Life relevance of unified consciousness

Scientific Foundation of the Maharishi Effect

Remarks inspired by the book of Tony Nader  "Consciousness is all there is" 

by Bernd Zeiger

(7. September 2024)

In his book "Consciousness is all there is" Tony Nader summarizes the most important discoveries of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who since the middle of the 20th century has established a synthesis of Vedic heritage and modern science based on the meditation technique of the Shankaracharya tradition of Vedic India - Transcendental Meditation. Through an universal consciousness-based approach combined with meditation as a practical method, this synthesis provides a realistic chance of resolving the problems of modern civilization in a fundamental way. A central aspect of this development is access to the laws of nature, by enabeling everyone to use them spontaneously, even without lengthy study. Using the laws of nature in an automatic, effortless way requires a level of expertise that has so far only been available to experts. Einstein's theory of relativity is a typical example. T. Nader illustrates its strange consequences on page 77 of his book by means of an example:

Let’s do an exercise that demonstrates how the principles of Einsteinian relativity of space and time— literally and precisely interpreted — can lead to seriously challenging questions. Imagine that John, Mary, and Jane are in New York City and wish to board the same bus at the same place at noon on a Monday. Mary arrives early and is already standing at the bus stop. John is arriving late, coming from Manhattan’s East Side. Jane is on the same street as John and is also running late but is coming from the West Side. It is almost noon as John and Jane move steadily toward the bus stop. As both John and Jane approach the bus stop, a local church bell rings: it is exactly noon. On a remote planet three million light-years away, the inhabitants (or aliens to Mary, Jane, and John) are having an election. Mary says, “The polls have just closed. The aliens are waiting for the election results.” John says, “The aliens have not even started voting. The vote will happen in two days.” Jane says, “The election was over two days ago, and the new president has already issued several executive orders.”
By Einstein’s theory of relativity, Jane, John, and Mary are all correct. Relativity says that they would disagree about what is happening right now three million light-years away and yet all their statements would be correct.

In an appendix to this example, T. Nader explains in detail the logic of the academic experts. However, this only confirms even more that the relevance of the theory of relativity to life is not easily accessible through academic studies alone.

Therefore an attempt is made here to shown that  Einsteins Theory of  Relativity
1. can be deciphered through the experience of meditation, and that
2. the theory includes the principle of how individual and collective behaviour are related.

The situation proposed and studied here is summarized for an overview by the following chart the details of which will then be explained during the following analysis.

The chart uses the light cone of the theory of relativity as a link between ​​consciousness and the space-time world of events.

1. The light cone: Bringing the light of consciousness into the world

The representation of the observer's principle of relativity known as the light cone is the key to organizing and unfolding all areas of life, from consciousness to the social environment. In conjunction with the unifying patterns of behaviour cultivated in personal life through yoga and meditation, the light cone becomes an instrument for bringing the organizational power of consciousness into life.

1.1 The time-like, causal structure of the light cone and the space-like area outside the light cone

The light cone of the theory of relativity represents the inner unity of events taking place in space and time and integrates fundamental laws of nature:

Causality: only events within the light cone of a certain point in space-time can be causally linked, i.e. one event can influence the other. Events outside the light cone, on the other hand, cannot be causally linked, as nothing, not even information, can travel faster than light.

Speed of light as maximum speed: The light cone indicates the limit of the maximum speed of signal or information propagation, namely the speed of light c. No signal or physical object can travel faster than light, which is why the light cone sets the limits within which interactions can take place.

Relativity of simultaneity: The light cone illustrates that simultaneity is relative. Events that occur simultaneously in one frame of reference are not necessarily so in another. Events in the "future" or "past" of a light cone can be perceived differently depending on the frame of reference from which they are viewed.

Spacetime structure: The light cone visualizes the unity of space and time in four-dimensional spacetime. It helps to illustrate that space and time cannot be viewed independently of each other, but as a coherent whole in which the speed of light plays a central role.

Overall, the light cone divides the entire spacetime event world into two areas, the area inside the cone, which comprises the laws of nature that have directly observable effects, and an area outside the light cone; which is not directly perceptible to the senses, but is expressed as order in the field of perception.

The area outside the light cone describes events that are not causally linked to a given event in space-time. This means that no physical information or interaction can be transferred between an event inside and an event outside the light cone. There is also no causal connection between events outside the light cone because information can only travel at the speed of light or slower. Since the speed of light is the upper limit for information transmission, the transmission of information or interactions between spatially separated events is impossible in principle. This means that events outside the cone of light cannot be physically influenced or perceived by a particular observer. However, certain natural laws such as the constancy of the speed of light or Lorentz invariance also apply to the area outside the light cone. The essential difference to the time-like events in the light cone is that there is no direct physical connection between events separated by space. In other words, the structure of spacetime and the laws of symmetry (such as Lorentz symmetry) also apply in the area outside the light cone, but causality and the possibility of physical interactions end at the boundary of the light cone.

The events that lie outside the light cone of a particular event are spatially separated. Neither event A can influence event B, nor vice versa, if they are spatially separated. These events are not causally connected in any sense. The common characteristic of the space-time points outside the cone is that they cannot influence each other. In this area outside the light cone, the relativity of simultaneity becomes particularly relevant. Events that occur simultaneously for one observer can occur in a different temporal sequence for another observer who is moving relative to them. As these events are not causally linked, they can have different temporal relationships for different reference systems. In the theory of relativity, the distance between two space-time points is measured by the so-called Minkowski interval. For events outside the cone, this interval is negative (indicating a space-like separation).

1.2 The language of the timeless region of the light cone: quantum mechanics

The timeless region outside the light cone, which corresponds to the point of origin of the light cone, where time has the value zero and arbitrary spatial values can be assumed, is described by quantum mechanics which in this situation describes space-like separated events between which there is no causality because the space-time distance is space-like. In this context, time has no direct influence on the interactions between these events, which is why one could speak metaphorically of a "timeless" realm. Quantum mechanics establishes a connection to the space-like realm through the phenomenon of entanglement. Entangled quantum objects can exhibit correlated states regardless of distance. These correlations occur instantaneously, i.e. without delay, even if the objects are spacelike separated (i.e. lie outside the light cone). Quantum mechanics describes these aspects of the "timeless" realm through non-local correlations.  

1.3 The language of the space-like region outside the light cone: quantum field theory

The space-like region outside the light cone, for which time can assume any non-zero value, is described by a certain type of quantum field theory. As an extension of quantum mechanics, quantum field theory applies both outside and inside the light cone. In the form that is valid for the space-like area outside the light cone, it is required that operators that are separated in space must commutate. Thus, there must be no physical interaction between spatially separated points, reflecting the idea that spatially separated events outside the light cone are not causally connected. Although no causal interactions between spacelike separated events are possible, in quantum field theory vacuum fluctuations exist in every point of space, including the spacelike separated regions. However, these fluctuations are not causally effective and cannot cause information transfer. As in quantum mechanics, phenomena such as entanglement, where correlations exist between spacelike separated points, are common in the quantum field theory of the spacelike domain. These correlations are non-causal, i.e. they do not enable the transmission of physical signals or information faster than light, but are only observable as statistical correlations.

Another characteristic aspect of the space-like region of spacetime is that the spatial coordinates of two events are further apart than the time coordinates, so the square of the distance (measured by the metric) becomes negative: 

 $ds²=-dx²+c²dt²<0$.

This indicates that for space-like separated events there is no inertial frame in which these two events can occur simultaneously, which is due to indicates the lack of a causal connection. In gauge theories, especially those based on topological concepts, there are tools for describing structures in space-like regions. Topological defects or solition solutions can describe configurations of fields that are spatially separated and yet have some kind of global coherence or connection. These topological structures can exist over large distances without any local interaction.

1.4 The language of the light-like region of the light cone: path integrals

The light-like region of the light cone, where the time-like region adjoins the space-like region, is described by so-called path integrals, which sum up every possible history of a particle or particle assembly over all possible space-time paths These paths could involve both time-like and space-like separated events. In particular, because Feynman diagrams illustrate processes in QFT that are confined to the timelike and lightlike regions of the light cone, they form the bridge or interface from the timelike to the spacelike region of quantum field theory. The path integral formalism of Richard Feynman can be seen as an elegant method that considers both timelike and lightlike and spacelike paths in spacetime, with the lightlike region of the light cone playing a special role. In the path integral formulation, Feynman sums over all possible paths that a particle could take in spacetime to get from one point to another.
These paths include time-like (inside the light cone), space-like (outside the light cone) and light-like (on the edge of the light cone) connections, each of which contributes a phase that depends on the action or effect of the system, and the sum of these contributions determines the probability amplitude for a physical process. Crucially, all possible space-time paths are included in the calculation, extending the concept of causality and reflecting the non-locality of quantum mechanics.the light-like region of the light cone is the limiting case between time-like and space-like separations. In the theory of relativity, light-like paths represent the motion of a particle at the speed of light. Such a particle would travel along the light cone, and it could be considered as a link between two events that are just causally connected.Light-like paths represent a boundary between the paths that run inside the light cone (time-like) and outside the light cone (space-like).

Light-like paths mediate the interaction between fields and particles across space and time and play a central role in the description of interactions on the light cone surface. Feynman diagrams are a representation of interactions in quantum field theory based on the path integral formulation. In these diagrams, the virtual particles propagating between interaction points are typically confined to timelike and lightlike paths. This means that they either run inside the light cone or along the light cone itself. Light-like paths in Feynman diagrams represent photons or other massless particles traveling at the speed of light and running along the boundary between the timelike and spacelike regions. They form a bridge between the time-like processes (which are causally connected within the light cone) and the space-like processes (which are outside the light cone without a direct causal connection). The light-like paths represent the transition from the time-like to the space-like areas. While time-like paths are causally connected and describe the motion of massive particles, space-like paths are not causally connected in the context of relativity and quantum field theory

Light-like paths lie exactly on the boundary between these two regions and mediate the dynamic interactions described by massless particles such as photons or gravitons. In quantum field theory, and particularly in scattering theory, these light-like paths play a crucial role in mediating forces and interactions between particles. The light-like region on the surface of the light cone thus represents the interface between the time-like and space-like regions of spacetime. While time-like paths describe causal connections and information transfer, light-like paths represent the boundary at which signals are transmitted at the speed of light. Beyond this limit, in the space-like domain, causal connections are excluded, but quantum mechanical correlations could still exist. Feynman's path integral formulation takes these transitions into account and allows a seamless description of the physical processes, both within and on the limit of the light cone.

1.5 Collective coherence

The formalism of path integrals is particularly suitable for describing collective coherence in the light-like and time-like domains, as it sums over all possible paths and thus captures coherent interference effects in causally connected domains. The path integral formulation in quantum mechanics and quantum field theory makes it possible to describe processes by the sum over all possible paths of a system. This includes coherent processes in which the probability amplitudes of the different paths can constructively interfere. Collective coherence in this context means that many particles or fields act synchronously or in a certain coherent manner, leading to collective effects such as Bose-Einstein condensation, laser radiation or coherent interaction between fields. In the light-like and time-like domain (within the light cone or along its surface), the path integral formulation describes the movement of particles or field excitations that are causally connected to one another. Here the formalism is particularly well suited to describe collective phenomena such as coherent scattering, photonic processes or collective interactions of fields. A classic example is photon exchange in electrodynamics, which is represented by Feynman diagrams that illustrate the coherent interaction between charged particles via light-like paths (photons). The advantage of the path integral formalism is that it allows coherent processes to occur naturally through summation recorded over all possible paths and thus takes into account interference effects between the possible paths. This makes it an ideal tool to describe collective coherence in particle and field interaction processes. 

This diversity of linguistic approaches required to adequately describe the consequences of the light cone points to consciousness as the reality that integrates the observer's perspectives bundled by the light cone structure This relation to consciousness will be examined in more detail in the next section. 

 

2. Consciousness-related interpretation of the theory of relativit

The situation used by T. Nader to illustrate the theory of relativity is used here as the starting point for a consciousness-related interpretation of the light cone:

Imagine that John, Mary, and Jane are in New York City and wish to board the same bus at the same place at noon on a Monday. Mary arrives early and is already standing at the bus stop. John is arriving late, coming from Manhattan’s East Side. Jane is on the same street as John and is also running late but is coming from the West Side. It is almost noon as John and Jane move steadily toward the bus stop. As both John and Jane approach the bus stop, a local church bell rings: it is exactly noon. On a remote planet three million light-years away, the inhabitants (or aliens to Mary, Jane, and John) are having an election. Mary says, “The polls have just closed. The aliens are waiting for the election results.” John says, “The aliens have not even started voting. The vote will happen in two days.” Jane says, “The election was over two days ago, and the new president has already issued several executive orders.”

Nader, Tony. Consciousness Is All There Is:.

(English Edition) (S.77). Hay House. Kindle-Version.

The relativistic concept of simultaneity is only mentioned at this point (including the associated appendix C) in the book "Consciousness is all there is" by T. Nader, while the quantum mechanical concept of simultaneity is mentioned in over 60 places. The reason for this is the theme and title of the book, which refers to the "simultaneous coexistence of all possibilities", i.e. to the quantum mechanical concept of simultaneity. However, as closer inspection shows, quantum mechanical simultaneity also plays a tacit role in this example. For this purpose we consider T. Nader's explanation of relativistic simultaneity in Appendix C (p.431):
"The bell (near the bus stop where Mary stands) rings at noon, coinciding with the end of the alien election (millions of light years away)."

Since the news of the alien election would take three million years to reach Earth, the commonly used relativistic analysis presented by T. Nader (found in all academic textbooks) is purely hypothetical and just a thought experiment. While the thought experiment is based on the principles of relativity, it is not something that could happen in a real situation. The thought experiment assumes that an observer is able to instantaneously perceive events occurring over a large distance, which is not physically possible under the constraints of relativity. Einstein's theory of relativity states that no information or signal can propagate faster than the speed of light. Since the alien election is three million light years away, it would take three million years for light (or any form of information) from this event to reach Earth. Therefore, what Mary and John and Jane perceive about the election is not based on real-time knowledge of this distant event, but is intended to illustrate the dependence of simultaneity on the state of motion in a mentally constructed situation.

In the light cone representation of spacetime, for the stationary observer (Mary), distant events are located in the space-like region of the light cone, which means that they are causally independent of events in their surroundings, since no signal can be transmitted faster than light to them To transmit information in real time. In this respect, Mary cannot physically know what is actually happening on this planet at this moment.

Nevertheless, Mary can hypothetically determine in her own resting inertial frame that the election on the distant planet is now taking place, assuming that both events (the ringing of the church bell in New York and the closing of the polls on the distant planet) are simultaneous. This assumption is not based on an actual causal connection, but rather on her idea of ​​simultaneity in her frame of reference. In Mary's coordinate system, the closing of the polls lies on a "present line" that runs through the ringing of the church bell in New York. However, this is a conventional determination because it cannot receive information from the planet until the light from there has reached it. Simultaneity is only relevant from Mary's relativistic perspective. The relativity of simultaneity allows her to consider this event to be simultaneous with the ringing of the church bell, even though she has no physical way of obtaining this information at that time. Mary therefore assigns a point on the spatial axis in her reference system to the distant event, but this is purely hypothetical and not causally based.

If we take the analysis of the thought experiment one step further, we get the following: If Mary, who is in a timeless state of rest, assigns an event three million light-years away to a specific location on the space plane of the space-like area of ​​the light cone , then Mary cannot describe this place causally using classical physics, but she can describe it using quantum mechanics, which captures the possibilities associated with the place. However, quantum mechanics brings a different way of thinking into play, particularly through concepts such as superposition and non-locality. In the context of quantum mechanics, particles are not necessarily tied to specific locations or states unless they are measured. They can exist in a superposition of different states, which is called superposition. Furthermore, in quantum mechanics there are phenomena such as entanglement, in which two particles can remain connected to one another even over large distances, without a direct causal connection, as required by the theory of relativity. However, this connection is not classically causal and does not allow faster-than-light communication, but is purely statistical. Quantum mechanics therefore deals with the probabilities of states or events. While classical physics describes a specific and causally linked development of events, quantum mechanics offers a spectrum of possibilities that are only "determined" through measurement or observation.

So the tacit assumption made in the situation described by T. Nader is that Mary can grasp the "possibilities" of an event on a planet three million light years away by describing the situation quantum mechanically. These quantum mechanical "possibilities" are not concrete physical information about what happens in a space-like region of the light cone. Rather, they could be interpreted as a kind of probability, in the sense that the outcome of a distant event (like the election on the planet) is in a state of indeterminacy until information actually reaches that event or until some kind of measurement is made. Despite the entanglement in quantum mechanics, this does not mean that Mary can have immediately verifiable information about the remote event. There is no way to immediately transfer causal information from one place to another via entanglement - entanglement only allows describing statistical correlations between the states of entangled particles. That is, quantum mechanics describes possible states or probabilities inherent in the event, but does not provide a direct physical description of the reality of the event.

However, this dilemma is resolved for a universal observer who can recognize and describe the entire situation - classically relativistically and quantum mechanically - as one, as it is outlined in the thought experiment. The fact that the thought experiment can be reproduced by anyone ultimately means that human consciousness is in principle capable of integrating the relativistic view, in which the perception of events is relative to the observer's reference system, and the quantum mechanical view, which unites all possibilities, into one whole. The light cone in its consciousness-related interpretation, which integrates the classical and quantum mechanical view, shows that the ability is inherent in every observer: (a) to assume the state of rest (b) to approach the state of rest from different directions and (c) to maintain the memory of all possibilities of approach in a coherent manner in the state of rest. This dynamic process is realized as a real experience of consciousness through meditation. Meditation is more than just a thought experiment, but a real psychophysiological process. In the meditation-related interpretation of the light cone, Mary represents the observer at rest, the election event represents a collective coherent state that integrates the different perceptions of all possible observers and the "coherent totality" characterizes a common reality that is, however, perceived differently due to the relative movement. Jane and John correspond to two contrasting approaches to the resting state of the observer, whereby John, coming from the east, can be interpreted as an approach to the resting state that takes place due to the multiple possibilities that coming together opens up, while Jane, coming from the west, illustrates the striving for a coherent, shared reality in the resting state.

The following chart summarizes the developments possible through the light cone. Based on experience with meditation, it was also assumed that the unifying effort occurs more quickly (flat world line) while the unfolding of all possibilities (steep world line) occurs slowly. 

The linguistic description of meditation and everything that is specifically associated with it for the individual can be summarized in the scientific knowledge that it is about the quantum mechanical view of classical relativistic reality. This follows, for example, from the quantum mechanical characterization of time and position measurements using the uncertainty principle. From this perspective, meditation is an individual process that opens up unlimited possibilities of dynamics. According to the understanding developed here, individual processes (such as meditation) are inevitably assigned to collective processes through the observer's light cone, because quantum mechanical dynamics are always viewed in a classical relativistic way. This is what is special and future-oriented about the light cone. The integration of the two complementary perspectives means the inclusion of the space-like areas outside the light cone.

It should therefore be considered here in more detail and justified that only by including the space-like processes of the light cone (a) the comprehensive possibilities of the quantum mechanical measurement process are exhausted, (b) this involves a transition from individual to collective behavior and that (c) that Light plays a key function in incorporating space-like or collective behavior. Here is a first, programmatic overview of this comprehensive perspective of the observer. which combines the classical concepts of relativity theory with the unlimited possibilities of quantum mechanics:

In classical relativity, space-like processes are those in which two events are separated by distances greater than light could travel in the time between them. This means that such events cannot be causally linked - it is impossible to transmit any information or influence between these events at the speed of light or slower. If one tries to consider space-like processes, one moves into a realm in which the causal limitations of relativity theory could be removed. This is precisely where quantum mechanics comes into play, particularly through phenomena such as nonlocality and entanglement, which appear to transfer information between spatially separated objects without violating the classical causal framework of relativity.

In the quantum mechanical measurement process there are phenomena, such as entanglement, in which spatially separated particles correlate with one another. These correlations are independent of the distance between the particles and cannot be explained by a local, causal relationship (as occurs within the light cone according to the theory of relativity). This means that quantum mechanics treats the concept of space differently and also views spatially separated events as connected to one another. So it can be said that quantum mechanics has the potential to extend the limitations of relativity theory, which are limited to time-like processes, by enabling space-like connections. In this sense, the inclusion of space-like processes in relativity theory provides a connection to the broader possibilities of quantum mechanics. In this context, the transition from individual to collective behavior could be seen as a kind of emergence. In the classical relativistic framework, individual events and their causal relationships are described, while in quantum mechanics, especially in entangled states, a type of collective state in which the behavior of particles can only be described in the context of the entire system. Quantum mechanics emphasizes that individual particles or events can no longer be viewed in isolation, but rather stand in a network of relationships that includes space-like (non-local) connections.

Light plays a central role in both theories: in the theory of relativity, the speed of light is the maximum speed at which information or causalities can be transmitted. It defines the boundary between time-like and space-like events. In quantum mechanics, light (in the form of photons) plays an important role in entanglement and quantum communication. Photons can be entangled over large distances, and they carry the information about these non-local correlations. One could say that in a way, light plays a key role in bridging the difference between space-like and time-like processes. It defines the boundary in relativity, but in quantum mechanics it shows through entanglement that this boundary can be broken. The inclusion of spacelike processes in relativity could be seen as an attempt to extend the limitations of classical causality, much as quantum mechanics does. The transition from individual to collective behavior could be seen as an analogy to the shift from causally isolated events to quantum mechanically entangled systems in which correlations exist across spacelike distances Light is a central element that determines the limitations and possibilities for the transmission of information and causality in both the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. In this sense, it can be said that the potential of quantum mechanics can only be fully exploited by including space-like processes. All these considerations form the basis for the mathematical derivation of the rule that the root of 1% of a whole is sufficient to bring about collective coherence. If you are interested in the very detailed arguments and justifications, please contact Dr. Bernd Zeiger Email dr.zeiger@t-online.de.