What is Spiritual Energy?

​What is spiritual energy?

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​From the beginning of human history, people with a deep yearning for something larger than material life have reported a certain power, or flow, deeply rooted in nature. Many practical minded sages, gurus, yogis, and truth seekers have shared verifiable experiences of a kind of energy that flows throughout the body in specific patterns. Many names have been given to characterize it, such as subtle/spiritual energy, chi, life force, prana, dark matter, holy spirit, orgone, biomagnetism, etheric force, etc. While this energy has been labeled countless times, it continues to work independent of any particular belief or current scientific concepts. 

The philosophical tradition known as "Taoism," is centered around this concept, and in living in harmony with it. It is known as the "Tao," when loosely translated means "the way" or "the power." The keystone work of the Taoist tradition is known as the Tao Te Ching, which begins with the admonition: "The Tao which can be spoken of is not the Tao." What we call spiritual energy or "Tao" is beyond language expression and cannot be explained without experiencing it. 

We cannot begin to describe something without using the senses. For this reason, describing this concept is impossible in human language form as it is beyond our sensory perception.
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Despite the limitations in expression, modern science (in particular quantum physics) has come very close to describing the true nature of reality in an understandable format. 

​“The day science begins to study non­physical phenomena, it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of its existence.”
​-Nikola Tesla ​

Quantum physics, or quantum mechanics is simply the branch of science dealing with the smallest building blocks of our world. 

Through many years of observation and research, researchers have been able to determine that everything we interact with is made up of small parts-known as atoms. Atoms themselves are then made up of smaller particles known as subatomic particles. Although these particles appear physical from a material perspective, if you focused closer on the structure of the atom you would see nothing, essentially a void. 99.99999% of an atom is empty space, with the contents (protons, neutrons and electrons) representing a minuscule portion of the whole.

Atoms are constantly moving, and the electrons within can be seen as in constant motion about the nucleus just as the planets are in a constant revolution of the sun (more on that later). The constant movement of these particles/energy forms creates an illusion of solidity from our perspective (like how a video can be made from many quickly moving images), however there is no real physical structure.

​Atoms group together and form bonds to create molecules which then group even further to create a large system of "particles."

Material nature requires the slowing down or "crystallization" of these perpetually moving energies after they group together, such that they appear to belong to one "body" separate from other "bodies." Each body has its own electrostatic field keeping the particles/energy forms together, giving each one a unique tone or vibration.

Regardless of what appears to the senses, what we perceive as our physical material world is really not physical or material at all. This has been proven time and time again by multiple Nobel Prize winning physicists (among other scientists), one of them being Niels Bohr, a Danish Physicist who made significant contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum theory. 

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  " If quantum mechanics hasn’t profoundly shocked you, you havent understood it. 
              Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real” 
                                                                 -Niels Bohr

Perhaps the flagship experiment of quantum physics is known as the double slit experiment and revealed to researchers that the world we live in is a lot more complex than we ever could have imagined. In the basic version of this experiment, researchers set up a plate with two parallel slits as shown in the picture below.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Double-slit.PNG

Light beamed from a laser and electrons (and other "particles") were shot at the slits in order to observe the pattern displayed after passing through the slits.

​Light is considered an immaterial wave which is subject to probability, while particles are considered small parts of matter (like a marble) that are defined and have a location in space. If material particles like marbles were shot at two slits, they would be expected to produce a pattern behind the slits that mirrors the dimensions of the slit, like tracing with a stencil. Waves would be expected to produce what is known as an interference pattern as the waves add to and cancel each other out at certain points, shown below.  ​
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-slit_experiment#/media/File:Doubleslit3Dspectrum.gif​

​What researchers actually found was that the "particles" in some instances, when fired one by one at alternating slits, displayed the interference pattern typical of a wave, and the "waves" in some instances displayed the typical particle pattern. These results first demonstrated the principle of wave–particle duality, revealing to researchers that waves and particles are interchangeable. Albert Einstein would later go on to describe light as consisting of many small packets of energy, known as photons, which display both wave and particle function.

The wave function is steeped in probability, as a particle can manifest itself in many "places" in space within the wave. It is in a state of potential and is considered immaterial. The particle function is more definite, and the particle contains information like its "location in space." It is made manifest and is considered material.

In order to understand why a wave function is displayed in some instances and a particle function in others, researchers set up a sensor to track each photon.

They found that each observed photon would go through one slit, and not form an interference pattern, suggesting particle function. When left unobserved, they found the unobserved photon would produce an interference pattern, suggesting wave function. This wave would have the potential to go through both slits as a wave, one slit as a particle, or the other slit as a particle or all simultaneously. The implications of these findings are tremendous.
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"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"

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​These results teach us that the very act of observing changes the nature of reality and creates the material world we then experience through the senses. We can infer that nothing can truly exist in the present moment outside of our perception without being subject to probability. Furthermore, when we begin to focus on something, we create a world that otherwise would not exist in our current existence.

It becomes quite clear there is no objective reality "out there." For anything to exist, it must be given attention. Everything we see "outside" is really within and is only created through observation. 

From modern scientific understanding, we can infer that the "tao" or spiritual energy spoken of in many spiritual, religious and philosophical traditions must be or emanate from attention and observation.  

This also demonstrates why "the tao that can be spoken of is not the Tao." The act of observing and analyzing alters the only true nature of reality, which is pure potential and change.

This also explains why science based on observation and discovery can never truly understand all of the secrets of the universe, as the very act of looking for them alters the results. Furthermore, to search outside of one one self predicates it is not already within, and creates a present reality where you constantly search them. 

We can most importantly infer that when we use the word God, we refer to the creator and sustainer of all-consciousness. The deeper aspect of us that is conscious and aware is the God in our world, for without it life would be impossible and pointless. Every time we experience something in life, we must first be conscious. It is the beginning and the means to the end.

​If you asked an evolutionary scientist why a species evolves, they will most likely explain it as follows. It isn't that a species adapts, it's that the environment selects. Organisms are constantly producing offspring with varying traits, whether through mutation, recombination, or some other mechanism. The environment kills some of these offspring and handicaps others. The force that causes adaptation is that of the environment on the organism, not some creative force within the organism. 

However, if we look at it as a bigger picture, we see that in fact the organism is so deeply rooted in its environment as to form the very same system.

The definition of an ecosystem is "a community of living organisms in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment (things like air, water and mineral soil), interacting as a system." In an ecosystem, each organism has its own niche or role to play from its perspective, while serving a larger whole from a higher perspective. That "whole" that is naturally served and is the reason for everything is God. 

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​"The whole universe appears as a dynamic web of inseparable energy patterns… Thus we are not separated parts of a whole. We are a Whole."                           
​-Barbara Ann Brennan

As previously stated, many atoms come together to form "bodies" with unique vibratory properties. These bodies appear separate from the perspective of the body, but as an integrated whole  (made up of the same core essence) from a higher perspective. In this material world, we must understand duality in order to understand unity.

Seen from a dualistic perspective, material creation requires the coming together of two general "kinds" of energy-electrical (also referred to as male) and magnetic (also referred to as female). These two forms appear to differ, but are just part of the same system. Just as electromagnetic waves are composed of both an electric and magnetic field 90 degrees from each other (shown in the picture above), our human body is created through the union of male and female energy and mutual sharing of genetic data. The electric or male energy accomplishes what we would describe as pushing and is active, while the magnetic or female energy accomplishes what we would describe as pulling and is passive. The masculine and feminine energies are also seen in the elements of fire and air, and water and earth respectively. 
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​It is worth noting that the term "male/female" do not refer to men and women but to larger concepts. While men typically embody more male energy and women more female, we should strive to be an equal mix of the two. These energies are also referred to as yin (female) and yang (male) and the ideal balance is seen in the well known yin/yang symbol. Working as a holistic system rooted in balance, these two energies are extremely powerful and can produce miracles such as creation.
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"Life is a balance between rest and movement, the passive and the active "
-Osho

​Another way to view this concept known as the "Tao" is from a spiritual perspective. The main purpose of a spiritual practice is to understand the "Tao," and live in harmony with it so as to become it. As we are already conscious inherently, we do not truly "become it," but return to it. 

Many factors can determine how conscious we are, and through deep meditation many sages and gurus have made incredible insights into these topics. Thanks to sacred religious texts such as the Bhagavad Gita, we can gather that creation is made up of even more subtle energy forms, known as the "Trigunas" or the three qualities, that make up the very fabric of reality. They are known as sattva, raja and tama.

http://www.spiritualresearchfoundation.org/spiritual-research/the-universe/sattva-raja-tama/

​Relatively unknown to modern sciences, they permeate through all living and non-living, tangible and intangible things. They represent the very fabric that creates everything material and immaterial. They are considered the most subtle energy forms in existence.

The vibrations emitted by anything are dependent on its predominant subtle basic component. The ratio of subtle basic components also influences the behavior of all things. 
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• Sattva-represents purity and knowledge and is characterized by the yellow band in the picture. It is the most subtle and harmonious of the three, and is hence close to pure consciousness and divinity. Its predominance in a person is characterised by happiness, contentment, virtues like patience, perseverance, ability to forgive, spiritual yearning etc.

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• Raja-represents action and passion and provides fuel to the other two. It is characterized as the red band and can energize either sattvic or tamasic qualities. 

 

• Tamas- represents ignorance and inertia and is characterized by the black line. Its disharmonious and the basest of the three.  Its predominance in a person is reflected by laziness, greed, attachment to worldly matters etc.

​It is important to note that the proportion of these components in human beings can only be changed by spiritual practice.

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It is also interesting to note how similar these ancient concepts are to the current scientific model of super string theory. According to string theory, minuscule strands of energy vibrating in a higher dimensional space-time create every particle and force in the universe.

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​As we can see, science and spirituality are just two sides of the same coin. They are simply perspectives taken with the same goal in mind-understanding our life and why we exist.

As we learn from science, we cannot wish to merely observe reality in order to understand it. We cannot experience something in the present while also analyzing it from a higher perspective. In order to flow with the "Tao," we must simply be, we need not try or put in undue effort as it is our natural state.


​For the sake of clarity, when we speak of spiritual energy on transcendentvibes.com, we refer to both a scientific and spiritual concept. We refer to immaterial energy that is projected by one body through time-space to another body with the intention of relieving suffering and bringing joy. When we realize that we are all part of the same system, we understand that the energy is not actually being projected through space, but developing within the receiver, as the sender/receiver are one.

​We can approach spiritual energy from a scientific view by the effects it has on us and our bodily health. We can also understand spiritual energy simply by experiencing it. If you would like to experience it for yourself, head over to our virtual temple.

Our next article can be found below, how to send spiritual energy! Learn how to send love and light and bless the world.

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