"And they allowed Apollonius to ask questions; and he asked them of what they thought the cosmos was composed; but they replied; "Of elements." "Are there then four?" he asked. "Not four," said Larchas, "but five." "And how can there be a fifth," said Apollonius, "alongside of water and air and earth and fire?" "There is the ether," replied the other, "which we must regard as the stuff of which gods are made; for just as all mortal creatures inhale the wire, so do immortal and divine natures inhale the ether." "Am I," said Apollonius, "to regard the universe as a living creature?" "Yes," said the other.
- The Life of Apollonius of Tyana, Philostratus, 220AD
Space is not empty, it's filled with energy and substance that's not perceivable to our human senses. This is something that's been postulated throughout history, from ancient philosophers all the way to the present day. In the 1960's a researcher at Hughes Laboratory named Robert L. Forward demonstrated that this energy could in-fact be tapped.
Even Rene Descartes proposed the theory that “space,” (what we perceive as empty space) is completely filled with matter in various states. There is evidence to suggest he was executed by the Church because his science entered into the realm of metaphysics.
“Electric power is everywhere present in unlimited quantities and can drive the world’s machinery without the need of coal, oil, gas, or any other of the common fuels.”
- Nikola Tesla (Tesla 'Harnesses' Cosmic Energy, Philadelphia Public Ledger, Philadelphia, November 2nd, 1933)
This is something Nikola Tesla spoke about many times, tapping into this energy and using it to generate electrical power.
"Ere many generations pass, our machinery will be driven by a power obtainable at any point in the universe. This idea is not novel… We find it in the delightful myth of Antaeus, who derives power from the earth; we find it among subtle speculations of one of your splendid mathematicians….Throughout space there is energy...it is a mere question of time when men will succeed in attaching their machinery to the very wheel-work of nature."
- Nikola Tesla, Journal of the Institution of Electrical Engineers
Tesla's idea of so-called "free energy" was heavily influenced by Vedic philosophy. It's "free" given the fact that this energy is not scarce, it can't be depleted, and it's available in unlimited quantities. It's also sometimes referred to as "zero-point energy."
"All perceptible matter comes from a primary substance, or tenuity beyond conception, filling all space, the akasha or luminiferous ether, which is acted upon by the life giving Prana or creative force, calling into existence, in never-ending cycles all things and phenomena."
- Nikola Tesla, Man's Greatest Achievement, 1907
Tesla had correlations with Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), who was one of the most famous and influential spiritual leaders of the philosophies of Vedanta (one of the six schools of Hindu philosophy, the term originally referred to the upanishads, a collection of philosophical texts in Hinduism) and Yoga. He was the chief disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and the founder of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. He is a giant figure in the history of the Hindu reform movements.
"Mr. Tesla thinks he can demonstrate mathematically that force and matter are reducible to potential energy. I am to go and see him next week to get this new mathematical demonstration. In that case the Vedantic cosmology will be placed on the surest of foundations. I am working a good deal now upon the cosmology and eschatology of the Vedanta. I clearly see their perfect union with modern science, and the elucidation of the one will be followed by that of the other."
- Swami Vivekananda (Complete Works, VOL. V, Fifth Edition, 1347, p. 77).
The quote above from Vivekananda hints to a meeting with Tesla. It's unclear how many times they met, but it must have been between 1893 and 1897 or 1899-1902. These are the years he spent visiting the western world.
The story of one of their meetings is well known. In 1896 actress Sarah Bernhardt starred in a play called Iziel. It was a French reading of the life of the Buddha. The play was about a courtesan, Iziel, who attempted to seduce the Buddha while he meditated at the foot of the legendary fig tree where he achieved enlightenment. The Buddha took advantage of Iziel’s advances to preach about the world’s vanity. The play was one of the many Western expressions of interest for the Vedanta, one of the six Hindu schools of philosophy based on the Vedas.
Vivekananda was in attendance, and was approached by Bernhardt after the show. Tesla was also in attendance and during the night Vivekananda and Tesla met and began to speak.
To the surprise of both of them, the conversation turned to topics of mutual interest.
“Among other things, Vivekananda and Tesla discussed the notions of prâna, âkâsha, and kalpas, three elementary concepts of the Vedantic doctrine. Respectively, these can be understood as vital energy, the ether, and the idea of the aeon. Prâna might be understood as a unit of energy, âkâsha as matter, and kalpas as time. According to Vivekananda, on that very night, Tesla assured him that ideas of such a long tradition in Hinduism could find an echo in modern Western science.”
- The Yogi and the Inventor: The Friendship of Swami Vivekananda and Nikola Tesla. Faena Aleph.
Vivekananda met with many notable scientists at the time, including physicist Lord Kelvin. (Nikhilananda, Swami, Vivekananda, The Yogas and Other Works, Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, New York, 1973) .
As you can see, Tesla was aware of ancient concepts and the correlation it had with the science he was working on using sanskrit words like "akasha," and "prana" to describe the force and matter that exists all around us. These words come from the Upanishads (a collection of Vedic texts).
"The aakash is not destructible, it is the primordial absolute substratum that creates cosmic matter and hence the properties of aakash are not found in the material properties that are in a sense relative. The aakash is the eternally existent, superfluid reality, for which creation and destruction are inapplicable."
- Paramahamsa Tewari, Engineer, Physicist and Inventor. Spiritual Foundations
Tewari, before he passed, invented a machine based on these principles that he describes in a paper he published in Physics Essays. We have followed his work for many years, and put out a brief video detailing more about it, which you can watch below.
These are machines that output more energy than they take in, and they can run perpetually for an unlimited amount of time, constantly using the non-physical properties of nature and the atom. Some still refer to the idea that of these technologies being the product of pseudoscientific conspiracy theories, but this doesn’t seem to be the case.
"A century from now, it will be well known that: the vacuum of space which fills the universe is itself the real substratum of the universe; vacuum in a circulating state becomes matter; the electron is the fundamental particle of matter and is a vortex of vacuum with a vacuum-less void at the center and it is dynamically stable; the speed of light relative to vacuum is the maximum speed that nature has provided and is an inherent property of the vacuum; vacuum is a subtle fluid unknown in material media; vacuum is mass-less, continuous, non viscous, and incompressible and is responsible for all the properties of matter; and that vacuum has always existed and will exist forever….Then scientists, engineers and philosophers will bend their heads in shame knowing that modern science ignored the vacuum in our chase to discover reality for more than a century."
- Paramahamsa Tewari
According to former NASA Astronaut and Prince Physics Professor Dr. Brian O'Leary,
"These concepts have been proven in hundreds of laboratories throughout the world and yet they have not really seen the light of day. If these technologies were to be set free worldwide, the change would be profound, it would be applicable everywhere. These technologies are absolutely the most important thing that have happened in the history of the world."
You can see him make this statement in this short clip from THRIVE, as well as see a picture of him and Tewari together.
"These are not just fringe scientists with science fiction ideas. They are mainstream ideas being published in mainstream physics journals and being taken seriously by mainstream military and NASA type funders. I've been taken out on aircraft carriers by the Navy and shown what it is we have to replace if we have new energy sources to provide new fuel methods."
- Dr. Harold E. Puthoff. Physicist and US Government Department of Defense Scientist
These concepts and more, within the realm of quantum physics, look at the reality of non-physical phenomenon. According to Tesla, "the day science begins to study non-physical phenomena, it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of its existence.”
But, "despite the unrivalled empirical success of quantum theory, the very suggestion that it may be literally true as a description of nature is still greeted with cynicism, incomprehension and even anger." (T. Folger, “Quantum Shmantum”; Discover 22:37-43, 2001)
This is because this type of phenomena challenges our long held belief systems and what we think is true. It's something that's always existed throughout the history of science.
Take, for example, prominent physicist Lord Kelvin, who stated in the year 1900 that, “There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more precise measurement.” It wasn’t long after this statement when Einstein published his paper on special relativity. Einstein’s theories challenged the accepted framework of knowledge at the time, and forced the scientific community to open up to an alternate view of reality.
"It serves as a great example of how concepts that are taken to be absolute truth are susceptible to change. Physicists shy from the truth because the truth is so alien to everyday physics...The universe is immaterial-mental and spiritual."
- R.C. Henry, Professor of physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University. The Mental Universe.
I’ve also discussed the idea of life existing in these realms as well. You can read more about that here.
The physical world is no longer the primary or sole component of reality, and it cannot be fully understood without making reference to the non material components of reality we are now coming to understand.
Truly as sentient beings, regardless of religious beliefs, we must be aware that there is an all encompassing feeling of power around us. An aura if you will. In all honesty we are still in a very primitive state when it comes to understanding this power. Nicola Tesla was eons ahead of his time. To some degree I believe it had something to do with his early demise.
Some of the great sensei in Asia have touched the edges of this power and are indeed very impressive people. Our Western philosophies are largely based on ignorance and arrogance which is why this world is in such turmoil at this point in time. Until we turn away from war and greed we will never advance past where we presently find ourselves. There is indeed much wisdom to be gleaned from the ancient philosophies. Maybe one day we will overcome our base instincts and once again progress.
A most excellent, balanced introductory post on aether. I look forward to seeing more on this subject from you.
👏👏👏🙏🙏