As modern science has progressed it’s progressed towards a ‘truth’ that’s been evident to Eastern mystics for thousands of years – everything is interrelated and interdependent on everything else, and our consciousness shapes the world around us. This idea is consistent with the ‘ecological worldview’ which recognises the interdependence of all phenomena and the embedded ness of individuals and societies in the cyclical processes of nature. Another area of particular interest is quantum field theory. In this theory the classical contrast between solid particles and the space surrounding them is completely overcome. The quantum field is seen as the fundamental physical entity; a continuous medium which is present everywhere in space. Particles are merely local concentrations of the field; concentrations of energy which come and go, thereby losing their individual character and dissolving into the underlying field.
“We may therefore regard matter as being constituted by the regions of space in which the field is extremely intense… There is no place in this new kind of physics both for the field and matter, for the field is the only reality.” – Albert Einstein
Quoted from the Tao of Physics:
‘Like Einstein, the Eastern Mystics consider the underlying entity as the only reality: all its phenomenal manifestations are seen as transitory and illusory. This reality of the Eastern Mystic cannot be identified with the quantum field of the physicist because it is seen as the essence of all phenomena in this world and consequently, is beyond all concepts and ideas. The quantum field, on the other hand, is a well-defined concept which only accounts for some of the physical phenomena… …In the Eastern view, the reality underlying all phenomena is beyond all forms and defies all description and specification. It is therefore often said to be formless, empty or void. But this emptiness is not to be taken for mere nothingness. It is, on the contrary, the essence of all forms and the source of all life… … Being transient manifestations of the Void, the things in this world do not have a fundamental identity. This is especially emphasised in Buddhist philosophy which denies the existence of any material substance and also holds that the idea of a constant ‘self’ undergoing successive experiences is an illusion.’
TF
Some Words Left Behind 