At the summit of the greatest mountain on earth, there is a meeting between Hawaiian spiritual practitioners and Western scientists.

Although the context is literally a summit, the calls for more in depth dialogue from the Hawaiian practitioners have been handled not as an opportunity for improved relations between the two sides, but as an irritating inconvenience, standing in the way of a significant financial investment.

This is a tragic circumstance. In the history of Western scientific thought, there have been relatively few instances where scientists had the humility to be curious about the indigenous worldview, and even fewer instances where they manage to actually realize true insights into a line of thought very different from their own.

Some shining examples of institutions and individual scientists who are true pioneers do exist, however. The Institute of Heartmath in Boulder Creek, CA, has done extensive scientific research to better understand the subtle function of the human heart in our social relationships.

They made the amazing discovery that the heart is constantly sending and receiving radio signals. That means our hearts are constantly in communication with other people’s hearts. What is quite special about mountains as a location for spiritual practice, is that not only are they generally less populated, but they are actually a location where a human being can experience their biology as an instrument to receive and transmit signals with the cosmos, which is loaded with radio signals.

What good would that be? Well, honestly, we tend to receive a message much more profoundly when it passes through our bodies, than when it is a bunch of data printed out on paper or even more abstractly, if it exists solely in the virtual reality of ones and zeroes. There is certainly value in direct experience. It’s the difference between being in the audience at the ballet, and being one of the dancers.

An individual scientist who has pursued a truly groundbreaking path is Nassim Haramein, who, through his work in quantum physics, has constructed a model based on mathematics and scientific observation, that explains the interconnectivity of the universe.

Haramein’s work also confirms the scientific basis of ‘free energy’ that can be harvested from the vacuum of space. With implementation of his ideas, we would no longer require the use of fossil fuels, and we would be able to miniaturize technology significantly, in order to reduce our impact on the Earth’s resources. The effect is to establish that there is a powerful and untapped potential for development of human civilization that is quite literally immaterial.

Telescopes are a physical representation of the Western belief in materialism; that is, if you want to get something done, it is necessary to construct a material implement to accomplish your goal.

This is the opposite of the approach to knowledge taken by indigenous practitioners. Their systematic intellectual and spiritual development is extremely rigorous in order to render them suitable instruments of perception. For this reason, it is essential that their hearts remain open and they learn how to experience what would otherwise be considered overpowering emotions with complete openness.

Violation of a pristine sacred site with a massive construction, therefore, is a sign of disrespect to the indigenous worldview that is looked upon with the same contempt today as it was in 1492. The difference is that now the violation is delivered with bulldozers and politesse, rather than with swords.

The old concept of ‘terra nullius’ is, objectively, wrong. An empty natural site is actually an interface for human beings to connect quite literally in electromagnetic communication with the cosmos. In this age of impending natural disaster for humanity, we ought to place more value and interest on that phenomenon.

To the supporters of the TMT, I would like to point out that just because someone is smart and has an advanced degree, doesn’t mean that there might not be some fields of human knowledge in which they are ignorant. And it certainly doesn’t give them the right to invalidate other people’s worldview. As human rights activist Julia Ormond puts it, “Being equal is not an aspiration. It’s what we are.”

To the protesters, I would like to say thank you, for the effort you are making to stand for a greater principle. Remember that as you resonate, so the universe resonates. Malama ko aloha.  Kapu Aloha.