Part 1 Ullman's New Abode for Understanding Psi Dreaming: An Introduction to Bohm's Holistic Physics

ULLMAN'S NEW ABODE FOR UNDERSTANDING PSI DREAMING: AN INTRODUCTION TO BOHM'S HOLISTIC PHYSICS Mark A. Schroll, Ph.D rockphd4@yahoo.com What would our science be like If its methods of inquiry resembled the Life-promoting rays of our sun, As it shines onto the unopened bud of a flower, Coaxing it to open and unfold itself? Montague Ullman's essay: The Dream: In Search of a New Abode; is a bold step into unfamiliar territory (Ullman, 2006), likewise extending discussions concerning the physics of psi dreaming, nonlocality, etc. (Krippner & Schroll, 2006). Many of us are unprepared to begin exploring this new abode because we have arrived without any maps (conceptual framework) or compass (an understanding of the technical language pointing us toward this new abode). This essay provides a map and compass to explore this new abode by offering a general introduction to David Bohm's holistic physics. Specifically, this essay examines Bohm's radical theory of the implicate order; an abode or worldview capable of demonstrating psyche and earth (consciousness and matter) are a continuum, or two sides of one process. This essay also assists us in understanding the relationship between Bohm's implicate order and transpersonal psychology; an equally important step foreword because the subtleties of Bohm's philosophical legacy continues to be a largely unexplored area of research (Schroll, 1997). Moving our exploration foreword this essay examines three of the most basic ways that Bohm has attempted to explain his theory. 1) Bohms ink drop model of the implicate order. 2) The television broadcast model of the implicate order; and 3) Bohm's holographic model of the universe. This essay's final section revisits this inquiry by responding to questions posed by Ed Kellogg.1 Contrary to this new abode that Ullman has invited us to explore, EuroAmerican science tells us psyche and earth have no relationship. Matter is dead yet simultaneously evolving, manipulating itself according to various mechanical laws into the variety of shapes and forms whose structures comprise our universe. Modern biologists, especially the bioengineers of the future that have available to them the technology to manipulate the genetic structure of matter, are not interested in solving such contradictions; why, because it would not help them splice genes any better. Likewise American psychology has denied the existence of consciousness and in so doing has reduced cognition to a by-product of neurochemistry. According to this view humankind is nothing more than a zombie that has somehow miraculously become animated, a corpse without a soul stripped of its religious sensibility, and robbed of its freedom to choose. This too is the image of the creature in Mary Shelly's 1818 novel Frankenstein. This is what I like to call the Night of the Living Dead model, which has transformed those of us seeking alternatives into strangers in a strange land (Minelli & Schroll, 2003; Schroll, forthcoming, a). In an attempt to overcome these limitations, Ullman's pursuit of a new abode can thus be understood as a quest to discover new ways of knowing or methods of inquiry. These methods or ways of knowing constitute a process of inquiry that allows the scientific observer to enter into an intrinsic synthesis or cooperative partnership of mutual respect with nature in order to learn, understand and share in her secrets. Like Ullman, transpersonal psychologists also seek a more intimate and sensual understanding of our universe. One way of contemplating this alternative method of knowing would be to ask ourselves: What would our science be like if its methods of inquiry resembled the life-promoting rays of our sun, as it shines onto the unopened bud of a flower, coaxing it to open and unfold itself? (Schroll, forthcoming, a; and b). Spending his entire life seeking answers to similar kinds of questions, Bohm like Ullman was interested in this quest for a new way of knowing as a means to understand the physics of psi dreaming (Bohm, 1985, 1986).