The Questions

"What is reality?   What is consciousness?   What is energy?"

are questions which are not considered relevant in our industrial and materialistic society because "everyone knows" that reality is the materialistic world, consciousness is the ability to enjoy the material, and energy (either from oil or God) is the stuff which powers our luxuries and self content. Our science and religions have hidden from us the fact that the answers to these questions are beyond science and religion and lie in the realm of metaphysics which is anathema both to modern religion and science.

Our western society is the product of the age of reason. Many of us are aware that a new age is birthing, a philosophical shift is occurring in the way society views itself. This book examines the way man has dealt with describing reality over the centuries and shows its relevance in the foundation of our present science and religion. The methodology developed can be used to explore our world and improve it.

Descartes helped usher in the age of reason when he equated reality to thinking within a mechanical world, "I think, therefore I am". For centuries his materialistic definition has been accepted. This perception of reality has been changing recently, however, beginning when Einstein equated time and space as well as matter and energy. Then quantum mechanics demonstrated the statistical structure of reality, and modern physicists observed and proved the relationship of observer to observed reality. Finally the advent of the drug culture with its "altered states" changed the perception of experiential reality and proved that reality existed in the mind of the beholder.

As our science looks deeper into the atom or beyond the stars, the nature of reality becomes more mysterious. It is generally accepted however, that our materialistic concept of reality is based on nothing more than a belief or a set of axioms. "Because we think" can no longer be used as an argument that we exist or an explanation of our existence.

Our own self/reality is elusive and even though we struggle to substantiate it as a constant and unchanging entity, we cannot define it because it actually changes from moment to moment. As we go to sleep and step into a dream world, we feel at home even though the setting and people in the dream may be strange to us when we awaken. In a dream we suddenly find ourselves in a new reality complete with a past, present and future. We do not need to briefed or brought up to date on what is happening, we feel no need for an introduction. That dream world is as real as any other world while we are there.

We may also have the unpleasant experience of waking up to a bleak, dark impossible day when everything turns to muck. We know that we have entered that dreary world even before we get out of bed (and stub our toe or step on a tack -- or both). Somehow in that world our friends become hostile, we lose control of our lives and suffer every misfortune that can possibly be related to our activities.

On other mornings however, we wake to a bright cheery world of success, friends, and happiness. We can do no wrong and even strangers are supportive and loving.

A current popular explanation of the obvious differences in experience is to equate what we have been calling different worlds with "states of mind". We prefer the model of different worlds as each world can have a wide range of "states of mind", but a "state of mind" does not necessarily identify a world/reality.

We will show the history of two forces which mutually control the world/reality. The first of these is "energy" which causes change in the outer world and the second is the inner "consciousness" which changes perspective/perception of the outside world. Science obscures the first and religions and societal pressure obscure the second.

The ancients were not constrained in their pursuit of the metaphysical and were able to develop philosophies based on mystical elements which could be used to define reality. Energy was understood as a mystical concept which was beyond the understanding of man yet vital to life. Energy was worshipped first as the sun, then as anthropomorphic gods symbolizing the sun and finally as an invisible mystical force hidden either in matter or in heaven (depending upon whether one were discussing science or religion). Consciousness to the ancients was the mystery of life itself and involved a mystical Mind and hidden processes. Consciousness later became identified with consumerism and computer modeling as the study of mind became materialistic and mechanical.

Reality was described in the ancient world by using 12 basic elements. Four were used to describe the physical world as the setting for man's experiences and the other eight elements were related to the nature of man himself as the experiencer. The New Testament gives a hint about the demise of this old system as it warns the "Christians" about worshipping the old elements or first principles. Prior to the rise of Christianity, the understanding of the basic elements was wide spread. Afterwards it was forced underground by Christian persecution. It reappeared altered (or veiled) in later writings of the alchemists.

Similarly, the East also lost the understanding of the elements as Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism etc. came under the control of strong rulers or governments.

Egalitarianism became a panacea against internal rebellion of the masses and the state or religious authorities became the administrators of reality. The authorities became the controllers of energy, attempted to dictate the acceptable levels of consciousness, and indoctrinated the people with a materialistic view of reality. Science needed to be able to claim that it was based upon a solid material support and so hid the mystical nature of energy behind a mechanical definition of what happens before and after its manifestation. Science still does not know what energy is and has no way of measuring it or of demonstrating even that it exists. Even today it is as much a mystical concept as is God. The weakness in the materialistic claims of science has gradually been exposed with the rise of the New Physics. Now that the fortress of materialism is weakening, the old elemental concepts can be proven to have equal validity and perhaps of great use in our modern world.

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