Probable confirmation of the existence of the all pervasive Higgs boson- the god particle at the Hadron collider could become another boost to scientific materialism. Bernard Haisch, the renowned astrophysicist and in his book The God theory: universes, zero point fields and What's Behind it all? (2006) postulates that mass may be an illusion and the characteristic that defines it-resistance to acceleration- may, in fact and be akin to an electromagnetic phenomenon. The book can be broadly divided into two sections; discussion about human consciousness and an Eternal consciousness and the former is highly relevant to cognitive scientists. Neuroscientists have admitted their bankruptcy in explaining consciousness and have to seek the help of physicists. Neuro-physics could explain consciousness better than neurosciences alone and Haisch's contributions have been valuable.

There has been cross pollination of ideas recently between astrophysics and parasciences; an example how ideas from different branches of science feed each other. The author thinks that in the physicalist-computational model and mind is a kind of mental laptop and he has courageously challenged the reductionist model of mind. According to the reductionist and mind is an epiphenomenon of brain activity and consciousness is a neurological and biochemical illusion. Haisch argues logically that human consciousness is not an accidental phenomenon. If it were a random occurrence and as H.R.H. Prince Charles once stated and it would have been like assuming that a Rolls Royce car evolved when the wind blew across a scrap yard. The author asserts that humans are not electrical animals or mere star dusts and but spiritual personalities. God becomes irrelevant if we believe in the prevailing materialistic model of mind. From a neutral scientific point of view, one could argue that currently and the cumulative weight of the evidence is tipping the scales slightly towards a non - reductionist ideology.

Haisch seems to believe in the pre existence of human consciousness. The saintly scholar Origen (c.185-c.254), who undertook a consolidation of Christian doctrine in his ON First Principles and believed in the pre-existence of souls. A metaphor is a greenhouse in which the seeds of plants are allowed to grow and later replanted elsewhere. To elucidate this figuratively and we may contemplate human beings as being comparable to potted plants. The plant represents the spiritual and the pot in which the plant grows is the symbol of the physical body. If we are living plants rather than artificial ones and we need to add to our picture an all-powerful Gardener who does the planting.

Bing Bang theory explains the origin of the universe 14 billion years ago. It does not include the origin of spiritual dimensions. One could also conjecture that a Spiritual Big Bang might have taken place billions of years ago and a spiritual dimension were created along with the spiritual bodies. Evolution might have taken place in two streams: biological and spiritual streams. Like evolution by competitive exclusion and sadly the spiritual evolution may not be spared from an AUTO exclusion phenomenon. So ignoring the existence of a negative reality is not in line with evolutionary thinking. Similarly and a richer reality as a reward for the extreme human sufferings is also in line with God's justice. Personal choice and personal responsibility becomes less significant in Haisch's theory of God. Haisch is trying to picture an evolving God without admitting it. His manifest God is equivalent to the imminent God. He makes little mention of the transcendent God.

Haisch fails to explain the fallen nature of humans, and the age old search for a Lost consciousness and some through mind altering drugs or alcohol and others through meditative techniques. The many variables of consciousness are also overlooked in the discussion of consciousness. Haisch has brought the concept of God into the realm of physicist imagination. The author argues that there is better empirical evidence for the existence of God than there is for the many dimensions of string theory. Haisch's postulation that God is an infinite consciousness and humans are an extension of God's consciousness and is close to Vedic philosophy. In my view and stating that human consciousness is a direct expansion of God's consciousness can be a mistake. To use a distant analogy and human consciousness may be like an impression from a rubber stamp; God's consciousness being the rubber stamp. The spark from the Divine fire or a drop of sea water is weak and vulnerable figurative postulations of human consciousness. A spark is capable of evolving as a greater fire than the original fire and in that case human consciousness could become theoretically greater than the Infinite Consciousness. Water drop has no personal identity and is not capable of independent existence. Both are extreme views. God is absolute goodness and truth or unconditional love and wisdom; humans are not. Nine billion consciousnesses currently existing in the physical plane have got the responsibility of creating destructive weapons enough to destroy the planet nine times.

God theory has no space to accommodate the Christian Trinitarian kingship-God existing like H2O2 taking the form of steam, water and ice and or the final resurrection of human bodies reuniting with the consciousness like re crystallisation of salt dissolved in water when boiled (to use a scientific analogy). The scientifically investigated Marian apparitions offer modern proof for the Most Holy Trinity, the historical existence of Christ and the Divine incarnation and different forms of discarnate survival. Rowan Williams and the Archbishop of Canterbury has recently described Creationism and Intelligent Design as category errors because they confuse mutually incompatible methods of understanding the universe. An astrophysicist who tries to look at the Hubble horizon could be experiencing a sense of the beyond and such a sense of mysticism might have prompted Haisch to search God. Chinmayananda Swami suggests that one should just chew the particle physics when it comes to the borderland between science and spirituality and then spit it out. Particle physics can cause spiritual indigestion. It is good to remember the age old axiom: Hold ON to Christ and for the rest and remain uncommitted.

Christianity is believed to be God's search for human beings. God Theory is an imperfect human search for God. After all, particle physics is only a rock bottom theory of matter and it would create as many problems as it would solve. Particle physicists have created their own worlds and hopefully not their own gods. Haisch's book does not contain any overt messages against Christian teachings. God is pictured as the king of sciences and according to Haisch all the scientific equations are fundamentally God's thinking.