From the newly discovered Higgs particle of the subatomic world to the emerging role of the vast quantities of unseen matter and energy of outer space to our earthly relationships and the age-old questions about who we are and where we go when we die, The Numinous Factor shows how both science and everyday life in the twenty-first century can be experienced better by seeing spirituality as the basis of everything. Through application of its ten non-religious principles of mind expansion, you will: Understand better the latest discoveries of science Discover more of your own complex identity Increase beyond limitation your awareness and ability to comprehend Relate better to everyone and everything in the world around you through spiritual unity Calm your mind by seeing your basic essence as being one with the spirituality of the Universe Realize why seemingly negative things happen See new dimensions of your existence after this earthly life Sense the great peace and happiness of a higher spiritual consciousness "The Numinous Factor is the missing link between physical reality and spiritual reality. It opens up the heart and reveals new dimensions of our expanding Mind" -Geofrey Grant Layng, minister and public speaker

The Numinous Factor

The Spiritual Basis of Science and of LifeBy John L. Walker

Balboa Press

Copyright © 2012 John L. Walker, PhD
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4525-5767-0

Contents

Preface.................................................................ixChapter One The Need and the Mode......................................1Chapter Two The Factor and Limitlessness...............................15Chapter Three Unity and Continuity.....................................31Chapter Four Intuition and Energy......................................43Chapter Five Seeing Spirituality in the Principles.....................55Chapter Six The Factor and the Quantum.................................65Chapter Seven Photons and Fields.......................................77Chapter Eight Other Universes..........................................85Chapter Nine The Factor and the Cosmos.................................99Chapter Ten Formations and Cycles......................................109Chapter Eleven Earthly Applications of the Factor......................119

Chapter One

The Need and the Mode

The Problem

With all of the marvelous advances in knowledge of the Universe being made these days, it could be thought that scientists have finally figured out the essential nature of its functions and how it came into being, and that there is, then, no need for consideration of the role of a Divine Creator in all of it. After all, scientists have studied the Big Bang theory, have looked at the expanding universe, have analyzed black holes, have figured out the formation of carbon and other elements needed for life as we know it, and have learned much of how atomic theory works in outer space. They also have come to understand much about the quantum or subatomic world, such as what makes up atoms, what the energy fields are that seem to give rise to everything that exists, and what seems to be the fundamental basis of everything that we can observe and even what we cannot observe. They think that they are getting close to the Theory of Everything that will explain the totality of Creation. It even seems possible that, across the Universe, all energies can balance each other out, leaving no restrictions on the continuity of all of the above phenomena, which might suggest that entities could actually spring into being spontaneously without any need for a spiritual Creator. This seems to solve the whole story of Creativity and to end all the religious speculation.

Yet, there still seem to be a few questions that science has not been able to answer so far:

Where did energy and matter come from in the first place? How and why did this Universe, with its enormous complexity, organization, and delicate balances of enormous forces, get assembled into this form? How did the forces that govern it come into being? What is gravity? What is life? What instigates universes to form? What is outside the Universe? And, more importantly for us personally: Who are we? Why are we here? Where are we going?

We can never get to the bottom of Creation rationally. There is always more to know. The fact is that there are parts of the physical sciences that cannot be seen rationally because that is the way they seem to be set up in relation to us. At the same time, we have yet to understand the Creation through religion since religions throughout human history have come up with a great variety of supposed explanations, usually based on limited knowledge and restricted views of the Supreme Deity.

Viewpoints of the Creation seem to fall into two general categories. In one, the Universe is seen as a strictly physical entity and its origins and operations can be understood rationally without any need for Deity. In the other, the Universe is seen as having been brought into existence by a Creator Who put the breath of life into it, and then either controls it still or has left it to run on its own. Both views, however, indicate that the physical Universe operates as a separate entity, whether created by Deity or not.

Actually, there is another possibility.

Maybe there is a Creative Power that really is the energy, is the gravity, is the rock, and is the fusion process in the stars. Maybe there is no separation between the Creator and the Created, between Spiritual and Physical. Maybe everything that we see or measure physically and everything that we might sense or feel spiritually is really One, a Unity. If this is so, then Spirituality, a human term referring to an awareness of the Presence of the Divine, cannot be left out of scientific reasoning. At the same time, science can enhance an understanding of the concrete aspects of the spiritual. The combination of science and spirituality might give a more complete view, similar to how using two eyes gives a perspective that using one eye does not. It would also be reassuring to realize that Deity is not off somewhere doing something else after abandoning us here, but rather exists in, through, and as everything in the Universe, including us, so that there is no separation between man and spirit, a concept that could end the great angst that grips much of the religious world as it tries to find a way to live on after bodily death. It would seem that such a realization could bring us great peace and fulfillment, both in this life and in the next.

This book shows a way to achieve this realization of Divinity as the Essence, the Source, and the Totality of all that is, a viewpoint that leads us to a more complete understanding both of the physical and of the spiritual. The aim here is to present a method that can let us understand better the things around us-our physical world, the vastness of outer space, the tiny world of the atom, the existence of intelligent human beings here and possibly elsewhere, our unexpected and complex added dimensions-by seeing spirituality as the oneness of everything.

Spirituality

Let us see how that can be. We start by remembering that the word "spiritual" (with its roots in "wind" or "breath") refers to the active Divine essence that gives life and animation to physical things. It is generally thought of as being separate from the objects it animates, but for our purposes, we can ponder how spirituality might rather be seen as the totality of the objects. Possibly we can begin to realize that everything is completely spiritual, not just consisting of separate entities that are animated by a special breath. Spiritual and physical, we might decide, along with any other aspects, form a Oneness, a Unity. This book will suggest several steps that the reader might follow to increase awareness of the Presence of Spirituality in everything seen or known, and extending to things not yet seen or known. You may wish to select other such steps, because those listed here constitute just one way of opening the awareness. We will call the steps listed here "The Numinous Factor," since the word "numinous" is not a religious name for Deity, but rather refers to an awareness of the spirituality inherent in everything. We will examine the full meaning of the word "numinous" later on.

Once we have pondered the principles of The Numinous Factor, we will take them first into the subatomic world, where we will see the wild and wonderful ways it carries on its role in life as the basis of everything around us, and then travel out through the cosmos, those vast reaches of outer space, where we will see in more dimensions than we thought we even possessed how all of it developed and why it is the way it is. After that, and...