There is a lot of woo-woo about supposed connections between Buddhism and Quantum Mechanics. Pay it no mind. But one can make a valid analogy between quantum tunneling and Mumon’s Gate with No Door, where your task is to find yourself already on the other side of it. Or better still, without any two sides to it, as we discussed last week. Take your mind off the opposites, and there you are. Or aren’t, since there is no permanent you.
Alan Watts - The Goose in the Bottle
A woo woo is an alcoholic beverage made of vodka, peach schnapps, lime juice, and cranberry juice.
Yes, never mind that either.
Quantum mysticism
Before the 1970s the term was usually used in reference to the von Neumann–Wigner interpretation [consciousness causes collapse], but was later more closely associated with the purportedly pseudoscientific views espoused by New Age thinkers such as Fritjof Capra and other members of the Fundamental Fysiks Group, who were influential in popularizing the modern form of quantum mysticism.[13]
Yes, fine, no actual worries.
Quantum Tunneling
In classical physics, there were supposed to be absolute energy barriers, so that a liquid could not slosh out of a cup at rest. But it turns out that superfluid liquid helium can crawl up and over the rim of a cup and pool below, a decidedly quantum effect. Helium-4, below 2K, can form a Bose-Einstein condensate.
Superfluid helium
Quantum tunneling is at the heart of hydrogen fusion in the Sun, which mostly occurs in the proton-proton chain.
First, two protons bypass the repulsion of their charges, and find themselves just barely close enough for the nuclear force to hold them together as diprotium. Then, rarely, one of the protons becomes a neutron by changing an up quark to a down quark: uud→udd.
The theory that proton–proton reactions are the basic principle by which the Sun and other stars burn was advocated by Arthur Eddington in the 1920s. At the time, the temperature of the Sun was considered to be too low to overcome the Coulomb barrier. After the development of quantum mechanics, it was discovered that tunneling of the wavefunctions of the protons through the repulsive barrier allows for fusion at a lower temperature than the classical prediction.
The average proton in the core of the Sun waits 9 billion years before it successfully fuses with another proton. It has not been possible to measure the cross-section of this reaction experimentally because it is so low but it can be calculated from theory.
Next, two deuterons combine and let go of a neutron, producing helium-3, which undergoes further reactions ending in helium-4.
This process, mediated by the strong nuclear force rather than the weak force, is extremely fast by comparison to the first step. It is estimated that, under the conditions in the Sun's core, each newly created deuterium nucleus exists for only about one second before it is converted into helium-3.[1]
In the Sun, each helium-3 nucleus produced in these reactions exists for only about 400 years before it is converted into helium-4.
Hawking radiation is another form of quantum tunneling, against gravitation.
Here endeth the physics lesson.
Note: It’s all very confusing, you know. We can do these calculations—some of us, anyway. But as Niels Bohr said,
If you think you understand quantum mechanics, that is evidence that you don’t.
Even he and Einstein fell into that trap on occasion, with the Copenhagen Interpretation, and “spooky action at a distance”.
Going on Beyond
So. Back now to our koan. You are not a self but a Buddha nature, and you can let go of the opposites. These are not attainments, but original realities. So you can describe this as finding yourself on the other side because that’s actually where you started, or finding that there are no sides. But it is no good repeating a truth if you haven’t seen for yourself why it is true. Therefore,
If you think you understand Zen, that is evidence that you don’t.
I don’t pretend to understand it. I just train. It is possible to say a word of Zen to those who have let go of the nonsense, and apply Skill in Means for the benefit of those who haven’t. Here is how I passed my first public test.
What time does the next train leave?
You just missed it.
My answer took the questioner flat aback, and left him dismasted and rolling helplessly. (🎩 Horatio Hornblower)
Ships! Yes, ships and rafts for going over the river to the Other Shore. More Skill in Means.
In Gakudo-yojinshu (Points to Watch in Practicing the Way), Dogen Zenji says:
You must understand that we practice within delusions and attain realization before awakening. At that moment, you will comprehend that ships and rafts are merely yesterday’s dream and will be able to cut off your previous views based on words which bind you like a vine or a snake.
But first,
You should arouse the thought of awakening.
The thought of awakening has many names but they all refer to one and the same mind.
Ancestor Nagarjuna said, "The mind that fully sees into the uncertain world of birth and death is called the thought of awakening."
Thus if we maintain this mind, this mind can become the thought of awakening.
Indeed, when you understand the discontinuity the notion of self does not come into being, ideas of fame and gain do not arise. Fearing the swift passage of the days, practice the way as though saving your head from fire. Reflecting on this ephemeral life, make endeavor in the manner of Buddha raising his foot.