Is there a way to harness our quantum potential and truly direct the course of reality?

In this
episode, we'll unfold the core principles of the quantum world and how they relate to us. Many
people are talking about a shift in human evolution. What is driving this shift? And how do we
steer it in a positive direction? Will it be primarily a spiritual shift as many in the New Age
believe? Will it be a purely scientific and technological shift as many transhumanists and AI
developers believe? Or will these two approaches somehow meet and work together to uplift
the Earth to a more balanced and advanced future? The answers to these questions truly rest in
our hands. One thing is for sure, achieving such a balance will require a core shift in how we
think, act, and relate. In other words, a paradigm shift. Paradigm shifts are what lead us to
revolutionizing our way of life. Thomas Kuhn, the author of the Structured Scientific Revolution,
said that when paradigms change, the world changes with them. Can we retrain our way of
thinking and living away from old programming into being truly open and attuned to a new
paradigm of reality? Yes, we can. One of the challenges that we're encountering though is that
even in this age of quantum physics, string theories, and multiverse cosmology, human thought
is still very much stuck in an Antonio way of operating. The way we perceive and approach
problems has been heavily influenced by outdated paradigms that are no longer suitable for the
fast pace in a certain world today. In this regard, Thomas Kuhn also said that all significant
breakthroughs are break-wits of old ways of thinking, but also that we must replace an old
paradigm with a new one. Fortunately, a new vision for how we relate to the world is emerging,
and it is based on the quantum view of reality. So let's take a look at these two paradigms,
Newtonian versus Quantum, and how they differ. The Newtonian paradigm is based upon the
ideas of determinism, separatism, reductionism, and materialism. In essence, this says that
everything can be isolated and reduced to its individual parts, which must function in a linear,
logical, clockwork way. It says that things should be predictable and controllable, and it cuts us
off from spirit and choice, and it encourages separation, which fuels ego and greed. We don't
need to look far to see how this old paradigm has led to the world out of balance. What about
the quantum paradigm? What is it? And can it help us improve our situation? In a quantum
view, things are complementary, contextual, conscious, and connected. These quantum
principles churn the Newtonian paradigm completely on its head. Now, while strange and
exotic, quantum theory is the most successful physics theory we have today. We live in a
quantum universe, in the smallest of particles to the largest structures of intergalactic space.
Quantum principles underlie everything in our universe. We, too, are quantum beings. One of
the most exciting and promising aspects of quantum physics is that it says that the universe is
participatory. Meaning, our choices matter. Even our thoughts matter. This puts the power back
in our hands. But there's more to this process than the popular notion of intention. As a
scientist trained in both classical and quantum physics, I have always been fascinated by the
strange and wonderful possibilities of quantum physics. From the beginning of my studies, I had
this intuitive sense that quantum principles not only apply to the atomic and subatomic worlds,
but also to the basic fabric of our existence. They reveal a deeper universal truth about who
and what we are. They can inform our overall view of reality. And when we reorient our ways of
thinking towards this view, the doors to new possibilities open wide. But for example, what
might happen if we apply quantum principles to re-envisioning our models for 21st century
society? How might our societal systems transform? Systems such as business, economics,
relationships, psychology, philosophy, sociology, education, and more. When Newtonianism
was applied in this way over 300 years ago, it not only cemented in the scientific revolution that
was underway, it also became the catalyst in the Age of Enlightenment, and then later the
Industrial Revolution. How might our way of life transform today if we truly reinvented
ourselves based upon the newer quantum principles? One example of how this has already
started to happen is through the digital age. So many of our modern technologies that are
driving society today are based upon quantum physics, from cell phones to digital computers,
MRI imaging, and atomic lasers. Because of this, most of us now recognize that we do live in a
connected world, where energy and vibration are more fundamental than matter, and
perspectives are more relative or contextual than certain. However, when it comes to our day
to day experience in the world around us, most people are still not operating from quantum
awareness. Why is that? Well, it's one thing to have the concept, and it's quite another thing to
change the way we think and perceive. Can we reprogram or rewire our perceptions? Is that
even possible? After hundreds of years of genetic and social conditioning? The answer is yes, it
is possible. But it takes a combination of the correct concepts and daily practice to make this
shift. And if enough of us make the shift in our own lives, then we can help support and guide
the collective shift. Let's start diving in to take a deeper look at the four quantum principles and
what they tell us. These govern all quantum phenomena, and they're all interlinked. Those
principles again are complementarity, contextuality, consciousness, and connectivity. What do
these terms mean, and how do they apply to us? To answer that, let's take a look at each one.
First is complementarity. It is a cornerstone principle that governs many extraordinary
behaviors at the quantum level. Central to it is what is known as the uncertainty principle. This
says that it is impossible to precisely measure two observables that are tied together as
complementary pairs. One example of such a complementary pair is a particle's position in
space and its momentum through space. Meaning, if we know exactly where a particle is, then
we'll not be able to know anything about its momentum, which relates to its mass, its speed,
and its direction, or vice versa. One interesting way to apply this to ourselves is to ask the
questions, "Where am I now?" and "Where am I going?" If we know exactly where we are right
now, then we won't have total clarity on where we're going. That's because in order to know
our exact position, we must be standing still. If we're standing still, then we have several
options for where we can go from here. Have you ever experienced that kind of uncertainty in
where you're going in life? The flip side of this is that if we know our precise momentum of
where we're going and how fast, we'll not be able to know exactly where we are. That's
because we're moving and so our position keeps changing. It's good to have momentum in life,
but it's also important to sometimes stop and be here now. Speaking of the now, another
complementary pair are energy and time. How can we understand this one? First of all, energy
is related to vibration. All things move or oscillate at a certain rate. The rate of vibration is what
we call the frequency, which is usually measured at cycles per second. Frequency and therefore
energy are inversely connected to time. How energy and time are coupled at the quantum level
goes something like this. If we know the precise moment that an event takes place, then that
amount of energy contained in it becomes uncertain, meaning all energy is potentially
accessible. Conversely, if we know exactly how much energy something has, then we'll not be
able to say when it occurred, meaning all time is potentially accessible, giving us access to
eternity. Now how can we apply this to ourselves? We can ask the questions, "When am I? Am I
stuck in the past? Am I projecting into the future?" When our mind is ruminating on past or
future, we can sense how much energy it takes up. Or, "Am I in the now?" Only when we're in
the now does our measurement of time become precise, because only the now is real. Now the
cool thing is that when we're in the now, that is when limitless energy becomes possible or
accessible. Alternatively, we can ask, "What is my energy level?" Since energy is directly related
to frequency, when we increase our frequency, we raise our energy level. If we can bring our
energy into a coherent state where everything is precisely attuned to one frequency or
resonance, that is when our sense of time disappears, and we can become one with eternity. In
quantum physics, we talk about there being many simultaneous possibilities and probabilities
all existing at once. Until measurement or observation, aka a choice, is made. Upon
observation, one of those possibilities will manifest out while the others will disappear. This is
known as the observer effect in collapsing the waveform. How is this observer effect
discovered? It relates to another aspect of complementarity known as wave-particle duality. In
the early days of quantum discovery, it began with scientists trying to understand the nature of
light. Is it a wave, or is it a particle? It turns out light displays both behaviors. Now this
confronts its scientists with a mystery or a paradox. How can light be both a wave and a
particle? The paradigm at the time said it must be either/or, not both/and. And the mystery
grew when scientists began to wonder whether matter also could behave as both wave and
particle, and indeed it could. There have been many indications and new discoveries in
quantum physics that have confirmed all of this. Now to make a long story short, if they set up
the experiment to see if it's a wave, then indeed they get wave-like behavior. But if they set up
the experiment to try and observe it as a particle, then the behavior changes to that of a
particle. It's all about how the scientists choose to set up their observation or measurement
points. What's fascinating is that it is as if the quanta are aware that they are being observed.
The very act of observing has a dramatic effect on their behavior. It is a real phenomenon. What
is quantum physics telling us about the underlying nature of the universe? First, it reveals that
the universe is dual, or we can say complementary. The things that we can observe have a dual
nature. Wave, particle, position, momentum, energy, time. Each pair intricately tied together.
In its quantum realm, it can be both and neither. It's all one. In the quantum realm, infinite
possibilities exist simultaneously. It's a sea of possibilities, and it's non-dual. But once we take a
measurement or try to observe one of those states in the physical, that is when uncertainty and
duality enter in. Upon observation, we come to know about one aspect while sacrificing the
ability to know about its complementary partner. Where this dual nature gets reconciled back
to oneness is in the quantum realm, rather than in this object-based observer realm of the
physical. This brings us to the second major quantum principle that says that things are
contextual. As the double slit experiments confirm, measurement alters the state. Quantum
behavior depends on the conditions given. What does this mean? Well, one way of interpreting
this is that things are meaningful. We give meaning to things by the act of observing them. The
meaning we give depends on the context or set of conditions we choose to go with, or it
depends on the assumptions that we make. This meaning emerges from the interaction or
synergy between the observer and the observed. Emergence of different properties is another
hallmark of quantum physics theories. When various particles and forces are interacting under
certain conditions, entirely new things can emerge out of the quantum sea, things that were
not there before. The whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts. Here again, we have
the opposite of Newtonian reductionism.At a physical and philosophical level, this idea of
context begs the questions, did we perhaps choose to come into this object-based experience
of the physical so that we could observe ourselves, and so that we could observe all the
possible manifestations of the source, and by observing, come to know, and by knowing,
bestow meaning? If so, does that mean that we can give our own lives greater meaning,
especially when we put it into the context of a mission? A quantum mindset would say, "Yes,
the universe is participatory. We are co-creating in partnership with this universe through our
observations and choices." This means that our consciousness plays a vital role in determining
what manifests out of the quantum sea of possibilities. Is the universe conscious? What is
consciousness anyhow? Is it what the materialists claim, that it's just an epiphenomenon of the
brain, or what emerges purely from groups of molecules working together in a physical system?
Or is consciousness more fundamental to our universe, more primary, as the sages and wisdom
teachings of the planet have taught? My personal view is that consciousness is primary. How
can something be responsive to consciousness if it's not somehow sentient or conscious itself?
Fortunately, those of us who view consciousness as the foundational essence of the universe
are in good company. Several of the brilliant minds who have helped discover and develop
quantum theory also believed this, and they richly discussed it, including John von Neumann,
Wolfgang Pauli, Erwin Schrödinger, Eugene Wigner, and many others. Max Planck even said, "I
regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness." We
can also see this idea of a participatory conscious universe in many ancient wisdom traditions.
For example, in the Hermetica, we read, "Everything seen has been begotten because at some
point it came to be seen. There is nothing in the cosmos that does not live. Life is not birth but
awareness. All are immortal. Matter, life, spirit, soul, mind, of which everything is constituted."
One of the most mind-boggling findings of quantum physics that has both intrigued and baffled
scientists is how quantum systems that meet and interact are forevermore entangled. What
this means is that they can no longer be considered as individual but have become an
intimately connected whole. They form a single entity. Even if the components are on opposite
ends of the universe, information is somehow communicated between them instantly,
regardless of how much time or space passes between them. Albert Einstein, who was a
staunch determinist to the end, dubbed this phenomenon "voodoo forces" and "spooky action
at a distance." This quantum discovery greatly challenges the Newtonian idea of separation, the
idea that things are independent and can only affect one another by direct physical forces. How
did the discovery of these spooky actions come about? The idea goes back to 1935 when the
founders of quantum physics were trying to understand and interpret the meaning of the new
quantum discoveries. Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Wolfgang Pauli and their team who
proposed the Copenhagen interpretation thought that the qualities of connectedness,
uncertainty and the observer influence were integral aspects of quantum physics. The
Copenhagen interpretation says that there is no actual physical property that exists in the real
world until it is observed. This is better known today as the observer effect. Einstein on the
other hand thought this was crazy. He stood staunchly in favor of the deterministic, real,
separable world of Newton. To demonstrate the absurdity of the quantum theory, he and his
colleagues proposed a thought experiment known as the EPR paradox. They pointed out that
when two particles, A and B, originating in unison from the same source and eject out in
opposite directions, they will have correlated properties, for example the spin of electrons or
the polarization of photons. If an observer measures the property of particle A, then instantly
that person will also know the result for particle B. According to quantum theory, this
observation forced both particles to pick a state out of the many possible states and they must
do so in a correlated way because of how they were created together in the first place.
Somehow particle B instantly knows what state particle A ended up in upon observation. The
problem, according to Einstein, was that this instantaneous influence would mean that
information has to travel faster than the speed of light from A to B in order to conserve their
correlation. This seems to violate special relativity which says that nothing can travel faster than
the speed of light. It also says that the quantum world must be non-local. What does that
mean? Well it means that altering one quantum object can instantly influence distant parts of
the universe. Here again, we encounter a Hermetic Principle, the principle of correspondence
that says "as above so below" or another way of saying this is "as here, so elsewhere." The
choices we make really can reach across the universe. Even modern day theoretical physicist
Michio Kaku says it is impossible to completely separate ourselves from the oneness of the
universe. What else can quantum physics reveal about our connection to the universe? Well for
one thing, this connectedness is not just true for particles that originate from the same source.
In fact, any two quantum systems that interact become entangled in some way. When particles
are entangled, we can only describe one in relation to its partners. Even when entangled
systems fly galaxies apart, they are never truly separated and they continue to influence each
other instantaneously. Plus, the systems that they interact with along their journey also
become part of that entangled whole and so on. And this includes us too. We are entangled
with every particle we have ever interacted with, including other people, and all the people and
things that they have interacted with and so on. Imagine the implications of this. Every
subatomic particle of light or energy that has ever traveled to us, whether from Earth or from
outer space and the stars, if it has interacted with our body, then it is still entangled with us
wherever it may now be in the universe. Plus, all the other particles that it has ever interacted
with are also entangled with us because of this. Talk about connectivity. One more amazing is if
the whole universe started from a big bang singularity. Then that would say that everything was
entangled from the beginning and to some degree still is. Not only that, but evidence suggests
that a kind of connectedness extends not just to quantum objects, but also is found in
evolutionary biology, consciousness studies, and cosmology. So, what does this tell us? This
suggests that non-local coherence may be a fundamental aspect of reality. It implies that
beyond energy and matter there is information intrinsic within the universe. It is a special kind
of information that not only transmits, it also plays a vital role of forming nature at all scales,
from the quantum to us to the cosmos. We truly are connected to the stars and to each other.
We live in a connected universe. This might sound cliché, but this is physics, not just spiritual
philosophy. Yet, it supports what many spiritual teachers and initiates have said through time.
We are all one. Is there really here or there? At the quantum level, no, space does not really
exist or pose a limitation. From the reference frame or quantum reality of entangled systems,
there is only here. There is no separation. There is only one whole. What does quantum physics
have to say then about time? Is there a past, present, and future? Does the arrow of time only
move forward? Is there a then and now? The quantum answer to that also is no. Time does not
impose any limitations on the quantum realm. This was confirmed through what are known as
the delayed choice experiments, first proposed by quantum cosmologist John Wheeler.
Physicists have also been able to demonstrate entanglement of particles that never even
coexisted in time using what is known as entanglement swapping. This means that quantum
systems are not bound by space or time. When it comes to entangled systems, all is here now.
This implies that space time is not fundamental but rather emergent. And here again, we can
see that quantum connectedness is more fundamental than space or time. So what does all of
this tell us? Well, we truly are connected to the stars and to each other. Why is this
connectedness so fundamental? Here again we can turn to the Hermetic Principle and
teachings on correspondence. The three initiates tell us that this principle embodies the truth
that there is a harmony, agreement, and correspondence between the several planes of
manifestation. The same laws and characteristics apply at all levels because it comes from the
same source, the all. Now whether scientists realize it or not, they have inherited their search
to understand the universe from their predecessors, many of whom were initiates in the
Hermetic tradition. The oral tradition of Hermetic teachings is set to date back at least 8,000
years and has been kept alive as sacred wisdom by the initiates of the mystery schools. Most
scientists agree that there should be a finite set of laws that govern the universe. In physics we
talk about the laws of general relativity, quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, and so forth,
but these laws are just signposts pointing to a deeper truth that underlies them. Scientists have
long sought to understand the mind of God or what Einstein called the secrets of the old one.
They search for a theory of everything, one mathematical formula that unites all laws of
physics, and in their heart of hearts many hope to discover that the universe is self-consistent,
that there is reason and meaning to all that we observe and experience. And there is. But so
long as scientists remain rigidly opposed to bringing consciousness into those laws, they will fail
to find a true theory of everything. The original as above so below principle comes from the
ancient emerald tablets of Tothurnese. The original statement reads, "True, without error,
certain and most true. That which is above is as that which is below, and that which is below is
as that which is above, for performing the miracles of the one thing. And as all things were for
one, by the meditation of one, so from this one thing come all things by adaptation." We can
see in this statement that there is a distinction made between the one thing and the one mind.
The miracles of the one thing are the manifestations of the one into matter, and then the
subsequent work to perfect and evolve those things by adaptation or transformation. But the
one itself is source, the all, from which all things come. And it tells us that the way these things
come to be is by the meditation of one. Let's look deeper at what meditation means here.
Meditation is the focusing of one's mind or total awareness until it comes completely into a sea
of coherence. Again, coherence is a major key when it comes to the quantum realm. It means
everything is aligned, synchronized and of one whole. In other words, it's a unified state. In this
coherent state, the mind meditates upon the one thing it desires to manifest. In the Hermetica,
Hermes tells his son Tat that everything seen has been begotten because at some point it came
to be seen. Coming to be is nothing but imagination. That sounds a lot like the observer effect.
Then Hermes says that the one source is invisible because it always is and what begets is not
itself begotten. But if you want to see God, consider the sun, consider the circuit of the moon,
consider the order of the stars. Who keeps this order? For there is nothing in all the cosmos
that God is not. And if you don't like the word God, just replace it with source or universal
consciousness or whatever you prefer. Now as all things are from one, by the meditation of
one, Hermetists call this the principle of mentalism.or the All may be thought of as a universal
infinite living mind. Or perhaps today we might call it a unified field of pure consciousness. This
is at the foundation of everything. It is within this one mind that all is united. So if physicists
want to find their theory of everything they must include the one mind consciousness as an
essential part of all that is. Both Erwin Schrödinger and Wolfgang Pauli, two of the founders of
quantum mechanics had this insight of the importance of the one mind. Schrödinger who
studied the Upanishads once said multiplicity is only apparent in truth there is only one mind.
And Pauli dedicated the last half of his career and life to trying to understand what he called the
psychophysical problem or the mind-body problem from a scientific perspective. Now how can
we apply all of this in our lives today? First of all since we are all connected that means the
changes that we make within do matter to the universe. As physicist John Wheeler said useful
as it is under everyday circumstances to say that the world exists out there independent of us
that view can no longer be upheld. When we work on improving ourselves healing and cleaning
up our thoughts words and deeds it makes a difference. When we transform from negative to
positive in our lives we send good vibes throughout the universe. The outer is a manifestation
of the inner. What does that mean for us? If we want our outer life and our world as a whole to
improve we must each start within. Secondly this shows us that if there is a way to direct what
comes out of the quantum field it will require more than just choice or intention. Those things
are beginning and they might get us results but they are random results. What we need is to
hold coherent intention connected to the one mind and meditate upon the result we desire.
Only through a daily meditation practice will we regularly quiet the lower mind will we be able
to consciously tap into the one mind. Once we cultivate the ability to hold a prolonged coherent
state of being that is when we will become more effective participants in the game of life.
Easier said than done right? Maybe but quantum physics gives us other key insights into how to
tap into that unified state more easily. I'm Dr. Tracie Bullard and this is Mystery Teachings.