The Five Cosmic Mysteries
I will continue to journey across the frontier of the unknown to explore the
various bewildering occurrences that have continued to baffle humanity
for billions and trillions of years. I have identified five such major
cosmic events as a starting point of investigation here,
namely: creation, God, life, existence, and
consciousness.
Are There Still Mysteries to be Unveiled?
The word “mystery” originates from various languages: "mysterium” in Latin, “musterion” in Greek, and “mysterie” in Anglo-Norman. They all mean secret, hidden, unknown. The dictionaries define mystery as incomprehensible or something difficult to understand and explain. It is synonymous with enigma, puzzle, riddle, cryptic, uncanny, strange, or something perplexing, baffling, and intriguing.
It is something that defies reason, logic, or empirical evidence. It is different from hearsay or rumor, which cannot be substantiated. It is also different from gossip which is a narrative about other people the details of which cannot be confirmed as true.
In religious circles, for example, the concept of Trinity—God is both three and one at the same time—is considered beyond understanding and comprehension by many. In science, something is a mystery when its ultimate cause is incomprehensible like the state of the universe prior to the Big Bang, the origin of life, the existence of something instead of nothing, as well as the existence of the metaphysical and spiritual realms. These science mysteries become even more complicated to comprehend because, as Max Planck pointed out, in the last analysis, we ourselves are a part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.
In exploring mysteries, I identifed five cosmic enigmas that continued to puzzle and motivate me to examine, namely, creation, God, life, existence, and Consciousness. I will investigate these mysteries from the perspective of both science and religion and the challenges they bear on each of us and on our society.