The Tao of Physics, Revisited

Fritjof Capra's 1975 The Tao of Physics is a book on the similarities of science and religion. Science is paradigmatic to the West, religion to the East. The former investigates reality via rationality, the latter via intuition. Capra's thesis is that findings in modern physics are similar to the "truths" of Eastern religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism. The interconnectedness of the subatomic world, the nature of space-time, are two examples that show how the religions of the East present similar concepts to modern physics. Other examples of the similarities between both philosophies, include the paradoxes of quantum physics and Eastern religion, and the parallels of the yin/yang to particles.

While Western science is composed of precise and rational language, processes of classification, systematic inquiry of the linear dependency among fundamental units of phenomena, the Eastern religious philosophies of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism, discover their truths via meditative processes. Capra suggests that the two domains, science, and religion, begin with the notion of "knowledge". The language of science is rational, while the language of religion is intuitive. The realm of rationality has to do with measurement, quantification, and classification, to examine material/natural reality. The realm of intuition is above and beyond intellectual positions and sensory perception. Meditation is experiential in a non-intellectual sense, as its goal is to attain consciousness of the non-dual nature of reality. However, as Capra clarifies, science can be intuitive while mysticism can be rational. Scientists and mystics learn through observation, the former via his or her experiments, the latter via the deep experiences of his or her consciousness. Still, both dimensions are distinct, because the West separates the body and the mind, while the East believes in the core assumption of the oneness of the universe.

In the early twentieth-century scientists beginning to explore the atomic world shared a deep sense of awe and mystery. The atomic world was unexplainable, strange, and chaotic. The mystics from the East also reported a deep sense of awe and mystery, as their meditative journeys led them to places unexplainable by rational language. Modern physics has had to put into question the Classic worldview of physics to try to answer the problems presented by the atomic world. Isaac Newton argued that the field was based on absolute space and time made up of fundamental solid particles. Thus, the behavior of nature with its physical objects was objectively describable, as the behavior of its components depended on the deterministic behavior of atoms. But Einstein's 1905 theory of relativity, which put forward the thesis that time and space are relative, (E=mc², in which E is energy, m is mass, and c is the constant speed of light), demonstrated a revolutionary discovery, that mass is energy. 

With the theory of relativity quantum theory was introduced as a way of describing the behavior of atoms and particles. The atomic and the subatomic world shows behavior to the observer, and this behavior has, as Capra describes, "tendencies to occur". Atomic particles, according to quantum theory, are affected by the observer, thus dispelling the myth from the classic worldview of physics that reality is determined by fundamentally deterministic physical building blocks, and describable deterministic relationships. With this revolution, Modern physics has had to wrestle with paradoxes shared by the mystics of the East. Capra exemplifies this similarity by how Zen Buddhists use koans, absurd riddles that can't be understood via rational thought, "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"; koans, much like meditation, stop rational thought so that the subject can reach a higher state of consciousness, wherein the riddle/paradox can be solved. The classic physicist, following this analogy, has had to abandon his intellect and his assumptions to rise to the riddle of physical reality at the atomic and subatomic level. 

To demonstrate deeper similarities between science and religion, Capra illustrates the motifs shared by the religious philosophies of the East. Eastern religion and philosophy have an esoteric aim: The attainment of deep mystical experiences. Hinduism emerged in ancient India and uses as its main spiritual guide the Vedas, a collection of scriptures written between 1500 and 500 b.C. by a variety of anonymous sages. The religion’s core message is that everything and every event in the world is a different expression of the same ultimate reality. This reality is known as Brahman, which translates to the soul or inner essence of all things. However, Brahman is quite incomprehensible; it eschews any concept or image and can only be experienced through liberatory practices like yoga.

Liberation in this sense refers to realizing the unity and harmony of nature, understanding that all phenomena are part of the same reality. In this way, the Hindu view of nature is one of a dynamic world, in which all shapes and structures are fluid and ever-changing. In Buddhism, there’s a notion of unity, the interrelation of all things under constant flow and change. For centuries, this religion has been the dominant spiritual practice in much of Asia, including China, Korea, and Japan. While it’s like Hinduism in this sense, it differs in that it traces back to a single founder, Siddhartha Gautama, or the “historic” Buddha. In Buddhism, the Dharmakaya is similar to the concept of Brahman in Hinduism. Both religions are also similar in their conceptualization of freedom. In Buddhism, this experience is known as nirvana, a state in which false notions of separateness vanish, laying bare the oneness of all life. In Hinduism, this state of consciousness evades intellectual description. Buddhism even shares the notion that the world is changing. Or, to put it in the words of the Buddha, that “all things arise and pass away.”

There are two basic aspects of ancient Chinese thought. First, since the ancient Chinese were practical people, their philosophies centered around social life, morals, and government. But to complement this pragmatic focus, ancient Chinese philosophy also has a mystical side, which offers transcendence of the social world into a higher state of consciousness. In the sixth century b.C., these two sides developed into distinct philosophical schools. The first, Confucianism, revolves around a social organization, while the second, Taoism, focuses on the observation of nature. Since Taoism is the more mystical of the two, it lends itself more to comparisons with physics. Create

d by the “Old Master,” Lao Tzu, Taoist thought teaches that there’s an ultimate reality underlying and unifying the world. In this respect, Taoism is very like Hinduism and Buddhism.

In Taoism, this ultimate, undefinable reality is called the Tao, or “the Way,” which is a concept analogous to the Hindu Brahman and the Buddhist Dharmakaya. The Tao is considered the essence of the universe, what the Hindu calls Brahman, and the Buddhist calls Dharmakaya. But, as the name “the Way” suggests, it’s also perceived as a cosmic process that describes the dynamic nature of all things, continuous flow and change are essential concepts. All these motifs are shared by the three main religious philosophies of the East.

In Taoism, there are patterns to this change, and a principal characteristic of the religion is its cyclical nature. For instance, Lao Tzu said, “going far means returning.” This cyclical focus becomes yet more clear in the opposing concepts of yin and yang, both of which are core to the religion. The Tao is generated by the dynamic interplay of these polarized forces, representing light and dark, male and female, firm and yielding, and heaven and earth. Like Hinduism and Buddhism, Taoism sets out to meet intuitive wisdom, rather than hard, rational knowledge. Such a similarity lays the groundwork for Capra to deepen his comparison between Eastern mysticism and modern physics.

People tend to divide things into distinct experiences, objects or events. We distinguish between table, chair, and soul to help us cope with and navigate our everyday environment. But, for the Eastern mystic traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism, such distinctions are illusions, none of which are a fundamental characteristic of nature. Rather, for these religions, the universe is characterized by a basic unity. Such a notion of basic oneness is also central to modern physics. One example comes from atomic physics and its concepts of particles and waves. In this context, a wave is a periodic vibration pattern that exists in time and space. The motion of a wave can be described by how it oscillates. In contrast, a particle has a well-defined location at any given point in time and its motion is described by way of its velocity.

Yet, according to modern physics, matter has a dual aspect at the level of the atom, combining to be both a particle and a wave. As a result, depending on the situation, matter can act as either of the two. For instance, light exists as photons or light particles. But when these photons travel through space, they are observed as vibrating electric fields, evidencing the key characteristics of waves. In other words, in atomic physics, reality appears to transcend opposing concepts; in Eastern mysticism, yin and yang are opposing aspects of a unified whole.

Another deeper similarity is that Modern physics, like Eastern mysticism, recognize how interconnected nature is. For physics, this comes in the form of a realization that the properties of atomic particles can’t be defined from the process of observation itself. This implies that modifying the way observation or measurement occurs will change the properties of a particle. In this sense, the observed particle is a manifestation of the interaction between an observer and the object of his or her study, a fact that points to the relational nature of all things in the universe. In classical physics, space and time are delineated concepts. According to this school of thought, humans live in three-dimensional space, which is independent of time. In modern physics, however, no such separation exists; Einstein’s theory of relativity unifies both space and time, leading to a new view that all measurements of the two concepts are relative. This was a groundbreaking discovery. After all, the idea that spatial observations depend on the observer’s relative position in space has long been accepted. For instance, a tree looks small from a distance, but huge when it’s right in front of you.

But the same was not accepted in time. Einstein broke this assumption wide open by showing that time is relative as well since light takes time to travel from its source to the human eye. Thus, the further away from an observer an event takes place, the later it occurs. Beyond that, relativistic physics has now shown that the fourth dimension of time must be added to the three dimensions of space. This dimension, rather than being independent of those of space, is relative to them. As a result, it’s impossible to speak about time without speaking about space and vice versa. Now, space is no longer a three-dimensional entity, independent of time, but rather joined with it in a concept called space-time. This unifying concept ties modern physics to Eastern mysticism in yet another way. Eastern mystics have a powerful intuition for space-time. Consider the Avatamsaka school of Buddhism. The Avatamsaka Sutra, upon which this school was founded, describes enlightenment as an awareness of the “interpenetration of space and time.” The Japanese Buddhist scholar D.T. Suzuki even explains that, in enlightenment, “there is no space without time, no time without space.”

To the Eastern mystic worldview, the notion of the world as a dynamic, ever-changing place has long been an essential feature. And now, for modern physics, and quantum physics, in particular, the universe can be understood similarly. For instance, according to quantum physics, or the study of the atomic and subatomic world, particles are in perpetual motion. The reason for this is that whenever subatomic particles find themselves confined to a small section of space, they begin to move around. Not only that but the smaller the area, the faster they move. Such a reaction indicates what can be called a fundamental restlessness of matter at the subatomic level.

Furthermore, modern physics also shows that the universe itself is expanding and is in continuous motion. This expansion was first observed in 1929 by the American astronomer Edwin Hubble and has since become one of the foundational discoveries of modern astronomy. As a result, physicists today believe that the universe was born around 10 billion years ago, emerging out of an explosive event now known as the big bang. Some physicists assume that this expansion will go on forever, while others hypothesize that it will slow down and that the universe will begin to contract. The former of these models describe an oscillating universe – one that both expands and contracts.

And finally, the theory of relativity states that subatomic particles have a dynamic quality to them. Let’s return to Einstein’s famous formula, E=mc², which states that energy and mass are the same. But it also implies that we can observe a continuous performance of energy transforming into matter, and matter into energy. For instance, when a tree is burned, the wood is turned into energy in the form of heat, while also producing matter in the form of carbon dioxide, water vapor, and several other molecules.

The full and the empty, matter and space – in classical physics, these two concepts are separated. Yet, in the nineteenth century, with the discovery of the concept of the field by Michael Faraday and James Clerk Maxwell, such an understanding began to shift. The first field to be discovered was the electric field, a condition in space induced by a charged body that exerts force on any other charged body in the same space. But, the real rupture came when this concept of the field became associated with the force of gravity.

As a result, for modern physics, matter and space are no longer separated. According to relativity theory, a gravitational field occurs in the curved space around a massive body like a planet. That being said, the field doesn’t “fill” this space and “curve” it; rather, the field is the curved space. In other words, in Einstein’s theory, matter is one with its gravitational field and gravitational fields are inseparable from the curved space in which they exist. In this sense, matter and space cannot be divided, but are rather a single, unified whole. Beyond that, this concept of a field applies to both massive objects like the sun and the subatomic world of particles. In the latter case, physicists speak of quantum fields in which the distinction between particles and space is transcended. In such fields, particles are local, temporary concentrations of energy and disturbances of the field itself. 

Even the quantum field has a parallel in Eastern mysticism. In the Eastern concept, the underlying reality of all phenomena is a formless, empty void. For Hinduism, the ultimate reality of Brahman is described as “the void,” as is Sunyata, its equal concept in Buddhism. Meanwhile, for Taoists, the Tao, or essence of the universe, is described as formless and empty. But, Brahman, Sunyata and the Tao aren’t the void, they also embody endless creative potential. Like the quantum field of physics, they give rise to an innumerable variety of forms.

To conclude, Fritjof Capra demonstrates that the hard rationality of modern physics bears some striking similarities to the spiritual flow of Eastern mysticism. Although the two have clear differences, they also share two fundamental, underlying motifs: the basic oneness of all things and events, and the dynamic nature of the universe.

By Fernando J. Villalovs