To understand the unbalanced planet, we must examine nature and humanity both individually and as a whole. In United Spectrum, author Levi Morris explores the unity of nature and its relationship to human behaviors in six parts. Morris reviews the senses and their common interpretations, such as consciousness, ego, fear, doubt, belief, and biological needs and behaviors. He examines humanity's effects, including the continuation and escalation of war, a growth economy resting on fossil fuels, the abuse of surroundings, and overpopulation. He proposes that aspects of life considered to be humdrum can actually be instead fascinating. Additionally, his work combines fractal and Euclidean geometry with concepts like nothingness, infinity, and symmetry to show how nature is expressed. It explains the physics of electromagnetism, gravity, spacetime, and quantum mechanics as the singular beauty of nature. It also explores teaching, its limitations, and describes the relationship between life, death, duality, and unity. Capturing the essence of natural and human behaviors, United Spectrum investigates the universe's unity and beauty, the reasons it's misunderstood, and how this limited view affects the world.
United Spectrum
The Unity of Nature and the Division of ManBy Levi MorrisTrafford Publishing
Copyright © 2011 Levi Morris
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4269-5544-0 Contents
List of Illustrations.........................................................................viiiINTRODUCTION..................................................................................1PART 1 OBSERVING AS AN INDIVIDUAL............................................................7Belief and Faith..............................................................................10Doubt.........................................................................................27The Brain, the Senses, and Perception—A Misused Multi-Too...............................l31Purpose, Free Will, and Questions.............................................................70PART 2 THE FALL OF MAN AND CRITICAL MASS.....................................................89Oil and Population............................................................................92Economy Run Amok..............................................................................100The Beaten Path of War........................................................................109Environment—This Bluegreen Stone Spins So Moss Can Grow.................................116Cycles of Earth in the Cosmic Neighborhood....................................................127The Solar Heartbeat...........................................................................134Quietus—The End of an Age...............................................................142PART 3 MIDDLE WORLD—THE LOST SPLENDOR OF NORMAL........................................161The Tree of Life..............................................................................165Science and Religion—Lifting the Veil Between Observation and Faith.....................167Emergence and Self-Organization...............................................................182PART 4 SHAPE, SCALE, AND INTENSITY—THE LANGUAGES OF BEAUTY.............................201Fractal (Rough) Geometry......................................................................203Symmetry—A World of Mirrors.............................................................206Euclidean (Smooth) Geometry...................................................................211Zero = Infinity...............................................................................216Simple Is to Complex as Order Is to Disorder..................................................225The Spectrum of Wave Form and Function—A Unified Polarization...........................227PART 5 THE ELEGANCE BEHIND THE BEAUTY........................................................233Electromagnetism—Let There Be Light!....................................................233Stars—The Self-Organization of Gas and Dust.............................................241Gravity.......................................................................................244Black Holes—The Eye Is the Storm........................................................245The Singularity of Time and Place.............................................................249The Quantum Realm Is Our Own..................................................................258Dark Energy and Dark Matter...................................................................267The Theory of Everything—A Door Between Two Pillars.....................................272PART 6 A LAND BEYOND COMPARE.................................................................279The Teacher's Dilemma—A Willing Student Is the Teacher..................................279The Reflection of Life as Death...............................................................284The Chicken and the Egg.......................................................................289Duality.......................................................................................299The Singularity—The Observer Is the Observed............................................307Serenade of the Whole.........................................................................313CULMINATION OF SORTS..........................................................................321REFERENCES....................................................................................329INDEX.........................................................................................333
Chapter One
OBSERVING AS AN INDIVIDUAL No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.
(John Donne, Meditation XVII in Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, 1624)
Conflict and illusion exist only when one's perceptions of reality are limited to their self. The metamorphosis of conflict into love is only possible with a simple and total understanding of how and why we create these illusions. We must also recognize all forms of conflict as serious and illusory if understanding is to be realized. Why focus on all these negative aspects of human behavior and all the depressing issues facing nature? Because the understanding of what our illusions are reveals the limited awareness that creates them. The solution is in totally exposing and understanding the illusions, which effectively reveals them as a problem and eliminates them. I wish to point out our innocent and misled perceptions so that we can see clearly and without any undue suffering, like a fly showing its fellow swarm a way around an invisible and nevertheless painful window after we've been banging into it for far too long.
All facts and theories aside, people will believe what they desire to believe. People steadfastly hold onto their traditions and beliefs because they feel these are a part of them, and many people can't seem to change or let go of their long-held belief systems. With all due respect, we are a pig-headed bunch. We cling to our beliefs because we think they make us who we are. People die for their beliefs. Both sides of a "religious" war murder and die for their beliefs and the "glory" of their gods. Belief in science or religion is all a matter of faith, which is how new information is filtered by our credibility meter and personal experience. Over the centuries, religions have adjusted their parables and doctrines according to the changing authors, translations and values that change alongside our modern lifestyles, governments, cultures and societies. In science, the "laws" that are developed are in fact only high degrees of confidence or faith, until they are reevaluated and refined in the face of new evidence. Science has seen its laws and models change many times, and it is fair to say they will change again in the future. For example, Newton and Einstein gave us insight, centuries apart, into the nature of gravity and light, yet we still don't fully understand them. Still, both Newton and Einstein deserve praise for their impressive insights into the unified nature of reality.
Concerning the issues at hand, if people don't suspend their lopsided and burdensome beliefs, and experience a personal revolution of insight, then we will continue on our course of collective suicide and global destruction. We have been painting ourselves into a corner for some time now and it's time to look up. People who believe that an apocalypse is inevitable can affect the future and cause a self-fulfilling prophecy with far-reaching consequences. With the majority of the world believing in some sort of end-of-the-world scenario, this is more than just a point of discussion; it has and will continue to have real effects in the world of politics and warfare wherever religion and the contemporary ethos of the masses influences politics, which seems to be the case with the majority of politics. The perversion of nature's or god's will to suit our selfish desires has unintended consequences. We put ourselves at odds with nature by simultaneously submitting to it and believing that we are capable of dominating it. There might at one time have been a possibility of combining the two aspects of domination and submission by pulling back from both extremes, but it's too late now, and nature is poised for revolt.
We believe what we choose. Why hasn't anything been done to tackle climate change or to dramatically reduce our oil dependence? The economy is always number one, because it supports our jobs and our families, which are most important to us. We don't live in a democracy—we live in a capitalist paradigm where ambitious opportunists take advantage of people's misgivings and create this thing called "progress." Is this something we can all be proud of? Free trade and the pursuit of happiness are mere façades that companies and organizations use to make lots of money. Nobody takes on any job without a "what's in it for me?" attitude. No one is accountable; no one takes individual responsibility for human caused global issues because we are a part of a much wider and faulty species. It's always the government's fault, my boss's fault, the other guy's fault. I'm just doing my job, I have to pay my mortgage, I need to put food on the table. We are a guilty people who know what we are doing. On the other hand, we are innocent as children because if we knew of a more peaceful and balanced way of behaving we would certainly act accordingly. We live in a society ruled by all the people who have created it to rule themselves but then we only see the game or representatives as responsible and not also each player that supports it. Humanity is essentially a single person multiplied. We also live in an animalistic, instant gratification society and have domesticated ourselves because we are social animals and the luxuries and exploits of nature and others are plenty when we work together to make kings and slaves to our selves, our kingdoms and each other. From an inflated survival perspective, like any side-effect ridden pharmaceutical mitigating only the symptoms, the short term benefits outweigh their long term consequences and alternatives. Foresight is so near-sighted for some individuals and institutions that we cannot see past the problems of our own day-to-day lives and lifetimes. Long term is one hundred, five hundred, a thousand or even a million years from now, not a measly five or ten. This explains all the problems resting upon the speedy destruction of the Earth. We live for today. We need to live for the past and the future, because they are the same thing. Reality is not foresight or hindsight alone.
I propose that living in the present, with a conscious regard for both the past and the future, is what is needed to live with true wisdom and insight. It is the feeling of the now, the feeling of each moment arriving and departing. Insight is now sight. Insight is a holistic approach to things. It is an ongoing epiphany. This particular kind of "sight" creates a different kind of desire and a subsequent kind of action we all must self-actualize to reach our material and spiritual potential in this material and spiritual life. We are receivers and projectors of reality. Like a television, we get a signal, rearrange the information, interpret it into a useful image, and then project this onto our canvas of a world. It is a realization of reality, a sense of unity, respect, and love for each other, and Earth should be included in our collective intention. At present, we are mostly void of these virtues and this is why the changing of cycles is necessary. When I say "sight" in this context, I mean not only the ability to look, as most of us can do, but a wide, circumspective observing, both outside and inside of you, with full consideration for the prior, present, and future.
Belief and Faith
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. (William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1601)
Beliefs are based on choice and exclusion and are thus partial and conditional whereas faith is based on complete trust and acceptance which is unconditional. Happiness is not circumstantial. It is unconditional love. Love your enemies unconditionally. This is probably one of the hardest things to accept in this book because it so strains our normal thinking. The unconditional includes forgiveness. War, divorce, and all of the human conflicts that are increasing today, are ultimately caused by the inability to forgive and accept. Forgiveness is the acceptance of what is. This is known by many as faith. Forgiveness is the reconciling or union of good and evil and the relaxation of high and unrealistic expectations upon men and women, young and old. We're only human. What if we all truly loved our enemies as much as we did our most beloved family members? Unfortunately, the world does not live according to this paradigm. Misery loves company, just as love does. We are born from light, and in order to live as intended we need to see more than what our eyes show us. In the eyes of the person who forgives, a transgression truly forgiven is no offense at all. The intention/act of forgiveness is a form of acceptance and love that completely alters the resonant energy of all kinds of conflict or so-called evil. In the light of acceptance, how can one knowingly and intentionally "sin" if one feels connected to everything, a connection also known as love? If one has the awareness and intention to receive and radiate love, how can sin or conflict exist? How can one be sad or angry if they truly have the intention of forgiveness and acceptance? Love and accept the hate, injustices, and conflict in your life. We have a limited consciousness, limited free will, and limited awareness of the beauty of life as a whole. This is our individually perceived reality. We view God, free will, and everything in this existence based on our beliefs and our personal experiences. Surrendering to the infinite unknown is certainly a leap of acceptance beyond reason, and it is like no other leap you will ever make. Enlightenment is the awareness and understanding of the Universal or God, of self or spirit, through experience and openness. The ultimate truth and beauty is enlightenment, and it can be seen and felt in this world, in every touch, however sensual or painful, in every taste however delicious or disgusting, in every sight however beautiful or ugly, in every smell however delightful or repulsive, in every sound however melodious or discordant, and in every thought and emotion however pleasing or distressful. Truth goes beyond imagination, because imagination is too often limited by memory and experience within the context of our restricted and egocentric individual lives.
We must see the beauty of God as Nature, and Nature as ourselves if we are to have this awareness and enlightenment. Because if we do not, we will continue to be ignorant, deceived, lacking insight, and we will accept and become caught in the illusion and its consequences. Our restricted awareness of universal intent determines what size filter our consciousness uses to view the world. Our body and behavior grant us the ability to explore and observe reality whereas the desire for truth unites us to the beauty of it. In other words, life gives us eyes and the love of sight gives us life. These are two sides of the same coin. Our purpose in life is to live according to its truth. We let in or shut out beauty in different magnitudes and durations. Commonsense reality used in our everyday life is only a partial piece of the whole truth. In this way, the majority of people are divisive, unhealthy and conflictive, which keeps the body sustained and the mind busy, stressed and depressed with routine to-do lists, work, bills, traffic, children and relationships but at the cost of any explosive refreshment to their weary eyes and drained lives.
Belief is an exclusive view of reality, and faith is the trust one has in it. All choice is limited, because one is uninformed and/or misinformed. People often say that seeing is believing, and yet there are so many things people believe in that they have never seen for themselves. What makes someone believe something? If something coincides with your personal experience and there are few, if any, incongruities, then it is more likely to be believable. Furthermore, if someone who went to school and has credentials (a doctor, lawyer, judge, professor, or scientist) tells you something, what they say about their area of supposed expertise carries increased credibility. People tend not to believe certain things for a variety of reasons, such as what they were taught during their upbringing, whether or not the belief sufficiently agrees with their previous experiences; they will even reject a belief if, in their minds, it just plain old doesn't stand to reason. Some may not believe certain things simply because they are too negative to comprehend or appear to directly oppose their own belief system. We often want to know exact details and have concrete evidence, and if those details are too vague or are even moderately inconclusive, we may dismiss a concept entirely. It shakes our inner world. When confronted with imminent danger that can't be avoided, we are not satisfied with a simple warning. Because if that is all we get, we tend to not take it seriously, particularly when the people warning us aren't giving specifics or making a big enough deal out of it.
As we all know, dogma means an established and unquestioned belief. In other words, we believe what we want for whatever the reasons. The majority of people used to think the Earth was flat. In the past we used to think Earth was the center of the solar system and even of the universe. Humanity had no clue to the existence of microorganisms or black holes. How did we get from there to here? We were curious about nature and we investigated it. Each and every one of us has our own agnostic view of certain things, which is defined as an uncertainty or lack of faith. Our view of reality is based largely on the belief in our senses and how our brains interpret its information. People who say that belief is reality might choose to believe in a pantheon of gods and goddesses or a flat planet. They may choose to dismiss the existence of microorganisms, gravity, atoms, evolution, that they won't die or any other belief that seems crazy by the standards of earnest observation, and thus, for them, these beliefs are unequivocally real and true. Concerning beliefs based in ignorance, dogmatic acceptance, careless observation, fantasy, imagination and fabrication: if you had one hundred percent unwavering belief and certainty in the whole of your mind as to their reality, then yes, your beliefs would be 'real', but only to your mind. Belief is founded in both truth and illusion. But obviously our senses and perceptions tell us what is "real," don't they? We don't actually know what we think we know. We think we know what is real, but reality has a knack for hiding things from our senses. Now then, when we suspend the act of believing, we suspend judgment and selective observation, and we are left with the reality of what actually is. One can be so deeply immersed in what is being observed that the act of believing is erased and we see things as they really are. The act of judging or choosing stops us from seeing the whole reality. Belief is based on thoughts, memories, experiences, judgments, and their combinations resulting in a usually self-serving conclusion. This is very regimented and particular and leaves little to no room for the possibilities that exist. In a sense, belief or choice ignores much of what reality has to offer. Faith is another matter, not of kind but of scope. Faith is when we give up our control and let things be as they are. Ideas are based on thought, and our experiences and memories are used to navigate our world. Humanity categorizes, measures, observes, relates, and believes. We separate and categorize, then we compare what we have selected to form a relationship of similarities and differences in order to provide relative descriptions. If we recognize a pattern, which is just a repetition of events or findings, we grow more confident in our categorizations, and we then reach a higher degree of trust in these beliefs, further solidifying them in our minds. All scientific and spiritual beliefs are based on high degrees of certainty. Nothing can be proved or disproved with absolute certainty to anyone unless the person wants to choose and accept the evidence or viewpoint if it's sufficiently understandable and pleasingly agreeable to their own view. Most people are utterly convinced of their generally unexamined feelings and opinions' of what is real or not. This is because their experience of reality is taken for granted as quite real. Whether these views are founded in reality or only restricted to their own personal experience doesn't seem to matter because how could their experience of reality possibly be, for lack of a better word, unreal? Ones' unexamined perception of reality is not unreal but is rather naturally adapted to be limited and self-serving. The conviction of ones' limited ideas, thoughts and beliefs as a complete and pure representation of reality is an innocent and self-(pre)serving deception and is common to all life forms. Humanity is a force of nature that has taken ideas, thoughts and beliefs to levels far and away from nature's reality and intention.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from United Spectrumby Levi Morris Copyright © 2011 by Levi Morris. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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