A Soul Bared
A Metaphysical Journey
David Oakford's near-death experience

In early summer of 1979, David Oakford was 20 years old and having problems dealing with his life situation. His childhood was not designed to enable him to properly deal with life in general. He had no self-esteem and everything he did to find peace within just did not work. He was pretty miserable then and felt lost and unloved. He turned to drugs and alcohol. He needed to find the peace within himself and he felt it calling him. It was at a party that David had an overdose of drugs and had a near-death experience. His near-death experience is one of the most profound you will ever read. Visit David's new website at (http://www.near-death.com/oakford/) for more information concerning him. The following is his near-death experience testimony which also appears in Kevin Williams' book Nothing Better Than Death.


A Date With Destiny

I laid down to use the stability of the earth in an effort to maintain a hold on reality. I knew I had to do that in order to be able to come back down.

The next thing I knew I was riding in my friend's car. I thought we went up north, crossed the Mackinaw Bridge and came back again. We rode past my childhood home and I saw my parents sitting on the porch.

I felt drawn to the trees. I could see and feel their strength. I saw their roots going deep into the ground. I mean I actually saw the tree roots physically reaching below the ground. I told my friends about the car ride after the experience and they told me that the only place I went was to the chair they carried me to after I passed out on the porch.

I did wake up in the chair my friends say they put me in a bit later. When I woke up I could feel the organs in my body working, each one separately as well as all together.

I could not see my friends anywhere. I could see in all the rooms of the house at the same time. The stereo was playing the Doors "Absolutely Live" album, except the volume was way too loud for me. Since I did not see any of my friends around I got up and tried to turn the music down, but could not. No matter what I did the music kept playing. I knew the stereo too. I had a real problem with the noise. It was tearing at me and I could not figure out why nor could I adjust the volume.

I called out to my friends and nobody came. I tried to unplug the stereo but that did not work either. Every time I tried to touch the cord to unplug it I could not grasp it. It just kept on playing "LA Woman" and the sound rattled my very being.

I ran all over the house calling for my friends, yelling repeatedly that the music was too loud but I was not heard. I pleaded for the music to be turned down. I tried to go outside but I could not feel the doorknob. I could see the daylight outside but could not go outside. I ended up hiding in the bathroom in an unsuccessful attempt to escape the noise. I looked in the mirror and could not see myself. That frightened me greatly.

I went back into the family room and saw my body sitting in the chair. It looked like I was sleeping. I wondered how I could be looking at myself. I got a bit scared then because I could see me from outside of me, from all different angles except from the inside angle I was used to seeing myself.

I was alone. I was confused and very scared. I tried to get back into my body but could not. I could not touch the ground either. I was floating. I rose up into a spot above my body and kind of just hung there. I could no longer move. I called out for help and nobody came. I tried to go out the door but like the stereo I could not touch the doorknob. I was scared and alone and did not know what to do. I did not understand what was happening to me.

I asked God to help me. I did believe in God then, but I was kind of angry at him because of the crappy life I was experiencing. I reasoned that if God were really the omnipotent and omniscient being I was taught he was he would not have let me experience the pain I had experienced throughout my life. I thought that if there was a time I needed God, it was now! I was not disappointed with the result of my plea for help.

I looked over by the door to the outside and saw a beautiful being standing there. His feet did not touch the floor. His feet just blended into thin air. He looked both female and male and was young. I could not tell his/her sex. His hair was curly and he was about my height. He had this glow about him too. The glow was green close to him, then blue, then pure white in the upper areas. He said "I am here to help you" but when he spoke his mouth did not move. I did not actually hear him speak with my ears. I felt what he was saying.

When I saw this being and he spoke to me, I was no longer afraid. I actually felt peace and comfort like I had never felt before. I felt the peace I was searching for throughout my entire life. The feeling was very familiar to me, like I had felt it before but not in this life.

This wonderful being called me by a name I do not remember. I told him he must have the wrong guy and that the name he used for me was not my name. He laughed and said that I was a great "master" and that I had just forgotten who I was. I did not believe him, because I did not really know for sure what a "master" was then and if I were this great master I would not have had all the problems I had. I felt that I was an evil being because that is what I was told in my life several times by many.

He told me his name, but I do not remember it. He told me that he had been with me always and told me that he knew that I had a very hard life and that he would help me understand why if I really wanted to. He told me that he would help me remember who I am. He said that he would understand if I did not believe him and offered to prove to me that he knew everything about me.

He told me things that I did when I as a child that proved to me that he was always with me. He told me about things I had only thought about. He told me that I could go anywhere I wanted to go and that he would show me how to do it if I wanted him to. He said that if I needed to come back and see my body I could. My body would be fine because I was still connected to it somehow.

When we spoke to each other we did so telepathically. The expression on his face was a happy one all the time.

I told him that I would like to see the pyramids in Egypt as well as the southwest United States. He told me that all I had to do was trust him, think about where I wanted to go, and we would go. I thought about the pyramids and we were there in an instant. I do not know why I chose the pyramids, the thought just popped into me so I went with that. While we were there he told me some things about the pyramids and Egypt that I do not remember now. I really wish I could remember what he explained while we were there because I do know it was highly significant and had to do with humanity's future.

When we finished in Egypt, we went to the southwest United States but flew there slowly so I could see sights along the way. I wanted to see this planet with the eyes I had then. I saw the countries of the Far East and the Pacific Ocean. Night was falling in the southwest US and I could see what the being told me was energy emanating from almost everything I could see, especially the plant and animal life. The energy was strongest in the areas of the land and sea that had the least amount of humans.

The energy was the lowest in areas where there were man-made structures, the cities of the world. The energy I saw came from the human beings that lived in the cities. It was explained to me that humans are the basic producers of energy in cities because of their relatively low vibration level the energy is lower in general. I could see the higher sources of energy in the cities though.

I was shown people who had higher energy levels and some of them actually talked to the being I was with. I saw dark souls during the time the being and I spent on Gaia. The dark souls were earthbound spirits who refuse to go to the light. They prey on the energies of humans still in human form and try to use those souls to prevent the evolution of spirit. I was told I was protected from these dark ones as long as I chose to focus on the love in me. The dark ones did not even try to affect us, in fact they gave us nasty looks and went away. I was told I would know these dark ones when I see them and I was told to tell them to go to the light. The light is a porthole to the place all souls go if they choose.

I could see energy around the humans too, all different levels and colors. The being explained the human energy to me. He said that the energy coming from humans is what spirits use to evaluate the spiritual condition of particular humans. He said the lighter and more brilliant the color the more advanced the spirit is. He said that seeing the "aura" around a spirit is useful in determining how much a particular spirit needs to work on his development.

He said the higher beings know where to go and what to do to help an earthbound soul so they may advance themselves if they so choose. He told me that all souls have this energy, this is why I could see it on every human I saw. He said that I was of the same energy type as he but my vibration is lower when I am in human form and that in time my energy would raise to match his intensity provided I chose to take the initiative to consciously evolve my soul.

He told me that there is much to this planet that spirits can see which humans do not see with their eyes because their vibrations are so low. He showed me life in the trees that I could see as a spirit but could not see in my human form.

He explained that beings of higher vibration do live on earth but they are not human, they are part of earth itself. He explained these beings were the caretakers of physical life on the planet. He said that these beings take care of what we call nature. There are beings that take care of the plant life, the mineral life and the waterborne life. These lower echelon beings work together to ensure that all aspects of nature is protected and remains healthy. When the planet was evolving, these ethereal beings were the ones that kept the balance of nature.

He explained to me that the planet that we call earth really has a proper name. He told me the earth is really called "Gaia." He said Gaia has its own energy and that Gaia is really a true living being. I asked if this energy could be seen and he said that we have to be away from Gaia to appreciate and see it.

He said humans are the ones who can manipulate Gaia's energy through their choices. He said if humans choose to live in harmony with the energy on Gaia, it is good for Gaia. He said if humans abuse Gaia, they hurt Gaia by altering its energy structure. I was given an example of how humans have deforested the planet and reduced the energy available faster than it could be replenished. He said Gaia was very strong but has been weakened considerably since humans have chosen to use the resources in a manner inconsistent with the laws of the universe.

I asked him if we could go into space and see Gaia's energy and he said yes. He said there were no limits on where we could go. I concentrated my thought, trusted, and we then went into what is known as space.

Away from this planet I could see Gaia all at once. It was so beautiful. I could see the aura around Gaia. The aura affected me greatly. I felt a deep love for this beautiful place. I could hear Gaia move and was told the sound was the energy flowing in and out of Gaia. My special being told me that Gaia is the most unique planet because it is designed for humans to live on forever. It was created for a spirit to play, learn, and grow. He said the balance of nature on Gaia allows a spirit to be in human form when a spirit lives in harmony with nature.

Nature exists to compensate for the decreased vibration and was created for spirits to adapt enough to adjust and be in the physical human body while still having access to energy that will help them advance. He explained that humans were designed by God to live eternally on Gaia and are not supposed to "die." He said that "dying" is a human created earth term that means little in the world of spirit. The reason that humans supposedly die is that they have fallen away from the balance of nature and allow themselves to be affected by what they create that violate the natural laws of the universe.

He said that humans have fallen away from living in balance with nature. He said they must relearn about the harmonic balance if they want to survive as a race and live on Gaia forever. He said it was still possible for humans to learn about this harmony and that it is the next overall goal of humans on Gaia. I was told that humans would eventually realize they must restore the harmony but great damage will be inflicted before humans will fully realize what they have been doing to Gaia and work to reverse what they have done.

Traveling Through the Realms

We traveled past all of the planets in our solar system. Near each planet I could hear the energy just like on Gaia. I saw the auras around each one of them too. I saw spirits on all of them as well. My friend told me that all planets are places for spirits to live, learn and thus evolve. I saw great cities on each and every one of those planets. It was explained that other life in the universe is not readily seen because the beings were all of higher vibration and most spirits in human form have yet to attain the higher vibration required to see them.

The being told me that each planet has a theme for learning and that any of them can be chosen by a soul when we are between physical lives. He said we practice on the other planets to be ready to live on Gaia. He said Gaia is the ultimate experience for a soul. It is ultimate because our souls evolve faster here than anywhere else. It was said that the lessons we need to learn are difficult to learn without having a physical form.

He explained how we pick a physical life on Gaia. He explained to me that I picked the parents I was born to so that I could learn what I needed to learn to grow enough to come back and do spirit work on Gaia after I attain a certain level of growth. He said that I was being told all of these things so that I could help souls come together and return Gaia to harmony.

He explained some things to me about God that I do not remember. They had to do with the universe and the size and structure of it. I do remember he said that God is not to be seen for he is everywhere. He told me that God loves Gaia deeply, much as a man loves his wife.

He talked about Jesus too. He told me Jesus was a master God sent to earth to teach humans how to act toward each other and find their way back to the path of harmony with each other as well as with Gaia.

I was told that Jesus is the being that is entrusted by God to ensure that souls evolve. He said that Jesus is of the highest in vibration than any other soul. He said that God holds Jesus in the highest of favor because he was the best example of what humans need to do. I then got to see Jesus. I saw his light. Jesus' light was the purest I have ever seen. There was no need for words. There were only love feelings that I cannot even begin to describe.

I was told that loving one another is what souls need to do in order for peace and harmony to be the standard on Gaia.

I was told that there is a hierarchy in the universe that is dedicated to preserving the harmony of the universe. I was told that humans are an integral part of this harmony and that the free will we have is a part of souls that allows humans to provide service to the universe.

After he explained those things to me I was able to see our whole solar system all at once in full color. The planets were all in a line and I could see all of them from Pluto to the sun. I felt very blessed and very important. I was given this great gift and I did not really understand why. There I floated, a being that went out his way to inflict pain on other souls, yet I was never asked about what I had done. In fact I was given the honor of being given answers to questions most people wonder about all of their lives.

I thanked this loving being for explaining and showing me what he did. He told me that there was more for him to show me if I was ready to experience it. I told him I was ready. I did not know why I was chosen but I was not about to question why. It just seemed small to me then.

We started to head back toward Gaia. We went to a place in the shadow of Gaia. It was a great city in the clouds. The city had these beautiful white buildings as far as I could see. I saw spirits living there all of which had vibration but no real physical body. These inhabitants went to and from the buildings - going to work and play too. I saw a place where spirits went to get what I thought was water. There were no vehicles there. Spirits seemed to get around the same way my being and I got around, by flying.

The city had no boundaries that I could see. This was a place full of life of all kinds. There was nature there, many pure plants, trees, and water just like on Gaia but more pure. Nature there was absolutely perfect. It was untainted by human manipulation. This place was just like Gaia only without the problems and negativity. I felt that this was what is called heaven in earth terms.

I saw spirits going to and from the Gaia and the city. I could tell the development of the spirits going to and from by the energy they emanated. I could see that animals came to and from earth just like humans do. I could see many spirits leave Gaia with guides and could see spirits returning to Gaia without guides. The being told me that some of the spirits passing were the ones that were doing the work with humans on Gaia.

I could make out the type of spirits that were doing the work and the spirits that were coming to the great city to become replenished to eventually go back to Gaia to experience and further evolve. I could feel the emotions of the ones coming back for replenishment. I could feel that some of them were sad, beaten and scared, much like I felt before my being came to me.

My being took me into one of the larger buildings. Inside I saw many spirits working. They were doing things similar to jobs on earth. When we walked by the spirits, they looked at me. I think they were checking me out because of the being I was with.

We went upstairs and I saw spirits that knew me. They greeted me and asked me how I was doing. They gave me advice of which I do not remember. I thought I was going to be given a job there, but the being knew I thought that and told me that there was something I needed to do first.

I was ecstatic. I was in heaven despite everything I had done during my life on Gaia. I was experiencing what most people only dream about. The love I felt there was the same love I felt when I saw Jesus. I had been searching on Gaia for what was really the same place I was in then. I was searching on Gaia for the feeling I was feeling that very moment. I had found what I spent my whole life searching for. I was truly happy. I was home and I knew it. I was ready to stay and do whatever work I was given to do.

My being took me to another building that was special. It was bigger than the rest and had the greenest foliage I had ever seen growing on it, decorating it like a shrine. We went inside a set of double doors that glowed with life. The inside was decorated with a wood paneling that the being told me was "living" wood from the trees that grew at this wonderful place. He led me to some big double doors and told me to wait on this bench while he went inside.

A bit later he came out of the room. He told me to go into the room and said he would wait for me and to not worry. He cautioned me to ensure that I was truthful with the beings in the room. He said they were not judges, rather they were the ones who evaluated a soul's development based on a soul's history. He told me to remember who I was and to refrain from fear. I knew I had to leave this being sooner or later but I was glad that he would wait for me. I was a little scared to leave him, but I felt that I was protected and knew that I would be protected here.

His Life Review

I went in and saw a group of several spirits seated at a table. The table was made of the glowing wood and was perfect in every way. The spirits around this table had the highest vibration I had seen so far with the exception of Jesus.

I looked at these beings and recognized them. I do not know where I recognized them from, but they all had a familiarity about them. They just looked at me.

All of a sudden, I saw my parents on earth before I was born. I saw how they came to be together and watched them have my brother and sister before me. I saw their positive and negative sides and evaluated them according to what I knew I needed to do on Gaia. The beings asked me how and why I picked these particular parents and asked me to tell them. They said I knew how and why I picked them and asked me to tell them why. I do not know where it came from but I did tell them how and why and they agreed with me. I picked them to help them on their path as well as to achieve my learning.

I saw my soul go to my mother and go inside of her. I saw myself being born from an observer standpoint as well as having the actual experience. I proceeded to see my entire life from the observer point of view and from the points of view of those my actions affected. I felt the feelings they felt that directly resulted from things I had done to them. I saw both the positive and the negative things I had done as they had truly happened, nothing was left out or presented inaccurately.

I experienced the harshness of being born again. I experienced leaving heaven and the transit to Gaia. I saw myself as a helpless infant who needed his mother for everything. I experienced my father's love as well as his anger. I experienced my mothers love, her fear and her anger as well. I saw all of the good and bad from my childhood years and re-experienced what I had done then. I felt all of my emotions and the emotions of the souls I had hurt as well as loved. From all of this I learned that it matters deeply what choices I make on Gaia.

I learned just how powerful we humans are and how we can affect each other in positive and negative ways. It was amazing to see how my innocent actions had such a powerful effect on souls that I had no idea I was affecting. The experience was one that I will never forget. I experienced the whole spectrum of feelings of my life in a relatively short period of time as we humans see it. Where I was, time did not really exist.

I could see how I became what I had become on Gaia and why I became that way. Everything I did in my life affected the evolution of the souls around me. I saw the reasons for all of my actions and understood why I did what I had done. There was a place for all of my positive and negative actions. There was no action that was necessarily wrong, but there were actions I took that did not enhance positive growth. I was both a victim and a beneficiary of my actions. This was not a fun experience to go through. I could see how wonderful it could be if one chose to act to affect other souls positively most of the time.

Afterward, the beings in the room asked me questions about what I saw and how I felt about my life up to then. I knew that I had to provide an honest assessment - I could not lie. I hesitated when they asked me whether I affected others more positively than negatively. I thought about lying.

These beings knew what I was thinking and I had to tell them that I felt that I could have done a better job on Gaia. I knew what I had come to Gaia to accomplish and was well on my way to doing that but I knew I was not finished yet. They agreed and told me that I still had many things to do and that I may want to go back and do them. I was told it was understood how difficult it would be for me but it was necessary for the universe for me to finish.

They said that it may be wise to go back and live my life how I had originally planned it.

They said I had set lofty goals for my life on Gaia and the events in my life were achieving the goals I had set.

They said that I originally came to Gaia to learn and share with others using the gifts that I have accumulated over several lifetimes.

They said that I am needed on Gaia to help souls bring themselves and Gaia back to harmony.

They said that I have great potential to affect other souls, to help them grow and that Gaia is the best place to do that. I was told that the events I had experienced thus far were preparing me to make a large contribution to the universe and that my experiences were not to be considered personal attacks in any way. I did not want to accept that, I wanted to stay, I told them that.

I told them I was tired and wanted to stay because life on Gaia is hard and unforgiving. I felt that going back would be dangerous for the universe because I was not advanced enough in my spiritual evolution. They said that was precisely why it would be in my best interest to go back to Gaia.

They said I was more advanced than I give myself credit for.

They said that it was possible for me to stay but I would need to finish my work on Gaia sooner or later. The type of work I was destined for can only be done on Gaia. I could stay if chose to but I would only be prolonging the completion of what I needed to do for this universe.

They explained the fastest way to finish my work would be to go back to Gaia as soon as possible.

I was stunned to say the least. I resorted to bargaining but it was no use. I still did not like living on Gaia and did not really want to go back. These beings understood me but remained firm. I had a decision to make that was really the hardest decision I would ever make.

I did come back to Gaia and am now living the life that I was (later in the experience) told I would live. Believe it or not, I ended up shelving this experience away, classifying it as a really vivid "trip." It was not until I evolved more that I realized the gift I was given.

I share this experience now because I feel it can, if so chosen, spur thought and foster choices that affect the planet in a positive way.

If I learned anything from this experience it was that every choice I make is duly recorded, noted and will return later, when I leave here again.

My goal is to save people the pain that I felt in my review and hasten the evolution of humans on Gaia, helping Gaia as well as the universe.

Again, I wish you all of the love I feel in my heart and I give this love to you.

(David Oakford now talks of his return to Earth)

I am one who had a near-death experience and was given a choice to return to this planet in a physical sense again. I chose to return out of love for this planet, a love so great that I would give up the slot I have "back home." I did this also in order to help to heal the place through the sharing of what I was shown of the in-between and through the choices I make, (hopefully loving and kind ones).

Without the free will to return I would not be here in the physical doing what I am doing. The physical pain, war, poverty, pestilence, horror, rape, murder, abandonment etc, etc, etc. that is here on this planet is the result of humans coming here and making their free choices in order to learn and evolve. Unfortunately learning does tend to create a mess at times and the physical pain etc. ect. is a part of that mess. It makes sense to me that the same free choice concept is instrumental in cleaning up the mess.

I liken it to camping and choosing to clean up or not clean up the mess one makes. If you choose to clean up your mess, this helps the planet to stay as is because one does not contribute to the mess. If one does not clean up it adds to the mess. If one cleans up their own mess and then some it contributes to healing the planet.

In my near-death experience I was also shown that there are many souls in "heaven" who are more than willing to come to this place regardless of the state it is in. I was shown that if I did not choose to return I would be in the schools that exist in heaven, working toward the growth I need to accomplish regardless of the form I am in. That was an attractive choice to be sure except that I had a problem with how long it would take me to grow enough to do what my soul wishes to do. (I have a burning desire to experience other places in other universes and to do that I need to grow more.) The prerequisite for that is ensuring that my soul has the IQ for it.

It is my understanding that a soul can choose to remain in heaven and operate on the level he/she (whatever) is on to infinity, but I seek more because I know without doubt that there is more.

At any rate, the idea remains that for this place to start feeling and looking like heaven is to create the love felt there here. I would like to see that on this planet and I know it can be done. If I need to, I will come back here all over again to make it happen.

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Inspired by the courageous leadership of Shirley Golub in San
Francisco, challenging the majority leader herself for the Democratic
congressional primary nomination there, we have been told that there
are now primary challenges is most of the districts in the state of
Oregon, running on an impeachment now platform.

And we could not have asked for a more valiant candidate than Joe
Walsh, who has been leading his fellow constituents in their own
weekly rally in front of Earl Blumenauer's district office in OR-03,
demanding action on impeachment, and on ending the indefensible and
ruinous occupation of Iraq.

Joe needs your help this weekend, to put together the filing fee of
$1,000 to pay for the publication of his full platform in the
official Oregon voter pamphlet. This is critical in the state of
Oregon to get our message out, as it is a completely vote by mail
state. This should be so easy for us to do. Please make whatever
contribution you can make now, small or large, and we will certainly
reach this very modest goal.

http://www.usalone.com/donations_walsh.php javascript:iconTag('FKISS1');

Joe Walsh is a long time dedicated peace activist, who gave up a Navy
career he already had, by filing as a conscientious objector in 1970
during the Vietnam War, and received an honorable discharge. He has
put his own body on the line many times as a political activist also,
for demonstrations in front of Oregon senator Smith's office last
year, for another example.

But more than that, Joe is well known to his local community for his
generous volunteer work, also donating many hours on a weekly basis
working for Portland's "Fish", who distribute emergency food to
people in serious trouble. javascript:iconTag('SMILEY1');

The primary in Oregon is coming up fast on May 20. So your
contribution can have an immediate impact on Congress right now, by
demonstrating that any incumbent who does not get it can, and will,
face a serious primary challenge. javascript:iconTag('THUMBSUP3');

Won't you make a contribution to Joe now if you can, so that he can
carry the banner of impeachment, and all the other issues we are
fighting for, in the official Oregon voter pamphlet. We need his
voice. Without him there would be no challenger in his district, and
people like Blumenauer would just blithely think that they forever
disregard the will of the people.

And even if you can't make a contribution, please spread the word
about the growing "On The Table" impeachment movement, and take heart
that in just the next couple months we can apply enough pressure
through these primary challenges to make impeachment an actual
reality.

Paid for by Joe Walsh for Congress

Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed
to be ours, and forward this alert as widely as possible.

If you would like to get alerts like these, you can do so at
http://www.usalone.com/in.htm

Or if you want to cease receiving our messages, just use the function
at http://www.usalone.com/out.htm

usalone193b:180657

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I have discovered WashingtonWatch.com (http://www.washingtonwatch.com, a unique resource for information on government spending, taxation, and regulation. It has bills considered and/or voted on or assigned to committee - who is on the committee, etc. Maybe others know about this but I am a late learner.

To: Walking Stick

By Ilya Prigogine, Nobel laureate, Director of the International Solvay Institute of Physics and Chemistry in Brussels and the I. Prigogine Center for Studies in Statistical Mechanics and Complex Systems at the University of Texas at Austin; member of The Club of Rome.

In a world where little seems predictable, where every day brings news of further political and economic upheavals, where we are even threatened with radical changes in the global climate, certainty is a rare commodity. Yet in his best selling book, A Brief History of Time (1), Stephen Hawking argues that we are close to the certainty which will come from understanding the full complexity of the universe. Once the "complete theory" of the universe is discovered, Hawking says the only remaining question would be "why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason...", for then we would know the mind of God.

This quest for total understanding has been the ultimate goal of physics, from Leibniz three centuries ago to contemporary writers such as Steven Weinberg (2).

It is indeed a grandiose project. To quote Leibniz: "In the least of substances, eyes as piercing as those of God could read the whole course of the universe." There would be no distinction between past, present and future; we would share the certainty of God.

We can perhaps take comfort from the fact, recently pointed out by Stephen Toulmin (3), that the religious wars and political instability of the 17th century formed the background for Descartes to formulate his quest for certainty - a certainty that all human beings could share, irrespective of religion. Descartes' programme proved to be immensely successful : it influenced Leibniz's concept of "laws of nature" and found concrete expression in Newton's work which provided the model for physics for over 300 years.

For Einstein, also, science was a way of going beyond the turmoil of everyday existence. He compared scientific activity to the "longing that irresistibly pulls the town-dweller away from his noisy, cramped quarters and toward the silent, high mountains" (4). He, too, considered certainty to be the supreme ideal of science.

The problem with this ideal of certainty is that it is associated with a denial of time and of novelty which leads to feelings of alienation. As Weinberg has said, "The more the universe seems comprehensible, the more it seems pointless." Indeed, the ideas of certainty forces us to give up the notion of events and eliminates the novelty and creativity without which our own lives would be pointless.

The logical consequence is dualism. In Descartes' system, matter follows deterministic laws and is radically separated from intellectual activity.

Certainty is, however, beginning to be challenged - quite rightly, in my opinion. We are witnessing the start of a timely reappraisal of the fundamental laws of physics. In 1986, the then president of the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Sir John Lighthill, was moved to apologize collectively for physicists spreading ideas about determinism, based on their forebears' enthusiasm for the achievements of Newtonian mechanics - ideas which had since 1960 been proved false (5). This is a quite unusual confession. Certainty, for three centuries the key symbol of scientific intelligibility, is being put into question.

Lighthill was referring to developments in chaos theory, a topic too complex to explain here. I want only to make a remark based mainly on the recent work of my groups in Austin and Brussels. Chaos changes the formulation of the laws of physics: instead of expressing certainties, they express possibilities. At its beginning "the universe was like a newborn baby who can become a lawyer, an astronaut - but not all at the same time." As W. Thirring has written, "Our formulation of the laws of nature cannot contradict experience ... but they will be far from determining everything. As the universe evolves, the circumstances create new laws." (6)

Some people may feel that giving up the ideal of certainty marks a defeat for human reason, but I do not agree.

Once we replace the deterministic description with one involving probability, we can introduce the arrow of time into our basic equations and start to describe an evolutionary universe, in agreement with the important place of evolution in describing everything from cosmology to human history.

We can now make predictions, going far beyond classical theory, about complex systems such as the stability of our planetary system and our ecosystem.

Once we include time, we begin to understand the variety of the physical world - both the order of living systems and the disorder existing in the universe. The distinction is basically due to the arrow of time: over time, non-equilibrium processes generate complex structures that cannot be achieved in an equilibrium situation. The result is a whole new physics and a new biology of non-equilibrium processes.

Since evolutionary events related to self-organization play an essential role in both living and non-living sytems, science is no longer deterministic. Nor is it reductionist as new properties of matter appear in non-equilibrium processes that cannot be expressed in terms of individual particles.

Even the direction of time itself becomes linked to global properties of ensembles, whether elementary particles, living cells or human populations. For example, societies evolve not because individuals become older, but because the relations between individuals change.

Far from coming to the end of science, as Hawking suggests, in my opinion we are only just beginning to be able to produce a coherent view of the universe. We come from a past of conflicting certainties - be they related to science, ethics or social systems - to a present of questioning. This will mean finding a type of scientific rationality more appropriate to our times.

The future is uncertain, but this uncertainty is at the heart of human creativity. Time becomes "construction" and creativity a way to participate in this construction. As Aurelio Peccei, the founder of the Club of Rome, said, "Inventing the future is the most important and most difficult human invention."

Hopefully, just as in the 17th century, our present turmoil is stimulating scientific developments which will contribute to inventing the future.