As a mere 11 year old - new comer to the very existence of 'science' - I failed my first exam when the 'artist' in me couldn't resist adding attractive shading to diagrams of test tubes and planets, to make them look more 'realistic'.
Worse still, my Sunday Bible lessons were also proving unrealistic, and these differences would grow too great to reconcile, until years later when I discovered the teachings of the Baha'i Faith.
Unknown to my teachers at that time, while science in general seemed to be totally abandoning any commonality with religion, important new fields of exploration were beginning to open. Today many prominent religious figures and scientists are recognizing the inter-connectedness between spirituality and the scientific community...including the Dalai Lama.
We are now beginning to see ever more clearly the degree to which the Baha'i Teachings on science and reality were far ahead of their time.
In the 19th Century Bahá’u’lláh advised;
“The world is but a show, vain and empty, a mere nothing, bearing the semblance of reality. Set not your affections upon it.” ―Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh.
'Abdu'l-Baha advised that everything is really vibration and light. "When there is vibration or movement in the ethereal element, the eye is affected by that vibration and beholds what is known as light." ―Abdu'l-Baha, Promise of World Peace.
Max Planck (German Scientist 1858-1947) was one of two who received Nobel Prizes in Physics for foundational work in Quantum Theory. Echoing what I would later discover was a principle of the Baha'i Faith, Planck stated:
"All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must consider behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent Mind. This Mind is the matrix of all matter. " ― Max Planck, The New Science.
In other words, there is no physical 'matter', only a force of energy, the result of a conscious and intelligent mind influencing everything around us.
Years ahead of His time, Abdu'l-Baha had described this force, this 'conscious and intelligent Mind', as the origin of the Law of Attraction with its simple and indisputable basis, warning that its denial would result in a world growing in 'discord and hatred:
"The law of attraction has brought together certain elements in the form of this beautiful flower, but when that attraction is withdrawn from this centre the flower will decompose, and, as a flower, cease to exist. So it is with the great body of humanity. The wonderful Law of Attraction, Harmony and Unity, holds together this marvelous Creation.
As with the whole, so with the parts; whether a flower or a human body, when the attracting principle is withdrawn from it, the flower or the man dies. It is therefore clear that attraction, harmony, unity and Love, are the cause of life, whereas repulsion, discord, hatred and separation bring death." - Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, 1911
In Plank's theory we are all made of quantum energy, living in a 'field' that is electric and magnetic, in which even our feelings create energy.
And all our actions have influence. We live in what popular scientist Gregg Braden calls "a participatory universe". And we create as we observe. Therefore it is 'entangled' and for ever in motion. Abdu'l-Baha describes this linkage or 'causal chain';
"For all beings are linked together like a chain; and mutual aid, assistance, and interaction are among their intrinsic properties and are the cause of their formation, development, and growth. It is established through numerous proofs and arguments that every single thing has an effect and influence upon every other, either independently or through a causal chain. In sum, the completeness of each and every thing—that is, the completeness which you now see in man, or in other beings, with regard to their parts, members, and powers—arises from their component elements, their quantities and measures, the manner of their combination, and their mutual action, interaction, and influence." ---Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions pt 4
He also answers a common question, asserting that creation and the universe are infinite;
"Consider the endless phenomena of His creation. They are infinite; the universe is infinite. Who shall declare its height, its depth and length? Shall we then say that God has performed a certain thing and He will never be able to perform it again?" ---Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace. PUP
Science is uncovering ever greater applications of the all-embracing principle of UNITY. What we often refer to as 'the mind' is increasingly understood as the 'matrix' of all matter; a field of energy that contains all information. Some even maintain that it is the Holy Books that hold the 'rules' of the matrix; as we unify and align ourselves, so we create their existence. We feed information in to the matrix and it gives information back to us in our thoughts, via feelings, emotions and beliefs. Therefore the 'smallest particle' will never be found because when we focus on it, it creates more.
Photons are thought to be the smallest particles in the universe, bundles of electromagnetic energy, the basic unit that makes up all light.
"Creation is the expression of motion. Motion is life. A moving object is a living object" ---Abdu'l-Baha, PUP 52
Experiments have shown that the information of the brain is distributed throughout, just as in the matrix in which we live. This remarkable example of unity is called the 'Holographic Principle' where even our brains are 'holographic'. An example of this can be seen in compound eyes of an insect, where each part possesses simultaneous separate vision. It can also be seen in what we now know as a hologram where every part contains every other part. This explains why a change in one body cell (DNA) changes all, like the operation of a vaccine extends beyond the site of the vaccine to affect the entire body.
This illustrates a fundamental principle of Baha'i Teachings; the Power of Unity. As we act together simultaneously in oneness, we create the utmost unity. And it is now known that existing things, once joined physically, can remain linked energetically even when separated by distance.
https://www.lifecoachcode.com/2017/02/26/emotion-shapes-reality
More about the holographic principle and a scientific explanation of Oneness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhe2Y 9N_6U&list=RDLVgG6CRbpYmpA&start_radio=1&rv=gG6CRbpYmpAthe