Science and Spirituality
by Victor Sinow
Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim
On the connections between Shah Nazar Seyyed Dr. Ali Kianfar’s teachings on the Holy Quran and an interpretation of quantum theory known as Bohmian mechanics.
With deep devotion and gratitude to Shah Nazar Seyyed Dr. Ali Kianfar, a brief summary of his revelations during a sequence of classes in 2020-2021, related to verses 1-14 of Surah 55 (Surah Ar-Rahman) of the Holy Quran:
Everything begins from nothing. Within the cradle of nothingness shines the first light, which is Ar-Rahman, the character and expression of divine mercy and grace. Light is knowledge, and wrapped within the light of Ar-Rahman is the knowledge of Quran – the rules for motion that inevitably lead to life and every detail and possibility of this universe. These rules find root in the spiritual dimension, before the existence of a corporeal reality, and can only be truly understood from within that dimension.
In the physical dimension, all states of matter and energy are reflections of the first light, Ar-Rahman. Evolution in the physical realm is simply the movement of particles and the transition of energy from one form of matter to another. These states and transitions are governed by the rules of motion, as set forth in the knowledge of Quran. It follows, then, that all movement in physical reality is at its core an expression of divinity and a gift from Allah.
As a manifestation of matter and the end of billions of years of physical evolution, the human body is part of the knowledge of Quran and a reflection of the light of creation in the world of matter. The body is the culmination of the physical lineage of existence. Simply existing in physical reality, however, is not the fulfilment of our human potential. That potential was born in the world of spirituality, and consists of our unique capacity to lift the veils of multiplicity that cover our eyes, and see ourselves as part of the divine whole, inseparable from the first light. The culmination of our spiritual lineage, this potential is the soul of a human being.
These teachings make clear that the physical world is a consequence of the first light. Think of the surface of a pond, perfectly still and tranquil in the calm of dawn. Into the middle of the pond falls a stone, and from that single point of contact ripple out waves of motion in all directions. Those waves reflect and interact and result in patterns of beauty and complexity, all stemming from the single impulse of the stone. The light of Ar-Rahman is the impulse that sets the universe in motion. This truth of reality, hidden behind the veils of multiplicity, known to true spiritual masters through direct experience and witnessing, can be observed in modern science in a version of quantum mechanics called Bohmian mechanics.
Quantum mechanics is a fundamental physical theory that attempts to explain properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It has been enormously successful at predicting the outcomes of experiments at this level, for which classical mechanics; i.e., the theories of Isaac Newton and those of his scientific lineage, provide faulty conclusions [1]. At the heart of quantum mechanics is the wave function – a mathematical description of the state of a given particle/system over time. In what is certainly the most fascinating and philosophically challenging aspect of modern science, the wave function of a particle describes not where that particle is located at a given moment in time, but the probability of finding that particle at a certain point in space. Indeed, the wave function itself implies that, before a measurement is carried out, a particle exists in a combination of all possible positions in which it might be found. Once a measurement is carried out, possibility turns to certainty, and the particle appears in only one position. Herein lies the core philosophical issue posed by quantum mechanics: does a particle have any definite physical properties before it is measured? Is there an objective reality in the absence of measurements? None of the math in quantum mechanics provides an answer to these questions.
There are other theories, however, that start with the idea that every particle in the universe does have a perfectly determinate position. One of these theories, known as Bohmian mechanics (named for David Bohm), says that “what happens … is that the particle gets carried along with the flows of the quantum-mechanical probability amplitudes in the wave function, just like (say) a cork floating on a river.”[2] Thus, Bohmian mechanics presumes that there does exist an objective reality in the absence of measurement.
Now we return to the connection with the teachings of Shah Nazar Seyyed Dr. Ali Kianfar. In an inspiring example of spirituality leading the way for science, we find the following regarding the origins of the universe when considering the Bohmian mechanical theory: “… it can be construed … as stipulating that what God did when the universe was created was first to choose a wave function for it and sprinkle all of the particles into space … and then leave everything alone, forever after, to evolve deterministically.”[3] From this conception of a universal wave function, all matter in the universe should be considered fundamentally connected, rippling through time and space on waves reflected from the first light.
Clearly this story of the origins of the universe is in the language of scientific culture and rooted to experience limited by our human sense perceptions and mental faculties. However, it does still contain a grain of something more. Science is trying to unravel with the mind that which can only be understood and experienced through the eyes and ears of the heart. It is my hope that, as a world community, we come to understand that to take the next steps towards an understanding of truth, we must not only investigate mathematical formalism and physical theory, but also, as Dr. Ali Kianfar and many other great masters teach, journey inwards to experience ourselves as reflections of the light of Ar-Rahman.
References:
[1] Ghirardi, Giancarlo and Angelo Bassi, “Collapse Theories”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2020 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2020/entries/qm-collapse/>
[2] Albert, D. Z. (1994). Quantum Mechanics and Experience. Harvard University Press, 139.
[3] Albert, D. Z. (1994). Quantum Mechanics and Experience. Harvard University Press, 144-145.