Who or what is God? Ask this question and you’ll get an extremely wide range of answers. Many believe that God must be an impersonal ground, or matrix, that functions as the source and sustainer of life but lacks personal qualities. Others are just as certain God is pure personality, a very human character who’s fully involved in every aspect of human life. Let’s take opinion out of the equation and discover what quantum physics can tell us.
The quantum universe is extremely different than the world of form. We think of our material world as real, but physicists have discovered it’s a virtual reality. As surprising as it seems, reality actually exists at the quantum level of the universe. What’s does the quantum level look like, and what can we learn from it?
In quantum reality, everything is one thing. Everything in existence is part of one indivisible, interdependent whole. At the most elemental level of the universe only an ocean of energy exists. But that ocean includes matter. How can that be? From a quantum perspective, matter and energy are the same thing. In her book, The Field, Lynne McTaggart explains, “Everything. . .on its fundamental level boils down to a collection of electrical charges. . .mass is not equivalent to energy; mass is energy. Or even more fundamentally, there is no mass. There is only charge.”
The quantum ocean of energy contains all potential. We can think of energy as potential because it can become any type of matter. Energy can remain in a state of potential, appear as form, or go back to energy. Nothing is lost; it is only seen in a different way. What causes the transformation? Physicists tell us that quantum energy exists as potential until a conscious choice is made. At that point, choice collapses all other possible options and energy appears as matter. But where is consciousness?
God is usually described as a supernatural entity that creates from a location outside the material universe. Although humans have commonly believed that they alone were given the gift of conscious thought, physics is proving otherwise. Scientists now know that consciousness permeates everything in existence, including energy and matter. Scientists known as material realists say that consciousness evolved from matter, but they have never been able find any support for their belief. On the other hand, quantum research demonstrates that even the tiniest photon (subatomic light particle) is conscious. Why is consciousness part of everything that exists? We can find an answer in the Big Bang.
The theory of inflation introduced by Cosmologist Alan Guth explains that there was a hyper-explosive growth spurt at the very 
beginning of the Big Bang. the theory proposes that the universe could have come from a portion of “source energy” as small as a billionth of a subatomic proton! As implausible as this sounds,, the theory coincides with every observation made by astronomers. Even though the universe is 14 billion light years deep, as little as 1/3 of it is matter. But there’s more to the universe than matter.
The Big Bang also filled the universe with energy. Scientists used to think the other 2/3 of the universe was made up of “empty space,” but they were wrong. They now call this “empty space” the zero-point field. There is so much energy stored in the zero-point field, physicist Richard Feynman pointed out, The energy in a single cubic meter of space is enough to boil all the oceans of the world.” But there is more to the zero-point field than energy. This dynamic field is also a repository of consciousness and memory. And in fact, research is proving that consciousness exists outside the brain with the brain acting as a sophisticated retrieval and read-out mechanism.
We’ve learned a lot about the quantum universe, but what does it tell us about God?
The Big Bang suggests that Ultimate Reality created the universe out of Self. This should not be a strange concept to us, since all living things on earth also reproduce out of self. But there is a unique difference. When living things on earth reproduce they are separate from their offspring. But energy and consciousness are not only the tools of creation; they are also part of creation. Since this is true, we must conclude that Ultimate Reality and the universe are synonymous.
What else can we conclude? Ultimate Reality is a ground, or matrix that gives and sustains all life and a Conscious Being with an intellect, personality and a desire to interact. Spiritual sages who have had a direct, personal experience of the Divine all agree that God is the personification of love. But there are two more important conclusions we can come to.
The virtual reality we experience on earth and the reality that exists at the quantum level of the universe operate in completely different ways. We can’t judge Ultimate Reality by what’s happening on earth. Quantum research tells us that our virtual reality is like a movie that’s projected from consciousness at the quantum level. If we’re here, we’re projecting what we’re seeing, not God. Everything we see is our choice, but we’re always free to make different choices. The separation and duality that are hallmarks of virtual reality cannot exist in the oneness of reality.
At the quantum level, the universe remains one indivisible, interdependent whole. Every spiritual sage who has ever had a direct, personal experience of the Divine knows that this is true. Universal oneness is not just a pleasant catch phase, it’s an inescapable fact. Ultimate Reality is everything in existence, and you are that.
Copyright © 2011 Lee and Steven Hager