He was a visionary of exemplary proportions, Nicola Tesla was way ahead of his time, perhaps even what some Buddhists might call a tulku or a high lama only that he was reborn in the west. One of my favourite Tesla quotes is “If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.” If this does not excite and elicit a strong response in the modern Buddhist, nothing will. I was inspired to say something about Tesla after reading this article in Sanskriti Magazine a few weeks ago. What impressed me the most was that he actually had some of his realizations before he met Swami Vivekananda, and their shared meeting only seemed to strengthen and cement his resolve that western science and Vedantic or eastern teachings were actually talking about the very same thing. I obviously find this extraordinarily interesting or I would not be here sharing this with you all. How I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall listening to them theorize together.
Likely one of the most important things Tesla has said was:
“All perceptible matter comes from a primary substance, or tenuity beyond conception, filling all space, the akasha or luminiferous ether, which is acted upon by the life-giving Prana or creative force, calling into existence, in never-ending cycles all things and phenomena.”
~ Nikola Tesla, Man’s Greatest Achievement, 1907 1 2
The simple beauty in this one sentence connecting both worlds not just on a literary level as he uses both English and Sanskrit terminology, but on a level of understanding unsurpassed by most if not all minds of the time. My take here is that from my Buddhist understanding the Akasha or Luminiferous Ether is what we might call Mind or perhaps consciousness. I will discuss in future blogs what modern science might call this today.
However what puzzles me the most is that if we as humans have been talking about this for ca. 7000 years why have we not come to any conclusions or a consensus between these two worlds?
I have several ideas as to why. Is it simply because of our hubris and pride that western society cannot reconcile that we are not the smartest or wisest beings on the planet? Is our understanding of eastern religions and philosophy still tainted be the catholic missionaries interpretations of Vedic, Hindu and Buddhist texts in the 17 and 1800s that positioned Buddhists as nihilists wanting to lose themselves in nothingness, disappearing from existence into a black hole? Did we lose most of the ancient knowledge in the burning of the libraries of Nalanda in India and Alexandria in Egypt, due to religious wars, and it has taken us ca. 2000 years to catch up? Or is it simply that we have not sat down and discussed the possibilities in enough open forums such as this?
Does Tesla inspire you? Do you have an affinity towards Vedic or Buddhist teachings even though you do not have a religious practise? What are your thoughts and insights?
QP
QUANTUM AWARENESS Where Science and the Buddha Meet 
This may sound quite mundane to you, but the study of harmonic motion is right where I dropped off my college studies. I got right up to it and there quit. I had completed my first semester calc-based physics course in my first semester of college but had immediately left to serve an LDS mission after that semester. One semester is all I completed up to that point. I returned from the LDS mission, returned to the continuation of the physics sequence, and I looked at the harmonic motion formulas and dropped out. Now that I look back, I am so proud of myself for admitting my weakness to myself. I think I achieved my best understanding of energy, frequency, and vibration through hours and miles of running. There is something to be said for the confidence gained in the idea that one step forward leads to another. I don’t really think in terms of formulas or theories. I think of life as it has taught me and try to reason and relate from there. Like I said, I dropped out of second-semster college physics and never went back. You mention in your quote of Tesla some “primary substance” which precedes or is followed by “all things and phenomena”. I suppose it is a foundation of sorts. There have been two constants my entire life, what I would consider my foundation. My entire life has been built upon these two. I don’t dare state them, but I would. Is meditation a single foundation, or is it accompanied by another?
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Hey Caveman, how are you? Let me just say that nothing about you is mundane or boring. Different or chaotic yes, but mundane never. I am glad that you liked my Tesla quote. I find him very inspiring.
Let’s move to this foundation and you question “Is meditation a single foundation, or is it accompanied by another?” Short answer yes, it is accompanied by two things. For me it is true that meditation has formed a very profound basis or as you say a foundation for my life, in the conditioned world in which we all share. I see it however not as the or one of two foundations but the path or entrance into the only foundation, this foundation is what most Buddhists might call Mind. This is why I believe that Tesla says that this Akasha is acted upon by the life giving Prana. Our consciousness or life force interacts with the energy of the universe or its foundation. Mediation practice trains us to observe this interaction, and if we are lucky, we realize that what we think is ourselves is none other than that which we are meditating on, and that even the action of meditation cannot be separated from both of them. Subject, object, and action unite, or better said we finally see the inseparability of them and all things.
What are your two foundations? Surly you must see that by mentioning them you wanted me to be curious enough to ask you to share them?
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Oh, I, uhh grew tired of waiting and put it in a blog: https://findingnoreasontodoubt.wordpress.com/2016/04/02/running-and-reading-the-book-of-mormon/
I hope you don’t mind.
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Hi! Thanks for dropping by! Reading this intro post, I think you might like Stephen Batchelor’s new book, After Buddhism. I’m only about halfway thru, but it seems to address well the question of how Buddha’s teachings got buried in a pile of supernaturalism and ontological arguments rather than holding to the clear, simple realizations that one finds in his words.
Also intrigued by the quantum associations you’re pointing out. One of the things that drew me to Buddhism many years ago was the sense that it was reconcilable with most of modern scientific observations of the universe… even tho there’s not a perfect consensus on all that, the general outlines seem to mesh well.
It may be our wave of practitioners that bring all this to the forefront. Keep blogging!
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Thank you, John. In my Buddhist school, we have quite a few people who have engaged in many conversations with physicists of all persuasions. The general consensus is that Buddhists do not know enough about the science and physicists do not meditate enough. If we could meet somewhere in the middle, there would be an explosion of new thought and we would raise the level of consciousness worldwide. Wow eh?
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After so much feedback from yourself, I thought it was time to peruse some of your writing with a closer eye. Certainly what you have to say is interesting, but I will no doubt have to Google search some of what you write about! (Forgive me for my very simplistic comment on this, I completely gave up on physics as soon as high school allowed, so my knowledge of this arena is patchy to say the least!). Nonetheless, expansion of the mind includes exploring pastures new and I like to pad out my understanding of anything (including Buddhism) with as many different sources, opinions and media as possible.
From what I have read of your writing so far, I am already enjoying the meeting of physics and Buddhism. I like to think that as well as the obvious quest for enlightenment and all of the fringe benefits associated with Buddhist practice, that Buddhist teachings as a way to live is most compatible with my understanding of the physical world around us. ( I use the word “spirituality” lightly, as so far, I have not encountered any supernatural beings such as angels, talking beams of lights or disembodied voices since embarking on this particular journey.) Wisdom based on cause and effect, and intentional living feels so much more empowering than leaving things to fate. Anyway before I start waffling any further, I will finish with what I came with the intention of saying: I enjoyed learning from your blog, can’t wait to sink my reading teeth into more of it!
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Wow, thank you so much, I or my ego enjoyed your comments. It is so much fun for me to talk about Buddhism and physics, one could also do the same with Buddhism and philosophy, one might say that Buddhism is a bridge between the three worlds and might actually go beyond them all as it unlike science is not limited to the physical world as much as the other two are. Buddhism is free in every way to talk about the unknown or indescribable. Anyway, feel free to ask any question you like and or leave any comment critical or positive that you like as well. I am happy to have connected with you 🙂
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How has the reading and googles going?
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I do not think the world has any idea what a visionary Tesla was. He was truly one of a kind.
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Yes he was, but funnily enough Elon Musk is turning out to be another very intetesting being. Who knows who the future might bring us….
QP
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