~ ∞ ~ The Essence of Zen - Awaken the Living Awareness Within ~ ∞ ~
What Is Reality?. And these basic ideas I call myth, not using the word ‘myth’ to mean simply something untrue, but to use the word ‘myth’ in a more powerful sense. A myth is an image in terms of which we try to make sense of the world. Now, for example, a myth in a way is a metaphor. If you want to explain electricity to someone who doesn’t know anything about electricity, you say, well, you talk about an electric current. Now, the word ‘current’ is borrowed from rivers. It’s borrowed from hydraulics, and so you explain electricity in terms of water.
Now, electricity is not water, it behaves actually in a different way, but there are some ways in which the behavior of water is like the behavior of electricity, and so you explain it in terms of water. Or if you’re an astronomer, and you want to explain to people what you mean by an expanding universe and curved space, you say, ‘well, it’s as if you have a black balloon, and there are white dots on the black balloon, and those dots represent galaxies, and as you blow the balloon up, uniformly all of them grow farther and farther apart. But you’re using an analogy–the universe is not actually a black balloon with white dots on it.
So in the same way, we use these sort of images to try and make sense of the world, and we at present are living under the influence of two very powerful images, which are, in the present state of scientific knowledge, inadequate, and one of the major problems today are to find an adequate, satisfying image of the world. Well that’s what I’m going to talk about. And I’m going to go further than that, not only what image of the world to have, but how we can get our sensations and our feelings in accordance with the most sensible image of the world that we can manage to conceive.
All right, now–the two images which we have been working under for 2000 years and maybe more are what I would call two models of the universe, and the first is called the ceramic model, and the second the fully automatic model. The ceramic model of the universe is based on the book of Genesis, from which Judaism, Islam, and Christianity derive their basic picture of the world. And the image of the world in the book of Genesis is that the world is an artifact. It is made, as a potter takes clay and forms pots out of it, or as a carpenter takes wood and makes tables and chairs out of it. Don’t forget Jesus is the son of a carpenter. And also the son of God. So the image of God and of the world is based on the idea of God as a technician, potter, carpenter, architect, who has in mind a plan, and who fashions the universe in accordance with that plan.
So basic to this image of the world is the notion, you see, that the world consists of stuff, basically. Primordial matter, substance, stuff. As parts are made of clay. Now clay by itself has no intelligence. Clay does not of itself become a pot, although a good potter may think otherwise. Because if you were a really good potter, you don’t impose your will on the clay, you ask any given lump of clay what it wants to become, and you help it to do that. And then you become a genius. But the ordinary idea I’m talking about is that simply clay is unintelligent; it’s just stuff, and the potter imposes his will on it, and makes it become whatever he wants.
~ ∞ ~ Infinite World of Quantum and Zen - Awaken the Living Awareness Within ~ ∞ ~
In this section, we will further our understanding of life and our experience of it; the discussion we are having here is a natural continuation of the one we started in Prologue. We begin this section by briefly exploring the core idea of Zen, which is to come in touch with the essence of life, and to do this in a way that is both simple and elegant. In this brief exploration, we can see how the Zen approach parallels with the fascinating realm of the Quantum World. Each of them in their own unique ways help us understand life, each of them have something to teach us about life, about ourselves, about interconnectedness of all life, you see? Therefore, it is not only logical, but imperative that we get familiar with both as they form the backbone of the conceptual framework named Infinite Quantum Zen – the cornerstone out of which this book emerged, you see?
The fundamental core of this dynamic framework is found in awareness – more specifically, in Living Awareness. And because this framework essentially resides within everyone who comes into contact with this book, it is an essential prerequisite to have an understanding which allows one to see beyond the surface. For you see, it is like a seed – when planted in fertile soil, it can bear the fruits of wisdom, peace, happiness, harmony, and virtues; it dynamically creates and holds the space for exploration and discovery. So therefore, any bit of prerequisite information and prior knowledge can enhance the experience of reading this book, and in so doing can make the journey a little bit smoother.
Soon after we have covered the basics, we will take a closer look at the Essence of Zen, which will lay the foundation for further learning as it opens the door to the idea of present moment awareness – mindfulness, if you will. This will help us tremendously as we progress on our journey of discovery through several other sections; there are plenty more to discover, a plethora of questions to be asked, and lots of answers to be found. The key here is not to rush; as is the case with all novelties that need time to grow, ripe and mature – so is the case with wisdom. You see, an essential part of mastery (of mystery) is patience, persistence, and consistency, as is the case here – see?
After we have explored the Essence of Zen, we will take a short detour and see how the above-mentioned conceptual framework got started, and how something that was initially conceptual became a living experience – it will be an eye-opening reading experience that will shed some light on the personal side of things. Later in our journey, we will have the great opportunity to delve deeper into the miraculous nature of Life and its built-in Living Intelligence. In this journey, we will learn a new way of seeing life, which gives us the chance to understand Life as a unified, interconnected whole. In the midst of this, we also get to discuss what is needed of us in the future if we as the collective human species are to pursue the path of conscious transformation, which entails a conscious effort on our part to grow, mature, and progress – and eventually prosper, you see? This discussion also serves the purpose of laying the ground for what lies ahead in the next section.
So without a further due, let us delve right into it, shall we? There’s no better way to capture the Essence of Zen than by saying that Zen is a way of living and being. We can continue by saying that Zen in its basic essence is the art of seeing into the nature of one’s own being – seeing into one’s true nature. In other words, Zen is coming back to this moment, to the natural, obvious simplicity of our true nature, which is another way of saying that Zen is a way of being in the world with mindful awareness of the present moment. As such, Zen is the achieving the balance between the world and the self. If there is anything to take away from this, it is this: Zen approach can teach us how to become empty and receptive.
When we are talking about the similarities between the ideologies of Zen and the Quantum World, we can find one common denominator above all else – Infinity (∞). Not only is the universe of Zen Infinite, but so is the realm of the Quantum. Infinity is a concept describing something without any limit; Infinity is infinitely infinite, in which even seemingly finite structures are inherently infinite at all points. In other words, Infinity is the unreachable point at the end of a never-ending line that repeats itself ad infinitum.
In the worldview of Zen, the entire universe is found in a single hair, and countless worlds in a speck of dust; likewise, in the scientific world, the Quantum Mechanics is used to explain the natural world’s operations as the understanding of macro is found in micro. Quantum Mechanics shows that one cannot decompose the world into isolated tiny entities capable of an independent existence. You see, the deeper we look, the more we realize that matter is not a collection of tiny independent particles but rather an interconnected web of relations between parts of a whole.
Another similarity can be found in the idea of sunyata as it is called in Sanskrit. Sunyata signifies that the universe is an open space of unlimited creative potential; similarly, Quantum Mechanics describe potential for existence. To give an example: matter and energy are not in themselves phenomena, and do not become phenomena until they interact with the mind. These experimental aspects of sunyata are described in quantum phenomena. Although sunyata is often translated to mean ‘emptiness’ or ‘voidness,’ it is not a vacuum or a state of nothingness as generally understood – rather, it is both ‘emptiness’ and ‘fullness’ at the same time; or more aptly, pure potentiality – see?
One of the most glaring examples of the intersection of the worlds of the Quantum and Zen is to be found in the principle of wave-particle duality, which holds that elementary particles can exhibit the characteristics of both particles and waves, yet can be wholly reduced to neither. Quantum Mechanics recognizes the duality of matter by showing that nature on the smallest subatomic level behaves as both a particle and a wave. A photon, for example, can be a particle, or it can be a wave – or it can be both at the same time. Thus, one can say that Quantum Mechanics reveals the basic unity of the universe. You see, in Quantum Mechanics, subatomic particles exist in probability waves, and are only defined when something conscious observes them – otherwise they are everywhere and nowhere. And here we can find an amazing parallel: in the Zen way of thinking, opposites can exist simultaneously; contradictory things can exist at the same time.
Like the quantum wave function, a probability matrix used by physicists to describe the state of a system at a given time, wave-particle duality points us to one of the central problems at the heart of the Quantum World: Is there an objective, independent reality that is capable of being quantified, or are all such measurements subjective? Subjective by virtue of the fact that the measurements are always dependent on the observer, thus merely reflecting the observer’s mind, observer’s consciousness. Let us explore this from the viewpoint of Zen, which contains many parallels to quantum physics in the way it introduces the basic ideas of spiritual duality – heaven and earth, transcendent and immanent. For example, in Zen, there are two domains of reality – emptiness and form – thus the Zen axiom: “Form is Emptiness, Emptiness is Form.” The wave-particle duality of quantum physics recognizes two similar domains – potentiality and actuality. Likewise, consciousness plays a role in both realms in quantum physics as it does in Zen, as shown in this parable:
Two monks are arguing. One says, “The flag is moving.” The other says, “No, the wind is moving.” A master, passing by, admonishes them both: “The flag is not moving; the wind is not moving. Your mind is moving.”
Extra Material:Video: You're It - Alan Watts. Video description: "An inspiring and profound speech from the late Alan Watts. Speech extract from 'Zen Bones and Tales' by Alan Watts"
~ ∞ ~ On Intelligence 6/6 - Awaken the Living Awareness Within ~ ∞ ~
When it comes to the process itself – it can be said that the process of connecting, reading and retrieving is quite difficult to express in words as it boils down to awareness – being aware of Life itself. Indeed, the experience of receiving information from Living Intelligence that permeates all Life is beyond words. As such, there are no other possible ways to describe the process than saying that it resembles that of Holofractographic Intelligent Emergence, which is embedded holism throughout the organism known as Life; and because Life is an Intelligent Living System – this particular type of dynamic emergence is its very nature.
When we read the records of Living Library of Life, we are forming a symbiosis that allows us to feel and experience a deep connection to something greater; as we read the Living Library, it simultaneously reads us – from this exchange arises the mutual acknowledgment of Interconnectedness of All Life. It is this frequency of interconnectedness of everything that permeates throughout this work; this frequency is seen in the writing style – the tone, the rhythm, the choice of words and the way the words are put together – every part of it – is infused with this frequency. This type of writing style is a natural way for Living Intelligence to express itself. In this way, Life can effortlessly communicate with itself as it recognizes itself reflected in another – see?
As we are getting near the end of this section, these next three paragraphs will conclude our discussion in this introductory prologue, which means that we are now ready to move yet another step further in our journey. But just before we do that, there are a few more things to add. In this chapter, we have talked about Living Intelligence within Life itself, and taking into account everything else we have talked about in this Prologue, one cannot help but see that everything seems to point to an Intelligently Designed Universe. On that note, when it comes to the idea of Intelligent Design, it is much easier to view it in this way: Intelligent Designer is alive within the construct itself, which is another way of saying that the Designer is within the Design itself. In this way, Creation can be seen as a product of Intelligent Design, while at the same time being an inseparable part of the Intelligent Design and the Designer itself; yet, the Creator and the Creation are not the same – see?
There are many aspects or facets of intelligence, as there are of wisdom. With regard to humans, it is needless to say that the best use of one’s faculty of intelligence is to utilize all the knowledge and wisdom one has acquired for the betterment of humanity as a whole; use one’s intelligence and ingenuity to further improve the quality of human life, to grow and develop one’s skills and talents, and inspire others to do the same, you see? With regard to this book, it is worth highlighting the following: at the core of this work lies the two-fold Jewel of Wisdom: 1.) Mindfulness, 2.) Compassion. Mindfulness is the virtue of living in the moment with clarity and awareness, and compassion is the spiritual principle from which all other positive inner values emerge. Mindfulness develops clarity of vision, and compassion leads to a deeper understanding of oneself and others. By cultivating these two virtues in one’s life, it is possible to grow in wisdom. As wisdom grows, it is possible to reach a level of understanding which allows one to directly see the nature of suffering and the cause behind it. This allows one to renounce it completely and embrace virtue – the cause of peace and happiness. Hopefully, through this book, with the guidance it provides, the reader is able to find this Jewel of Wisdom that dwells within.
In closing, now that you have reached the end of this section, you should be familiar with the following ideas: Knowledge and Wisdom, Consciousness and Awareness, God, Spirit and Soul, Spirituality and Religion, Reality and Actuality, Change and Transformation, Interconnectedness, Intelligence – all of which help to establish a strong foundation upon which to build further knowledge. What awaits us in the following sections is nothing short of spectacular. You see, in the following sections, the pace picks up rather quickly, and everything that was discussed in this introductory section comes together in a fascinating and marvelous way.
Extra Material:Video: You're It - Alan Watts. Video description: "An inspiring and profound speech from the late Alan Watts. Speech extract from 'Zen Bones and Tales' by Alan Watts"
~ ∞ ~ On Intelligence 5/6 - Awaken the Living Awareness Within ~ ∞ ~
Let us go a little further with this, shall we? By definition, information is that which informs; the word itself comes from the Latin verb informare, which means to give form, or to form an idea of. At its most fundamental, information is any propagation of cause and effect within a system; information is used for communicating a message, and is therefore an act of intelligence. One of the most recognized forms of information is DNA – a molecule that carries most of the genetic instructions used in the development, functioning and reproduction of all known living organisms; all living organisms share this key component – information of unknown origin, which is a living proof of an act of Intelligence. And so you see, the existence of the human body should be enough evidence for anyone that we are the products of an Intelligent Designer and Creator, and not merely the by-product of an accident. If one really stops to contemplate this magnificent feat, it becomes undeniable that everything points to an Intelligently Designed Universe; every attempt to prove otherwise points directly to this truth. Intriguing, isn’t it?
Here we arrive at an important point: DNA as we understand it today is a fairly recent discovery; and equally so is our understanding of it. This evidently brings us to a point of realization: certainly it has not brought us any substantial understanding of our true origins or any inkling of our true nature. The reason as to why this is so may be found in our perception. This brings about the question: Is it in the realm of possibility that we are looking at this wholeness through such a narrow perspective that we are only seeing a fraction of the whole? In other words, it seems as though we can’t see the forest for the trees.
We still know far too little about DNA and genetics to say anything substantial about what Life is and is not, how it came to be, and what role do we play in this great existence we call life; this is a much larger topic that will be covered later in this book. What we can say for certain is that since the discovery of the DNA double helix, a lot has happened, most notably in the area known as epigenetics*1 – yet, we are stuck in old ways of thinking and seeing. As a result, our ability to comprehend is also limited by the confines of the old paradigm*2. And so you see, at the moment we find ourselves in between conscious of the limitations of the old and needing a new paradigm which transcends not only our ways of thinking and seeing, but also our ways of living and being, doing and acting.
_______
*1 Epigenetics is the study of phenotype changes that do not involve alterations in the DNA sequence. Epigenetics most often denotes changes in a chromosome that affect gene activity and expression. The term also refers to the changes themselves: functionally relevant changes to the genome that do not involve a change in the nucleotide sequence. Examples of mechanisms that produce such changes are DNA methylation and histone modification, each of which alters how genes are expressed without altering the underlying DNA sequence.
*2 A paradigm is the collection of ideas and assumptions that pass from one generation to the next and which seem to be immutable. The paradigm shift, then, is when the paradigm shifts. In this process, everything that no longer serves its purpose – begins to fade away, to be replaced with something else; and with it goes all the old, outdated and outmoded structures that are limiting us. This in turn gives way to a new understanding, a new way of seeing, a new way of living, being, and doing. Paradigm shifts are necessary for growth and transformation. This area is explored more in detail in the section titled INFINITE, in a chapter Metaphysical Paradigm Shift.
By virtue of the aforementioned with regard to genetics, many fail to understand that DNA in its deepest essence is not merely some arbitrary representation of the molecules in our body, neither is it merely some static set of genetic instructions used in the growth, development, functioning and reproduction of living organisms, nor is it some predetermined destiny – it is way more than that. Indeed, the observable part of the DNA double helix is merely the surface level of the multilayered structure that goes beyond our current level of understanding. Again, this goes back to the way we see things: we humans are so insistent on the assumption that life is nothing more than self-organizing chemistry that we fail to consider other approaches.
If we shift our thinking to include such notions as energy, frequency, and vibration – it opens up a whole new level to our understanding; combined with the ideas of consciousness, awareness, and presence – we can achieve a perspective from which we can see that our DNA is alive – full of Living Intelligence that interacts with fields of information. From this perspective, we can also see that our DNA acts like a tuning crystal in a radio that focuses various frequencies and vibrations into the form we see as our bodies – our DNA is sending and receiving information all the time, whether we are aware of it or not.
It is against this backdrop that we can more easily understand the process through which this book came into being – that of Holofractographic Intelligent Emergence. As information is all around us, we can tune into these frequencies. You see, our DNA acts like an antenna that is able to receive different frequencies and information coded in these fields. In epigenetic level, there are natural mechanisms that can change how different genes express themselves – with these epigenetic changes we can tap into an infinite combinations of gene expressions, and thus into an infinite combinations of frequencies. This can be better understood with a simple analogy of a radio: all the channels (frequencies) exist at the same time, but we can only listen to one channel (frequency) at a time. It is a life-long process to learn how to change these channels, but it is indeed possible for everyone if they so choose.
Extra Material:Video: You're It - Alan Watts. Video description: "An inspiring and profound speech from the late Alan Watts. Speech extract from 'Zen Bones and Tales' by Alan Watts"
~ ∞ ~ Problems of Understanding the Quantum World - Awaken the Living Awareness Within ~ ∞ ~
Now, let us look more closely as to why it is challenging to understand all things quantum. The following overview outlines some of the aspects that we have overlooked, dismissed and ignored, and hence they are rarely even brought up in discussions. For the knowledgeable – to someone who has gained wider perspective, these aspects are obvious, but for someone who is deeply embedded, involved in, and influenced by the current scientific paradigm – not so much. You see, the continual exposure to something reduces our awareness of its presence, and so it goes that over time we become blind to the obvious; and for that reason, it is difficult for us to appreciate anything that goes against the norm, that is, logic and reason as we know and practice them today. That said, let us dive in.
When it comes to all things Quantum, metaphysical considerations are unavoidable and more important than most realize. In this respect, science could be the wisdom tradition par excellence of our modern age – but only after a paradigm shift. You see, if one is truly interested in comprehensive knowledge of the whole, it is necessary to burst open the bubble of every scientific dogma. The ever-emerging discoveries of quantum physics are thirsting for the next generation of daring thinkers to further unfold its deeper meaning. In this context, it is of paramount importance to highlight something that most fail to notice, or just simply don’t have the interest to delve into: the discoverers of quantum physics were deeply spiritual people; unlike many of today’s physicists, the founding fathers of quantum physics were passionately interested in the philosophical implications of their discoveries. This gets obviously clear when one takes the time and effort to actually read and study their thoughts and opinions about what they had discovered. A good place to start is, obviously, their own publications, but those who are not familiar with the subject matter, it can be said that what gets you really started is Fritjof Capra’s excellent 1975 book The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels Between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism.
For more than 100 years ago, Max Planck introduced his quantum theory, which can be regarded as the starting point for the modern day Quantum Mechanics. Even though so many years have passed since then, we still seem to be running in circles trying to figure out even the very basics. One of the biggest problems in understanding the Quantum Mechanical principles of nature is most definitely the very fact that somehow we have learned to label everything that even remotely relates to the Quantum World as being “weird” or “strange.” This predisposition sets the tone by defining our expectations, which in turn creates even more limitations to our already narrow way of thinking, giving less leeway to creative and innovative approaches. In other words, instead of breaking out of the box that is limiting our thinking, with this predisposition we are creating evermore tighter box around us than we already are in. The name Quantum Mechanics itself reflects not only the mechanistic worldview but also the underlying beliefs and assumptions therein; this in turn sets limits to our thinking and serves to constrain our ideas and solutions, you see?
As I started to write this chapter, it soon became obvious that the best approach to convey the message of this chapter was through personal experience. There was a time on my path several years ago when I used to listen different variety of lectures and speeches from various people, not only in the scientific world, but also in spiritual world as well. I spent countless hours on studying how consciousness, awareness, presence, intention, and focused attention relates to the Quantum World and the Quantum Mechanical principles of reality. During this time period, I became very familiar with both schools of thought (scientific, spiritual). I came to realize that in the scientific worldview, there seemed to be a repetitive tendency for making Quantum Mechanics to look more difficult than it really is – almost as if there were a concentrated effort to do so. Whether this was (is) done in an unconscious level or not, doesn’t really matter as much as the very fact that there is an unbeneficial pattern, a vicious cycle that needs to be broken – shattered into pieces, reordered, reconfigured and restructured, you see?
While I was listening the “best of the best” in the fields of Quantum Physics, Quantum Mechanics, and even Quantum Computing – I got almost irritated of the way in which these people kept presenting their understanding of the subject. What stood out for me especially was the fact that almost all of these people kept repeating the words “weird”, “strange”, “spooky,” and so on. I couldn’t but wonder what could possibly be the reason behind this repetitive statement that has absolutely nothing to do with actuality. Then it occurred to me that maybe it is the collective human tendency to compensate and alleviate one’s own uncertainty by projecting it to a larger audience. And so it goes that this doubt and uncertainty has therefore driven this same ‘spooky program’ for more than 100 years now.
With this kind of behavior we are constantly setting limits to ourselves by forcing ourselves to believe that the Quantum World is weird, and therefore difficult to understand. What makes the situation even worse is the fact that we continue to teach this very same thing over and over to our children – this results in that this same limiting belief is passed down to another generation(s). The truth of the matter is that every generation seems to be more adapted to this limiting belief because they accept the consensus opinion as default without even questioning its validity. This results in that the ‘average Jane & Joe’ has a very difficult time to grasp even the very basics, not to say anything about the deeper implications.
After a while, I got the impression that even the most educated scientists of today seemed not to be able to fully understand what they themselves were actually saying and lecturing about, and what they were studying and teaching to others. The problem here is that the scientifically oriented people most often seem to believe that the only way to understand the nature of the universe is through deterministic facts and evidence, but the very nature of Quantum Mechanics is indeterministic. To be honest, those people who like to believe that the world and its events are always certain and therefore deterministic – are fooling themselves, big time. When we take a look at the events in our own lives, we all come to realize that life is indeterministic. Therefore, all people all around the world can agree that no event is certain and the entire outcome of anything is a probability.
The aforementioned leads us to conclude that the worldview where nature and our own life are completely determined from the past to the future reflects the human need for certainty in an uncertain world. This brings us to one of the essential components of Quantum Mechanics, namely uncertainty principle, which is sometimes referred also to as Heisenberg’s indeterminancy principle; it states that precise, simultaneous measurement of some complementary variables – such as the position and momentum of a subatomic particle – is impossible. Contrary to the principles of classical physics, the simultaneous measurement of such variables is inescapably flawed. That is to say, the more precisely one is measured, the more flawed the measurement of the other will be. Werner Heisenberg explained his uncertainty principle in a 1927 paper as follows:
“The more precisely the position is determined, the less precisely the momentum is known in this instant, and vice versa.”
Somewhere along the way in my explorations of the Quantum World, I came to the conclusion that it must be the mathematical side of things (mind oriented logical approach) that’s distracting people from the simplicity of the quantum principles; thus making them less attracted to the beauty of the creative infinite potential within the mechanics itself. As you read on, it gets more clear why this is so (mind oriented thinking vs. intuition). In the context of Quantum Mechanics, this battle between the mind and the intuition seem to boil down to the argument whether the Schrödinger’s cat is dead or alive. This is to say that those individuals who perceive reality as only being solid, material and predictable – will always see the Schrödinger’s cat as being either dead or alive, and therefore they cannot grasp and accept the idea that the cat is actually both alive and dead at the same time (Quantum Superposition). This leads up to the judgement which denies the co-existent possibility, and therefore causes people to label everything quantum as being “weird.”
The problem originates from the way in which we acquire and process information, which goes on to say that in the world at large, the importance is often placed on the mind and the linear, rational thinking; this type of information gathering and processing is valued over the heart-based wisdom – it always builds up walls that narrow down our perception, and thus limit our understanding. In the modern world, our understanding comes largely from the mind oriented approach that always involves thinking instead of trusting our intuition. The basic problem with this kind of approach is the fact that the mind won’t ever be capable of understanding something that has been created “outside” of the human mind. This is to say that Living Life that’s made out of pure Living Awareness – Intelligence far more advanced than we currently know of – must be experienced directly for it to be known; this also means that in order to study Living Life, we would have to become conscious Co-Creators to fully know it. This implies understanding without using the thinking mind – Innerstanding, you see? At this point, in this context, it is good to remind ourselves of the truth that the human mind was originally created to handle and process worldly matters in physical reality – like figuring out how to use things as tools, not to exhaust ourselves with excess thinking – see?
In summary, it is important to remind ourselves of the following truth: because consciousness and its inherent awareness are the basis of all Living Life – there’s ultimately nothing to discover, but everything to be realized through our innate ability of being aware. It is evidently clear that if the scientists remain within the limited boundaries of their material worldview – they are going to continue running in circles. This goes on to say that in science everything meaningful has already been discovered, and there is nothing new to be found anymore – at least not in a traditional way; all that remains are more and more precise measurement; what makes the difference is how skillfully we learn to utilize everything we have already discovered. Hence, it goes without saying that once we reach a new way of thinking that will liberate our minds not only from dogma and bias, but also from ignorance and hubris, can we truly proclaim to do proper science. It would certainly help if the bubble of scientific dogma would burst open, and as a result, scientism would be dismantled altogether, would it not? To crystallize the message of this chapter, let us end with these words by Nikola Tesla:
“The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane; The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena, it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of its existence.”
~ ∞ ~ The Essence of Zen - Awaken the Living Awareness Within ~ ∞ ~
We As Organism - Alan Watts Lecture. And when you look at the world in that image—or in the other image that it’s a stupid mechanism—either point of view you take, you don’t really belong. You’re not really part of all this. And I could use a stronger word than ‘part,’ only we don’t have it in English. We have to say something like ‘connected with it,’ ‘essential to it.’ Or, to put it in the strongest possible way, it is quite alien to Western thought to conceive that the external world—which is defined as something that happens to you, and your body itself is something that you got caught up with—it is quite alien to our thought to consider all that as you, yourself. Because you see, we have such a myopic view of what one’s self is. It’s as if, in other words, we selected how much experience is really to be regarded as “me,” as if you focused your attention on certain restricted areas of the whole panorama of things that you experience and say “I will take sides with that much of it.”
Now, we come here—right at the start—to an extremely important principle, which is the different points of view you get when you change your level of magnification. That is to say, you can look at something with a microscope and see it a certain way, you can look at it with a naked eye and see it in a certain way, you look at it with a telescope and you see it in another way. Now, which level of magnification is the correct one? Well, obviously, they’re all correct, but they’re just different points of view. You can, for example, look at a newspaper photograph under a magnifying glass and where, with the naked eye, you will see a human face, with a magnifying glass you will just see a profusion of dots rather meaninglessly scattered. But as you stand away from that collection of dots, which all seem to be separate and apart from each other, they suddenly arrange themselves into a pattern. And you see that these individual dots add up to some kind of sense.
Now you’ll see at once, from this illustration, that maybe you—when you take a myopic view of yourself, as most of us do—but you may add up to some kind of sense that is not apparent to you in your ordinary consciousness. When we examine our bloodstreams under a microscope we see there’s one hell of a fight going on. All sorts of microorganisms are chewing each other up. And if we got overly fascinated with our view of our own bloodstreams in the microscope we should start taking sides, which would be fatal. Because the health of our organism depends on the continuance of this battle. What is, in other words, conflict at one level of magnification is harmony at a higher level. Now could it possibly be, therefore, that we—with all our problems, conflicts, neuroses, sicknesses, political outrages, wars, tortures and everything that goes on in human life—are a state of conflict which can be seen in a larger perspective as a situation of harmony?
~ ∞ ~ On Intelligence 4/6 - Awaken the Living Awareness Within ~ ∞ ~
By virtue of the aforementioned with regard to information, knowledge, and intelligence, it is worth highlighting the following: there is a definite connection between awareness, understanding, and intelligence. This triune connection is interesting in more ways than one. You see, intelligence needs understanding, which in turn needs awareness. Intelligence cannot be intelligence without understanding, and understanding cannot take place without awareness because understanding takes place in consciousness, you see? This brings us to an important point: understanding, knowledge, and intelligence are intimately linked to, connected with, and dependent upon both consciousness and awareness. This brings up a whole host of other questions, the most obvious being: Is life conscious? Other such questions include: Can matter become conscious? When does matter become conscious, or can it ever become conscious at all? If we really tune into this idea, one can find through personal, subjective experience, that in all actuality, only consciousness is conscious, and only awareness is aware; and that our ability to be aware enables us to express consciousness through which we experience the world, you see? What does that say about life, then?
And when it comes to chaos, randomness, and disorder — it is essential to note that what we humans perceive as randomness, may instead reflect a degree of complexity of order that we have yet to decode in understandable form. What we classify as being mere randomness, may indeed be Intelligence so far beyond our current level of understanding and comprehension that we disregard it altogether by denoting it as randomness, or just simply labeling it as “disorder”; such level of Intelligence we humans have yet to recognize — after all, we cannot recognize, let alone know something that we are not yet aware of. In actuality, nature is neither essentially ordered or disordered. You see, what we perceive as regular, patterned information — we classify as order; what we perceive as irregular, unpatterned information — we classify as disorder. The appearance of order and disorder implies more about the way in which we process information than the intrinsic presence of order or disorder in nature — see?
If one sees the universe as a medium through which information is communicated, shared and exchanged, they can also picture the universe as one enormously big, gigantic cell containing all the information life needs to expand, develop and unfold. What makes it remarkable is that this type of information coded in the fabric of the universe by entropy is a magnificent feat, isn’t it? If one sees the universe as a gigantic process of becoming, of attaining new levels of existence and organization, continually transforming work of art by the master artist, they can easily picture the following: the very fabric of the universe being a canvas of a non-material vibrating energy in which frequency, vibration, consciousness, and awareness express themselves creatively. You see, it is the very nature of life to intelligently seek to expand, develop and unfold — often in surprising and novel ways. Wouldn’t this then suggest that there is a Greater Intelligence at work here? You see, using entropy as a tool to achieve something like the universe we find ourselves in — is nothing short of spectacular, or do you beg to differ?
Against this backdrop, it can easily be said that in the beginning there was Pure Information, from which everything else is derived. This kind of information is beyond any words can describe — it is something we don’t have words in our vocabulary to describe. What can be said about it, though, is that it has no units and predated energy, and thus no entropy. How can this be? Well, you see, Pure Information just “IS.” It springs from Pure Being, that is, Living Awareness, or more simply, presence; it springs from that which has always been, always is, and always will be — see? Consider, for a moment, a universe of pure awareness with the appearance of material reality. Now, you are at the point where you can begin to see the bigger picture. Pure Information helps energy evolve so that the process of universe can continue to create life, including us human beings; it is also the very “place” or “source” from which these words arise — see? While all this may go way over your head at this point, the bigger picture will emerge — eventually.
While one marvels at the extraordinary nature of the situation, one cannot help but arrive at the conclusion that wisdom lies in paradox — for you see, even if something contradicts itself, it can still be true; some would call this ‘coincidentia oppositorum,’ or just simply Unity of Opposites. A thing is both what it is and what it is not, and yet it somehow escapes contradiction — that’s how the Miracle of Life is possible — see? It goes without saying that things would go much easier for us if we were to embrace the paradoxical character of life, time, and the cosmos, alongside with the coincidentia oppositorum. But for some reason, it is difficult for us to appreciate anything that goes against the norm, that is, logic and reason as we know and practice them today.
Extra Material:Video: You're It - Alan Watts. Video description: "An inspiring and profound speech from the late Alan Watts. Speech extract from 'Zen Bones and Tales' by Alan Watts"
~ ∞ ~ On Intelligence 3/6 - Awaken the Living Awareness Within ~ ∞ ~
This being the case, we need to add another layer to this discussion, that of protolanguage – a parent language from which actual languages are derived; or as some would say, exolinguistics, xenolinguistics. This kind of language is universal, having the ability to convey different meanings to different people at different times. These kinds of symbols or archetypal alphabets (seen both in this book and on the website) are encoded within the very fabric of our reality, which is another way of saying that the roots of all the languages in all cultures lead to a singular multidimensional source – transcending both space and time, you see?
If one wishes to better understand this, it may be immensely helpful to “flip the script” for a moment and consider a different kind of approach than what we are accustomed to. In so doing, one can easily entertain the idea that not only space and time, but also matter and form, and even energy – are concepts that appear in consciousness; and thereby phenomena that we perceive through our senses, of which the mind is the primary sense-organ. In other words, all experience and phenomena happens in consciousness – see? Against this backdrop, we can easily see that there is nowhere to go but in, which is another way of saying that in regards to space and time – there really is no space “out there,” and no universal clock “anywhere” to keep time. Rather, there is but an appearance of space and time, matter and form; and thus, it is all here – within the Innerverse, residing within each and every one of us. Within the heart, within the Innerverse, in the deepest core of our being, there is a sacred space where the Creator dwells – the Divine Presence is found there, alongside with Living Intelligence and Living Wisdom. As we delve into this, we find that there is something beyond the surface – we call this something, Living Awareness, which is the key to unlock the treasure within, you see?
It seems as though this unexplored world of consciousness – Innerverse, is both the great mystery we are afraid to explore, and dogma that we are too afraid and reluctant to burst open. Someday soon, once we reach a new way of thinking that will liberate our minds not only from bias and illusion, but also from ignorance and hubris, can we approach this from another perspective. This inner transformation could ignite the spark of interest to reach toward something new and exciting; it could spark the flame of curiosity and the will to discover one’s True Self; strive to push the boundaries of what is possible, so that we could gradually venture into the unknown – to discover what lies beyond the limits of the known, you see? There already are some who have crossed over to discover the Great Unknown – hopefully someday soon, many more will follow, for there is plenty more to discover, a plethora of questions to be asked, and lots of answers to be found – the key resides within, you see?
And so you see, in actuality, all information is already within us, which makes information accessible to anyone. It helps tremendously if we think in this way: everything we have ever wanted to know about Life is within us – our bodies are composed of cells, each cell is a fragment of the whole, and yet each cell contains the blueprint for life. What a marvelous revelation, don’t you think? This means that the Source Code of Life and the vast array of memory banks are readily available to be read, analyzed and interpreted by everyone. All we need to do is to become aware of this hidden treasure within each of us and start reading the Book of Life. That said, it should also be acknowledged that yes, of course, we can analyze our DNA by using modern technology, but the simple truth is that it can only take us so far. There is so much more within us that no external technology can ever show us, and so the only way to access this vast array of information is to use our innate internal technology.
And when it comes to information itself – well, this is an interesting one to say the least, because it is one of those “chicken and egg” type of situations. There are two facets to look at here: first, information in general, which we will take a look at in a moment. Second, information as it pertains to this book – well, no one can say from where or when it originates exactly. Why? Because of the paradoxical nature of it all. You see, one could easily entertain the idea that alongside with the paradoxical nature of information itself, we are dealing with another paradox called “bootstrap paradox.” It occurs when the consequences of an event in the future travel back in time and cause an event in the past or present, which in turn is among the causes of the first event, forming a causal loop in which both events are caused by each other. In case of information, this means that it no longer has a discernible point of origin, and thus is said to be “uncaused” or “self-created,” and thus “self-emergent.”
This presents an interesting conundrum: Is information created, or is it discovered? And if information, and as an extension, knowledge, and even Universal Wisdom – is indeed discovered rather than created, can we then say that information just “is?” Furthermore, is it not indeed the case that in the same sense, nothing is ever invented, only discovered? You see, there are more wonders to be discovered in this universe and beyond than one could ever dream of, are there not? What we can say with certainty is that information in itself is, indeed, a paradox. For instance: we are information, yet we are uncertainty, and paradoxically enough, information is thought to be the resolution of uncertainty; the more we know, the more we realize how much we don’t know – see?
What is certain, though, is that in whatever kind of way the universe and life as we know it came into being, is sustained, and continues to express itself – is due to information and intelligence. The concept of information has different meanings in different contexts, but generally, across the board, information signifies intelligence; other than that, information is considered to be a form of entropy*1, which in turn signifies chaos, randomness, and disorder. However, entropy is also the process of arrangement. You see, the interesting part is that all life arises out of chaos with ordered set of information (something being informed, and thus in form), which goes on to say that life, in and of itself, is one gigantic process of passing down information. Does it not, then, qualify as intelligence? Here we should remember one important truth: information itself is not intelligence, which means that information by itself is useless and meaningless, unless it is acted upon. And so you see, to use it, a system/entity/person needs enough knowledge to know what it means, and enough know-how to do something with it.
_______
*1 Entropy can best be described as follows: everything that comes together falls apart. In other words, it is the nature of this universe that entropy increases over time, which means that everything in the universe tends towards disorder or chaos. For example, all living things age and die, they don’t get younger; mechanical things tend to wear out and break down; bricks are not naturally stacked up nicely or become part of a building unless someone has put a lot of effort into making it. And so it seems that chaos or disorder is more probable in the universe than order. This goes on to say that chaos or disorder is the backdrop against which order (life, intelligence) can be seen.
Extra Material:Video: You're It - Alan Watts. Video description: "An inspiring and profound speech from the late Alan Watts. Speech extract from 'Zen Bones and Tales' by Alan Watts"
~ ∞ ~ Living Quantum World: A New Synthesis of Wisdom - Awaken the Living Awareness Within ~ ∞ ~
In the previous sections, we explored not only the core of our being, but also the essence of reality. In our discussion, we considered the relationship of our experience to reality, how our experience of life is filtered through our senses, how our thoughts, feelings, emotions, and intentions affect and shape our reality. The discussion in this section continues the trend by expanding our exploration to cover science of reality, as it were. As such, it is a natural continuation of the previous sections and chapters. In this section, we will further our understanding of life and our experience of it, by expanding our horizon even further – it is dedicated to the Mysteries of the Quantum World, as the title suggests. The purpose of this section is not by any means to give an all-encompassing overview of the subject, neither is it to give a lecture of some kind, nor is it to focus on physics, math and formulas – rather, the purpose of this section is to expand one’s own thinking; to open up new perspectives and ways of seeing.
By now, at this point in the book, it must have become obviously clear that there is an overarching theme throughout this book, namely Interconnectedness of Everything. This section is no exception as it continues to highlight the importance of this Truth. That said, there is one thing to keep in mind before we dive in: Quantum Mechanics is by no means the end-all-be-all way to understand the deeper mysteries of Life, neither is it some magical solution that will fix all of our problems, but it is a very useful tool that can most certainly provide a wonderful bridge to what is yet to be realized, acknowledged, understood, accepted and appreciated by humanity as a whole.
All things Quantum is just the beginning in a long journey of discovery. As is the case with so many other things, in due time, and in due course, Quantum Physics will have a paradigm shift of its own, so that we will one day redefine, in ways not yet imaginable, reality. In other words, as it has become apparent from the previous sections, there is more to life and reality than meets the eye – a spiritual dimension or component, if you will. And so you see, without integrating this component as part of our worldview, we will always fall short in our attempts to understand Life. To evolve and develop further – as individuals and as a species, we need a synthesis of science and spirituality, a combination of both – modern and ancient wisdom – see?
Now, let us begin with the following: we as the collective human species have come far on our journey to understand our relationship with the world and the larger universe, our place in the world that conforms to the reality of Creation and of our place within it. Our modern-day understanding about the nature of reality has improved profoundly thanks to Quantum Physics and Quantum Mechanics; the latter being a subset of physics that does its best to explain the behaviors of matter and light on the molecular, atomic and subatomic scales. What’s interesting is that Quantum Mechanics indicates a fundamental discontinuity in the nature of all phenomena, yet we perceive a seamlessly coherent world around us.
This macroscopic integration of a seamless reality from which we derive the characteristics of space and time leads us to believe that they are somehow independent entities in themselves, which brings us to an important point: we are so conditioned to believe that space and time are a priori determining conditions of Creation that we easily forget, or better yet, willingly and willfully ignore the fact that there may be some other factors in play; factors that are found deep beneath the surface. You see, if we look deeper, we can find that instead of a lonely void with isolated particles moving through it – space appears to be filled with connections and interconnected fields; these quantum fields are energy, manifesting into form when they intersect. This is why ideas, concepts and metaphors transform into a web of information and weaving, or to the world of dreams and infinite possibility.
From this, it becomes clear that the Quantum World opens up a totally new level to our understanding of the world. The understanding from the Quantum World challenges our entrenched beliefs about the nature of reality, and thus it goes without saying that this new paradigm shifting synthesis of knowledge will usher in a whole new era for humanity. And so it goes that eventually, we will face the inevitable – we need to modify the deeply entrenched belief that body and mind; spirit and nature; mind and matter – are separate and distinct. This will change the way we see and experience reality, the way we live and act, which goes on to say that it is inevitable for us to develop a holistic view of life. It will open up new ways of thinking and being – resulting in sustainable living, prosperity and blossoming humanity as a whole – see?
Now, if we take a brief moment to consider the differences between the classical view of the world (“legacy physics”) and the new paradigm shifting view (Quantum World) – one may be better equipped to understand everything that was discussed in earlier sections – PROLOGUE, INFINITE, TRANSFORMATION, LIFE, CONSCIOUSNESS, AWARENESS – respectively. The basic premise of classical physics is that the world is material – made from the solid basic building blocks called particles. This material world is based in time & space, and is regarded as being highly predictable. This type of classical or “legacy” physics assumes that there exists an external reality independent of our perception of it; and yet quite interestingly, when the science goes down to the very core of even the most solid-looking object – separateness dissolves, and all that remains are a set of relationships, revealing a deeper level of reality – Interconnectedness of All Things.
This means that everything connects to everything else and nothing is separate from the whole. The interesting part is that the subatomic particles themselves come into form and are observed only as they are in relationship with something else; particles come into being through the interactions with other forms of energy. These unseen connections are fundamental ingredient of all Creation – see? Interconnectedness of Everything is a key factor in the Quantum World – relationships are everything. There are no familiar ways to comprehend the levels of interconnectedness within the Quantum World – so the best way to get a glimpse of it is to think in terms of infinitely repeating self-similar patterns known as fractals. A fractal is a natural phenomenon or a mathematical set that exhibits a repeating pattern – a pattern that displays at every scale.
Another way is to think in terms of an invisible interconnected network, or mycelial network of sorts. You see, mycelium of belowground fungi connect plants and trees together and have even been shown to communicate with each other*1, which makes it “Earth’s Natural Internet,” doesn’t it? Besides communicating, through this interconnected network, mycelium can transport nutrients between different plants or trees. In much the same way as the mycelial network connects plants and trees together, so can the Quantum World be imagined to work as well – connecting the seen and the unseen, the outer and the inner, uniting the small and large-scale happenings seamlessly together – making instantaneous communication possible. If we combine this idea with fractals and holograms (Holographic Fractal Nature of Reality), we would get something as amazing as the “Holofractographic Mycelial Quantum Network” – a vast microscopic web spanning across the multiverse, an intergalactic, interdimensional ecosystem, or an infinite number of roads leading everywhere.
In whatever way this communication in the Quantum World happens, it surely is both more complex than we can imagine, and yet more simple than we think. To further understand this, let us introduce a term that frequently appears in discussions of this kind.
In the Quantum World, entanglement is a phenomenon in which two particles can communicate instantaneously to one another – this enables them to behave like one object even though they are physically apart; something is clearly connecting them faster than the speed of light.
The integral part of entanglement is instant communication – meaning that connectivity is “outside” time and space. The key principle of entanglement is correlation; this means that throughout the universe subatomic particles act as they are connected to each other – meaning that what we do to one particle at one location, happens for another at different location – see?
A musical style called Jazz conveys perfectly the idea of interrelated connections within the quantum canvas of Creation. Jazz musicians are sensing the nature of the Quantum World – only requirement is to be present in the moment and to be willing to surrender to the flow of inspiration through improvisation. In Jazz, the players have a shared idea of what they might play; they agree on the melody, tempo and key, but the music itself rely heavily on improvisation. The players listen carefully, communicate constantly, and suddenly there is music with the possibilities beyond anything imagined. The music itself comes from the interconnected whole – the unified field of information in which patterns are contained within patterns. And so you see, every player have accessed this field among themselves, which goes on to say that this type of music is undivided wholeness in flowing movement, or a relationship that transcends the sense of separateness – fascinating, isn’t it?