MARK COMINGS, PHYSICIST

It is thirty years since physicist F. Capra, in the Tao of Physics (1975), noted similarities between the religious philosophies of the East and the concepts of modern physics. Scientist and mystic, Mark Comings is of the next generation of physicists to take such a perspective further and to elaborate the paradigm emerging for the new millenium. Video/DVD: "The Courage to Change: An Exploration into Time, Space, Light and Mind," produced by Sirius Media, 2005. (www.siriusmedia.org)

http://www.zeropoint.ca/markcomings.htm
http://www.intelligentinfinity.org/phenomenologically.html

Mark Comings - Mystic, Physicist, Inventor, Mathematician, Deep Ecologist:

MY primary focus and interest is and has been for decades opening up the mental/conceptual frameworks being used to orient ourselves to and relate directly to Reality which is ever revealed to each individual as (or via) the vibrant and radiant field of direct experience in the ever present moment. It is clear to me as a result of numerous and ongoing ecstatic nondual experiences and through states of heightened awareness in general that the is clear to me as a result of numerous and ongoing ecstatic nondual experiences and through states of heightened awareness in general that the nature of the experiential domain that an individual inhabits is a direct and lawful function of the core axioms, beliefs or premises that are accepted consciously and (mostly) unconsciously by an individual.

These core axioms (ones "axiomatic set") conditions perception shapes and controls the process of interpretation of, or the attribution of meaning to, each moment of arising experience. I am particularly interested in developing a phenomenologically congruent science that can support and guide the process of opening ourselves to the immediate vibrancy of direct experience. Present day science has developed a peculiar chauvinism against direct experience as if the cherished ideal of objectivity (now known to be a myth) will be somehow tainted or diluted by considering or granting serious attention to inner, feeling based or subjective dimensions of experience. It is glaringly obvious to me that this irrational habit of excluding ones subjectivity or inner life from serious consideration by modern science is a crippling weakness that unquestioningly excludes the total field of direct experience from being acceptable as a source of data for developing better scientific theories or mental/conceptual maps of reality.

Since our maps of reality, once engaged become filters which precondition our very perception and experience of Reality, it is of the utmost importance to develop mental maps of reality that truly serve the ongoing process by which reality is revealing itself in each and every moment and avoid as much as possible bringing unnecessary constructs, reifications and assumptions into our prime guiding and world-shaping models of Reality.

There is a need to reevaluate our theories in terms of their actual utility in terms of whether they provide guidance and a perspective that enables the deepening, enriching and even intentional altering of ones present experience ( i.e. their phenomenological utility) Do our reality maps (i.e. theoretical mental/conceptual models) actually have an effective utility in helping us enter more deeply into the radiant matrix of present experience which is ever fresh and presently - spontaneously - arising and revealing itself to us right NOW.

To further this aim (of developing reality maps that have phenomenological utility) I have focused my attention as a physicist primarily on the physics of light and the physics of space, what I call the physics of the Plenum and the physics of Time. For all that we know about space, usually scientifically referred to as the "Quantum Vacuum" points to the fact that it is not a vacuum - an emptiness pure and simple, but rather is saturated with vibrant potential energy and is in fact a highly energetic medium, an absolute fullness of potential energy, the dynamic modification of which actually comprises what we call mass, matter or material form.

This Quantum Vacuum is more aptly named the Quantum Plenum. The dynamic discovered to be the very substance of the Plenum of space is light itself, the spectrum of fluctuating electromagnetism called the Zero Point Energy, although the standard model of light as electromagnetism pure and simple perfectly obeying Maxwell's Zero Point Energy, although the standard model of light as electromagnetism pure and simple perfectly obeying Maxwell's equations is only scratching the surface of the true nature of light which is actually a central feature of the very substance of the intrinsic and all pervading sentience of Being itself (more on that below). This energy has a tremendous density (and potential intensity) but owing to its isotropy, it cancels its own force out in all directions such that each point in space appears empty.

Yet seething behind this mask of emptiness is a force greater than all of the energy composing the visible or manifest universe; an energy literally greater than ten thousand suns, greater even than ten billion suns and even that falls short as an analogy for this energy does not really have any known limit. It is only limited by various quantitatively focused ideas (known as renormalization schemes) that physicists have developed to artificially define the limits of this energy.

Most of these ideas are attempts to get the value of this potential force intrinsic to the fabric of space to be finite and not infinite as it appears to be upon first calculation. This is a function of a basic discomfort with infinity that pervades contemporary science. The view is that if something is finite and can be measured as such then it is real and is acceptable to discuss in the forum of science; anything else, even if all empirical and theoretical indications point to it's reality is highly suspect and questionable and had best be ignored or done away with. This is a perspective that blocks the exploration of a profound realm of science that contains within it a perfect and elegant interface with spirituality; namely the boundless energetic and sentient potentials embedded within the fabric of Space itself.

In my opinion (and experience) the conceptual probing and exploring of the rich supersymmetric radial texture of the plenum of so called empty space is a profound form of mind training that (when carried out with care and rigor) enables one to transcend the limits of thought and enter directly into the direct experience of the nonconceptual plenum of space which is experientially identical with the unconditional nature of mind, the experiencing of which is the aim and highest goal of most schools of esoteric spirituality.

The result of meditating on and deeply contemplating the meaning and implications of the new paradigm physics of Zero Point Energy or the physics of the Plenum becomes, if persisted in deeply enough, an esoteric exercise revealing that the outer plane of three dimensional material appearances is in fact floating on the surface of and dynamically arising out of an infinite sea of radiant wholeness or pure potentiality. The entire physical universe is thus revealed to be mysteriously arising as an infinitesimally tiny modification of this field of infinite invisible (yet directly experiencable potential energy which is not ultimately different from infinite potential Mind or Awareness itself.

Thus Space is co-extensive with and in fact ultimately identical with Mind or Non Dual Primordial Awareness/Gnosis. The radical recognition of this Reality brings with it the unavoidable recognition that we are utterly non separate from, completely continuous with and are in fact radiant expressions of the living sentient matrix of the Quantum Plenum. This brings with it a vision of human potential that is utterly boundless and co-extensive with the infinite potential energy/awareness intrinsic to the field of Universal Reality.

It is now becoming clear that such a lucid scientific perspective on the fundamental nature of Space which brings with it the recognition of all material forms as being dynamic modifications of this very Plenum of Space can actually help us illuminate the nature of and hopefully more rapidly overcome (or dissolve) the very obscurations that veil us from greater participatory co-evolutionary involvement in our own unfurling into the vibrant and ecstatic fullness of Being as Wholeness.

Light is the other primordial facet of Being that can and is being extensively explored by science. There is more to light however than meets the eye, and electromagnetism is just the outer veil (or outer garment) of the self radiant brightness of the Quantum Plenum which is comprised of a spectrum of increasingly subtler or higher dimensional forms of radiance that are more akin to the self existing self radiant light of consciousness itself or the clear light of primordial awareness than simply the electromagnetic spectrum obeying Maxwell's equations and operating within the speed limits imposed by the Theory of Special and General Relativity.

This inner light is directly experience-able by any conscious being who will simply turn their attention toward its own source and witness the living presence of pure sentience arising as the very basis and substance and context of their every experience; and it is especially evident in heightened mystical states where the presence of this living radiance or brightness becomes the primary content of experience. This living light which composes the very fabric of space and dynamically weaves itself into all of the forms of mass and energy comprising the manifest universe is the very source and wellspring of all life and is in fact that which is living us in each and every moment.

This living light (which is continuous with but even subtler than the electromagnetic zero point energy) can be described as the life giving dynamic or Spirit (literally!) that bio-couples into all living organisms at the pre-quantum level and infuses them with life and sentience at the most fundamental level. This view opens up a new forefront field of the life sciences that I call "Transduction Biophysics" which deals with the nature of living systems as interdimensional biotransducers of the flux-flow of the plenum also known as chi, orgone or life force.

The exclusion and non recognition of this primary sentient, all pervading, self-radiant fundamental form of light is what leads to the reductionistic tendency of so called "material realism" in science and leads modern biology into reducing life to mere molecular machines as does the whole field of genetic engineering and nanotechnology which is not without its valid merits and impressive advances but is essentially reductionistic, mechanistic and spiritless in it's orientation.

The lack of direct appreciation for and even devotional passion towards the living mystery of sentience that is expressed radiantly as this primordial light of the Plenum of Being leads modern scientifically minded humans to proceed to develop more and more abilities to manipulate matter and even life itself as "advances in technology" without being established or grounded in a spiritual/ontological framework that contains an essential reverence provoking mystery to life or a transcendent dimension that can provide an ethical regulatory system for behavior and support and encourage a context for ones activities that is benign and even inclined toward maximizing the universal benefit of ones every action.

It is this higher dimensional, all pervading and self existing radiance that is Being's most primary expression of it's intrinsic sentience which can provide the missing transcendent dimension that necessarily (when recognized and experienced) regulates behavior and helps stabilizes action within an ethical context provided by this acausal and all embracing wholeness. Discovering and experiencing this unified and unifying frame of reference tempers and even dissolves the reductionistic tendency into the more open and relaxed position of simply and gratefully abiding in the unfathomable mystery of Being's atemporal abidingness .

It is this "inner light" or "lumen naturale" that is utterly ignored and rejected by nearly all but the most intrepid and phenomenologically turned on scientists because it is not physically (empirically) measurable except via the instrument of a balanced and attuned human organism self reflecting on the unqualified non dual primary experience of sentience that embraces and is at the heart of all possible experiences. It is an explicit acknowledgement of this primordial or intrinsic light of sentience (which can be rigorously and mathematically described as a higher dimensional radiance - the "as above" to the "so below' of physical or electromagnetic light) in science that in my opinion holds a crucial key for rigorously unifying science with consciousness and spirituality.

Time is the final facet of Being that I have been focusing on, the exploration of which has a very high degree of phenomenological utility. Science has reduced time to a linear sequential function of the geometry of three dimensional Euclidean space; specifically to a function of the motion of matter or energy within 3D space. In so defining time, it has been reified into an "objective property of the Universe" independent of Consciousness or Mind.

Time is always described as "how long" it takes for something to move from point A to point B. It is thoroughly described as a function of the dynamics of movements of physical matter/energy through space (space seen in the standard scientific view of being insentient nothingness pure and simple). This linear definition of time is intrinsically limited and falls far short of providing the kind of penetrating insight into the nature of time that I believe science is capable of.

The fact is that in addition to being a useful way to describe the dynamics of matter/energy's movement through space, time is most fundamentally a function of Mind or Consciousness. it is a major failing of science that the time described by Physics says nothing about the actual human experience of time which is not a linear uniformly flowing uni-directional sequence of moments dragging one inexorably forward into the future but a now based flow of present experience. I am embarking upon a major research project mapping out the present state of the science of time and am proposing a fundamentally new and improved understanding of the nature time that can be clearly formalized and formulated as distinct from the currently held scientific view.

This new science of time radically revisions the fundamental nature of time as a direct function of Consciousness (which is not separate from the primal light of being) and thereby expands our understanding of the potential range of human experience freeing it from the straitjacket of linear time and opening up an explicit understanding and acknowledgement of the radial, multidimensional possibilities intrinsic to timeless or atemporal consciousness. The capacity to transcend linear time as a basic format of experience corresponds to the capacity (or aptitude) for mystical spiritual experience and this higher range of experience is something that needs to be acknowledged, respected and centrally included within a truly mature science.

This entails nothing short of a complete reformulation of the mathematical basis of physics, for every equation that describes the dynamics of nature has embedded in it and in fact is driven by the variable "t" which stands for time defined as a point moving uniformly along a line made up of a sequence of point/moments on the time line. What if this model is fundamentally inaccurate and in fact is serving to obscure the role that Mind has in shaping and even generating time? Consciousness is explicitly excluded from the equations of physics.

Could it be that the linearizing and objectifying of time is the "place" in physics where the Cartesian wedge between spirit and matter is most powerfully (and unnoticeably) driven? If time is fundamentally of the Mind then it is the way the equations of physics reduce time to a line and treat it as an objective function of nature separate from consciousness that may be exactly "where" spirit or consciousness is effectively squeezed out of (or eliminated from) physics.

The difficulty in reconciling consciousness with physics may be a function of the fact that it was thrown out long before we could even notice it was missing via the linearizing and objectification of time that is basic to all equations from Descartes and Newton onward. It may very well be that the fundamental way one views (and relates to) time plays a profound role in shaping the nature of the experiential domain that one inhabits; for time may be largely a function of how we pay attention to our experience and the field of our experience (and its form of temporality) may immediately reflect these habits of attention, becoming either more open and spacious or more constrained and contracted depending on what we do with our attention (i.e. our consciousness).

Thus a deep reconsideration of the nature of time and it's connection to consciousness is a direction of exploration that has a high degree of phenomenological utility. By inquiring and exploring more deeply into the nature of time we may gain knowledge, insight and understanding that can free us from the self imposed temporal constraints that we unconsciously put on our experience and open up new modes of being and discover greater states of freedom that are timeless and utterly inconceivable from within the framework of linear temporality.

The combination of a fundamentally new (for western science) understanding of Space as not empty but as a Plenum of infinite potential, of Time as not linear but radial, atemporal and Now-based and being primarily a function of Mind and of Light as having much more depth to it than what meets the eye (i.e. electromagnetism), enables a total creative recontextualization of the very nature of who we are and the nature of life and of existence itself in a way that is totally transformative and at the same time profoundly congruent with the wisdom teachings from gnostic/mystical sources of all ages and from all cultures.

The complete re-visioning of Space, Light and Time opens up vast, open-ended and uncharted vistas into which our Beings can creatively unfurl without limit. May we courageously embark on this exploration/quest together in a co-operative spirit of sharing and kinship for the enhancement and upliftment of the quality of life for all beings.

(c)2006 Mark Comings

The most important concept being revised in modern physics is that of Space. What used to be called the "quantum vacuum," is now understood as the "quantum plenum," containing the absolute fullness of things. Mark notes that at the deepest substrates of being within the apparent emptyness of space are infinite emergies and potentiality. He provides John Wheeler's estimate of 10-94 grams/cm3 or ergs, as the amount of energy latent everywhere within seemingly empty space. This amount is more than all that contained within the matter and energy of the larger universe outside. However, within the quantum plenum all the forces cancel each other out such that it all adds up to nothing, or seems to. Life in the quantum plenum is infinitely rich, and this is the medium within which we as human beings live and move and have our being. Whereas life in the quantum vacuum sounds kind of empty and leads to a philosophy of scarcity, life in the quantum plenum offers a profound new model of the multidimensional nature of human existence, and a philosophy of abundance.

Mark notes that Space is the 'ether' of modern times, a plenum of absolute fullness. He notes that this plenum is filled with a boundless luminosity, effloresing with vacuum photons. At a certain level within the plenum of Space, Mark estimates the 'brightness of space' at a hundred times the illuminosity of the Sun's corona. Space is pervaded by such a luminosity. Mark suggests that there is an "ultra micro-structure of Space" and a hidden dynamic geometry, which is a generative field underlying material manifestation. Further, space is a "radial plenum," wherein each point can be considered as the centre of the whole. Most importantly, Mark conceives there to be an "intrinsic sentience" within Space itself--a view similar to that of Newton who regarded Space as "God's sensorium."

These insights of modern physics confirm Madame Blavatsky's teachings of The Secret Doctrine:

Space is neither a “limitless void,” nor a “conditioned fulness,” but both: being, on the plane of absolute abstraction, the ever-incognizable Deity, which is void only to finite minds, but on that of mayavic perception, the Plenum, the absolute Container of all that is, whether manifested or unmanifested: it is, therefore, that ABSOLUTE ALL. (1888, pp. 8-9)
Life in the plenum of Space is one of abundance. Mark brings the physics to life as he reminds us that we ourselves exist in this Space, this plenum.

Mark Comings also explores the physics of light, and regards consciousness itself as a form of higher dimensional light, with potentially unlimited degrees of freedom. Mark argues that there is a physics to the inner light of consciousness, just as there is to external light. Whereas modern materialist scientists have regarded consciousness as non-substantive, Mark identifies it with "luminous inner light." There is thus both a physics and metaphysics to such light, and thus to consciousness. Mark notes: "... the laws of outer light are cast in the image and similitude of the the laws of the inner light." He describes consciousness as 'higher dimensional light,' wherein there are higher degrees of freedom--as in the spiritual domain. Mark thus suggests that there is a "spiritual physics of the inner light."

These are profoundly valuable concepts which are supported throughout the mystical literature, but which are only beginning to make sense in terms of the new physics. When will humans see the light, or gain the light which is within themselves? as the mystics have asked through the ages. The profound importance of this equation of consciousness with light, and higher dimensional light, is not easy to grasp, and we must grow in an inner understanding of what this means, like Plato's cave dwellers learning to turn around and to see the light of true existence. Mark Comings obviously has done this himself, as is evident in his heart felt descriptions of the inner light. Dr. Comings is attempting to articulate a physics of the inner light, which leads to metaphysics and higher dimensions. Space itself, in which we live and move and have our being, is thus a "multidimensional sea of radiance," and consciousness has a supernal light nature.

Mark describes a human being as a "hyper-dimensional crystal lattice" within the plenum, with an "indwelling light of consciousenss." Mark describes how there might be a hierarchy of light all the way back to the Ayn Soph Aur (or limilless light) of the Kabbalist. The outer light forms are described as cast in the image and similitude of the inner light. However, Mark explains how we directly experience the flux of the inner light through your being. When talking about love and having courage (derived from the French for heart), he describes opening the heart, and "letting the inner light flood through your being," directly experiencing the "flux of inner light through the body." At one point in the video, Mark states that if your heart opens, the "light floods through us." What is so profoundly important about Dr. Comings work is the manner in which he brings home to us, the direct applications of physics of light to understanding the dynamics of the inner world.

In his first Montreal lecture, Mark provided a valuable discussion of some of the basic physics of light. In particular, he noted how Maxwell's four primary equations describing light as an electro-magnetic force have been modified within modern times. Light came to be regarded as having two directions of oscilation, electric and magnetic, but not to oscilate along the third dimension. Maxwell's equations allowed for such compression waves along the third dimension, but these were ignored when it came to the practical applications of his equations. Mark thus regards light as having more a 'triune' rather than 'dualistic' nature, and further, that light manifest in the three dimensional space itself has a higher dimensional physics to it. The supernal light which Mark depicts has "... n degree of freedom"--just as the limitless light of the Ayn Soph Aur, for the Kabbalist.

"In is up, dimensionally." Mark's phrase captures the essential meaning of "within-without from zero-points," as used in my own writings. A new notion of Space is involved here, of a hyperspace or higher dimensional Space, pervading and underlying the space which we imagine is outside of us and around us, but empty. Phenomena within the three dimensional space are due to a metaphysics in higher dimensions, wherein we are all rooted into the Plenum, and consciousness has an intrinsic 'light' nature. Potentially, human consciousness, can, in the terms of the Dali Lama, merge with the 'mind of clear light.'

Mark Coming's equation of consciousness with light is a profoundly significant step forward in our trying to understand the enigmas of human consciousness, and the relationship of modern physics to ancient metaphysics. F. Capra, in the Tao of Physics (1975) provided a view of space as plenum and void, and of the quantum interconnectedness of phenomena, but Capra lacked a significant insight into the enigmas of consciousness and light, and then insights into the higher dimensional nature of light itself. M. Talbot, in The Holographic Universe, had a holographic model, but again lacked this essential insight into the mysteries of human consciousness as light, and of supernal light that emerging from within the grounds of being. Mark applies this all directely within ourselves, as this is how we as beings emerge out of the nothingness, the void/plenum, and can be illumined by the inner light. All of these things can be know within ourselves!

Whereas the simplistic materialist view of space as empty and non-sentient is not too promising and leads to a philosophy of 'scarcity' and a view of death as the end, the emerging view of Space as the plenum, opens up a pretty vast universe for us as living human beings, ensouled in some manner but living multi-diimensional lives within such underlying realms of spirit, light and the plenum of Space.

A Paradigm of Radical Abundance

Mark Comings offers a view of life in the plenum as that of abundance. From his studies of free energy technologies to his descriptions of illumined consciousness, Mark explores the deep physics of Space and Light, and the nature of the multi-dimensional universe in which we live, and breath, and have our being. He breaths new life into the most advanced ideas in physics by demonstrating how it all applies within the inner world. A human being exists within Space, and experiences varied forms of inner illumination and consciousness. Mark's work highlights how the concepts of physics can be applied directly to understanding the inner life and Self.

In the paradigm of Radical Abundance, Mark describes these higher potentials within ourselves, especially of inner illumination and of love. The scarcity model of mainstream materialist science offers only a life in empty space, with limited resources, ending at death. There is no inner light, spirit or soul, and consciousness is left out of the equation. Mark as both a scientist and mystic, has come to apply the ideas of physics directly to understanding the enigmas of human consciousness. Human consciousness involves somehow light within Space. Modern consciousness researchers do not generally even think that understanding consciousness has anything to do with understanding the nature of Space, or light, or higher dimensions. Everyone in the mainstream of science assumes that material processes produce consciousness, although its a complete mystery where, what and how, but certainly they do not consider that consciousensss as some higher dimensional physics/metaphysics to it. However, it is this higher physics and metaphysics of consciousness, the heart and mind, which has been elaborated through the ages within the esoteric spiritual teachings of humankind. The discoveries of modern physics are increasing serving to illustrate the hidden meanings and science of the wisdom teachings.

The advantage of a mystical science approach to understanding life, relative to the common scientific approach, is brilliantly articulated by Rene Weber (1986). She explains in Dialogues with Scientists and Sages: The Search for Unity:

“The drive for unification is a link between the aims of science and mysticism. ... It is mysticism, not science, which pursues the Grand Unification Theory with ruthless logic, the one that includes the questioner within the answer. Although the scientist wants to unify everything in one ultimate equation, he does not want to unify consistently, since he wants to leave himself outside that equation. ... Of the mystic, more is required. He is engaged in deconstructing and reconstructing not some neutral external reality, but himself. ...

By analogy with the physicist's splitting of the atom, the mystic is engaged in splitting his self-centered ego and the three dimensional thinker that sustains it. ... in his altered state of consciousness, the mystic has learned to harmonize his awareness with the sub-atomic matter of which he is composed. In this process, he aligns himself with the deep-structure of nature. ... The mystic, a true alchemist, brings micro-level and macro-level together. ... All mystics seek the depths. ... A parallel principle drives both science and mysticsism, the assumption that unity lies at the heart of our world and that it can be discovered and experienced by man. (pp. 6-13)

The mystical quest is to directly experience unity, not simply to know it with the mind as an intellectual abstraction. Hence, the mystic includes him/herself in the equation as he/she attempts to penetrate to the heart of being. Mark's explanations of the nature of Space, and Consciousness as light, and higher dimensional light, provide profoundly valuable keys to understanding this paradigm of radical abundance, and an illumined life in the plenum.

The problem with hard line materialist and skeptic scientists is that they leave consciousness out of their equations and do not consider that there might be a substantive consciousness, especially one capable of directly experiencing the deep roots of matter, nature and creation. Consider the wisdom articulated by the Sufi sage, Ibn al’Arabi: “Know that since God created human beings and brought them out of nothingness into existence, they have not stopped being travelers.” This comment suggests that the void, the emptiness, the plenum, higher space dimensions and root principles, these things discussed by scientists, are directly experienced by yogis, mystics and seers, you and I. In fact, you are never not experiencing these things, but you are simply unaware of it, because you do not know yourself, or understand the true origin and nature of your own consciousness. We ourselves emerge out of the nothingness of Space, and are illumined by the light of consciousness.

Mystical teachings actually claim that to ‘know self,’ at the deepest level, leads to experiences of higher or more enlightened states of human consciousness, alternate forms of objective knowledge about the nature of Self, the universe and the inscrutable mysteries of nature, and even, to divine knowledge of God. Mystical knowledge involves the direct experiencing of the unity of life, to different depths of penetration. If these kinds of states and experiences are indeed possible, then mysticism, by the criterion of science itself, would indeed be more scientific than what are considered the so-called ‘exact’ sciences.

Unfortunately, modern science writers, such as B. Greene, P. Atkins, L. Smolin, all leave consciousness out of their equations. They don't imagine that the quantum physics could have anything to do with the nature of human consciousness, despite the fact that consciousness exists within space, and light is directly experienced in consciousness? What might physics have to do with consciousness?

Mark Comings is making steps to elaborate the basic principles of such a new paradigm of human understanding--based exactly upon such a physics and metaphysics of consciousness, light and space. If we can understand such an illumined perspective on the nature of things, we find ourselves in a radical abundance. Unfortunately, we might also be somewhat horrified by the madness of humankind-- ruled by the mode of ignornace, the philosophy of scarcity, with an economy based on fossel fuels and war, and an emotional pathology of fear and self interest.