Science and the Akashic Field: An Integral Theory of Everything

by Ervin Laszlo

Overview

Presents the unifying world-concept long sought by scientists, mystics, and sages: an Integral Theory of Everything

• Explains how modern science has rediscovered the Akashic Field of perennial philosophy

• New edition updates ongoing scientific studies, presents new research inspired by the first edition, and includes new case studies and a section on animal telepathy

Mystics and sages have long maintained that there exists an interconnecting cosmic field at the roots of reality that conserves and conveys information, a field known as the Akashic record. Recent discoveries in vacuum physics show that this Akashic Field is real and has its equivalent in science’s zero-point field that underlies space itself. This field consists of a subtle sea of fluctuating energies from which all things arise: atoms and galaxies, stars and planets, living beings, and even consciousness. This zero-point Akashic Field is the constant and enduring memory of the universe. It holds the record of all that has happened on Earth and in the cosmos and relates it to all that is yet to happen.

In Science and the Akashic Field, philosopher and scientist Ervin Laszlo conveys the essential element of this information field in language that is accessible and clear. From the world of science he confirms our deepest intuitions of the oneness of creation in the Integral Theory of Everything. We discover that, as philosopher William James stated, “We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep.”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781594779909
Publisher:	Inner Traditions/Bear & Company
Publication date:	05/03/2007
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	147,223
File size:	451 KB

About the Author

Ervin Laszlo, holder of the highest degree of the Sorbonne (the State Doctorate), is recipient of four Honorary Ph.D.s and numerous awards and distinctions, including the 2001 Goi Award (the Japan Peace Prize) and a nomination for the 2004 and 2005 Nobel Peace Prize. He is a former professor of philosophy, systems theory, and futures studies in the U.S., Europe, and the Far East and founder and president of the international think-tank The Club of Budapest as well as of the General Evolution Research Group. The author of 75 books, translated into 20 languages, he lives in Italy.
Ervin Laszlo is a philosopher and systems scientist. Twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, he has published more than 75 books and over 400 articles and research papers. The subject of the one-hour PBS special Life of a Modern-Day Genius, Laszlo is the founder and president of the international think tank the Club of Budapest and of the prestigious Laszlo Institute of New Paradigm Research. The winner of the 2017 Luxembourg Peace Prize, he lives in Tuscany. In 2019, Ervin Laszlo was cited as one of the "100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People in the World" according to Watkins Mind Body Spirit magazine.

Read an Excerpt

from Chapter 4

The Crucial Science Fable--In-formation in Nature

Our review of the puzzles encountered at the frontiers of science has set the stage for the quest to which Part One of this book is dedicated: to discover the basis for a scientifically founded Integral Theory of Everything (I-TOE). We have gained an important insight. We have found that in order to account for a growing number of things and processes that are undoubtedly real and are likely to be fundamental, a new factor needs to be added to the repertory of laws and concepts of contemporary science. What is this new factor? Let us look at the principal findings:

• Astonishingly close connections exist on the level of the quantum: every particle that has ever occupied the same quantum state as another particle remains correlated with it in a mysterious, non-energetic way.
• The universe as a whole manifests fine-tuned connections that defy commonsense explanation.
• Post-Darwinian evolutionary theory and quantum biology discover similarly puzzling connections within the organism, as well as between the organism and its milieu.
• The connections that come to light in the farther reaches of consciousness research are just as strange: they are connections between the consciousness of one person and the mind and body of another.

These connections indicate links between the particles that make up the material substance of the universe, as well as between the parts or elements of the integrated systems constituted of the particles. The links fine-tune the particles and the elements of the systems, creating space- and time-transcending coherence among them.

The surprising “nonlocal” forms of coherence crop up in fields as diverse as quantum physics, cosmology, evolutionary biology, and consciousness research. Some physicists--John Bell and Chris Clarke among them--suggest that nonlocality may be in fact the deeper reality; ordinary, so-called “classical” or “decoherent” states (states where things have a unique location and a unique set of physical characteristics) may appear merely as a consequence of the way we interact with medium-sized things--things that are neither as small as quanta nor as large as the cosmos.

Independent of the truth of such speculations, it is clear that nonlocal coherence has important implications. It signals that there is not only matter and energy in the universe, but also a more subtle yet real element: an element that connects and produces the observed quasi-instant forms of coherence.

ENTER THE AKASHIC FIELD

The idea that information is present throughout nature is a recurrent theme in cultural history, but it is new to Western science. It calls for the recognition that information is not an abstract concept: as “in-formation” it has a reality of its own. It is a part of the physical universe. And since it is present throughout nature, it is best conceptualized as an extended field.

Rationale for an In-formation Field

The evidence for a field that would conserve and convey information is not direct; it must be reconstructed in reference to more immediately available evidence. Like other fields known to modern physics, such as the gravitational field, the electromagnetic field, the quantum fields, and the Higgs field, the in-formation field cannot be seen, heard, touched, tasted, or smelled. However, this field produces effects, and these can be perceived. This is the same in regard to all the fields known to science. For example, the gravitational or G-field cannot be perceived: when we drop an object to the ground, we see the object falling but not the field that makes it fall--we see the effect of the G-field but not the G-field itself.

In the case of the field that could account for the presence of in-formation in nature, the evidence is the puzzling, quasi-instant form of coherence that comes to light in the physical, cosmological, and biological sciences, as well as in consciousness research. These phenomena call for an explanation, and the simplest and most logical explanation is a field that links the entities that prove to be nonlocally coherent.

Although fields, like other entities, are not to be multiplied beyond the scope of necessity, it seems evident that a further field is required to account for the special kind of coherence revealed at all scales and domains of nature, from the microdomain of quanta, through the meso-domain of life, to the macrodomain of the cosmos. We need to recognize that just as electric and magnetic effects are conveyed by the EM-field, attraction among massive objects by the G-field, and attraction and repulsion among the particles of the nucleus by quantum fields, so nonlocal coherence is conveyed by a field: the universal in-formation field.

The Akashic Field

In my previous books I named the universal in-formation field the Akashic Field, or A-field for short. What is the reason for this name?

In the Sanskrit and Indian cultures, Akasha is an all-encompassing medium that underlies all things and becomes all things. It is real, but so subtle that it cannot be perceived until it becomes the many things that populate the manifest world. Our bodily senses do not register Akasha, but we can reach it through spiritual practice. The ancient Rishis reached it through a disciplined, spiritual way of life, and through yoga. They described their experience, and made Akasha an essential element of the philosophy and mythology of India.

The Akashic vision of a cyclic universe--of a Metaverse that creates universe after universe--is essentially the vision we now get from cosmology. In the new physics the unified, physically real vacuum is the equivalent of Akasha. It is the original field out of which emerged particles and atoms, stars and planets, human and animal bodies, and all the things that can be seen and touched. It is a dynamic, energy-filled medium in ceaseless fluctuation. The vacuum is Akasha and Prana rolled into one--the womb of all the “matter” and all the “force” in the universe.

Table of Contents

Introduction: A Meaningful Scientific Worldview for Our Time

PART ONE

THE FOUNDATIONS OF AN INTEGRAL THEORY OF EVERYTHING
How Information Connects Everything to Everything Else

1 The Challenge of an Integral Theory of Everything
Approaches to a Genuine TOE

2 On Puzzles and Fables: Drivers of the Next Paradigm Shift in Science

3 A Concise Catalog of the Puzzles of Coherence
The Puzzles of Coherence in Quantum Physics
The Puzzles of Coherence in Cosmology
The Puzzles of Coherence in Biology
The Puzzles of Coherence in Consciousness

4 The Crucial Science Fable--In-formation in Nature
The Quantum Vacuum--or Plenum
“In-formation” in the Quantum Vacuum
The Parable of the Sea
Enter the Akashic Field

PART TWO

THE IN-FORMED UNIVERSE
Perennial Questions and Fresh Answers from the Integral Theory of Everything

5 The Origins and Destiny of Life and the Universe
Where Everything Came From--and Where It Is Going
Origins and Evolution of Our Universe
Life on Earth and in the Universe
The Future of Life in the Cosmos
Glimpses of Ultimate Reality

6 Consciousness--Human and Cosmic
The Roots of Consciousness
Evolutionary Panpsychism
The Wider In-formation of Consciousness
The Next Evolution of Human Consciousness
Cosmic Consciousness
The Farthermost Reaches of Consciousness

7 The Poetry of Akashic Vision

The Phenomenon of Coherence:
A Deeper Look at the Scientific Evidence

Over Four Decades in Quest of an Integral Theory of Everything:
An Autobiographical Retrospective

References

Essential Reading:
A Bibliography of Additional Research Reports and Theories

Index

What People are Saying About This

Ignazio Masulli

“This is one of the most important books to be published in the last decades. Ervin Laszlo’s Science and the Akashic Field has the power and coherence to explain the major phenomena of cosmos, life, and mind as they occur at the various levels of nature and society. In demonstrating that an information field is a fundamental factor in the universe, Ervin Laszlo catalyzes a radical paradigm-shift in the contemporary sciences.”

Peter Russell

“A seminal book from one of the best thinkers of our time. Ervin Laszlo charts the ­frontiers to which science is inexorably headed. In years to come people will look back at the amazing foresight of this work.”

Editorial Reviews

In his admirable 40-year quest for an integral theory of everything, Laszlo has. . . presented a coherent global hypothesis of connectivity between quantum, cosmos, life and consciousness."

Zev Naveh

Laszlo’s book opens the way toward a great synthesis. Whoever reads Laszlo’s book witnesses the greatest awakening of the human spirit. Not since Plato and Democritus has there been such a transformation in the history of thought!

László Gazdag

This is one of the most important books to be published in the last decades. Ervin Laszlo’s Science and the Akashic Field has the power and coherence to explain the major phenomena of cosmos, life, and mind as they occur at the various levels of nature and society. In demonstrating that an information field is a fundamental factor in the universe, Ervin Laszlo catalyzes a radical paradigm-shift in the contemporary sciences.

Ignazio Masulli

In a visionary way based on profound knowledge of modern science, Laszlo creates a genuine architecture of human and cosmic evolution. He provides the bridge between all the different puzzle-stones of science and unifies them in a most remarkable and bold ‘integral theory of everything.’

Fritz-Albert Popp

In this impressive and transformative work Laszlo brings the reader into an integral worldview for our time. The reader who encounters this book will be irrevocably transformed and will henceforth experience the world through a global lens.

Ashok Gangadean

Over the last 30 years, Ervin Laszlo has consistently been at the forefront of scientific inquiry, exploring the frontiers of knowledge with insight, wisdom and integrity. With Science and the Akashic Field he takes another quantum leap forward in our understanding of the universe and ourselves. This enthralling vision of mind, science, and universe is essential reading for the 21st century.

Alfonso Montuori

". . . highly empirical and impressive . . . manages to reveal the connectivity of a wide range of established principles . . . . expands the mind to the point that readers will exit this changed."

New Age Retailer

". . . deeper research into nature's information field is essential. . . . What we discover will have profound personal and social impacts, and . . . accessing this knowledge is intrinsic to the evolution of consciousness."

Nexus

". . . will be of aid to those students interested in utilising modern science to explain the subtle and unseen."

The Beacon

". . . Laszlo's new book is a provocative overview and a masterful synthesis of knowledge at the frontiers of cosmology, physics, neurobiology, and consciousness studies. . . . provides strong support for the idea that finally we have a common unifying concept for science and spirituality."

Christian De Quincey

". . . an eminently readable book written by a preeminent mind of our time. . . . It inspires us to reach beyond the known into the further reaches of our knowing and imagination. . . . Laszlo integrates a vast array of contemporary scientific and perrenial philosophic knowledge, distilling it into a simple and elegant synthesis."

More Than A Book Review Yasuhiko Genku Kimura

"Laszlo easily and ably presents the scientific case in terms everyone can understand. There is an extensive bibliography of technical journals for those who wish to know more."

New Dawn W. Ritchie Benedict

". . . provides a non-technical introduction to explain how the interaction of vacuum torson waves could scientifically prove that everything and everyone in the universe is connected."

Alec Franklor

". . . lends credance to our deepest intuitions of the oneness of life and the whole of creation."

Share Guide

Ervin Laszlo presents readers with a tour de force, nothing less than a theory of everything. This book introduces such provocative concepts as the “A-field” and the “informed universe,” making the case that a complete understanding of reality is woefully lacking without them. Readers of this book will never view the universe in quite the same way again.

Stanley Krippner

Decoding GUTs, WIMPs, and The Big Crunch, Ervin Laszlo brings the ancient Indian concept of akasha into the new millennium and convincingly details how science is turning this metaphor into a viable scientific theory.

March-April 2005 Spirit of Change

Ervin Laszlo is, arguably, the most profound thinker alive today.

First Ambassador of the Club of Budapest Lady Montagu of Beaulieu

If you ever wanted to hold the universe in your hand. . . .You can hardly do better than join cosmologist Ervin Laszlo in the ultimate quest: for a theory of everything.

Christian de Quincey

. . . . This is a solidly grounded vision of our cosmos, with perspectives that are wide and deep and have profound implications for all of us.

Henrik B. Tschudi

. . . Ervin Laszlo’s brilliant new work, Science and the Akashic Field, surpasses previous explorations. . . . This is a “make-sense-of-the-complex” opus, accessible to every reader.

A. Harris Stone

Science and the Akashic Field . . . . offers humanity the perspective of more peace and security, not as an idealistic goal but as a reflection of reality.

editor in chief of Ode Magazine and author of Beca Jurriaan Kamp

Science and the Akashic Field provides the pioneering scientific answer to. . .fundamental questions our species faces at this critical time in human evolution.

David Loye

A seminal book from one of the best thinkers of our time. Ervin Laszlo charts the ­frontiers to which science is inexorably headed. In years to come people will look back at the amazing foresight of this work.

fellow of the Institute of Noetic Sciences and the Peter Russell

"With extraordinary intellectual clarity, Laszlo provides a vision that links the best of modern science to the wisdom of the great spiritual traditions."

Stanislav Grof

This important work unifies the realms of science and consciousness in a truly integral ‘theory of everything.’

Ralph Abraham

Laszlo’s book opens the way toward a great synthesis. Whoever reads Laszlo’s book witnesses the greatest awakening of the human spirit. Not since Plato and Democritus has there been such a transformation in the history of thought!

László Gazdag

". . . will be of aid to those students interested in utilising modern science to explain the subtle and unseen."

Science and the Akashic Field provides the pioneering scientific answer to. . .fundamental questions our species faces at this critical time in human evolution.”

Decoding GUTs, WIMPs, and The Big Crunch, Ervin Laszlo brings the ancient Indian concept of akasha into the new millennium and convincingly details how science is turning this metaphor into a viable scientific theory.

From the Publisher

". . . deeper research into nature's information field is essential. . . . What we discover will have profound personal and social impacts, and . . . accessing this knowledge is intrinsic to the evolution of consciousness."

Mar-Apr Nexus

". . . an eminently readable book written by a preeminent mind of our time. . . . It inspires us to reach beyond the known into the further reaches of our knowing and imagination. . . . Laszlo integrates a vast array of contemporary scientific and perrenial philosophic knowledge, distilling it into a simple and elegant synthesis."

Yasuhiko Genku Kimura

"Laszlo easily and ably presents the scientific case in terms everyone can understand. There is an extensive bibliography of technical journals for those who wish to know more."

W. Ritchie Benedict

Decoding GUTs, WIMPs, and The Big Crunch, Ervin Laszlo brings the ancient Indian concept of akasha into the new millennium and convincingly details how science is turning this metaphor into a viable scientific theory.

Spirit of Change

Ervin Laszlo is, arguably, the most profound thinker alive today.

Lady Montagu of Beaulieu

Science and the Akashic Field . . . . offers humanity the perspective of more peace and security, not as an idealistic goal but as a reflection of reality.

Jurriaan Kamp

It is rare indeed that a revolution in thought can open our eyes to a new universe that transforms our inner experience as well as our relationships with others and even with the cosmos. Martin Buber did it with I and Thou. Now, Ervin Laszlo, one of the most profound minds of our generation, has given us a great gift in this readable book that explores how we are connected to each other in fields of resonance that penetrate to the deepest levels of being.

Allan Combs

A seminal book from one of the best thinkers of our time. Ervin Laszlo charts the ­frontiers to which science is inexorably headed. In years to come people will look back at the amazing foresight of this work.

Peter Russell