From The Messenger

Beth Am. The People's Temple

Vol. 69, Number 8
Fall, 2019

Echad and Purpose in the Cosmic Foam

by Roger Gradess
For many years I have been deeply interested in the
meaning of non-duality, the obvious interconnectedness of
ALL things, and the question of consciousness and
personal identity. These interests guided my studies as a
cognitive psychologist and my work as an inpatient
clinician. What most drew me to convert to Judaism was
Cat's Eye Nebula the fundamental idea that G-d is One (Echad).
As we approach the Days of Awe I am excited to reflect on and share
with you what I have learned about the stunning possibility that we are all
part of a totally non-dual universe consciously fulfilling G-d's purposes:
When I think about Oneness now I think about the scientific theories I
am encountering in quantum physics – that pervading the universe is a
"cosmic foam" of quanta, the virtual quantum particles that account for most
of the universe's mass and energy.1 The energies of the cosmic foam
saturate all 'space', from between the galaxies to within the molecules of our
brains and bodies. The foam existed before the Big Bang and is felt to hold
all of the information in the cosmos, from the beginning of time. Every event
in the universe, including our actions and thoughts, creates vibrating fields
that instantly ripple and interact everywhere throughout this foam thanks to
its quantum entanglement and holographic information storage. The cosmic
foam is thus an all-pervading information field, the memory of the one
cosmos.
We not only read information into the foam and change it through our
every action, we constantly extract information from it as well. Our brains
have a huge number of specialized "microtubule" receptors2 that respond
specifically to quantum fields. The activity of these microtubules coincides
with and may even account for our moment-by-moment consciousness, our
very thoughts being tied to the quantum state of the universe. Indeed, one
analysis of early Greek writings suggests that before about 3,000 B.C.E.
thoughts were not perceived as originating in the individual at all, but were
experienced as coming directly from the gods.3 We still don't know where
thoughts come from.
Most important to me about this scientific perspective on Oneness is that
it attempts to explain how life, our universe, and all of existence manifests
intrinsic direction and purpose:
Quantum physicists agree that our universe, with its mind-boggling order
and complexity, could not have occurred simply by chance as a consequence
of a single, huge, totally chaotic explosion. There was an extraordinary
degree of organization and coherence in the Big Bang and in its aftermath
that enabled the emergence of the astonishingly complex and orderly
universe we call home. We got this way because the Big Bang was one of an
unknown number of explosions in the cosmic foam, each somehow
progressively changing it in the direction of greater coherence, complexity,
and capacity to support life.
The whys and hows of this can only be known to G-d but, eventually,
unstable universes that blew themselves up or froze themselves to death
moments after their Big Bangs somehow provided the cosmic foam with the
information necessary to evolve ever more finely-tuned and life-giving
universes such as our own. And this universe, too, will one day disappear,
with only its information remaining forever – patterns in the foam on the
periphery of the black hole that will ultimately swallow us up. 4
I find this universal directedness toward greater complexity and ever-
higher levels of functioning to be most inspiring. The Messianic Age does
approach. Acting for the good of society and the planet is not simply doing
what we have been taught to do, it is fulfilling a sense of purpose which we
have – thank G-d – because of the inspired directionality inherent in the
cosmos and therefore inherent in each of us.
When I choose to, I can walk down the street and think about my place
in this quantum reality. I can imagine how I am embedded in and filled with
a universe of vibrations from an infinity of sources. They make up my entire
world. There are no gaps. I can choose to feel this universe supporting my
every effort to lead a good and productive life and to see every person in
holiness, because that's how we've been built. 5 And it is the thrust of the
universe that we recognize and understand all of the destructive, chaotic
forces that still remain active in it and in ourselves, and work to overcome
them. None of our efforts will ever be lost in the cosmic foam.
One need not be a religious person to find these ideas satisfying, but
their religious dimension is obvious. They support the Kabbalistic
understanding that "everything and every 'non-thing' that ever was or will
be in creation is interconnected."6 G-d's magnificence is but glorified when
we think of something like an eternal, purposeful cosmic foam learning to
generate better and better universes forever. And marvelously we, created
in G-d's image, are each totally integral to that process, genuine partners in
creation.
Though I know that G-d has no single Face, I can imagine the cosmic
foam as G-d's face, rippling with change and responding to the thoughts and
emotions of each of us, indeed responding to every aspect of the universe.
Perhaps it is G-d's interface.
When I learn of such things as the recently discovered electroactive
microbes that network the planet,7 dogs that run and wait by the door the
moment their owner decides to return home,8 or the documented efficacy of
intercessory prayer,9 I can only say, in awe, Amen. Thank G-d for the
direction of creation, and for our chance to be a part of it.
Notes:
1 The cosmic foam is also known as the quantum vacuum, the unified vacuum, and the zero-point
field. I prefer "foam" because it communicates that the field is composed of virtual particles (quanta)
constantly "erupting and collapsing" according to the laws and probabilities of quantum physics (see
illustration below).
2 Hameroff and Penrose, (see below).
3 Jaynes, (see below).
4 For how our information will survive, see Laszlo, p. 22 (below).
5 For what I have found to be the best guide to ethical Jewish living, see Ehrman, (below).
6 Cooper, p. 37 (see below).
7 New York Times, 2019 (see below).
8 Sheldrake, (see below).
9 Byrd, R. C. "Positive therapeutic effects of intercessory prayer in a coronary care population."

Southern Medical Journal 81:7 (1988), cited in Laszlo, p. 43 (see below).

Sources:
Here are some selected references to the science and teachings upon which these remarks are based.
God Is a Verb: Kabbalah and the practice of mystical Judaism, by Rabbi David A. Cooper, Riverhead
Books, 1997. A deep yet very readable book on Kaballah and Jewish mysticism.
Journey to Virtue: The Laws of interpersonal relationships – in business, home and society by Rabbi
Avrohom Ehrman, Mesorah Publications, 2002. This is a wonderfully helpful guide on how to live.
Consciousness in the universe. A review of the 'Orch OR' theory, by Stuart Hameroff and Roger
Penrose, Physics of Life Reviews 11 (2014) 39-78, available online at www.sciencedirect.com. A highly
technical article that details the biomolecular processes that enable the brain's microtubules to
connect to quantum processes in the universe.
The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, by Julian Jaynes, Houghton
Mifflin Company, 1976, 1990. This is the best, and most difficult book on the evolution of
consciousness that I know. Wonderful analysis of language, metaphor, thinking. I've finally finished
Part I.
Science and the Akashic Field: an integral theory of everything, by Ervin Laszlo, Inner Traditions,
2004. This seminal text details the cosmic foam and quantum cosmology.
Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home, And Other Unexplained Powers of Animals, by
Rupert Sheldrake, Three Rivers Press, 1999. Sheldrake's books explore and scientifically explain
phenomena that cannot be accounted for by normal physics, but which rely on field effects.
The Book On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are, by Alan W. Watts, Collier Books, 1966. This
was my introduction to non-duality, and still says it all.
www.nytimes.com/2019/07/01/science/bacteria-microbes-electricity.html This recent New York Times
article on electroactive bacteria shows but another way in which everything is connected.
https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/21/science/physicists-confirm-power-of-nothing-measuring-force-
of-universal-flux.html. This 1997 New York Times article was where I first learned of the cosmic foam.
A yellowing copy has been sitting on my dresser ever since, and contains the following illustration
which does not appear online: