Science is weird. In its true form, it can be the most liberating perspective, the most useful tool we humans have yet developed.
But in complicity with big money and big power, it is absolutely the most imprisoning dogma, for it masquerades as objective truth, beyond opinion and question – and in that, abandons its own origins, just as all religions have. Much of what bedevils us in the current world manifestation, the old story of separation, the dualistic delusion the drives us to battle nature and destroy ourselves, can be laid at the foot of this “science as dogma” approach to life, reductionist science as it has been practiced for the past century or so.
But there’s lots of new science out there, mostly not yet being brought into application in any of the aspects of life, such as medicine, which are ostensibly science-based, and certainly not being brought into the popular realm via media. This new science, in most of the disciplines, undermines and even contradicts much of what we were taught as “science” in school, and it also has deep, deep implications for how we live on the earth, how we take care of ourselves and each other. It provides, for those willing to make the effort to sus it out, a whole new paradigm for human life, a “New Story”, as Charles Eisenstein calls the evolving perspective on our origins and futures.
This new story, and a sketch of the science behind it – complete with links to the sources – is laid out in a most accessible and impactful way in a blog article from Kelly Brogan, MD – Gamechanging Science. She says:
You may not know this yet, but the whole game has changed and we are several decades into the most powerful shift in scientific thinking in the past 300 years. Science, when handled with care, is a process, not a destination.
She introduces some of the ideas of this new science, focusing first on epigenetics and its implications for our notions of disease – she is a practicing psychiatrist and author of A Mind of Your Own – and laying out three “game changers”:
The Microbiome: — The term dysbiosis, used by holistic and integrative practitioners to refer to gut imbalance, of course, actually means “wrong living”. No doubt, our struggles today, stem from a lack of connection to the natural world. It is, in this way, poetic justice that we would only be able to heal our guts, right our relationship to the microbial world through food – nature’s gift, bounty, and language.
Exosomes: — The nail in the coffin of protein-coding-gene-determined-health is a group of tiny bubble-like blobs that influence gene expression. Amazingly similar to viruses in nature, structure, and possibly even function, exosomes are created and received by our bodily cells in order to direct, determine, and react to states of being. — This is being called inter-kingdom crosstalk Once again, food is reframed as so much more than calories and nutrients…it is information.
The power of Belief: — Dr. Candace Pert, the pioneering researcher credited with the discovery of the opiate receptor, has debunked the Cartesian dualism that for hundreds of years has put the mind out of the realm of the body. She also challenged the notion that the mind is something that merely relates to the body. The mind, per her conclusions, is the body.
This is a complex and powerful article, which I would recommend one read entirely before making judgements. It concludes with this amazing statement: “… human experience is the universe manifested at one point. It is the emergent properties of many, infinitely complex and interfacing systems. It is fundamentally sacred, larger than our will, and gently demanding of our humility.”
Shunyata's Apprentice 
Great post – I just added this comment to her site:
Two quick comments;
Arch materialist and skeptic Jerry Coyne has conceded that epigenetic changes can be passed on for up to 4 generations. After that, it gets kind of scary for materialists because if epigenetic changes go on indefinitely, it means mind – or intelligence – in some way has an effect on the process of evolution. (Not taking a position here – just sayin’)
Two: if you look at Loch Kelly’s book on shifting awareness, and the research done in the NYU non duality laboratory on spacious (nondual) awareness, you can see that it is at least possible we don’t need to assume the materialist view. It may actually be that this non-localized awareness – which does not ‘belong” to “you” and to “me” – could encompass – are you ready? – the whole universe.
in fact, there’s a growing movement in the philosophy of science to consider the possibility that mind or intelligence or awareness or consciousness – whatever you want to call it – is coextensive with the universe.
The revolution has, perhaps, already begun!
Wow. Sitting here breathing deeply to maintain, as your words send me sailing out INTO that spacious awareness. Trembling a bit with the idea of that, non-localized awareness that encompasses the universe. Maybe that’s at the heart of that experience of ‘body of light’ in meditation, or in breath work. Co-extensive with the universe. Sometimes I feel that way, but my skeptical conditioning pushes it down… thanks for sharing.
A very wise Indian woman I know from Vipassana told me once that there’s nothing in the Buddhist teachings that’s not in Vedanta…
…also, I don’t see it now, but you mentioned the Nation article on “We still need..” – wow, it is great! I read all of it and posted about it somewhere… impressive collection of people. And helpful to see positive future visions. Thanks!
Very cool stuff, isn’t it? For your skeptical self (I grew up a dogmatic, devout atheist, so I may know where you’re coming from), two recommendations. One, totally non-intellectual – it gives a really good feeling for the idea of all pervading awareness: Lock Kelly’s “Shift Into Freedom.” He’s got a lot of exercises and explanations on his site – http://www.lochkelly.com. The other is Alan Wallace’s “Meditations of a Buddhist Skeptic.” (the “skeptic” in the title is a direct hit at Stephen Batchelor, by the way:>) He’s got an amazing section on yogachara Buddhism – the best meditation on emptiness I’ve ever seen. You end up with nothing in the universe but “appearances to mind.” (not “my” mind – just Mind). Everything else is intellectual speculation.
But it’s very hard to get through words. When it gets clear, it’s so unbelievably simple it’s hard to believe it seemed so complex.
But the easiest way may be Jack Kornfield’s “big mind” meditation. It’s so simple you might “get it” in under 1 minute.
Listen to thoughts arising. “Listen” is the key. Don’t pay any attention to the verbal meaning, just “hear” them as sounds.
Next, shift attention to sounds “outside” the mind (notice that “outside”). Just listen and let go of identifying the sounds as “birds” or “cars passing by” or “computer hum” or whatever it is. Just sound.
Finally – the key. Listen to both the “sound” of thoughts and “sound” in the environment. Now – look for a boundary. Can you find any clear, distinct boundary in your experience that clearly differentiates “inside” and “out”? That is, the “sounds” of thoughts “inside” and the “sounds” of stuff occurring “outside?”
Don’t look for a verbal answer. Just keep looking for the boundary until you realize – experientially – there isn’t one.
Then relax!