The Basics

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Prologue

“There is no doubt that Marley was dead.  This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate.”

These words, which are part of the opening paragraphs to Dicken’s “Christmas Carol” are really at the root of the beginning of this journey. But in my case, the line should read, “I died, and came back to tell about it. This must be distinctly understood or nothing wonderful can come of the amazing wonders of our universe and beyond.”

But, before we begin the journey, I want to lay out some ground rules and explain my purpose in doing this.

First and foremost, I am not out to convert anyone to my way of understanding. I am not out to make money. I am not going to debate my faith, or your faith, or politics, or anything else that has to do with a rigid, dogmatic belief in “one way only” thinking.  Because, at the root of what I have learned, the amazing complexity/simplicity of reality (sounds ambiguous, I know), makes room for all sorts of beliefs. And there is simply no reason to hang your hat on any one of them exclusively. Furthermore, I steadfastly refuse to do so.

So let's start by heading off any problems or disagreements in the concept of why you are here before we both waste one another's time.

1. If you practice a religion that demands that you believe in their creation myth, or does not allow followers to include science, physics, evolution or external consciousness in a list of possibilities to the nature of reality. PLEASE STOP READING NOW.

2. If you are a "hardened scientist" with your own belief that there is no possibility for external consciousness, an existence beyond traditional Newtonian physics rule sets, or demand that the agnostic/atheist approach to a creator, or creation through evolution is by way of external forces is impossible. PLEASE STOP READING NOW.

If you are open to the admitting that every single creation myth (be it based on religion, or Big Bang evolution) may have an unknown element, and are interested in the journey toward the answers behind countless questions about the "spooky science" of both quantum mechanics, and our existential selves residing outside of this day-to-day life we know...KEEP READING.

This journey has taken me to places I could never imagine, with results that continue to puzzle, push, tweak, and amaze. But at the base of all of it, is the reality that on an August night in 1995, I went to sleep not caring a whit about science or physics and certainly not quantum mechanics, and awoke with more knowledge than I could seemingly extrapolate in a lifetime.

If there is a "miracle" in this story, it is the fact that before the NDE, not only did I have no interest, but all but failed my high school and college classes in both math and biology. This was due mostly from sheer laziness, and lack of interest, as my real interests were in music, athletics and socializing. Science and math were for "eggheads" and those who couldn't tune a guitar or hit a curve ball. However, upon my "retrieval from the other side" of my NDE, I had more overarching knowledge about the "wiring of reality," than my mind could distill. It was all a very clear Before/After effect that was a blessing and a curse.

However, the inescapable fact is...It happened.

When I had the NDE experience, (of which you can read a brief explanation here), it came at a time in my life, when investing huge amounts of time, energy and focus into the exploration of life, became counterproductive to LIVING my life. With young children, a new business, a wife starting a new teaching career, and the inability to discern between day-to-day and the seemingly unending task of “making sense of the universe,” I found that my only real path for mental and spiritual survival, was to put this spiritual/scientific quest “in a box,” and place it on the back part of a mental/psychological shelf. I knew where it was if I needed to pull it down. But, I also knew that opening the box, without the proper attitude, and strength in spirit, could start yet another long and confusing trip “down the rabbit hole” again.

Almost fifteen years passed, from the time of my original NDE, and a series of events that seemed to not only shake the box off of the shelf and into my hands, but also force me to open it, and start my journey anew. Over that time, there were countless discoveries and developments in science, communications, and events that rattled the faith of even the most stalwart. The world, while becoming more and more interconnected, seemingly has begun to shake apart at its very foundation spiritually, financially, and physically.

Then death, a topic for which I obviously have a different view than most, began to become a more regular visitor in the lives of those close to me. In the course of a two-year period, no fewer than 12 friends and members of my family lost their lives to various forms of illness, accidents, and disease.  In addition, I have watched my parents, some close friends, and acquaintances battling cancer, with the obvious fear, determination, and fatigue that such battles bring about. 

In every case, I found myself stuck in the hopeless situation of not really being able to offer comfort from my perspective. I felt that to infringe upon their beliefs, in a time of need, with my “strange story of everlasting life” was simply not the right thing to do.

However, in every case, I felt compelled to continue my own search, perhaps in some way of giving myself comfort, by way of knowing that there is indeed so much more to this world, the universe, and far beyond our measurable universe, that gives purpose to our transitory existence.

Then, a funny thing happened when I opened the box…

I found out that like the old Little League Baseball hats that I keep stored in a box on a shelf, that remain the same hats, yet offer a different perspective of understanding and comfort when viewed with the eyes of experience and wisdom, “the box of infinite wisdom” had in fact continued to evolve on its own, and perhaps grow stronger in power, and more resolute in challenging me to make my life more fulfilling.

Even more important, I found that with age, and the acquired wisdom that comes through confidence in living another decade and a half in this life, came a cessation of fear and doubt of being exposed as a “weirdo” in a society that judges those who do not walk the path of societal consensus.  I have in fact, become resolute in following the wise words of Dr. Seuss, “be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.”

However, even this simple quote opens multiple doorways, as it is popularly attributed to Dr. Suess, but may in fact have come from an interview with American financier, Bernard Baruch. Thus is the way of “facts,” in our reality.

For every “Law of Science” there is a theory that refutes, questions and potentially transmutes that law from irrefutable fact, to the relm of “Oh my God…what were we thinking?”

All of the great religions suffer from the same fate, when common sense and reason are used as a means of measuring the historic verasity of the claims.  For every creation story, taken as “fact” by those who have closed their minds to a greater understanding, there are countless scientific facts that force us to question the holy literature upon which these religions are based.

And yet…

My experience, and those of hundereds of thousands, if not millions of others who have gone to the “other side” and returned with a greater knowledge of “what is,” know that God (your choice and flavor of God) and Science (again, your choice and flavor) do not have to be mutually exclusive.

At the basis of this project, is my belief and steadfast knowledge that the REST of the story (as our good friend Paul Harvey liked to say) is so much more amazing, wonderful, and almost incomprehenisibly beautiful, than any basic religious rhetoric, or simple scientific law falls far short of the reality of what this life, and life beyond this life offer.

Let’s start with a couple of “fun facts.”

It is estimated that there are more between 20 and 100 TRILLION cells in the human body.

It is estimated that there are more than 7*10²⁷ atoms in the average human body. That is, 7 followed by 27 zeros: 7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (assuming that the majority of atoms in the human body are hydrogen, oxygen and carbon).

Each of these atoms, have sub-atomic particles that may (or may not, depending on your quantum science beliefs) communicate instantly with every other atom in the known universe.

There are more than 70 Trillion stars in the known universe.  But in between what we can see and measure, are an infinite number of sub-atomic particles, that create a communication grid between all that is seen, and unseen, and all that is in this time/space and beyond.

(or you can watch Monty Pytyon's "Galaxy Song" for a more entertaining way of blowing your mind with numbers)

Can you start to get an idea why “On the first day, God created the Heavens and the Earth,” or the scientific version of “The Big Bang,” are both regarded as palatable, and far easier to pledge simplistic faith, than a combination of a reality that has both unbelievably complex science, and an equally complex “infinite intelligence” that transcend common religion and science?

But at the same time…doesn’t it make complete sense, that if the overwhelming math of the universe is true, and if in fact that there is a universal intelligence that runs through all of it (and in fact may be creating our reality externally through digital information)…that there is far more to creation than EITHER traditional religion or science can explain easily?  Is it not possible that both the Big Bang and Creation are one in the same? Is it not possible that “God” (again a limiting word in itself) is in everything, in and outside of time and our universe, but can be in some ways proven through scientific deduction?

I am not prone to Quixotic or Sisyphean endeavors. But I am equally aware of the fact that the “Answer” is in fact a moving target of sorts. Because unlike a theory, that can be proven, or disproven through mathematic equation of experimentation, or something as revealing as God tossing tablets down from heaven, or the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse thundering from the heavens, I am working on innate knowledge passed to me through my NDE experience. I work from a level of intuition, deduction, and ferreting out the facts from what I already “know” to be true, but then, explore the scientific theories that support the intuition.

However...as you will see, there are countless allies in my battle against close-mindedness, that are banging the edges of science and theology in ways that create a compelling argument against the status quo.

I am not a mathematician, or quantum physicist (as my “D” in HS geometry would attest). I don’t understand the math involved, but for reasons that still haunt and confuse me, have been allowed to understand the results, trends, and to some degree the inner workings of this reality. It is not a blessing. It just is, what it is.

Instead of writing a book, or making a movie, or starting a movement, or even charging admission, as a way to turn this all into an avocation, I choose instead, to make the journey public, and available to anyone who has the open mind to journey with me.

And so, while I am still able, while I am still breathing and thinking and communicating, I am starting this new endeavor to try to distill some of the best of both worlds, into a rough form of unification. 

Why? Because in the end…if you can get beyond the basic limitations of religion and scientific camps, both rooted in their need for funding, support, and followers, and realize that in everything we can see, touch, feel, and sense, is a universe made up of the same building blocks, interwoven with the infinite majesty of universal intelligence, we should be able to break down the barriers that are keeping us from actually enjoying the gifts of this life.

To understand the majesty and glory of the universe, this life and life after death…you need to move Beyond God and Science.

Let’s get to work.