Subtle Matter: Where the Physical and Spiritual Unite

Review of Dr. Klaus Volkamer’s new book, Weighing Soul Substance

Dr. Klaus Volkamer’s new book, Weighing Soul Substance, builds bridges across the gulf that has separated science from spirituality, materialism from mysticism. It confirms the reality of auras, clairvoyance, remote viewing, psychokinesis, telepathy, and precognition, and presents empirical evidence that these phenomena have a material aspect. By using newly developed measuring technologies Volkamer detected changes in the mass of objects and people resulting only from mental activity. He proved that our thoughts produce physical changes in us and the world around us. “[H]uman thought and directed attention leave a detectable impression in our surroundings.”

He recorded these changes in controlled experiments, categorized the results, and analyzed them to determine causal patterns. His findings confirmed what many people have intuited but have been unable to prove: the existence of a subtle field of energy that permeates and enlivens the universe. It has been described in all cultures throughout history and given such names as Qi, Ether, Soma, Tao, Psi, Nous, Aperion, Vis Vitalis, and Materia Prima but has never been measurable until now. This universal, all-encompassing field joins matter and spirit together and connects everything into wholeness. It is the first layer of manifestation from the Unified Field, which quantum physics has found to be the non-material source of the universe.

Volkamer terms his discovery “subtle matter” and provides evidence that if we bring our awareness to it within ourselves, we can tap into this energy and use it to improve our lives and the world around us. “[P]eople with special mental abilities can produce, focus, and direct subtle matter.” Some mystics, saints, healers, philosophers, and psychics have been able to do this. Now through techniques such as Transcendental Meditation, millions of people around the world are contacting this field and learning to think and act from it. Its life-supporting influence is urgently needed in our crisis-ridden times. As destruction and chaos are increasing, positive energy is also rising in human consciousness to overcome the darkness and negativity.

Volkamer’s discovery that this field has a measurable material aspect and beneficial effects for us is a major contribution to human well being. He has taken it out of the realm of esoterics and established it scientifically.

His book is the culmination of decades of research and makes for fascinating reading. He has broken new ground but acknowledges that more studies need to be done, and he gives suggestions for further research.

The book challenges the assumptions of those who are fixed in either the materialist or the idealist paradigms. It establishes that matter and spirit aren’t binary opposites or a mutually exclusive dichotomy but are intimately connected. This book will probably be controversial, but as Thomas Kuhn wrote, “Every important idea in science sounds strange at first.”

William T. Hathaway’s books won him a Rinehart Foundation Award and a Fulbright professorship. His novel Lila, the Revolutionary is a fable for adults about an eight-year-old girl who sparks a world revolution for social justice. Read other articles by William.