Infinite Quantum Zen

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Infinite Fractal of Creation 1 of 2, The Book of Zen Awareness mindfulness key to happiness peace joy

~ ∞ ~ Infinite Fractal of Creation 1/2 - Awaken the Living Awareness Within ~ ∞ ~

As a natural continuation of the previous chapter, where we talked about the Intelligence of Life and its miraculous nature, this chapter will deepen our understanding of the same. In a way, it is both a necessary preliminary exploration of what comes up in the following few chapters, and an appetizer which will give you just enough to ignite the spark of interest, but not too much to overwhelm you with the details – although the following few pages are somewhat rich in detail. In due time, and in due course, the terms, ideas, and concepts that are presented in this chapter will get more context around them as they are discussed more thoroughly in the pages to come.

So now, then, let us start with the following: the universe we find ourselves in, is thought to have a beginning. Likewise, it is also thought that life as we know life to exist, must have a beginning, as well. Everything that exists must therefore have a cause for its existence, and because the universe exists – it too, must have a cause for its existence, doesn’t it?

In the context of existence, when it comes to us human beings, one can draw the conclusion that we exist because we do, and we are here, because we exist. This gets particularly interesting when we expand our discussion to cover both life and death, existence and non-existence; this happens in later sections and chapters – all in due time, as they say. What can be said about it, though, is the following: that which exists cannot ever truly become non-existent, for you see, nothing ultimately ever dies, only changes form – transforms and transcends.

When we account for the fact that life as we know life to exist – is the combination of ever-changing physical and mental energies; and that energy is eternal, just like mass–energy equivalence states – energy equals matter, and matter equals energy – this too, points to the First Cause that set the energy in motion in the first place, doesn’t it? From this, the question arises: Where did that energy come from?

If time and matter came into existence with the so-called “Big Bang,” the power that initiated the universe and set the energy in motion must not be bound by time and space within the universe. Therefore, this First Cause must transcend time and space, for neither existed until it created the universe; since it is timeless, it is eternal, without beginning or end; since it transcends space, it is non-physical, or immaterial; since it can create a universe out of nothing, there must be no limits to its power – it is all-powerful, you see?

Furthermore, if the First Cause is immaterial, timeless, and all-powerful, it cannot have created the universe out of necessity – it must have chosen to do so. This surely suggests that we are not the result of random chance, doesn’t it? All this, then, taken as a whole, can be called Creation. Creation is a symbolic narrative of the beginning of the world as understood in a particular tradition and community – in other words, Creation myths tell us how things began.

Let us explore this further. As cultures, we identify ourselves through the collective dreams we call Creation myths or Cosmogonies; they explain in metaphorical terms our sense of who we are in the context of the world. All cultures have Creation myths that are of central importance for the valuation of the world, for the orientation of humans in the universe, and for the basic patterns of life and culture.

As an example of a Creation story, in Taoist Cosmogony, the Tao (Way) gave birth to Unity; Unity gave birth to Duality; Duality gave birth to Trinity; Trinity gave birth to the myriad creatures. The myriad creatures bear Yin on their back, and embrace Yang in their bosoms. Yin and Yang neutralize each other, and hence the unification brings about dynamic balance.

Thus, the world is a dance of the two opposing, yet harmonious forces in the universe: Yin and Yang, mystery and form. Underlying this ever-fluid dynamic motion, underlying this dance of the two seemingly opposing forces, there is a cosmic order – innate harmony inherent to all life. This cosmic order has a discontinuous character, but what makes it fascinating is that it is structured in such a way that it integrates space and time, matter and form.

At the most fundamental level, this means that atoms are synchronously projected in a very rapid discontinuous succession throughout the universe – like successive frames in a film, you see? In fact, each individual atom is like an independent frame in a holographic cosmic film; it appears as a particle, then it loses its particulate identity in an alternate quantized mode, thus becoming a spatially indeterminate quantum bundle of energy; then it reappears as a particle again, and so on and so forth, you see?

The existence itself is an interplay of these patterns of energy in an ever-fluid relationship. In essence, all life is living and vibrating energy, and therefore we are immersed in an ocean of vibration, in an ocean of frequency, in an ocean of consciousness. The energy that is around and within us flows and moves in constant, ever-changing currents through time and space. We as human beings are calling this timeless play of light and its shadow, simply, “life.”

In other words, the very structure of existence revolves around holographically patterned living fractals, which are a play of light and its shadow – Infinity, reflecting from itself – appearing to itself as a multiplicity of finite worlds, refracting itself into a multiplicity of finite minds.

All this, residing in consciousness, inside which a flame of Living Awareness infinitely flickers. Infinite Living Awareness expressing itself, dancing the Cosmic Dance – a constant cycle of expansion and contraction. In this holographically patterned Infinite Fractal of Creation, everything contains the seeds of everything else – even the smallest particle contains the seeds of the entire universe.

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~ ॐ ~ Sambodhi Padmasamadhi ~ ∞ ~

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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"

Infinite Living System 2 of 2 The Miracle of Life, the book of zen awareness alan watts mindfulness key to happiness

~ ∞ ~ Infinite Living System (The Miracle of Life) 2/2 - Awaken the Living Awareness Within ~ ∞ ~

Now, let me ask you this: As it stands, is it not, indeed so, that the prevailing belief in the science-driven Western world is that humans are nothing special in the context of the Cosmos? Is it not, indeed, the prevailing custom to believe that the Earth and its inhabitants are just a big ‘cosmic accident’ of some sort?

In this context, it goes without saying that it is the epitome of ignorance to believe that life is merely incidental and accidental part of the universe, despite everything telling us otherwise – or do you beg to differ?

If one really stops to contemplate this magnificent feat – the “fine-tuned” universe and everything in it – galaxies, stars, planets, and all other forms of matter and energy; the existence of the human body, a biological marvel, one of a kind – 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?

As it turns out, the probability of life existing at all has been calculated many times over. It has been said that the odds against the existence of life on Earth are on the order of 10^10^123. That’s so massively unlikely it’s almost impossible to fathom.

In other words, the fine-tuning odds are so infinitesimal that fine-tuning cannot be passed off as a mere coincidence, and thus one cannot but arrive at the conclusion that the existence of intelligent life in the universe is so incredibly rare that one should consider that it only happened once, which means that the “accidental” or “coincidental” creation of our universe is an impossibility.

And when these two rare occurrences – the creation of our fine-tuned universe and intelligent life in it, happened to happen together makes it clear that the universe we find ourselves in has a purpose – to facilitate intelligent life, which makes it a purposeful universe, doesn’t it? This tells us how precise the Creator’s aim must have been, to an accuracy of one part in 10^10^123.

That is an extraordinary figure – one could not possibly even write the number down. You see, it would be 1 followed by 10^123 successive 0’s, which means that even if we were to write a 0 on each separate proton and on each separate neutron in the entire universe, and also throw in all the other particles – we would fall short of writing down the figure needed.

The improbable odds of life existing in the cosmos surely suggests that we are not the result of random chance, does it not? And yet, in spite of this, all too many continue to deny the obvious.

Taking the previous into consideration, it stands to reason that our greatest technological achievements pale in comparison to the complexity of the biological achievements found in nature, which goes on to say that we have a long way to go before we get anywhere near achieving anything close to resembling that.

But alas, in our hubris, we often think that we have discovered some of the great truths of life, and thus we want to perfect everything through science and technology; we are blinded by our hubris and denial of things obvious, so much so that in our vanity we interfere with the intricate web of relationships upon which life on Earth depends.

When we talk about DNA, genetics and the human genome*1, we need to understand that even though most genes have been identified, the human genome is not yet fully understood; neither are the mechanisms which cause certain genes to be switched on or off. It doesn’t make matters any better when we account for the fact that even today scientists have no satisfactory or universally accepted definition of life – no one has been able to explain what causes something to be alive, and what distinguishes animate from inanimate matter.

In light of that, one could easily argue that we have absolutely no idea how Life propagates itself through time and space in physical reality. On the other hand, someone else could naively argue against by stating: “of course we do – just because, science, you know!” Having said that, we should also acknowledge one thing equally true: yes, indeed, we do know certain things about the physical expression of Life, but at the same time we should also be acknowledging that we still don’t know what Life is – emphasis on the capital letter.

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*1 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.

Now, let us briefly come back to the idea according to which every cell in our body holds memory, information, knowledge. As information is all around us, we can tune into these frequencies, and in so doing we can gain access to this vast Living Library. The process of connecting, reading and retrieving is quite difficult to express in words as it all boils down to awareness – being aware of Life itself. The beauty of it all is the depth of understanding one’s own awareness, which has no limits but the ones we set ourselves.

That is, if we transcend beyond beliefs, ideas and concepts; if we go above cause and beyond effect, above birth and beyond death, above happiness and beyond suffering – we would once again find our way back to ourselves, into this present moment – here and now, into our body, into our mind, into our own awareness wherein memory, information, knowledge, wisdom, love, peace, and connectedness reside.

This we can call an “Awakening,” which is something that takes place within each of us whenever we are ready to remember our eternal nature, whenever we are ready to take that first step in remembering who we are at the deepest level of our being, whenever we are ready to know our core essence as Spirit.

One last thing before we move on: From personal experience, I can say that it was very fascinating indeed to intimately get to know the different parts that make up one’s genetic profile. The process helped me to further understand my own being, the human experience here on Earth. At first, all I had was the feeling – or should I say inner knowing that there existed a vast variety of different ethnicities in my genetic profile.

One way to understand this is to say that there seemed to have been a process of awakening happening in different chromosomes; generational knowledge and ethnic information cracking open from the codons*1 like a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis, you see?

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*1 A codon is a sequence of three DNA or RNA nucleotides that encodes a specific amino acid, that is, information encoded within genetic material.

This led me to follow numerous synchronicities that ended up revealing much of my own ancestry. In later years, I was amazed how accurate these inner feelings were – the final confirmation came in the form of DNA testing, combined with excessive paper trail in genealogical research.

This brings about the question: How is this relevant, and how does it relate to the overall message of the book? Well, it all boils down to Interconnectedness of All Life, and awareness of the same, you see? When one becomes aware of their true nature, they also become aware of the vastly Interconnected Web of Life which connects us all.

As mentioned earlier in the Prologue, the whole of humanity is a single being, having a collective consciousness – the sum total of all human life, having a collective direction and destiny. This means that we are part of, and intimately connected to, absolutely everything in the universe – the deeper we go, the more we see how truly connected we are.

In this Interconnected Web, each human life is a link in a chain of lives that extends far into the past and projects far into the future, with ancestors at the one end, and descendants at the other; each life in a chain of lives is bound together by cause and effect, different, yet the same.

This brings us to the point: in my own personal journey, it was indeed necessary to achieve a balance between different ethnicities within my DNA. The best way to express this is to say that all of those different parts had to be aligned and harmonized to bring about balance. In other words, this process can be said to be something called ancestral healing*1.

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*1 Ancestral healing involves healing one’s ancestors’ unresolved emotional issues, problems or trauma. In so doing, it releases you from any energetic patterns that link you to them – patterns that can have an inhibiting or disruptive influence on your life today. This kind of healing process is important because we are impacted by emotional and energetic patterns from prior generations in our family. Some of these can create obstacles in our lives, blocking our pathway to joy, abundance, authentic power and unlimited possibilities. Since energy is never lost, but simply changes form over time, emotional issues or problems that were not dealt with by your ancestors, or not fully resolved, can 'hover' in your energy field today, creating an imbalance or roadblock.

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~ ॐ ~ Sambodhi Padmasamadhi ~ ∞ ~

Get the Book: Awaken the Living Awareness Within – Discover the Keys to Happiness, Inner Peace & Harmony

[ Click » here « to read the next part: Infinite Fractal of Creation ]

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"

Infinite Living System 1 of 2 life the book of zen awareness, alan watts mindfulness key happiness

~ ∞ ~ Infinite Living System (The Miracle of Life) 1/2 - Awaken the Living Awareness Within ~ ∞ ~

Now that we have shed some light on the author and their journey, we can delve deeper into the understanding that sprung from that very journey. There’s no better way to start this chapter than by stating the obvious: Life is way more Intelligent wholeness than what we give it credit for.

That said, let us remind ourselves of one important truth: Life is simpler than we think, and yet, at the same time it is more complex than we can imagine. Simplicity is the true form of perfection, and therefore it is only natural that simplicity is at the core of every Living System, including us human beings.

Furthermore, it goes without saying that simplicity makes sense in a Living Universe. We touched upon this topic in the previous section, and it follows, naturally, then, that in this chapter, we will continue our discussion, deepening our understanding of the same, you see?

It is this very Intelligence that is alive and well in each of us, and hence it is of great importance. Even though it should be obvious to all of us – unfortunately, it isn’t. Indeed, it seems as though we humans underestimate Life’s built-in Intelligence, or more aptly, we tend to ignore it completely, which brings about the question: Is there any reason or rationale that could explain this behavior?

Yes, certainly, there is, but the answer is not so straightforward; rather, it is multifaceted, which by its nature is such that it reveals complexities that one might not expect at first glance. This, in turn, gives rise to a whole host of other complexities, issues, and aspects regarding us human beings, you see?

By virtue of the aforementioned with regard to our ignorance over Life’s built-in Intelligence, one can easily arrive at the conclusion that we human beings are, indeed, exceedingly, if not entirely, so used to seeing Life through such a small pinhole that we have become narrow-sighted.

And so it goes that in our narrow field of vision, with the lack of self-awareness, we have become utterly unaware of the fact that it was Life’s greater Intelligence that created us in the first place, and that it is precisely Life’s greater Intelligence that sustains and nurtures us.

The narrow field of vision and lack of self-awareness, combined with ignorance and hubris is something that leads to an attitude of separation and disconnection. By our own volition, we end up in a state where we can’t see the forest for the trees. And so it goes that in this state, it is much easier to ignore such Intelligence altogether than acknowledge its existence. Much of this is due to the superiority complex we humans have – which is an unnatural urge to elevate ourselves above everything else, including Life itself.

And of course this discussion would not be complete without acknowledging those who like to argue that Life’s Intelligence is way beyond our mind’s comprehension. The irony here is that with such an argument we are shooting ourselves in the foot, so to speak. Meaning that we are contradicting ourselves and even outright downplaying our own intelligence.

There is some truth to that argument, yes, but at the same time we should acknowledge that there are many more levels to our comprehension – levels that we can currently only dream of; such levels of comprehension we as the collective human species have yet to discover and explore.

In the first approach – the one that deals with the superiority complex, we are looking ourselves as being something more than; in contrast, with the second approach, we are looking ourselves as being something less than. Neither one will get us any closer to the Truth, but if we start to see ourselves in a new light – as equals with everything else, then the key fits into the lock – see?

This brings us to the conclusion: more than anything else, the reason as to why we underestimate Life’s Intelligence lies deep in our worldview – a worldview that prevents us from recognizing, acknowledging and understanding Living Intelligence. Another important aspect concerning life and its built-in Intelligence is by far its miraculous nature. You see, life exhibits intelligent behavior in all of its manifestations, forms and structures.

It makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Wonder what? Extraordinary nature of Life, and more than that, the preciousness of human life. And so it goes that while one marvels at the extraordinary nature of Life, we cannot but conclude that Life is, truly, a Living Miracle – something to be cherished and nurtured; to be alive is the greatest gift of all, is it not? Undoubtedly, you would be really amazed if you only knew what a treasure you truly are, and even more so if you knew the implications of knowing this truth.

As we have learned from the previous chapters, our awareness plays a major role in unlocking this treasure – it’s up to you, and you alone, to discover the key within, you see? Indeed, each of us is a living testament of the miracle called Life, but only a few are able to recognize it, and even fewer can acknowledge and appreciate it for what it is. And so you see, there are basically two ways to live our lives – like nothing is a miracle, or as if everything is a miracle – the choice is, obviously, yours, and yours only to make – see?

Now, let me ask you this: Is it not a miracle that you exist? Is it not a miracle that you exist as the unique you that you are? If that’s not miraculous enough, then let me ask you this: Is it not a miracle that Intelligent Life can evolve to a level of consciousness, to a point where it can trace back its history to understand its own origin and its true essence? Is it not a miracle that Life can become aware of itself through the vehicle of a living form that has the capacity for self-reflection?

As far as we know, human beings are the only form of life that has this capacity of being able to reflect on the nature of its own thinking and feeling, its own past and future, its own life and death, and on the nature of awareness itself. Therefore, is it not the greatest miracle of all that everything we have ever wanted to know about Life is found within each and every one of us?

And now you may be wondering, what does all that really mean? Well, it simply means that every cell in our body holds memory, information, knowledge. You see, our bodies are composed of cells, each cell is a fragment of the whole, and yet each cell contains the blueprint for life. 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.

It also means that each of us is a living system within a greater Living System, connected to each other in more ways than we can fathom, which is another way of saying that this Great Miracle of Life that we are all a part of, is in essence, an Interconnected Web of information, connection and communication. This leads us to an important point: we are an inseparable part of a Living Universe, but unfortunately, for the most part, we seem to have forgotten this fundamental truth.

Let us delve deeper, shall we? So now that we know that our body is the doorway to all knowledge, and our awareness is the key, the question becomes: Where do we go from here, and more importantly: Where do we begin? Well, the idea of DNA is a good place to start since DNA has been around for as long as there has been life on Earth.

Having said that, we should keep in mind that we would need to expand our thinking, broaden our perspective, and be ready and willing to see the world and ourselves in a new light, so that we could have a more comprehensive understanding of the big picture – and through it, of ourselves and our fellow human beings, you see? As such, the following few chapters are dedicated for that purpose, and in the section titled LIFE, we will return to this topic.

Now, let us continue with the following ancient saying: “as above, so below; as within, so without.” This simple statement tells us that humans are a reflection of the entire universe. Indeed, we are a microcosm of the universal macrocosm, which means that within us is a complete universe. By understanding this simple truth we can begin to understand our true power – we as humans have the ability to directly know and experience Truth.

As we begin to know our inner nature, we find that we are actually discovering the nature of the universe, which is another way of saying that not only are we in the universe, but the universe is in us; and not only that, but at the same time we are also discovering the true Essence of Creation – all it takes is a willingness to explore ourselves. You see, exploration leads to discovery; discovery leads to knowledge; knowledge leads to new questions and new exploration.

That said, we should keep in mind that there is so much more within us that no external technology can ever show us – the only way to access this vast array of information within us is to use our innate internal technology – Spiritual Technology, for lack of a better term. If we shift our thinking to include such notions as energy, frequency, and vibration – we can begin to understand that our DNA is alive – full of Living Intelligence that interacts with fields of information.

To give an analogy: our DNA acts like a tuning crystal in a radio that focuses various frequencies and vibrations into the form we see as our bodies, which is another way of saying that our DNA is sending and receiving information all the time, whether we are aware of it or not.

From this perspective, it becomes clear that the observable part of the DNA double helix is merely the surface level of the multilayered structure. On top of that, we can also see that while DNA can be seen as a “source code” of sorts, it is also a representation of highly advanced technology.

Against this backdrop, we can see that humans are a product of Intelligent Design – something miraculous that only Intelligent Awareness in its Infinite Wisdom can achieve. 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, like we want to believe – especially in the science-driven Western culture.

And here is where the irony lies: you see, in recent years, modern science has discovered that the underlying structural details of the entire universe have been “fine-tuned” toward the goal of producing biological life – quite a dichotomy, don’t you think? And yet, in spite of this, all too many want to deny the obvious, and pass it off as a mere coincidence – sweeping it under the rug, so to speak.

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~ ॐ ~ Sambodhi Padmasamadhi ~ ∞ ~

Get the Book: Awaken the Living Awareness Within – Discover the Keys to Happiness, Inner Peace & Harmony

[ Click » here « to read the next part: Infinite Living System (The Miracle of Life) 2/2 ]

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 Birth of Infinite Quantum Zen Instagram - Success Life Quotes, Infinite Quantum Zen

~ ∞ ~ The Birth of Infinite Quantum Zen 2/2 - Awaken the Living Awareness Within ~ ∞ ~

Let us continue. Somewhere along the way, I also realized that after reaching a certain level of Self-Awareness, there comes a point where it becomes apparent that there is ultimately nothing that can be taught to others ‘as such.’ Rather, there are only realizations upon realizations that can bear fruit in a form of knowledge, which can be conveyed to others as information.

Based on that information, one can develop an intellectual understanding of the ideas and concepts. Thus, we can only share a representation of what we have experienced and realized within ourselves, and no matter how detailed our informational legacy may be, it is always up to each individual how they use what they have been given.

When I came to this profound realization, I also understood that everything is readily and plentifully available for everyone – equally, although it might not seem that way to some. This means that everything from the Secrets of the Universe to the Mysteries of Life is to be known, and to be understood quite easily through the Self-Realization process. I realized that to achieve this, all it takes is one’s own willingness to become aware of it all.

To become aware is to become free of self-imposed limitations; to become aware is to become aware of thoughts, emotions, feelings, physical sensations, behaviors, and speech; to become aware is to shed the layers of the human condition that blinds our perception of our Infinite Being.

To become aware is to awaken from the dream of life, which in turn means becoming aware; and being aware, each moment, of what we are doing as we are doing it, of what we are thinking as we are thinking it, and how we are feeling as we are feeling it. And so you see, the more we want to become aware – the more we become aware; and the more we become aware – the more our consciousness expands.

The process itself requires high amounts of perseverance and strength of will, including the willingness to surrender to the Greater Intelligence of Life – one’s Free Will must be aligned with the Divine Will. And hence it results in the lack of need to teach others how to become Self-Realized. You see, Self-Realization is, after all, something that one needs to do themselves – it is something that everyone must experience for themselves by realizing themselves.

There are no shortcuts – you see, it all boils down to Self-Mastery, and the pursuit of Self-Mastery requires dedication and effort, which are the first steps in mastering one’s life. Self-Realization is, after all, realizing one’s deepest desires and capacities, fulfilling the possibilities of one’s potential; and likewise is the case with its natural progression, Self-Actualization – utilizing one’s potential, expressing one’s creativity, quest for spiritual enlightenment, pursuit of knowledge, and desire to give to society.

This kind of process is something that cannot be taught ‘as such,’ because each individual is different in their own unique way. What can be done, though – is to show the way, and what can be done to ease this process, is the sharing of documented experiences and the valuable knowledge therein. These kinds of examples can encourage and help others in many unimaginable ways on their own unique paths toward Self-Mastery – through Self-Realization and Self-Actualization.

On that note, it is worth pointing out that the best teachers are those who show active example by walking their walk instead of just talking the talk. All that teachers can eventually do is to point the direction – after that, it’s purely up to the student whether to walk across the path that is shown; and yet, in all actuality, each and every one of us have to find our own ways and methods that work for us. In so doing, we eventually find our own unique way within ourselves – see?

We cannot teach people anything; we can only help them discover it within themselves. ~ Galileo Galilei

As a natural part of the process, I found myself reading and studying the best available books about the nature of reality, consciousness, awareness, mindfulness, philosophy, and psychology – just to find out and to realize that to a certain degree I already knew these universal truths; it was more about the remembrance and acknowledgement than anything else.

As I progressed on my chosen path, writing down realizations of various kinds – I understood that it was my task in this life to inspire others through writing; to help others become aware of their inner world; to help guide others back to their Inner Spirit, in hopes that they could discover and awaken the Living Awareness within.

It was one of the greatest and grandest moments of this journey to realize that I was created like this on purpose – God had created me the way I am, with all of my abilities, strengths and weaknesses, for a purpose. And so you see, through this inner journey, I saw how God really does have a plan for each of us.

In the midst of this process of discovery, there was a moment of clarity where all the pieces fell into place. It was as if deep down within my core, I recalled something profound – I was appointed this task and I was ready to take up the challenge, even if it would take me years to finish.

And so you see, many times on this path I found myself experiencing a feeling of déjà vu, or altervu – the deep inner feeling that I had experienced this before. This is to say that I had a strong feeling that I had lived before prior to this existence; and that I had already written this book in some shape of form in some previous existences, or quite possibly, in some alternate – parallel simultaneous existence.

As we examine this idea, it’s not far from what the ancient wisdom teachings throughout the world has known for thousands of years: Life being a continual expression of consciousness moving or transmigrating from one existence to the next, in which the circumstances into which a being is reborn are determined by the good or bad acts done by that being in previous existences.

In the Buddhist formulation of dependent origination (Interconnectedness of All Things), samskāras are described to be “mental constituents” that are transmitted from one life to the next; samskāras themselves are the result from ignorance of the truth (Dharma); the word samskāra means “that which has been put together,” and “that which puts together.” Taking the previous into consideration, the continual feelings of déjà vu and altervu – makes perfect sense.

Now when I come back to those books that I mentioned earlier*1 – it needs to be noted that somehow only the most relevant sources of information found their way into my hands, like D.T. Suzuki’s books on Zen. Another great example is Alan Watts’ book The Way of Zen, which had been waiting to be read for some time – even though it had found me quite mysteriously through the Phenomenon of Synchronicity, I had never opened the book until the summer of 2014.

From the very moment I opened the book, I felt a certain familiarity with Alan – a deeper level of connection that cannot be explained with mere words. This is to say that there was an impeccably strong aura surrounding him – alive and vibrant energy signature, not constrained by time or space; so familiar indeed, that later when I was listening to his audio lectures, I could sense his presence near me – as a teacher and a mentor (I’ve previously had similar experiences with the Sensei of Shambala*2).

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*1 The booklist is provided at the end of this book.
*2 The Sensei of Shambala https://www.schambala.org/books.html are a set of books by Ukrainian Anastasia Novykh. which are based on the personal diary of a former high school senior girl, reflecting events of the years 1990-1991. She tells a story of an inner exploration that leads her to meeting with a most erudite man, a Martial-Arts Master and a very enigmatic person, Sensei of Shambala. His fascinating philosophy and the knowledge of the world and of humans, dynamic martial-arts, wordly wisdom, alternative medicine, ancient spiritual practices, human abilities phenomena and beyond. Most importantly, she finds answers to her principal inner questions and learns from the personal experience that humans are granted the most powerful creative force above – the power of belief and love.

That said, it is worth of mentioning that The Diamond Sutra and The Heart Sutra are among the best reads ever; to get a glimpse of these precious treasures, the following Red Pine’s explanation is quite fitting (translator and interpreter of Chinese texts, primarily Taoist and Buddhist, including poetry and sūtras).

Zen Buddhism is often said to be a practice of mind-to-mind transmission without reliance on texts. Buddhism has inspired some of the greatest philosophical writings of any religion, and two such works lie at the center of Zen:

The Heart Sutra, which monks recite all over the World, and The Diamond Sutra, said to contain answers to all questions of delusion and dualism. This is the Buddhist teaching on the perfection of wisdom and cuts through all obstacles on the path of practice.

The Diamond Sutra may look like a book, but it’s really the body of the Buddha. It’s also your body, my body, all possible bodies. But it’s a body with nothing inside and nothing outside. It doesn’t exist in space or time. Nor is it a construct of the mind. It’s no mind. And yet because it’s no mind, it has room for compassion.

In closing, as I walked the walk, I wrote down notes about the many insights, realizations, revelations, and epiphanies that I came across on my journey; and it just happened that Infinite Quantum Zen website was created as a result of that journey. In hindsight, it can be said that Infinite Living Intelligence within Living Life expressed itself through creative means – the end result is seen as a form of Infinite Quantum Zen.

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~ ॐ ~ Sambodhi Padmasamadhi ~ ∞ ~

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~ ∞ ~ The Birth of Infinite Quantum Zen 1/2 - Awaken the Living Awareness Within ~ ∞ ~

In this chapter, we will take a short detour and see how the conceptual framework named Infinite Quantum Zen got started; this will be an eye-opening reading experience that will shed some light on the personal side of things – while doing this, we are also engaging in learning. You see, this kind of personal narrative provides a wonderful way to further explore some of the themes already familiar to us.

Originally Infinite Quantum Zen was only an idea – a seed for something big and transformative; when the idea was born, it had no name or any outline of its contents. Slowly but surely the seed began to sprout, and eventually the project was started in late 2013; all I had at that point in time was the deep inner knowing that the project would eventually lead up to become a cohesive whole.

After spending years designing complex software architecture, it occurred to me: what could be more interesting than studying Life and finding out the secrets that are embedded in every cell and every particle in our universe. As such, Infinite Quantum Zen is a result of years of study, self-inquiry, contemplation, intuition, processing and practice. In other words, a synthesis of everything I’ve learned and experienced over the years.

When I began this journey, I had a deep sense of certainty that the personal subjective experiences combined with the latest scientific understanding of the Quantum World, coupled with Ancient Wisdom – would open up the door to the Mystery of Life. In hindsight, I can say that the certainty alone was the main driving engine behind the success of the project – the more I trusted the path I was on, the more certain I became.

The beginning stages were once written down and collected into a blog; its sole purpose was to document the first-hand experiences and realizations – past, present & future – forming a timeline of Self-Realization Journey. Everything was shared from the heart, and hence the term ‘Living Truth’ was used to describe the style of expression. In essence, this kind of pure expression maintains its authenticity and rings truth in every cell when the receiver is tuned to vibrate in harmony with the Source of All Creation. In other words, I was practicing honesty in its purest form.

As processes often are in their core essence – ever-changing and ever-evolving, so are humans with their thoughts, opinions and outlook on life; I’m no different in this regard, and was also subject to change – meaning that somewhere along the way, I realized that I had to start from scratch. This part of the process resulted in a re-created and re-formed idea – a crystallized body of work that might also help others to understand Life, its mysteries, and the nature of reality a little better.

From the very beginning, the aim was to crystallize years worth of learning into an easily understandable format that could offer a radically different view of reality, of the existence of a primal web of energy – connecting our physical body, mind, and inner consciousness with the world and the larger universe. Somewhere along the way, I realized that in order to answer the fundamental questions about human beings and human civilization – I had to fully understand humankind itself. From this realization, it became apparent that turning inward to search for the answers was the only viable option.

In other words, I realized that if I could understand how I myself think and function, I should also be able to understand how other humans function; if I could understand my own intelligence, I should also be able to understand human intelligence. Furthermore, if I could understand my own relationship with nature, the universe, and God*1 – I should be able to understand the relationship between human species, nature, the universe, and God.

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*1 The concept of a Higher Power or Creator – being or essence that is known throughout the world by many different names; it matters not what name we call it – in essence, they all mean the same.

Little I knew at the time how it all would unfold, and even less did I know how big of a role Self-Transformation*1 would play in this wholeness. I had already had some glimpses of the Thoughtless State of the Mind (Mushin*2), but never could I have imagined what would transpire if I would completely surrender to the process of Self-Transformation. Infinite Quantum Zen in its entirety (including this book) is the result of achieving a permanent state of thoughtless mind – resulting in a whole new way of living (Lucid Living*3).

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*1 Self-Transformation is a process of creating ourselves anew.
*2 Mushin is a thoughtless state of the mind, which is a mental state into which trained martial artists are said to enter during combat; they also practice this state during everyday activities. Mushin (無心; Japanese mushin; English translation “no mind”) The term is shortened from mushin no shin (無心の心), a Zen expression meaning the mind without mind and is also referred to as the state of “no-mindness.” That is, a mind not fixed or occupied by thought or emotion.
*3 This area is discussed in more detail in the section, titled AWARENESS – in the chapters 1.) The Art of Lucid Living, and 2.) The Art of Mindful Living.

Now when I look back, I can say in hindsight that for me there was never a single point at which I would have felt the need for a teacher, a spiritual guide, a guru, or someone outside myself to tell me what I already knew deep down in my core. Mainly so because deep within the most ancient parts of my being there was a part of me that knew the Truth – Life in its Infinite Wisdom is the best teacher there is, ever was, and ever will be. In other words, I learned everything I am sharing with you now by walking my path deep within myself – alone, except the friendship, beauty, love, and guidance of the unseen world – which we can simply refer to as Spirit.

Infinite Happiness, Exhilarating Joy | Living Consciousness | Sambodhi Padmasamadhi, Diamond Sutra - Perfection of Wisdom, Buddhism, Nonduality, Advaita

~ ॐ ~
~ Sambodhi ~
~ Padmasamadhi ~
~ ∞ ~ Self-Realization ~ ∞ ~
~ ॐ ~

When the direction of my quest turned inward, I began to uncover the truth about human existence and our evolutionary journey through life.

We are human, and as humans we are curious beings – just as we want to know who we truly are, we also want to know why we are here, and what is the purpose of our existence here on Earth.

We are all on a journey, slowly discovering more of our True Self, gradually getting to the core of who we truly are. There are many paths to take, and none is better than the other – see?

Along the way, it became obvious that in the end, we all want the same things in life: health, happiness, and love – very much in that order; none of which are dependent upon external factors such as money or belongings.

The deeper I went, the more I realized that there is nothing we must be, do, or have, nothing to achieve, to become, to grow to, or strive for – and ultimately, nothing to seek, and nothing to find.

This, in other words, is realizing the great cosmic joke – that you are what you are seeking. The most important part of this realization was that there really is no becoming – we merely discover what we truly are. You see, we cannot become that which we already are. In other words, the only becoming is unbecoming everything we are not. So where does the cosmic joke lead us?

Back to where we started, but with a completely new perspective – to the unadulterated pure joy of just being alive. We all look for happiness, peace, and fulfillment in the things of the world, yet all along, these things are our very nature – our very own center of being, you see?

There are no possible ways to explain this level of realization apart from saying that all the questions have finally been answered, and what remains is the incommunicable experience of ‘emptiness’ or ‘voidness’ or sunyata*1 as it is called in Sanskrit; one could even translate it as ‘zero’ or ‘nothingness.’ Interestingly, at the same time, it can be translated to mean openness, or pure potentiality.

All these are but words that we use to label an experience – a spiritual, even a transcendental, experience – which we have no way of describing, and thus they can be misleading unless one has experienced it for themselves. This is why one has to study these concepts more in depth to get even a glimpse of what this mystery entails.

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*1 Sunyata refers to understanding that all things are empty of intrinsic existence and nature. The Heart Sutra, articulates this in the following saying: “Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Emptiness is not separate from form, form is not separate from emptiness. Whatever is form is emptiness, whatever is emptiness is form.”

Whatever one may learn about sunyata, it is always essentially a mystery, something to be experienced in the equal mystery of one’s own personal spiritual life. In other words, all the various explanations and formulations are but means to and end, not ends in themselves – they all, from within their own different contexts, point the way by which we may ourselves experience that Truth.

To give an example: just as a noise can only be heard in relative silence, and light can only be seen in contrast with darkness, form can only arise within the context of emptiness. Emptiness, then, as the nature of every thing, is the condition that makes existence as things possible. It is against this backdrop that we can more easily understand this experience of sunyata.

If one continues on their path of self-discovery, all of the above will eventually lead one to discover that life is – as unpleasant as it may sound, totally and utterly purposeless, without any particular meaning assigned to it. In other words, life has no built-in meaning – it is we ourselves who give meaning and purpose to our lives by living fully in the present moment, aware of and awake to our current experience.

One way of looking at it is to say that life is a “sandbox” of sorts – tabula rasa, empty canvas. That is to say, life is what we make it, and life has all the meaning we give it. You see, in life, we are in full control of the perspective and meaning we take from any event. However, if one looks deeper, we can, indeed, find greater purpose. You see, it is that very purposeful purposelessness in itself that gives rise to the human need to find both purpose and meaning.

Some might take this as an absurdist point of view, and if that’s the case, perfect! You can congratulate yourself for recognizing that – to realize the absurdity of life is the beginning, not an end. You see, the realization of the absurdity of life fundamentally changes one’s way of living, thinking, and feeling; it allows one to further realize that happiness stems from being aware; from being grateful for this moment.

As we can see, even though life may seem absurd, pointless and without meaning – there is purpose in everything; we just need to be aware enough to see it, as is the case here: by being what it is, this book has served its purpose – creating the spark that illuminates what is truly meaningful, universal and eternal, if only for a brief second.

And that is the beauty of it all – you see, even if something contradicts itself, it can still be true; the wisdom lies in paradox: life is both meaningful and meaningless; nothing matters and yet everything matters; we can make no difference but we can also make all the difference; we are both everything and nothing; all of it and none of it.

The conclusion being: the key to the Truth is found in paradox; the method or process by which this realization comes to be experienced and expressed – be it Zen, Yoga, the Paradox of the Absurd, or something else – doesn’t really matter, and what does, is that one embarks on a journey. Although there are many paths to take, there is only one journey to which we are called; although there are many paths to the top of the mountain, the view is always the same – see?

As one treads the path of their choosing, one will ultimately arrive at the point where one finds that the greatest achievement is to return to the Original State of Being; to become nothing at all, and in so doing, paradoxically enough – becoming everything. You see, the beauty of it all lies in the truth that we cannot become that which we already are. Knowing this truth allows one to experience that which some would call a “God Realization,” which is the highest state of consciousness in Creation.

The greatest challenge is to peel off the layers we have gathered throughout our lives. As we continue our inner journey, having finally shed all the unnecessary layers, we eventually discover that what remains is the experience of pure beingness. In this process, we can learn how to become empty and receptive, which naturally and inexorably leads to a state of being which can best be described as the balance between emptiness and fullness. In this state, one is able to experience total harmony within oneself.

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~ ॐ ~ Sambodhi Padmasamadhi ~ ∞ ~

Get the Book: Awaken the Living Awareness Within – Discover the Keys to Happiness, Inner Peace & Harmony

[ Click » here « to read the next part: The Birth of Infinite Quantum Zen 2/2 ]

the essence of zen alan watts the book of awareness - samadhi, discover the key to inner joy, peace, happiness

~ ∞ ~ 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?

Infinite Quantum Zen, Living Awareness, Living Life, Awaken to the Living Life - Living Awareness means of a direct connection to Source of All Life. We all have within us the capability of becoming aware of this innate connection

~ ∞ ~ 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.

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~ ॐ ~ Sambodhi Padmasamadhi ~ ∞ ~

Get the Book: Awaken the Living Awareness Within – Discover the Keys to Happiness, Inner Peace & Harmony

[ Click » here « to read the next part: The Birth of Infinite Quantum Zen 1/2 ]

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"