Dr Andrew Jan

Since civilization began humanity has questioned the origin and ‘prima materia’[1] of the universe. This essay will compare creation theories and models of the fundamental particle from a Taoist and Astroparticle physics perspective. 

 

The Taoist philosophical system began over two thousand years ago in China. It is empirically-based, and primarily obtains data from mystical experience. Thus the trained mind is the instrument for obtaining and interpreting data. 

 

Modern Astroparticle physics is based on the western scientific method, and developed in the early part of the twentieth century. The system collects data through direct sensory observation and the use of scientific instruments, and from this data a theory or model is formulated. Theory is based on a mathematical formula, intuition, and logic, which is tested prospectively with experiments. 

 

Both systems reveal interesting parallels and divergences. The process of comparison and contrast is a useful process as it facilitates deeper understanding of both paradigms. Points of commonality could support the ‘truth’ of each respective position, and offers a position where science and philosophy concur. Where divergence occurs this creates momentum for further investigation and discussion.

 

This paper will deal with two approaches to the same questions. The framework of analysis will include: description of creation, or fundamental particle theories; how the theory was formulated; potential verification of theory; comparison and contrasting different paradigms; and discussion. The section on creation theories will be discussed first and prima materia second. Given that there will be some overlap in concepts the ‘prima materia’ section will be briefer.

 

 

CREATION THEORY 

 

 

The format for describing the creation theory will include: existence before creation; initiation of creation and the distant future.

 

TAOIST APPROACH TO CREATION

​

Description of the Taoist approach will primarily draw on Lao Tsu’s “Tao de Ching” (~500 BCE), literature from the Han era (206 BCE – 219 CE), Chuang Tzu and (370 -300 BCE), Chang Tsai (1200 CE) and the writings of the modern Taoist Master Mantak Chia. 

 

The Taoists describe the origin of the universe (before ‘heaven and earth’) in several ways: the absence of duality of phenomenon; its unity; that it is ‘not nothing’ and its potentiality. 

 

Before the beginning of time, existence is described as the absence of duality with the absence of light and dark and no definition of matter or spirit.  

With the Tao Yuan[2] saying:

 

There was no distinction of dark and light

From the ancient times it (Tao) had no shapes[3]

​

The Taoists, as will be mentioned throughout this essay, believed they could achieve this state in meditation. With practice, sensation during meditation is reduced to opposites; there are sensations of light and dark, contraction and openness, self and the observed, connection and separation and the present versus the future or past. 

 

With further mystical practice all opposites merge into one. Light and dark merge; the body loses definition and becomes the entire universe; the observer and the observed merge and become ‘all is watching’ and the present expands to include both the past and the future. Thus this primordial state can be described as a state of unity, because without differentiation there is only a state of ‘oneness’. Through mystical experience it is imagined that the universe before time had no opposites and were fused into one type of existence.

 

Chapter 42 of the ‘Tao de Ching’ reads:

 

All things were fused and were identical to the great vacuity

Blended vacuously as one

It rests in the one eternally [4]

​

This state of mind is used as a predictor of the origin of the material universe. Even though it is described as a ‘void’, the primordial state is the “basic stuff of everything”[5] and has the potential to give birth to the early and late universe. So at times the Taoist prefers the familiar term ‘mother’. However by definition all words are insufficient, and the best term is the mysterious ‘nameless’.

 

The opening chapter reads:

 

The nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth;

The named is the mother of all things.[6]         

 

            

In the Fusion of the Five Elements meditation practice, the mystic’s mind is connected to the outer universe at all levels.[7] Here the mind and the material world consist of the five elements, as well as the ‘ten thousand things’[8]. From this perspective the five senses can have both positive (yin) and negative (yang) sensation states. The five elements are used to correlate with the five emotional states. The list of correspondences continues with directions, forces, planets, animals and seasons. The mystic’s mind is co-related with these various aspects of existence. Following this, the multiplicity of thoughts, sensations, and emotions are gradually reduced to achieve the ideal state, which is equated with the universe before time. 

 

In the pre -‘heaven and earth’ state, the universe is described as the ‘supreme ultimate’ and typified by the Tai Chi symbol. Here the duality as a ‘soup’ has formed, but all the ingredients present are not yet differentiated. Cao Zhi a poet during the Han era states:

 

“The start of the supreme ultimate is the primordial soup without distinction in which the myriad things are all interwoven and have equal majesty with the way…This  is the time when Chi and the symbols had not yet separated, when heaven and earth were just beginning" [9]

 

There is no description of a time scale for how long ago creation began, or how long it took. It is described only in terms of simple binary multiplication; that is, the one became the two, which bears the third and so on.  

 

This is explained in Chapter 42 of the ‘Tao de Ching’, which reads:

 

The Tao gives birth to the One:

The One gives birth to the Two;

The Two gives birth to the Three –

The Three give birth to every living thing.[10]

 

 

Note that the ‘Two’ includes light and dark, appearance and disappearance or the visible and the invisible. The dark or the invisible does not imply extinction as both contain the ‘basic stuff’ from the one. Furthermore the Taoists are quite specific on the origin of humanity. The modern Taoist Master Mantak Chia states: “It is the Taoists’ belief that human flesh is fallen cosmic dust of the universe.” [11]

 

Once heaven and earth are formed, there are predictions of future destiny, with most predicting a returning to the void. Taoists see the universe as a cyclical event of contraction and expansion, including the concept of time. Isabelle Robinet[12] summarises the Taoist idea this idea with:

 

The concept of creation on one hand can be interpreted as circular. With progress there is a return. Time returns and is reborn. The clearly enunciated nature of this circular time is that it is reversible, say the Taoists, unlike ordinary time known by human beings, which permits no return and proceeds linearly toward a single end death.[13]

​

From the above discussion of the Taoist creation theory, it is apparent how the methodology of mystical practice is intimately linked to the creation theory. The truth of the supposition relies on mystical experience itself holding a universal truth that can be applied to all phenomena, and hence creation. This mystical truth is called ‘xuan’[14]. Mystical experience is a tool for understanding the noumenon of the universe.

 

In the Taoist tradition, the truth of what the master teaches is often proportional to mastery in their associated fields. This may include: abilities to heal, martial art prowess or an ability to meditate for prolonged periods. Correlation does occur with other Eastern mystical traditions, including the Agganna Sutta by the Buddha and Hinduism.[15]

 

SCIENTIFIC APPROACH TO CREATION

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The modern Western understanding of creation is primarily centred on the standard cosmological model (SCM) – the so called ‘Big Bang’. This has been complemented by the ‘inflationary cosmological model’ (ICM), and the cyclic cosmological model (CCM). This essay will confine its analysis to these three models.

 

The Big Bang model assumes conventional physics of the general theory of relativity as purported by Einstein. In the Big Bang at a time before 10 -45 seconds, there was only one force. After this till 10-35 seconds there were the two forces. From the two came the third giving the strong, electroweak and gravity. From the electroweak at 10-12 seconds the electromagnetic and the weak forces were born giving a total of four.[16]

 

The creation of particles (see next section for further explanation of the fundamental particles and forces) follows the creation of the four forces. Initially all particles were one at an extremely high energy of 10 19 giga-electron volts. From this high energy particle at 10 -12 to 10 -6 seconds, Quarks (including anti Quarks) and Leptons (electrons) are born. Quarks combine from 106 to 1 second to form Hadrons (Protons and Neutrons)[17]. From 100 seconds to 300 seconds nuclear Fusion occurs. After 380,000 years, Hydrogen and Helium form.

 

Space - time curvature, temperature and cosmic density can be traced back to its origin. Here there is a very hot dense and small concept of the universe - an initial singularity, where time and space has not been created.[18]/[19] An attempt to conceptualise the extrapolation is difficult for the non – physicist. Mathematics can take us to this singularity but the everyday mind has trouble. A line of a graph can return to zero but our everyday imagination prevents visualisation of such a form.

 

The evidence for the Big Bang relies on the current expansion of the universe, the background radiation of three degrees Kelvin and the current hydrogen helium abundance and balance.[20]

 

The SCM always assumes that gravity is attractive. Initially, Einstein assumed the current universe was static and introduced a cosmological constant that would negate any possible ongoing expansion. However, he later realised that the universe is still expanding at a rapid rate; therefore the post hoc correction factor was not necessary.

 

The SCM has difficulties with ‘flatness’ and the ‘horizon problem’.[21] Variations of the rate of expansion of a split second would create a curved as opposed to our flat universe. With the SCM, horizons would be created with the universe expanding faster than the speed of light, implying that different regions of the universe would not be connected and allowed to equilibrate to explain the observed uniformity of the cosmic microwave background. 

 

It is here that the ICM can help or complement the SCM. In the ICM, Alan Guth[22] in 1964 proposed that in a super hot field, random movement of extremely small particles can create imbalance creating ‘symmetry breaking’[23]. This imbalance results in a massive repulsion. Gravity at this instant is repulsive rather than attractive. This repulsive force is massive, in the order of 10 30 – 10 100 magnitude. This ICM would explain the present current expansion and isotropic qualities of the universe.

 

Theorists believe that the SCM gives no room for error in creating the current density and ‘flatness’ of the cosmos. Minor variations of the velocity of expansion by a miniscule amount would prevent the current ‘flatness’. Minor variations of the "...strong nuclear force by one or two percent would have prevented carbon from forming in any quantity."[24] Carbon of course is the basic building block of life itself. However, it is possible to argue that this includes an ‘intelligent design’ or ‘God like’ intervention to make the universe just ripe for human existence. This could be described as the ‘Anthropic principle’. 

 

According to current knowledge our present universe is thirteen billion years old. The early universe consisted of hydrogen - the most basic atom. Our sun and earth is a little over four billion years old. Our galaxy and sun began as a cloud of gas or nebulae, which through gravity formed the sun in its centre and the outer planets and asteroid belt peripherally. Our sun like many others orbits within a galaxy known as the Milky Way. The gravity needed to explain the orbital velocity of material in a galaxy requires an immeasurable stuff called ‘dark matter’[25]. Stars throughout the universe act as alchemical furnaces producing heavier elements to create the possibility life. When stars explode as supernovae, they spread these heavier elements out into space, including our own solar system.

 

However, the question still remains: what existed before the Big Bang or before the ICM? Theorists such as Steinhardt and Turok[26] in 2002 postulated a cyclical universe in order to explain the current low cosmological constant. After this current phase of expansion, a phase of contraction will begin. The Big Crunch will occur with a whole cycle taking a trillion years[27]. Thus the universe takes on a phenomenon like ‘breathing in’ and ‘breathing out’. With each out-breath, the cosmological constant varies. In this current cycle the cosmological constant is quite small, which permits life and supports the anthropic principle.[28]

 

So how do these two models of creation compare? Each is grounded in two quite varied epistemological frameworks. Taoism is based on knowledge from mystical experience relying on parallels between mystical experience and the creation’s sequence. Astrophysics is reliant on mathematical equations taking the enquirer back to point zero. Capra believes that intuition is a state of mind close to mystical consciousness and is an important aspect of scientific research. It is required to arrive at revolutionary new theories and models.[29] Thus both paradigms are outside everyday understanding and require mathematics or near mystical vision to conceptualise. 

 

Both provide similar sequences and frameworks, in that the one gives rise to the two which gives rise to the third and so on. The Taoist model is more descriptive of existence before time than the scientific model. The scientific model is more descriptive of contents and time after point zero. Though near time zero, the state of oneness could be equated to that time before Planck time (10 -43 seconds) where all four forces and all particles are one. The pre heaven and earth stage – the supreme ultimate stage or the ‘primordial soup’ – could be correlated with the early clouds of atoms such as hydrogen and helium or alternatively subatomic particles such as quarks and anti-quarks. Both predict the existence of dark matter and furthermore that dark matter is ‘not nothing’. Both have concluded that the constituents of our flesh originate in stardust and consequently arise from the Big Bang. Both paradigms can offer a cyclical concept of universal existence. The scientific cosmological models are influenced by the ‘Anthropic principle’, whereas the Taoist system relies on human consciousness. The scientific model is tested against experiment while the Taoist system probably relies on extraordinary achievements in healing and martial arts to provide substantiation. Questions arise then, as to why the two different paradigms are so similar in their outcomes?

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PRIMA MATERIA

​

SCIENTIFIC APPROACH to the PRIMA MATERIA

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The roots of Western science can be found in Greek philosophy; around the same time that Lao Tsu wrote the ‘Tao de Ching’, Heraticlus formulated his understanding as to the origin of matter and phenomena. 

 

Heraclitus taught that all changes in the world arise from the dynamic interplay of opposites and he saw any pairs of opposites as a unity. This unity, which contains and transcends all the opposing forces, he called the Logos.[30]

​

Furthermore scholars of comparative religion equate the Logos with the Tao.[31]

 

Later, Aristotle formulated his concepts on the ‘prima materia’ or the ‘fundamental particle’ of life. This was based on an alchemical approach to matter and its interaction. He used the four elements: air, fire, water and earth.[32]

 

It was later again, in the era of the Eliatic School, that matter and spirit as primary descriptors of classic duality were divided, giving birth to science[33]. This was reinforced in the 14th century by Descartes who separated mind and matter and founded our ‘Cartesian’ approach to scientific understanding.

 

Newton continued the search for the fundamental particle, and the forces that govern them. He did this in his alchemical studies and laws of physics that govern material bodies.[34] He hypothesised that light consisted of corpuscles or particles of matter He supported the notion that light travels in straight lines and the concept of absolute time. Newton recognised that the fundamental particle of light did have some wave-like properties.[35]

 

From the observable world, and through the use of simple instruments, science moves to the realm of subatomic physics where the direct senses play little part and mathematics takes a central position. Einstein believed that mathematics was the medium to unravelling the mysteries of nature.

 

He says,

 

"Our experience up to date justifies us in feeling sure that in Nature is actualized the ideal of mathematical simplicity...but the truly creative principle resides in mathematics. In a certain sense, therefore, I hold it to be true that pure thought is competent to comprehend the real, as the ancients dreamed."[36].

​

Einstein’s general theory of relativity is able to explain phenomena at the subatomic and stellar world levels, where Newton’s mechanics falls short.[37] At the subatomic realm, new laws apply and are known as quantum mechanics (or physics). Einstein’s theories have altered our concept of time and have made mass and energy interchangeable. Einstein’s initial ideas have been developed since the early 20th century into the ‘Standard Model’ (SM).

 

In the SM, fundamental particles are described as ‘quarks’ (Quarks were discovered by Murray Gell – Mann[38]. The name originated from James Joyce’s, ‘Finnegan’s Wake’; where the seabirds made three quarks.), ‘leptons’ and ‘bosons’. Quarks can be described by their mass, energy, voltage, spin and four colours (white is a combination of all three) and are named: ‘up’, ‘down’, ‘charm’, ‘strange’, ‘top’ and ‘bottom’. Protons and neutrons are made of quarks. Leptons have three ‘flavours: ‘electrons’, ‘muons’ and ‘tau’. All these have a negative charge, a half spin and a mass-less companion called the neutrino. Bosons are force-mediating particles that include the ‘photon’, ‘W’ and ‘Z’ particles. The SM consists of six quarks and six leptons, and each has an antimatter twin. The four forces governing this model are: Electromagnetism (EM), strong, weak and gravity. The strong and weak forces hold nuclei together, while gravity and EM operate at a macro level.[39] In 1964, Peter Higgs[40] proposed that the mass of a fundamental particle is dictated by the field and is not an entity in itself. However, this then requires the presence of a boson, which is a mystery and has not yet been discovered[41]. Fundamental particles make up neutrons, protons and antiprotons. These in turn make up atoms and then all elements of the periodic table. Light consists of photons. The graviton particle, which generates gravity, has not yet been discovered. [42]

 

The SM to those external to the discipline appears complex - even poetic and mystical. Fundamental particles seem to rely on relational definition rather than existing de novo.

 

The verification of quantum physics is reliant on successful predictions, such as the prediction of mercury’s orbit, the sun bending light from distant stars and the harnessing of nuclear energy.

 

TAOIST APPROACH to the PRIMA MATERIA 

 

 

In Taoism the ‘prima materia’ is the ‘original chi’.

 

Chi was always seen as the fundamental particle and the life force of the universe. It has both mass and energy. Matter consists of energy that creates the force for movement but also must follow the principle of the way or the Tao. 

 

This is confirmed by Liu, an authority on ancient Taoist terminology where he states:

           

…Tao and chi (concrete things) are never separate from each other, which is to say that li (principle) and chi (vital force) are never separate.[43]

​

Again, the vehicle for making this discovery is the mystic vision that has the ability to discover the truth (xuan) of the noumenon, which is matter. During meditation the body disappears and is replaced with patterns of chi and energy. Chi to the mystic is defined as the smallest unit that can be imagined during meditation. These smallest units can be perceived as particles; as either dots of light or sensation[44].  When chi coalesces it moves in spirals[45] and has its own turning motion[46]. It also acts as a force that expands and animates the world. Thus the noumenon is derived from the mystical phenomenon.

 

Mind and chi are fundamental partners, because the mystic’s mind leads the chi[47]. Chi can be sensed both within the body and beyond. However this ability requires many years of training[48]/[49].Experimentation with chi occurs in the pseudo-science of alchemy, which can be divided into two branches: ‘Wei Tan’ and ‘Nei Tan’[50]. The former is external alchemy and the latter internal alchemy. Both of these pseudo-sciences occurred in the West and hence are not too foreign to our understanding. External alchemy, however, was a search for immortality or the ‘elixir of life’ and involved the use of poisonous heavy metals that were ingested. These were taken with consequent disastrous results and inevitable disappearance of devotees of this practice[51]. On the other hand, internal alchemy has survived to this day. Its survival is probably related to its symbiosis with mystical experience rather than it being a mere tool for the urge to discover the nature of the ‘prima materia’.

 

In internal alchemy there are five types of chi based on the concepts of yin, yang and the five elements. 

 

The five elements consist of five forces: wood - generating, fire - prospering, earth - stabilising, metal - contracting and water - gathering[52], and are revealed by the five colours: red, blue, green, white and yellow. Forces can operate in the six directions: up, down, and the directions of the compass. There are many modes of interaction, including the creation cycle, the controlling cycle, and the overacting and insulting sequence[53]. In internal alchemy, elemental chi is allowed to interact in various prescribed modes. They reduce the differentiated chi into a duality (water and fire or yin and yang) and ultimately into primordial essence or original chi.[54]

 

This process of blending and fusion of differentiated chi is again described in Chapter 42 of the ‘Tao de Ching’:

 

All things were fused and were identical to the great vacuity

Blended vacuously as one[55]

 

This ‘original chi’ is further described by Robinet as:

 

Condensed it becomes life; diluted, it is indefinite potential; this concept dates back to Chuang Tzu and was reiterated by all the classical thinkers. It has no detectable existence outside the forms that it takes and their transformations; the "instruments" or beings that reveal it are its particularised forms, and when they disappear, they become Qi again. Qi does not "persist" alongside these manifestations; they are the forms it takes, and what it is. When they disappear the Qi passes into another form; it is both a principle of coherence that connects all things and a potential, an immanent life force in the world that is knowable only in the various changing aspects it assumes.[56]

 

This ‘original chi’ is discovered using the ‘inner chamber’, or laboratory of the mind and body. This inner chamber is located in the lower abdomen, half way between the navel and the lumbar vertebrae. The collection of fundamental particles or chi is then used to facilitate mystical experience.

 

Measurement of the practitioner’s ability to discover the original chi is measured by various worldly accomplishments. Some Taoists achieve youthfulness in appearance and a very long life. As mentioned in the first section, Chi Kung practitioners can perform amazing martial feats and miracles in healing.

 

In comparing the two paradigms, there are the following similarities: Both the Western and Eastern systems began with similar conceptual frameworks. The descriptions of Heraclitus are similar to the Taoist concept of duality. Aristotle and Taoism had a similar elemental theory of matter and notion of the ‘prima materia’. Taoism and modern quantum physics have similar ways of describing the forces of small particles.  With quarks there is up down, top and bottom with Taoism there are the six directions. In Quarks there are four colours while in Taoism there are 5 colours. There are five forces in Taoism, with four fundamental forces in quantum physics. In Taoism the forces with chi are all relative and do not exist in isolation. This relational position is apparent in quantum physics as well. Both realise that mass and energy are interchangeable. The fundamental particles of both systems have inherent spin. At grosser forms the fundamental particles can behave differently, with photons behaving as waves and chi moving in spirals. Both systems have their mysterious aspects, with bosons being labelled the ‘God particle’ and the original chi intimately correlated with the mysterious and eternal Tao. Original chi can change into a duality of yin and yang, then via the basic five elements into the ‘ten thousand things’. Fundamental particles make up all matter and ultimately all the atoms of the periodic table. The mystic’s mind, via the technique of internal alchemy, is the chief mode for experimentation and discovery of the ‘original chi’, while the particle physicist requires complex, expensive equipment, such as particle accelerators and detectors. Yet both entail use of mind, as the physicist needs to intuit new models and mathematical equations to explain observed phenomena. Verification of the different paradigms in understanding the prima materia is different. Science relies on experimentation with instruments whereas the Taoists would base truth on the extraordinary abilities displayed by the adept. 

 

FINAL CONCLUSION:

 

Interesting parallels and differences are found comparing the two paradigms for our search for knowledge of the ‘prima materia’ and origin of the universe. Both Taoism and Western science have very similar frameworks. Both approaches reveal a connection with the fundamental particle and the original stuff of the universe. Taoism is rooted in mystical alchemy whereas science is based in mathematics and experimentation. Western science provides specific measurements whereas the Tao does not.  Perhaps both connect to the mysteries of mind and consciousness with Western science doing this through intuition in the discovery of new theories and models. Both seem to provide answers to the two fundamental metaphysical questions asked. Questions arise again as to how the two systems are able to show so many similar features.  The reason may be found in the study of mind and mystical consciousness. 

 

There are critics of parallelism from a third paradigm – that of the ‘Sociology of Knowledge and Science’. Sociologists such as Restivo maintain that parallelism is fraught with dangers including contamination of material, selection bias and socio-political agendas[57]. Thomas Kuhn in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions also moves to this position[58]. Sociologists reduce parallelism to simple relativism. 

 

Discussion on consciousness as the cohering or unifying principle of the universe and arguments against parallelism are beyond the limits of this essay.

 

 

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[1] The ‘prima materia’ is a term  used by alchemists as “primordial matter, from which all things came and to which they all reverted.” John Read,  “Alchemy and Alchemists”, Folklore  44 / 3. (September 1933), 256.  For example lead could be changed to ‘prima materia’ and then into gold. In the 15th to 17th centuries it related to atomic theory as the most smallest indivisible particle of matter. See: G Stones, “The Atomic View of Matter in the XVth, XVIth, and XVIIth Centuries”, Isis 10 / 2. (June 1928), 445-465.

[2] The Tao Yuan were some Taoist scriptures discovered in a Han tomb in 1973  in Changsha China. See David Yu, “The Creation Myth and Its Symbolism in Classical Taoism”. Philosophy East and West 31/4 (October 1981), 485.

[3] ibid 485.

[4] ibid 485.

[5] Quoted from: Siu-Chi Huang, “Chang Tsai’s Concept of Chi”, Philosophy East and West 18/4. (October 1968), 249.

[6] David Yu, “The Creation Myth and Its Symbolism in Classical Taoism”, Philosophy East and West 31/4 (October 1981), 487.

[7] Mantak Chia, Fusion of the Five Elements I:  Basic and Advanced Meditation for Transforming Negative Emotions, ( New York: Healing Tao Books,1989), 6.

[8] The ‘ten thousand things’ refers to the multitude manifestations of reality.

[9] Cao Zhi quoted in Dainan Zhang, Key Concepts in Chinese Philosophy, Translated by Edmund Ryden, (Beijing: Foreign Language Press, 2002), 181–2.

[10] Lao Tsu, Tao de Ching, Translated by Man Hi Kwok, (Brisbane, Queensland: Element, 1993), 110.

[11] Mantak Chia, Fusion of the Five Elements I:  Basic and Advanced Meditation for Transforming Negative Emotions, (New York: Healing Tao Books, 1989), 2.

[12] Isabelle Robinet was the recent Professor of Chinese History and Civilisation at the University of Aix – Marseille.

[13] Isabelle Robinet,  Taoism: Growth of a Religion, Translated by Phyllis Brooks, (California: Stanford University Press, 1997), 15.

[14] Jingshan Liu, “An Exploration of the Mode of Thinking of Ancient China”, Philosophy East and West 35 / 4  (October 1985), 387.

[15] Rupert Gethin, “Cosmology and Meditation: From the Agganna-Sutta to the Mahayana”, History of Religions  36 / 3 (February 1997),183  & 192.

[16] Nave, C. R. “Cosmology” from Hyperphysics,  2006 Viewed on line (Oct 2007),    http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/astro/unify.html#c1

[17] ibid http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/particles/parcon.html

[18]  P. Peebles,  The Standard Cosmological Model  in Les Rencontres de Physique de la Vallee d'Aosta (1998), Edited by  M. Greco, Available on line: http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/Peebles1/frames.html viewed (October 2007), Sec 2.

[19] Nave, C. R. “Cosmology” from Hyperphysics,  2006 Viewed on line (Oct 2007),  http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/astro/planck.html#c2

[20] ibid http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/astro/cosmo.html#c1 

[21] ‘Flatness’ is a term that explains that the velocity of expansion of the universe. It is so tightly balanced in terms of density, that a minor variation would  result in reversal into contraction or increased expansion preventing galaxy formation. The ‘Horizon’ problem doesn’t explain why the universe is so isotropic; as all parts of the universe seem to have the same cosmic background radiation, when each part of the universe would have not had contact within the speed of light to connect. See:  ibid  http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/astro/cosmo.html#c2

[22] Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

[23] Initially all forces were one part of the one electroweak force and theoretically stable before this symmetry came apart. See: Nave, C. R. “Cosmology” from Hyperphysics,  2006 Viewed on line (Oct 2007),  http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/forces/unify.html#c2

[25] ibid  http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/astro/darmat.html

[26] Paul J. Steinhardt & Neil Turok, “A Cyclic Model of the Universe,” Science 296 / 5572 (May 2002), 1436 – 1439.

[27] Belle Dume,  “Cyclic Universe Could Explain Cosmological Constant”, physicsworld.com, viewed on line: (IOP publishing. May 5, 2006), 

http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/24844

[28] John Leslie, “Observership in Cosmology: The Anthropic Principle”, Mind 92 / 368 (October 1983), 574.

[29] Fritjof Capra, The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism, (London: Flamingo, 1989), 25.

[30] ibid 25.

[31] William Ernest Hocking, “Christianity and Intercultural Contacts,” The Journal of Religion 14 / 2 (April 1934), 128.

[32] Hugh King, “Aristotle without Prima Materia”, Journal of the History of Ideas 17/ 3. (June 1956), 371.

[33] John Rist, “Monism: Plotinus and Some Predecessors”, Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 69 (1965), 329.

[34] B Dobbs, “Newton's Alchemy and His Theory of Matter”, Isis 73 / 4 (December 1982), 512.

[35] Roger Stuewer, “Was Newton's "Wave-Particle Duality" Consistent with Newton's Observations?”, Isis 60 / 3 (Autumn 1969), 392.

[36]  Albert Einstein, “On the Method of Theoretical Physics”, Philosophy of Science 1/ 2 (April 1934), 167.

[37] “… to do justice to the entire range of the data of experience in a manner even more complete  and satisfactory than was possible with Newton's principles." See: Albert Einstein, “On the Method of Theoretical Physics”, Philosophy of Science 1/ 2 (April 1934), 166.

[38] Murray Gell-Mann  received the 1969 Nobel prize in physics for his work on the theory of elementary particles. 

[39] Jacqui Hayes,  “The Whole Shebang: The Standard Model…”, Tim Dean (Editor),  Cosmos 16 (August/September 2007), 62-65.

[40] Peter Higgs is Professor of Theoretical Physics at Edinburgh University.

[41] Peter Woit, “The Problem with Physics”, Cosmos: The Science of Everything 16 (Sydney: Luna Media, August / September 2007), 50.

[42] Jacqui Hayes,  “The Whole Shebang: The Standard Model…” Tim Dean (Editor)  Cosmos 16 (August/September 2007): 62-65.

[43] Jingshan Liu, “An Exploration of the Mode of Thinking of Ancient China”, Philosophy East and West 35 / 4 (October 1985), 389.

[44] Mantak Chia,  Awakening Healing Light of the Tao, (New York: Healing Tao Books, 1993), 49.

[45] Ibid 22.

[46] Isabelle Robinet, Taoism: Growth of a Religion, Translated by Phyllis Brooks, (California: Stanford University Press, 1997), 7.

[47] Mantak Chia,  Awakening Healing Light of the Tao, (New York: Healing Tao Books, 1993), 34.

[48] Tao Yin means to direct the chi and Chi Kung which means to work the chi. See: Joseph Needham, Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part V, Spagyrical Discovery and Invention - Physiological Alchemy, (London: Cambridge at the University Press, 1983),155 

[49] Isabelle Robinet, Taoist Meditation: The Mao Shan Tradition of Great Purity, Translated by Julian Pas & Norman Girardot, (Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 1993), 173.

[50] Joseph Needham, Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part V, Spagyrical Discovery and Invention - Physiological Alchemy, (London: Cambridge at the University Press, 1983), 20.

[51] Ibid 227.

[52] Mantak Chia, Cosmic Fusion of the Eight Forces, (Chiang Mai: Universal Tao Publications, 2002), 27.

[53] Giovanni Maciocia, The Foundations of Chinese Medicine: A Comprehensive Text for Acupuncturists and Herbalists, (London: Churchill Livingstone, 1989), 18.

[54] Mantak Chia, Fusion of the Five Elements I:  Basic and Advanced Meditation for Transforming Negative Emotions, ( New York: Healing Tao Books,1989),  33.

[55] David Yu, “The Creation Myth and Its Symbolism in Classical Taoism”, Philosophy East and West 31/4 (October 1981), 485.

[56] Isabelle Robinet, Taoism: Growth of a Religion, Translated by Phyllis Brooks, (California: Stanford University Press, 1997), 8. 

[57] Sal Restivo,  “Parallels and Paradoxes in Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism: I – A Critical Reconnaissance”, Social Studies of Science 8/2 (May 1978):143 -181. See also: “Parallels and Paradoxes in Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism: II – A Sociological Perspective on Parallelism,” Social Studies of Science 12/1 (February 1982):37 -71.

[58] A. Chalmers, What is This Thing Called Science? (Queensland: University of Queensland Press, 2006), 123.