed over). In some places the quantum physics is quite hard to grasp but the author has made serious effort to reconcile his theoretical physics and his spirituality. I don’t think this book is for everyone but if you are remotely interested in physics and spirituality and wonder what “Natural science” as it was before it broke into spirituality, philosophy and science would have felt like, this is probably it. 10/10
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