At CFTraveler's encouragement, I am starting a thread to discuss the worldview of nuclear physicist and consciousness researcher Tom Campbell. I personally disagree with many of Tom's conclusions and I was wondering what others have to say.

Tom was one of Robert Monroe's "explorers" in the 70s (he is "TC" in Far Journeys). After years of practice under Monroe, Tom had mastered the out-of-body state to the point where he could project at will. He also found he had the ability to parallel process-- being both "here" and "there" at the same time, like the master shamans of old who were "between worlds." At any rate, Tom used his training as a physicist to interpret what he saw in the larger reality.

Tom has several videos on youtube which are very interesting if you are a science-y type. He wrote a trilogy of books called My Big TOE (Theory of Everything) where his worldview is laid out in full. I will attempt to briefly summarize...

In the beginning was only the void. From that void, consciousness itself, through means not fully understood, evolved into the Absolute Unbounded Oneness (AUO). AUO was only dimly aware, and found that by breaking off pieces of itself and interacting with them, it evolved into reducing its entropy through trial and error. The pieces, also called individuated units of consciousness (IUOCs), grew in number over time. AUO evolved into Absolute Unbounded Manifold (AUM). AUM began using big, conscious "computers" to manage all the "experiments" that were now going on. (Doesn't this sound like something a scientist would find?)

AUM found that it could create dense virtual realities that Tom calls physical matter realities (PMRs), including this universe. Outside of PMRs is nonphysical matter reality (NPMR). IUOCs sent pieces of themselves-- that would be you and me-- into these virtual realities to gather experience and to reduce their own entropy, thereby reducing the entropy of the whole system.

Entropy is a science term meaning the measure of disorder. More entropy means more disorder, and less entropy means more order and harmony. In Tom's view, love is a measure of low entropy, and fear is a negative of high entropy. AUM's goal is to reduce its entropy to the lowest point possible through the interaction of IUOCs in different reality frames, including this physical universe.

So, we are here to train to become more loving beings, in order to make the One Consciousness more loving by extension.

Here is my list of things with which I disagree.

- Entropy. The concept of entropy is fine when dealing with PMR physics, but when it comes to NPMR, does entropy remain a valid concept? Perhaps what Tom perceives as disorder is just another way that the One Consciousness/Source experiences itself? That's not to say that love is not superior to negative emotions, but there's the concept of yin and yang that should be considered.

Furthermore, Tom states that an IUOC's entropy can increase and decrease over time. That is false. The overpowering pull of Source will continue to pull us towards It, even if we stagnate for a while. This is dealt with in another thread, "Dispelling the Loosh Myth."

And let's not forget a quote from Tom's mentor, Robert Monroe: "There is no entropy, only a changing of form." Interesting...

- Evolution. Tom assumes that evolution is occuring in consciousness. In a sense, this is true, at least from our limited perspective. Supposedly, evolution means becoming more loving, but just take a brief look at biological evolution here on Earth. Creatures are evolving to either become more efficient killers or more elusive prey. That's not love at all.

In my opinion, Source is *already* evolved to the point of perfect unconditional love. It is we, on a journey back to Source, that are becoming love as we move closer to Source. It would be more accurate to say that the process of *in*volution is taking place.

We don't need to force ourselves to be compassionate in order to "evolve," or whatever. Compassion and love automatically flow from opening ourselves to more spiritual states of consciousness-- meditation, OBEs, and so on. As a side note, Tom dislikes talking about his OBE experiences because he wants us to focus on being better people in PMR. That's okay, but in my experience, love automatically comes with OBEs.

- Nature of reality. We are not meant to remember our past lives and such in PMR because that would ruin the simulation. OBEs are a giant cosmic loophole that really shouldn't be there, but apparently "the system" doesn't care. Tom does speculate that as more people learn to OBE the "loophole" will be closed.

As mentioned just before, opening oneself to the larger consciousness naturally results in more love and compassion. Tom's whole concept of entropy and ways to reduce it seems to be warped.

- The management. All the "experiments" (PMRs) that are going on are overseen by an entity that Tom calls "the Big Cheese." The Big Cheese is apparently some kind of appointed mayor that makes sure all the IUOCs are behaving. The Big Cheese is not perfect; justice is not always served when one IUOC "kills" another. Yes, Tom says that is possible, more on that in a second.

Tom's whole view of reality as a bureacracy with experiments in entropy reduction seems, well, a little silly and ridiculous. Not to mention the fact that these analogies paint the universe as mechanical and uncaring, which in my experience is quite the opposite.

Yes, there are highly evolved spiritual beings. Yes, they do assist with helping us lower life forms "in"volve towards Source. But an appointed bureacracy of cosmic scientists? How ridiculous!

- IUOCs being "deleted." Tom states that a bad IUOC can kill other IUOCs, though this is against "the rules." Ideally, the big cheese will punish this bad IUOC by deleting it, though justice is not always served.

I disagree strongly with this. There are no dangers in the astral! Nothing can hurt you! Consciousness is indestructable.

- Negative entities. Tom states that there are negs out there, but apparently seems to think they can be quite powerful. Tom states in his book that he avoided some reality frames because they were full of negs who would, of course, "kill" him if given the chance.

In my opinion yes, there are mischievious beings out there. But they aren't evil, they are simply ignorant. They will, one day, be pulled back to Source and become love just like the rest of us.

It's sad to see the "powerful neg" myth still floating around.

- Tom's view of the afterlife. Tom states that the afterlife is a simulation designed to manipulate us into being comfortable. If you had a child that died, that child will be there... but it's only a simulation. All your loved ones are merely computer holograms. Your "real" loved ones have probably already reincarnated and are off doing other things.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQHFD2VFJ1w

This is probably Tom's most disturbing teaching. We are infinite, multidimensional beings. Can your deceased child be in the afterlife and enjoying another incarnation at the same time? Yes! There is no time, there is no space. And reincarnation is, in my opinion, not exactly linear.

- Which brings me to the next issue-- Time. Tom believes that there is a fundamental unit of time. AUM's clock is much faster than ours, but AUM is still constrained by time nevertheless.

Time is, in my opinion, a grand illusion. A psychological construct. The space between neurological events. There is no time. Ancient peoples had an understanding of this-- Dreamtime, nirvana, and so on. Source does not experience time, Source just IS.

Have you ever meditated and time passed at a different rate? Or had a projection that seemed to last years, but really only lasted an hour? William Buhlman mentions some experiences where he lived an entire lifetime in the astral, but found that physical time had only moved by five minutes. I think that time does exist in some way in the astral, but the closer you get to Source, the more meaningless time becomes.

- Religion. Tom clearly hates religion. He consistently bashes it in his book, often with no provocation. And yet, if our goal is to reduce our entropy and become more loving... What about the former gang members that find Jesus and become better people? Carl Jung considered religion a valid way of becoming a better, more integrated person, though he personally didn't subscribe to any particular one (to my knowledge).

If religion is an efficient means of reducing entropy, why does Tom hate it so much?