Plenary 3 Saturday, October 23, 2010
PL3. Unifying Spacetime and Beyond
Francis Lucille (Nondual Teacher)
Francis transmits the ancient teaching of nonduality, the common ground of Advaita Vedanta, Ch'an Buddhism, Zen,Taoism and Sufism. Many contemporary spiritual teachers have attended his teaching events.
The Sciences of Interconnection: Cosmology, Ecology, Poetry and Justice. Drew Dellinger. (Spoken word poet, professor, writer, activist)
The universe is a seamless unfolding process that has swirled itself into galaxies, planets, and people. According to cos-mological thinker Thomas Berry, the universe story is best understood as an immense celebration. In this talk and poetry reading Drew Dellinger will describe cosmology, ecology, poetry and justice as four "sciences" for exploring our connection to the cosmos. These disciplines offer unique ways of understanding, experiencing and embodying nonduality.
In cosmology we fuse science and myth to weave ourselves into a sacred universe, formulating a foundational story for our culture that can orient and guide us, even in turbulent times.
Ecology reveals the unity and creativity of the living Planet Earth, and calls us to protect its fragile blossoming. The Earth is the context and source of our existence, a precious reality that has been evolving for 4.5 billion years as a land of portal for the flowering of the wild mind of the universe.
In poetry we deepen our communion with the planet, the universe, all phenomena, all beings, and the cosmos of the human heart. As in the "haiku moment" of the Japanese tradition, poetry can dissolve the dualism between "observer" and "world," ushering in a wave of nonduality.
In movements for justice we engage in creating a human society that embodies our interconnection and honors the sacred dignity of every individual. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, "It really boils down to this, that all life is interrelated." Our oneness calls us to incisive awareness and tireless action to remove all systems of injustice, oppression, exploitation, and violence. The full realization of nonduality should lead to a civilization of peace, compassion and justice.
Through the sciences of cosmology, ecology, poetry and justice, Dellinger will evoke the sacred unity of the universe, earth and human, and the celebration that is the interconnected cosmos.
Nassim Haramein. (Physicist, Director of Research at The Resonance Project)
Nonduality is about unification. Unification is about singularity. The word singularity has its origins in singular, and singular implies oneness. The singular nature of the material world is demonstrated by the analysis of vacuum fluctuations available within a proton radius, which happens to match the mass of the universe, or, if you'd like, all the information in our universe within the nuclei of an atom. Indeed, if the universe is said to be one, then it must be singular in all coordinates, demanding that each point contain the information of all other points. The vacuum fluctuations, which are infinite in nature and renormalized by quantum field theory to -1093gr/cm3 (an enormous value), have a fundamental role to play in matter production. They are the great connectors that gather all information from each point in order to self-organize and make possible the complexity of natural processes to occur in relatively moderate spans of time. The realization of the ubiquitous value of the vacuum and its mechanisms may be one of the most critical achievements a society can attain, both in its relevance to physical theory and technological applications and to its philosophical and spiritual implications.
We live at a decisive time in history, a time where we are confronted with the impact of our interactions with nature resulting in a critical imbalance. Either a fundamental change will occur in our methods of relating to our resources, the earth and the universe as a whole, or our failure to reestablish balance on our planet will result in the obvious outcome reserved for non-sustainable systems. These challenges are demanding that "we rise to the equation," realize our common relationship (the vacuum), and apply these new principles to both our mores and our technological advancements to literally raise our civilization and enter the Galactic Community. The application of this new and deeper understanding of the forces at the root of creation leads to a profound impact on our capacity to survive the ecological difficulties we are facing today and generates a thriving community with possibilities that are beyond our current imaginings
White Robed Monks of St. Benedict