Comments on Bring the Books: Book Review: Where The Conflict Really Lies by Alv...

Adam, Plantinga seldom writes about mysticism. Man...

2012-01-10T17:40:25.710-06:00

Adam, Plantinga seldom writes about mysticism. Many of the founders of quantum physics, Heisenberg, Schroedinger, de Broglie, Jeans, Planck, Pauli, and Eddington, were supporters of mysticism. A good reference is "Quantum Questions / Mystical Writings of the World's Greatest Physicists," edited by Ken Wilber (Shambhala 1984, 2001).

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Nobel astrophysicist, in 1959 invited me to the University of Chicago's Yerkes Observatory. He introduced me to mysticism and thru 1982 I met 19 mystics, of five faiths, in 12 countries. I also conduct an email forum for professors who teach mysticism at universities on six continents. The topic is usually omitted from discussions of science vis-à-vis religion.

My apologies, Ron, but I had no idea what your pos...

2012-01-09T20:20:22.683-06:00

My apologies, Ron, but I had no idea what your post had to do with Plantinga's book or my review of it.

My first paragraph was on topic, at least in refer...

2012-01-07T19:15:00.914-06:00

My first paragraph was on topic, at least in reference to your review. The last two were a simple analogy...certainly not scientific.

Many other reviews of Platinga's book have be repeated on multiple blogs. So too has my response. I give you credit for writing an extensive, well thought out and independent analysis.

If you think my comment has no merit, please delete it.

I have no idea what you're talking about, Ron,...

2012-01-06T19:18:10.290-06:00

I have no idea what you're talking about, Ron, but in my new book I write about my suspicion we all may have just been spammed.

To a great extent, science depends on observation ...

2012-01-01T13:43:17.877-06:00

To a great extent, science depends on observation and religion relies on scripture. Science can now study only 5% of this Universe, since dark matter is 25% and dark energy about 70% of its critical density. Religion? According to which scriptures: the Torah, New Testament, Qur'an, Vedas, Buddhist sutras, ...? Many quantum physicists contend that observation is dependent on the observer; many mystics say that relying on scripture is less significant than direct experience.

In my free ebook on comparative mysticism, "the greatest achievement in life," is a quote by Albert Einstein: "...most beautiful and profound emotion we can experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the sower of all true science. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and most radiant beauty - which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their primitive form - this knowledge, this feeling, is the center of all religion."

E=mc², Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity, is probably the best known scientific equation. I revised it to help better understand the relationship between divine Essence (Love, Grace, Spirit), matter (mass/energy: visible/dark) and consciousness (f(x) raised to its greatest power). Unlike the speed of light, which is a constant, there are no exact measurements for consciousness. In this hypothetical formula, basic consciousness may be of insects, to the second power of animals and to the third power the rational mind of humans. The fourth power is suprarational consciousness of mystics, when they intuit the divine essence in perceived matter. This was a convenient analogy, but there cannot be a divine formula.