SPIRIT
The Stranger Inside Us
FROM THE SAME AUTHOR
WORKS IN PHYSICS
Éléments d'une théorie unitaire d'Univers
ELEMENTS OF A UNITARY THEORY OF UNIVERSES, Editions of the Grange
Batelière, Paris, and of the Kister Editions, Geneva,
1962
Relativité générale GENERAL RELATIVITY,
same editors, 1963
La Crise actuelle de la physique THE CURRENT PHYSICS CRISIS,
same editors, 1966
Cours de théorie relativiste unitaire COURSE IN UNITARY
RELATIVIST THEORY, Albin Michel, Paris, 1969
Théorie unitaire : analyse numérique des équations
UNITARY THEORY: NUMERIC ANALYSIS OF EQUATIONS, Albin Michel,
Paris, 1974
Théorie de la Relativité complexe THEORY OF COMPLEX
RELATIVITY, Albin Michel, Paris, 1977
L'Esprit et la Relativité complexe. Introduction à
la psychophysique THE SPIRIT AND COMPLEX RELATIVITY. INTRODUCTION
TO PSYCHO-PHYSICS, Albin Michel, Paris, 1983
WORKS IN SCIENTIFIC PHILOSOPHY
La Connaissance de l'Univers THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE UNIVERSE,
Le Seuil, 1961, Nautilus Prize 1962, translated to Spanish
Du temps, de l'espace et des hommes OF TIME, SPACE, AND MEN,
Le Seuil, 1962, translated to Spanish
L'Homme à sa découverte MAN AT HIS DISCOVERY, Le
Seuil, 1963, translated to English
De la physique à l'Homme FROM PHYSICS TO MAN, Denoël
(Gonthier), 1965, translated to Spanish
Récentes découvertes sur la matière et la
vie RECENT DISCOVERIES ON MATTER AND LIFE, Plon, 1966, translated
to Spanish
L'Être et le Verbe BEING AND THE WORD, Planète,
Paris, 1965
Pourquoi la Lune? WHY THE MOON?, Planèt-Denoël, 1968,
translated to Spanish
Les Grandes Énigmes de l'astronomie ASTRONOMY'S GREAT
ENIGMAS, Planète-Denoël, 1967, translated to Spanish
Les Conceptions de l'Univers depuis 25 siécles CONCEPTS
OF THE UNIVERSE THROUGH 25 CENTURIES, Hachette, Paris, 1970,
translated to English, German, Spanish, Swedish and Japanese
L'Age de l'ordinateur THE AGE OF THE COMPUTER, Hachette, Paris,
1971, translated to Spanish
Treize questions pour l'Homme moderne THIRTEEN QUESTIONS FOR
MODERN MAN, Albin Michel, Paris, 1972, translated to Spanish
L'Homme et l'Univers MAN AND THE UNIVERSE, Albin Michel, Paris,
1974, translated to English
L'Esprit, cet inconnu THE SPIRIT, THIS UNKNOWN, Albin Michel,
Paris, 1977 translated to English (SPIRIT The Stranger Inside
Us), Italian and Portuguese
Mort, voici ta défaite DEATH, BEHOLD THY DEFEAT, Albin
Michel, Paris, 1979
J'ai vécu quinze milliards d'années I'VE LIVED
FIFTEEN BILLION YEARS, Albin Michel, Paris, 1983
WORKS IN COMPUTER SCIENCE
Cours d'initation à l'ordinateur et à la programmation
INTRODUCTORY COURSE IN THE COMPUTER AND PROGRAMMING, books 1
& 2, edited by The Institute of Practical Computer Science,
BP. 24, 91-ORSAY, 1970
Cours de Cobol COURSE IN COBOL, Books 1, 2 and 3, same editor,
1970
JEAN E. CHARON
SPIRIT
The Stranger Inside Us
Califormula Publishing
"We must liberate man from the cosmos created by the genius
of physicists and astronomers; from this cosmos in which he has
been enclosed since the Renaissance. Despite its beauty and its
grandeur, the world of inert matter is too narrow for him. Like
our economic and social environment, it is not made to our measure.
We cannot adhere to the dogma of its exclusive reality. We know
that we are not entirely confined, that we extend ourselves in
dimensions other than those of the physical continuum. . . .The
spirit of man extends itself beyond space and time into another
world. And, from this world, which is himself, he can, if he
has the will to, run through the infinite cycles. The cycle of
Beauty: which the sages, the artists and the poets contemplate.
The cycle of Love: inspirer of sacrifice, of heroism, of denial.
The cycle of Grace: supreme reward for those who have searched
with passion for the principle of all things. . . .We must rise
and march in step. Liberate ourselves from blind technology.
Realize, in their complexity and their richness, all of our potentialities."
Alexis Carrel
"The moment has come for us to realize that an interpretation
of the Universe, even a positivist one, to be satisfying, should
cover the inside as well as the outside of things-the Spirit
as well as the Matter. The true Physics is the one which will
succeed, someday, in integrating the total Man in a coherent
representation of the world."
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Contents
Foreword 11
Preface 13
CHAPTERS
One PHYSICS AND METAPHYSICS
17
Spirit inseparable from Physics research - Newton the alchemist
- Voltaire and Valéry: spiritualist atheists - Creative
science and science of discovery - Scientific research and the
"general public" - Of multiple languages to describe
Nature.
Two THE SPACE AND TIME OF THE
SPIRIT 27
A new space-time: that of Spirit - Memory - A space of non-diminishing
negative entropy - Of "eternal" carrier particles of
the Spirit - Death, behold thy defeat! - Our "I" takes
root in an eternal past and will prolong itself in an eternal
future.
Three LANGUAGES OF DESCRIPTION IN
PHYSICS 33
Descartes and description by "figures and movements"
- Einsteinian Relativity of time and space - Geometrisation of
Physics - Is probability incompatible with a complete geometrisation
of Physics? - Need for new revolution in concepts of space and
time to incorporate Spirit.
Four COMPLEX SPACE-TIME
41
Matter and Spirit unified in a complex space-time - "Point"
of traditional space-time an extended domain - "Black holes"
as proof of complexity of space and time - Account of voyage
toward a black hole - Space-time of black holes memorizes and
ordains events, as does Spirit.
Five ELECTRON: CARRIER OF THE SPIRIT
49
Space-time of electron comparable to that of black holes -
Review of current concepts on "elementary" particles
- Particle "hollows out" space as does black hole -
"Closed" space of the electron, and its virtual interactions
"at a distance" - Electron is carrier of "spiritual"
space - Proofs of psychism at particle level - Communications
between Man and Spirit of Matter - Symbolic representation of
Matter and Spirit in the Universe.
Six A NEO-TEILHARDIAN EVOLUTION
59
Comparison to Teilhardian concepts - Evolution according to
Teilhard's law of complexity-consciousness - "Spiritual"
electron actually contains our entire "I" - Spiritual
adventure of humankind is centered on the elementary . . . and
we are this elementary.
Seven OBSERVATION OF SPIRIT IN MATTER
65
Our Spirit inseparable from our bodies - Overcoming our corporal
death - The living cell and chromosomes - Cellular duplication
and sexual reproduction - One who creates is "more conscious"
than one created - "God doesn't shoot dice."
Eight ETERNAL RAMIFICATIONS OF OUR
SPIRIT 81
What does my Spirit become after my death? - Chance incapable
of replacing Spirit in evolutionary process - Biological and
"logical" proofs that my entire "I" is carried
by each of the electrons of my body - My cosmic "I"
is richer than conscious "I" of my present-day life
- We will be reunited forever with our ancestors and descendants.
Nine MECHANISMS OF THE SPIRIT & PARAPSYCHOLOGY
87
An imaginary telepathic communication with mummy of Ramses
II - Scientific bases of parapsychology - First "analogical"
approach to mechanisms of the Spirit - Our "reincarnation"
in new lives - Return of our conscious "I," our unconscious
"I," and their union in our cosmic "I" -
Creation and reasoning - Do you know that trees speak?
Ten SPIRIT FUNCTIONING AS PHYSICS PHENOMENON
95
Structure of spiritual electron - Role of "spin"
in spiritual mechanisms - Negentropic enrichment of electronic
space - Mathematical tool to describe Spirit already exists -
Electron knows to store and use energy - Asymmetrical carbon
and topology of the Living - Louis Pasteur: precursor of genius.
Eleven REFLECTION, KNOWLEDGE, LOVE &
ACTION 107
Four interactions of electron with external world and Spirit
of the Other - Description in language of Physics - Informational
enrichment and negentropic increase of electron's space by Knowledge
and Love - Love is a telepathic process - A neo-Gnostic Physics.
Contents 9
Twelve CASE FOR A COPERNICAN EVOLUTION
115
We must stop thinking about an evolution of entire Universe
centered on Man - Cosmic spiritual adventure takes root on particles
present in entire cosmic Universe: "thinking" electrons
or eons - Man still spiritually present among people of eons
- If you are a sage. . . .
Thirteen A NEO-GNOSTIC COSMOLOGY: EVOLUTION OF MATTER
119
Inherent cosmology of Spirit inseparable from inherent cosmology
of Matter - Present "models" of Universe of Matter
- Beginning, expansion, contraction and end of our Universe -
Model of Universes deduced from Complex Relativity - Birth of
electrons and Spirit.
Fourteen A NEO-GNOSTIC COSMOLOGY: EVOLUTION OF SPIRIT
129
Universe "in waiting" - Spirit is born - "Couples"
of positive and negative electrons - Eons need "machines"
- Evolution as consequence of play of four "deterministic"
physical interactions and four "free" psychic interactions.
Fifteen
MATRIXISM 137
Spirit doesn't know final objective of Spirit - Structuralist
language and matrixist language - Sign and signified - Matrixes
of natural language - Reflection produces languages for abstract
meaning and artificial signs - The animal also knows abstract
languages - Man's place in context of matrixism - Cosmic spiritual
adventure and Reincarnation - Knowledge and Love as means for
Spirit to discover objective of its adventure.
Sixteen THE UNKNOWN
FUTURE 149
Review of Cosmology of Universe of Spirit - One can preview
"deterministic" evolution of Matter - Spirit is ever
weaving its web in space - "Little green men" perhaps
particles of cosmic radiation - Universe evacuates matter little
by little to preserve only population of eons - Our "I"
and the "last machine."
Foreword
When my client, Mr. Víctor Díaz, asked me to translate this
book, I was sitting in his office fulfilling his modest request
for translation of a few lines from the back cover. Surprised
(and flattered), I told him I would read it, then give him my
answer.
From the word "Je" - Charon's thematic first word
- I was hooked. Here was a man with intellect surpassing even
Einstein's, and I understood him! As Jean-Emile methodically
built, page by page, his foundation of scientific proof, my left
brain was stimulated by his logic, my right by his panache.
With spirituality all the rage (again!) in the '90s, Charon
appears to have been well ahead of the curve when he published
this book in 1977. So far, I've seen no book on the subject
which explains this complicated concept in such relatively uncomplicated
terms.
On page forty-nine of the original French text, J.-E. explains
why he deliberately avoided difficult scientific terms, mathematical
equations and formulas to prove his premise scientifically.
This work was written primarily for the non-scientist seeking
scientific answers to spiritual questions.
For the serious scientist, Mr. Charon simultaneously published
his deeply detailed scientific work on the subject entitled Théorie
de la Relativité complexe THEORY OF COMPLEX RELATIVITY.
It still awaits translation. (Too complex, perhaps . . . ?)
This translation remains steadfastly faithful to J.-E. Charon's
uniquely Gallic wit, humor, and passion; and, of course, his
genius. French scientists have a marked propensity for persistently
pursuing a train of thought with a preponderance of words before
punctuating their point with a period. So, wherever possible,
I separated extra-lengthy sentences into two (occasionally more),
ever-respectful of the author's original intent, and scientific
and/or philosophical points.
One more thing, brave reader. Books on science can be pompous,
stilted or stuffy. This one isn't. It's friendly, even casual
at times (yes, there are contractions), and should be a pleasant
read. That's how Jean-Emile originally wrote it, and that's
how it's remained in translation - reader-friendly.
There are answers to age-old questions in this work. I sincerely
hope they satisfy your curiosity, and meet your expectations,
as you (and your Spirit) enjoy this personal contact with Jean-Emile
Charon's delightful Spirit, alive and well inside his written
words.
P. G.
Preface
I'm a physicist-theorist. My main interest is the mathematical
description of the laws which govern nature. My research focuses
on "unitary" theories-those which strive to unify observable
laws by demonstrating that they are singular parts of a more
general law-valid for all phenomena-defined as unitary law.
If such a law exists, then it should be valid and verifiable
at all dimensional levels, because it analyses the smallest up
to the largest-from "elementary" particles to the entire
cosmos.
Reflecting on my work and publications over the last twenty
years, I'm still not sure of being a physicist in the accepted
modern sense. Traditionally, physicists are supposed to be interested
exclusively in the properties of "inert" matter. However,
like most people, they realize that there are phenomena which
go beyond physics alone.
These are phenomena affected by the intervention of what we
call psyche, conscience, or thought, resulting from the competence
of psychologists, or the precision of biologists. Physics-as
self-defined at this end of our 20th century- seems to make it
a kind of "point of honor" not to mix psychology with
physics. This (it believes) allows it to boast of being an "exact"
science.
During my research on this "inert" matter, I remember
always being on the lookout for the first traces of psychic phenomena;
ever watchful for the Spirit hiding behind the Matter. I've
found myself very uncomfortable with the "reductionist"
approach of modern physicists who feel obliged to build a Physics
which shuts out Spirit.
I believe I was right. At long last, I can actually show
that in order to give a complete and satisfactory report on the
structure and properties of certain elementary particles, a
special space-time must be included. It's one that presents
all the characteristics of a space-time of Spirit coexisting
with that of raw matter. What I'm revealing here are different
views and conclusions of neo-Gnostic Physics.
Why "neo-Gnostic" Physics? I didn't invent the name.
I'd already written over half of this book when I discovered
that a growing trend already existed among scientists not to
separate Matter and Spirit in their descriptions of the Universe.
The originators of this "movement"-born during the
1970s at Princeton and Pasadena -were eminent physicists and
astronomers. Since then, their numbers have increased to include
biologists, doctors, psychologists, and more recently, theologians.
Gnosticism originated in the first century. It was a philosophical
system by which the partisans (the Gnostics) claimed to have
a direct knowledge of God. They characterized their attitude
by not applying this doctrine on simple beliefs, but rather on
the given scientific facts of the time. This philosophy further
proposed the existence of Spirit-carrying beings called, "eons,"
which affected the behavior of matter.
From this ancient philosophy, the new Gnostics of Princeton
and Pasadena have retained the idea that what we call "Spirit"
is inseparable from all observable phenomena in the Universe-whether
physical or psychic. Thus-at least in principle-we should be
able to have a "scientific" knowledge of Spirit; be
able to describe it in scientific terms, and if necessary, be
free to alter scientific language itself.
By allowing the Spirit to attain the rank of "scientific"
phenomenon, the neo-Gnostics have steadfastly refused to place
humans at the center of the thinking phenomenon. They believe
that when a human says "I think," he or she should
more correctly say "It thinks," or "It controls
a thought in space;" in the same way a physicist says, "It
controls a magnetic field in space," or a person in the
street announces: "It's raining."
In other words, just as an electron can produce an electrical
field around itself in space, a profound reality exists throughout
the Universe which is capable of causing thought to be "born"
in space. It follows then that thought is present everywhere
. . . as much inside the mineral, the vegetable or animal, as
it is in Man. It's primarily thought that's behind the behaviors
of living organisms-even a simple bacterium.
In fact, since this concept hasn't been precisely proven in
scientific language; nor "linked" with observed and
recorded scientific phenomena, only one option is
left. (Kicking a hole in a wall to get a view may be a bit radical,
but as long as the wall stays intact one will never see anything!)
That's precisely the neo-Gnostics' attitude. For now, they
simply wish to be a new window to the Universe of Spirit and
Matter; to try to describe this Universe in scientific language,
without considering them separately; to be another scientific
language to create Knowledge. Or, as they like to say: be a
force for "psycho-synthesis."
This new approach to Knowledge prompts a few other noteworthy
considerations. First, there's the adoption of a relatively "modest"
viewpoint regarding what we call human knowledge. There are
microscopic individualities inside every human. They think, they
know, and carry Spirit in the Universe. Like the ancient Gnostics,
we call them "eons." 1
These eons know human knowledge, since it's they who "think"
this knowledge. But, their knowledge greatly surpasses any human's-any
we could ever formalize in any kind of language. The eons mainly
know how to create life. Human knowledge is but a tiny part of
their total knowledge which can be expressed in human language-considering
human societies' many conventions.
Something else regarding the above. It's ridiculous and inaccurate
to call a fellow human who hasn't completed "higher education;"
or, a fellow animal or vegetable, "ignorant." This
would be a little like comparing two high-level scientific types,
and deciding that one of them is ignorant because he or she doesn't
know how to play bridge. When compared to the aggregate knowledge
of the eons, it's both anthropocentric and unacceptable to insist
that our meager individual human knowledge makes us in any way
superior to anyone else.
Humankind should keep its modest "hairless monkey"
place in the world. Not so much because we know little more
than the monkey in the animal kingdom; but rather because, in
the kingdom of the cosmic Universe, we can't be certain that
the monkey's eons don't have an advantage over ours. . . so,
no attempt at a degrading knowledge hierarchy, and no Master.
Actually, the notion of "Master" is as taboo for the
neo-Gnostics as it is for the eons. These immortal individualities
who live the spiritual adventure of the Universe don't have absolute
knowledge of the objectives and "rules of play" of
the Universe. As we'll see, they can only continually increase
the "order"2 of the Universe by inventing more
and more complex rules of play, without ever being sure that
new rules will lead to a new objective.
Having succeeded for the most part in safeguarding their innocence,
the neo-Gnostics illustrate this invention of rules with a card
game which seems to have caught on quickly on western American
campuses. It's called, "Eleusis." Each player gets
a turn to invent the rules of the game, which he writes and hides
from the other players. He then plays a card. The other players
respond by carefully choosing and playing a card from their hands.
The winner of each hand is chosen by the inventor of the rules,
and collects all the cards in the hand. At the end, the points
of all the collected cards are counted according to a criterion
known only by the inventor of the game. Whoever is first to
complete the rules of the game, and (generally) has the highest
number of points, is declared the winner. It's interesting to
note that many players win just by having "imagined"
rules different than the "official" rules set by the
the game's inventor .
It's much the same at the level of the Spirit in Nature. The
eons are not compelled to speak an "official" language
to evolve in a way which indicates progress on the psychic plane;
and conversely, among humans, the "officials" aren't
those who are the most capable of helping psyche progress.
Another consequence of the neo-Gnostic attitude: none must seek
a Master, nor consider himself a Master-hence, no "proselytism."
We're all searchers, and from the start, no one knows which
rule is the preferable one to make the Spirit grow. No "psychic
level" of the Spirit permits discovery of the definitive
objective of the spiritual adventure of the World; thus, no
"humanist" religion pretending to know where one can
find "the Good" of Man.
As notes Raymond Ruyer, ". . . fundamentally, it is a
question of honesty for the neo-Gnostics. They find it negligent,
even criminal, to do experiments on human skin. Trial and error
is permitted in one's own life; but one does not have the right
to give the impression that one knows what's right for others
who know better than you."3
It should be stressed that the neo-Gnostic attitude seeks to
center the spiritual adventure of the Universe on an "immense
population of eons," and not on human beings. It in no
way concludes that humankind, along with the rest of the World,
is somehow "manipulated" on the Spiritual level by
this population of eons. The consequence would be that humans
could not truly participate in their own destiny.
It's not the eons who "pilot" my own spirit. "I"
am these very eons, in this sense: what I call my "I"-i.e.
my person-is present in each of the eons who enter my body.
According to the neo-Gnostics, humankind is not a "puppet"
on which others pull the strings.
Rather, it suggests that our person participates directly in
ALL of the World's spiritual adventure-an adventure which has
its roots in the origin of our Universe. It's an adventure which
will end along with it . . . if the Universe must one day end
(a fact which the eons-who have the wisdom to know the future
will only be what they choose to make it-have yet to whisper
in anyone's ear!).
This book is intended for all of us who reflect on the mystery
of our bodies and our consciousness; on the rapport of Spirit
with Matter, and the scale of the whole Universe. I profoundly
believe that we humans are desperately searching for a perspective
which enhances our position in the immensity of the cosmos by
simply putting into harmony what we know with what we feel.
The New Gnosis was born of a union of aspirations as diverse
as those found on the campuses or hippie communities of Berkeley
and Columbia; among the astronomers and astrophysicists on Mounts
Palomar and Wilson, and the physicists of Princeton. It has
touched many biologists and doctors, and even more recently,
a growing number of people of the Church (Roman Catholic).
Now, it's being heard even more outside of the United States.
As I've said, the New Gnosis is a perspective worth exploring.
Ultimately, Time, our inseparable companion, will be sole judge.
J. C.
or you can order the book via phone by calling 619-575-9090.