Developed by Biologist Rupert Sheldrake, and in direct opposition to the traditional, scientific view of evolution, the morphic resonance theory suggests that there are no laws of nature, there are only laws of habit– collective habits of the universe which are formed via a collective memory and powered by a universal life force (a kind of cosmic, immaterial ‘memory bank’, almost.)
Contained within energy fields that exist all around and within us, the collective memory holds within it all the information in the universe, and accounts for everything from animal instincts, unconscious memory, development- basically, it accounts for the whole of life…
Want a very specific example of the collective memory ‘in play?’ Consider an acorn that grows into an oak tree…
Although the acorn contains within it the DNA to grow into an oak tree, something which the acorn does not contain, is the knowledge of how to form the tree. Just like a pile of bricks will not build itself into a house without a builder, neither will an acorn grow into an oak tree without a ‘builder’/without a plan. Fortunately though, as the morphic resonance theory explains, a plan is in place, thanks to our collective memory-
the same collective memory which sees dogs knowing when their owners will be home,
the same collective memory which sees amputees still being able to feel their limbs despite them no longer being there,
the same collective memory which sees (pardon the pun) people knowing when they are being stared at, even when the person staring at them isn’t in their line of vision…
Now, to expand on the above point; the sense we have of being watched even when we can’t see anyone, I want you to consider if you have ever experienced this before. Personally, I know that I have certainly felt the presence of being ‘watched’, whether that be a very ‘real’, visible presence- I look up from whatever I’m doing and see that there is indeed someone watching me- or, whether it be an invisible, I guess you could call it metaphysical/spiritual presence- I look up and there is no one there, at least, not anyone/anything that the human eye can see, but yet, the feeling of being ‘watched’ remains…
(A quick side note for a bit of context behind this post: It was actually my Mum who inspired me to write this piece today.
Last week, when the sun made a rare appearance here in the UK, I decided to sit outside in my garden to write. I was really engrossed in my writing and yet, for some reason, I felt an urge to look up. When I looked up, my Mum was at the window. I didn’t see her when I was writing, but I felt a presence– not necessarily her presence, but rather just a presence of energy– hence why I stopped writing, and looked up towards the window…
Later that day, when out walking my dogs with my Mum, she commented on how ‘weird’ it is that we all seem to have some sort of ‘in-built sensor’ which alerts us to an external presence.
‘Weird’ indeed)…
So, why exactly do we feel like we’re being watched, even when we can’t see the watcher?,
& why, when we have that strange feeling, are we so often right?
An interesting study to tell you about first…
In 2013, a blind patient who couldn’t see in the traditional sense (or, in any sense at all as we would’ve said prior to the results) was shown several pictures of faces, some of which appeared to be looking straight at him, whilst others looked off to the side. Even though the patient couldn’t explain/articulate what he was seeing, when he was shown the pictures whose subjects seemed to look straight at him, his amygdala – the part of his brain which responds to threat in particular- spiked, thus suggesting that a ‘sixth-sense’ was at play, otherwise, how would his brain have been able to react in the way that it reacted? How would his brain have been able to sense what was happening around him, even when he wasn’t actually seeing anything? How could any of that have been possible, without some other ‘force’ powering it?
Without…
Collective consciousness.
A collective consciousness which proves that;
we’re not as separate as we think we are. Like hundreds of fish suddenly turning at the same time, in response to a threat, or flocks of birds moving in perfect synchrony, we are all connected, the energy fields we create overlapping each others energy fields…
And so, it can be concluded that;
the collective memory of the universe creates collective habits-
a ‘sixth sense’,
a ‘fifth dimension’, within which we see all stages of life
from creation
to preservation
to disintegration/
where we see ‘life in a blade of grass’
and
‘the universe in a grain of sand’/
where we see all things are within all things-
the solving of a mystery.
Now, it is this very thing; ‘seeing all things within all things’, as described above, which is a key characteristic of the ancient Chinese Philosophy and religion, and the philosophy/religion I most relate to- ‘Taoism.’
Developed by Philosopher Lao Tzu in around 500 B.C.E, Taoism instructs believers on how to exist in harmony with nature/with the universe via the ‘Tao Te Ching’ (essentially what the Bible is for Christians). So ‘in harmony’ are we with the universe that, according to Taoism, spiritual immortality exists, whereby the spirit of the body joins the universe after death, becoming, once again, connected with everything in the universe.
To be reminded of their* (*our) ‘connectedness’, many Taoists traditionally lived in the woods or mountains, so as to separate themselves from the world. Why? Because Taoists sought happiness, and continue to seek happiness, by severing themselves completely free from worldly interests…
You see, unlike Western religions which emphasise the human ego in its offering of extremely simple and unreal explanations for the world, Eastern religions such as Taoism centre on the fact that to believe that we- humans- are at the centre of existence is an extremely ego-centric attitude to hold, and one which is, undoubtedly, untrue. Instead, Taoism emphasises how the universe was not created for our benefit/it is not about us, but rather, that we are one small- miniscule– part of a much larger- infinite– whole (it reminds us that human intellect is rather small and is not an especially good measure of reality)…
It is because of the Taoists desire to ‘free themselves from worldly interests’, as described in the paragraphs above, that explains why, during the Communist takeover in 1949, Taoism was actually banned by the then president, Mao Zedong as, he believed that the ancient religion/philosophy would hinder his efforts to ‘modernise’ communist China. Why? Because, Tao promotes us all to live a simpler existence/to strive to ‘leave behind’ the constraints of society/the modern world in order to help the soul become free from its physical condition, something which went against what Mao Zedong, in his efforts to modernise China, stood for. As such, Zedong only wanted his people to practice religions such as Christianity, with its strict rules mirroring his own strict rules, rules which served to control the masses, for the benefit of the few…
Because the Tao is everywhere, it has many manifestations which are, often, in the form of different religions, whose stories and legends are strikingly similar. This is not some coincidence though, it’s because; every story is merely an expression of the one single collective unconscious that is innate within us all– this (the collective unconscious) being the reason why all religions exist– in response to the unknown– in response to all the mysteries that we are so desperate to understand, and yet, do not…
Taoism though, does in fact throw up yet more unknowns, for, to conceive of the ‘true’ concept of the Tao is impossible, since, the Tao, translated as ‘order of nature’, is beyond human comprehension- it is ‘other worldly’)…
You see, like gravity, the ‘Tao’ is something which we cannot see, hear, touch, or smell, and yet, it functions everywhere throughout the whole universe. It is for this reason- because of its ‘invisible’ nature, that many people declare themselves to be ‘Atheists’, because the ‘Tao’/the nature of our existence, is something invisible that our human senses cannot perceive, and therefore, people assume that there is nothing, when, in fact, there is everything–
all within our
one…
collective…
consciousness.
Leave a Reply