In awe of life

I was amazed to learn of numerous instances wherein organ transplant recipients acquired the personality traits of their donor. Talents, preferences, tastes and behavior opposite of what they had prior to the transplant were acquired. I wondered how this could happen when classical science tells us that consciousness resides in the brain and that it is our genes that determine both our character traits and ailments to which we may be predisposed. We have been made to believe that we are basically victims of our genetic makeup.

I got my answer watching the cellular biologist Dr. Bruce Lipton on YouTube. Having been trained in classic science, Lipton was astounded by the results of experiments he had been conducting while teaching developmental cellular biology at Stanford University. He found out that just like our body (composed of 50 trillion cells) which has sense perception, each individual cell in our body is like a little person in that it, too, has sense perception.

Each cell has receptors that take in signals from the environment. The signals, such as fear, anger, stress, or joy, happiness and wellbeing, all have their commensurate effect on our cells. Lipton says that the environment we provide controls the life of our cells. Put the cells in a good environment and we get good healthy cells, and conversely, put the cells in a bad environment and we get bad cells. Lipton further explains that our DNA is actually akin to a blueprint. It is not the architect; rather, it is the environment that is the architect of the DNA blueprint. Indeed, cells have memory, and that is why organ recipients acquire the memory of the cells transplanted to them.

Lipton says that people act from full consciousness only from 1 to 5 percent of the time, and that 95-99 percent of the time we act from our subconscious. From the study of brainwaves in adults and children, he explains that from ages zero to six years, a child is in a hypnogogic or trance state. From zero to two years of age (delta brainwaves) the child merely observes the world without interaction. From two to six (theta brainwaves) the child mixes his or her world of imagination with the real world.

From zero to six, therefore, a child learns easily and does not discriminate; for him or her, all is truth. All his or her experiences during these ages get downloaded into his or her subconscious. It is just as hypnotherapists would do when they bring the patient’s brainwaves to a trance state in order to directly download new behaviors into his or her subconscious minds. The downloads, our subconscious, get stored into our cells, and it is then through our 50 trillion cells that we act 95 percent of the time.

Scientific materialism explains away personality changes occasioned by organ transplants as caused by either the medications, psychosocial stress, or preexisting psychopathology of the recipients. The same attitude is taken toward paranormal phenomena: Classic science simply disavows its existence. This is not the case with quantum physics, the new science. Max Planck, a German theoretical physicist who originated quantum theory and who, in 1918, was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics, said: “There is no matter as such. All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter.”

For classic science everything is matter: There is no spirit. From this perspective of a science that has held sway for the last three centuries, it becomes easy to understand humankind’s idea that nature is simply for its use and exploitation. The Darwinian view of nature that says only the fittest survive makes fear humans’ driving force. For fear of being conquered, we must instead conquer. We are in a rat race, a race to outdo each other, to acquire as much material possessions as we can so as to be viewed successful and as “somebody.” More sensitive people may, at some point in their life, experience feelings of emptiness despite much material wealth. The new science, quantum physics, tells us the opposite. It tells us that everything is infused with Spirit, that behind the force of the universe is Consciousness, an Intelligence, a Divine Matrix.

As humanity faces potential extinction brought about by scientific materialism, there is a dire need for each of us to provide our 50 trillion cells a good environment. We need to banish materialism from our minds and expose our cells to ever-present Spirit. Little miracles happen around us daily, but we have been so blinded by our materialist outlook that we fail to notice them. It is good practice to train ourselves to notice these miracles, to be in awe of life, to be filled with reverence for nature, for Spirit.

With this practice, a profound sense of gratitude and connectedness with the universe may overcome us. Our 50 trillion cells may eventually wake up to full consciousness, to Christ consciousness.

Philip S. Ycasiano is the president of the Philippine Columbian Association.