I have been writing this column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer since 1987. That’s 25 years ago, believe it or not! It has survived the predicted end of the world on Dec. 21, 2012, and three editors of the Lifestyle section.

Originally called “Inner Mind,” this column tackled a wide variety of topics, including mental powers, alternative healing, psychic phenomena, spirituality, reincarnation, paranormal phenomena and everything else that mainstream or orthodox science and the Christian religion normally ignore or consider unreal and nonexistent.

The column tried to show that there are different ways of looking at reality and the universe at large, that our view of what constitutes reality has been unnecessarily restricted by what science and religion consider to be real and true.

In the beginning, there were individuals who criticized the column and ridiculed the author, saying it was “a waste of space.”

But the column continued to be read by a growing number of loyal followers. Some of the topics discussed even became college theses or term papers in various universities or institutions of higher learning.

Some of the columns have been reprinted in their entirety or quoted in part by various publications in the Western world. Some Filipino readers would pass these on to their relatives and friends abroad.

Years ago, I changed the title of this column to “Inner Awareness” to reflect the intent of going beyond merely the mind, and emphasizing the role of consciousness in understanding the true nature of our physical world. It assumed that everything, even an inanimate object, has a consciousness of its own, that even Planet Earth itself is alive and conscious and, therefore, should be treated with respect.

As Eckhart Tolle wrote in his best-selling book “The Power of Now”: “Identification with your mind creates an opaque screen of concepts, labels, judgments and definitions that blocks all true relationships. It comes between you and yourself, between you and your fellow man and woman, between you and nature, between you and God. You then forget the essential fact that, underneath the level of physical appearances and separate forms, you are one with all that is.”

Ridicule

Such unorthodox and strange views were initially met with ridicule by conservative thinkers who have grown up believing that only science or one’s religion holds the key that can unlock the mysteries of the universe.

Fortunately, such narrow points of view have been challenged by quantum physics. Quantum physicists have discovered that what we ordinarily consider to be objective physical reality does not exist at all, that in the ultimate analysis matter consists of nothing inside. As the great Danish physicist Niels Bohr said, “Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real.”

For the first time, quantum physicists were beginning to sound more like mystics and mystics were beginning to sound more like quantum physicists.

To quote Bohr, “If quantum physics has not profoundly shocked you, you haven’t understood it yet.”

This is because quantum physics has completely shattered the very foundations of science based on Newtonian physics. They discovered that in the quantum level, or in the smallest particle of matter, the laws of Newtonian physics do not apply anymore. Instead, what applies is “consciousness.”

To bring home this point has been very difficult and yet challenging for me, because habits of thinking and centuries of mental conditioning die hard. There are mainstream scientists, who regard the findings of modern physics to be scientific heresies, but a heresy does not necessarily mean it is false or untrue. A heresy only means “it does not conform to the accepted or orthodox point of view.” Galileo’s view that the earth revolves around the sun was considered to be a heresy by the medieval Christian Church and he was called by the dreaded Holy Inquisition to retract his statement or be burned at the stake.

I feel that after 25 years of writing this “heretical” column, I am beginning to find an unlikely ally in modern physics. But much still has to be done.

NOTE:

Join the next Practical Mind Dynamics seminar on Jan. 12-13, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Rm. 308 Prince Plaza I, Legazpi St., Greenbelt, Makati City. For more details and information on seminars, books, past life regression, paranormal services and consultancy, call 8107245, 8159890 or 0929-4187011; e-mail [email protected]; or visit www.jimmylicauco.com.