All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force…

In 1944, Max Planck stated:

“There is no matter as such. All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together.

We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent spirit. This spirit is the matrix of all matter.”

Planck was not speaking as a mystic, nor was he proposing a religious doctrine. He was a physicist confronting the implications of modern physics. Quantum theory had already dismantled the idea of a solid, mechanical universe. At the smallest scales, matter no longer behaved like substance. It appeared instead as probability, interaction, and relationship.

In quantum physics, particles do not exist as definite objects until measured. Prior to observation, they are described only by wave functions — mathematical expressions of possibility. Observation is not a passive act. It plays a role in how physical reality resolves. This does not mean consciousness “creates” reality through belief, but it does mean that awareness cannot be cleanly removed from the description of nature.

This is where science reaches a boundary. Physics can describe behaviour with extraordinary precision, yet it does not explain why experience exists at all. Why is there awareness? Why is there something it is like to be a conscious being? These questions remain open, and science itself acknowledges this gap.

Spiritual traditions, including spiritualism, approach this boundary from a different direction. Rather than asking how matter behaves, they ask what consciousness is, and whether it is fundamental rather than accidental. Spiritualism proposes that consciousness is not produced solely by the brain, and that it may continue beyond physical death. This is not a claim science has verified — but neither is it one science has disproven.

The perceived conflict between science and spiritualism arises when either is pushed beyond its proper limits. Science becomes ideology when it insists that only the measurable can exist. Spirituality becomes fantasy when it claims certainty without evidence or discernment. When both remain honest, the conflict dissolves.

From a quantum perspective, the universe is not a closed, clockwork system. It is relational, probabilistic, and incomplete without the observer. From a spiritual perspective, consciousness is not a by-product of matter but a participant in reality. These views are not identical, but they are no longer incompatible.

So can spiritualism and science coexist? Yes — not by proving one another right, but by recognising that they address different dimensions of the same mystery. Science maps structure and behaviour. Spiritualism explores meaning, continuity, and inner experience. Together, they form a more complete picture than either can alone.

Planck’s words endure not because they prove a spiritual worldview, but because they mark a moment of humility in science — an admission that matter is not the final explanation, and that consciousness remains one of the deepest unanswered questions we possess.