I came across this very interesting study that attempts to help explain consciousness and bridge the gap between quantum physics, concsiousness research, and non-dual wisdom traditions. I can’t pretend to understand the math, but I understand the argument as articulated below and find it very interesting and seemingly inline with my understanding of Buddhism.

It also reminds me of Ken Wilber’s thought provoking AQAL ‘theory of everything.’ For instance, the study’s depiction of a “Pre-Big Bang” era aligns remarkably well with Wilber’s concept of Involution, where Spirit “descends” or involves itself to create the manifest world. Just as Wilber describes the formless Ground giving rise to form, the study proposes a mathematical “collapse mechanism” initiated by Universal Thought that transitions ‘undifferentiated potential’ into specific physical states. Crucially, both frameworks agree that space and time are not fundamental containers, but emergent properties that arise only after this initial descent occurs. Consequently, the study offers a potential physics-based model for Wilber’s philosophical claim that the spatial-temporal universe is a secondary creation of a deeper, non-spatial consciousness.

My personal bias has me rooting for studies like this. If core Buddhist concepts can be validated with math, that’s a win. Also, if consciousness is unified, then it is true that our feeling of separateness is indeed an illusion. It also reinforces the Buddhist conclusion that we should have compassion for all living beings, animals included, because we are literally cut from the same cloth. All in all, very interesting. I hope more related inquiries follow.