Science and the Akashic Field

An Integral Theory of Everything

By (Author) Ervin Laszlo
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  • Edition: Updated Second Edition
  • Pages: 208
  • Book Size: 6 x 9
  • ISBN-13: 9781594771811
  • Imprint: Inner Traditions
  • On Sale Date: May 3, 2007
  • Format: Paperback Book
Recent discoveries in vacuum physics show that at the roots of reality there exists an interconnecting cosmic field that conserves and conveys all information. This field, the Akashic record, is the constant and enduring memory of the universe, holding the record of all that has happened in the cosmos and reflecting all that is yet to come.

Flight of the Bön Monks

» Other books by this author
Presents the unifying world-concept long sought by scientists, mystics, and sages: an Integral Theory of Everything

• Explains how modern science has rediscovered the Akashic Field of perennial philosophy

• New edition updates ongoing scientific studies, presents new research inspired by the first edition, and includes new case studies and a section on animal telepathy

Mystics and sages have long maintained that there exists an interconnecting cosmic field at the roots of reality that conserves and conveys information, a field known as the Akashic record. Recent discoveries in vacuum physics show that this Akashic Field is real and has its equivalent in science’s zero-point field that underlies space itself. This field consists of a subtle sea of fluctuating energies from which all things arise: atoms and galaxies, stars and planets, living beings, and even consciousness. This zero-point Akashic Field is the constant and enduring memory of the universe. It holds the record of all that has happened on Earth and in the cosmos and relates it to all that is yet to happen.

In Science and the Akashic Field, philosopher and scientist Ervin Laszlo conveys the essential element of this information field in language that is accessible and clear. From the world of science he confirms our deepest intuitions of the oneness of creation in the Integral Theory of Everything. We discover that, as philosopher William James stated, “We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep.”

from Chapter 4

The Crucial Science Fable--In-formation in Nature


Our review of the puzzles encountered at the frontiers of science has set the stage for the quest to which Part One of this book is dedicated: to discover the basis for a scientifically founded Integral Theory of Everything (I-TOE). We have gained an important insight. We have found that in order to account for a growing number of things and processes that are undoubtedly real and are likely to be fundamental, a new factor needs to be added to the repertory of laws and concepts of contemporary science. What is this new factor? Let us look at the principal findings:

• Astonishingly close connections exist on the level of the quantum: every particle that has ever occupied the same quantum state as another particle remains correlated with it in a mysterious, non-energetic way.
• The universe as a whole manifests fine-tuned connections that defy commonsense explanation.
• Post-Darwinian evolutionary theory and quantum biology discover similarly puzzling connections within the organism, as well as between the organism and its milieu.
• The connections that come to light in the farther reaches of consciousness research are just as strange: they are connections between the consciousness of one person and the mind and body of another.

These connections indicate links between the particles that make up the material substance of the universe, as well as between the parts or elements of the integrated systems constituted of the particles. The links fine-tune the particles and the elements of the systems, creating space- and time-transcending coherence among them.

The surprising “nonlocal” forms of coherence crop up in fields as diverse as quantum physics, cosmology, evolutionary biology, and consciousness research. Some physicists--John Bell and Chris Clarke among them--suggest that nonlocality may be in fact the deeper reality; ordinary, so-called “classical” or “decoherent” states (states where things have a unique location and a unique set of physical characteristics) may appear merely as a consequence of the way we interact with medium-sized things--things that are neither as small as quanta nor as large as the cosmos.

Independent of the truth of such speculations, it is clear that nonlocal coherence has important implications. It signals that there is not only matter and energy in the universe, but also a more subtle yet real element: an element that connects and produces the observed quasi-instant forms of coherence.

ENTER THE AKASHIC FIELD

The idea that information is present throughout nature is a recurrent theme in cultural history, but it is new to Western science. It calls for the recognition that information is not an abstract concept: as “in-formation” it has a reality of its own. It is a part of the physical universe. And since it is present throughout nature, it is best conceptualized as an extended field.

Rationale for an In-formation Field

The evidence for a field that would conserve and convey information is not direct; it must be reconstructed in reference to more immediately available evidence. Like other fields known to modern physics, such as the gravitational field, the electromagnetic field, the quantum fields, and the Higgs field, the in-formation field cannot be seen, heard, touched, tasted, or smelled. However, this field produces effects, and these can be perceived. This is the same in regard to all the fields known to science. For example, the gravitational or G-field cannot be perceived: when we drop an object to the ground, we see the object falling but not the field that makes it fall--we see the effect of the G-field but not the G-field itself.

In the case of the field that could account for the presence of in-formation in nature, the evidence is the puzzling, quasi-instant form of coherence that comes to light in the physical, cosmological, and biological sciences, as well as in consciousness research. These phenomena call for an explanation, and the simplest and most logical explanation is a field that links the entities that prove to be nonlocally coherent.

Although fields, like other entities, are not to be multiplied beyond the scope of necessity, it seems evident that a further field is required to account for the special kind of coherence revealed at all scales and domains of nature, from the microdomain of quanta, through the meso-domain of life, to the macrodomain of the cosmos. We need to recognize that just as electric and magnetic effects are conveyed by the EM-field, attraction among massive objects by the G-field, and attraction and repulsion among the particles of the nucleus by quantum fields, so nonlocal coherence is conveyed by a field: the universal in-formation field.

The Akashic Field

In my previous books I named the universal in-formation field the Akashic Field, or A-field for short. What is the reason for this name?

In the Sanskrit and Indian cultures, Akasha is an all-encompassing medium that underlies all things and becomes all things. It is real, but so subtle that it cannot be perceived until it becomes the many things that populate the manifest world. Our bodily senses do not register Akasha, but we can reach it through spiritual practice. The ancient Rishis reached it through a disciplined, spiritual way of life, and through yoga. They described their experience, and made Akasha an essential element of the philosophy and mythology of India.

The Akashic vision of a cyclic universe--of a Metaverse that creates universe after universe--is essentially the vision we now get from cosmology. In the new physics the unified, physically real vacuum is the equivalent of Akasha. It is the original field out of which emerged particles and atoms, stars and planets, human and animal bodies, and all the things that can be seen and touched. It is a dynamic, energy-filled medium in ceaseless fluctuation. The vacuum is Akasha and Prana rolled into one--the womb of all the “matter” and all the “force” in the universe.


Introduction: A Meaningful Scientific Worldview for Our Time

PART ONE

THE FOUNDATIONS OF AN INTEGRAL THEORY OF EVERYTHING
How Information Connects Everything to Everything Else

  The Challenge of an Integral Theory of Everything
       Approaches to a Genuine TOE

2   On Puzzles and Fables: Drivers of the Next Paradigm Shift in Science

3   A Concise Catalog of the Puzzles of Coherence
        The Puzzles of Coherence in Quantum Physics
        The Puzzles of Coherence in Cosmology
        The Puzzles of Coherence in Biology
        The Puzzles of Coherence in Consciousness

4   The Crucial Science Fable--In-formation in Nature
        The Quantum Vacuum--or Plenum
        “In-formation” in the Quantum Vacuum
        The Parable of the Sea
        Enter the Akashic Field


PART TWO

THE IN-FORMED UNIVERSE

Perennial Questions and Fresh Answers from the Integral Theory of Everything

5   The Origins and Destiny of Life and the Universe
        Where Everything Came From--and Where It Is Going
        Origins and Evolution of Our Universe
        Life on Earth and in the Universe
        The Future of Life in the Cosmos
        Glimpses of Ultimate Reality


  Consciousness--Human and Cosmic
        The Roots of Consciousness
        Evolutionary Panpsychism
        The Wider In-formation of Consciousness
        The Next Evolution of Human Consciousness
        Cosmic Consciousness
        The Farthermost Reaches of Consciousness


7   The Poetry of Akashic Vision

The Phenomenon of Coherence:
   A Deeper Look at the Scientific Evidence


Over Four Decades in Quest of an Integral Theory of Everything:
   An Autobiographical Retrospective

References

Essential Reading:
   A Bibliography of Additional Research Reports and Theories

Index

Ervin Laszlo, holder of the highest degree of the Sorbonne (the State Doctorate), is recipient of four Honorary Ph.D.s and numerous awards and distinctions, including the 2001 Goi Award (the Japan Peace Prize) and a nomination for the 2004 and 2005 Nobel Peace Prize. He is a former professor of philosophy, systems theory, and futures studies in the U.S., Europe, and the Far East and founder and president of the international think-tank The Club of Budapest as well as of the General Evolution Research Group. The author of 75 books, translated into 20 languages, he lives in Italy.
“A seminal book from one of the best thinkers of our time. Ervin Laszlo charts the ­frontiers to which science is inexorably headed. In years to come people will look back at the amazing foresight of this work.”
Peter Russell, fellow of the Institute of Noetic Sciences and the Findhorn Foundation and author of From Science to God

". . . Laszlo's new book is a provocative overview and a masterful synthesis of knowledge at the frontiers of cosmology, physics, neurobiology, and consciousness studies. . . . provides strong support for the idea that finally we have a common unifying concept for science and spirituality."
Christian De Quincey, Ph.D., Shift, Mar-May, 2005

". . . will be of aid to those students interested in utilising modern science to explain the subtle and unseen."
The Beacon, Mar-Apr, 2005

". . . highly empirical and impressive . . . manages to reveal the connectivity of a wide range of established principles . . . . expands the mind to the point that readers will exit this changed."
New Age Retailer, Trade Show Issue 2005, Vol. 19, No. 4

“Ervin Laszlo presents readers with a tour de force, nothing less than a theory of everything. This book introduces such provocative concepts as the 'A-field' and the 'informed universe,' making the case that a complete understanding of reality is woefully lacking without them. Readers of this book will never view the universe in quite the same way again.”
Stanley Krippner, Ph.D., professor of psychology, Saybrook Graduate School, and author and co-editor of Varieties of Anomalous Experience

“Over the last 30 years, Ervin Laszlo has consistently been at the forefront of scientific inquiry, exploring the frontiers of knowledge with insight, wisdom and integrity. With Science and the Akashic Field he takes another quantum leap forward in our understanding of the universe and ourselves. This enthralling vision of mind, science, and universe is essential reading for the 21st century.”
Alfonso Montuori, Ph.D., California Institute of Integral Studies, and author of Creators on Creating

“It is rare indeed that a revolution in thought can open our eyes to a new universe that transforms our inner experience as well as our relationships with others and even with the cosmos. Martin Buber did it with I and Thou. Now, Ervin Laszlo, one of the most profound minds of our generation, has given us a great gift in this readable book that explores how we are connected to each other in fields of resonance that penetrate to the deepest levels of being.”
Allan Combs, Ph.D., professor of psychology, University of North Carolina at Asheville, and author of The Radiance of Being

“In this impressive and transformative work Laszlo brings the reader into an integral worldview for our time. The reader who encounters this book will be irrevocably transformed and will henceforth experience the world through a global lens.”
Ashok Gangadean, Ph.D., professor of philosophy, Haverford College, founder-director of the Global Dialogue Institute, and author of The Awakening of the Global Mind

“In a visionary way based on profound knowledge of modern science, Laszlo creates a genuine architecture of human and cosmic evolution. He provides the bridge between all the different puzzle-stones of science and unifies them in a most remarkable and bold ‘integral theory of everything.’”
Fritz-Albert Popp, Ph.D., director of the International Institute of Biophysics and editor of Recent Advances in Biophoton Research

“This is one of the most important books to be published in the last decades. Ervin Laszlo’s Science and the Akashic Field has the power and coherence to explain the major phenomena of cosmos, life, and mind as they occur at the various levels of nature and society. In demonstrating that an information field is a fundamental factor in the universe, Ervin Laszlo catalyzes a radical paradigm-shift in the contemporary sciences.”
Ignazio Masulli, Ph.D., professor of history, University of Bologna, Italy, and coauthor of The Evolution of Cognitive Maps

“Laszlo’s book opens the way toward a great synthesis. Whoever reads Laszlo’s book witnesses the greatest awakening of the human spirit. Not since Plato and Democritus has there been such a transformation in the history of thought!”
László Gazdag, Ph.D., physicist and professor of Social Sciences, Science University of Pécs, Hungary, and author of Beyond the Theory of Relativity

“In his admirable 40-year quest for an integral theory of everything, Laszlo has. . . presented a coherent global hypothesis of connectivity between quantum, cosmos, life and consciousness."
Zev Naveh, Ph.D., professor emeritus, Israel Institute of Technology, and author of Landscape Ecology

"Science and the Akashic Field provides the pioneering scientific answer to . . . fundamental questions our species faces at this critical time in human evolution.”
David Loye, Ph.D., former research director of the Program on Psychosocial Adaptation and the Future, UCLA School of Medicine, and author of An Arrow Through Chaos

Science and the Akashic Field . . . . offers humanity the perspective of more peace and security, not as an idealistic goal but as a reflection of reality.”
Jurriaan Kamp, editor in chief of Ode Magazine and author of Because People Matter

“. . . Ervin Laszlo’s brilliant new work, Science and the Akashic Field, surpasses previous explorations. . . . This is a 'make-sense-of-the-complex' opus, accessible to every reader.”
A. Harris Stone, Ed.D., founder of The Graduate Institute in Milford, Connecticut, and author of The Last Free Bird

“This is a solidly grounded vision of our cosmos, with perspectives that are wide and deep and have profound implications for all of us.”
Henrik B. Tschudi, chairman of the Flux Foundation, Oslo, Norway

“If you ever wanted to hold the universe in your hand . . . . You can hardly do better than join cosmologist Ervin Laszlo in the ultimate quest: for a theory of everything.”
Christian de Quincey, Ph.D., professor of philosophy, John F. Kennedy University, editor of Institute of Noetic Sciences’ IONS Review, and author of Radical Nature: Rediscovering the Soul of Matter

“Ervin Laszlo is, arguably, the most profound thinker alive today.”
Lady Montagu of Beaulieu, First Ambassador of the Club of Budapest

"Decoding GUTs, WIMPs, and The Big Crunch, Ervin Laszlo brings the ancient Indian concept of akasha into the new millennium and convincingly details how science is turning this metaphor into a viable scientific theory.”
Spirit of Change, March-April 2005

". . . lends credance to our deepest intuitions of the oneness of life and the whole of creation."
Share Guide, Sept-Oct 2005, Issue #81

“This important work unifies the realms of science and consciousness in a truly integral ‘theory of everything.’”
Ralph Abraham, Ph.D., professor of mathematics, University of California, and coauthor of Chaos, Creativity, and Cosmic Consciousness

"With extraordinary intellectual clarity, Laszlo provides a vision that links the best of modern science to the wisdom of the great spiritual traditions."
Stanislav Grof, M.D., Ph.D., president and founder of the International Transpersonal Association and author of The Holotropic Mind

"Laszlo easily and ably presents the scientific case in terms everyone can understand. There is an extensive bibliography of technical journals for those who wish to know more."
W. Ritchie Benedict, New Dawn

NEW SCIENCE / PHYSICS

“This important work unifies the realms of science and consciousness in a truly integral ‘theory of everything.’”
--Ralph Abraham, Ph.D., professor of mathematics, University of California, and coauthor of Chaos, Creativity, and Cosmic Consciousness

“A seminal book from one of the best thinkers of our time. Ervin Laszlo charts the ­frontiers to which science is inexorably headed. In years to come people will look back at the amazing foresight of this work.”
--Peter Russell, fellow of the Institute of Noetic Sciences and the Findhorn Foundation and author of From Science to God

“With extraordinary intellectual clarity, Laszlo provides a vision that links the best of modern science to the wisdom of the great spiritual traditions.”
--Stanislav Grof, M.D., Ph.D., president and founder of the International Transpersonal Association and author of The Holotropic Mind

Mystics and sages have long maintained that there exists an interconnecting cosmic field at the roots of reality that conserves and conveys information, a field known as the Akashic record. Recent discoveries in vacuum physics show that this Akashic Field is real and has its equivalent in science’s zero-point field that underlies space itself. This field consists of a subtle sea of fluctuating energies from which all things arise: atoms and galaxies, stars and planets, living beings, and even consciousness. This zero-point Akashic Field is the constant and enduring memory of the universe. It holds the record of all that has happened on Earth and in the cosmos and relates it to all that is yet to happen.

In Science and the Akashic Field, philosopher and scientist Ervin Laszlo conveys the essential element of this information field in language that is accessible and clear. From the world of science he confirms our deepest intuitions of the oneness of creation in the Integral Theory of Everything. We discover that, as philosopher William James stated, “We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep.”

ERVIN LASZLO, holder of the highest degree of the Sorbonne (the State Doctorate), is recipient of four Honorary Ph.D.s and numerous awards and distinctions, including the 2001 Goi Award (the Japan Peace Prize) and nominations for the 2004 and 2005 Nobel Peace Prizes. He is a former professor of philosophy, systems theory, and futures studies in the U.S., Europe, and the Far East and founder and president of the international think-tank the Club of Budapest as well as of the General Evolution Research Group. The author of 75 books, translated into 20 languages, he lives in Italy.

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