The Holographic Universe

Michael Talbot was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1953. He is the author of Mysticism and the New Physics, Beyond the Quantum and Your Past Lives: A Reincarnation Handbook, as well as three novels. THE HOLOGRAPHIC UNIVERSE MICHAEL TALBOT HarperCollinsPublishers For Alexandra, Chad, Ryan, Larry Joe, and Shawn, with love HarperCollinsPublishers 77-85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, London W6 &JB This paperback edition 1996 12 Previously published by Grafton Books 1991 First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers Copyright © Michael Talbot 1991 The Author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work ISBN 0 586 09171 8 Primed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, St Ives plc All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. The new data are of such far-reaching relevance that they could revolutionize our understanding of the human psyche, of psychopathology, and of the therapeutic process. Some of the observations transcend in their significance the framework of psychology and psychiatry and represent a serious challenge to the current Newtonian-Cartesian paradigm of Westem science. They could change drastically our image of human nature, of culture and history, and of reality. —Dr. Stanislav Grof on holographic phenomena in The Adventure of Self-Discovery Contents Acknowledgments Introduction xi 1 PART 1: A REMARKABLE NEW VIEW OF REALITY 1 The Brain as Hologram 11 2 The Cosmos as Hologram 32 PART II: MIND AND BODY 3 The Holographic Model and Psychology 59 4 I Sing the Body Holographic 5 A Pocketful of Miracles 82 119 6 Seeing Holographically 162 PART III: SPACE AND TIME 7 Time Out of Mind 8 Traveling in the Superhologram 197 229 9 Return to the Dreamtime 286 Notes Index 303 329 Acknowledgments Writing is always a collaborative effort and many people have contributed to the production of this book in various ways. It is not possible to name them all, but a few who deserve special mention include: David Bohm, Ph.D., and Karl Pribram, Ph.D., who were generous with both their time and their ideas, and without whose work this book would not have been written. Barbara Brennan, M.S., Larry Dossey, M.D., Brenda Dunne, Ph.D., Elizabeth W. Fenske, Ph.D., Gordon Globus, Jim Gordon, Stanislav Grof, M.D., Francine Rowland, M.D., Valerie Hunt, Ph.D., Robert Jahn, Ph.D., Ronald Wong Jue, Ph.D., Mary Orser, F. David Peat, Ph.D., Elizabeth Rauscher, Ph.D., Beatrice Rich, Peter M. Rojcewicz, Ph.D., AbnerShimony, Ph.D., Bernie S. Siegel, M.D., T.M. Srinivasan, M.D., Whitley Strieber, Russell Targ, William A. Tiller, Ph.D., Montague Ullman, M.D., Lyall Watson, Ph.D., Joel L. Whitton, M.D., Ph.D., Fred Alan Wolf, Ph.D., and Richard Zarro, who were also all generous with their time and ideas. Carol Ann Dryer, for her friendship, insight, and support, and for unending generosity when it comes to sharing her profound talent. Kenneth Ring, Ph.D., for hours of fascinating conversation and for introducing me to the writings of Henry Corbin. Stanley Krippner, Ph.D., for taking the time to call me or drop me a note whenever he came across any new