How the Universe Works - Philosophical Idealism.pptx

Editor's Notes

• #1: Wikipedia: Baruch Spinoza (/bəˈruːk spɪˈnoʊzə/; born Benedito de Espinosa; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677, later Benedict de Spinoza) was a Dutch philosopher of Sephardi Portuguese origin. The breadth and importance of Spinoza's work was not fully realized until many years after his death. By laying the groundwork for the 18th-century Enlightenment and modern biblical criticism, including modern conceptions of the self and, arguably, the universe, he came to be considered one of the great rationalists of 17th-century philosophy. He was a pantheist, God (mind) = Nature: “God is one, that is, only one substance can be granted in the universe,” “That eternal and infinite being we call God, or Nature, acts from the same necessity from which he exists,” and “Whatsoever is, is in God, and without God nothing can be, or be conceived.” His thoughts have led to modern “Scientific Pantheism” or “Spinoza’s God” belief that the Universe/Nature is sacred, but no personal theistic God. He was excommunicated as an atheist. https://aeon.co/essays/at-a-time-of-zealotry-spinoza-matters-more-than-ever: Spinoza believed that the ultimate teaching of Scripture, whether the Hebrew Bible or the Christian Gospels, is in fact a rather simple one: practice justice and loving-kindness to your fellow human beings. https://reasonandmeaning.com/2017/04/07/summary-of-plotinus/: This Metaphysics (of Plotinus) – The concept of The One is similar to the concept of Brahman in Hinduism. It also has much in common with pantheism, the view that god and reality are the same thing. This idea that all reality is divine shows up throughout the history of philosophy and religion—most notably in the pantheism of Spinoza. The idea that nous contemplates Platonic ideas finds echoes in St. Augustine. And, no doubt, other parallels could be drawn between Plotinian metaphysics and other thinkers. Animation: According to Thomas Hertog, “Stephen Hawking came to the conclusion that the Universe is an evolving system that operates according to Darwinian principles that drive the world (universe) toward higher complexity…” https://bigthink.com/hard-science/the-universe-may-be-a-giant-neural-network-heres-why/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY3MbKNNG8o With the things that actually affect our lives they can appear as random on a “local” or “practical” level because we do not see the “big data” where patterns emerge. There are things like radioactive decay that are actually random, but this has little effect on our daily lives, unless you are a cat in a box. Copyright case # 1-3925482601 U.S. Copyright applied for August 2016 and granted 2017 – free to distribute & share (send link) provided authorship credit and content is unchanged. Updated version granted March 2019 Reg # TXu 2-144-407.
• #2: Gödel believed a theistic God was this “higher” complexity that provided for the basis-of-being of the manifested universe – my solution is a non-theistic (nonpersonal) monistic idealism. US Army Intelligence and Security Command study dated 9 June 1983, subject: “Analysis and Assessment of the Gateway Process” by LTC Wayne M McDonnell, declassified by the C.I.A. 2003. Describes the “Absolute” basis-of-being outside of space-time (inclusive of information sharing) using bio-physicist/engineer Itzhak Bentov’s model. Short read 27 pages, available on Amazon. Itzhak Bentov’s “Stalking the Wild Pendulum: On the Mechanics of Consciousness,” Destiny Books, available on Amazon. Ontological groundstate & unbound telesis: Christopher Langan “Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe” he is a (fuzzy) quasi-theist & quasi-dualist (Persian dualism good/evil). “The CTMU treats the origin of reality in the context of freedom and constraint. Concepts are defined by constraints specifying their structure, and structure requires explanation. Consequently, Langan argues, every concept requires explanation except the "terminal concept" with no constraints, and no structure to explain (the metaphysical/ontological basis-of-being ends in a “brute fact”). In the CTMU, this terminal concept or "ontological groundstate" is called "unbound telesis" or UBT.” He believes in an all-good (a condition, a limitation, & ”bounded”) active agent of the CTMU who is “God” and who responds to causes and conditions within our space-time (a “conditioned” “bounded” relationship). So he believes in both an ontological goundstate and unbounded telesis of infinite potential and chooses to worship its conditioned expression “God” as an active agent in the universe. Where is this all-good God in action? What evidence? Is He on vacation or perhaps taking a nap? Like all theist he mistakenly worships a conditioned “bounded” god as Ultimate/Absolute – an impossibility. He has provided no evidence for his stated 200 IQ. Socially/politically conservative, a Trump supporter and believes the 2020 election was stolen from Trump – without evidence. His argument is overly complex to a fault but has some good ideas and concepts, but it is a classic case of confirmation bias – his preconceived conclusions drive his arguments (he works backwards from his conclusion). The 2022 Nobel result supports Bohr and observation and weakens Einstein (who did not believe in “spooky action at a distance” of quantum entanglement), “hidden variables,” and realism. Dr. Ben Miles YouTube channel: How Physicists Proved The Universe Isn't Locally Real - Nobel Prize in Physics 2022 EXPLAINED Roger Penrose: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfouEFuB-co https://bigthink.com/hard-science/brain-consciousness-quantum-entanglement/
• #3: I agree with Spinoza that the universe is “natural” and not supernatural in origin, but I believe it is more than “simple nature,” that there is a hidden depth, sophistication, and complexity to the universe that accommodates what is perceived as “supernatural” due to our lack of understanding its complexity. I would argue that just one crazy thing is needed to make a natural universe that displays all of the behaviors we see and experience; an ontological field (basis-of-being) of consciousness with a self-aware universe where consciousness is primary, conserved, shared, interactive with self-correcting feedback loops, and where consciousness exists by itself as an intrinsic property (see physicist Andrei Linde’s comments on slides 17 & 18). This weakly interactive conscious universe would need a psychic framework like Carl Jung’s collective unconscious with archetypes &/or Buddhist “storehouse consciousness” to work (depth-psychology) &/or perhaps Bohm’s Holographic Universe (transpersonal psychology) to provide a framework for the feedback loops. Buddhism has some teachings that are consistent with a holographic universe. We are “natural,” alive, conscious, and self-aware and a universe that shares these properties would also be “natural” and not supernatural. I believe in a natural universe that is crazy enough to be true. Cyclical universe: “Few Egyptian texts deal with the end times. Those that do, however, envisage it as a cataclysmic destruction followed by a return to the state of the universe as it was before creation. In Spell 175 of the Book of the Dead, the creator god Atum describes how, after ‘millions of millions’ of years, ‘I will destroy all that I have made: this world will return to Nu, the limitless waters (Void of infinite potential & space-time), like its original state.” James P. Allen, “The Human Sphere,” Ancient Egypt, 131.
• #4: Also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ALPF9_NgZ0&t=209s “Consciousness is the raw material of reality” Don Hoffman Torus universe the “Middle Way” between a too fantastic Big Bang (or Big Expansion) with inflation and a too static Solid-State universe, follows the cycles & patterns seen in nature ( e.g. galaxy with black hole in center and a rotating disk) and as given in the cosmological epochs in Buddhist cosmology; Dissolution, Nothingness, Creation, and Duration. It also does not violate the conservation laws (minimal loss) and has a “flat” topology as seen in the actual universe (the torus may simply be too big such that light has not yet had enough time to circle around and display the “mirror” effect). Many mystics (like Bentov) and thinkers (like Bloom, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdJyafSBCb0), and some physicists think the universe is some form of torus that flows (circulates) and as it flows it goes through compression and expansion (a pinched torus) that would look like a Big Bang-like event as it emerges from the compression and expands out. A torus recycles material/energy over and over, continuous recreation with no violation of the conservation laws. The universe operates as an “open system” and a continuous “creation machine.” A recycling universe would mimic the cycle of life and death with reincarnation and the return to source (Void of infinite potential). https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/big-bounce/ “Did the Universe Start with a Bounce Instead of a Bang?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbruPR3o0Zc The Shape of the Universe – The Orange Theory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrPifMUUOeA “What If the Universe Was Shaped Like a Donut?” https://www.nature.com/news/2008/080523/full/news.2008.854.html “Doughnut-shaped Universe bites back” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSsI5h9E1LY Three-torus model of the universe https://tetraplexicon.wordpress.com/2015/08/30/tora-tora-torus/ Even more strange “Triple Torus Hologram” universe by Dan Visser: http://vixra.org/pdf/1508.0125v1.pdf & http://www.darkfieldnavigator.com/index.php?menu=94 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-torus_model_of_the_universe
• #5: We need to looking at the entropy “Big Picture” of the process flow of the entire universe, the overall general case, not the specific/special case of a specific chemical processes (like crystal formation) used to refute critics of entropy. In the big picture and philosophically, which addresses purpose and meaning, there is more to entropy than just heat loss and complexity (chaos). Entropy tells us things “fall down” from a heat &/or organizational point-of-view, while the actual universe is “falling up” (negative entropy “negentropy” or “entaxy”) getting more complex, sophisticated, specialized, and energy efficient – it is self-organizing just like biological evolution. The universe uses entropy as a building tool, the waste of the first cycle is used to create a newer more sophisticated cycle “higher up” than the cycle that gave it birth. A living plant, not present originally when the hot and more uniform world was created, makes a better, more sophisticated, and more efficient use of sun light than the original rock world does. The plant (a higher more efficient organization) only came into being once the rock world cooled (heat loss) to a temperature conducive to life – same as us. We are here as a result of heat loss and a drive to greater efficiency; the plant makes use of the sun and we (animals) make use of the plant. The universe makes up for heat loss by creativity (new ways to use/organize energy/resources), increased specialization, and increased efficiency. And, the universe still finds ways to create/recycle new heat, as do we as we make our own heat when we need it, something rocks and earlier/simpler life (plants) could not do. When we master nuclear fusion energy, we will have come full circle – we will be our own highly efficient “sun” heat/energy source. Negentropy – Getting more organized, not less. The natural world/universe is a open system while humans systems are closed systems (steam engine “boxes”), human system often degenerate/fail frequently often due to poor self-correcting feedback loops (information inflow). The universe is “open” to the inflow of new information, energy, expansion, and creativity. The universe has had 13 plus billion years to develop successful self-correcting feedback loops, but we are new at it. See Julian Barbour, Ph.D Physics, “The Janus Point,” for more on entaxy and the directionality of time. Replace the flow out of the “Big Bang” with the flow out of the “pinched” compression point of a torus universe of slide 3. Physics is not directional as it works in both directions in time, but, inexplicably, time itself is directional and this implies purpose or meaning. http://maggiesscienceconnection.weebly.com/the-big-bang--the-formation-of-the-universe.html https://21stcenturywire.com/2015/03/06/no-big-bang-new-equation-suggests- -universe/ http://planck.cf.ac.uk/science/inflation
• #6: “Ur” is from German for “first.” The flow of time gives meaning/purpose to events. The “waste” products from “Big Bang” form the first-generation stars, then the first gen stars blowup and their waste products form the heavy elements necessary for other stars, planets, and life, etc. Our sun & solar system are a 3rd generation star system. In the far right “now,” the Voyager spacecraft is entering interstellar space and mapping the boundary of our solar system – a meaning and purpose unimaginable earlier in the life of the universe. The entropy (fall “down”) is required for differentiation, creativity/innovation, and purpose/meaning resulting in a higher level of organization that is more sophisticated and efficient (self-organizing fall “up”). Self-actualized universe: see Christopher Langan ”Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe” http://knowledgebase.ctmu.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Langan_CTMU_0929021-1.pdf Human systems move toward specialization and maybe or maybe not be more efficient. Natural (open, with new information/energy inflow) systems are better at this than human (artificial/closed) systems. Human (artificial/closed) systems (e.g. steam engine) do show entropy as decay. The cold logic of mathematics ignores purpose and meaning (reality of life). The current narrow understanding of the 2nd law of thermodynamics, entropy, has been questioned by many thinkers, from Niels Bohr, Nobel Laureate Physicists, Plasma Cosmologists, to Howard Bloom who see the “big picture” of the universe self-organizing, “falling up.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIa9hjsIQJ4 & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ixpznYVX2M Howard Bloom on Entropy
• #7: The universe is an open system with access to absurdly vast (a “potential infinity”) energy (potential to kinetic) to drive negentropy/organization: Plasma a hot uniform soup of sub-atomic particles Plasma cools into hydrogen and helium atoms & gas Gas forms balls that grow due to gravity and heats up & ignites into stars Stars form carbon, oxygen, and metals Stars explode seeding these new materials as gas clouds in the universe New stars form out of the gas clouds with planets Some planets have water and conditions for life This sophistication is not “accidental” as the universe is designed to create complex life and consciousness as a logically required conditioned of a universe born of an unconditioned infinite potential birth, A (unconditioned) must = B (expressed conditioned). An A = B universe MUST have non-random structure to fulfill its infinite potential birth as it evolves to a state of maximum complexity and maximum consciousness, some form of “Omega Point.”
• #8: 18M ppt file that covers such a large topic is not excessive, a large topic needs a large explanation. In my job I routinely work with ppt’s that are as large or larger on “smaller” subjects. In my world this is not a large ppt. I am a petty civil servant, a Training Specialist, so I work with PowerPoint (ppt) daily at work. This started off as a small and simple ppt, but soon grew into this monster, now sort of half PowerPoint and half book. BA, University of Pittsburgh, History and Political Science double major, Sociology minor MA studies Naropa University (2 credits short of MA) Contemplative Religions (Buddhism)
• #9: Books on a conscious, self-aware, &/or living universe, most of the books are by either psychologist (study consciousness) or physicist (who study the manifested effects of the observer/consciousness): Michael Talbot, “The Holographic Universe,” science writer (transpersonal psychology & psychic implications of Bohm’s Holographic Universe) Michael Talbot, “Mysticism and the New Physics,” as above Richard M Bucke, M.D., “Cosmic Consciousness,” Psychiatrist (classic book on the subject if you can find it) Paul Von Ward, “Children of a Living Universe,” M.A. Psychology Fritjof Capra, “The Tao of Physics,” Ph.D. Physics P.H.M. Atwater, “Future Memory,” Ph.D. Psychology Amit Goswami, “The Self-Aware Universe,” Ph.D. Physics Fred Alan Wolf, “The Spiritual Universe,” Ph.D. Physics Dean Radian, “The Conscious Universe,” Ph.D. Psychology Gary E.R. Schwartz Ph.D. and Linda G.S. Russek Ph.D., “The Living Energy Universe,” Psychology Ervin Laszlo, “Science and the Akashic Field,” Philosophy Ervin Laszlo and Anthony Peake, “The Immortal Mind,” Philosophy Lynne McTaggart, “The Field,” health journalist Norman Friedman, “Bridging Science & Spirit, Common Elements in David Bohm’s Physics, The Perennial Philosophy, and Seth,” Ph.D. Physics Andrei Linde, “UNIVERSE, LIFE, CONSCIOUSNESS,” Ph.D. Physics Bernard Haisch, “The God Theory,” Ph.D. Astrophysics Bernardo Kastrup, “The Idea of the World,” Ph.D. Philosophy & Computer Engineering Paul Levy, “The Quantum Revelation,” Economics & Art Philip Goff, “Galileo’s Error,” Ph.D. Philosophy (Panpsychism) Tom Campbell, “My Big Toe: A Trilogy Unifying Philosophy, Physics, and Metaphysics… ,” Ph.D. Physics NOTE: Authors from atheistic, agnostic, Christian, Jewish, Buddhism, Taoist, and Hindu backgrounds/perspectives, but I know of NO significant Islamic contributions to this subject.
• #10: *The “quantum vacuum” is as far as we can see into the universe’s past/beginnings, beyond that is speculative physics and philosophy. I use “quantum vacuum” as a term to represent this speculative uncaused cause, the unconditioned, and the “infinite” potential & space-time. “Quantum vacuum” is all we have as accepted common language for this aspect of the universe. However, this uncased cause basis-of-being is probably more strange, complex, and bizarre than then we currently know - more than “simply” the quantum vacuum that we see. Philosophical Idealism: Consciousness (observer) is primary. The reason why there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, is the intrinsic presents of time (flow of events) and consciousness (observer & wave collapse). “Full idealism” is a “field of consciousness” (slide 18, Andrei Linde-like) that is “like” a summation (a mutual field of influence) of all the other quantum fields that allows the complex manifestation of the universe to occur via the flow of time and observation/subject experience (I don’t care what you call it). Everything exists within this field of summation – wither it, as individual entities, is defined as conscious itself or not. The arguments over what is conscious or not conscious and consciousness vs experience are trivial and irrelevant. Wikipedia: Ontology is the philosophical study of being. More broadly, it studies concepts that directly relate to being, in particular becoming, existence, reality, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations. Traditionally listed as a part of the major branch of philosophy known as metaphysics, ontology often deals with questions concerning what entities exist or may be said to exist and how such entities may be grouped, related within a hierarchy, and subdivided according to similarities and differences. In philosophy, being means the existence of a thing. Anything that exists has being. Ontology is the branch of philosophy that studies being. Being is a concept encompassing objective and subjective features of reality and existence. From the age of 17 I have been very interested in the ontological basis-of-being. How? Why? I have also been very interested in the theodicy problem from this age. Our world system just made no sense to me. Finally, in my 60s, I have some idea of how things are. I want to add my insights to the human knowledge base so others can correct, add, and build on this knowledge and improve our understanding of our basis-of-being, how, and why.
• #11: Anaxagoras (Greece 500 B.C.E.) Introduced the concept of a teleological principal, Mind or Nous, responsible for the birth and initial ordering of the universe. *Idealism is “behind” (beyond) the observer affect and thus being primary and as philosophical idealism (nondual “all in consciousness”) is by definition not testable and not falsifiable and thus not scientific (all measurements and tests are inside the field of consciousness), this leaves only human intuition, experience, philosophy, and intellect to assert this as being a “brute fact.” The observer effect can be tested with simple measurements/experiments having weaker correlations (lower sigma) to consciousness than more sophisticated measurements/observations (higher sigma) to consciousness (see slide 12). The interactions of the field of consciousness is by definition weak and ”fuzzy,” it is not “one mind” literally. Most philosophers of idealism/panpsychism believe that more complex/sophisticated systems with more information &/or energy flow have higher levels of consciousness/mind – thus very simple measurements may have weak interactions/correlations. Or, they may have none, the preexisting expectations of the experimenters themselves may be a stronger “mind/observer” influence – they see what they expect to see which itself affirms idealism (there are documented cases of this effect). Panpsychism as given by Alfred North Whitehead’s in his process metaphysics (a logical framework of being). There are many flavors of panpsychism, some believe in material realism and dualism. Whitehead believe the universe was a “flow” of things/events and a “process” of relationships knowing/experiencing each other and was critical of reducing the universe to scientific & material realism. The boundary between idealism and panpsychism is fuzzy, my sense of it is that in idealism consciousness is primary and the material is dependent on observation while in most schools of panpsychism consciousness can still be emergent (dependent) based on specified criteria, e.g. size, information, complexity, energy flow, etc. The difference is that idealism sees the source of consciousness as an inherent property that exits prior to the “Big Bang” and manifestation, as a property of the “Void” & quantum vacuum of potential, while with panpsychism consciousness starts at manifestation (after “Big Bang”) as an inherent emergent property of matter. So, both agree that the universe (itself, as a manifested information system), galaxies, and stars/sun could be conscious. Most physicists that believe in a conscious universe would believe in idealism as consciousness (observer) is a prerequisite (comes before) for manifestation (wave collapse) to occur. To me panpsychism literally puts the ”cart before the horse” (gets it backwards) and has a “first cause problem” (that they ignore).   Philosophical Materialism: The physical/material (e.g. your body/brain) is primary with (your) mind/consciousness as an emergent quality – “emergentism.” Philip Goff is associate professor in philosophy at Central European University in Budapest, “Panpsychism is crazy, but it’s also most probably true”: https://aeon.co/ideas/panpsychism-is-crazy-but-its-also-most-probably-true Physicist Tom Campbell: https://www.my-big-toe.com/ & https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYwlraEwuFB4ZqASowjoM0g Tom Campbell, Home - My Big Toe: https://www.mbtevents.com/home.html https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/308866/could-the-universe-itself-be-conscious https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/think-well/201906/does-consciousness-exist-outside-the-brain?
• #12: Dr. Radin’s material used with permission. *While this is possible, it is not definitive either way (either outcome). It is similar to the theoretical “red light problem” – four drivers approach the traffic signal light with all of them wanting (mind/thinking/projecting) a green light “wave collapse” for themselves, but it has no provable outcome on the actual light. Why? They are all players inside of a single mind/consciousness field, they are not separate actors/events with exclusive influence, it is a complex system of influences. In idealism there could be degrees of consciousness based on size, complexity, information, energy flow, etc. so that even electrical/mechanical measuring devices operate inside the field, have wave collapse interactions. Nothing can be outside of the field of nondual monistic idealism (as totality) – exclusive/separate/dualistic relationships are excluded/impossible. See notes on next slide. Dean Radin has done a double-slit physics experiment (a psychologist doing physics) that show a 4 to 8 sigma effect on outcomes using meditators to effect outcomes: http://www.deanradin.com/FOC2014/Radin2012doubleslit.pdf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h9rUffjiow Plenary 11 Quantum Approaches 2 https://www.dailygrail.com/2016/06/quantum-mind-can-experienced-meditators-influence-the-movement-of-atomic-particles/ Is Consciousness the Unified Field? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPhgDfT4Zpc
• #13: Several Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhist schools had some elements of Idealism in their teachings, e.g. Yogachara. Consciousness being primary would affirm the material world and phenomena as being empty of intrinsic existence. Western atheistic Buddhism has consistently misunderstood “emptiness” as an actual real emptiness, as an absolute, but the closes translation of the Eastern terminology is “nothingness,” “vast sky-like space” or effectively “void” (a dark passive endless sky-like space). Buddhism teaches that there must be an unconditioned basis of reality (passive void of infinite potential that is conscious) or there would be no escape from the conditioned: “O’bhikkhus, there is the unborn, ungrown, and unconditioned. Where there not… the unconditioned, there would be no escape for the born, grown, and conditioned.” Udāna 8:3 (Colombo, 1929) and Rahula “What The Buddha Tought,“ page 37. For there to be an escape from the endless cycles of samsara (suffering) of the conditioned universe there must be another place to “go“ that is NOT conditioned – the unconditioned. Nondual: Dualism must be clearly refuted as doctrine. Monism: A non-personal non-theistic single basis of being (as opposed to a theistic monad “God”), the universe is a single interconnected holographic-like whole – NO God/man/Satan, Platonic, or Persian dualism. Idealism: Consciousness is the unifying active, conditioned, interactive basis of being of the physical universe. It provides the means for the passive infinite potential Void, the quantum vacuum, to meaningfully express itself into the universe. The passive unconditioned Void MUST have a conditioned expression of itself, that reflects its own image, if it did not it would be conditioned and limited by that restriction, thus not unconditioned. Yes, technically the Void is given as a “brute fact,” the purpose of the ppt is to explains what is going on “on this side” (experiential/manifested universe) of this great mystery, not to explain this great mystery itself. The best I/we can say is that it is “as if” (to us) it has always been and always will be (”as if” unconditioned). An ”unconditioned” thing will always be seen as a “brute fact” by us, but with some logical justification, context, and science vs belief by “faith” in a creator god being as a brute fact. We scientifically know the quantum vacuum/fields exist and can construct a logical framework around it. However, we runup against Gödel’ Incompleteness Theorem and thus we end with a “brute fact.” See notes on previous slide. Or, it could just be a really good software simulation. https://beyondbiocentrism.com/does-the-soul-exist-evidence-says-yes/?gclid=CLj5-KeK6s8CFUZehgodbn8Ewg
• #14: From YouTube video referenced on slide 12 Quantum “foam” bubbling up bubbles of manifestation, universes (quantum fluctuation/Big Bang-like event), & virtual particles forming “real” particles from potential. A. Unconditioned, using Buddhist logic: As if “Infinite” a “potential infinity,” ”eternal,” unlimited, uncaused, “unborn of a cause,” actually existing (no dependencies or causes*). An unconditioned thing cannot be partially or incompletely unconditioned, to be unconditioned it must be wholly unconditioned. *Given as a “brute fact” from our perspective in a conditioned universe looking “up” – blocked by Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem. Note: Gödel used his Incompleteness Theorem himself in his own proof of God, God being the complexity or unknowable thing that explains the existence of the universe. B. Conditioned, using Buddhist logic: Finite, limited (constrained or bounded by conditions or limits, this but not that), cause and effect, born of a cause, not intrinsically existing, dependent origination - dependent on prior causes. Because the quantum vacuum/fields “actually” exists (“as if” unconditioned/eternal/unchanging) our “empty” of intrinsic existence (conditioned/impermanent/changing) universe must exist in cycles of manifested actuality and as un-manifested potential to be (as in Buddhist cosmology) – the potential must be expressed, “two sides of same coin.” Yes again, the Void is given as a “brute fact,” the purpose of the ppt is to explains what is going on “on this side” (experiential/manifested universe) of this great mystery, not to explain this great mystery itself (blocked by Gödel’s Theorem). The best I/we can say is that it is “as if” (to us) it has always been and always will be.
• #15: Book images above: see slide 2 notes Panpsychism as in Alfred North Whitehead. Panpsychism typically believes in the role of the observer consciousness in the universe but it often does not see it as a universal shared field of consciousness from which all things arise like in idealism. Some schools of panpsychism would see individual things/organisms as conscious, e.g. a conscious universe as a self-thing (consciousness in this example could still be an emergent quality, not intrinsic as in idealism). Idealism (consciousness primary) is a universal shared field of consciousness that is interconnected and interactive as the basis-of-being. In this sense it is like “buddha nature” in all things, a universal unconditioned nature. “Buddha nature” (or christ nature) is the unconditioned aspect-of-being in the manifested universe and it cannot be bound by limits or definitions (as unconditioned). Things are either agents of consciousness (like sentient beings) and/or “apparent” objects of consciousness (like inanimate objects, rocks) that would not (?) exist without observation by (some degree of) consciousness. However, it is deeper than this as electrons and photons show the ability to make choices and awareness of choices – it is a very fuzzy/blurred line that cannot be definitively defined (as would be expected). Plasma (hot gas like in stars) shows behavior like simple living organisms and awareness. In theory, degrees of consciousness must go all the way up and all the way down to avoid the problems of duality. “Miracles” happen, most/some by random chance or hidden variables, but some could be explained with humans as conscious “agents” (consciousness primary) of our own field of co-creation where we can affect outcomes in the manifested world (that is “empty” of intrinsic existence, thus influenced by consciousness) when the circumstance, karma, is right. The web of cause and effect, karma, is complicated so this is generally confined to limited cases that affect a single individual/object. Jesus alludes to this very capacity (healing) in the Bible. A personal God is not needed to explain this outcome, as Taoism and Buddhism shows. Theists give their personal God credit for every good thing that happens while ignoring, apologizing for, blaming Satan, blaming weak humans, or other scapegoating for every bad thing – thus their worthless ineffective theodicy explanations. Just looking at our current world events and past world history we see NO evidence for the intervention or workings of a good theistic God – NONE (other than religious fairy tales).
• #16: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/quantum-monism-could-save-the-soul-of-physics/ The multiverse may be an artifact of a deeper reality that is comprehensible and unique By Heinrich Päs on March 5, 2019 G.W.F. Hegel, “Encyclopedia,” he believed in Idealism and Neoplatonism. The “Unconditioned” is his “Infinite” (unity) and the “conditioned” is his “finite” (differentiation). https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-more-physicists-are-starting-to-think-space-and-time-are-illusions “Properly understood, entanglement implies that the universe is “monistic”, as philosophers call it, that on the most fundamental level, everything in the universe is part of a single, unified whole. It is a defining property of quantum mechanics that its underlying reality is described in terms of waves, and a monistic universe would require a universal function.” & “It is the acting principle behind both why quantum mechanics merges the world into one and why we experience this fundamental unity as many separate objects. At the same time, entanglement is the reason why we seem to live in a classical reality. It is—quite literally—the glue and creator of worlds.” “I’m almost certain that space and time are illusions. These are primitive notions that will be replaced by something more sophisticated.” — Nathan Seiberg, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
• #17: Image from Google search for “hacker,” https://bumpinmyhead.wordpress.com (this same image with different wording/captions is found on many web sites) https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/04/the-illusion-of-reality/479559/ Linde is a key player in developing the Inflationary “Big Bang” theory. “Physicist Andrei Linde wants to know: Since we live in this weird universe – fractal, self-replicating, inflationary – does that imply that it was created not by God, but by some physicist-hacker?” https://www.wired.com/1995/07/rucker/ Idea of ABs from Paul Von Ward “Gods, Genes, and Consciousness“ – could be any natural being (not supernatural) who has a technological/science &/or strutural/vantage-point advantage over us, e.g. our future selves, aliens, beings in “higher“ demensions (“as if“ supernatural), etc. Islam (submission), being the most radical (mono)theistic religion is only true if we have artificial intervention/simulation, not possible in a natural universe. Islam makes the strongest religious case for artificial intervention/simulation. Given the awesome vastness of the universe, how likely is it to have a rather low capacity/flawed human-centric theistic personal god – only in a one world artificial simulation does this make sense. My guess is that human intelligence and capacity is at the low end of what is the norm of the universe, that our 100 average IQ is equivalent to a 70 (or lower) IQ as a universe norm – we are barely functional. Most other intelligent species in the universe will have bioengineered themselves into a superior higher functioning species. A human centric theist God, really, is that the best you can do? A theistic “man-ape God” of the universe – this is just ignorant, childish, and silly. Only in an artificial simulation is this possible. Theists have very little imagination, remarkable that they still do not see the universe as it is. I believe this is a defense mechanism – denial and delusion, they cannot cope with reality as it actually is.
• #18: Andrei Linde “UNIVERSE, LIFE, CONSCIOUSNESS,” Department of Physics, Stanford University, Stanford CA: http://web.stanford.edu/~alinde/SpirQuest.doc http://www.cosmicscientist.com/mind-altering-quantum-experiment-shows-time-has-never-existed-as-we-think-it-does: According to physicist Andrew Truscott, lead researcher from a study (https://www.nature.com/articles/nphys3343) published by the Australian National University, the experiment suggests that “reality does not exist unless we are looking at it.” It suggests that we are living in a holographic-type of universe. If conscious as observer is primary, it affects outcomes, and is intrinsic then do we live in a 5-dimensional-like consciousness-3D space-time universe? Would not an “observer/consciousness factor” that affects real outcomes be expressed mathematically and must be accounted for in formula’s used to describe our universe? Would not an observer/consciousness factor that is intrinsic to the functioning of the universe be seen as the functional and mathematical equivalent of “God,” even if it is misunderstood by us to be a personal God (which it is not) and an old man in the clouds? A universe that has “natural” conscious and self-aware is the simplest “organic” answer to this problem (after artificial simulation). Is the Void/universe’s “Big Consciousness” a Gödel complexity factor (I call it “Gd”) in the structure “above” us? Does this “big field of consciousness” provide a means for human Jungian archetypes to play out, thus appearing as if supernatural? Do we create our own “supernatural” reference points as we go? Is consciousness the point of the intersection of science, religion, and life?
• #19: “Can Panpsychism Become an Observational Science?” Gregory L. Matloff https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309350978_Can_Panpsychism_Become_an_Observational_Science Again, some forms of panpsychism believe in material realism and are dualistic, but share a belief with idealism in the role of consciousness as an observer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSmfhc_8gew David Chalmers: How Does Panpsychism Fit in Between Dualism and Materialism? & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhRhtFFhNzQ David Chalmers: How do you explain consciousness? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WXTX0IUaOg Sir Roger Penrose — The quantum nature of consciousness & https://phys.org/news/2022-10-brains-quantum.html New research suggests our brains use quantum computation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind
• #20: Dr Bernard Haisch, The God Theory, Weiser Books, San Francisco CA - highly recommended https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpS0bHmVpz0 “God” implies will, intent, creation, choice, & intelligence, so I call it “Void” to avoid those connotations. On the slide 39 notes I simply state that the unconditioned Void “A” must = conditioned manifested realms “B” (more than just our visible universe, the Voids’ full potential must be expressed) as a logical necessity, not a choice, A = B.
• #21: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/physics-is-pointing-inexorably-to-mind/ By Bernardo Kastrup on March 25, 2019, Ph.D. Philosophy & Computer Engineering https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/the-universe-as-cosmic-dashboard/?redirect=1 “Relational quantum mechanics suggest physics might be a science of perceptions, not observer-independent reality” https://phys.org/news/2022-10-brains-quantum.html New research suggests our brains use quantum computation
• #22: https://www.drdansiegel.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Aoew3jKMb4 Psychology Professor U of VA on reincarnation https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/the-quantum-of-life/ A Biocentric “theory of everything” could take life’s origins all the way back to the beginning of the universe.
• #23: http://youtube.com/watch?v=Mmfe-tltQv0 I came across Whitehead’s views on consciousness in Steve Odin’s “Process Metaphysics and Hua-Yen Buddhism” as he relates Whitehead’s process metaphysics to Buddhism and the holographic model of the universe. Debate about experience vs. consciousness and which comes first is a down ”in-the-weeds” bottom-up view, “full idealism” is a coherent/consistent top-down view. http://www.digitaljournal.com/science/experiment-shows-future-events-decide-what-happens-in-the-past/article/434829: In the workings of the universe the most common, default, Whiteheadian relationship of past-to-present-to-future is a symmetrical cumulative flow of “closed-closed” causation. The “closed-closed” position is associated with determinism, non-duality, interconnection, non-self, non-existence, and “oneness” as the basis of reality. This “closed-closed” physics would be expected to be the “default” condition in a nondual monism. The “open-open” is associated with existence, self, individuality, multiplicity, and plurality. However, it seems that idealism (consciousness) may allow for “open” (for choice) in past and future relationships. Whitehead argued that the universe is capable of an asymmetrical “closed-open” (creative) behavior in some circumstances that is non-deterministic and non-karmic (needed for purpose or meaning?). The material/physical world seems to be predominately bound to “closed-closed” (cause & effect determinism), but human consciousness (and all others?) can be non-deterministic, we can make a choice. Some aspect of “open” in the present-future relationship is required for non-determinism, adventure, risk, novelty, and creativity. However, the universe refuses to fit a single model, either symmetrical (closed-closed & open-open) or asymmetrical (closed-open & open-closed) – but both/all at once (see link above) expressed as “total” interconnectedness or interpenetration in all ways possible. This is a very complex argument and I simply cannot do justice to it here. In addition to Whitehead (panpsychism) also look at the works of Charles Hartshorne (synecological panpsychism; “big things have minds” & “the universe has mind”) for more on these arguments. Hartshorne argues that an asymmetrical closed-open, the middle-way between existence and non-existence, is the philosophical basis of Mahayana Buddhism. https://www.religion-online.org/article/charles-hartshorne-on-metaphilosophy-person-and-immortality-and-other-issues/ The ultimate abstract principle of actual existence for Whitehead is creativity. Creativity is a term coined by Whitehead to show a power in the world that allows the presence of an actual entity, a new actual entity, and multiple actual entities. Creativity is the principle of novelty. He is also one of the major figures in process metaphysics and the bimodal God theory – absolute and relative (my comment; which is expressed as a nondual polarity of unconditioned and conditioned). Whitehead’s philosophical “actual” is different, but in some ways similar, to Buddhist “actual” or “existing” things. For Whitehead the process of creation of a new actual entity was the directional and temporal flow of complex and interconnected prior causal events. In this latest experiment (linked above), carried out by scientists at the Australian National University, lead researcher Andrew Truscott said in a press release that they have proven that "reality does not exist if you are not looking at it.” & “A future event causes the photon to decide its past.” Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/science/experiment-shows-future-events-decide-what-happens-in-the-past/article/434829#ixzz4OUpZAQ7v
• #24: *Theoretical physicist Dr. Michio Kaku would be an example of Scientific Pantheism. Examples of non-theistic religions: Buddhism, Vedanta Hinduism, Taoism, many Christian mystics, many Hasidic & Kabbalah Jewish mystics, some Sufi Islamic mystics (are there any left in the world or are they all in hiding fearing for their lives that normative/fundamentalist Muslims will kill them?). A non-theistic religion rejects dualism, “God” as an active theistic “other.” Atheism and theism both can be reduced to an irrational infinite regression of conditioned (finite) causes (a self contradiction), such as a “Big Bang” from a conditioned cause. God created the universe/man, who/what created God? Who/what conditioned thing created the conditioned thing that created the conditioned God/Big Bang? Or, alternatively, to an irrational belief in something from nothing (“Big Bang” from nothing, unexplained random event, creation ex nihilo, etc.). Where did a conditioned (not unconditioned) quantum vacuum/field come from, what was the cause? Atheism is as irrational as theism with no valid ontological basis of being, with no logical end point to their argument, no valid “first cause.” An unconditioned/conditioned codependent, interpenetrated, nondual thing is a simultaneous uncaused unborn thing. Because one actually exists the other “as if” exists.
• #25: “O” bhikkhus, there is the unborn, ungrown, and unconditioned. Were there not the unborn, ungrown, and unconditioned, there would be no escape for the born, grown, and conditioned. Since there is the unborn, ungrown, and unconditioned, so there is escape for the born, grown, and conditioned.” Udāna, Chapter 8 Patalagami 3 (Colombo, 1929) & Walpola Rahula “What The Buddha Tought,“ page 37. Part of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism, the earliest series of teachings. “Escape” from cycles of rebirth in the conditioned (empty/non-existant) universe to the unconditioned (existant, unconditioned dharma; nirvana, Pali nibbana). If something is unconditioned it must be fully unconditioned, e.g. eternal, infinite potential, complexity, unlimited, etc. Logically, there cannot be a partially (limited) unconditioned thing, this would be a logical self-contradiction. https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/Ud/ud8_3.html Note: Some translations do not use “unconditioned” in the text but use words pertaining to an “existing” thing, in Buddhist logic only an unconditioned (uncaused) thing can be “existing.” https://www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net/Texts-and-Translations/Udana/Exalted-Utterances.pdf The quantum vacuum state has “infinite” potential, anything with an “infinite” or “eternal” (to include non-linear time and/or transcendent of time) quality must be logically “unconditioned” by definition. No “conditioned” (caused) thing can have an “infinite/eternal” quality, e.g. an “infinite/eternal” actual heaven or hell born of a cause, act, behavior, or of a condition ( vs. my proposed heaven/hell as a state of mind/consciousness & non-linear time, not a physical place). A conditioned (finite) cause cannot result in an unconditioned (infinite/eternal) effect or outcome. An unconditioned thing MUST be “unborn of a cause.” All of the conventional “normative” theistic religions of the world are completely ignorant and clueless of this logic, they have no idea what is going on. FYI: This is the Buddhist argument against theism for 2,500 years, all theistic gods are “conditioned” by their nature (involved in cause and effect relationships with world/humanity, they cannot be eternal/infinite or ultimate/absolute) and all theistic salvations are won by conditioned causes (cannot be eternal/infinite). From the conditioned world viewpoint an unconditioned (ultimate) thing must be passive/potential in its nature as it cannot be involved in direct cause and effect (conditioning) relationships to this universe/world system. The greatest possible “God” (basis-of-being) would be unconditioned; eternal, infinite, non-conceptual, and without limiting conditions, definitions, or causes. In terms of metaphysics I would be in the Tibetan Shentong school where our intrinsic nature, buddha nature, is “empty of defilements” (Kagyu, Nyingma, and Sakya schools), “Chinese Buddhism,” specifically Hua-yen and Japanese Kegon (Zen, Tendai, and Shingon) – generally the “buddha nature” or esoteric schools (conserved & realized unconditioned “base” consciousness “buddha nature” in all). Some of the Buddhist documents important to these schools: “Heart Sutra,” Vimalakirti Sutra, Uttara Tantra, Lotus Sutra, Flower Garland Sutra, Diamond Sutra, and Uisang’s “Ocean Seal” commentary. Also see Steve Odin’s “Process Metaphysics and Hua-yen Buddhism.” Shentong vs. Rangtong: Tibetan Rangtong Gelug (Gelugpa) school of the Dali Lama believes in “empty of self,” relative and absolute emptiness – void = emptiness. However, this can be understood simply as a teaching tool, individual practitioners must find the truth for themselves with no preconceived concepts getting in the way.
• #26: “I understood that in general all things related to samsara (conditioned) and nirvana (unconditioned) are interdependent (nondual). Furthermore I perceived that the source consciousness is neutral (passive Void). Samsara is the result of a wrong point of view. Nirvana is realized through perfect awareness. I perceive that the essence of both lay in an empty (“empty” of conceptualizations and judgement) and luminous awareness.” Milarepa, The Life of Milarepa, translation by Lobsang Lhalungpa “… one has to avoid both under- and over- negation. Under-negation is to take for inherently existing entities which are merely the creation of language, in other words, the conceptualization aspect. Over-negation is to deny the substratum which really, ultimately (paramartha) exists, albeit inexpressibly, and to say nothing exists at all.” and “There must be a real substratum, for without a real substratum erroneous construction, the conceptualization aspect, could never take place. Moreover, if the dependent aspect as substratum did not exist, then likewise liberation, seeing things the way they really are, could also not occur. There would be simply universal nonexistence.” Paul Williams, “Mahayana Buddhism, The Doctrinal Foundations,” page 84. On page 85 he continues: “ … states quite categorically that for the Cittamatra (mind doctrine) the nondual mind, mind or consciousness devoid of subject and object, really, absolutely exist.” He is citing the Yogachara school of Buddhism. Modern science, physics, has given language to, name to, and concept/definition to something that is infinite potential (and therefore unconditioned). The quantum fields are the interdependent interface (interpenetrated) between the unconditioned as absolute and the conditioned as relative. Furthermore, physics is confirming the Yogachara role of mind/consciousness in the universe as consciousness/observer as a required “substratum” for the manifested universe. Effectively, modern physics has greatly reduced the error of under-negation, conceptualization, as a problem, e.g. we can name it. An unconditioned basis-of-being (Void “God” as a passive source of creation) would be somewhat similar to the Deism of many of the American Founding Fathers.
• #27: We may be so far down the fields of reality, layers-of-being, or dimensions we may be unqualified to state what a “functional infinity” (the experience of) would be vs. a theoretical mathematical infinity. Would an 8D or 11D reality (spatial + nonlinear time) function as, be experienced as, an subjective “infinity” viewed from within our 3D + linear time field-of-being reference point? This higher dimensional reality would be a “subjective” or “potential” and “absurdly vast” basis to functionally be infinity-like to us. Keep in mind that an 8D or 11D space-time would not be the final end-point to an unconditioned basis-of-being, it would be just another layer to reality (layer of complexity). Thus a metaphysical functional/subjective “infinity” may be a process flow through layers of higher realities. Some “supernatural” phenomenon could be explained as interactions between these different layers-of-reality, as cause and effect is not logically restricted between different layers of manifested reality. The known quantum field(s) are the interface (intersection) between the unconditioned (potential) and the conditioned (manifested), it is the “public face” of the unconditioned. However, it would be a mistake to assume that it is all there is to it, there may (will) be (vast?) hidden complexity that we do not see. We cannot see past the Void to see this complexity with science, but mystics have claimed to have done this, they call it the Greek “Pleroma” or “Fullness.” Buddhist mystics say the same with the “great fullness” and “the fully completed portrait of the king” (Mahavairochana-like) in the Uttara Tantra (Venerable Thrangu Rinpoche, Namo Buddha Publications, page 80). Also see “The Matrix and Diamond Mandalas in Shingon Buddhism” by Adrian Snodgrass, International Academy of Indian Culture, New Delhi (large hardcover and expensive); Part 1, Chapter 1, “The Characteristics of the Esoteric Doctrine,” pages 1 to 11.
• #28: Physicist Tom Campbell: “…consciousness evolves patterns and gives those patterns meaning…” & “…the whole point is to lower it’s (information) entropy...” via more sophisticated, cooperative, and efficient systems.
• #29: Applies to Jesus as Lord/God and Savior theology All theist worship a conditioned relative god, no conditioned thing can be Ultimate/Absolute. You cannot claim a theistic God to be eternal or uncreated then have this God directly involved in a relationship with man and the conditioned world – it is one or the other, not both. For example Muhammad used an absurd magical flying donkey to travel to see (an unconditioned thing has no place, it is everywhere) “God” (Allah) to negotiated with “God” (Allah) about the number of daily prayers needed (you cannot conduct conditioning negotiations with an unconditioned thing) and “God” (Allah) gets a share of the loot/booty from Islamic banditry (an unconditioned thing has no need for or use for booty, it already is everything). Requirements such as dying in battle fighting unbelievers to qualify for Allah’s (“sinful”) drunken orgy bandit paradise is a conditioning requirement (it is also incompatible with the God/heaven of Abraham & Moses). Requiring belief in a specific version of “God” or other requirements or conditions to be saved, be it Jesus, the God of the Old Testament, or Allah, are “god killer” conditioning requirements – it defeats its own case for godhood as Ultimate/Absolute. Conditioned causes can only produce conditioned results. An “actual” Ultimate/Absolute “God” would have no need of requirements (conditions) as it would be a contradiction to its very nature, being unconditioned. A conditioned cause cannot result in an unconditioned effect/outcome, such as Jesus’s blood atonement on the cross resulting in an “eternal” afterlife in heaven (as an actual thing/place vs a temporary dream-like state of consciousness). You cannot “cause” an unconditioned thing/outcome (e.g. an actual “eternal” heaven or hell), but you can realize an unconditioned thing as already existing by “enlightenment” (experience/wisdom) or by faith (e.g. Gnostic/Pauline Jesus).
• #30: Quoted from Steve Odin’s “Process Metaphysics and Hua-yen Buddhism.” Steve Odin summarizes Alfonso Verdu’s explanation of the Hua-yen fivefold system of dialectic as given in Verdu’s “Dialectical Aspects in Buddhist Thought.” Verdu’s original work: https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/handle/1808/1196, on pages 103 to 106 “The Wu-Chiao (Five Doctrines) Scheme.” Brief summary, 5 pages, of Hua-yen sutra: http://mnzencenter.org/pdf/Flower%20Ornament%20Sutra.pdf Also see: Avatamsaka Sutra (Flower Garland/Ornament) Heart Sutra (The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom) chanted by Buddhist to prepare themselves for the “shock” of the Void experience Lotus Sutra Vimalakirti Sutra Uttara Tantra The Buddhist Teaching of Totality, The Philosophy of Hwa Yen Buddhism, Garma C. C. Chang Hua-yen Buddhism, The Jewel Net of Indra, Francis H. Cook
• #31: This view also agrees with a holographic view of the universe – “Indra’s Net.” Listen to Alan Watts “Buddhism – Net of Jewels”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flE5-LCX1OQ Buddhist teaching warning against thinking that the mundane conditioned (empty of intrinsic existence) world is not “real” (as dream-like in Hinduism), that devalues this conditioned existence, that dismisses “real” suffering in life. The unconditioned-conditioned polarity of reality is a metaphysically “required” state-of-being, it is not a “dream” (illusion). In the “The Matrix and Diamond Mandalas in Shingon Buddhism” by Adrian Snodgrass, International Academy of Indian Culture, New Delhi (large hardcover and expensive); Part 1, Chapter 1, “The Characteristics of the Esoteric Doctrine,” pages 1 to 11 this unconditioned nature is addressed. It says “the universe is in each thing and each thing is in the universe; each dharma is totality and totality is in each dharma” very much like Bohm’s Holographic Universe. And, “existence is the reverse side of Voidness and Voidness is the reverse side of existence.” And more “…the mind itself is unproduced, unconditioned, immutable and timeless…” – nondual monistic idealism.
• #32: Fa-Tsang, 643-712 CE China, a Flower Garland Sutra school teacher Thus why I say “nondual monistic Idealism” – idealism because consciousness (mind) is primary and the material (elements) are emergent (conditioned); The Tibetan Buddhist Shentong (absolute/buddha nature “empty of other” empty of defilements) schools follow this philosophy “The Great Yogachara Madhyamika” (nondual idealism). Much of Tsongkhapa and Shantideva teaching are a warning against thinking either unity or plurality are an absolute (in/of themselves) while negating their opposite and against the resulting dualism, one as an absolute and the other as empty (as devalued, not real). Shantideva says that we have two natures, the unconditioned (buddha nature) and conditioned nature, the unconditioned has to be conserved in all conditioned things. The unconditioned is logically required to be conserved in all expressed conditioned things, nothing can be “outside” (would result in a dualism) an unconditioned thing by definition (non-duality must be conserved). Tibetan Shentong & Rime schools: Kagyu, Nyingma, & Sakya / Rangtong school: Gelug (relative & absolute “empty of self” Void) Many Western Buddhist believe in an actual romanticized “emptiness” (an actual literal nothingness, nihilism) as the basis-of-reality, an over reaction against corrupt theism. These Buddhist deny any form of an ontological basis-of-being that is either theistic or non-theistic, they accept only atheism (random “Darwinian” universe; no spiritual meaning, purpose, or goal to the universe/consciousness/life). Again, they believe in Buddhism as some form of romanticized secular humanism. In Western Buddhism it often is reduced to being about Eastern non-judgmental psychology (we are all normal to have problems) to cope with life and suffering (life is samsara) and a rejection of Western judgmental psychology (if we are having problems we are abnormally sick or ill and need “treatment”). The world-view, basis-of-being, of Western psychology is ass-backwards and upside down (delusional basis-of-being, a fantasy view of “normal”). In Whitehead’s process metaphysics past-to-present-to-future relationships unity (oneness) is closed/closed (karmic determinism), while plurality (individuality) is open/open (choice), while in actuality the universe is a non-symmetrical “all of the above,” e.g. also closed/open (determined/choice) or open/closed (seen in quantum physics where the future determines the past).
• #33: Khenchen Kunzang Palden and Minyak Kunzang Sonam, Wisdom Two Buddhist Commentaries On the Ninth Chapter of Shantideva’s Bodhichayavatara (Peyzac-le-Moustier, France: translated by the Padmakara Translation Group, Editions Padmakara, 1993) Shantideva, The Way of the Bodhisattva, Shambhala Publications, Padmakara Translation Group Part of the problem of understanding the Void, the unconditioned, is a matter of perspective. It cannot be properly understood from the conditioned/relative perspective, by words and concepts alone. Although, modern physics has given us the means and language to see the Void’s existence. Only direct experience informs as to the Void’s nature. In addition, there are different levels (32) of the experience (per Buddhist teaching) so you can see differences in how the Void is described, e.g. Void of nothingness (potential that is devoid/empty of discrete/discernable things) or as a “Great Fullness.”
• #34: http://www.buddhism.org/Sutras/heart/content.html Translation Heart Sutra: “Form Does Not Differ From The Void, and the Void Does Not Differ From Form. Form is Void and the Void is Form…” Note: Metaphysically “Void” is a better translation choice than “empty/emptiness” (Dali Lama said “emptiness” is an “unfortunate” translation into English), the Eastern terminology would be something like “zero,” “nothingness,” or “a vast sky-like spaciousness” devoid of forms or distinctions, thus a “void.” Not to be confused with conditioned things being “empty” of actual existence (dependent origination). In Western Buddhism the different uses of “empty” become confused, “empty” applies to conditioned things, but an unconditioned thing cannot be “empty” by logic or definition. The Void is a “fullness” (of everything) in unmanifested potential (a voidness or nothingness of distinct things), the unconditioned is an affirmation, not a negation. In the first use the manifested conditioned universe is metaphysically “empty” of intrinsic existence, while the unconditioned Void is experientially/subjectively “empty” of NO sensory input, forms, distinctions, and concepts (a voidness or nothingness of things). An unborn unconditioned thing (eternal/infinite) of infinite potential logically cannot be metaphysically “empty.” Heart Sutra Chant: TAYATA GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASAMGATE BODHI SOHA (Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone completely beyond, awakened, so be it!) The chant is about the transition into Void, letting go of the self, clinging, and attachment to self/form/world.
• #35: A remarkable man has written a remarkable book: Itzhak Bentov’s “Stalking the Wild Pendulum,” Destiny Books. The physics of the mystical experience of the Void of infinite space is detailed in this remarkable work. The Void is the “rest” state and a binary “0” where subjective time merges with objective space. The rest “0” state is the infinite potential of unmanifested and non-vibrating space. The state of motion is a binary “1” – the vibrating things/strings of manifested space. In quantum physics the state of “rest” implies infinite velocity and therefore “everywhen” – no specific space-time location or quantum non-location. All quantum locations in space-time are “present” in a “rest” state of “0” (infinite potentiality – cosine of 1/0 = infinity). Physicist David Bohm: This bimodal state is similar to his views on the implicate and explicate. The fundamental level was proposed to represent an undivided wholeness and an implicate order from which arises the explicate order of the universe as we experience it. Bohm's proposed implicate order applies both to matter and consciousness. He suggested that it could explain the relationship between them. He saw mind and matter as projections into our explicate order from the underlying implicate order. Dyczkowski, Mark S.G. “The Doctrine of Vibration: An Analysis of the Doctrines and practices of Kashmir Shaivism” SUNY Press.
• #36: Bentov was a long time Tibetan Buddhist meditation practitioner, see notes in previous slide. Wikipedia: Plotinus (/plɒˈtaɪnəs/; Greek: Πλωτῖνος, Plōtinos; c. 204/5 – 270) was a major Greek-speaking philosopher of the ancient world. In his philosophy, described in the Enneads, there are three principles: the One, the Intellect, and the Soul. His teacher was Ammonius Saccas, who was of the Platonic tradition. Historians of the 19th century invented the term Neoplatonism and applied it to Plotinus and his philosophy, which was influential in Late Antiquity. Much of the biographical information about Plotinus comes from Porphyry's preface to his edition of Plotinus' Enneads. His metaphysical writings have inspired centuries of Pagan, Islamic, Jewish, Christian, and Gnostic metaphysicians and mystics. My note: He experienced the Void (nothingness/fullness) in meditation several times. Bible: In the old days lacking modern science and rationality these experiences where mystical and supernatural, they had no other way of explaining them, today we do have a scientific way.
• #37: I wonder, could the “sea diver” be symbolic (esoteric) for a shaman/mystic/meditator “diving” into the “sea” of the Void? The “sea diver” bringing dirt (manifested world) up from the “bottom” of the deep to create land would be its explicit/exoteric meaning. In an esoteric meaning the “sea diver” would be the one who has experienced the Void and brings back knowledge that is understood in the cultural context of the time. The “wind” is often blown by a storm god (a literal Big Bang thunder god) and results in the creation of twins one of whom must be sacrificed to create the world (matter/anti-matter!?). In some variations of the story the diver is a water bird, a “water bird” is symbolic of a being that can exist/crossover in both realms of water (Void) and land (manifested world) – like Bennu in Egyptian mythology. “Few Egyptian texts deal with the end times. Those that do, however, envisage it as a cataclysmic destruction followed by a return to the state of the universe as it was before creation. In Spell 175 of the Book of the Dead, the creator god Atum describes how, after ‘millions of millions’ of years, ‘I will destroy all that I have made: this world will return to Nu, the limitless waters, like its original state’ (my comment: Void of infinite potential & space-time).” James P. Allen, “The Human Sphere,” Ancient Egypt, 131.
• #38: *See “Numbers” & “Deuteronomy” in the Bible, if you are plagued by venomous snakes, now you know why. The hundreds of laws of the Torah are need to explain the difficulty in pleasing God and why suffering and punishment (theodicy) is everywhere – the number and difficulty of the laws is a form of apologetics to explain this theodicy. The Jewish prayer “Avinu Malkeinu” is a plea to God to save them from this relentless theodicy – even though they don’t deserved to be saved (laws are too complex and difficult). Christians have it even worse, their savior died to forgive their sins and “save” them, yet they still suffer – theodicy was/is unchanged. Before writing humans had to depend on imperfect oral transmission, but also importantly, on the chance and luck of access to a master with the necessary wisdom – there was no “Heart Sutra,” no Neoplatonic writings, or no Chuang Tzu to guide you. A “first contact” Void experience will almost certainly be bad if not trained and informed – stark terror, threatening, and all sense of self is suddenly ripped apart (all sense of self associated with your physical self/body instantly gone - poof) in this seemingly limitless dark abyss with no references or orientations – lost in “chaos.” You can come away with knowledge of “nothingness” and “chaos” as “source” with an awesome and terrifying power that is GOD!-like. Without help an incorrect or incomplete understanding of the Void will be more common than a correct (full) understanding. Hint, terror (we are talking about heart attack level of terror) is the gate-keeper to keep out the unworthy! If you are prepared and trained you can get through. And yes, it plays like a computer game – a simulation? In the “good” Void your mind/consciousness remain intact in this wonderous super-consciousness of the “ALL” of infinite space-time – is this the origin of belief in “life” (existence) in a non-physical “spirit” body? A modern university should be able to create one-pointed-concentration (Trataka meditation) experiments with “Voidnauts” to enter and ask questions, you “see” the answer, and do thought-experiments. Send in psychologist, philosophers, theologians, spiritual masters, and scientists. I have revealed in this ppt everything you need to know to start. I was an ignorant 17 year old – too stupid to ask the right questions (didn’t know I could). I was nerve poisoned that affected my vision (optical nerves), my vision would turn into utter visual chaos and return to normal in regular cycles. I leaned to focus on the brightest object in my field of vision as it was failing to visually hold onto it. I was, in effect, practicing a one-pointed-concentration meditation (stilling the mind – flash into Void) – like monks staring into a candle light. I did this hundreds of times in about a week until my vision normalized. Structural (teleological) theodicy: the universe from the beginning, literally, is built on structural theodicy – competition with winners & losers, unfair, and “out-of-balance” leading to suffering, destruction, and death, more on this later. The original role of “The Satan” (as in Book of Job) was god’s minister of justice to punish those who do not worship him perfectly (Job was punished anyway as a wager). And, of course, god works in ”mysterious ways” beyond our understanding, such as a “shit and giggles” wager with his “minister of justice” concerning the lives of his little insignificant subjects.
• #39: https://www.iep.utm.edu/plotinus/ & https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plotinus/ & https://reasonandmeaning.com/2017/04/07/summary-of-plotinus/ Wikipedia: “Plotinus taught that there is a supreme, totally transcendent ‘One’ containing no division, multiplicity or distinction; beyond all categories of being and non-being. His ‘One’ ‘cannot be any existing thing’, nor is it merely the sum of all things, but ‘is prior to all existents’.” and “The One, being beyond all attributes including being and non-being, is the source of the world—but not through any act of creation, willful or otherwise, since activity cannot be ascribed to the unchangeable, immutable One.” and “The One is not just an intellectual conception but something that can be experienced, an experience where one goes beyond all multiplicity. Plotinus writes, ‘We ought not even to say that he will see, but he will be that which he sees, if indeed it is possible any longer to distinguish between seer and seen, and not boldly to affirm that the two are one’." Compare to the Jewish mystical concept of “Ein Sof” the “Endless One” and to Hindu, Buddhist, and Taoist philosophy. Many Christian mystics, such as the “Rhineland Mystics,” had similar or compatible beliefs. * Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel uses the same logic in his “infinite” vs “finite” arguments/dialectic – the infinite MUST have a finite expression of itself. Quantum vacuum = unconditioned “A,” we know “A” is true. A quantum rest state has infinite potential. More will be said of the Void (“dark” infinite space devoid of form or distinctions) in later slides. “Ontologically” vs strictly mathematically because as conditioned beings (relative) we are unqualified to pass judgement on what is eternal, infinite, etc. as “absolutes” in the structures “above” us (per Gödel ‘s Incompleteness Theorem). For example, mystics experience/perceive the Void as “infinite” space-time, but what if it is 11-dimensional space-time of String Theory? Would not a small 4-dimensional being’s consciousness “exploding” into 11-dimensional space-time subjectively perceive it as “infinite”? Would not that 11-dimensional space-time be functionally “infinite” to us, e.g. in the time domain they would see and know all of the past, present, and future in our world. Higher structures, such as 11-dimensional space-time, could subjectively/logically function “as if” it is infinite, eternal, etc. from our perspective being vast (“as if” transcendent) beyond our understanding and capable of effects in our universe “as if” (looks like) it was infinite (otherwise unexplainable). “A” (unconditioned/passive) is capable of producing “B” (conditioned/active universe) using “C” (observer/consciousness via the quantum fields & wave collapse). The “infinite” potential must be functionally vast enough to create virtually any conceivable universe, but by logical necessity it has to express that potential vastness in the universe(s) it creates, it cannot choose a “lessor” outcome. This would include the qualities of intelligence, math, learning, and self-correcting feedback loops, etc. I would argue that an “as if” unconditioned thing expressed into the conditioned universe MUST reflect the range of sophistication that the unconditioned is capable of – that it’s universe must be “worthy” of an “infinite” potential birth. This means the conditioned universe must have non-random structure (e.g. consciousness & time), complexity in its expression, and strange to us, weird to us, and bizarre to us effects that reflects this range of capability – and do it “naturally” and ultimately “scientifically” (if we ever figure it out). I would also argue that our neatly packaged 4-dimensional space-time universe is NOT the REQUIRED greatest possible conditioned universe, not “full range,” that more sophisticated structure “above us” is needed to express the range and capability of the unconditioned infinite potential (thus unexplainable “strange” effects to us, as per Gödel ‘s Incompleteness Theorem). If “A” (unconditioned) is true then “B” (conditioned) must be true, A = B. We know “A” is true and we know “B” is true. “A’s” capacity for “B” is implicit and logically necessary (either exists or exists in potential), but not necessarily always manifested, as in the Buddhist cosmological cycles of “nothingness.” We are manifested, therefore A = B for us now in this space-time epoch. Things must have “as if” two natures, an unconditioned “A” nature and a conditioned “B” nature, the unconditioned (Buddhist call it “buddha nature”) is conserved in all things. The two natures are actually a polarity of “One” nature (a nondual monism). This is NOT an act of choice, intent, or will as a “creation,” it just IS, a logical necessity. Consciousness/oberver “C” (Idealism) is necessary for “B,” “B” is true therefore “C” is true. Consciousness (BIG “C”) as a “universal” property of “B.” Without the observer consciousness literally nothing happens (see Linde slides), consciousness provides for purpose and meaning. Consciousness, complexity, intelligence/sophistication, life, meaning, and purpose are necessary effects of a universe born of an unconditioned infinite potential birth. A universe “tuned” to these properties is the result; it looks god-like but is instead is a simple logical necessity. 1 & 2 represent a functional simplification of what is a complex and sophisticated metaphysics, its purpose here is to simply advance a model of the universe that is more accurate than theism and atheism and make the case for nondual monistic idealism. I am just a petty civil servant and it has been many years (1970s) since I had a logic or philosophy class, so I hope I did not make a fool of myself here.
• #40: 2D: like looking at a chess board in two dimensions, get above it and look down in three dimensions 3D to see patterns. Mathematicians will tell you they can understand everything, but I am not convinced. Wikipedia: Kurt Friedrich Gödel (“Gerdel”); April 28, 1906 – January 14, 1978, was an Austrian American logician, mathematician, and philosopher. After World War II, he emigrated to the United States. Considered with Aristotle and Frege one of the most significant logicians in human history, Gödel made an immense impact upon scientific and philosophical thinking in the 20th century, a time when others such as Bertrand Russell, A. N. Whitehead, and David Hilbert were pioneering the use of logic and set theory to understand the foundations of mathematics. Gödel was a theist and had his own version of the cosmological proof of God, so he followed Leibnitz and not Spinoza like Einstein. He believed the universe had purpose and meaning and believed in an afterlife (preservation of consciousness). To Gödel a personal God was the missing “X” incompleteness factor in the universe. I propose that an impersonal conscious self-aware universe (non-theistic “god-like”) serves the same logical function in the cosmological proof as a theist God, and that the qualities of being “personal,” “good,” and “theistic” are not logically necessary. The only logically necessary qualities are an order of existence that is “as if” unconditioned and that is more sophisticated than ours (“above us,” can do things we do not understand) and provides a basis-for-being for our conditioned universe to come into existence. I will argue that the quantum vacuum/fields (passive Void of infinite potential) must have a conditioned expression of itself and this requires both time and consciousness to happen, without the flow of time and the observer consciousness nothing will happen. Thus both time and consciousness are intrinsic qualities and inherent in the passive Void of infinite potential. The quantum vacuum/field is experienced by consciousness as the Void of Infinite Space-Time in samadhi by mystics, in Jewish mysticism it is known as “Ein Sof” – “the Endless One.” I explain this as listening to a radio that is receiving all frequencies/stations at once (everything) expressed as an indistinct incomprehensible noise and being asked “did you find your radio station” and answering “no I found nothing” when in fact you found everything “in potential” and you know this, but it is too complicated and fantastic to explain to others, so you simply say “nothing” (everything in potential is “dark” it has no district features, thus “Void”) to explain what you found. Scientists use mathematical calculations to PROVE the existence of God: https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/756870/proof-of-god-kurt-godel http://www.newkabbalah.com/einsof.html: “The Kabbalist’s God is both perfectly simple and infinitely complex, nothing and everything, hidden and revealed, reality and illusion…”
• #41: Seen in 2D the movement of chess pieces that jump up and over would appear to be magic, they would disappear then magically reappear in a different location – unable to see in the up direction, in 3D, and you would have NO idea of how they did it, it would seem to be “magic” or “supernatural.” Thus the natural complexity of structure in levels “above” us allows for bizarre, strange, and “supernatural” things to happen that we cannot explain.
• #42: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0ztlIAYTCU http://www.fredalanwolf.com/myarticles/Soul%20and%20death%20Q&A.pdf: see page 6 Quantum fluctuations in the Void produce a karmic train of events that produce manifested matter. This potential energy can be manifested as anything, but consciousness acts to choose the form it takes. The “Big Bang” out of “nothing” can be understood as one such event. According to quantum physicist Fred Wolf in his book The Spiritual Universe the Void is addicted to seeking manifestation, in order to produce the “I” that can act as the perceiver of itself (the universe/Void), while at the same time seeking to return all manifested forms back to itself. This addictive cycle is repeated over and over again. Quantum physicist Amit Gotswami in his book The Self Aware Universe states that the universe, to include the Void, is conscious and participates in the creative choices made in the manifestation process (see my explanation for this, no “choices” required). This participation by the Void includes a drive towards sentient consciousness and a perceiver “self.” From our perspective the manifested universe does indeed appear as from “nothingness” (the Void of infinite potential) just as the Old Testament (see the books of Genesis and Job) and Eastern sacred texts says that it does. The unconditioned nature of the universe, the Void of Infinite Space-Time, is experienced in deep meditation, Samadhi, where the mind is still, where the 7 Hz “void” flashes are experienced (per Bentov below). In our Void flash state both humans and all physicals things share the same state of being “in infinite potential.” Some will argue that the Void is consciousness itself, thus it is shared with all material things. If quantum physics is affected by conscious observation, then I would argue that it is inherent by design. If consciousness is intrinsic to the universe it must be conserved in all things, from electrons, to rocks, to humans. For example, who provided the consciousness (observer/awareness) in the early universe, surely it did not wait for humans to come along as observers? I recommend bio-medical engineer Itzhak Bentov’s “Stalking the Wild Pendulum” for a more complete modern scientific explanation of what’s happening in this meditation. The Void can be said to be a nondual experience of the infinite field of potentiality (infinite space, time, and energy) of the Godhead, but not all theistic mystics use the term “Godhead” in a way that is compatible with equating it with the Void, so caution must be used when making this comparison. The Godhead and Void may be said to be similar terms if they both are understood to be “passive” in nature, based on “nothingness”, unconditioned, nondual, non-conceptual, and “empty” of any self ego qualities. In many of the experiences of the mystics the knowledge gained and the feelings attributed to the “Godhead” are similar to the qualities of the Void. The Void experience itself may not be the final or highest spiritual experience, the Gnostic did not believe that it was, there may be “higher” information systems “above” the Void as is suggested by the holographic model of the universe, the hyperspace model, and quantum physics – perhaps even an infinite series of higher realms. These higher realms then could not be experienced until the Void is “passed through” and fully experienced – only done by complete “letting go” of the “self.” The Gnostics claimed that Jesus descended down through the Void (emptiness) from a higher “fullness” above it. In Buddhism the Void (field of “Great Emptiness”) has 32 levels with 4 major levels. The first is dependent origination. The second is called “asamskrita-shunyata” which is the “voidness of the unconditioned” (it has no conditioned aspects/qualities) and the third is “maha-shunyata” the great void/nothingness/emptiness, and forth “shunyata of shunyata” the “emptiness of emptiness” which is understood in two ways, it is beyond concepts and the negation of the negation as an affirmation of “something.” In this presentation I simplify the use of “Void” generically, as a general term that applies to all the levels of this experience. This is simply an expedient, as a teaching tool. “The spiritual life is the ‘noble quest’ of the conditioned for the unconditioned,” see “What is the Dharma?: The Essential Teachings of the Buddha” By Sangharakshita, Chapter 5.
• #43: The continuity of consciousness is required for the development/progress of consciousness in both the universe and humans. Feedback loops: William James in his The Varieties of Religious Experiences lists four characteristics of mystical experience; that it is ineffable, noetic, transitory, and passive. Huston Smith in his Religions of the World also lists four qualities to a classical mystical experience, that it is ineffable, noetic, joyful, and involves a feeling of unity to, or the interconnection of, the ALL (precludes hate or rivalry with other religions). The mystical or spiritual experiences of near-death experiences (e.g. N.D.E.), in the attainment of saints, in mystics, and in the experiences of common people in life are part of these feedback loops. The Buddhist mindfulness and awareness meditations prepare you to be in control during the dream-like dying experience and to be able to control your fate, to include “Buddhahood” via escape into the Void. These loops also include N.D.E. experiences. The N.D.E. experiences are your own unique psychic constructs, a stylized representation of reality – should not be taken as literal or universal. In positive N.D.E. and mystical experiences often there is a feeling of universal love and acceptance, but it is explicitly “universal,” not specifically associated to your personhood or religion, it is not unique to you. The theistic religions each claim exclusive ownership of such experiences and deny them to others due to the “sin” of ego/pride. If there is an actual “sin” in the cosmic consciousness of the universe it can be best be related to one set of related characteristics, that of selfishness, ego (separation), and pride – ego = Satan. The more a person or religion proclaims their salvation (heaven/love) as unique to them (ego/pride) the more wrong they are, e.g. Southern Baptist and Islam. This BIG “universal love” is a complexity and a mystery (Gödel incompleteness factor “Gd”) to our understanding of the otherwise ruthless and brutal universe, why? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG0h5cR_HnA “Do Muslims Worship the Same God as Christians and Jews?” Speaking of Islam, Fatal Flaw, Radical Conformity Enforcement: In the old days of Abrahamic religions it was our god vs. your god in all things, such as killing, slavery, war, etc. The best/strongest god wins. So when Moses brought down the Ten Commandments the commandments to do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness (lie), etc. applied only to relationships between members of the same god/religion, NOT to other peoples of a different god. For example, Moses’ genocidal rampage into the promise land after receiving the Ten Commandments. You were allowed to kill, steal/plunder, enslave, etc. all you wanted to the peoples of other gods. All of the religions of the world, except Islam, have progressed to apply the “good” commandments to all peoples, regardless of religion. Islam is, astonishingly, still stuck in the past of 1,300 years ago (radical conformity enforcement) when it was our god vs. your god in all things. In Islam the “good” rules of behavior only apply to Muslim to Muslim relationships (but still they kill and fight with each other), Muslims have no moral restraints in the religion of Islam itself concerning peoples of other gods/religions (still to this day), they can kill, enslave, rape, plunder, etc. They are even told to do these “bad” things by Muhammed and that they will go to Islamic Paradise if killed while making violence/war against the Kafirs (unbelievers). For example, slavery of kafirs was only made illegal (as a matter of law, not religion) in many Islamic countries in the mid 1900s, as late as the 1960s, under pressure from the West (oil money). Islam is a morally primitive religion unlike any other. Even today in Saudi Arabia & the Gulf States foreign workers (e.g. Indian kafirs) are badly treated with few rights, abused, and treated as pseudo slaves. Muslims (master/superior) still have a “slave mentality” towards the kafirs (inferior/servant). Islam is unable to change or progress due to radical conformity enforcers, no one dares to propose changes. It still has the primitive god vs. god religious mentality of thousands of years ago, essentially the entire Medina Quran is based on this mentality. Astonishingly, Muslims still consider this god vs. god model valid in todays modern globalized world were the Christian West and East Asia have out competed them (they rely on oil money income from foreign sources, not self generated wealth or productivity like the West or East Asia).
• #44: Richard M Bucke, M.D., “Cosmic Consciousness,” Psychiatrist, is the classic work on this subject; he lists historical figures, to include Jesus and Mohammed, where this event has been identified. Also see Aldous Huxley’s “The Perennial Philosophy” and William James’ “The Varieties of Religious Experience.” Huston Smith will also talk about different mystical experiences; one of his best-known programs was with Bill Moyers on PBS “The Wisdom of Faith with Huston Smith” in 1996. The Cosmic Consciousness experience can happen in a variety of ways and with varying degrees of “depth.” Essentially, all mystics agree with each other and say similar things as Mr. Huxley addresses in his book cited above. I am critical of both normative Christianity and Islam, but Islam has serious doctrinal, moral, and ethical issues. Read Howard Bloom’s “The Mohammed Code” to better understand this criticism. The Medina Quran teaches Muslims to oppress non-believers, “kafirs,” by humiliation, taxing, lying, deceiving, stealing, killing, raping, and enslaving them if they cannot be converted – the opposite “evil” of what Cosmic Consciousness teaches us to do (our best, highest behaviors). Muhammad may have had this experience which lead to the original Meccan Quran. But somehow, this experience is lost (this is common to many who experience it, it loses its power over time) and despite being listed in Dr. Bucke’s book as having had it – his actions (actions speaks louder than words) of banditry, stealing, killing, enslaving, and raping kafirs emphatically disprove that this experience is what shaped or drove the creation of Islam in its final form – this is conclusive. Also, Muhammad was a master at “barrowing” and copying much of his teachings from other traditions. When Dr. Bucke wrote his book around 1900 he would have had limited access to materials critical of Islamic history and development that we see today, he was naive. I see nothing in the practice of normative Islam that convinces me that a genuine divine/mystical experience drove its creation. Muhammad rejected a peaceful “cosmic consciousness” Jesus as obviously absurd (if he had the experience himself, he would not have believed this) for a holy prophet is a prophet of war (like Moses), as he knew of no other kind. Islamic Mystics/Sufi, such as Ibn Aribi, Al-Hallaj, and Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī had authentic mystical experiences but must keep their beliefs to themselves or the normative Muslims will be “upset.” Normative Protestant Christians also rejects mystics because they do not like what they say. J.K. Sheindlin, “The People vs. MUHAMMAD” psychological analysis of Muhammad “Political Islam” YouTube channel “The Masked Arab” YouTube channel “Apostate Prophet” YouTube channel
• #45: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgo6WD6T138 Alan Watts – Jesus art added to the original audio talk, also: https://shamansun.wordpress.com/2010/01/21/jesus-and-his-religion-alan-watts/ So in this talk “spirit” would equal the unconditioned nature in all and “soul” would be our conditioned nature. Our human nature mirrors the binary unconditioned-conditioned nature of the Void/universe. Our mundane self is associated with the conditioned/soul, the “self” must be “let go” to enter the Void, you leave the conditioned existence, with theodicy/suffering, behind. The ego-self, attachment, and desire binds us to the conditioned.
• #46: Tom Campbell: “…consciousness evolves patterns and gives those patterns meaning…” & “…the whole point is to lower it’s (information) entropy...” via more sophisticated, cooperative, and efficient systems. Tom Campbell, “My Big Toe: A Trilogy Unifying Philosophy, Physics, and Metaphysics… ,” Ph.D. Physics This non-random structure and patterns also strongly argues in favor of simulation. Max Tegmark, Our Mathematical Universe, Ph.D. Physics MIT Martin Rees, “Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape The Universe,” Ph.D. Astronomer Royal HOW DID LIFE BEGIN? DIVIDING DROPLETS COULD HOLD THE ANSWER: A COLLABORATION OF physicists and biologists in Germany has found a simple mechanism that might have enabled liquid droplets to evolve into living cells in early Earth’s primordial soup. https://www.wired.com/2017/01/life-begin-dividing-droplets-hold-answer/
• #47: Howard Bloom: “The God Problem: How a Godless Cosmos Creates” Wikipedia: Synthesis either (1) combines the best concept from each of the dialectic's first two stages, when there are two concepts per stage, or else (2) reveals a previously unrecognized identity between supposedly opposite concepts. In the dialectic that runs from (a) potential + truth to (b) actual + falsehood to (c) actual + truth, the synthesis combines "actual" from the antithesis with "truth" from the thesis. Patterns are self-similar, not necessarily self-same. Rhawn Joseph, Ph.D., “Infinity, Patterned Symmetry, Pythagoras, and the Black Hole at the Edge of the Universe”: Patterns which repeat themselves in nature give rise to infinite symmetry. Similar patterns are repeated from the micro-atomic to the macro-atomic, from snail shells to spiral galaxies. There is no reason to suspect these patterns end with individual galaxies. The symmetry and patterns exhibited by elementary particles, atoms, snail shells, seashells, whirlpools, cyclones, solar systems, and spiral galaxies, should be applied to all galaxies, collectively, and to the cosmos. What these patterns have in common is they can be predicted from formulations first proposed by Pythagoras, and secondly, all orbit an eye or hole at their center.” http://cosmology.com/Cosmology6.html
• #48: From: http://www.gnosis.org/library/valentinus/Syzygy_Valentinian.htm The Pair (Syzygy) in Valentinian (Gnostic Christian) Thought (syz·y·gy, sizijē) The notion of the pair or "syzygy" is central to Valentinian thought. The term refers to the linking together of complementary qualities ("Aeons") to form a state of wholeness (pleroma). This is the highest level of reality. The halves of a syzygy are often referred to as male and female. The male corresponds to form and the female corresponds to substance. God can be understood to consist of four primary pairs or syzygies: Depth and Silence (unknowable God), (my comment: Passive Godhead of the Void of infinite space-time experienced in deep meditation and death – the experience of the quantum void/field of infinite potential, mystics try to escape the cycles of rebirth and go directly back to the Void) Mind and Truth (comprehensible God), (my comment: the classic cosmic consciousness/unity experience of the mystic is noetic – it informs as to the universe's “cosmic consciousness” nature, design, and intentions) Word and Life (active God), (my comment: universe is self-organizing for life and man as the agent of “God” acts from the noetic wisdom in the world – no direct intervention by a personal theistic “God”) Humanity and Church (immanent God). It is worth noting that the syzygies were understood to be male-female pairs. Thus Depth, Mind, Word and Humanity were understood as corresponding to the "male" aspect of God while Silence, Truth, Life and Church were seen as the "feminine" aspect of God. From these primary energies, eleven further syzygies were generated by a process of emanation for a total of fifteen pairs (i.e. thirty Aeons). This harmonious realm of paired energies is referred to as the "Pleroma", which means "fullness" or "completion". Because of our ignorance, we often mistakenly believe that things can be separated into opposites. This is discussed in the Gospel of Philip: "Light and darkness, life and death, right and left are mutually dependent; it is impossible for them to separate. Accordingly the 'good' are not good, the 'bad' are not bad, 'life' is not life, 'death' is not death." (Gospel of Philip 53:14-23). Categories that are often considered as opposites are in fact closely related and one cannot be understood without the other. There can be no concept of maleness without femaleness or no concept of darkness without light. The division into opposites is an illusion.
• #49: Image: http://www.chinabuddhismencyclopedia.com/en/index.php?title=File:Yab-Yum.jpg http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/thunder-barnstone.html - Famine perspective such as Isis (Egypt) or Sophia (Mystic Jewish/Christian) Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati, “Dharana Darshan,” Yoga Publications Trust, 2013. See chapter 11 “Trataka” (one-pointed concentration meditation). In “spiritual” marriages/relationships both partners must “respect” the other as an equal to value the others qualities/energy and to lead to working synthesis. In spiritual practice love of the partner is a microcosm of the macrocosm of love of “God.” Selflessness and surrender of ego in partnership leads to selflessness and surrender of ego in the macrocosm/God/Void. A successful working relationship provides powerful tools to learn the “good” qualities desired by spiritual/religious practices. Male/female polarity of opposites > rational unity & synthesis has spiritual importance and is “rewarded” by the universe, it is considered one of the most powerful and fastest ways of spiritual progress. These male/female roles are representative of spiritual energy archetypes and one of the most powerful tools/paths toward non-duality, but it does not exclude other spiritual/mystical paths (e.g. personal experiences of N.D.E., emptiness/Void, or Cosmic Consciousness) to the same ends. There are many Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, and Taoist saints, monks, and nuns who traveled “solo” paths in their spiritual progress, such as the remarkable Catholic Saint Hildegard von Bingen. The solo path is the most common path. In Buddhism there are 32 levels of “emptiness” or the Void experience and it is the similar with Cosmic Consciousness, many people reach these levels via many different paths/ways. There are many paths up the mountain. In tantra the sacred sexual practices (“meeting and melting”) lead to an experience where the male becomes female and the female becomes male (“each of them becomes the other” and the barrier of duality is removed; non-duality is realized) and the “ground luminosity” (white light, in synchronized breathing and sex/orgasm) is experienced, similar to an N.D.E. experience. In tantric practice one of the most powerful meditative tools is the “coupled” meditation of staring into the lover's eyes – “one-pointed concentration” stills the mind to allow the “flash” into the Void. This practice leads to maha-shunyata, samadhi, the experience of the unconditioned Void, this is the path leading to “liberation” from the conditioned (“each of them becomes the other”). If you ever do this, when you first “touch” the awesome vastness of the Void be prepared to be utterly shockingly terrified (terror is the gatekeeper, to keep out the unworthy), but have faith, surrender your ego-self to the Void. Learn the Buddhist “Heart Sutra” as preparation for the experience and no sensory input – no eye, no ear, no nose, etc. WARNING: Some people go in and never want to come out, apparently by choice, so softly blowing in the ear, a soft whisper, soft touch, or small bell may help bring them out. Do NOT startle them out, could cause a heart attack. Many write about tantric practices and some teach tantric practices without knowing its secret inner teachings and meanings, there are many tantric S.I.G. (Ponlop Rinpoche’s “self-initiated-gurus” with no empower master or lineage) that will leave you frustrated. I have given you some of these secret teachings and meanings in the paragraph above as well as this PowerPoint (if the writer/teacher does not know these teachings then they will be of little use). I was taught Buddhism by empowered masters of the Tibetan Kagyupa & Ningmapa (Shentong) linage. A good starting point: Miranda Shaw, “Passionate Enlightenment, Women in Tantric Buddhism,” Princeton University Press. She uses the common Western “emptiness” in both uses, relative and absolute, instead of Void (vast nothingness of sky-like spaciousness) in the unconditioned/absolute use. The tantric path is a shamanic/mystical path, strongly in the Shentong school (philosophically), but Western scholars/writers by using “emptiness” for both relative and absolute uses will place it in Rangtong (philosophically) – an actual relative and absolute emptiness, a serious error. Note: If our world/universe is a simulation then Rangtong is correct.
• #50: Mandelbrot Fractals – translates the same pattern into different size/scale, colors, and textures. Iteration, repeating the same pattern millions of times a “big picture” emerges – computers can do this amount of iteration. Also see Conway’s “Game of Life” (cellular automata) and Wolfram’s alternative math/universe models with new axioms developed by computer iterations. https://www.wired.com/2010/09/fractal-patterns-in-nature/?pid=163 http://www.fractalsciencekit.com/types/classic.htm
• #51: Samurai sword about 25% of the weight yet significantly stronger than prior common iron/steel “long swords” that were most often crude heavy dull blades that cleaved (hacked) – a samurai sword steel crystals would hold a razor-sharp edge. Being stronger with lighter weight made them a precision instrument.
• #52: A scaling law is a pattern that emerges from repeated iterations of a ratio. The jumps between different events on the line is defined by multiples of the phi ratio known as the “golden ratio” 1.618. “BB” big bang, “A” atom, “S” sun, “G1” galaxy, “G2” galactic clusters, & “U” universe. The use of repeating patterns and ratios in the universe is a form of data compression for the most efficient use of the resources as it reduces wasted time, space, and effort (does not have to repeatedly “reinvent the wheel”). Other life in the universe will follow the same self-similar patterns (not necessarily human) we already know here (e.g. bipedal beings, octopus, dolphins, elephants, etc.) as a “general rule,” why? Because it is the most efficient way to run a universe – data compression & repeated successful patterns (there are always a few exceptions to the rule). Nassim Haramein: https://resonancescience.org/ & https://hiup.org/ https://www.wakingtimes.com/2014/12/09/order-golden-ratio-space-time/ https://www.goldennumber.net/ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2862243/Is-space-time-shaped-like-SPIRAL-Universe-golden-ratio-keeps-order-researchers-claim.html https://io9.gizmodo.com/15-uncanny-examples-of-the-golden-ratio-in-nature-5985588 https://www.ted.com/talks/sean_gourley_on_the_mathematics_of_war.html%20%E2%80%93%20show%20scaling%20laws%20play%20out%20in%20war
• #53: Permission requested, pending. Graphic from Geoffrey West “The surprising math of cities and corporations” https://www.ted.com/talks/geoffrey_west_the_surprising_math_of_cities_and_corporations
• #54: Graphic from Geoffrey West “The surprising math of cities and corporations” Things like wages, crime, police, and supercreative employment go up by 1.15X population – super-linear scaling Creative Class is composed of scientists and engineers, university professors, poets and architects, and also includes "people in design, education, arts, music and entertainment, whose economic function is to create new ideas, new technology and/or creative content.” Another sector of the Creative Class includes positions that are knowledge intensive; these usually require a high degree of formal education. Does this Creative Class ratio differ in Islamic states like Saudi Arabia and Iran with radical conformity enforcing cultures? Or do the creatives types get channeled into the allowed expressions?
• #56: Original graphic from Geoffrey West “The surprising math of cities and corporations” – I have added the “universe” layer on top of his original “cities” graphic. The “universe” graphic steps show the same pattern of increased sophistication in each step, a generalization. Need to play slide in show mode to see sequence: 1st: For “cities” look at the cites destroyed by WW II, new more modern and efficient cites grew out of the ashes of destruction. 2nd: This is how a plasma cosmologist sees the universe – NOT entropy. Our Sun is a 3rd gen star. Prophet Muhammad “If anyone introduces an innovation … in the religion he is cursed by Allah.” Sunni Islam declared the “book” “closed” in the 1300s – they had everything figured out, nothing more to be added or changed. Shia Islam “closed” the “book” in the 1600s when they finally came to power in Iran (as a “opposition” party to Sunni they were still “open” – once they were in charge it was now “closed” – fixed-in-place). Radical conformity enforcement became the norm for Islam; no innovation, improvements, adaption, or changes allowed. Radical conformity enforcement is opposed to the way of nature (adapt or die) and to the wonderful diversity seen in nature/creation – it is anti-creative (exceptions seen in allowed creative areas like magnificent architectural & art work in mosques).
• #57: Graphic from Hannah Fry “The Mathematics of Love” https://www.ted.com/talks/hannah_fry_the_mathematics_of_love
• #58: Our universe is a math and computational based reality, why? Not just with physics, but as seen, in all aspects of human and non-human activity – in life. “Big Data” is showing us more and more of the patterns. Everywhere we look we see math, patterns, scaling laws, ratios, and fractals in use. The math-based universe implies intelligence, sophistication, and consciousness seen in either Spinoza’s God with the universe as a learning and intelligent organism (but not a personal God) or an artificial math-based simulation, or possibly both. Pythagoras and Plato saw numbers and geometrical shapes as intrinsic and archetypical in the universe leading to modern Mathematical Realism. Social Progress Index, can we reverse this index process to create a theodicy (suffering) index and/or an entropy index for each country? Can we find useful relationships in these numbers? For example, will Islamic countries that have radical conformity enforcement (which is opposed to the way of the creative/diverse universe and nature, and thus “God’s” creation) see lower creativity and lower diversity and show higher or lower entropy? Will their theodicy index also be higher (worse) than the competing Western average? “Politically correct” academics avoid these types of studies, but they need to be done to better understand how our belief systems affect outcomes. Radical conformity enforcement is great for Muhammad’s band of bandits or an army fighting competing gods/bands/armies, but how does it work as a long-term civilization? Until Western decolonization & oil money rescued Islam they were a world-wide failed long-term civilization as of 1900 being weak, illiterate, impoverished, and colonialized by the Christian West (except the decaying Ottoman Empire). When the oil money runs out, they will fail again. Can “big data” analytics find these trends and patterns? Quantum physics has consciousness/observer as a factor in outcomes, thus consciousness is “built-in” to the system. Currently science only recognizes consciousness in biological mammals and birds, but this is an ever-expanding list. It was not long ago that we thought only humans were conscious. Will we discover consciousness (observer/awareness) in inanimate, non-biologic, objects like electrically sophisticated plasma in stars that already mimic life (hence the name “plasma” as in blood plasma)? Is there more than one solution to consciousness? Is consciousness an inherent property of the universe, not emergent?
• #59: Foundation was originally a series of eight short stories published in Astounding Magazine between May 1942 and January 1950. According to Asimov, the premise was based on ideas set forth in Edward Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, and was invented spontaneously on his way to meet with editor John W. Campbell, with whom he developed the concepts of the collapse of the Galactic Empire, the civilization-preserving Foundations, and psychohistory. Asimov wrote these early stories in his West Philadelphia apartment when he worked at the Philadelphia Naval Yard. The premise of the series is that the mathematician Hari Seldon spent his life developing a branch of mathematics known as psychohistory, a concept of mathematical sociology. Using the laws of mass action, it can predict the future, but only on a large scale. Seldon foresees the imminent fall of the Galactic Empire, which encompasses the entire Milky Way, and a dark age lasting 30,000 years before a second great empire arises. Seldon also foresees an alternative where the interregnum will last only one thousand years. To ensure the more favorable outcome, Seldon creates a foundation of talented artisans and engineers at the extreme end of the galaxy, to preserve and expand on humanity's collective knowledge, and thus become the foundation for a new galactic empire.
• #60: Per “conventional science” we live in both a random and a deterministic universe!? In one case science will tells us evolution of life is “random” mutation, then in other case it will tells us things are determined (simply a chain of deterministic cause and effect). Martin Rees, “Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape The Universe.” Remember I postulate that this is a logical consequence of a universe born from an unconditioned infinite potential birth, that it must have a non-random structure to be a complex and full expression universe “worthy” of its source, A = B. This is not an act of “God’s will” but of “logic.” A lifeless, cold, simple, static, or failed universe is logically impossible from such an infinite potential birth. However, it is possible that the universe evolves (non-random complexity exists in potential) towards this complexity (exists) through repeated cycles of birth and destruction, as in the torus universe. But non-random complexity is a logically inevitable outcome for A = B. Alternatively if the anthropic principle is literally correct it also argues we are in an artificial universe/world system, most likely software simulation of our one world, e.g. social science simulation or research.
• #61: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rENyyRwxpHo (naturevideo “Laniakea: Our home supercluster”) http://youtube.com/watch?v=XheAMrS8Q1c ⍺ = 1/137 fine structure constant, slightly different value no carbon & no life https://newatlas.com/connectome-wiring-diagram-human-brain/39659/ http://www.plasmacosmology.net/ The Electric Universe Theory is pseudoscience (often quackery) and has very little evidence and mathematical support. However, does plasma cosmology have some merit and does the galactic filaments follow/flow along some form of energy lines? Does information also flow along these lines – is something important happening here?
• #62: http://time.com/4234106/life-in-space/ “The universe is hardwired to be an organic chemist.” & “It’s not a very clean or tidy one, but it has really big beakers and plenty of time.” Scott Sandford, an astrobiologist at the NASA Ames Research Center near Silicon Valley. https://www.wired.com/2013/12/amplituhedron-jewel-quantum-physics/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=172&v=Qa4JkgKDaR0
• #63: The universe has the quality of “intelligence.” This intelligence is not necessarily a personal “God” or a “being” – it could be impersonal, distributed, or “organic.” It could be the software/designer in a computer simulation of a universe/world system. Could our world system also be an artificial organic system?
• #64: Relative free will: the universe has lots of time and life cycles/iterations to play with, it wants innovation and creativity, thus it allows us to make choices along the way knowing the ultimate fate is predetermined. The universe is an innovation experiment looking for new solutions for maximum complexity and maximum consciousness, more on this later. In Whitehead’s process metaphysics of past-to-present-to-future relationships, “closed” and/or “open,” the actual universe is “all of the above” – all combinations of “closed” and/or “open” are possible in specific circumstances. General default “relative” relationships are either “closed-closed” (karmic/determined) with “closed-open” (choice/innovation) possible. This “closed-open” is Nietzsche’s “Superman” or a Buddhist mindful (self-aware) practitioner who is able to make “enlightened” non-karmic choices.
• #65: As given by Howard Bloom. Einstein’s brain was so specialized on math and physics he often forgot to put on his pants before leaving for work at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies – his wife would have to chase him down on the street with his clothes. In older, simpler, or more primitive societies there would be no place to accommodate such a specialized person. Different subgroups in a relatively small society are often “out-of-sight,” but when the society gets larger the subgroups get larger and demand integration, such as civil rights for racial and LGBTQ groups. The ever-expending inclusion of previously “out” groups into mainstream society is a historical trend that informally started in early history and formally started in the Anglo-American tradition with the Magna Carta – the arc of history is long but bends toward justice as MLK said. Justice in this sense is inclusion and legal equality – “integration” into society. For example, in the US you had freedom of religion (freedom from a state favored or privileged religion that told you what to believe, e.g. either Catholic, Anglican, or Protestant as in Europe) based on secular democracy (separation of church and state) with representative government (as opposed to European monarchies), abolishing slavery, women’s rights, black civil rights, then LGBTQ rights, etc. Institutional, conservative, and fundamentalist religions have frequently opposed the expansion of freedoms throughout history* – they oppose not only the flow of history but also the nature of the universe itself (specialization/integration = organizational health & efficiency). *During the birth of the US and drafting of the constitution many organized religions, such as the Baptists (discriminated against in England after Protestant Puritan Cromwell’s regime was removed and the monarchy restored), actively supported the separation of church and state to promote religious freedom to avoid the state religion problems of Europe, being told what to believe and religious wars. Remember that Oliver Cromwell’s England and religious civil wars were only a little over 100 years in the past at the time. England was a religious mess in the time proceeding Cromwell, during, and afterwards. Europe in the 1500s and 1600s was plagued by religious wars and conflicts. The Americans did not want to repeat those mistakes. The founding fathers wanted the state/government out of religion, to make it purely an individual's choice. The historical context of “freedom of religion” (separation of church and state) in the US is poorly, or not at all, taught or understood, no one ever speaks of it, it has been forgotten. The Baptists (or the far-right Texans who control it) have forgotten their own history (it is now inconvenient; it no longer serves them). As a note, stories are told that during Cromwell’s reign if you were accused of not saying your daily prayers correctly one of the punishments was to bind your hands and feet and drag you up and down building stone stairs banging your head against the stones – ahh true Christian theocracy at its Christian finest. For a brief flavor of Cromwell’s England: https://www.beliefnet.com/entertainment/articles/what-we-know-about-oliver-cromwell.aspx (correction, Battle of Naseby 1645, not 1865 in web page).
• #66: Herbert Spencer & Hegel’s theories as given by paleopsychologist Howard Bloom in the “The God Problem.” In large complex societies issues & groups that lay hidden or beneath the surface rise to the top and must be dealt with – integration or separation. Once it rises to the top it must be addressed, avoiding the issues results in “ill health” for the entire organization/organism.
• #67: “Solutions” = political & economic systems like public, private, mandated/universal, capitalism, socialism, communism, democracy, authoritarian/totalitarianism, etc. But also personal & cultural, such as straight, gay, etc. I read Berlin’s “Four Essays on Liberty” in the 1970’s so I hope I remember his views correctly – it has been a long time for a rusty old brain. Berlin shows that most people do not really understand the concepts and principles of words like “liberty” and “equality.” We have seen this before with Spencer’s and Hegel’s differentiation and specialization, recognizing that the universe does this also, evolving into ever greater specialization and efficiency as seen in cosmology & Bloom (especially plasma cosmology).
• #69: Permission requested, pending. Howard Bloom: “Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big Bang to the 21st Century” Bloom has contributed to scientific papers on quantum physics, mathematics, neuroscience, psychology, and sociology. He is a key player in the field of paleopsychology. He has read two books a day since he was ten! The Russian Academy of Science, with a Russian physicist co-author, has published his new “social” model of quantum physics. The Russians are always ahead of Western scientists in adopting new theories. Without creativity the universes development into new forms, purposes, and meanings would stop, therefore time itself would lose its meaning – literal stagnation. Creativity as a basic purpose of the universe is seen my many religious movements, especially mystical and “original blessing” theologies, as well as secular thinkers like Whitehead & Bloom. Without creativity we would all live in a “Ground Hog Day” time loop, except unlike Bill Murray we would not be able to do anything different (creative), forced to live the same day over and over with no escape. The movement from one day to the next is an act of cosmic creativity as time unfolds. Modern scientist and rationalist who deny creativity (e.g. Sam Harris) have their “eyes wide shut,” they can’t see the forest for the trees.
• #70: The bacteria colony has role players like human society does. Bacteria know their own DNA and will reengineer their offspring to adapt to new challenges and environments – NOT random, actual engineering!!! Viruses do this also. Humans are at a disadvantage because we do not do this – losing the war. The DoD/DARPA has held seminars and conferences on Bloom’s Global Brain work.
• #71: Risk Takers = actual risk takers (doers) and those tolerant of risk taking, who agree with their right to their own “lifestyle” choices.
• #72: The bohemian bees are fully supported by the colony, fed, while the unemployed conformist bees must humble themselves and beg for food (literally). The colony knows the bohemian free thinker bees are necessary for their survival. The unemployed bees get depressed (literally). After some time in depression they wonder over to the bohemian bee dance. So, 95% of the bees live a Whiteheadian closed-closed, deterministic, life while 5% live a closed-open life with adventure and risk. This is probably about right for humans as well, with 95% plus of our activities being closed-closed (karmic), e.g. going to school or work, and a small percent being “open.” Scientific studies suggest that honeybees are “conscious” and have feelings: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/exploring-consciousness/?redirect=1 https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/19/science/honeybees-insects-consciousness-brains.html?_r=0
• #73: “Tail-wagging” and dancing to excite your observers… hum, an “Ur” pattern true of humans as well as bees. http://www.fromthelabbench.com/super-hero-experiment-2-the-waggle-dance/ https://newsroom.ucr.edu/307
• #74: Communism – economic conformity enforcers run amok, system failure (enforced equality at the expense of liberty/freedom). The concept of “balance” is also expressed as “middle,” “equilibrium,” “sweet spot,” etc. A motor (or wheel) that is balanced runs smoother than a motor (or wheel) that is out of balance. Things/systems become unstable when they are out of balance. Chemical processes seek equilibrium. An air-fuel mixture burns best when the ratios are balanced, stoichiometric. The concept of balance is another “Ur” pattern of the universe. Different systems will have different balance points, e.g. the political balance point for the USA is more conservative (relatively speaking) than the balance point for Sweden. Currently, the US is at an extreme out of balance point economically and politically. The economic inequality is at an all-time high (as measured by the BLS Gini Index). The political polarity is at its highest point since the Civil War – this polarity has resulted in an end to synthesis (rational unity) in our political processes.
• #75: A worldwide phenomenon, not just American. Wikipedia: Adam Smith in 1776 “Wealth of Nations” – capitalism. Smith also warned that a business-dominated political system would allow a conspiracy of businesses and industry against consumers, with the former scheming to influence politics and legislation. Smith states that the interest of manufacturers and merchants "...in any particular branch of trade or manufactures, is always in some respects different from, and even opposite to, that of the public...The proposal of any new law or regulation of commerce which comes from this order, ought always to be listened to with great precaution, and ought never be adopted till after having been long and carefully examined, not only with the most scrupulous, but with the most suspicious attention."
• #76: Watergate: With the fall of the Republican Party after the Watergate scandal wealthy conservatives, scared of what they saw in the liberal & wild hippies of the 60s, invested money into conservative institutions and organizations to deliberately move the party to the right, to be more conservative. They have been wildly successful. Funny, the peace and love hippies and “flower children” of the 60s terrified the shit out of them! One can imagine the Koch brothers (their father was a “wing-nut” involved in starting the far-right John Birch Society) in the 1970s waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat with “hippie nightmares” – truly terrifying! The ultimate result of this stupid “hippie terror” motivated move to the right is Trump & Cruz! https://www.vox.com/2016/4/28/11526258/john-boehner-ted-cruz-republicans: “In 2012, the congressional scholars Thomas Mann and Norm Ornstein wrote a column for the Washington Post diagnosing what they saw to be the central problem in modern American politics: ‘The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics,’ they wrote. ‘It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.’ & ‘When one party moves this far from the mainstream, it makes it nearly impossible for the political system to deal constructively with the country’s challenges.”
• #77: Last functional “rational unity” President Reagan & House Speaker Tip O’Neill in 1980s? https://www.people-press.org/2014/06/12/political-polarization-in-the-american-public/ https://www.realclearpolitics.com/horseraceblog/voterselectorate/ (scroll down) In the US no one teaches people how political institutions work by compromise and rational unity – we have complete disfunction. Not even the politicians themselves speak to it in any meaningful way. The US mainstream media is completely useless, all they are interested in are stories and scandal that will drive ratings $$$, they literally do nothing to inform or educate the public. An ignorant uninformed public = Trump, much to the delight $$$ of mainstream media, they literally could not care less about democratic values and ideals. The conservative Fox News propaganda channel deliberately has a policy to obscure, mislead, and distort facts and information with their opinion/entertainment “talking heads.”
• #78: Theodicy questions concern why suffering and evil exists with an all-powerful, all good, all knowing, and all loving God. As the German Christian mystic Jakob Böhme said, “The Fall” (theodicy/suffering) was a necessary part of creation, it is not our fault, it is “structural” (teleological).
• #79: Creative: Two gases, hydrogen and oxygen, come together and burn (fire) which produces water with amazing properties, an unexpected surprise, water from fire. Competition: When the universe cooled from the hot cosmic plasma into atoms there was an intense competition for subatomic particles to form atoms – some would win and others lose. Bacteria colonies: Compete for food sources and go to war to control them. Bacteria wage an all-out-war using weapons of mass destruction, no survivors or prisoners taken. They want it all, no sharing. Plants: Do a chemical process mathematical calculation to determine their overnight starch reserve and usage. Plasma: A very hot gas under high pressure forms plasma. Plasma behaves like a simple living organism, such as when a foreign particles enter it the plasma assigns particles to surround and separate it and then other particles to attack it and break it down just like living cells do – cooperation, will, and survival instincts. Separation/unity: A very important part of mystical and tantric spiritual practices, it seems to be very important to the universe, to have special meaning. Individual hydrogen atoms in a gas cloud doesn’t do much but bring them together synergistically (separate individual atoms but unified) in a star plasma and “magic” happens; a solar furnace that produces light & heat with organics and metals, then a gravity field for planets to form to support life.
• #80: Howard Bloom, “The Lucifer Principle, A Scientific Expedition into The Forces of History” The first “war” (competition for survival – winners and losers) took place as the early universe cooled (entropy “fall”) from a hot uniform “collective” plasma into individual hydrogen and helium atoms. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/sep/28/natural-born-killers-humans-predisposed-to-study-suggests
• #81: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSZUh3yqg-0 Just google “violent universe” – there will be lots of sites listed. Later I will argue that imbalanced theodicy is a by-product of Idealism. This argument must be a top down cosmological argument, that it is systemic in the universe, not confined to biological and evolutionary processes on our world.
• #82: In Genesis 1 the universe, plants, and animals with these “bad” qualities are made before humans – thus relieving us of blame for “The Fall.” An all good system like the uncorrupted Garden of Eden would be static, no creativity, no dynamics, and boring. A polarity of opposites is required for dynamic creativity. We will see this again in “Structural Theodicy” slides. Fruit trees: the over production of fruit makes no sense from the perspective of the tree as it requires more work and energy of it that is not beneficial for its own survival - actually goes against its own interest. As if they are actually playing the role of provider to others. Bloom in “The Lucifer Principle” makes this argument that the “bad” qualities are inherent is the system, they are NOT human in origin. He argues that the “bad” qualities are inherent in the biological and social evolution of our world system. The human condition is merely symptomatic of the nature of the system that created it. I make the same argument, but from a top down cosmological perspective verses his bottom up argument. The human struggle is to be less reactive/instinctive, less primitive, and to be more sophisticated with conscience choice – control over our primitive instincts and impulses. Instinctive impulses and reactive behaviors called “karma” in Eastern religions. This theme is seen in both religions and in secular philosophy (e.g. Hegel, Nietzsche, etc.).
• #83: Humans are probably the lowest level conscious beings (lowest solution) who can meet the criteria for being made in the “universe's image,” as we are limited in our capacities in many ways. Surely the universe can do better. Is morality and justice simply an artifact of us needing to make rational sense of the world/universe around us? Is it something more, something inherent in the universe? Is morality and justice part of the self-correcting feedback loops of the universe? Unique to the human feedback loop? Something in the simulation software program? The “X” factor can be thought of as a Gödel factor “Gd” – an unknown complexity factor at play in our universe/world system that we do not fully understand. It is possible that this “X” factor is uncommon in the universe or unique to some conscious sentient beings, which could help explain the theodicy problem as our own condition is at odds with how the universe generally operates. Amoral conscious sentient beings surely do exist in the universe, so something else is a factor.
• #84: The universe functions by polarity of opposites, does morality find its “impulse” in the “good” polarity of the universe and being abstract and clearly not manifested, it needs by definition, a conscious sentient being to express it. Morality in this sense is thus relative and not absolute as it is an interpretation of an abstract by humans in a particular time and place. In Taoism and Buddhism morality in situational and relative with no need to reference a theistic God with moral absolutes. Does morality serve some beneficial or practical purpose in the universe's development and the evolution of consciousness? Thus we have a conflict with seeing the extreme polarity of abstract “good” (a small part of the polarity continuum) as our moral standard and imposing it onto a messy amoral manifested reality (the whole polarity continuum). Clearly, the universe itself has no such delusions – it knows what it is doing, but we don’t (a “Gd” factor). That being said, there is a “power” in being “good” that seems to be desired and rewarded by the universe as it also does with unity/synthesis. In this aspect of its behavior the universe acts exactly like a human computer game that rewards specific accomplishments with promotions to a higher level… hum? Drunken man, he has some idea of where he is going or what he is doing (intension), but it can be messy and destructive.
• #85: If you follow this logic creativity becomes the core principle that takes priority over all others. The universe is creating all this interesting stuff and it says “that’s neat” or “that’s great” then BOOM! Next! In this context the “human” solution is surely NOT the final or best answer to the potential of life, so is “BOOM! Next!” (or reboot) in our future. Is the ruthless universe seen at play in the material universe an effect of consciousness being primary, that in effect the manifested material universe is of “little” importance, that it does not matter what happens to it as long as consciousness is preserved/conserved. In this sense the suffering of the manifested world (theodicy) can be seen as an impersonal consequence of consciousness being primary.
• #86: Theistic religions are sloppily constructed based on the feedback loop information flow. They superimpose a theistic personal God as the source of the feedback information, in-part I assume, because they have no other explanation for it, and it makes them feel better or comforted somehow. Howard Bloom, “The Mohammed Code” addresses Islamic Jihadism and its teachings concerning “Kafirs” – unbelievers, Jews and Christians. The resolution of this problem in Islam is to force the entire world to conform to their world view, radical conformity enforcement with no toleration of diversity or risk takers. To do this they redefine “bad” (killing, beheading, enslavement, stealing, lying, etc.) as “good” when applied to non-Muslims, to “kafirs.” “Good” as good only applies to Muslim to Muslim relationships (except between Sunni and Shia who fight each other). This is why Sam Harris and Bill Maher referred to Islam as “the mother load of bad ideas.” To be fair Moses and the Israelites did the same thing in their genocidal rampage into the promise land (there is no actual historical evidence for this). The meaningful difference is that the Jews have not claimed this privilege from God since then, over 2,000 years ago, while fundamentalist and “radical” Muslims still claim this privilege from God today, they even brag that this unchanged Islam proves it is the only valid religion remaining. They want Islam as Mohammed practiced it, unchanged - stagnant, no progress, no change management allowed. Even worse, this violence was used to capture slaves, including sex slaves, and to force conversion to Islam, some estimates say hundreds of millions on non-Muslim were killed or enslaved in the expansion of Islam around the world.
• #87: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXjLKgKnL9U&list=PLMDve3WeC9qDVtghNJivv3iHvq-Lo-Mjq The Problem of Evil: The Free Will Defense Manila, Philippines, Jan 17, 2015 / 09:14 pm (CNA/EWTN News) - Pope Francis praised Filipino former homeless girl Glyzelle Palomar for asking why God allows children to suffer, saying her tearful question shows that Christians must “learn how to weep.” Hyperlink on slide Sam Harris on theodicy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKaBO7TPW_Y (censored/removed by YouTube) Again, Bloom makes a similar argument in “The Lucifer Principle” – that we live in a universe that inherently has “Lucifer” expressed in our evolutionary biology and behavior. Because of structural (teleological), unbalanced, theodicy in the universe there should be no expectation of ultimate karmic justice (of balance) in life (conditioned universe). Even bleaker, our individual conditioned lives in this vast universe with conservation of consciousness may make the whole idea of individual (personal) ultimate karmic justice nonapplicable, as it has no effect on the universes (the systems) final outcome (won or forced unity, “Big Crunch”).
• #88: The real nature of the theodicy problem is not that evil exists (necessary polarity), but that it is out-of-balance. A balanced polarity of opposites does not have a theodicy problem, but an out-of-balance world system does. Buddhist, Gnostic Christians, and other mystical religions have seen this problem. Is this out-of-balance theodicy nature required to drive the system faster & ever higher up in specialization, meaning, & efficiency cycles? Is our world system a social science software simulation experiment? A ten-year-old brat Advanced Being (AB, say in our “own” future) running an ancestor simulation game? If it is any comfort, we are not alone as victims of the universes ruthless behavior resulting in suffering – it is systematic. Wikipedia, (Neil deGrasse) “Tyson responded: Every account of a higher power that I've seen described, of all religions that I've seen, include many statements with regard to the benevolence of that power. When I look at the universe and all the ways the universe wants to kill us, I find it hard to reconcile that with statements of beneficence.“ Christopher Hitchens: “God Is Not Great” Howard Bloom: “The God Problem: How a Godless Cosmos Creates” Bart Ehrman: “God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question --- Why We Suffer” Howard Bloom: “The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition into the Forces of History” And many, many, many others
• #89: Structural theodicy: the inherent systemic imbalance of the universe. There is something important going on here with the universe that we need to understand. The universe uses ruthless cold destruction to drive its evolution. I adhere to A. N. Whitehead’s theory that to avoid the problems of duality consciousness must “go all the way up and all the way down,” e.g. electrons appear to make conscious choices. As stated, plasma behaves like a simple living organism. Consciousness appears to be associated with organizational sophistication and complexity, especially electrical activity. If so, is the enormously complex plasma activity of a star conscious, does it suffer? Can suffering and theodicy be applied to the universe prior to the appearance of organic sentient beings? If so, can we plot/map this theodicy behavior from the beginning to now? Can a theodicy (imbalanced suffering) index be created like the Gini Index (coefficient), with “Theta” (θ Greek “death” symbol) = 0 perfect balance and “Theta” = 1 most imbalanced with suffering & death (perhaps good/bad -1 to a +1)? If so, how does the theodicy index of the Islamic State compare to Denmark? How does the theodicy index of the universe compare to the theodicy index of our world system. Perhaps also a nation/state or social/cultural entropy index, what can it tell us about creativity and instability? Does a state of radical conformity enforcers, like Saudi Arabia or Iran, with low social entropy have low cultural/social/arts/scientific creativity – stagnation? Is there an entropy balance point, sweet spot, where a nation has creativity but is stable, what systems produce this outcome best, what factors involved? We need Asimov’s “Big Data” Foundation to come to terms with these issues. St. Augustine was right when he said a newborn baby was affected by “original sin,” but wrong as to its cause, humans are not to blame as it is inherently cosmic in origin. The “Fall” happen effectively at the moment of the “Big Bang” when we were separated from our source or union with the infinite potential of the “ALL” of the Void (infinite/eternal).
• #90: In the theoretical laws of physics time is symmetrical, it works the same going forward or backwards. However, in the manifested universe it is asymmetrical, in one direction only. We need to start asking the right questions. This same argument could be made against a theist God: Why is it that God’s manifested universe is amoral and ruthless, while God wants us to be moral and good via His feedback loops? Why does God want us to manifest behavior that God does not manifest Himself? A theistic God must meet their own definition of Him, e.g. loving, good, etc., while an impersonal universe has no such expectations. Using the theist definition of God the answer is that there is no personal theistic God acting in the universe. When I think about this paradox I do not like the possible answers, such as theodicy for a purpose in a simulation/experiment or theodicy for the universe’s purpose with us as mere “animal model” subjects (this is the spiritual growth argument – we suffer to learn and grow consciousness). Any answer I come up with reduces our individual lives in the manifested universe to insignificance – the universe is a giant chicken coop for breeding consciousness. If the universe is nondual monistic idealism and its purpose is the development of sophisticated consciousness, then something Omega Point-like is a logical conclusion. I think there is a missing element here, it is not just maximum complexity/consciousness but also maximum ordered complexity, that is to say lowest entropy (chaos/waste) solution. This lowest entropy solution would be a cooperative organized/collective system with a common purpose. This could be why morality, justice, & love could be of use to the system as it lowers entropy (chaos/waste) and promotes cooperation, see slide 87. Wikipedia: “Pierre Teilhard de Chardin; (1 May 1881 – 10 April 1955) was a French idealist philosopher and Jesuit priest who trained as a paleontologist and geologist and took part in the discovery of Peking Man. He conceived the idea of the Omega Point as a maximum level of complexity and consciousness towards which he believed the universe was evolving and developed Vladimir Vernadsky's concept of a noosphere.” Unfortunately, he believed that the universe (“God”) needed our help to achieve this goal (it does not, any “help” would be insignificant in the larger scheme of things) and that lead him to beliefs in eugenics and other misguided human genetic selection philosophies.
• #91: The void/universe is a sloppy but effective learning/information system that stumbles forward like a drunken man (“tries to improve”), this is why I avoid the use of “intelligent design” which implies scientific knowledge and methods, will, or intent – the void/universe has no choice in the matter, it simply has to do this. Then again, our universe could be a “universe in a jar” sitting on a high school student’s desk in the 11th dimension as a HS science experiment.
• #92: Does the fight to develop morality, justice, & love in an amoral ruthless system help to develop the patterns and organizational structure needed to obtain the best possible outcome for the universe? Perhaps morality and justice in our cycle of the universe is an “experiment” to see its effect on the outcome? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBo3MxY6llo Tom Campbell: The Love and Low Entropy Connection
• #93: https://bigthink.com/hard-science/the-universe-may-be-a-giant-neural-network-heres-why/
• #94: The message of each of these different feedback loops would be generally correct or useful to the system, trying to induce self-correcting behaviors. The interactive consciousness is weak and fuzzy, essentially goes unnoticed while alive, but when dead the noisy brain goes quiet and there it is. BUT, be careful the mind does strange weird shit; any message that is not consistent with a common core of truths should be viewed with suspicion. It would be difficult to tell “authentic” feedback from the crazy imaginations of disturbed individuals/groups (see Bucke’s book referenced in slide 38). Cosmic Consciousness being primary and working through cultural archetypes and feedback loops can explain individual and local psychic and possibly manifested phenomenon that we interpret as supernatural (no accepted explanation). This consciousness as an agent of co-creation is weakly interacting and “fuzzy” and confined to individual and local effects based on the “karma” or circumstances involved.
• #95: It does not make me God, as Ultimate or Absolute. The universe has “natural” limitations that conditions its behaviors and responses, just like all natural living systems. An unconditioned thing MUST BE passive and not involved in cause and effect relationships, in causes and conditions. All theistic gods are conditioned; thus none can be ultimate or absolute. An unconditioned thing is “unborn of a cause,” intrinsically existing, unchanging (exists only in potential), and is ontologically infinite and eternal. Any god who responds to cause and effects, to conditions, and who intervenes in worldly affairs is “conditioned” (acts, changes, or chooses based on conditions) by this relationship. No conditioned thing can be absolute or ultimate.
• #96: The universe does “appear designed,” to be working with a purpose, but NOT by any theistic “Good God” who “loves us.” If there is a theistic “God” he has made a fucking mess of things (incompetent) OR we are just an insignificant species used as an “animal model” for some purpose beyond our knowledge or understanding (effectively “as if evil” from our perspective). We could be a software simulation or an actual “laboratory” experiment by any Advanced Being (AB). Either way we are screwed. Personally, I think it is those damn devious treacherous Romulans in the 24th century messing with us (just joking… I think). How small and childish of mankind to think that in the awsome vastness of this 13 billion years old universe we were the first to create greed, lust, violence, desire, or the “Knowlege of Good and Evil“ – just silly. Our ancestors who knew nothing of the universe 2,000 years ago can be forgiven, but for a modern person who knows, just damn childish and stupid. Human caused “original sin“ is childish nonsense.
• #97: *Phenomenon may “appear” supernatural or paranormal due to us not being able to understand it from within our current 3+1 space-time science. Could we understand it in a consciousness-3D space-time (3 space +1 time +1 consciousness or 4 space +1 time +1 consciousness?) universe? The first option is that spiritual experience could be valid and meaningful, while in the second option spiritual experience is probably phony game play. In the first option my actual belief would be nondual monistic idealism. You may think saying “nondual monism” is redundant, technically it is, but in actual practice it is not. In Buddhism there has been a constant fight to keep dualism out, to keep from seeing an absolute this vs that. So “nondual” is a deliberate statement and reminder against dualism and absolutes in practice. Idealism in this case would refer to mind/consciousness as primary, material/manifested as secondary. If you go so far as seeing consciousness as primary, as quantum physics does, then it is not much of a leap to suggest that the consciousness may have a purpose, meaning, or intent, that it is doing something or going somewhere. An “as if god” Advanced Beings (ABs) could have any good or bad personal qualities and any possible purpose – we would never know what it actually is, and we could never trust it. The possibility of nested simulations combined with artificial physical realities makes the concept of “God” virtually meaningless. In fact, I would argue that in a world system with a personal God (intervention) it is almost certainly artificial and not natural. Given what we know of the vastness of the universe and theodicy a personal God concerned with my life on this one world is just insane and the work of ego – except artificial simulation of a one world game. As an interesting note, if we “live” in a software simulation things like heaven and reincarnation are actually easier to explain. The universe/world actually “plays” like it is run by a 10-year-old brat, so “ghosts,” “demons” and the childish Disney Fantasia-like “Heaven” are now explained. Science and “Big Data” may someday be able to help us determine, or suggest, which option it is. See Jim Elvidge’s “The Universe Solved” for various AB/simulation scenarios. Possible purposes of AB activity: Gene harvesting – other biological experimentation (would explain the structural theodicy system stress) Social science experiments (would explain the structural theodicy system stress) Games/entertainment & ancestor simulations (an actual “Sims” game or who knows???) Others beyond our understanding (the really scary option)
• #98: Monism: a theory or doctrine that denies the existence of a distinction or duality in some sphere, such as that between matter and mind or God and the world. The doctrine that only one all-inclusive absolute (non-)thing (nature/Spinoza’s God/living universe) exists (or “as if” exists). I prefer monism to monad as a monad is a more conceptual theistic thing while monism is more soft/generic/fuzzy – in this case it is a non-conceptual (beyond definition) non-thing (more than we can imagine and can name). It is error to “reduce” it to a specific conceptual thing. If it is a “monad” each religion will argue over who and what it is, what name, etc. The ultimate nature of reality as experienced by humans is best spoken of in negatives as “void,” nothingness, silence, the abyss, or the passive Godhead as negative terms do “less” damage to the truth of it. It is best left unnamed. Void in non-theistic Buddhism: The Heart Sutra (Dr. Robert Thurman’s translation, Uma’s father, otherwise replace “emptiness” with the correct translation of “void” or “voidness” in the text) Void (Ein Sof) in Jewish/Christian non-theistic mysticism: “Dark Night of the Soul” by Saint John of the Cross (in the homo-romantic style more often seen in Jewish and Sufi mystics but unusual for Christians) Music: “Dark Night of the Soul” by Saint John sung by Loreena McKennitt (highly recommended) The human experience of the Void of infinite Space-Time is found in deep meditation (Samadhi), in silence, in “secret” (where you go alone), and all senses go dark (night) – no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, etc. If experienced while still centered in the ego self it is stark terror, it can kill you of a heart attack. If the ego self is “let go” (“gate, gate, paragate…” – gone, gone, thoroughly gone, etc.) “each into the other” it transforms to wondrous. Now read “Dark Night of the Soul.” I recommend Itzhak Bentov’s “Stalking the Wild Pendulum” for a more complete modern scientific explanation of what’s happening in this meditation. Inclusive and Exclusive Monotheism Posted on 27 December 2013 by Fr Aidan Kimel In his essay “The ‘Most High’ God and the Nature of Early Jewish Monotheism,” Richard Bauckham helpfully distinguishes between inclusive and exclusive monotheism. https://afkimel.wordpress.com/2013/12/27/inclusive-and-exclusive-monotheism/ “Inclusive monotheism declares the God is the highest being within the class of deities to which he belongs. “He is unique,” Bauckham explains, “only in the sense of superlative.” His uniqueness is defined by his supremacy over all other gods and divine beings. He is the most powerful, most wise, most intelligent of all the gods.” – my commentary, if we depersonalize God, then we have a single nondual monistic bases for being in the Living Universe that does not care what you call it. This energy, consciousness, potential field of a living universe allows for a range of solutions to coexist without the pride of ego and jealousy of a personal wrathful God interfering in our lives. “Exclusive monotheism, on the other hand, understands ‘the uniqueness of the one God in terms of an absolute difference in kind from all other reality” – my commentary, that is to say dualism.
• #99: The concept of a flexible PPP link from Tibetan Buddhist Ponlop Rinpoche. Due to the shared and interactive nature of consciousness it “adjusts” to our individual and group beliefs and expectations. The human observer’s beliefs and expectations affects the outcome, what is experienced. The Christian PPP has been very successful and accessible, using an old primitive archetype of the human blood sacrifice to appease God’s wrath. This same PPP phenomenon is seen in N.D.E. experiences also. When it comes to the saints, they typically have had mystical experiences that connected to our shared consciousness based either on love & devotion, wisdom, and/or practice (meditation) of some type. Shamans experience similar outcomes often by unusual life experiences the leads to experiencing similar altered states of reality. There are several paths to the same end result. One could argue that if the experience is affected by the observer’s personal circumstances (interactive) could this not also explain N.D.E. outcomes of “heaven” and “hell” (whatever they are) as well, that we perceive what we feel we deserve (we are self-judged)? “Heaven” or “hell” cannot be eternal and “real” as the theists believe, but some sort of quasi-reality that is a temporary (relative) state of mind/consciousness. The “Heaven and hell” perception could possibly be explained as natural feedback loops that have evolved in the system to promote self-correction – to promote the success of the system/species. Feedback correction loops are common in complex systems – it would be more surprising if we didn’t have one. As with dreams, the experience of time in the temporary feedback loop is nonlinear, it is perceived as being real (like a lucid dream) for a significant time. If consciousness is primary, the basis of reality (e.g. Buddhist “storehouse consciousness”), then it would provide the mechanism for the feedback loop to play out. The feedback loop would be most effective if the flow of consciousness has continuity within a single stream of lives. The Buddhist non-eternal “heaven & hell” (flexible, temporary, influence by mind) is more likely true than the impossible supernatural eternal (fixed static) “heaven & hell” of the theists. Much of conventional religions involve our relationship to this interactive feedback loop.
• #100: Matthew Fox, “Original Blessing,” - a book that includes panentheism as one of its topics. Panentheism: God (or nature the living universe) is all & more – interpenetrates every part of the universe. Panentheism = pantheism + Gödel factor, something more sophisticated than what we can currently see in nature itself, in our case the manifested universe of 4-dimensional space-time. The Gödel factor could actually be manifested, but it is still to large scale to be recognized by us. The structural theodicy of the universe may be a non-malicious by-product of the universe/simulation doing something we do not yet understand, that it serves a purpose. Gödel complexity factor “Gd” – the universe is something more than just “nature” in action, something “bigger” or more sophisticated is happening. However, this “Gd” complexity factor could be the simulation software and programmer/players themselves. Near Death Experiences – I have had this experienced myself when I was agnostic leaning toward atheist, and it made no difference. I had the same type of experience as someone who is “born again,” I was “saved,” except there was no Jesus/religious deity involved. In Dr. PMH Atwater N.D.E. scale I experienced an “Initial” and a “Transcendent” N.D.E., I skipped over the often religious (but not always) “Pleasant or Heaven.” In the “Initial” I experienced the classic life review, became the observer and not the participant, and felt overwhelming acceptance and love. In the “Transcendent” I entered the Void of Infinite space-time. Some people who do not understand what is happening think the experience of the dark void is a negative experience, like hell, but that is wrong – it is potentially the highest good experience, but only for those who are ready. But of course, it could be just software driven game play in a simulation – but the message is the same.
• #101: Used with permission by Dr. Atwater. Dr. P.M.H. Atwater, “Beyond the Light: The Mysteries and Revelations of Near-Death Experiences” Dr. P.M.H. Atwater: “Future Memory” https://www.near-death.com/science/experts/pmh-atwater.html http://pmhatwater.hypermart.net/ For example in Christianity you have Catholics and Protestants, each claiming to be right, then among the Protestants you have even more denominations each claiming exclusive rights, etc. In Islam you have Sunni and Shia each claiming exclusive rights. Obviously, they are ALL wrong. Atheists and agnostics have “good” N.D.E. without religious commitments. You may think religious beliefs and practice may improve your chances of having a ‘good” N.D.E. but a higher percentage of religious people experience “hell” than agnostics or atheist as per their own expectations, so it does not guarantee you being saved as they claim. The existence of feedback loops and the conservation of consciousness make a strong case for reincarnation. Conserve your consciousness, not necessarily as you with your “soul/self” identity. But, saving your self-identity is possible to varying degrees with spiritual development, e.g. the Dali Lama reincarnations. There are teachings that “spirit” (consciousness) is reincarnated, while your present life “soul stuff” is bifurcated and separated and either not reincarnated, weakly reincarnated, or reincarnated based on your spiritual sophistication and achievement. The Pleasant/Heaven-like is for “good” people who need strong reinforcement/correction to stay on the path (whatever that is). Placed in order of spiritual sophistication (least to most) it would be hell, heaven, love, and transcendent. Per Buddhism when you die you experience them in reverse order, first the dark transcendent Void, the white light of love (ground luminosity), then heaven, and then hell (or reincarnation). You stop along the path to where you “fit.” People tend to only remember the level where they stopped, e.g. “heaven.” Everyone, saint or mass murderer, gets a chance at letting go of themselves into the infinite Void if they are ready, to return to source. The people who are ready for the Void tend to have a more sophisticated world view that is more open, humble, and other centered, they work for our collective success, not self-centered or egotistical. Hell & heaven feedback loops: Defined by local human consciousness. This explains the crude unsophisticated human nightmare hell & Disney Fantasia heaven – simple child-like sophistication. A “temporary” (“purgatory- like,” in nonlinear time) lucid dream-like experience, free of the material body consciousness becomes lucid. Universal love feedback loop: non-local, conscious universe &/or Void? A temporary lucid dream-like experience. Transcendent feedback loop: Void of infinite space-time, an escape from the cycles of material rebirth, a “final” (nonlinear time) destination in Godhead-Void – a return to source/origination. At death many people will experience the Void in a negative way or as frightening due to not being ready for the experience. We escape into the Void then it starts a new creation flow out of the “Bang of Creation” (see torus slide 3 & Buddhist cosmology) back into the universe and do we do it all over again? Consciousness and time must have movement/flow to have purpose and meaning and cannot be static (if static nothing would happen/exist). Attaining the Godhead-Void may only take you away from suffering through many many very short recycling loops (1 to 100 years) to very very long recycling loops (millions, billions, trillions of years)? If each cycle of the universe get more sophisticated does that mean what goes into the Void must flow out, that there is no actual escape from the system, it does not stop for anyone or anything? The process flow/cycles itself is (as if) eternal and unconditioned.
• #102: 1. The smaller experiential, love, & wisdom non-theistic religions do a much better job of it than the normative large “revealed” religions. Buddhism is the largest non-theistic religion. Of the large normative religions the one I think could best make the transition to properly explain and manage the interaction is the Catholic Church due to its rich tradition of sophisticated theology, saints, mystics, and contemplatives with modern science & cosmology (Vatican Observatory). The old Catholic Latin Mass and ritual conveyed the mystery of creation (to the heart/emotion) while avoiding the intellectual explanations (mind) of teaching inadequate/irrelevant scriptures that explains little correctly. They made the mistake of never actually explaining this adequately about the mass – the mystery could not be understood intellectually at the time (now?). The Catholic Church could still find a central role for Jesus (energy/symbol of unconditioned love) and Mary (energy/symbol of mercy/compassion) while moving to a new paradigm of managing and explaining our spiritual interaction with the cosmos. Islam is not alone with erroneous teachings opposed to Cosmic Consciousness; Christians have The “Book of Revelation” of John which is also the nonsensical rantings of a lunatic. Moses was commanded by “God” to lead the Jews on a genocidal rampage through “the promise land” killing women, children, and babies, to include the abortion of unwanted unborn babies. Moses’ genocidal rampage, as well as the expansion of Islam by the sword, banditry, and slavery, are a classic examples of Bloom’s “Lucifer Principle” in action. This is the same primal, animal brain, behavior as warring tribes of gorillas. Cosmic Consciousness wants us to abandon “animal brain” behaviors and evolve higher consciousness. Islam: See Howard Bloom’s “The Mohammed Code.” The inconsistency of the Islamic Kafir teachings with all other major religions (remember Spinoza – justice and loving-kindness) and with itself concerning other Muslims is proof that it is not an authentic message of the cosmic feedback system, that it is man made for “Loot or Booty” per the Quran and Hadith. Islam is a religion that proposes that Allah (God) sees banditry, stealing, raping, plundering, enslaving, and beheading of Kafirs as righteous religious duty. This is the opposite of the universal truths of all other religions and is a throwback to more primitive behaviors and norms. Sharia is also a throwback to more primitive behaviors and norms. Islam is a religion of radical and extreme conformity enforcement to old primitive behaviors and norms and as such it has no “change management” systems, they are stuck at 1,000 C.E. (or actually 700 C.E.). There is no “rational unity” (synthesis) of opposing opinions in Islam – it is a mono-opinion religion (be that Sunni or Shia) that settles its disputes by violence/war. As a mono-opinion religion of radical conformity enforcement it oppresses risk takers, creativity, and diversity. Creativity and diversity are sacred principles of the universe. Other religions have changed/evolved, had reformations, etc., but not Islam. The changed needed is obvious, reverse the priority of the two Qurans, give priority to the Mecca Quran over the (obsolete, outdated, & “evil”) Medina Quran.
• #103: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Serve_Man_(The_Twilight_Zone) "To Serve Man" is episode 89 of the anthology series The Twilight Zone. It originally aired on March 2, 1962 on CBS. The story is based on the 1950 short story "To Serve Man", written by Damon Knight. The title is a play on the verb serve, which has a dual meaning of "to assist" and "to provide as a meal." The episode is one of the few instances in the series wherein an actor breaks the fourth wall and addresses the viewing audience at the episode's end. The episode, along with the line, "It's a cookbook!," have become elements in pop culture… The day arrives for Chambers's excursion to the Kanamits' planet. Just as he mounts the spaceship's boarding stairs, his staffer Patty appears. He waves, smiling, but she runs toward him in great agitation. While being held back by a Kanamit guard, Patty cries: "Mr. Chambers, don't get on that ship! The rest of the book To Serve Man, it's... it's a cookbook!" implying that the book is not an instructional book on how to assist men, but rather on how to properly cook man for consumption. Chambers tries to run back down the spaceship's stairs, but a Kanamit blocks him, the stairs retract, and the ship immediately lifts off. Amoral alien psychopaths: Wackily intelligent, cold, unfeeling, calculating, no guilt or remorse, meticulous, and very manipulating. They could mimic friendly or positive behavior to manipulate victims. This is an “Ur” repeating pattern true of some humans and some (most?) aliens. The universe is amoral; would not most intelligent life also be amoral? Alleged alien “Grays” fit this profile. Peleopsychology is the study of our past precursors, perhaps we need “exopsychology” to study what the patterns of the universe and ourselves tells us about what to expect if we meet aliens – it may keep us from being “served.”
• #104: Nick Bostrom: https://nickbostrom.com/ Tyson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ro9aebFZhM (Google’s “Do Only Evil” Corp. motto YouTube censors this video in “restricted mode”) Only our world is done in detail, the rest of the universe is approximated with more detail added as needed to match our expanding awareness of detail and resolution in our solar system and universe. The 14 billion years of our universe may only be 14 days in theirs, and only the last hour or so in their time needed to be done in detail and possibly only the next hour in their future (a couple hundred or thousand years in our time). The program would have goals and objectives, once those where met the game ends. Another way it could be done is with a virtual implied past, an “as if” past history, that is approximated/simulated (in a saved stated, then rebooted with new variables) with the actual simulation game play starting say 20,000 years ago in our time or 4,000 according to Christian Creationist. The stronger the case for a theist personal “God” of intervention the stronger the case for simulation (social science experiment?) – as it is “unnatural.” If done by intellectually superior beings, human or otherwise, we would be the equivalent of an “animal model” the we use in our science experiments, e.g. we are the chimpanzees. And we know what awful things have been done to chimps in the name of science – chimp theodicy, undeserved suffering. Explains the anthropic principle Explains the Fermi Paradox
• #105: If any of the “revealed” theistic religions are true they should be able to prove themselves right and others wrong using “Big Data” analytics – but they cannot, the violence shows no mercy to anyone. Christians also died in the 2004 tsunami. Again, a universe where consciousness is primary does not care about physical death, only the conservation of consciousness.
• #106: https://www.salon.com/2019/04/21/rethinking-easter-through-paul-the-apostle-why-evangelicals-get-it-wrong/ A Pualine “spirit” Jesus, not Peter’s ”foolish” Kerygma of a bodily physical resurrection. Belief in an actual physical, bodily, resurrection (as your same body self) is primitive foolish nonsense - absurd. In a world system that is deliberately designed with structural theodicy (unbalanced) a “one shot” life to win “eternal” (cannot be actually eternal, but conditioned) salvation makes NO sense, while being reincarnated with feedback loop processing to progress towards a goal (as a process) is more plausible. If Jesus/God’s love is unconditioned then then it must apply to all, as in Christian Universalism - we are all “saved” (as our consciousness stream) to be “reborn” after feedback processing. 85% forgiven at death with (potentially) positive feedback loops, see slide 101. This feedback loop processing would promote a more sophisticated, more efficient, and better organized solution towards the universes’ goal of maximum consciousness and complexity and return to unity. 15% given strong unpleasant correction at death in this feedback loop, before continuing on in another cycle. Corrects behaviors that disrupts maximum collective efficiency and unity. It is possible that by correctly understanding and simply knowing and believing in this process flow (e.g. Pauline Jesus or Buddhism) that it will result in its improved performance and progress. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s racial/ eugenics methods to “improve” this process were misguided and morally wrong, all that is needed is correct knowledge and understanding. Or is it a “Lab Theology,” the lab experimenter comforting the suffering chimp, “hang in there” boy we need this data.
• #107: The human blood sacrifice of Jesus is not needed for “salvation” – this is supported by near death experience (N.D.E.) research. What appears to matter is what you do in this world, are you ruled by the “lower” crude behaviors of violence, greed, lust, etc. or the “higher” and more sophisticated human behaviors. Have you chosen the “good” or the “bad” this does matter in terms of how you experience the feedback loops. Jesus as the blood sacrifice redeemer of mankind requires God’s authority to make it work, to implement the redemption. The fact that the human condition was unchanged, that theodicy was unchanged, is witness that no such redemption took place, because there is no theistic God. Christians confuse what they are seeing; the good that has come from Christianity is not from the blood sacrifice, but from the inspiration, teachings, and values of Jesus (Jesus as God is not required). This model of inspiration, teachings, and values, without being God, is exactly how Buddhism or Taoism works – so it can be done. If you examine the Christian and Buddhist saints you can see this play out – the saints embody the inspiration, teachings, and values of Jesus or Buddha. The witness of the saints indicates that the human traits of peace, love, selflessness, etc. is valued by the universe, but why? Why would the otherwise ruthless and amoral universe behave in this way, there is an “Gd” factor here that we do not understand, thus the unexplained theodicy of our circumstance. The German mystic Jakob Böhme also believed that suffering was necessary (structural) to creation and the sacrifice of Jesus was not for redemption of our sins, but symbolic of the love of God to send his son to suffer along with us. None of the normative theistic religions has addressed this problem and answered this question, not even close. Reform Judaism also fits this model, that God forgives us in our sins toward Him (as shown by N.D.E. research), but that our sins toward each other count, that if you do really bad things there is a price to pay (as shown by N.D.E. research). Reform Judaism probably reflects the actual religion of Jesus better than does normative Christianity. Christianity needs to recognize that Jesus is an interface tool to the shared consciousness of the universe, a symbolic representation that people can relate to, and not literal. Jesus as an interface tool is one of the most accessible and successful interface tools, Christians need to make proper use of it. Predominately the Christians understanding of Jesus is primitive and childish (human blood sacrifice that redeems/saves), but the unconditioned love, his suffering along with us, and forgiveness message “saves” Christianity as a useful and accessible religion. So the Christian easy path to salvation, the blood of Jesus, is primitive stone age nonsense. But, the harder and more sophisticated path of Jesus as role model and inspiration with the teachings and values identified with Jesus, e.g. universal love and peace, remains valid. In fact, the teachings and values become even more relevant.
• #108: All of the theistic religion say we have a problem of our own creation e.g. The Fall, that caused us to be separated from God and that each of them alone (not the others) redeem us to God . If it is not our fault, then no redemption is required. We reflect the range of theodicy causing characteristics of the universe/world system we live in with competition/war, anger, greed, lust, injustice, eat-or-be-eaten, survival of the fittest (strong), the strong survive and the weak perish, etc. Humans have complex behavior and not all of it has direct correlations in the universe (that we see now), however, we can see enough to see that the core problem (root cause) is not us and that these other aspects of our behavior are derived from the core problem (root cause) of imbalanced “bad” structural theodicy. The priest class of the theistic religions have made a good living shaming us and telling us that “The Fall” was our fault and we need to pay ($ literally and figuratively) to redeem ourselves, but it is all lies. This realization may actually help us to see the universe/world/us as we really are, to see our place, and to explain/understand our weaknesses. Dinosaurs wiped out through a cosmic catastrophe (suffering and evil from their perspective) that was no fault of their own (theodicy) and the same for Mars that was warm and watery before the harsh ruthless theodicy of the universe wiped out its atmosphere and chances for life. The only scenario where “original sin” and “The Fall” could be “as if” human caused would be an artificial “one world” anthropic software simulation where it is part of the game design. Virtually all of the theistic God’s characteristics; human centered universe, direct intervention, “original sin,” Jesus as God, Muhammad visiting & talking to God, etc. can best (only?) be explained by an artificial environment of some type, such as a computer simulation. The stronger the argument for a theistic God the stronger the argument for artificial simulation. This simply is not possible in a natural universe. We are a product of the environment/circumstances that created us: shitty, messy, imbalanced theodicy environment = shitty, messy, flawed results (as a general rule, Scarlett Johansson and Kate Upton, among others, excepted).
• #109: Religion and spirituality is about our interface to the shared and interactive “Cosmic Consciousness” that is primary. By placing conditions on being saved this gives the priest class power and control over the masses – it makes them important. It serves the ego (“Satan”), “I am special, God loves me, but not you, so I will kill (or enslave) you.” In “The Way of the Bodhisattva” Shantideva comments on this in his “Wisdom” chapter: “If a million conditioned causes could join together they cannot turn a conditioned thing into an unconditioned thing” e.g. the theist eternal heaven won by a conditioned cause. Unconditioned: “unborn of a cause,” intrinsically existing, and eternal. The unconditioned (quantum field of infinite potential/Void) must be conserved in all things, it cannot be caused, won, earned, etc. We must have a conditioned relative nature and an unconditioned absolute nature – the absolute must have an “as if” relative expression of itself. We are gifted this unconditioned nature (buddha/christ nature) “free of charge” – no priest, imam, mufti, or rabbi required. The universe wants to “save” us (conserve our consciousness in death) regardless, no “entry fee required.”
• #110: *Athletes who point to the sky after scoring, giving thanks to the God that favored them over their opponent, it shows a childish, egotistical, and selfish understanding of the universe – the “God” of the universe does not give-a-damn about who wins a silly football game. This action tells you all you need to know about what is wrong with normative religions. “God” choosing (your wining) side, this is not new, it is primitive and ancient. They are miracle-like, but not actual “supernatural miracles” as exceptions to the (currently) known laws of the universe. In a cosmos where consciousness can affect outcomes and the manifested universe is empty of intrinsic existence then actual “miracles” could be possible (without needing a theistic God) but the karmic complexity/circumstances required would make it difficult. Spontaneous self–healing would be one of the simplest karmic events and one of the most likely events to occur – “mind-over-(empty of intrinsic existence) matter.” The cosmos views our death like we would a chimp in a lab experiment – the lab tech could be tender and compassionate to the chimp, but the individual death is no big deal. Our treatment in this world fits the lab rat “animal model” in that our individual death is no big deal, a non-event. In the “big picture” the universe is more concerned with the system behavior than with individuals, effectively reducing us to a “animal model” role. Once dying it cares, by “it” I mean that what we experience could be our own collective construct, a “we,” and not solely the doing of the cosmic consciousness. The cosmic consciousness may provide the platform for our own collective consciousness to construct an experience unique to us.
• #111: Spiritual/Science #1: “as if” infinite from our perspective, possibly not an absolute mathematical infinity in fact. An unconditioned thing must have, by definition, a conditioned expression of itself – if it did not it would be limited and thus conditioned and not unconditioned. Spiritual #3: Conditioned “unenlightened” (creator god-like) “creation” as witnessed by the structural theodicy and suffering of the manifested created universe. Is our galaxy also conscious and self-aware, is it also a “creator”? Spiritual/Science #4: For the theory to be consistent the conscious universe must share the same spiritual experiences/truths as man and seeks to correct its structural imbalance, just like a spiritual man. A spiritual person lives out his/her life as a manifested realized master/saint before the “permanent” return to origin in death. Perhaps when we properly understand our place in the universe the “messy” feedback loop information of depth-psychology will clear-up and become more meaningful and sophisticated. Spiritual/Science #5: We share the same “cosmic consciousness” and vague, barely remembered, but compelling memories of origin/unity that call out to us from the darkness. Man was separated from “God” (origin) upon creation of the manifested universe, not due to “original sin” – the entire universe had a “Fall” (separation) when created, it was “structural.” Is this distant memory Jungian depth-psychology at work? Science #5: This is hard to see, in the current universe it appears that theodicy is increasing and not decreasing, the universe makes no sense. The universe appears to be moving from a state of low entropy/low theodicy to high entropy/high theodicy. However, our perceptions can deceive us, when we look at the “big data” analytics we may see a different picture. Also, perhaps as the universe evolves toward greater sophistication and complexity its capability, specifically intelligence and consciousness, increases and it is capable of “spiritually” evolving/improving, like in biology, to a “higher life form.” One other thing to keep in mind, with enlightened masters/saints the theodicy problem perceptually “disappears,” duality is an illusion, the world is experienced as the “kingdom of god” – all good. In the enlightened duality of the “kingdom of god” nothing changed in the actual manifested world except our state of conscious recreated it into a new world – this is actually physically experienced. Could the universe do the functional equivalent? What would that look like? Well… In Buddhist cosmology you have many world systems and many universes or “buddhafields” where an enlighten Buddha attains a status where he/she becomes a “creator“ of his/her own buddhafield, ad infinitum. This sounds fantastic and hard to beleive, but to have your mind blown read Itzhak Bentov’s “A Brief Tour Of Higher Consciousness” which discribes a really really fantastic version of the same process. Do not take his comicbook storyline too literally and notice the use of archtypes. The point of the “you are God” is the non-theistic nature of reality when there is a holographic & unconditioned baisis of being – we all share in this unconditioned nature, we have an “as if” conditioned nature (relative) and an unconditioned nature (absolute). The unconditioned nature must be conserved by definition. Shantideva comments on this in his “Wisdom” chapter of “The Way of the Bodhisattva,” but see “Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries” by Khenchen Palden and Minyak Sonam for a more detail discussion on this. Remember, as outlandish and implusable as this may sound a conditioned universe born of an unconditioned infinite potential birth MUST have far more complexity and sophistication than what we see and understand now. The world needs a sophisticated physics and psychology that can intelligently inform us and provide a basis for understanding our universe and our role in it. Science can lead us out of the mess the waring/competing theistic religions have gotten us into.
• #112: I am not sure how to react to this. Ignoring the personal benefits of the winners and looking at the big picture it SUCKS! Of course, Buddhism says it SUCKS! The universe as Idealism-In-Action seeks to develop consciousness which means life on this world is just a “livestock feeding yard” for fatting (developing) consciousness. The universe as an organic idealism allows no escape from the system. An enlightened mystic or saint can reduce their own suffering with fewer loops and rest in the Void, but time never stops, eventually (billions of years?) it starts again. Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism teaches those with highly developed consciousness to decline the promotion to stay in a position to help reduce the suffering of their fellow sentient beings, to be a bodhisattva. A human mystic, saint, or bodhisattva can have authentic “spirituality” that is not self-serving (for spiritual promotion) towards their fellow suffering sentient beings – a spiritually we can trust. The “good” and “spiritual” aspects of the universe, as Idealism, could be self-serving mechanisms for maintaining a stable productive system that feeds its needs? In Bentov’s books he says the promoted enlightened masters are used to radiate spirituality downward towards our universe/world (similar things are said by many others) – I see ZERO evidence, NONE, for this in the world, where? How? There is ZERO evidence for meaningful intervention by any god, angel, divine being, etc. An impersonal universe as Idealism-In-Action does NOT want to save US (collectively) from our ordeal!!! To save us collectively would be to disrupt its own supply chain of developed consciousness. Don’t trust “The Man” (System/Universe)! It almost makes me wish materialism was true!
• #113: TOUCHING THE VOID: In funny circumstances did I find myself facing death, thinking that it was over before I was thirteen. Not knowing why, I surrendered myself with a child's innocence to life and death. What love and peace I found! Years later, in the stillness of mind did I come unexpectedly to the void. In uneasy balance did I exist at the edge, driven by the power of mind itself into the void. In ignorance and ego did I come, in terror I fled. What is it that brings me back again and again? Finally in familiarity did I “let go of myself” (my ego) into the vast pool of the void, a sample to take. I let myself touch the void, I know of the wonder and mystery of the void, but not of its full grace. Regrets, regrets that I did not go when I had the chance! So it was, that I came to know of the void, of the inner fall into that vast still space. In due time, in trying circumstances, did I surrender myself to the unknown ultimate reality. On a star filled night I lay in bed, by a sudden bolt do I find myself on the floor! Suddenly I had answers to unasked questions, the void of emptiness had become the ALL! JOY! A threefold grace has touched my life: First of the loving nature of this higher power; Second of the reality of the void and the terror of ego; And lastly, a seed of wisdom and an awareness of the interconnectedness of reality. I have lived the ascent and the fall, I have walked in the Kingdom of God here and now and have been tormented by man’s inauthentic ways. Just like Adam, in ignorance I did not understand or appreciate what I had, I had a failure of heart. From grace did I descend, I can see it all before me now, I know because I have lived it. Like Parzival, I failed the crucial test and now seek to regain what I lost. May Truth redeem my failure. ---- I wrote this many many years ago. The ruthless and relentless structural theodicy has beaten me(us all) down and eroded my confidence in a “good” universe even more, so I am fallen still. The experience of the void is terrifying if you are not ready or prepared – it instantly rips away all that you know as yourself. In Buddhist teaching they say it can kill you of a heart attack. Approached in ego and ignorance it is a terrifying wrathful “God.” I explain it in two ways; first, it is like walking in the dark and stepping off a cliff you did not see coming, a sudden surprise, into a dark free fall, and second, like steeping off a curb to cross the street and looking up at the last instant to see the bus about to run over you – stark terror. However, if you let go of your ego self it becomes a wondrous vast spaciousness of infinite potential, of the ALL.
• #114: The Void of the quantum field of infinite potential is unconditioned and all aspects of it, such as consciousness, must be universally conserved in the conditioned manifest universe. The Zen Buddhist samurai of Japan may have been right, human bodily death is a non-event. In effect we are an “animal model” being used for a purpose much larger than us and our small trivial suffering means nothing to the system. Our suffering is a sacrificial price paid for the systems movement towards a goal, a complexity factor “Gd.” We simply do not know the power of our own collective human feedback loop and if it can do all that is experienced by our mystics and saints. I suspect not, but that brings us back to theodicy. If the source of this spiritual wisdom is the Void itself then why has it not informed the entire manifested universe as well? Is the universe itself in-process of playing a spiritual growth game? Personally, I do not want to play any part in this childish shitty game that feeds off our individual and collective suffering, FU Universe. Why spiritual mystics and saints in such a corrupt shitty universe? The theodicy question needs to be reframed from the Old Man in the Clouds God to actual human spiritual experiences of our mystics and saints and how to reconcile it with the imbalanced structural theodicy we seen in the universe.
• #115: Hertog on Hawkings quote: https://bigthink.com/hard-science/the-universe-may-be-a-giant-neural-network-heres-why/ Unfortunately, the simplest answer is an anthropic software simulation with complexity (theodicy) for an unknown purpose. The crazy answer is a conscious self-aware universe evolving towards some unknown state – possibly seeking the same thing we seek spiritually in unity/oneness, a return to origin/wholeness. Perhaps the structural theodicy is what the universe is trying to solve/correct with feedback loops, unfortunately for us it has not yet done so? Could an impersonal “Gd” factor in the universe seeking a state of balance by using self-correcting feedback loops that interact with us to steer us in a desired direction be possible? This impersonal “Gd” factor does not care if you are killed by a texting driver through no fault of your own, our individual life is a trivial non-event (thus no personal good God), it only cares about the whole system performance and the conservation of consciousness. Buddhist cosmology believes something like this, that the universe has structural theodicy, that the current state of the system is unenlightened (corrupted/flawed), and it is evolving towards eventual enlightenment as a system (perfected). Unfortunately for us this enlightenment is a billion or so years in the future. Perhaps we should trust ourselves and our shared collective unconscious memories by taking our best and most sophisticated spiritual cosmologies (Taoism, Kabbalah, Hindu, and Buddhist) and seeing if they can be expressed into a modern framework (removing the mythical storylines, using only the cosmological structure/process) to understand the universe, to identify the “Gd” complexity factor. Akira Sadakata, Buddhist Cosmology, Philosophy and Origins (universe goes through four stages/kalpas of Dissolution, Nothingness, Creation, and Duration, see torus universe slide 4) Steve Odin, Process Metaphysics and Hua-Yen Buddhism (note: Hua-Yen in Japan is called Kegon and it has similarities to Bohm’s holographic physics) This paradox has eluded some of our best spiritual minds like the Catholic monk Thomas Merton who periodically suffered from deep depression being unable to resolve the problem. The first step to solving the problem is to correctly identify it which the religions of the past have failed to do because we did not see the “big picture” of the universe until recent times.
• #116: An unconditioned basis of reality is needed to avoid a first cause problem or impossible infinite regression of conditioned causes (a self-contradiction) An unconditioned thing must have a conditioned expression of itself – if not, it would be limited (a self-contradiction) The conditioned expression must fully represent its unconditioned source/potential (A = B) The unconditioned Void is the source/basis of consciousness Consciousness (in unconditioned Void as potential) is primary & required prior to a (conditioned) manifested universe (observer needed) Consciousness, idealism, explains theodicy/suffering – conditioned material things & physical life are a mere mechanism/tool of consciousness, secondary Consciousness is the primary basis/source/reason/purpose/meaning (in some way) of the conditioned universe, it is doing something; we need to figure it out, both in physics and the metaphysical with spiritual feedback loops (the missing “Gd” complexity factors)
• #117: Universe self-organizing: We could be in a computer simulation and possibly in another nested second simulation, or we could be in an artificially created physical universe, or some Advanced Beings (ABs) could be intervening in our world system, OR any multiple combinations of these. An AB could be our more advanced selves of the future playing an ancestor simulation game (most likely), could be an alien AB, could be a AB janitor in 11 dimensional space-time with a 3 dimensional universe-in-a-jar “pet” on his coffee table (like an ant terrarium), OR any combination of these. Design is NOT proof of “God” (as Ultimate Being) as it could either be a god-like AB (“as if god”) of an indeterminate nature and/or the conscious self-aware universe as a learning and self-organizing, but impersonal, system of some type (conscious/organic/living). Your body is alive and conscious, but you do not have personal awareness of and control over individual cells in your body – as above so below, the universe may operate similarly as an impersonal living system (as seen from our perspective). Just like a human has god-like power over an ant terrarium to create it and destroy it so could an AB have over us, but that does not make us “God,” but “as if god” to the ants – there is a real difference. Does owning an ant terrarium make you an Ultimate Being and perfected “God” – no it does not.
• #118: If the universe operates like the spiritual teachers & mystics say, a loving good “God” (or non-theistic godhead), then our lives and suffering appears to have little meaning in the “big picture” – it does not matter, like the suffering of ants to us, who cares. The typical religious apologies for the theodicy problem are simply inadequate and primitive; a more sophisticated solution that sees the actual universe (not just the human condition) as we now know it is needed to put us into proper perspective towards our suffering – a cosmic, structural, theodicy definition/explanation. When I see an “innocent” dead animal that has been run over by a car (unjustly) I immediately think “theodicy,” the normative theistic religions see theodicy only as a human problem and not the structural problem (ruthless universe) that it actually is. Once your eyes have been opened, everywhere you look you will see theodicy manifested in our societies, the world, and the universe. Sentient beings, as used in Buddhism as any suffering sentient being in this world system, so could be humans, dogs, cats, etc. In this meaning the experience of love, beauty, creating, sensuality, trust, “family,” bonding/partnership/synthesis, helping, a sense of collective/joint success, etc. are what gives life meaning and purpose. These we must do for ourselves; it is not done for us by “God.” The “bad” qualities of competition, greed, power, war, etc. oppose these meanings.
• #119: Does morality, justice, etc. promote cooperation and unity of purpose that in turn promotes maximum organizational efficiency and a low entropy (low waste low chaos) solution? Cooperation and unity of purpose would be the best expression that represents the unity of the unconditioned (interconnected, oneness, unity, etc.), culminating in an ultimate Whiteheadian closed-closed of common purpose (common choices) and common fate? So, does the Whiteheadian closed-open (choice/creativity) reduce with increasing organizational efficiency to culminate in closed-closed (unity)? Could each cycle of the universe choose a different creative path to arrive at a similar maximized solution of unity for its conditions, e.g. laws of physics?
• #120: All the answers from theodicy and “spiritual growth” apologists fail before the truth of a little girl thrown to her death off a 60 ft. bridge by her own father, or a mother/wife killed by a young child playing with a loaded gun, or a young child dying of cancer. Many, many, many people die horrible, senseless, and/or meaningless deaths. Why does the “spiritual universe” need to play this spiritual growth game with our lives, what purpose does it serve? We are “served up” by the game like an endless feeding mechanism to a “Spiritual Universe” to what end, why does it need us, for its own purpose? I do not like being involuntarily trapped in a game and being given no choice but to suffer my way through it – being spiritually kidnapped. The spiritual growth game literally plays out like a X-Box game/simulation; challenge, success, rewarded to next playing level, do again, and again. If I appear to be conflicted on this topic, a messy love/hate relationship, you would be correct. But my messy conflicted predicament is precisely the human condition. We have not been asking the right questions. I hope someone can find a better answer to structural theodicy and what is going on with the universe. The fact that we may have an unconditioned buddha/christ nature that allows us one-at-a-time to escape this suffering mess of a world system (while other people/beings continue to suffer) is not enough, why??? We need to understand what is happening and we need to find a positive answer to these questions. If we cannot figure this out all we have is the philosophy of Albert Camus, an indifferent universe with no larger meaning to our insignificant lives.
• #121: Normative theistic religions have been little help in finding the answers, they give us only distractions and falsehoods.
• #122: Void: https://www.slideshare.net/SanfordSchoolfield/voidrev2pptx Blake: William Blake’s Prophetic & Mystical Mythology: youtube.com/watch?v=wXN2CRpWAzU
• #123: Google image search results: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/ffximage/2008/09/24/470x400planet_collide,0.jpg http://img.wylio.com/flickr/3894/333/3041792241 (Buddhist monk) http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Y80McisrVLQ/TIbgzB7YsSI/AAAAAAAAAIU/VtAhCUcriGY/s1600/scarlett_johansson.jpg https://jim93277.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/starving-child-5.jpg http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2236826/Boy-10-little-brothers-hero-donating-bone-marrow-help-battle-leukemia.html