The Tao Of Physics - by Fritjof Capra

 

An exploration of the parallels between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism

I must say this book is a bridge between the Mystic so-called “fairy tale” religious world and the Modern Scientific world. Because in this book you will understand various things but in two entirely different approaches of the same language. 

Fritjof Capra contradicts himself while speaking about language barriers and drawbacks, where language falls short of words to explain one’s experience or findings, but surprisingly the author himself has written the whole book about something that can’t be well expressed in an outstandingly understandable way. 

Though physics is not my territory, my understanding of physics in the book was like a bubble. I understood what he explained and also experienced the spontaneous short-term awareness when he mentions the parallels of the same in eastern mysticism. But now if you ask me the physics part I’m equal to illiterate. I don’t remember but I have the experience part with me forever. 

Towards the end of reading the book, there was one thing staring right in my face when reading the parallels part, like I had two columns drawn in my mind and went on filling them with similarities and distinctions between P and EM. Though there were not many distinctions mentioned by the author, there was one somewhere in the corner of my mind unclear and hard to point out. So I went back to the beginning of the book and glanced at it again.  

Now it became clear, a very simple and subtle distinction. Physics is trying to ‘know about’ something and Eastern mysticism is ‘about knowing’ something. Though it looks simple, it is very subtle. You may know a hell lot about something and still not know even a bit of it. That is the difference and that is exactly why you will find even a 100 types of mysticism will repeat the same things again and again. And physics keeps evolving and changing continuously but doesn't reach there. 

If you go on dividing something with an intention to find an indivisible thing at the core, you will never reach there because even if you find something, you will divide it further according to the categories held in your perception. This intellect of ours is good only when there is a threat to our better-survival not when we are aspiring to psychologically evolve further and reach higher conscious states. 

This is just my personal opinion, I can be absolutely wrong. But as they say there’s only one way to find out. 

I had a great time reading and learning from this book and also surprised by subtle parallels.

The book gets 5/5.