In my book, The Ancient Way of the Mind, I put forth the hypothesis that the mind is a double edge sword (Bright 2025). On the one hand, our intellectual mind that can perform reason and form symbolic language has granted us the ability to form the structures and civilizations that we have today. At a physiologic level, however, an overactive mind full of mental ruminations seems to inhibit our body from viscerally experiencing the full truth of our reality. We become immersed in our own individualistic perspective rather than having the grander, unifying, holistic view of all of existence that seems rampant across ancient religions. I point out that across various religions and cultures lies a common theme of mental discipline, meditation as an example, that orients the mind-body in a manner that grants the practitioner an experience of life and reality where the individual feels more unified with all of existence rather than an isolated and individualized self. It seems as if ancient traditions embedded within them practices that helped us remember our place within the cosmos, as our intellectual mind grew to such importance and blinded us from this felt understanding. The discovery of this true Self, which is holy in its nature, is a common goal across religions.

For example consider this passage from the Gospel of Luke (The Holy Bible: King James Version 1930):

“And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”

 – Luke 17:20-21

I propose that this clearly highlights a common theme across ancient religions and modern adulterations of them. Concepts such as God or Heaven are often conceptualized as things external to us, whereas most ancient traditions in both the East and the West recognize enlightenment as something that is sought internally. Our ability to recognize the true Self, as distinct from the self created by our intellectual minds, as something holy unified with all of life and existence requires a kind of orientation within that is typically associated with health, acting with the good, and being aligned with the cosmic order and flow.

There is also something ineffable about this subject. Consider the opening lines of the Dao De Jing （道德经）by Lao Zi (老子 1994):

道可道非常道 名可名非常名   The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao

The name that can be named is not the eternal name

  This subject is incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to fully articulate with words. For one reason, it is because the very act of using the mind to generate a linguistic explanation takes our bodies away from fully experiencing this truth. This is something felt and not intellectually understood. It is in many ways a fool’s errand to approach the subject with logic, when the two are in many ways antithetical to each other, even from a physiological point of view.

Nonetheless, the human story is rampant with philosophical and religious teachers that aim to spread these ideas, and there is likely a reason for this. Being properly aligned with this is deeply healthy and good in a way that is intuitive to all of us.

Life can be viewed as a consequence of the Laws of Thermodynamics. As energy flows from the Sun to the Earth, complex and orderly life emerges as dissipative structures to more efficiently facilitate the flow of energy. The Sun and its rays of life are not only vital to the healthy and proper functioning of our mitochondria and therefore bodily health but are also a central symbol in religions. What it means to be properly aligned with the flow of the cosmos, what is good, holy, and true, is intricately tied to what it means to be healthy, happy, free, and prosperous. This flow, from our reference point on Earth, in many ways stems from the Sun and therefore has holy significance.

In my book, I proposed physiologic mechanisms to explain how optimizing the health of the mind-body produced an experience in life that felt more holy in nature. However, I did so from a classical biology frame of reference. The intention of this article is to attempt a similar proposal but through the lens of quantum biology, as explored in my previous articles.

To begin, consider how sunlight powers the engines of our mitochondria. Our mitochondria take electrons, oxygen, and protons, and produce water, carbon dioxide, and ATP. One way in which sunlight does this is by forming a structured water lattice at the surfaces of our cell membranes. This structured water acts as a medium for electrons and protons to move in a quantum coherent way which improves energy efficiency. However, the quality of this water lattice is not only determined by the amount of near infra-red light we receive, but also of the isotopic quality of the water that forms it. A hydrogen atom has three isotopes: protium, deuterium, and tritium. Tritium is radioactive, so the two major biologically used isotopes are protium and deuterium. Protium is lighter and is more favored by the mitochondria for ATP production. Furthermore, due to the kinetic isotope effect, proton hopping and proton transport occur more rapidly in protium-rich water than in deuterium-rich water (Arcis, Plumridge, and Tremaine 2022; Zhou 2011). While we can get protium water from what we drink and eat (especially from fat metabolism), by far the most important means of acquiring this lighter water for healthy bodily function is the metabolically formed water during the electron transport chain. Importantly, the more efficient the proton transport, due to the availability of structured water as an example, the more efficient are both the ATP synthase and the functioning of the cytochrome c oxidase (CCO) which makes the water (Olgun 2007; Salomonsson, Brändén, and Brzezinski 2008). Therefore, a positive reinforcing mechanism becomes apparent: sunlight helps charge a structured water lattice that assists proton hopping, especially when the water is richer in protium, and these conditions enhance CCO functioning, which in turn increases the availability of protium-rich water, further boosting mitochondrial function. The engine is charged by sunlight and clean fuel to make even cleaner fuel for even greater energy efficiency.

For the purposes of this line of thinking, it is also important to understand the consequence when the CCO doesn’t function efficiently. When the electron transport chain functions efficiently, electron leakage is minimized and ROS production remains low. Conversely, impaired electron transport increases electron leakage and elevates ROS production (Murphy 2009). Recall from my previous articles that our neurons may not be simply using neurotransmitters to communicate but may also be using the ultraweak photons generated from ROS. When there is less ROS, there will be fewer oxidation events and less ultraweak photon emission (Pospíšil, Prasad, and Rác 2014). Less ultraweak photon emission would then subsequently lead to more ordered ultraweak photon emission patterns (Van Wijk, Ackerman, and Van Wijk 2005). For the brain, more ordered ultraweak photon emission would then lead to more coherent neuronal signals (Tang and Dai 2014; Sun, Wang, and Dai 2010; Mould et al. 2024). It could then be postulated that improved neuronal signals would lead to greater mental health outcomes. Therefore, the health of our neuron’s mitochondria would hold influence over our mental health, and aid in our mind’s ability to be clear to the degree at which it can properly experience the truth of our reality, as argued in my previous book.

This also brings us to reconsider how practices such as meditation shape mental health and clarity when examined from this quantum biological point of view. In The Ancient Way of the Mind, I propose what I call the Calm Pond Hypothesis: chronic mental ruminations act as a turbulent surface upon which the mind-body cannot accurately interpret the signals of our world. Framed through classical biology, I argue that when neuronal activity intensifies in the networks that sustain rumination and narrative self-identification, we become less capable of properly interpreting the signals that arise within the body and in the world outside it. The intellect conjures a perceived self, an ongoing narration that drowns out the embodied perception of reality and obscures the true Self that lies beneath. Meditation intervenes by altering neuronal activity, diminishing the regions that construct this perceived self and amplifying the circuits that quiet the ruminating mind. The body thus becomes a more faithful interpreter of reality, capable of discerning what is within and without the distortions of compulsive self-identification. While directionally sound, this classical formulation centers around brain regions and neurochemistry, and can be enhanced considerably when viewed through the quantum biological framework I have since developed.

Meditation and related mind-body practices not only influence neuronal activity but also influence the production of ROS itself (Gautam et al. 2021; Martarelli et al. 2011). This helps to explain why neuronal activity changes because neuronal activity is, in part, a consequence of ultraweak photon emission. Neuronal activity, and the noise of our minds, should not simply be understood as measurement of neurotransmitter flow, but also the ordered coherence of the ultraweak photons being emitted. If meditation can reduce ROS production, it could lead to a reduction in ultraweak photons, increasing the coherence and quality of the signals: improving mental health.

This strengthens the analogy of The Calm Pond used in my first book: the brain needs to properly interpret the signals coming from the body and the external world to understand reality. It does so by analyzing the ripples that each raindrop forms as it hits the pond. If there is a rainstorm, and many ripples are forming and colliding, all the collisions make it harder for the pond-like brain to properly understand the information of each individual raindrop. If, however, the mind is calm, and there is less rain, each distinguishable raindrop can be more easily interpreted and reality comes into a fuller, more holistic, view. This analogy was a helpful metaphor to explain the neuroscience of my previous book, but from a quantum biological point of view can be seen as a more appropriate metaphor: it is the lack of mitochondrial health that is playing a role in our health and connection to the holy because too many ultraweak photons are creating decoherent signals that cause issues across the system. Meditation, as one of many remedies, may improve the order and coherence of the signals of the brain so that things become clear again.  

There is even scientific research to support this hypothesis. Several studies by Eduard P.A. Van Wijk have investigated the relationship between meditation and ultraweak photon emission, although they were not directly targeted towards activity in the brain. In a small 2005 study of experienced meditators, short-term meditation was associated with slight or inconsistent decreases in ultraweak photon emission, but the structure of the signal became less chaotic and there was a gradual change in the pattern; the authors interpreted this as evidence that meditation may influence ultraweak photon dynamics, while noting that the physiological meaning of those changes remains unclear (Van Wijk, Ackerman, and Van Wijk 2005). In 2006, Van Wijk conducted a study where he observed that long-term meditators showed a 35% reduction in ultraweak photon emission in recorded body sites (Van Wijk et al. 2006). In 2008, he similarly showed that longer-term meditators have an overall decreased emission level relative to those who do not practice, while additionally showing that it is only the intensity of emission that lowers and not the location (Van Wijk, Lüdtke, and Van Wijk 2008). More recently, Dyer et al. measured both ultraweak photon emission and states of consciousness during loving-kindness meditation, finding that participants reported significantly increased non-duality and expansion of self-awareness beyond the body (Dyer et al. 2026). While the Dyer study did not find statistically significant changes in ultraweak photon emission in the hand during the meditation phase, the parallel findings across these studies suggest that the potential reduction of ultraweak photon emission through mindfulness-based meditation practices may explain why these ancient practices orient someone towards the holy, which is typically characterized by a felt experience of relational unity, ego dissolution, and spatial perception of consciousness boundaries.

In summary, our increasingly advanced scientific understanding in modern times may be helping us rediscover an ancient wisdom. These findings suggest that health, which encompasses not only the physical and mental but also the divine, is connected to both our ability to tend the garden of the mind and our devotion to sunlight, nature, and the world that formed us. From this perspective, health is a simple thing to achieve. We must bask in the glory of the Sun, continue the devotional practices that help us hone the mind, and realize that most remedies come not from industrially made things, but from the holy.

References

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