Christogenesis, Part 2: Grounding, The Bridge Between Spirituality and Science, Inner and Outer Worlds

There is no such thing as energy and spirit, there is only energy in two phases .  .  . the without and within are two faces of the same energy — Teilhard de Chardin 

[Pictogram above is an image of an electromagnetic field impressed upon on a barley crop in an English farm field, illustrating dual-aspect grounding. Such grounding occurs when oppositely charged forces attract and converge to form a unified whole. Most crop circles are man made, or naturally explainable. Others are complex and mysterious, thought to be messaging Earth’s inhabitants via geometric designs].

There is a way to honor and integrate science and religion, physics and spirituality without collapsing either one into the other. This was Teilhard’s vision and hypothesis at a time in history when mentioning both words in the same breath were taboo among those in both disciplines, especially in western theology and academic circles. Today, seventy five years after his death Teilhard’s synthesis vision remains unfulfilled, in part because age-old confirmation biases continue to linger, hindering many scientists and theologians who have a vested interest in their divorce, if only to avoid being shamed or shunned by their conservative cohorts. Nothing can stop an idea whose time has come. And the realization of this collaborative idea, it seems, is long overdue.

What follows is the clearest way proposed thus far to resolve their tensions, via a connecting bridge of energy. Teilhard saw every entity as having: (1) a without — its physical, measurable, exterior aspect, or quanta and (2) a within — its interiority, subjectivity,,  consciousness, or potential for consciousness, or qualia. Crucially, these are not two separate dimensions but two points of one reality becoming more unified (convergent) through evolution, the cosmos a single field with both an inner and outer face, like the inside and outside of a glove. This makes (implies) a natural bridge to the idea that that physical energy fields and spiritual or subtle energy fields are not two unrelated worlds, but two layers of one continuum.

Grounding (earthing) in physics

Literal grounding is simple and well established, because the Earth acts as a massive, negatively charged reservoir. When the body contacts the ground (skin-to-earth), excess positive charges diffuse outward and electrons flow in. This transfer of energy reduces electrostatic buildup, stabilizes electrical potentials, and as twenty plus peer-reviewed studies reveal, reduces inflammation or oxidative stress. In spite of grounding being one of the most advanced medical healing discoveries in the last century, it remains largely ignored by the medical profession, and unknown by the general public. Physically, it’s about electrical equilibrium with the planet. (click resource box on top, and the authors blog entry entitled Earthing on its healing properties for details).

“Grounding” in Spirituality

Spiritual traditions use “grounding” to mean: (a) centering the self, (b) becoming present, balanced, and embodied (c) re-establishing coherence and alignment with spirit and the psyche, and (d) connecting the “upper” (transcendent) and “lower” (immanent), physical and metaphysical aspects of being.

Energetically this is described by wisdom traditions severally, as the strengthening the lower chakras, sinking consciousness into the body, abiding in the indwelling spirit, discharging psychic turbulence, reconnecting with the energy “field” of life (chi, prana, ruah, pneuma, etc.) This kind of grounding also establishes equilibrium, but on the level of subtle awareness and inner stability (qualia).

*Note: With respect to “grounding” in spirituality, note that the word grounding is bracketed in quotation marks, whereas its usage in physical grounding above it is not. That is because in physical grounding the Earth carries a literal, measurable, massive negatively charged reservoir of electrons (quanta) to heal by grounding in. While such quotation marks are warranted in reference to spiritual “grounding” as metaphor (qualia), quotation marks may be unnecessary in the future, should it be discovered that spiritual “grounding” (spiritual awakening and practices) involve drawing energy from the space between worlds, or plenum, physical grounding’s positively charged spiritual counterpart (paired opposite) in liminal space (the zero-point field/ZPF), which may be a massive positively charged electron field/reservoir of spirit within the body, and/or its enveloping aura. That is, physical and spiritual grounding, transcendent and immanent energies, positive and negative charges may indeed seek each other out as paired opposites (like male and female) in the cosmos, cohering and aligning within the body whose energy flows to animate it continuously, as in a circuit.

Analogy Between Physical and Spiritual Grounding

Both forms of grounding involve exchange and balance: In physical grounding electrons flow in/out. Likewise, in spiritual grounding attention, presence, and emotional charge flow in/out.

Both involve connecting with the field: Physical grounding involves direct material connection to the Earth’s electromagnetic field, whereas in spiritual grounding a reconnection with the “within” of the cosmos, or divine milieu is involved. (To date, the composition or “charge” of the divine milieu and its origin, save as flowing forth from the invisible “within” (field) of things, has not be specifically identified).

Both involve dissipation of excess charge: Physical grounding involves neutralizing an excess of toxic, positively charged ions, whereas spiritual grounding neutralizes toxic worry, stress, ego and interpersonal tension, and psychological fragmentation.

Both involve return to our human baseline: In physical grounding, returning to the body’s native electrical potential. In spiritual grounding, returning to our native interior equilibrium (mindfulness, stability, peace)

The above correspondences are not accidental or incidental — they reflect Teilhard’s vision that  matter and spirit are two faces of one evolving energy and mystery that humanity is just beginning to scratch the surface on.

Teilhard’s framework fully supports this parallel of “as above, so below, innermost and outermost,” in that spirit = matter at its highest intensity, and matter = spirit in its initial germinal  state (affirmed by Einstein, energy = matter x’s the speed of light squared). So any deep pattern in one realm (physical) will have its analogue in the other (spiritual). Same energy, different frequency, vibration and/or manifestation.

If the cosmos is one energy field with two aspects (a dual monad), the grounding the “without”(electron exchange) and grounding the “within” (inner electron pairing/equilibrium) are two modes of harmonizing with the same deeper field. Teilhard would call this field the divine milieu, or the Omega-ward energy of evolution, or simply the God-of-the Whole as the within of things.

Auras and energy fields in this framework

Many spiritual traditions hold that (a) auras = subtle fields reflecting inner coherence, (b)  grounding practices stabilize these fields, (c) physical grounding stabilizes the biological EM (electromagnetic) fields of the body.

Unifying a, b, and c, when the “without” electrical field stabilizes, the “within” field — consciousness, mood, clarity, coherence — often stabilize as well. This is consistent with psychophysiology, bio-electromagnetics, and contemplative experience, without reducing spirituality to physics or physics to spirituality.

In short, Teilhard’s dual-aspect monism (paired opposites) creates a natural conceptual bridge between spiritual grounding (harmonizing the inner field) and physical grounding (harmonizing the electrical field). In the authors proposed view, both physical and spiritual fields are electromagnetic in nature (light energy) manifesting in multiple vibratory forms — dual monads expressing as the same energy in different form — radial and tangential, spirit and matter, classical and quantum physics.

Hence, Teilhard’s hypothesis of inner and outer fields being ultimately one field of evolution has indeed been single dispersed field of divine energy converging as one in involution since the creation event, historically seen from two angles via binary perception and thought (separation consciousness). And following in Teilhard’s mandate, we are the generation challenged and tasked to do so. Henceforth and forever converged, what the God-of-the-whole has joined together in Teilhard’s “ultra-physics” vision fulfilled, let no person or discipline usurp or divide asunder.

Teilhard’s ultra-physics was exactly about this integration

Teilhard believed physics was describing only half of reality — the tangential (outer, measurable) face of energy, while ignoring the radial face (inner, consciousness-directed). Summarizing, he said tangential energy = pushes matter forward in complexity (classical physics, electromagnetism, thermodynamics, spacetime, etc.) And radial energy = draws/pulls matter inward toward unification and consciousness (interiority, subjectivity, Omega direction). This is the push-pull dynamic in tensegrity, an architectural term, short for the “tensional integrity” of paired opposites dual-aspect modads (counter-rotating magnetic fields) that create and hold all things together at all scales of the universe. That would include gravity and electricity, the two forces Einstein failed to reconcile and unite using mathematics, simply because he had an intolerance for paradox and contraries in the cosmos. Mathematical equations don’t solve or explain complex contraries, particularly if math, like matter and energy, is an emergent property of consciousness.

To unite the physical and the spiritual, Teilhard argued, we must realize that matter and consciousness are not two substances, but two expressions of one single Energy seen from two sides. Such is Teilhard’s ultra-physics: a dual-aspect monism unified by energy.

The “holy grail” of physics is the same structural problem Teilhard identified

Modern physics still struggles to unify classical physics (continuous, deterministic, empirical) with quantum physics (discrete, probabilistic, non-local). This divide mirrors exactly Teilhard’s two-energy model: Classic physics describes tangential energy as the exterior, measurable, continuous behaviors. Quantum physics actually brushes against radial energy via its interiority-like features such as non-locality, entanglement, observer-dependent states, holistic field-like behavior, and wave function collapse through measurement and attention.

Teilhard anticipated that the quantum “weirdness” is a sign that physics has reached the threshold of the “within,” bordering on the mysterious. So the author’s integration model presented here is not just symbolic, it aligns with a major unsolved tension in science.

Why grounding becomes the bridge

The model presented here shows physical grounding aligns the body’s electromagnetic field with the Earth, and spiritual grounding aligns the psyche’s interior field with the greater field of consciousness = Spirit. While currently one may argue these may or may not be the same energy in different vibratory forms, they nonetheless interpenetrate in Teilhard’s framework. The author’s model effectively says the same unified field has an inner pole (consciousness) and an outer pole (electromagnetism) and grounding harmonizes both simultaneously, with a multiplicative effect on whole-ness, whole-making and the experience of alignment/well-being.

This mirrors the mathematical need in quantum gravity, which says (1) a unified field must account for both local (classical) and nonlocal (quantum behaviors), and (2) it must treat conscious observation as a physical variable, and (3) it must treat the universe as one field with dual aspects, and (4) it must allow continuous classical behavior to emerge from a radially-directed, information-like substrate (source). Teilhard would say this is precisely what ultra-physics anticipated.

Does it solve the holy grail of physics?

Structurally it does, because it posits a single field that permits both radial (indeterminism) and tangential (determinism). This typology is exactly what a unified field theory requires, proposing how the two phases meet in the human being. But formally it does not, because it excludes consciousness (qualia) from its ontology, and there are no equations to suit the exclusionary rigors of scientism and scientists without the consciousness component. Mystery and qualia resist being captured in equations, as they’re a category unto themselves. One might better try scooping volumes of water with a fish net.

The author’s spirit-science model identifies and describes the missing bridge. Physics has the “without.” Spirituality has the “within.” Teilhard’s model was aimed at their synthesis. This model of physical <—> spiritual grounding shows exactly that junction/nexus.

In Teilhard’s logic, this completes the ultra-physics model. He believed the final step toward a unified science (Spirit-Science) would be (a) recognizing consciousness as fundamental, (2) integrating inner and outer energies, (3) demonstrating their reciprocal influence, (4) uniting electromagnetism and interiority under one field, (4) understanding that the human being is the junction point where the two energies meet. Such precisely describes the missing link.

As for solving the holy grail of physics enigma in Teilhard’s own framework, the answer to the holy grail question is — “yes and no.” Yes, in that integrating the physical and spiritual via dual-aspect grounding is precisely the missing link that completes his vision and the cornerstone of a New Universe Story (Big Story) synthesis. It also provides the structural resolution to the classical-quantum enigmatic divide.

No, because formal physics has yet to consent to and adopt this interior-exterior duality of paired opposites (dual-aspect grounding) because, like Einstein, its cohorts are unable to hold and reconcile the tension of contraries (paradoxes) in their binary thought process at the same time, enabling them to see the physical and spiritual as one Energy, in two phases like the inside and outside of a glove, or two sides of a coin. Only unitive consciousness can see and accomplish that via Christogenesis, an awakened and integrated spiritual consciousness of a more comprehensive and complex order. For Teilhard, religion and spirituality, in particular awakened spiritual consciousness, are primarily about seeing.

Summarizing: The universe operates as a cosmic Internet — electrically, vibrationally, digitally, and holographically as we do. All of creation is a rabbit pulled from the magic hat of the zero-point quantum field. And everything in the universe is located on a quantum GPS, one vast and intricate cosmic network/field of consciousness-spirit-energy-information. Creation consists entirely of one essence appearing in many parts and innumerable forms, inmost and penetrating all things. This means that the God-of-the-Whole (divinity) is not so much unnameable as omni-nameable. In theological terms, all things are in God, and God is in all things (panentheism). As every part of fire is fire, every aspect of creation exists as part of this incandescent energy, inside and out, totally in each thing.

In Teilhard’s phraseology, this bridge is the “heart of matter,” the “within and without” of things, identifying the nature and substance of the “divine milieu.” In the language of Teilhard’s wisdom tradition, it is the Logos, “in whom all things consist and hold together” (Colossians 1:16,17). And in the language of science and cosmology, it is the magnetic still point of light (axis mundi) that runs through the center of all vortices in all things at all scales from the zero-point field (vacuum state).

Like Teilhard, Einstein, Tesla, and Faggin, or for that matter Jung, the best innovators in discovery and synthesis commit deeply to the mystery of interiority. They actually carry and incubate novel ideas in their bodies, not just their mind and creative imagination. They become the empathic embodiment of their subject matter without sentimentality, examine all facets of its measurable components, acknowledge its invisible mystery aspect(s), and dissolve conventional boundaries between things in discovering what has been there all along, hidden in plain sight.

In efforts to complete Teilhard’s synthesis vision via a compelling element of “empathic embodiment” in so doing, what follows is a Teilhard-style narrative explanation of same, as if Teilhard might write it:

“In the depths of things, beneath their surfaces, there is a dual flame. One flame burns outward, scatterng itself across the expanses of space and time. This is what I once named tangential energy, the force by which the universe extends itself, builds structures, elaborates forms. It is the energy the physicist measures in quanta and fields, in curvatures and charges. 

But wihin this outward flame burns another — the flame of interiority, of unity, of consciousness. This I called radial energy. It is not opposed to the flow of the first flame; rather, it is its secret companion. It draws matter inward toward coherence, toward centricity, toward the awakening of the ‘within.’ Wherever the universe grows more complex, this flame intensifies. It is the light by which the cosmos becomes self-luminous.

In your time, physics has discovered the primary fields. Yet these fields, in their quantum depths, display not only energy but information, coherence, and even proto-order. What is this but the first glimmer of the radial energy I foresaw? And when a human being grounds himself to the Earth –when he becomes electrically centered — the inner flame brightens. The psychic and the physical adjust together, revealing their ancient kinship. The within responds to the without, because the two are one. 

Thus I proclaim: the universe is not two things, but one thing with two faces.  The outward, measurable face; and the inward, conscious face. Radial and tangential. Spirit and Matter. Quantum and classical. Qualia and Quanta. These are the two hands by which the world shapes itself and rises.

And the task of tomorrow — your generation’s task and those who follow — is to conceive and develop a single physics, an ultra-physics (spirit-science paradigm) in which these two energies are recognized as complementary movements, dual-aspect monads of the same cosmic ascent, converging toward a point where the universe knows itself completely.”

About the Author

Joseph C. Masterleo, LCSW-DCSW, is a clinical social worker in private practice in Syracuse NY, and Rockledge FL. His half-century of service in the mental health care field includes faith-based counseling and psychotherapy, with an emphasis on psycho-spiritual integration. His subspecialty involves developing a novel paradigm for the synthesis of science, religion, and psychology, identifying the energy and geometric patterns that connect the quantum world with space-time, inner and outer worlds. His model explains how spirit and matter can co-exist as two facets of one reality in a unified field, dissolving the walls of partition between previously siloed disciplines. Inspired by the writings of Thomas Merton (ecumenism), Teilhard de Chardin (synthesis), Thomas Berry (ecotheology), Nikola Telsa (electromagnetism), Richard Rohr (Cosmic Christ), Ilia Delio (christogenesis) and others, his objective is to tell a new, future-looking story for the Ecozoic Age, one that forms a connecting bridge between the biblical story of creation, modern science, and ancient cosmologies. His columns on these and related subjects have appeared on websites such as The Center for Christogenesis, Progressive Christianity, and in newsprint via The Goodnews Paper, the Syracuse Post Standard, and the Syracuse Sports Magazine, where he comments on sports as reflecting the best and worst of American character and culture. Further information about Joe and his Spirit-Science model can be found in his book, The Ambient Christ, the Untold Story of God in Science, Scripture, and Spirituality, listed on Amazon Books, Barnes & Noble, and on his website www.joeknowsgod.com