Heroes Not Zombies

We live with a view of ourselves as separate entities, made up of tiny, distinct, independent parts. This idea, this kind of atomism, has been around for centuries.

Now, however, we’re coming to understand that reality isn’t like that.

Lynne McTaggart writes in “The Bond”

The universe contains an indeterminate number of vibrating packets of energy that constantly pass energy back and forth as if in an endless game of basketball with a quantum sea of light. Indeed they aren’t even there all the time, but are constantly popping in and out of existence, making a brief appearance before disappearing back into the underlying energy field.

This is our emerging model of reality, one where there are no “things”, there is no “material” or “substance” distinct from energy. One where everything is constantly changing and nothing is separate.

Thomas Berry writes

We live immersed in a sea of energy beyond all comprehension. But this energy, in an ultimate sense, is ours not by domination but by invocation.

What a lovely phrase. This atomism has led us to believe that we are not only separate from each other but from Nature itself, and that has led to an unhealthy relationship with the Earth – one where we’ve been believing we can dominate and control. But we can’t. There is no separateness.