In direct contrast, Western culture has evolved from the concept that God and spirit stand outside a universe that is made up of a collection of separate, static, unconscious parts. It is little wonder that Western religions emphasize individuality and dualism. Undoubtedly, quantum discoveries will render a large percentage of Bible based teachings invalid, but does this mean that all Western belief systems must fall with it? Gnosis, or knowledge gained from a personal experience of the Divine, signifies an open-minded desire for truth. Unlike religious dogma, science poses no threat to gnosis, and in fact should enhance it. When examined from the standpoint of quantum physics, many of the Gnostic Gospels do reflect an understanding of the universe that very closely parallels recent quantum discoveries. Physicist David Bohm's holographic model likens the material portion of the universe to a three-dimensional holographic image; the image appears to be real, but it's actually no more than a projection, a virtual reality. Unlike photographic film, holographic film spreads the image over the surface of the film in a series of intersecting patterns that appear to have no relationship with the image they produce. Never-the-less, the "real" part of a hologram is the film, not the projected image. Bohm likens the quantum level of the universe to the holographic film and sees it as the source of all potential and the seat of consciousness. The material universe is no more than a virtual reality that's projected from consciousness that exists at the quantum level. From this perspective, we are not the bodies that we project; we are the mind that exists at the quantum level. Our earthly "lives" are no more real than the action that takes place on a movie screen. The Gnostic Gospel of Truth speaks of just such an illusion, stating that the world of form is, "like a dream in the night," and when the dreamer wakes to that truth they will, ". . . see nothing, they who were in the midst of these disturbances, for they are nothing." Similarly, the beautiful Gnostic narrative poem, The Hymn of the Pearl, tells the symbolic story of a prince of the spirit realms who journeys to a far country of matter and form. The prince falls asleep, forgetting his true spiritual identity, and is rescued by waking up and remembering who he is. Marcus, a second century Gnostic prophet, taught that everyone was part of the same whole, a oneness that will be restored when we choose to see past the illusion of separation. To Gnostic Christians, sin did not exist. It was ignorance of our true identity that kept us trapped in illusion. The Gospel of Truth encourages us to, "cast ignorance aside as sleep, leaving it behind like a dream in the night."
