Biocentrism, Life, and Consciousness

There’s nothing like the study of quantum physics to get the blood stirring.

You know what I mean?

So here’s what happened. A friend of mine recommended Robert Lanza’s books about biocentrism to me as an add-on to the study of Zen Buddhism. That is not to say that Dr. Lanza’s books are about Zen per se, but rather that a treatment of the subjects of consciousness and life from a scientific perspective in the twenty-first century can’t help but be fruitful ground for anyone who takes the underpinnings of Zen seriously.

The books pictured are what I would call the biocentrics “series.” I am only about halfway through book 1, Biocentrism, and I can already report that it is chock full of stuff that makes my head hurt, in a healthy way, of course.

I can’t do the book justice with a few random sentences, but to give you a feel for the guts of it, I will list the first four “principles of biocentrism,” as Dr. Lanza labels them:

1. What we perceive as reality is a process that involves our consciousness.

2. Our external and internal perceptions are inextricably intertwined. They are different sides of the same coin and cannot be separated.

3. The behavior of subatomic particles–indeed all particles and objects–is inextricably linked to the presence of an observer. Without the presence of a conscious observer, they at best exist in an undetermined state of probability waves.

4. Without consciousness, “matter” dwells in an undetermined state of probability. Any universe that could have preceded consciousness only existed in a probability state.

ROBERT LANZA, MD, FROM BIOCENTRISM

And that’s just eighty pages in, lol.

I’ve shared this with you for the simple reason that I believe one of the best and healthiest things we can do for ourselves is to learn something new, something outside our usual wheelhouse. And I also believe a way to expand the health benefits of the process of learning is to jot stuff down on paper. It fires your brain, stores the information where you can find it, and opens up new vistas.

Fear of the unknown, when the unknown is knowable and beneficent, is a terrible waste of life and consciousness.