The Buddha and the Quantum - by Samuel Avery (Paperback)

About the Book

Hundreds of books since the Tao of Physics have discussed a connection between meditation and modern physics; this one clarifies what it is in both spiritual and scientific terms. Avery's brilliant model of consciousness makes difficult and subtle ideas understandable, surpris...

Book Synopsis

Buddha and the Quantum is about the connection between meditation and physics. Many books show parallels between consciousness and physics; a few of these attempt to explain consciousness in terms of the physics of everyday experience. This is the only book on the market that explains physics and the everyday world in terms of consciousness alone. Space and time - and the physical world they define - are a structure of consciousness. We can understand the motion of the planets only by putting the sun at their center; similarly, we can understand modern physics only if we put space and time within consciousness.Buddha and the Quantum is also unique in that it shows why we think there is a world independent of consciousness. The concept of material substance is explained in terms of the same structure of consciousness that explains quantum mechanics and relativity theory.Kalapa is a Buddhist term for a subtle sensation: a point of consciousness in the body. Barely noticeable most of the time, it fills awareness during meditation. It is the voice of a cell. This book shows that it is also the quantum. Quanta arranged in space-time - photons - are visual consciousness: the experience of cells in the retina. This explains why modern physics has had so much difficulty understanding light. Light is not in space; space is in light. Buddha and the Quantum describes how experience in the physical world is built not from objective reality, but from experience within. Avery's brilliant model of consciousness makes difficult and subtle ideas understandable, surprising you with the implications.

Review Quotes

Buddha and the Quantum presents Samuel Avery's theories about the intimate connection between the inner world of consciousness as revealed in meditation, and the outer world as described by quantum theory and relativity. Like many spiritual thinkers before him, he sees a deep significance in the notion that consciousness is embedded in the very fact of quantum events.This approach is one I have a nostalgic fondness for. In the 80s, I read most of the early generation of works exploring similar themes, most famous of which was Fritjof Capra's The Tao of Physics. A whole generation of thinkers, it seemed at the time, was forging a deep-level bridge between philosophies east and west, and between religion and science. Theirs was a hopeful spirit, before the emergence of fundamentalism soured the whole thing. I miss it. And so I'm glad that the task is being taken up again.Avery has moved on from the frustrating vagueness of Capra's references to 'Eastern philosophies.' We've learned a lot since then, and have practiced a lot, and that practice is the basis of Buddha and the Quantum. In his koan-like, crisp poetical style, Avery embeds articulate descriptions of meditation experience among his explorations of the philosophical implications of modern physics.Some of his observations are strikingly insightful: 'Buddhist meditation begins with breathing. Buddhism begins with morality.' A simple point, often overlooked. He rightly emphasizes that meditation is simply the extension and development of qualities found in ordinary consciousness, and that without a foundation in morality, this can include development of the unwholesome.If you're after a book on Buddhism, this is not for you. If you're after a book on quantum theory, this is not for you. But if you want to explore the ways that the ideas underlying modern science can be applied to bend and twist the mind into new shapes, The Buddha and the Quantum offers a challenging set of models and analogies.