The Spiritual Universe

Spirit is an infinite dispersion across infinite time and space, the vibrations of nothingness.

Soul is the reflection of spirit at nodes of time.

Matter is the reflection of Spirit at nodes of space.

Self is the reflection of the one Soul in Matter.

These are the four definitions that are the focus of "The Spiritual Universe" by Fred Alan Wolf. Wolf explores concepts from ancient Western philosophy to Eastern religious thought. These explorations are viewed through a framework of modern physics to produce connections and support for his particular brand of Idealistic Realism. Idealistic in the sense that the Universe is fundamentally Spirit, but Realistic in the sense that this underlying Spirit reveals itself in the physical laws, particles and relationships we have only begun to understand with the dawn of modern physics.

From Wolf's perspective, Spirit inhabits the underlying void or nothingness. It is infinitely potential. It knows no bounds. However, this infinite nothingness reflects itself into the one Soul and into Matter. The dual reflection into time and space is instantiated most specifically into the Self of a living being.

Some of his more interesting insights are in the area of communication between Soul and Self. He explicitly rejects the notion of multiple Souls. There is only one Soul. This one Soul reflects into an infinite number of Selves. It is Self that is multiple, not Soul. The duality of Universal Soul and Individual Self are in constant dialog. This dialog can be enhanced or suppressed.

The reflection of the Soul into Self (hence, also Matter) can result indirectly into addictive behavior. The Soul has an infinite, all-encompassing perspective. The Self is very local in perspective. The yearning of the Soul for infinity expressed through its reflection into the Self can be distorted into addiction to Matter. The Self must listen to the Soul (which speaks through intuition and feeling rather than concrete logic) in order to avoid this addition to Matter.

The Soul's persuasions have the best interests of the Self in focus. The Soul knows where the ship should be going. The Self is locked in the inner hull of the ship. The Self can feel around in the dark, learn to navigate the ship from experience, but never know in a totally clear sense where the ship is going. The Soul sits on deck, yelling to the Self instructions for sending the ship in the right direction. The Self can not hear this clearly because of the thickness of the hull of the ship, but sometimes gets tidbits of information that help the Self steer the ship toward the right direction.

The Soul is experienced when the Self communicates with a child, sees a newborn, talks intently to an old person about their life, hears beautiful music and many other life experiences. The Soul can be shut out entirely and replaced with the addiction to Matter that makes the Soul's influence diminish and eventually stop.

The Soul is expanded when the Self is conscious of the world surrounding it and expands the Self's boundaries outward under influence of the Soul. The Soul is continually trying to further reflect itself into the locality of the Self. This continuous inner dialog, and the relative quality of it, determines what actualities are produced in the Universe.

Wolf diligently ties everything here that is summarized and more to the quantum physics framework that is the underlying thread throughout the book. The concepts of Quantum Physics have taught us that there is not a lot of solid foundation to the physical Universe as we think we experience it. Wolf argues that the underlying Quantum world that gives rise to the macro-Universe that we experience is in fact the underlying Spiritual Reality of everything.

Personally, I did not have the background or attention span to be a good critic of his Quantum-Spirit analogies. However, the poetic insights mentioned here as well as many other gems in the book make it worth a read even if you gloss over much of the more detailed Quantum passages.