Throughout history humans have wondered if the world would end. Myths from around the globe contain the theme of world destruction, but the devastation is often seen as a periodic or cyclical cleansing. Errant humans, and the chaos they've created, are wiped off the globe as a precursor to earth's renewal and a fresh start for humanity.
Many religions also point to the end of the world as God's judgment against humanity. The branch of religion that specifically studies this theocratic annihilation is called eschatology, meaning ‘study of the last.' In religious prophecies, world destruction usually becomes cosmic in nature and features the involvement of gods, devils, angels and demons. Again, destruction is usually followed by restoration.
You may also be familiar with predictions concerning a literal end to the earth that have surfaced throughout history. Previously skeptics have laughed them off, but recently the question ‘Will the world end?' has taken on new meaning. With the development of nuclear weapons and the upsurge in significant global ecological, economic, population, poverty, hunger and political problems, we may well wonder if the literal earth itself can survive. Dire statistics offered by scientists tell us we may be nearing the tipping point for many issues, a point where destruction will come quickly and restoration will become impossible.
Quantum physics and spiritual masters offer a unique slant on this serious issue. To understand whether or not the world will end, we have to understand exactly what it is. Quantum physics perceives our universe in an entirely new way. Instead of a machine-like universe made of separate parts, research demonstrates that the universe is actually a sea of quantum light energy. Together the visible and invisible portions of the universe are one interconnected, indivisible whole. Like the cells in a body, particles of light energy have no meaning apart from the whole. And quantum energy is also connected by consciousness that permeates everything in existence. Spiritual masters have always recognized this combination of consciousness and energy as the Divine, and many physicists now agree.
It has always been an accepted ‘fact' that our world is real, but quantum research tells us otherwise. Consciousness and energy at the quantum level interact to bring matter into existence. Although matter appears solid to us, it is actually an interference pattern that our brain and senses decode and translate into something that appears to be solid. Some researchers contend that the illusion of mass results from the universe's foundation of quantum light.
What does this information boil down to? The material world is an illusion, a fantastic 3D virtual reality that's projected from consciousness at the quantum level. It means that you are pure quantum consciousness, not the body your consciousness is projecting. From a human perspective, this can be considered good news and bad. How so? The sum total of energy and ‘matter' that exists in the universe never fluctuates, but energy can appear as matter and return to energy. This means the interference patterns we perceive as the material universe can ‘deconstruct' and return to energy.
The good news, which spiritual masters have been trying to share throughout history, is that the real you, your quantum consciousness, can never die. We realize this leaves several questions unanswered. Why are we projecting virtual reality? Why aren't we aware of our true nature? Would Ultimate Reality destroy our world? And what will happen to us personally if it does transform back to energy?
Throughout human history, spiritual sages have offered answers to these questions. The ancient Upanishads tells us that we gave up the oneness of All That Is for duality and the chance to experience separation and specialness. In oneness we were unique and had the gifts of creativity and free will, but it was exercised within equality. But the desire for separation and specialness also contained a challenge to the Divine that we could create a system of separation that would rival oneness.
In fact, it's impossible for the Divine to be anything other than whole, but our experiment in separation could easily be carried out in a dream. Since we're all connected by consciousness, we've projected a shared dream that has now turned into a nightmare. The Divine has no need to interfere or destroy our world; we're doing a fine job on our own. But we do have choices.
We can continue to try to make our challenge succeed, but considering our track record, that idea is not too promising. In fact, it would require a level of cooperation that's unprecedented in our world, a virtually impossible in separation. To fully experience the dream of separation and specialness, our true identity was laid aside. Unfortunately, we've dreamed so long, we've forgotten we can wake up at any time and return to oneness. We can undertake this spiritual awakening now, peacefully, or we can wait to be jolted awake when our experiment fails beyond recovery. Either way, we'll find ourselves exactly where we belong, loved and accepted as we always have been.
Copyright © Lee and Steven Hager