Speaking to Consciousness

Where does consciousness come from? It almost seems to pop into physical existence for each individual at the point of conception. Do things really exist outside of our perception of their existence? Interactions are able to be observed even if we only see the start and end points of the interaction, and not its actual occurrence. Would this mean there is an objective reality outside of consciousness in which things occur whether we exist or not? Or is the “objective reality” sustained as a result of a collective connection, which utilizes each conscious perspective as a node within a network? So even if one node is removed, the objective reality is still maintained by the other nodes. If all the nodes are removed, does the objective reality cease to be? Perhaps there are other types of consciousness serving as nodes to also sustain the objective reality. Would this reflect itself in the observable, historical record that humans have been able to discern via empirical/theoretical evidence in the various fields of science and inquiry? Then what is consciousness? Is it possible that everything is consciousness, even the objective reality? That all things, even the elements informing the physical qualities of the universe, are conscious on some level, thus serving as a node? If everything is consciousness, is an individual able to communicate and have a dialogue with all components of the physical universe? If so, it may be possible to reassemble the components of the universe as a reflection of this interaction of consciousness. So then what is energy? Is it mutually exclusive, wholly interchangeable, or some measure inbetween with consciousness? If all components are an aspect of consciousness, I would suspect that energy is too. So if consciousness is energy, and energy is consciousness, then consciousness is no longer bound by space-time. And if consciousness is no longer bound by space-time, then it is neither bound by the physical form. And if the physical form is also made of energy, being formed by the components making up the physical universe, then it can also be directed and shaped through consciousness communication. The degree of such direction and shaping would only be limited by the interference distorting or circumventing the channel of communication and dialogue. By clearing up those obstructions, in the processing of communication between forms of consciousness, it would seem imaginable for alterations in the formation of both the physical body and physical reality to be more directly translatable and observable in positive correlation.

Raining on the Higgs Field

When I attempt to understand the causal nature of reality, I often find myself visualizing the metaphor of a pebble falling into a pond. As it hits the surface of the water and sinks below the surface, the energy causes ripples to move concentrically outward from the point of contact. If you’ve read some of my other posts, you’ll have noticed that I return to this imagery time and again.

Even when I first heard about the Higgs-Boson particle, this metaphor came to mind. Imagine the physical universe is the pond, and the air above is another dimension from which a Higgs-Boson type particle arises. Like the separation of air and water, the pond’s surface is merely the boundary between these two dimensions of reality with a degree of permeability that allows for particles to pass through.

Yet, the boundary between these two dimensions is not a linear plane of length and width. It is a voluminous boundary where both dimensions exist within the same, perceived space. Like two sides of the same coin, each dimension coexists within the totality of reality. But, this metaphor is not entirely correct, as there are no definable sides to something that appears to stretch towards the constraints of the infinite in all directions.

And actually, what we consider to be a boundary between dimensions may only be the result of a lack of perceptual awareness. Particles such as the Higgs-Boson may exist solely within a dimension we might coin as “unawareness”. A field of potential energy and interactions that is in constant contact with the physically observable universe. But, because we do not possess the faculty to perceive it, we do not realize it is there until it changes states to such a degree that it becomes noticeable.

Within the physical dimension, humans are like fish swimming in the water’s depth unaware of the world beyond the pond, outside of whatever passes through/beneath the surface. Except, given the limited perception of humans within the physical dimension, and the voluminous quality of the dimensional boundary, the point of separation would be indeterminable as a definitive coordinate in physicality. Instead, all points within the dimension of physical space would appear to be a boundary point separating dimensions. Our limited scope of perception currently prevents us from seeing the scope of origin, and gives us the impression that its effects extend to all points in space-time.

Now, originally I had imagined the Higgs-Boson particle as a pebble that is dropped into a pool of water, since it appears to just pop into the physical universe and give particles mass. Just like a creature in the water would not be aware of the dropped pebble until it enters the water and has a displacement effect that is observable in some form. But today, I had a realization that perhaps this comparison is not entirely correct. This is because the quality of the pebble is distinctly different from the water it falls into, and a Higgs-Boson particle is not necessarily distinctly different from particles in the physical universe.

It came to me as I was meditating. It was raining outside, and even with my eyes closed I could sense the bright flashes of light. The thunder crashing down vibrating the walls and sending tremors through my body. I saw in my mind’s eye water droplets falling into puddles of water on the saturated ground, causing ripples to form, as droplets became puddles became pools. And that was when I remembered my Higgs-Boson analogy and thought, “maybe it’s not a pebble, maybe it’s a droplet”.

It was an “aha!” moment. If the physical universe is comparatively like a pond of water, then the Higgs-Boson should be like a raindrop, as it gives physical mass to particles. A raindrop can fall onto the pond’s surface and cause ripples while adding to the water of the pond, just like a Higgs-Boson particle can pop into the physical universe, adding physical mass to particles within it. As a raindrop and a pond are both made of water, it makes sense that a Higgs-Boson particle and the physical universe would be of similar properties.

This leads to a new twist in describing the quantum system. Before, the pebble analogy had seemed incomplete, because a pebble would require some agent to toss it into the pond. Which left me pondering, what could be the cause of the pebble falling into the pond? This issue is resolved when the pebble is replaced with a raindrop. In which case, the mechanism of operation would be akin to the water cycle.

To simplify the stages of the water cycle, let us divide it into two main components:  evaporation and condensation. In both, water changes states from either solid > gas or gas > solid. The cause of the change in states is due to a change in the amount of energy contained within the water particle. In accordance with the first law of thermodynamics:  energy can neither be created nor destroyed, the energy fluctuates through the particle causing it to merely change states as an observed effect. Therefore, what crosses the boundary between dimensions, and is observed as a Higgs-Boson and particles of mass within the physical universe, is the energy inherent in both.

The dimensions are merely defined by this difference in state between physical and non-physical. Both dimensions exist within an energy field (i.e. Higgs field), in which perturbations cause the movement of Higgs-Boson particles through these dimensions. As the energy frequency slows in vibration, it condenses until it crosses the barrier and seems to pop into existence, giving a qualitative sense of mass to the particles with which it interacts. Just as energy leaves evaporated particles of water until it slows down enough to condense into rain,  so to does the Higgs-Boson particle condense from a higher state of energy into the physical universe.

So then, how does energy go from a condensed state to an evaporated state? If the analogy is to hold, then there must be some sort of mechanism allowing a converse exchange between dimensions to occur. If we are to assume that there are dimensions/extensions of the physically observable universe that we are currently not aware, then there might also be higher order levels of energy, or fields of energy, interacting with the Higgs-Boson particle, and causing it to evaporate back into the Higgs field. As the thermal heat of the sun on a summer’s day can cause water to evaporate only to fall later as rain when cooled, so to might a comparative magnitude of energy cause Higgs particles to evaporate back into a non-physical dimension.

Current particle physicists seem akin to explorers of the Old World sailing to explore the New World with incomplete maps and discovering new territories along the way. Extending and drawing our maps to include the quantum universe, perhaps, in time, we will further discover a vast, new realm encompassing the boundaries of our current perception and understanding. We may find evidence to understand the greater systems of interaction of which our pond of existence is merely a microcosm. For, as far as it seems, the pond is in a perpetual state of simultaneously experiencing the rain and evaporation of Higgs-Boson particles. Which leads me, for now, to one line of questions:  What were to happen if it stopped raining? And what might stop the rain?

A Possible Mechanism for Karma and Reincarnation (a multi-part post 3 of 3)

Part 3: Connecting Theory with Details

It is said that at the time of death, the human brain is still active for several minutes after all bodily function has stopped. One study, published in PNAS, found evidence following cardiac arrest (albeit in rats) that the “mammalian brain can, albeit paradoxically, generate neural correlates of heightened conscious processing near death” which “exceeded levels found during the conscious waking state”. The study found a high level of internal information processing occurring within the brain during clinical death (i.e. NDE or near death experience), where different brain regions and frequencies (i.e. gamma, theta, alpha waves) were communicating with one another in a highly correlated fashion. The researchers in this study concluded that the evidence of increased brain activity may help to explain findings of  surges in EEG activity following human, cardiac death.

Given the proposed mechanism of karma as a type of patterned, energy fluctuation affecting physical reality, similar to how electromagnetic forces can affect the orientation and properties of particles, then, building upon this, an increased surge in brain activity could be a vehicle of reincarnation. In this case, the final surge of activity would generate a higher level of vibrational influence on the surrounding environment, propagating to a larger degree than perhaps at other points in an individual’s life. Some Buddhists might state that meditation is learning the art of dying, and the ultimate lesson is learning to peacefully and joyfully release oneself from clinging to life at the time of one’s death. For it is the desires and state of mind at this time that determines the chain of continuation into the next, causal condition of samsara (i.e. cycle of suffering/rebirth).

Thus, the surge would be affected by the individual’s cognitive and emotional state prior to death, and this might dictate the type of unique, energy signature they are radiating into the universe. So, if a person is full of anger or sadness or fear or love, etc, that final signal will be the last pebble dropped into the ocean of their current life, and any causal rippling that occurs afterwards will be tinged with the specifics of that frequency. The energy of the present moment becomes the seed which gives birth to the next or, in this case, rebirth. For on some level, every moment we die and are reborn anew, like a candle’s flickering flame, making the nature of the present moment a product of the past, and wholly within our influential capacity in the now.

This could also correlate with the practice of Tibetan Buddhist monks identifying candidates of reincarnation for the Dalai Lama to continue the previous Lama’s life work. In the past, previous Lamas are said to have meditative visions describing their reincarnation, which they then provide clues of the area for other monks to locate the reincarnated individual. Interestingly, the date of rebirth does not necessarily align with the date of a monk’s death, and can often occur after quite some time has passed. In Mahayana Buddhism, this passage of time between death and rebirth is described as possibly taking from days up to years to occur.

This non-alignment between death and rebirth may have to do with the propagation/permeation of the vibrational signature into the universe. Although the effect of its generation upon the physical reality would be immediate to the action itself, any observable effect on the environment may take some time to manifest. As subtlety upon subtlety builds into a crescendo that brings forth the fruit of causality into the macroscopic world.

Additionally, following this logic, it would seem likely that, depending on the timescale, reincarnation would occur within the surrounding areas of the epicenter of individual, energy generation (especially if reincarnation occurs closer to the time of death). Thus, wherever a person spends a majority of their time, and more especially in the periods prior to their passing, might also be the general area most likely to maintain a higher concentration of an individual’s energy reverberation embedded within the causal environment. Ripples in a pond are always most prominent closest to where the pebble is dropped. Therefore, it might be expected that a future reincarnation would be more likely to occur within the vicinity of death the sooner the manifestation occurs. Though, the reincarnation would not be one of self, but of one’s karmic signature.

Of course, this is assuming the karmic energy follows a linear path of transference and dissipation. If, on the other hand, it acts on a level akin to the quantum state, then it is not necessarily bound by the constructs of space-time and locality. Instead, the energy would have the capacity to have a rippling effect in all directions of time and space from the point of transmission, and the attributes of karmic-manifested events and reincarnation would be more dependent upon the conditions/frequency of the energy itself.

In this case, perhaps the reverberations of karmic energy from all points of space-time also allow for a latently existent karmic force within the universe, similar to gravity. Except, instead of the result of the interaction between physical bodies, it manifests itself as a result of interacting energy frequencies. Any karmic events related to a specific vibrational frequency would occur in physical reality when any individual projects an energy signature compatible with that particular level of vibration. Then the energy would have at least two degrees of interaction, one bound within localized, macroscopic space-time and one that is a microscopic, quantum state.

Like a radio tuner or CB radio, the quantum-level would be like a bandwidth of latent karmic energy to which an individual’s energy signature may tune to a certain station (i.e. frequency of karmic energy) through their own state of mind. By tuning into a particular station, the individual’s energy begins a sort of dialogue with the energy permeating, echoing, and transmitting through space-time, the interaction of which creates a manifestation in physical reality related to the karmic energy exchange. This, in turn, creates a broadcast into the present reality as a result of the interaction. By altering our mind state, an individual is able to adjust their emitted frequency, and thus interact with a different vibration, the interaction of which garners different manifestations/results, just like different radio stations might transmit static or different songs/information.

There are some interesting implications if this is the case. It would mean that the spectrum within which karmic perturbations may occur is an inherent aspect of the physical reality. The spectrum itself would have no latent energy of its own, and would instead be maintained as a neutral state as long as no karmic energy is generated. The spectrum would be like a container in which the generation of vibrations that contain a karmic component would occur within it, allowing for karma to permeate non-local time-space. Therefore, if no karma is generated, then karmic manifestations would cease, once the rippling echoes have dissipated the remaining remnants of any vibrations of karmic energy.

Still, this cessation of dissipation might not be possible if karmic energy is non-local within space-time. Because this would mean that any energy vibration has the capacity to cause ripples in any point in space and time. Thus, the ripples of karmic energy from a future event could have an impact on a past event, creating an ouroboros of perpetual, karmic vibrations within physical reality, a self-feeding karmic loop. This would align with Buddhist philosophy stating that the only way to escape from the cycle of rebirth would be to not generate karma, which would allow a person to disconnect from the karmic dimension of manifestation. A person would need to act in a way that does not have long-lasting causal implications, the effects of which dissipate as soon as they arise, preventing/minimizing karmic perturbations. The dissipation would be the constant rippling of vibrations causing a cancellation effect, so that even if energy vibrations can occur at an point in space-time, there cumulative interaction becomes zero stasis.

Also, if karmic energy is not bound to a linear causality within time, then perhaps this gives credence to the idea that we are all already Buddhas, and to the historical Buddha’s revelation that there were countless Buddhas before and after him. For what if reincarnation and karmic manifestations are on some level also not bound to a one directional linearity of time? What if the karmic repercussions of our actions allow for Buddhas in the past to achieve enlightenment? What if some of those Buddhas in the past are actually some of us reaching enlightenment, and our current lives are a part of our bodhisattva path to help others to reach enlightenment? What if the path is not to achieve enlightenment, but to remember that we have the flame of enlightenment within us which we may always turn towards? Like the radio analogy, we just have to turn the dial to the station and transmit the signal. Or maybe, what we are doing is exactly what needs to be done, as all paths eventually lead to the mountaintop. The only difference being that certain actions lead to less suffering along the way, depending on the point of view.

Additional Thoughts:
There are situations in which the energy surge in relation to death may not occur, such as during severe head trauma. This does not preclude the energy vibrations that have been generated up to that point, nor their effect upon the physical universe. My suggestion merely points out that such a surge may have a more pointed effect on any subsequent, karmic manifestation. In such a case, an individual’s subsequent rebirth may not be as shaded by the state during death, though it might also increase the variability in reincarnation, depending on how residual vibrations permeate throughout physical reality.

It seems wholly imaginable that a fully enlightened being would be aware of the subtle nuances of the karmic dimension, and would be able to utilize their awareness to direct the field in certain ways, taking into account the countless interactions and manifestations that arise thereabouts, not only from their actions, but from all sentient beings. Perhaps they are able to utilize their awareness to transmit an energy signature that creates a particular pattern of ripples, which to the layman may appear chaotic, but align, in perfect cadence with the aware mind, in achieving the goal of enlightenment for all sentient beings as a matter of fact that is bound to happen.

A Possible Mechanism for Karma and Reincarnation (a multi-part post 1 of 3)

Part 1:  Karma

In order to address this, a criterion first should be established to describe how karma might work in the physical world. One way by which it is described is that any action will merit a certain type of equal response that will be meted back in one form or another to the person who performed such an action. Or in other words, what goes around, comes around. Now, in order for this to have some degree of balance, it should not necessarily be the action itself which is weighed, but the intention behind the particular action. Hence, actions speak louder than words, and intentions speak louder than actions. This is because how an action is perceived and morally weighed will differ based upon who/what is witnessing the action and what their moralistic background entails. Thus, a more honest means of measurement, at least from the individualistic level of perception would be the internal compass of intention directing such an action. Of course, this also has it’s own trappings dependent on whether an individual’s moral compass and perception of reality is skewed to such a degree that harmful actions are deemed positive. As such, such things cannot necessarily be sifted out and partitioned into either positive/negative, harmful/beneficial. Even the most deranged serial killer may believe they are helping the individual when subjecting them to some form of torture or death.

So then, perhaps the most balanced and impartial force of karma could be described as some sort of physical, universal, energy exchange, like ripples in a pond, whereby an action transmits energy into the surrounding environment causing a shift in the alignment and orientation of energy as changing states in physical particles, events in time, etc. This energy, on certain levels/dimensions of manifestation, could take on the observable form of changes to the environment or the outcome of events. Like a butterfly that flaps its wings in SE Asia causing a hurricane off the coast of Florida due to a flux in the atmosphere, a chain reaction would occur which embeds and transmits a given energy signature adding to the distinct form of rippling and movement observed to extend into the future. Like the flapping of the butterfly’s wings, these observable, macro effects are not necessarily the result of large-scale events, but instead can be the result of many micro events occurring non-locally and simultaneously.

If we scale down a person’s action to its most basic component driving the direction of intention and subsequent action in an individual, we arrive at the biological processes of neural firing within the brain as one unit of basic measurement. For, apart from the sensory reaction to energetic vibrations received when contacting the sensory organs of touch, smell, sight, hearing, taste, and mental formations, the subsequent thoughts and following actions that are generated could be thought of as the basis for an individual’s karmic balance/exchange. For whether on an unconscious or conscious level, the processing of the sensory information and the constructs formed in response are perhaps the first level at which there is a capacity to affect the accumulation/generation of karma based on the energy we decide to retransmit into the world (which will ultimately contain our key signature of self embedded within the transmission).

In this sense, touching a hot stove or eating something sour, would not be the basis of karma, though the situation itself may have been the result of past karmic energy precipatiting through the world and manifesting as the set of present events or accumulated personal experience, preferences, and inclinations driving the potentiality of possible responses and outcomes. The chain of karma would therefore be the resultant response to the stimuli, as the body responds and sends a signal to the brain telling us the stove is hot or the food is sour in the form of a sensation, which triggers a reaction and a mental formation. It is the contextual nature of the reaction that redirects the energy outwards which can be thought of as the continuing chain of karma tied to our sense of self and ego-direction.

So how does this transmission occur within the biological structure? Within the human brain exists neurons, which contain dendrites and synapses, that have both a chemical and electrical component. So when an action, thought, or feeling has to be generated, or is to be experienced, within the central nervous system, there is an associated neural response which occurs. At the synaptic level this is chemical in nature, and at the neuronal-dendritic level this is electrical. This occurs when chemicals released at the synapse create a chemically-induced ion gradient which allows for a electrical potential to be generated and transmitted along the length of the neuron. Additionally, this is not happening in just one place at a time, but is happening simultaneously in a multitude of regions within the brain and body, forming a unique, constantly shifting configuration of connected networks at any given moment depending on the type of information being received/processed from the sensory environment, whether internal or external of the body.This unique configuration that is constantly occurring could be thought of as the individual self, as it wholly unique to each individual dependent upon their given locality and the inputs received within the space-time matrix.

Like any electrical system, the neural network of the human brain (and in extension the human body) also emits a form of electromagnetic radiation while active. And as long as a human lives within its physical body, this radiation is always occurring in some degree. For example, this is why scientists are able to utilize EEG machines to detect electrical activity from the brain simply from placing pads on the scalp and skin. The energy is being transferred/conducted through the human tissue and creating enough of a change to the exterior environment that the EEG is able to detect it. So, in every moment of an individual’s life, they are transmitting a unique configuration of energy dependent on their processing of wholly unique sensory information which could be described as their energy signature or energy body. It is the result of electrical energy creating a vibrational frequency that disrupts and affects the molecular structure around it, rippling from the point of occurrence and creating a change that oscillates at a similar frequency. The energy generated is like throwing a pebble in a pond that causes ripples to occur in the surrounding space/matter. And these points of occurrence are concentrated wherever an electrical impulse is generated. So, because the central and peripheral nervous system proliferates the entire human body, and an electrical gradient exists within each cell due to the ion gradient of the intracellular membrane, in essence, the entire body radiates an electromagnetic field that interacts with the external environment as both a receiver, transmitter, and emitter.

In this sense, it is wholly possible that thoughts and actions do affect the world in more than a metaphysical sense, and that certain types of thoughts/actions will garner certain types of effects that contain the same underlying signature of energy that generated them and is impressed within them to a given degree. Positive will generate positive, negative will generate negative, and each will have a different configuration and associated effect. Additionally, this also would suggest that a collective effort focused on a certain type of effect/frequency output will have a greater influence on the surrounding environment than an individual one for that particular frequency, as it would increase/strengthen the signal output. Thus, collective forms of concentration may be powerful enough to have an observable effect on the randomness of quantum events eliciting a heightened probability for certain types of patterns aligned with a given frequency and output. Additionally, certain juxtaposed frequencies generated by different nodes of output might garner a cancellation effect dependent upon a variety of conditions including thought-specific ones.Thus, two different ripples might cancel one another. Given that there are likely an infinite number/degree of vibrations and ripples occuring within the space-time matrix, it is conceivable that there are both cancellations and synergies occurring that are currently beyond predictive capacity, creating unforeseen results and combinations thereof. Which is why sometimes “bad” people experience “good” things and vice versa.

This coupling and interaction of energy generated into the world might explain why karmic exchange does not appear to occur in a 1:1 ratio of equal measure. If karma is thought merely as the transmission of energy within the time-space matrix, then events will not necessarily correspond in direct relation to an individual’s actions or thoughts. Instead, any results will be the sum accumulation of all energy being generated and extended out into the universe. Thus, all energy events are like a plethora of butterflies everywhere flapping their wings, and the intermingling of energy fluctuations will cause the fruition of all events observable or otherwise. Like an amorphous fluid constantly in flux, certain parts condensing, other parts expanding, constantly in motion in response to ripples occurring across a multitude of points simultaneously. These changes in energy density manifest on one level as physical experiences and observations.

Yet, we have more control and effect in our immediate environment than we may realize, just like the energy exchanged at the point of contact between two billiard balls is strongest than at the periphery since there is more energy dissipation and entropy. So, a person’s individual energy signature may still have an effect on their immediately surrounding environment to a degree more reflective of their personal state as those things closer to them, in some sense, are more readily influenced by their energy in extension. Once again, this would not be a 1:1 correlation of exchange, since there would be mitigating factors that also have an effect. The way we think and feel will, to some degree, ultimately affect how we respond in situations which, in turn, will affect the outcome of those events and our subsequent interpretations, creating a self-fulfilling loop of expectancy, that can result in a karmic-type spiral. Hence the law of attraction where we attract to us, like a magnet, what we send out. And the more we transmit a certain type of frequency, the more likely this will embed itself into the surrounding environment in an observable way that reflects back to us as events fueling the same type of frequency, if awareness is not utilized to realize this and redirect it (will go into further detail in a future post about top-down reprogramming of habituated response patterns).

To Be Continued with discussion on Radiation, Information, and Reincarnation

Schroedinger Mind

Perhaps meditation serves to increase awareness so that the mind can be in multiple levels/dimensions of awareness simultaneously. It seems that the mind is usually in one of two binary states, either fully focused (concentration) or partially focused on multiple things at once (dispersed). If one can be fully engaged in the present moment (single-pointed focus), it would seem that the focal point of perspective would cease to concentrate on a conventional, ego vantage point and related thought assessments (past/future projections). Because consciousness, to current human knowledge, has no physical mass, without this linear, time-based, tangential point of conscious focus, it may be possible to establish a quantum state able to enter/disperse through multiple/parallel dimensions as a form of geometrically non-tangential, interconscious travel. The single-pointed focus would be like a spear piercing through the veil of linearity to experience a dispersed interconnectedness of layered dimensionality (concentration and dispersal occurring simultaneously without separation). It could be thought of as a method of going inward with thought so that experience becomes sensation, instead of directed outward to where thought becomes subjective illusion. Physical reality becomes an experience of body (physical) and of mind (visceral), moving beyond the interpretation of thought-forms, thus exhibiting its true nature and allowing mind to interpenetrate the truth of its experiential nature (quantum realm of universal energy).