INTRODUCTION:
Professor David Bohm, (1917-1992) was a renowned scientist. His books on quantum theory were widely acclaimed. He was a close associate of J. Krishnamurti from the early 1960s and was also associated with the Krishnamurti School in Brookwood Park. Professor Bohm and JK used to have regular discussions on various topics in philosophy, the most important being ‘The End of Time’ and ‘The Future of Mankind’.
He worked independently on his own Philosophy and proposed the theory of ‘The Totality and the Implicate Order’; which was published by ARK Paperbacks, London.
The book consists of seven chapters, viz.
1. Fragmentation and totality
2. The reomodo: an experiment with language and thought
3. Reality and knowledge, considered as a process
4. Hidden variables in quantum theory
5. Quantum theory as an indication of a new order in physics, Part A: The
Development of new orders as shown through the history of physics.
6. Quantum theory as an indication of a new order in physics, Part B: Implicate and
Explain the order in physical law.
7. The universe and consciousness that envelop and unfold
The content of the book is highly philosophical and scientific in nature and is intended for serious readers of Philosophy of Science. In the following paragraphs there will be a brief review of the contents together with their own derivations based on the Intelligent Master Plan.
II. What is ‘Involve Order?’
According to David Bohm’s theory, the implicate and explain commands are characterized by the following clarification: ‘in folding [or implicate] order, space and time are no longer the dominant factors that determine the relationships of dependency or independence of the different elements. Rather, an entirely different kind of basic connection of elements is possible, from which our ordinary notions of space and time, along with those of separately existing material particles, are abstracted as forms derived from the deeper order. These ordinary notions appear in fact in what is called the “explained” or “unfolded” order, which is a special and distinguished form contained within the general totality of all implicate orders.
Threads:
In this book, the scholarly professor expounds the theory that we are guided by stubborn vision and perceive and also experience the world as fragmented. Such a point of view is false because it is based on the fact that we confuse the contents of our thought with a description of the world. Bohm, for his part, introduces the concept of an implicate ORDER in which any element contains in itself the entirety of the Universe known as TOTALITY. The most important thing to note is that this theory includes both matter and consciousness. In another conversation with Dr. Renee Weber, Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University, he describes consciousness as an “implicate order” that manifests as part of the whole, and the whole as the container of the implicate order.
Professor Weber compares each individual to a bee that serves the hive, which is the whole, while Professor Bohm compares it to individual notes that form a symphony. Anyone who has seen the huge temple towers of South India could see that hundreds of carvings on the huge Gopuras (temple towers) make up the entire tower. Here, hive, symphony, or tower is the whole and the individual bees, musical notes, and carvings are the implicate order.
One is struck by the amazing similarity between Vedanta and what Bohm expresses in the following words, ‘an individual is eternally developing his potential’. JK elsewhere expresses it as ‘continually blossoming, revealing more and more what is’.
Regarding the discussions about the book, the following three concepts deserve special attention.
A. Cosmology and the Implicate Order:
B. the Implicate order, Life and force of total necessity and
C. Consciousness and the implicate order.
Reading the previous three subheadings will suffice to provide a thorough understanding of the topic of wholeness and the implicate order. In general, they will have the following key factors:
1. a set of implicate commands.
2. A special case distinguished from the previous set, which constitutes an explicit order of manifestation.
3. A relation or general law that expresses a force of necessity that unites a certain set of the implicate order in such a way that they contribute to a common explanatory end.
The three examples given above make the above factors clear and these factors constitute the essence of the book and readers are invited to review the contents and understand the points mentioned in it.
III: LIGHT as an Implicate Order:
As a celebrated scientist, he deals with physical matter, light, space, and time. He describes matter as condensed or ‘frozen’ light. When we come out into the light, we are coming to the fundamental activity on which existence is based. Movement is the primordial reality in perception and when we say that there is no speed in light it is ordinary language. But, in a self-referential state, it means that there is no time, no speed, and no space. It is approaching a timeless state and Bohm logically derives that time originates from Timeless.
Professor Bohm makes a very interesting hypothesis that particles are implicit in the information content of light. He makes a bold statement: “light, so to speak, determines itself to make particles, to allow for a richer Universe. In other words, Light (totality) transforms aspects of itself into particles (implicit order ) so that the particles will reveal the light.
IV: TOTALITY and TIME:
About Time, Prof. Bohm suggests that Time is the enrichment of Eternity. Can we visualize that nothing happens but everything just ‘is’? Past and future are always present as shades of the ‘present’. Past, we remember it as memory. But the memory is present. The future is our expectation in the present. Therefore, “the past ends in the presence that stretches into the endless future” – J.Krishnamurti.
Bohm says: The current idea of this Universe may represent some age of the Universe. The Universe of light is eternal as far as we are concerned. But at a certain stage, some of these light rays came together and made the big bang. And that unfolded the current Universe that may have its end. But the Universe of life is beyond time and therefore could be other Universes. There can be many eras, not necessarily in succession.
V: Implicate Order, Consciousness and Intelligent Master Plan:
The implicate order would be the material aspect and the superimplicated order would be the conscious aspect. (There could also be super-super implicate orders), while totality is the origin implicit in all of these. A brief description of the Intelligent Master plan will clarify this aspect. In the Intelligent Master Plan theory, it was clearly defined that space and time are explicit forms of energy, a Universal energy known as the Intelligent Master Plan. That cosmic energy is the cause of the entire Universe. The dissipation and/or accumulation of energy causes various objects and changes that we observe. Such objects, including the so-called Aether, constitute space, and the measurements of such changes constitute time. Time and space are just measurements or observation of various changes in the one source of energy.
Thus, the Intelligent Master Plan of the Holistic Philosophy is a replica of the Totality in the Philosophy of implicate order.
SAW. The concept of ‘GOD’:
Having discussed the common in Wholeness and Holistic Philosophy, it may be appropriate to conclude this article with a discussion of GOD. Some scientists may be reluctant to use the word God; there are some great scientists like, none other
than Einstein, who declared that the entire Universe is in accordance with a ‘grand design’ of God. But is there any famous scientist who has unambiguously clarified the existence of God, that too in scientific terms?
Professor David Bohm, in proposing the Totality theory, has clearly explained that there is a ‘super’ power or Intelligence that is represented in all matter and consciousness, which again tries to enrich the totality as explained in the previous paragraphs. Super intelligence does not need to be neutral and is benevolent and compassionate. Which are precisely the attributes of God according to Vedanta.
In fact, one is struck by the similarity between Vedanta and what Professor Bohm expresses in the book under discussion. Two Vedanta quotes will clarify these points.
“WHAT is in the Universe is in the molecule and WHAT is in the molecule is in the Universe”
“THAT is older than the oldest and
THAT is more nascent than the most nascent”
The word THAT is very important. The Upanishads say OHM TAT SAT which means
“IT is” and here the word IT contains the entire Universe and all time, present, past and future.
:
God is considered as an acronym formed by the three words Generator, Operator and Destroyer. Here, the three functions are carried out by the totality or the Intelligent Master Plan with the difference that there is no destruction, but only a process of Change, because the energy “is eternally unfolding its potential”. He quotes JK as saying “continually blooming, revealing more and more of what it is”. This can be called ‘Creative Lila’ (Eternal Play). We can also call it ‘flowering’, as JK says.
Conclusion:
Thus, one of the most serious books on Philosophy is simplified in the previous paragraphs so that the readers read and understand it. Along with the book’s author’s examples, my own examples were also given to keep things simple. The major contribution of this article to the Philosophy of Science is an Explanation of the Philosophy of God given in scientific terms. The correlation between Professor Bohm’s Philosophy of Wholeness and Vedanta is presented in simple terms.
An important aspect of this article is that the implicate order and totality are represented in all the concepts explained in it.
In short, readers interested in Scientific Philosophy will greatly benefit from reading this article.
We wish the readers all the best.