Richard Feynman once said about quantum mechanics “If you say that you understand quantum mechanics, and if you are NOT surprised, then you really did not understand quantum mechanics” !

The reason being there are so many mysteries and puzzles in the field of quantum mechanics that otherwise would be considered super natural, unscientific, etc by a common man.

Feynman also said “I think I can safely say that nobody understands Quantum Mechanics”!

I will try to explain some of the quantum mechanical facts, in simple layman terms so that you understand it.

Let me give you an example. Take a quantum particle like say electron. Quite opposed to its particle nature, it has been proved that the electron moves through two openings at the same time! It is like you moving through two adjacent entrances separated by a thin wall (whose thickness is almost the same as that of your body) at the same time!

Not surprised? Ok, let me give another example. Take a quantum particle and conduct an experiment on it without looking at it, and you will get some result. Now take the same particle and conduct the same experiment on it by observing it, and you will get a different result! In other words, the particle knows that whether you are observing it or not! This has been proved in various experiments.

Is that all? Not really. Now Separate two quantum particles which had been together like twins, take them very far away from each other so that they dont see or talk to each other, now do some experiment on one of the particles and you will see the other particle which is far away reacting to this experiment on its twin immediately! This is again a proved fact!

And you thought telepathy was not science? :) In the world of quantum mechanics, there is always telepathy and it is called non-locality where two non-local i,e far away particles behave as if they are still in constant touch with each other via some phone line !!

Most quantum physicists have always been looking towards the ancient Indian vedic texts for answers to these mysteries, because they found similar explanations of scenarios as observed in quantum mechanics in these ancient texts!

To quote some of them,

I go into the Upanishads to ask questions. – Niels Bohr, Well known Quantum Physicist

This life of yours which you are living is not merely apiece of this entire existence, but in a certain sense the whole; only this whole is not so constituted that it can be surveyed in one single glance. This, as we know, is what the Brahmins express in that sacred, mystic formula which is yet really so simple and so clear; tat tvam asi, this is you. Or, again, in such words as “I am in the east and the west, I am above and below, I am this entire world.” – Erwin Schrodinger, Well known Quantum Physicist

Now, I shall discuss the non-locality nature of quantum particles as described in the vedas.

A quote by Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa on this subject is relevant.

The Vedas compare creation to a spider’s web, that the spider creates and then lies within. God is both the container of the universe and what is contained in it.
- Ramakrishna

In other words, as per the vedas the universe has consciousness and is aware of its existence. We however limit our consciousness to our body and think at a ’self’ level. Ancient sages who attained enlightenment realized the existence of the universal consciousness and started conversing with it, which is what gave them the amazing power of looking into the future, telepathy etc.

If we think ourselves to be ‘I’, it is like a cell in our body thinking itself to be the real body! We are simply mere cells which constitute the body of this universe and the universal consciousness. Particles on the other hand seem to have this realization of the universal consciousness and it is quite natural for them to communicate non-locally because as far as the universal consciousness is concerned, the entire universe is local!

Only we humans do experiments in quantum physics expecting the quantum particles to behave like individual particles, like how we humans think and behave at the level of a ’self’ and hence the mystery, puzzles etc in quantum mechanics.

This also indicates that even humans can possibly involve in telepathy, conversing with people very far away, etc provided we master these techniques. This is what ancient vedic Yogic exercises or Yoga is all about. It is not just about maintaining physical fitness, but also mental fitness and identification with the universal soul.

So quantum mechanics is all about identifying the awareness at the universal level which is manifested at the local level. We never ask questions like “how the neuron in my left brain know what was known to the neuron in my right brain?”, because we know that as far our brain is concerned, it is a single connected entity. Extend the same logic to the entire universe based on the vedic definition and probably you can understand why quantum particles behave the way they do :)