4. The Mind Changes Matter ： The Macroscopic and Microscopic Worlds

I remember reading Gulliver’s Travels with fascination as a child. In the land of giants, everything was many times larger than in Gulliver’s homeland, while in the land of the little people, everything was proportionally smaller.

The microscopic world includes cells, molecules, atoms, and subatomic particles—realms observable only through microscopes or even more advanced instruments. In contrast, the macroscopic world includes dust, grains of sand, stones, the Earth, the Moon, the Sun, the Milky Way, and the vast cosmos—things visible to the naked eye.

The human body is composed of about 60 trillion cells, and each cell is made up of around 100 trillion atoms. Surprisingly, 99.999% of an atom is empty space. In the realm of particles smaller than atoms—what quantum physicists call the quantum world—there exists something like a faint current of “Qi” that is neither here nor there, or perhaps present in both places simultaneously. According to quantum physics, this subtle flow can be influenced by human will, altering the movement and properties of atoms, which in turn can bring about physical change in the world we perceive.

On the other end of the spectrum, Earth belongs to the solar system, which is part of the Milky Way galaxy. Our galaxy alone contains more than 100 billion stars, and current science suggests there are more than 100 billion such galaxies in the universe—a scale that is truly vast.

Just as natural laws and modes of thought remained consistent in Gulliver’s land of giants and the land of the little people, the same fundamental principles apply whether electrons orbit protons or planets orbit the Sun. The only difference is scale. Just as every person has a role within family or society, each cell or organ—like the liver or heart—fulfills a distinct function within the body. Natural laws and purposeful roles are constant across both the microscopic and macroscopic worlds. While creation and extinction exist in the visible world, in the quantum realm, they are simply gatherings and dispersals of particles.

If we were to strip away emotions, accumulated knowledge, and personal memories, what would we still claim as “I”? When we perceive ourselves as tiny beings standing alone in a remote corner of this vast universe, we realize how unnecessary it is to be so self-centered. But when we look within, we find that this boundless universe is also unfolding inside of us. We begin to sense that all things are, at their core, the same.

When we step back from daily life and reflect on both the macro and micro worlds, we may find there’s little reason to grieve too deeply, to rejoice excessively, or to cling to anger. Truly, there’s nothing unforgivable, and no resentment worth holding on to—because in essence, we are all one.

Dr. Jinman Kim
Peace Oriental Clinic