impressions coming from the inner or outer world, while at the same time the manner by which it gets impressed and its reaction to those impressions depend upon its character which is again the result of other influences and impressions. This complex relationship between the mind and the factors which influence it, leads to the fact that the enquirer of mind cannot ever totally detach himself from the enquiry of his own mind. The enquiry of one's own mind always remains subjective and can never be purely objective. (Enquiry of anybody else's mind other than oneself's, is basically speculative and limited. The conclusions can never be truly verified by the enquirer beyond a certain limit.)
Following this understanding, during the generations the man has came to the
conclusion that it is impossible to define the mind and its operation in a perfect manner. On this basis the psychology and the western philosophy were developed and denoted as "inexact sciences".
Our inability to understand the mind - meaning ourselves, perfectly, is quite frustrating. But a partial comfort was found in the belief that the inanimate physical world surrounding us can be understood and defined perfectly. Apparently this belief had a solid basis. The physical world can be seen and sensed through our five senses. Also seemingly it does not require any abstract, philosophical thinking to grasp it. Unlike the mind, the physical world does not seem to possess any emotions nor it seems functioning out of conscious choice. It seems to function according to several permanent laws, valid ever since in time and everywhere in space. These facts and conjectures concerning the inanimate physical world led the man to believe that the physical world can be observed and analyzed objectively. Perhaps in this belief there was also a hope that a profound understanding of the physical world with unfolding the secrets of its basic components, will promote the understanding of ourselves as human beings because we too are basically composed of the same elements. There was an expectation for unlocking the secrets of our mind and existence in a mechanistic and a deductive manner.
And indeed the scientific investigation generally had won an overall success. Scientists like Galilleo and Newton laid the foundations for the modern science (Classical Physics). The Newtonic Laws of Mechanics were simple, easily comprehensible by the common sense and described accurately the behaviour of the physical world. The technological achievements which followed the various scientific discoveries confirmed the accuracy and reliability of the scientific method. Thus the man was tempted to assume he is on the brink of completely exploring the most fundamental and final principals of the materialistic world by probing its most fundamental building stones. Unlike the quest after the secrets of mind, it looked as if the quest after the secrets of the matter is reaching a successful, definite last stop.
But as the scientific investigation went deeper and reached the extreme realms of very small masses at the sub-atomic levels, it was found that the scientific discoveries do not coincide with our common sense. The laws which dominate the sub-atomic particles, do not match the laws of the Classical Physics which are simple, precise and their results predictable. The sub-atomic particles obey laws that are basically statistical and their results unpredictable. But the real shock was the finding that those tiny-mass particles' various qualities and even their very nature as revealed to the human eye, are dependent on the manner we choose to observe them. The qualities they reveal are totally dependent on the manner we choose to make our observations.
For example, it is found that a result of an experiment for defining a certain
quality of a sub-atomic particle, depends very intimately upon the manner in which we choose to carry out that experiment. In other words, the result depends on our ability and the manner of choosing. As any choice made is related to the character of that specific mind which carries out the experiment, it can be claimed that the characteristic of a sub-atomic particle is inherently related to our mind.
But not only the characteristics of the sub-atomic particles are inseparably woven with our minds but also it is for our minds to decide where to put the limits for the physical appearance of that particles. Schrodinger's Equation shows us that we can trace and locate a sub-atomic particle only statistically. According to that statistics, there is a probability to find the same particle everywhere in the infinite space - let it be the tiniest probability allowed by that equation. So, when we define a certain size for a sub-atomic particle, we arbitrarily decide to put limits to the size of the space where the particle can be found, chopping down the remaining probabilities, as small as they may be. It is our subjective choice where we want to stop and put the limits. And the scientists specify the whole particle within those arbitrary limits no more than calling it "a statistical cloud of undefined substance".
The Quantum Mechanics (and also the Theory of Relativity) show us that the belief in objective perception and definition of the physical reality has lost its basis. The efforts to illustrate the fundamental constituents of the physical world objectively, have ended until now with undisputable and indispensable necessity of subjective interference. The mind and matter have became mutually interdependent. Furthermore, the mind and matter have now common basis because they both depend on statistical rules. Physics like Psychology and Philosophy, has became at certain levels "inexact science". The science of Physics shows that like the mind, also the matter and its functioning cannot be defined in absolute accuracy. The matter reveals at sub-atomic levels a kind of mystical phase ("a statistical cloud") which hints us that the physical reality is not really seperate from the supernatural, mystical reality. They both are one total Whole which look to us as unrelated and seperated because of the limitations of our senses and our perception. The traditional distinctions we make between
matter and spirit, science and religion, real and transcendental, come under serious doubt when we consider the characteristics of the very fundamental building stones of the physical world and the important role of our mind in determining their features and behaviour. It may be even claimed that the physical world is an inherent part of the metaphysical world. Or to put it more accurately, the physical world is built from the metaphysical world. Our sense of the macroscopic solid world, is the superimposed impression of our mind produced by the interaction between the microscopic sub-atomic building stones of that world with the forces prevailing in between them, and between our senses. The mystical nature of the most fundamental building stones of the physical world implies us that the physical and the metaphysical realities are inherently related with each other and can never be separated. This analysis might explain why the prolonged traditional controversy concerning the predominance of either the matter or the spirit, either the physical or the
metaphysical and so on, could not be still settled down. It might be due to the simple fact that the physical and metaphysical realities are two sides of one total whole and cannot ever exist alone, each by its own. Because any assertion saying that one comes before the another, or that the one has priority upon the another, pre-assumes unconsciously that they are two different and independent parts. As if the one does not need the another to exist.
One more point worth to be stressed is that we come across the non-physical realm strictly from the scientific, physical realm. In other words, even though if no one along the mankind history would even once imagine anything about the metaphysical\spiritual\supernatural\....... realities, and the whole intellectual capacity of the mankind would be devoted solely for the enquiry of the physical, materialistic world, that enquiry would lead eventually towards the exploration of the metaphysical horizons. The (scientific) enquiry which was started from the sole investigation of the external world of matter, has led inevitably towards the inner (mental) world and towards the exploration of the mystical nature of the matter. Steven Hawking the Physicist, has concluded based upon the most
advanced discoveries and theories in Physics, that the whole universe as we know it, came into existence from a quantum vibration of\in (????) empty space.
However, one question arises regarding the statistical nature of the sub-atomic reality. How do we settle down the physical reality we perceive through our five senses which is neither dependent upon our decisions nor statistical, with the mind-dependent and statistical behaviour of the sub-atomic particles which are the building stones of the same solid reality we perceive ?
Surprisingly, an Indian mystic\philosopher named Shankara (Shankaracharya)
living in the 8th or 9th century A.D. was contemplating a somewhat similar
question. He reached this question through the inquiries on the "self" and "consciousness". His presentation of the problem and the answer he gives are taken from Encyclopedia Britannica:
"If something is a fact of experience and yet ought not to be so, i.e., is rationally unintelligible - then this must be false. .... the world and finite individuals are false in this sense: They are rationally unintelligible, their reality is not logically deducible from Brahaman, and their experience is cancelled with the knowledge of Brahaman."
Besides the striking resemblance between the above philosophic distinction and the philosophic problem provoked due to the quantum physics, also the patterns of answers which both provide are the same. In the both, the solution depends on the level of our understanding. Shankara speaks about elevating our awareness which gives new understandings concerning our surrounding reality. The science shows us that probing more deeper into the matter provides unexpected glimpses into the physical reality. The as-seen characteristics of both the mind and matter depend on the level of probing the investigator makes into them. As Ramana Maharishi - an Indian mystic living in the 20th century has said about mind that in order to see that the ego is not real, one should try to find his own. As one tries to trace his own ego, it becomes gradually clear to him that the ego has no definite existence. Also when we try to find a certain emotion of ours, its existence becomes doubtful. The same pattern appears now with the material world. For example, scientists have identified electrons and also as a matter of fact we have learned a lot about the electrons, their qualities and their behaviour. We can consider them as real rigid entities because we can see, feel and predict their effects in electric current. We can easily consider them as objective, completely seperate entities from our mind. But as said above, when an attempt is made to probe them more closely, their whole existence becomes vague and undefined. They show statistical behaviour which contradicts their rigid features as one would expect to find, and their whole existence becomes mingled with the subjective observer.
These new discoveries indicate that the perception of mind and matter by us as completely seperate from each other, or as mutually interwoven entities, depends solely on the level of our investigation and understanding. At one level the mind and matter are completely (and not just seemingly) seperate from each other, while at another they are inseparable. They also point towards the possibility that mind and matter are two expressions of one common source. The life seems to be the manifestation of the interaction between the physical and the metaphysical expressions of the reality, and to be the substrate for the interaction's further evolution. In other words, the life is the manifestation of the process in which the matter becomes aware of its counterpart - its consciousness. If the formation of the physical world as argued elsewhere, is a split of One universal source, then the Life is the path which is leading towards the reunification of the split parts. The Man seems to be the interface where these parts interact most vitally and
bring through the human being as far as we know, the most rapid evolution of the nature. The ancient Indian mystics who were masters of mind, confirmed that the external world is intimately related to the internal world. The profound study of mind which they have conducted, had led them to the conclusion that mind and matter are inseparable at their roots. Now the scientists who are the masters of the matter, are reaffirming those statements from the opposite direction. The matter is telling them that it needs their minds to exist in a certain, well-defined manner. Its external existence is intimately related to their internal world. That touching its (matter's) roots, actually requires touching the mind. The mingling of subject and object as revealed by our (mind's) probing into the sub-atomic world reminds the claims by ancient Indian mystics that at the higher levels of perception the subject and object become actually one.
