The Divine Matrix

by Gregg Braden

  In his studies, Pribram offers a reason for precisely such possibilities. Through the holographic model of the brain interacting with the universe, he says that the functioning of our brain allows for experiences that transcend time and space. Within the context of this holographic model, all things become possible. The key to experiencing the power of these potential outcomes is that we must think of ourselves in this new way. And when we do, something wonderful begins to happen: We’re changed.

  It’s impossible for us to “kind of” or “sort of” see ourselves as empowered beings in a universe of possibilities—we either do or we don’t. And that’s precisely the focus of this book. We can think of ourselves differently only when we have a reason to do so. The concept of the Divine Matrix as a universally connected hologram promises us that we’re limited only by our beliefs.

  As the ancient spiritual traditions suggest, the invisible walls of our deepest beliefs can become our greatest prison. Yet they also remind us that it’s our beliefs that can become our greatest source of freedom. As different as the world’s wisdom traditions may be from one another, they all bring us to the same conclusion: The opportunity to be imprisoned or free is ours, and we’re the only ones who can make the choice.

  THE POWER OF A MUSTARD SEED

  The pioneering work of Karl Pribram and the studies by other researchers who have followed show that our brains function as holographic information processors. If this is true for us as individuals, then it makes sense that our collective mind and consciousness may work this way as well. Today more than six billion humans (and minds) inhabit the planet. Within the container of the Divine Matrix, each individual’s mind is part of a larger single awareness.

  Regardless of how different they may appear from one another, every mind contains the pattern of the whole consciousness. And through that link, we each have direct access to the entire pattern. In other words, we all have the power to change the hologram of our world. While for some people this is an unconventional way to think about who we are, for others it’s perfectly aligned with their beliefs and experiences.

  Scientific studies support these principles and have found that when people within a group share a common experience of consciousness, the effects can be detected beyond the group itself and even outside the building where the individuals are meeting. Clearly, inner experiences are being carried through some subtle conduit in a way that’s not restricted by the so-called laws of physics or limited to the immediate surroundings. One example of this phenomenon is evident in the effect that Transcendental Meditation (TM) can have upon large populations.

  In 1972, 24 cities in the U.S. with populations over 10,000 experienced meaningful changes in their communities when as few as one percent (100 people) participated in the studies. Those involved used specific meditation techniques to create the inner experiences of peace that were mirrored in the world around them. This is called the “Maharishi Effect” in honor of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who stated that when one percent of a population practiced the methods of meditation that he offered, there would be a reduction in violence and crime for that population.

  These and similar studies led to a landmark project, “International Peace Project in the Middle East,” published in the Journal of Conflict Resolution in 1988.10 During the Israeli Lebanese war of the early 1980s, practitioners were trained in precise techniques of TM to create peace in their bodies, rather than simply thinking about it in their minds or praying for it to occur.

  On specific days of the month, at specific times each day, these people were positioned within the war-torn areas of the Middle East. During the window of time that they were at peace, terrorist incidents, crimes against people, emergency-room visits, and traffic accidents all declined in number. When the participants stopped their practice, the statistics reversed. These studies confirmed the earlier findings: When a small percentage of the population achieved peace within themselves, that peace was reflected in the world around them.

  The results took into account the days of the week, holidays, and even lunar cycles; and they were so consistent that the researchers were able to identify the minimum number of people needed to experience inner peace before it’s mirrored in the surrounding world: the square root of one percent of the population. This represents only the base number required for the effect to begin—the more people participate, the more pronounced the outcome. While we may not fully understand all the reasons why the effects are present, the correlations and results demonstrate that they are there. We can apply this principle in our lives for any group of people, regardless of whether it’s a small community, a church congregation, a large city, or the entire planet. To determine how many people are needed to work together for peace and healing in that group, the formula suggests the following:

  1. Determine the total number of people present.

  2. Calculate one percent of that total number (multiply the total from step 1 by .01).

  3. Calculate the square root of the one percent (enter the number from step 2, and press the v function on your calculator).

  This formula produces numbers that are smaller than we might expect. For example, in a city of a million people, the total is about 100. In a world of 6 billion people, it’s only about 8,000. And this calculation represents only the minimum needed to begin the process. The more people are involved, the faster the effect is created.

  While these and similar studies obviously deserve more exploration, they show there’s an effect that’s beyond chance.

  Key 16: The minimum number of people required to “jump-start” a change in consciousness is the √1% of a population.

  Perhaps this is the reason why so many wisdom traditions emphasize the importance of each individual to the whole. In one of the best-known parables of the power of belief, Jesus used the holographic principle to illustrate how just a little faith is all that’s required to open the door to a greater possibility. “In truth,” he said, “if your faith is the size of a mustard seed you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move; nothing will be impossible for you.”11 We’ll explore the implications of just what this means in the following section. Before we do, however, a brief clarification of what’s meant by “faith” is appropriate here.

  The word faith itself can sometimes carry a bit of an emotional charge, as it’s often associated with a belief that has no apparent foundation or basis to support it. We commonly hear this referred to as “blind faith.” My sense is that there really is no such thing as absolutely blind faith. Somewhere deep inside of us, all our beliefs come from the feeling of a deeper connection between the things that “are” and the things that can be. While we may not always be conscious of this or be able to state why we think that something is so, our beliefs are true for us. And that truth is the foundation of faith.

  There is a kind of faith, however, that’s actually based in a very solid foundation of leading-edge science, supported by the discoveries of quantum physics. In Chapter 3, we briefly discussed the possible reasons why the physical world is changed by simply observing it. All of the explanations that followed acknowledged the coexistence of many realities within a cosmic soup of possibilities. As the experiments showed, it’s the act of our watching something—that is, conscious observation—that locks one of those possibilities into place as our reality. In other words, the expectation or belief that we have while we’re observing is the ingredient in the soup that “chooses” which possibility becomes our “real” experience.

  With this in mind, the faith in Jesus’s statement is more than simply saying the words to represent that the mountain has moved. In a parable that’s nearly 2,000 years old, we’re taught a powerful language with which to choose reality from the infinite possibilities that already exist. As Neville states so clearly in his description of faith, through the act of “persisting in the assumption that your desire is already fulfilled … your world inevitably conforms to your assumption.”12 In the
example of the mountain, when we truly know that it’s already moved, our faith/belief/assumption that it’s happened is the energy that jolts that possibility into our reality. In the quantum realm of all possibilities, the mountain has no choice—it must move.

  The following example illustrates just how simple and natural this kind of faith and belief can be. It also opens the door to countless possibilities for how a small shift in our viewpoint can create a huge difference in our world.

  A few years ago, I had the opportunity to witness the biological equivalent of “moving the mountain.” In this case, the “mountain” was a life-threatening tumor inside the bladder of a middle-aged woman. Western doctors had diagnosed the mass as malignant and believed that it was inoperable. In the makeshift classroom of our hotel ballroom, the group I was part of was shown a film created by our instructor when he had been present for the miraculous healing of the growth in a hospital without medicine in Beijing, China.13

  The clinic was one of the many in the region that routinely use nontraditional methods of treatment with tremendous success. After exchanging greetings and the formalities of introductions, we were prepared for what we were about to see. The instructor emphasized that the purpose of the film was to show us that the power to heal is something that lives within each of us. It was not an advertisement for the clinic or an invitation for everyone with a life-threatening condition to make a mad dash to Beijing. What we were about to witness could be accomplished right there in our classroom or at home in our living rooms. The key to healing, he said, is the ability to focus emotion and energy in our bodies or that of a loved one (with the person’s permission) in a noninvasive and compassionate way.

  The woman in the film had come to the clinic without medicine as a last resort because all else had failed. The facility emphasizes personal responsibility in our health and provides new and life-affirming ways of living, rather than simply “fixing” people and sending them home. These protocols include new eating habits, gentle forms of movement to stimulate the life force (chi) within the body, and novel methods of breathing. By following these simple changes in lifestyle, the client’s body is strengthened for the healing that’s possible. Following these procedures, at some point it makes sense for clinic patients to undergo the treatment that was recorded on the video.

  As the handheld film began, we could see the woman with the tumor lying on what appeared to be a hospital gurney. She was awake, fully conscious, and had been given no sedative or anesthetic. Three practitioners in white lab coats stood behind her while an ultrasound technician was seated in front of her, holding the wand that would be used to create a sonogram to view the mass inside of her body. We were told that the image wouldn’t be time-lapsed in the way that nature programs show the days-long process of a rosebud opening condensed into seconds. Our film would be in real time so that we could see the true effect of the practitioners’ healing.

  The film was short, lasting less than four minutes. Within that time span, we all saw something that’s considered a miracle by the standards of Western medicine. Yet within the holographic context of the Divine Matrix, it’s something that makes perfect sense. The practitioners had agreed upon a word that would reinforce for them a special quality of feeling inside their bodies. Reminding us of Neville’s instruction to “make your future dream a present fact … by assuming the feeling of your wish fulfilled,” the practitioners’ emotion was simply one of the woman already healed.14 Although they knew that the tumor had existed in the moments leading up to the process, they also acknowledged that its presence was only one possibility out of the many that exist. On that day, they enacted the code that calls for another possibility. And they did so in the language that the Matrix recognizes and responds to—that of human emotion directing energy (see Chapter 3).

  Watching the practitioners, we heard them repeat the words of a mantra of sorts, which loosely translates into the English words “already done, already done.” At first it seemed that nothing was happening. Suddenly, the tumor began to quiver in and out of view, as if it were teetering between realities. The room was absolutely silent as we watched the screen in awe. Within seconds, it faded and then completely vanished from the screen … it was gone. Everything else was there, just as it had been seconds before—everything, that is, except the tumor that had threatened the woman’s life. The room looked the same. The practitioners and the technician were present, and nothing “spooky” seemed to have happened anywhere else; just the condition that had previously endangered the woman’s life had disappeared.

  I remember thinking of the ancient admonition that with a little faith, mountains could be moved. I also recall pondering that before that moment, I’d always believed that the moving of mountains was a metaphor—now I knew that it was a literal fact. Using the formula of the square root of one percent, the population of the clinic had proven that consciousness can directly affect our reality.

  There were a total of six people in the room while the healing happened (three practitioners, the technician, the camera operator, and the woman with the condition). Applying the formula, the square root of one percent of that room’s population was only .244 of a person! With the requirement of less than one person’s belief in the absolute knowing that the healing had already happened, the physical reality of the woman’s body changed.

  Although the number in this case was small, the formula still held true. As noted before, that total is the minimum needed to jump-start a new reality. In all probability, 100 percent of the people in the room experienced the feeling of her healing, and it took two minutes and 40 seconds for her body to mirror their reality.

  With permission, I have since shown this film to many audiences—including medical personnel—throughout the world. The reactions vary and are predictable. Once the healing happens, there’s generally a brief silence as the viewers register in their hearts and minds what they’ve just seen with their eyes. The silence gives way to sighs of joy, laughter, and even applause. For some people, watching the film is a confirmation of what they already believe to be true. Even faith is bolstered by the validation of really seeing something that’s possible.

  For others who are more skeptical, the question is typically: “If this is real, why don’t we know about this?” My answer is: “Now you do!” “How long does the healing effect last?” is the next query. The studies have shown a 95 percent success rate after five years for clients who continue the life-affirming changes in nutrition, breath, and movement learned in the clinic.

  After a gasp coming from somewhere between the desire to believe and frustration that so many people couldn’t be helped by modern techniques, I usually hear something along the lines of: “This is too simple … it just can’t be that easy!”

  My response is: “Why would we expect anything less?” In the holographic world of the Divine Matrix, all things are possible, and we choose our possibilities.

  Believing that we are “here” and the possibilities are “out there,” however, sometimes gives us the feeling that they’re inaccessible. The same rules that describe how the Divine Matrix works also tell us that in the deeper reality, what we typically think of as “somewhere else” is really already “here,” and vice versa. It’s all about the way we see ourselves in the field of possibilities.

  Knowing that everything from the most horrible suffering to the most joyous ecstasy—and all possibilities in between—already exist, we find that it makes perfect sense that we have the power to collapse the intervening space and bring those possibilities into our lives. And we do … through the silent language of imagination, dreams, and belief.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  WHEN HERE IS THERE AND

  THEN IS NOW: JUMPING TIME

  AND SP ACE IN THE MATRIX

  “Time is not at all what it

  seems. It does not flow in only

  one direction, and the future exists

  simultaneously with the past.”

  — A
lbert Einstein (1879–1955), physicist

  “Time is what prevents everything

  from happening at once.”

  — John Wheeler (1911– ), physicist ”

  "Time is / Too Slow for those who Wait, / Too Swift for those who Fear, / Too Long for those who grieve, / Too Short for those who Rejoice, / But for those who Love, / Time is not.” With these words, poet Henry Van Dyke reminds us of our ironic relationship with time.

  Time is perhaps the most elusive of all human experiences. We can’t capture or photograph it. Contrary to what daylight saving would seem to imply, it’s impossible to gather it in one place only to use it later in another. When we do attempt to describe the meaning of time in our lives, we’re left using words that gauge it in a relative sense. We say that something happened then in the past, it’s happening now in the present, or it will happen at some point in the future. The only way we can describe time is through the things that happen within it.

  As mysterious as time is, it’s been the focus of human attention for thousands of years. For countless centuries, we’ve worked to devise and refine systems of keeping track of time as cycles and as cycles within cycles for very good reason. For instance, to know when to plant the crops that will sustain an entire civilization, it’s important to be aware of how many days, lunar cycles, and eclipses have passed since the last planting. Ancient systems of timekeeping maintain a precise record of this. The Mayan calendar, for example, calculates cycles of time that began in 3113 B.C. (more than 5,000 years ago), while the Hindu system of yugas tracks the progression of creation cycles that began more than 4 million years ago!

  Until the 20th century, in the Western world time was typically thought of in a poetic sense, as an artifact of human experience. Philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre described our relationship to time as “a special kind of separation: a division that reunites.” But that poetic view changed in 1905 when Einstein posited his theory of relativity. Before relativity, time was believed to be its own experience, distinct from the three dimensions of height, length, and width that define space. In his theory, however, Einstein proposed that space and time are intimately entwined and can’t be separated. It is space-time together, he said, that forms a realm beyond our familiar three-dimensional experience: the fourth dimension. Suddenly, time became more than a casual philosophical concept … it was a force to be reckoned with.