Movie Review - What the Bleep - Good Reminders But They Forgot Some Key Information

Overall, we enjoyed the movie “What the Bleep....” Somenparts of it we responded with, “Well said!” Other parts, “Younforgot some ideas!” And still others, “What the #%*$!”

Some of the movie’s key points that we appreciated the mostnare as follows: blame and victimization are of no use; self-nunderstanding and taking full responsibility for personalncircumstances and behavior is integral to self-actualization;neveryone has the power to influence his/her physical,nemotional, and mental health through thoughts and feelings;nit’s been clinically proven that stress, for example,ncontributes to illness (not that clinical proof is necessary tonacknowledge the effects of stress or positive thinking/feeling);nself-actualization relies on the ability to detach from andnleave behind addictions, expectations, dramas, and desires ofnall kinds (all part of the ego-self) so that one can morenclosely align oneself with the spiritual self.

We especially enjoyed Ramtha’s commentary about romancenand the pursuit of romance being a personal addiction fornmany people.

However, it’s interesting that the financier of “What thenBleep…” is a Buddhist and that there was no mention ofnreinca
ation in this spiritually oriented film. Reinca
ationnis one of the most important spiritual concepts (in Buddhismnespecially) and it is intimately tied to free will, karma (whatngoes around comes around), dharma (what one must do innthis life), and fate (predetermined circumstances and events).

One of the experts featured in the movie is Dr Joe Dispenza (anchiropractor), who has authored several scientific articles onnthe close relationship between brain chemistry, neurophysiologynand biology, and their roles in physical health. He has a Docto
of Chiropractic Degree from Life University in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr Dispenza says “I wake up in the morning, and I consciouslyncreate my day the way I want it to happen…When I create mynday, and out of nowhere, little things happen that are sonunexplainable, I know that they are the process and the resultnof my creation. And the more I do that, the more I build anneural net, in my brain, that I accept that that’s possible. Sonif we’re consciously designing our destiny, if we’renconsciously, from a spiritual standpoint, throwing in what thenidea that our thoughts can affect our reality or affect ournlife, because reality equals life."

While we admire many of the movie’s messages and agreenwith the idea that “Human beings have the potential to shapentheir own experience for better or worse…” we stronglynquestion the message that “…unlimited possibilities are trulynwithin our grasp (in this lifetime).” This implies that a personncan erase karmic circumstances in his/her life and live in annever-ending utopia, fulfilling all ego-self desires andnskipping the important, tough lessons in life. To be perfectlyncandid, our cosmic fu-fu detectors are sounding on high whilendigesting that last bit.

Jeffery B. Satinover M.D. (a former practicing psychiatrist) isnalso featured in the movie. He has completed a master’sndegree as a member of the Theoretical Condensed Matter
Physics group and Yale’s newly-established W. H. Keck
Foundation Center for Quantum Information Physics.

In his book “Reflections of the Nature of God,” he says “Thenworldview that modern science has depended on, for the mostnpart, is that if you have 100 percent knowledge of an initialncondition, then all subsequent conditions are known as well.
If this were true, there would be no such thing as free will,nwhether human or divine. God himself would be a merelynpassive observer who not only doesn’t but couldn’t have anneffect on the world. And human beings couldn’t have an effectneither, because if all physical events are in effect, laid outnahead of time, like a complex play in billiards, then nothingnone does can alter the outcome. It’s all completely determined.”

Its great how he suggests that we free will exists, but ournposition is that he’s too haphazardly blending physical sciencenand spirituality; they are two distinct, separate domains.

We feel Dr Satinover also misunderstands the role of free willnwhile inca
ated and how much we have before we inca
ate.
He also seems to reject the philosophy that fated events arennecessary in order to learn specific lessons.

For instance, a person can’t “create” a wonderfully harmoniousnrelationship with his/her father if one of that person’s karmicnlessons (that they chose while in spirit form) is to endure annabusive relationship with that parent.

He goes on to say, “This is the fundamental premise of thenmode
worldview. However, it turns out and what modernnphysics has now demonstrated is, that’s not true. That actually,nat the most fundamental level, all the most important physicalnprocesses are, in part, determined by ‘factors’ that have nondetectable presence in the physical world. A range of possiblenoutcomes are determined mechanically, but untold numbersnof decisions are being made by ‘something’ that from amongnthese possibilities selects every actual outcome…”

He’s alluding to the idea of a higher power, or God and thenimportance of its influence and we applaud this, but he againncarelessly mixes physical science with spirituality. Doing so isnlike saying that because a circumstance is so in a dream state,nthat we should expect it to be the same way in waking hours.

Different dimensions have different sets of laws, just as wenhave mostly probabilities while inca
ated on earth and morenpossibilities while in spirit form planning our next physicalnexistence.

We shape and contribute to those same possibilities every day.
We believe that we design our next lifetimes by every thought,nintent, and action in this life (and previous ones), yet we alsonfeel that it’s impossible to manifest what one wants (on anpersonality level) now, in this life, if those desires don’tnmatch one’s current life blueprint.

Both Dr Dispenza and Dr Satinover in “What the Bleep…”nimply that the universe is a huge quantum sea of possibilitiesnand that since this is the case that we should be able to createnthat which we want and leave the rest behind.

This is akin to a drunk believing s/he can manifest absolutensobriety for the night an hour after s/he downs five stiffndrinks; it’s too late to “create” something (instant sobriety)nafter an alte
ative is set in motion/secured (intoxication).

Most well-respected quantum physicists today (those with
PhD’s in quantum physics) along with the founding fathers ofnquantum physics,who also believed themselves to be mysticsn(including Erwin Schrodinger, Max Planck, and Niels Bohr),nfirmly held that it’s erroneous to group physics and mysticismnin the same dimension. Planck said that trying to merge physicsnand mysticism “makes no sense at all,” since spirituality isnassociated with the source of everything on a soul level andnquantum physics relates to the most infinitesimal level of thenphysical world of matter and energy.

Good spiritual teachers acknowledge that there’s a differencenbetween the ego-self and the spiritual self. The ego-self wantsnto satisfy all of its earthly desires. The spiritual self isnhere to learn and grow. Meanwhile, most everyone wants “more”nout of life on a personality level. Often, ego-self demandsn(“perfect love,” “better family relations,” “more money,” etc.)nclash with “what is.” Said differently, you can’t always getnwhat you want.

Please understand, we agree that it’s possible to influence ournrealities and even create as we wish to a certain extent whileninca
ated (if it’s within the boundaries of personal destiny),nbut we feel it’s impossible to skip difficult karma. In othe
words, you can’t cheat fate and you can’t just erase personalnchallenges because you don’t like them.

On the one hand, the experts in the movie “What the Bleep…”nemphasize the idea that everybody is fully able to create thei
own realities to match the desires of their personalities.

At the same time, one of the more important (and we feel morentruthful) messages of the film is about the idea that thenultimate spiritual goal is to leave behind/detach from personalnaddictions of all kinds, expectations, dramas and desires (thenego-self) so that one’s personality can more closely meld withnthe spiritual self.

That’s quite a contrast in philosophies! It appears as if thenfilm is promoting the message, “dump the tough lessons and karmanand create what you want now in this life, it’s yours!” whilensaying simultaneously, “free yourself from your desires!” Thenformer is the antithesis of spirituality and the latter is ansacred ancient spiritual concept.

In brief, the movie “What the Bleep…” addresses some keynaspects of quantum physics (while ignoring opposing quantumntheories such as“hidden variables”) and some importantnspiritual ideas (while ignoring the concepts of karma, dharma,nreinca
ation,and fate), and blends them together in a feel-ngood mixture of cosmic truth and New Age fu-fu. Thenconnection between the provided metaphysical concepts andnselect laws of quantum physics is questionable at best.

Aside from a few spiritual fallacies and mixed messages inn“What the Bleep…,” we really liked it. In striving for spiritualnawareness, we must think far outside conventional earthlynthinking in order to begin to grasp universal truths. This filmnis a big step in the right direction.

Copyright © 2007 Scott Petullo, Stephen Petullo