~ ∞ ~ Awaken the Living Awareness Within: Human Genome (DNA) ~ ∞ ~
Awaken the Living Awareness Within Glossary
The human genome is the complete set of nucleic acid sequences for humans, encoded as DNA within the 23 chromosome pairs in cell nuclei and in a small DNA molecule found within individual mitochondria. The total length of the human genome is over 3 billion base pairs. The genome is organized into 22 paired chromosomes, plus the X chromosome (one in males, two in females) and, in males only, one Y chromosome. These are all large linear DNA molecules contained within the cell nucleus. The genome also includes the mitochondrial DNA, a comparatively small circular molecule present in each mitochondrion.
~ ∞ ~ The Essence of Zen - Awaken the Living Awareness Within ~ ∞ ~
Now that we have covered the basics, it is time to take a closer look at the Essence of Zen, so that we can better understand the upcoming chapters – in particular those dealing with the ideas of consciousness, awareness, and existence in general. In this chapter, our focus is placed on examining the very core of Zen philosophy – that of mindfulness or effortless state of being. Mindfulness, in and of itself, facilitates direct intuitive insight (called wisdom) into the ever-changing, conditioned nature of all phenomena from moment to moment; it facilitates understanding that everything is interconnected, and that there is no separate permanent entity such as a self, separated from others, with absolute control over processes and events of life. When one has the understanding that we are part of the whole and the whole is part of us, that all living things have consciousness, and are inseparably linked to all other living things in this Great Cosmic Web of Life – it can be the key that unlocks inner peace and harmony within, you see?
Although the Essence of Zen may be impossible to capture in words, it doesn’t mean that we cannot discuss Zen. In fact, it can be immensely helpful to discuss Zen – what it is, and what it isn’t. On that note, it is important to keep in mind that language is an external representation of what we perceive or experience – often times used to denote and describe past events. And because language cannot ever describe the true essence of our existence and our experience of it, we are forced to use signs and symbols in an effort to express something that is very much inexpressible. Thus, no matter what we say, it will always be limited and insufficient to capture the essence that can only be experienced directly – this is especially true with everything Zen related. You see, words can only point to the direct experience which goes beyond any words and definitions. Language can only convey an idea of what direct experiencing is like and what it isn’t; experiencing reality just-as-it-is means that it has to be expressed in daily life – not in words, ideas or concepts.
As to what Zen is, the Buddhist scholar D.T. Suzuki gave the following description in his essay, An Introduction to Zen Buddhism. The description below opens the door to the idea of awareness, which in turn gives us the chance to understand life as a unified, interconnected whole, in which patterns are contained within patterns – just like our consciousness is embedded in awareness, you see?
The idea of Zen is to catch life as it flows. There is nothing extraordinary or mysterious about Zen. I raise my hand; I take a book from the other side of the desk; I hear the boys playing ball outside my window; I see the clouds blown away beyond the neighboring woods – in all these I am practicing Zen, I am Living Zen. No wordy discussion is necessary, nor any explanation... When the sun rises, the whole world dances with joy and everybody’s heart is filled with bliss. If Zen is at all conceivable, it must be taken hold of here.
The word Zen is derived from the Japanese word Chán, which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna – meaning “meditation” or “meditative state”; dhyana is the practicing of the inward life – the silent realization by which the individual is instructed in the great universal truths. Even though the word Zen is derived from Sanskrit, Zen is much more than just meditation and dhyana in its ordinary sense, and hence it can be said that meditation is not Zen. When we talk about meditation we are talking about reaching in, looking inside. In the context of Zen, it is worth pointing out that the highest meditation is simply to be – effortlessly; being aware of being aware, you see? This is consciousness knowing its own being, which is the only activity that is absolutely effortless. To give an example: even blinking requires more effort than being established in one’s true nature – this is why true meditation is always truly effortless.
The emphasis on the present moment is perhaps the most distinctive characteristic of Zen – more than anything else, Zen is about reclaiming and expanding the present moment. A typical Zen understanding is that life exists in the present or nowhere at all, which goes on to say that we come out of the world, not into it, and thus we are each expressions of the world. This means that we’re not some strangers in a strange land, or flukes of consciousness in a blind, unintelligent, unliving universe – like our current scientific paradigm teaches us. When life exists in the present – it means that there’s just one event with multiple aspects unfolding here and now. Therefore, it is important to have our focus on the present moment. In other words, trying to see all of life at once is like trying to explore a vast cave with a box of matches – kind of pointless, would you agree?
The basic idea of Zen is to come in touch with the inner workings of our own being, and to do this in the most direct way possible, you see? The discipline of Zen consists in opening the mental eye in order to look into the very reason of existence itself; Zen, therefore – is a total state of focus that incorporates a total togetherness of body and mind. This goes on to say that Zen is a way of being – a state of mind that involves dropping the illusion and seeing the world as-it-is, without the distortion created by our own thoughts, emotions and feelings. Zen is, therefore, a way of living, a way of being in the world; it is the achieving the balance between the world and the Self, you see?
Zen is always directed towards the world, not away from it, and because of this – it opens up the shapes, forms, objects, textures, materials, colors, actions, and events, in both time and in space, you see? In other words, Zen means waking up to the world, and therefore it is also the realization of the beauty of life. From this, it becomes obvious that the beautiful Art of Lucid Living arises from the conscious realization that life is a continuous process of evolvement and development, including different stages and cycles of learning, integrating, and expressing.
In Zen, we find all the philosophy of the East in crystallized form – nevertheless, Zen is not a philosophy in the ordinary sense of the term; Zen is not founded upon logic and intellectual analysis – instead of concepts, Zen deals with living facts of life, which goes on to say that whatever teachings there are in Zen, they come out in one’s own mind. In other words, we teach ourselves – Zen merely points the way, you see? This means that in Zen, there is really nothing that could be taught to a student – every person must discover Zen within oneself. Zen ultimately is, and remains a path that one should follow with a joyous and loving heart, and hence each individual decides how far and how fast they want to progress. That said, it should kept in mind that you alone are your own best master, and thus you should listen to yourself and your inner voice – it alone will lead you to success.
If someone were to ask if Zen is a religion; to that, the simple answer would be: no, Zen is not a religion – Zen is neither monotheistic nor pantheistic; Zen is free from all the dogmatic and “religious” constraints, and hence does not attach any intrinsic importance to sacred texts. Zen emphasizes the inner spiritual experience, and therefore Zen is the spirit of all religions and philosophies, you see?
~ ∞ ~ Satori ~ ∞ ~
Zen in its basic essence is the art of seeing into the nature of one’s own being; in Zen, Satori is ‘a glimpse of truth’ or a sudden moment of awakening – seeing into one’s true nature; Zen is a product of Satori – achieved by the deepening of one’s experience even further and bringing it into maturation by continuous practice.
Naturally, then, Zen emphasizes the attainment of freedom and points the way from bondage to being fully free – being free from all unnatural constraints. Being free means of giving free play to all the creative and benevolent impulses inherently lying in our hearts – Zen liberates all these energies naturally stored within each of us. In other words, Zen is the Spirit of Man – a way to his inner purity and goodness.
Every human being has within themselves the potentiality of becoming awakened, if one so wills it and endeavours. Each of us have the potentiality to wake up from the dream of life – as we ordinarily take it to be, and find out who we really and truly are – pure awareness. This kind of an awakened individual is one who knows the truth about all things, one who knows just what is what, and so is capable of behaving appropriately with respect to all things. In other words, the knowing in body, mind, and Soul – that we are One with the Omnipresence of God; and that there is just God’s Infinite Being that we are inseparable part of. When this innermost wisdom is truly awakened, we are able to realize that each and every one of us is identical in Spirit, in essence, in nature with the universal Eternal Living Life.
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"
~ ∞ ~ 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.
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*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"
~ ∞ ~ 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.
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*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"
~ ∞ ~ The Essence of Zen - Awaken the Living Awareness Within ~ ∞ ~
Myth of Myself is a lecture from the Tao of Philosophy series. It delves deep into the mystery of self and the sensations of ego; comparing Western and Eastern mythologies of how "I" came to be. Did God create us with intention? Did blind forces of the universe collide together and in the process churn out people as a byproduct? The Tao of Philosophy album is part of the Essential Lectures Collection and began its life as the first essential lecture series in 1972 after Alan Watts asked his son Mark to compile a collection of core talks. The series looks at issues of identity, our place in nature, and the limits of symbolic thinking.
I believe that if we are honest with ourselves, that the most fascinating problem in the world is “Who am I?” What do you mean, what do you feel when you say the word “I”, “I, Myself”? I do not think there can be any more fascinating preoccupation than that because it is so mysterious, it’s so elusive. Because what you are in your inmost being escapes your examination in rather the same way that you can not look directly into your own eyes without using a mirror, you can’t bite your own teeth, you can’t taste your own tongue and you can’t touch the tip of this finger with the tip of this finger. And that is why there is always an element of profound mystery in the problem of who we are. This problem has fascinated me for many years and I have made many enquiries “What do you mean by the word I?” And there is a certain consensus about this, a certain agreement, especially among people who live in Western civilization.
Most of us feel “I” – ego, myself, my source of consciousness – to be a center of awareness and of a source of action that resides in the middle of a bag of skin and so we have what I have called the conception of ourselves as a skin-encapsulated ego. It is very funny how we use the word “I”, if we just refer to common speech, we are not accustomed to say, “I am a body.” We rather say, “I have a body.” We do not say, “I beat my heart” in the same way as we say, “I walk, I think, I talk.” We feel that our heart beats itself, and that has nothing very much to do with “I.” In other words, we do not regard “I, myself” as identical with our whole physical organism. We regard it as something inside it, and most Western people locate their ego inside their heads. You are somewhere between your eyes and between your ears, and the rest of you dangles from that point of reference. It is not so in other cultures. When a Chinese or Japanese person wants to locate the center of himself, he points (here, not here, here) to what Japanese call the kokoro or the Chinese call shin, the heart-mind. Some people also locate themselves in the solar plexus, but by and large we locate ourselves behind the eyes and somewhere between the ears.
Western man has, for many centuries, been under the influence of two great myths. When I use the word “myth” I don’t necessarily mean falsehood. To me the word myth signifies a great idea in terms of which man tries to make sense with the world; it may be an idea, it may be an image. Now the two images which have most profoundly influenced Western man are: number one – the image of the world as an artifact, like a carpenter’s table or a jar made by a potter. Indeed, in the Book of Genesis there comes the idea that man was originally a clay figurine made out of the Earth by the Lord God who then breathed into this clay figurine and gave it life. The whole of Western thought is profoundly influenced through and through by the idea that all things – all events, all people, all mountains, all stars, all flowers, all grasshoppers, all worms, everything – are artifacts; they have been made. And it is therefore natural for a Western child to say to its mother, “How was I made?” That would be quite an unnatural question for a Chinese child, because the Chinese do not think of nature as something made. They look upon it as something that grows, and the two processes are quite different. When you make something you put it together: you assemble parts, or you carve an image out of wood or stone, working from the outside to the inside. But when you watch something grow, it works in an entirely different way. It doesn’t assemble parts. It expands from within and gradually complicates itself, expanding outwards, like a bud blossoming, like a seed turning into a plant...