Round 3

The third Round of our debates, discussions and consultations on the possible meeting ground of science and spirituality convey a message that’s clear and loud. The meeting ground exists—it’s under our very feet, we just need to open our eyes to see it.

The renowned psychiatrist Stanislav Grof affirms that, as his three decades of research on the altered, so-called holotropic states of consciousness demonstrates, the experiences that make up the warp and woof of spirituality are not metaphysical and supernatural (although in-themselves they are truly extraordinary): they are part of the range of human experience. And these experiences can be, and are, subjected to scientific research. There is no opposition between science and spirituality when it comes to the experiences that ground spirituality; the opposition comes into play only when spirituality is allowed to degenerate into religious dogma for purposes of control and power in society.

The equally renowned medical doctor Larry Dossey, perhaps the foremost pioneer of “nonlocal medicine,” shows that the powers of our brain and consciousness include the power to heal—to heal over any distance, and not by physical or chemical means, but through the subtle but often more effective transmission of information. Despite criticism and even downright rejection by the conservative mainstream of the medical establishment, the acceptance of the role of spirituality in medicine is actually under way. Here, too, the insight that emerges is that spirituality and science are not incompatible. On the contrary, an open and comprehensive approach in science recognizes spirituality as a definite factor in the timeless enterprise of healing the human body—and mind—of the diseases that occasionally beset it.

For the great visionary, Barbara Marx Hubbard, the union of science and spirituality comes about in the course of the next evolutionary development of the human species. The integration of science, technology, and spirituality is already happening—not by chance, but because it has become a survival imperative of our species.

The testimony of famed Dutch Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp comes from the ranks of the great world religions. In the parable of the Jewish people he cites, the original light that assisted God in creating the universe and the human being had escaped; the vessels in which it was contained were torn apart and all creation was threatened to fall asunder. This was reflected in the historic exile of the Jewish people. Today the time has come to join together to muster the spiritual and physical energies to heal ourselves and the Earth. The rays of light will be retrieved when the whisper of truth shared by science and spirituality is amplified—then the broken vessels that contained the light will be whole again.

These contributions, by two scientists and two persons of great spirituality, make it quite clear: in these times of grave danger, as well as unparalleled evolutionary opportunity, finding common ground between science and spirituality is a crucial challenge awaiting both communities.