Dual nature of light as particle and waveConsidering light as both particle and wave. (photo Wylie Conlon/Flickr, cc by-nc-sa 2.0)

I’m not sure I’d seen the words “physicist” and “contemplative” in the same sentence many times, much less found them together as descriptors of the same person, before I spoke with Arthur Zajonc on “Holding Life Consciously.” (His name reflects his father’s Polish origins, by the way, and rhymes with “science.”) As a professor of physics at Amherst College, his research interests have ranged from the theoretical foundations of quantum physics and the polarity of atoms to the relationship between the sciences and the humanities. He also has a long-time contemplative practice and is a leading figure among academics exploring the relevance of contemplative traditions for higher education. And even when he is discussing elemental questions of science, he is likely to invoke ideas of the 18th-century literary figure Goethe, or the 20th-century scientist/philosopher/educational innovator Rudolph Steiner.







In the concentration phase, tremors actually worsened.



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I would suggest to Zajonc his "two main types of meditation" are ends of a continuum. The "concentration" end is concerned with trying to give meaning to life, to answer "Why am I?", and because there is no answer it is in effect "trying to fill the void". The "open awareness" end is "reaching out to the limits of our capacities, to others and to God" which happens to be the innate "ideal reaction to the void". Concentrating on the void generates "tremors", disease that disintegrates the body/mind/spirit continuum. "Reaching out..." integrates our "body/mind/spirit" and "your whole body feels at ease". Currently, collectively, we blend the two and the resultant is mostly concentrating on the void. Humanity is trembling; but it is possible to concentrate solely on the "ideal". http://www.thelastwhy.ca/poem/

The show was timely for my thinking.  In Sunday school class that week we were hearing Psalm 139 by Lectio devina and I was thinking about the light and dark being the same to God and I began to talk about my understanding of spiritual ideas from my physics background (undergraduate and a long time ago, but still some things need to be pondered for a long time).  anyway, I ended up w/ the idea that physics is a description of nature as we have understanding and mathematical language and I thought that religion is also a description of nature as we have understanding and language - usually poetry, song or story - to do so.  I appreciated and agree with his explanation for why physics and spiritual quest are not at odds - both seek to understand and explain what is.  Thanks for all that you do.