Quest Magazine

Quantum Spirituality: Science, Gnostic Mysticism, and Connecting with Source Consciousness

Peter Canova, Rochester, Vt.: Bear & Company, 2023; 244 pp., paper, $20.

Theosophists who have studied The Secret Doctrine will recognize much of what Peter Canova writes in Quantum Spirituality, a very readable exploration synthesizing science, Gnosticism, Jewish mysticism, and spirituality. Canova admits to having “devoured every book” he could find on “spirituality and psychic phenomena.” He includes quantum physics in the mix. If you’ve not studied much quantum physics, don’t worry: Canova gives you a lesson on “quantum physics in a nutshell,” and he does it very well. So don’t let those two words scare you.

Canova tells us that the “Gnostic view of Creation began with the primary male-female Source or God.” He recounts the Gnostic myth of Sophia, beginning with the Aeons, “mind-generated thought-forms or ideals from the mind of God, aka “archetypes” or a “blueprint of a basic pattern, way of thinking or being.”

The Gnostics believed that achieving gnosis, or inner knowledge, was far more important than outer knowledge; for them, “knowing thyself” is the key to the spiritual path. Canova gives us a taste of the Gnostic Gospels, including The Secret Teachings of Jesus (a modern translation of The Gospel of Thomas) and The Gospel of Mary, a text that has been mostly dismissed by mainstream Christianity for its depiction of Mary Magdalene as a disciple of Jesus who teaches the other disciples.

According to Canova, humankind experienced the fall described by the Gnostics as “the creation of this psychic dimension of subtle matter, called dark matter today,” which is where science comes into the picture. Spirit descended through “chaos,” which we might also call the void. It is not really empty but is filled with “proto-matter” or potentiality, which, according to quantum physicists, contains undifferentiated matter.

Canova contends that consciousness is fundamental to the creation of matter. In fact, reality depends on the consciousness of the observer, as we see in Erwin Schrödinger’s observer effect. Canova cites philosophy professor Philip Goff and Tim Hunt, a psychologist at the University of California at Santa Barbara, who view consciousness as a “fundamental feature of all physical matter down to every single particle in existence,” Canova says.

“Panpsychism theorists, like Goff, insist that it is a materialist theory despite superficial appearances. It explains consciousness as an aggregation of lesser forms of consciousness building to more complex forms of consciousness . . . in terms of its intrinsic nature [matter] is a form of consciousness.’”

Elaborating on this theme, Hunt speaks of consciousness existing among many smaller constituents and evolving with each conscious entity into “larger and more complex forms.” I am reminded of the evolution of consciousness mentioned in The Secret Doctrine: from minerals to plants, animals, and humans, each a conscious entity. As for where this consciousness originates, Canova quotes Hunt as saying, “It’s just always been there.” 

Canova finally expresses what his book is all about: “The primacy of consciousness and the dependence of reality on the observer is the only view wherein the pieces of disciplines such as science, psychology and spiritual wisdom fit together so well.”

Shakespeare once wrote that “all the world’s a stage,” and we are merely actors. Canova tells us that all the world is a film strip, “a universe ‘papered’ . . . by two-dimensional sheets of the information-packed Planck Lengths.” In other words, the world is a movie of frames in a film strip put in motion by light and energy.

So could it be that God starts the projector and just watches the movie? Canova explores that in his section “Who’s Running the Projector?” in which he writes, “God (Consciousness) is the light source projecting the archetypal thought images that form the various information grids to impart specific directions to our phenomenal world.”

In closing, Canova introduces us to the “Third Way,” a path that questions our conventional knowledge about religion and the world around us. He reminds us that the Ancient Wisdom teaches us that “we all have divine potential within us, since we are all projections of the Divine Unity (Source). We are all capable of changing, of healing, of helping others, and all these things are miracles.”

Canova recommends that we spend a portion of each day in study, prayer, meditation, and contemplation. If we don’t, he says, “we will keep stumbling along in ignorance.”

Clare Goldsberry

Clare Goldsberry’s latest book, The Illusion of Life and Death, was reviewed in Quest, spring 2022.

The Eloquence of Silence: Surprising Wisdom in Tales of Emptiness

Thomas Moore, ovato, Calif.: New World Library, 2023. 185 pp., paper, $19.

Thomas Moore, best known for his celebrated book The Care of the Soul, is a Catholic monk turned psychotherapist. He has written extensively over the past three decades on the intersection of spirituality and psychology and how each provides a lens into a greater understanding of the self. Many of his works use stories from various traditions to highlight his points, and The Eloquence of Silence is no different.

In this slim book, Moore focuses on the bright side of emptiness. In a technology-driven society, where attention spans have shrunk to subatomic size and any lull in the constant input of information and entertainment defies the norm, Moore makes a case for embracing silence as a balm and teacher.

Moore’s writing is simple, but his words are chosen with care. Drawing from a wide range of spiritual traditions, philosophical insights, and personal anecdotes, Moore explains the need for regular pauses in our lives to recenter ourselves. We have been trained to view an empty vessel as something that needs filling—by turning on a podcast while out for a walk or by responding to work-related text messages while dining with a friend—but in so doing, we lose sight of the essential things all around us.

Moore conveys abstract ideas in a clear and accessible manner. A genuine authenticity in his language encourages readers to embark on their own introspective journeys and discover the profound depths that silence holds. His imagery is vivid and evocative, and his artful language creates a mood of quiet that befits the subject.

Readers are likely to be familiar with the tradition of emptiness in Buddhism, and of course Moore’s background as a brother in the Servants of the Holy Paraclete gives him great insight into the Roman Catholic contemplative tradition. But The Eloquence of Silence draws on other traditions as well. Several of the introductory stories to his brief chapters are tales of Nasrudin, a figure of Muslim folklore known as a trickster.

This is a hopeful book. Moore sees silence as more than a respite from the challenges of a busy life: his emptiness is also a source of strength and clarity. The collected stories and Moore’s insightful analysis encourage readers to embrace silence to navigate the complexities of the modern world and find solace amidst the chaos.

The Eloquence of Silence is a call to find a place for stillness every day, and the book’s format aids in that aim. While it can be read in one sitting, reading a bit at a time may be more effective, allowing space for consideration in between. Each chapter is very short; there are over three dozen stories in less than 200 pages. The Eloquence of Silence is best viewed as a contemplative text, ideal for placing on one’s desk or nightstand to read one tale at a time.

Peter Orvetti

Peter Orvetti is a writer and former divinity student residing in Washington, D.C.

Approaching the Secret Doctrine: Its Teachings and Practical Application

Pablo Sender, Ojai, Calif.: Fohat, 2022. xxiv + 313 pp., paper, $26.95.

H.P. Blavatsky’s Secret Doctrine has always been a rebarbative work. Its enormous length as well as its enormous detail, not always well organized, have deterred many readers. Many study guides have been written over the decades, perhaps the best being Geoffrey Barborka’s 1961 book The Divine Plan.

Theosophical teacher Pablo Sender adds his own contribution to the genre with this new work (which, incidentally, only covers the first volume of The Secret Doctrine; a companion volume is coming). 

Approaching the Secret Doctrine is divided into three parts. The first discusses the nature of Blavatsky’s book, its aims, and how to study it. Chapters include excerpts from her introduction and preface that provide background, cast in a question-and-answer format; a discussion of studying the text as a form of jnana yoga, or yoga of knowledge; and some major points to keep in mind when reading. Chapter 4 is a digest of some notes allegedly by HPB’s student Robert Bowen recording her suggestions for studying the text. The attribution to Bowen is questionable, as Sender concedes, but he includes them on the grounds of their innate usefulness. (For a discussion of this topic, as well as the notes, see Quest, fall 2021.)

The second part of this book is probably the most useful. It contains a digest of the principal ideas in The Secret Doctrine, including the three “Fundamental Propositions” with which it begins, as well as an introduction to the enigmatic Stanzas of Dzyan, which HPB used as an organizing principle for her book. This section succeeds quite well in presenting the text’s basic ideas in an accessible form.

The third section “explores how these teachings may be used in daily life and in the practice of meditation.” It outlines a number of meditation exercises to give an experiential sense of the book’s main ideas. Although they are enormously comprehensive and mind-expanding, I found this the weakest of the three parts: the meditations seem somewhat overcomplicated to me, and I am not sure that many will have the patience to work through them.

All in all, Approaching the Secret Doctrine is a valuable addition to the study tools for this forbidding masterpiece. Its greatest strength probably lies in its elucidation of concepts such as Fohat, the stages of manifestation, and the birth of the creative Logos, accompanied by Sender’s enlightening paraphrases of Blavatsky’s text. I imagine that it will prove a useful study tool for both groups and individuals.

Richard Smoley

Printed in the  Fall 2023 issue of Quest magazine. 
Citation: Crow, John L "Can Artificial Intelligence Embody the Divine Light?" Quest 111:4, pg 9 & 47

By John L. Crow

The Higher Ego is, as it were, a globe of pure divine light, a Unit from a higher plane, on which is no differentiation. 

—H.P. Blavatsky

For the last few decades, anxiety about artificial intelligence has been increasing. We see it expressed in movies such as The Terminator and the Matrix series. According to Hollywood narratives, soon an AI system will gain independent consciousness and seek to eliminate humanity. Psychologists have called this fear AI anxiety, and it is classed alongside other modern fears, such as climate anxiety.

This anxiety has become rampant partly because of the complexity of modern technology. The average person simply cannot understand what is going on in the “black box” in which AI runs. This lack of understanding is compounded by statements from AI programmers saying even they don’t know or understand the resulting data and algorithms created by the AI once it is set in motion.

Despite the complexity of AI, computers are fundamentally the same as they been since the 1950s. They run commands given to them and wait idle until given the next command. Humans, however, can think independently because of the divine light, the spirit of life, descending from the Source.

The easiest way to understand why AI will never become conscious is to relate it to the golem, a creature found in Jewish folklore. According to the legends, a golem is a creature made by the Kabbalist entirely of earthen material, like clay. It is animated when the Kabbalist places paper or something similar within it containing Hebrew writing taken from the Torah and/or the name of God. Through the logos, that is, the words of God, the golem comes alive. It can move, carry objects, and perform tasks as commanded by its creator. But it cannot think for itself. It only moves to where it is told to go, and it only carries what it is commanded to carry. It completes all the tasks commanded to the best of its ability. If it fails to function correctly, it can learn how to perform the tasks better. Left unattended, it might wreak havoc, but in all cases, it would return to its inanimate state when the object with the writing was removed.

AI systems and its technology are similar to golems. Both are made of earthly materials (silicon being the base component of circuitry). Words bring the golem to life, just as programming brings AI into being. Most importantly, both appear to be alive, but are not. All the AI and the golem can do is perform the tasks given to them. Both can learn to do them better, but they can never develop independent thought. At their core, they lack the divine light that animates life.

This is not to say that these artifacts cannot do tasks given to them better than humans. Indeed both AI and golems are created to perform tasks that humans cannot do easily or do not want to do.

One task current AI systems are being created to perform is to process spoken and written language. As a result, the AI demonstrates amazing natural language abilities. These abilities have caused journalists and others to declare that these AI systems are alive. But these individuals overlook the fact that to gain these abilities, the AI system had to process millions of texts written by humans. The AI appears to be alive because it is doing a wonderful job of imitating those who are or were alive.

The algorithms and linguistic models created by these AI systems need to be “trained” on prewritten texts, which are frequently curated by the creators of the AI system. During this process, the AI system makes mistakes and is corrected by users. After millions of calculations and numerous corrections, the models allow it to predict the next word in the sentence based on the context and the surrounding words.

In addition to linguistically based AI, other forms can create images or videos, either by using a sentence description or by combining preexisting videos and images. They can be instructed to create a picture in the style of certain artists. If the system has processed and examined the artist’s work, it can make a facsimile in the same style showing what was requested of it

Like linguistic AI, these systems have been trained through images and video created by humans. They are masterful at storing and combining portions of pictures and videos. They can create simulations of works by well-known artists and directors, but that is because they were trained on the images and video created by humans, who, unlike AI programs, have the ability to be creative, invent new styles, and imagine new forms of art.

Like the golem, AI will never become conscious, because they are both the products of man. We lack the ability to bring the divine light into our creations. At best, AI are but temporary reflections of our divine light.

No doubt AI systems will continue to advance in complexity while becoming more useful in performing the tasks for which we create them. But they are our creations, and they will never become conscious. So we do not need to fear a future in which AI systems will seek to eliminate humanity. Without our divine light reflected in them, AI systems are as useless as a lump of clay.

John L. Crow, PhD is a religious studies scholar at Florida State University, where he teaches courses on religion, digital literacy, and technology use in online learning. His research focuses on the history of Eastern religions emerging in the West in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. For more information, visit www.johnlcrow.com.