Join us on a voyage – a
voyage of exploration, and let us imagine we are going to a theatre, there to
settle in to enjoy a movie.
As in preparing for a
movie, it is necessary – in order to learn from the experience – to somewhat
temporarily suspend our existing ‘reality’ paradigms and allow our minds to
wonder, drift and expand. As certain images and findings are presented by the
Director, we will also each listen to the interpretation of our own intuitive guide, the
responsive, wordless communicator as it responds to the new material. This
internal still small voice continually monitors all of the inputs from
our external world, regardless of source. We must always be attuned to this
intuitive friend, and attentive to its commentary; its frequency channel is
always discernable from those of external messengers. Each individual’s
interpretation of the Director’s message is naturally unique, because of his
unique evolving experience; it is also essentially organic, and as natural as
the growing of the grass, flowers and trees.
Indeed, a person’s consciousness and self evolves on
a stage of timeless rhythms, themselves as natural as the symphonies of flowing
water and refreshing breezes. The images presented by the movie Director are
but vehicles crafted so as to evoke deeper messages from within each spectator
that cannot be put directly in words, yet each of us gets caught up in the play
through filling in the gaps from within ourselves, as we flow with the movie. Under
a skilled Director, the moviegoers – because of their prior unique experiences
- will discover universal truths with personal meanings – the meanings
themselves supplied from within each individual.
Now, to enhance our mutual enrichment from the Director’s
efforts, let us bear in mind that the plot sub-text relates to the sacred
transit of ALL organic life-forms, whether that of our own species, or that of
the “lesser” animals, or that of the insect and plant kingdoms. The path of all
life-forms is the same, in that each arises from the dust, each has its day in
the sun, and each returns again to its source. All life-forms cherish the gift
of their short lives, for truly that is all they possess, and
that possession itself is most ephemeral.
As for man, his days are as grass: as a
flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is
gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. Ps.
103: 15-16)
So…. with popcorn at hand, let’s
now enjoy the movie … tonight’s feature is designed to help us explore an aspect of Life’s wonderous, mysterious ways:
the Mystery of Consciousness and Self.
The house lights go down, and our journey commences
in pre-time, back in the mists of Void, the creative, dark womb of creativity,
where Chaos and Flux rule, prior to the establishment of Time and Place. As
metaphor, we learn from The
Jamais Vu Papers of Coleman
& Perrin the story of an entity named Llixgrijb;
Llixgrijb – who within his mind – created de novo a vision of the
Universe and all its structures and life forms; and then, out of sheer
loneliness, imbedded himself within the components of his own creation, losing
himself in the process. The perennial tale of spiritual incarnation, wherein All
That Is emerges out of Chaos as the result of Intention. But wait, the
authors’ allegory is best told through their own words:
Imagine, if you will, a realm in which
there is no height, width, depth or time – imagine an entity who lives in this
realm – an entity called Llixgrijb. Imagine that poor Llixgrijb is trapped by
some sort of extra-dimensional cave-in – there is no escape. But Llixgrijb
cannot die. The consciousness will continue, all alone and completely paralyzed
for eternity – or whatever the equivalent of eternity is in that realm. How
would you deal with this situation??
Perhaps you’d choose to create worlds in your mind, worlds within
yourself – Llixgrijb chose to create a universe.
Slowly, Llixgrijb thought about it. It
thought of a concept called ‘place’, and it chose to set about creating one -
then another - then connecting them together. Llixgrijb created a vision in
which everything was connected to everything else.
Now, outside of time and space, Llixgrijb
started working on its greatest achievement: a universe with height, width,
depth and time – a universe with the illusion of chronological history. And
then it chose to create imaginary entities for its entertainment – imaginary
entities like yourself, gentle reader. But Llixgrijb was afraid. “Suppose my
creatures discover they are only phantoms,” wondered Llixgrijb – “suppose they
learn that I am the only reality...”
Outside of time and space, Llixgrijb was still
dissatisfied. “I have created a world full of imaginary creatures”, said
Llixgrijb “and yet I am alone. How can this be?” Despite the populousness of
its illusion, Llixgrijb could only watch its lovely universe from the outside.
It had not forgotten its own suffering and loneliness. It was not fully a part
of the creation it had made. “I must become part of my illusion”, considered
Llixgrijb, “and to do that, I must don a costume; I must wear a mask. I must
forget myself forever. But what, or who, shall I become?”
We all hanker for an entry point – a “Beginning” –
in our stories, and as an intro for this sentience presentation,
Llixgrijb may serve. However, while creation stories may satisfy our yearning
for some creator-control of existence, they often tend to raise more questions
than supply answers, so the Director provides another take for our
consideration, via The Path by William Cozzolino:
Reality has no beginning, and no ending.
What you call reality is and always has been a potential of The One, and there
are many realities. For you, this reality began when your mind began giving
attention to a possibility of The One that was the focus of your desire and
intent. What you call your reality was but one of many experiences available to
you. Realities are nothing more than experiences isolated within limited
awareness. Experiences become limited when you lose awareness of the potential
of The One within them. When many agree on the same limited experience, and
when the many lose awareness, reality becomes a shared illusion. The illusion
is not in the experience. The illusion is in the conflict, in the separation.
And as to the linkages
beween the Cosmos, Life and Consciousness, the late, great physicist-astronomer
Fred Hoyle wrote:
“Life is not only a universal
phenomenon, but also consciousness has a fundamental role in the cosmos.
Consciousness actually creates the Universe, forcing reality into being out of
a quantum mechanical haze of possibilities. A little bit of God operates in all
of us. We are his observing instruments. He observes the Universe through us… I
have to believe it’s an intellectual structure we’re looking at, not mere
chance”.
Ah… then perhaps
“reality” is not an illusion, but a field of potential – hence
mankind’s ability over time to invent products and processes which were thought
at that particular historical stage as necessary to enhance and extend human
existence. In reality, the products and processes existed within the Flux all
along, awaiting discovery by an evolving mankind. Only when the subjects were
ready, would some necessary portion of the mystery be revealed.
As
we settle deeper into the movie, we see the necessary physical props emerging across
great eons of cosmological Time. Eventually we perceive the emergence of
organic life, in ever more complex forms until the relatively recent evolution
of myriad species of sentient insect and animal forms… Charles Darwin in his
“Evolution of Species” says it best:
There is a grandeur in life, with its several powers having been
originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that while this planet
has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a
beginning endless forms – most beautiful and most wonderful – have been and are
being evolved.
- - - - - - - - - - -
Having introduced some
of our cast, let us grapple with the main theme of the movie, the mysteries relating
to Consciousness and Self. The Director has established the platform of a
physical Universe that – together with the energies of Time – allows for the
emergence of sentient creatures, life forms with sensors whereby the external
environment can be perceived, plus an internal apparatus whereby the sensed
inputs may be analyzed and given meaning. With meaning, decisions can be made –
decisions essential to the sentient creature’s very survival. So let’s focus on
what is thought to be the HUB of the analytical/ decision making process, the
brain apparatus. Soon we will be looking at ideas arising from current
neuroscience, but first consider the thought of Gopi Krishna – an East India educator / philosopher/ mystic – who wrote:
The brain is only an apparatus, like a
television set, to translate the incredible energy waves of Life coming from
the broadcasting station of the Cosmic Mind into moving images and sounds.
Without the waves, the instrument would show no animation, think no thoughts
and emit no sounds. At the same time, without the instrument the waves – though
active all around – would not be perceptible to any of our five senses, nor
would they manifest themselves in any way cognizable by our mind. When a body
is struck down by death, the animating spark of Life continues to live on in
its pristine glory and form. Only the broken apparatus now no longer shows the
signs of animation.
The plot quickens, and
we begin to question as to how a brain – while itself a marvelous structure of
miniturized circuitry and specialized centres – could selectively analyze
sensed inputs, model structures representative of the surrounding world, give
meaning to the created models, and thereafter deploy energy to explore coping
options and then make decisions, and then be able to generate and
direct sufficient mental and motive energies to affect that surrounding
environment. As we think about the process, we may even consider the merits of
situational dualism, the root of many religions and belief systems, since the
interrelational mechanics of body, mind and consciousness seems to require the
existence of something that is operating as mind-self, yet is
beyond that which could rationally be attributed to physical brain mechanisms.
Thus we come to wonder,
as others before us, that perhaps this something, while
co-existent within one’s personal domain, has a dominant role in the guidance
and control processes of personal mortal existence. The classical dualist
brain-mind enigma. The something which is invisible. What is it??
Homunculus? Llixgrijb? Soul? Spirit? Deus ex machina? But wait ...
Fields are invisible. Geomagnetic fields, tele-communication fields, thought
fields, interpersonal dialogue / relationship fields... Fields have effects on
physical and psychic realms, but themselves are always invisible. Hmmm…. Which
brings us to the work of Robert A. Charman, teacher at the Department of Physiotherapy Education, University of
Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff. Charman’s paper entitled Marriage of Mind and Brain,
presents an intriguing hypothesis of the Field Substance of Mind.
“The central nervous system (CNS) is a physiological system like any
other bodily system, such as the digestive system or respiratory system but,
unlike any other system, the brain end of the CNS is burdened with the
responsibility of being a conscious mind as well. Neurophysiology
becomes psychology but remains neurophysiology. Stimulate parts of the brain
with an electrode and you will experience mental images or emotions, think a
thought and the brain thinks with you. This two-for-the-price-of-one is the
working hypothesis of most neuroscientists, and most current theories
concerning their relationship attach mental processes to localized processes of
physiological synaptic activity that occurs when groups of neurons send
impulses to each other in endless reciprocity. In this hypothesis the mental
processes of Mind are attached to the molecular processes of Brain as a
subjective addendum, so that we no longer have the brain and mind
relationship of popular belief, but brainmind unity in one substance…
This hypothesis of brainmind unity is adopted by all of the well
known galaxy of writers of popular science books on the brain, such as
Blackmore, Boden, the Churchlands, Crick, Damasio, Dennett, Edelman, Gazzaniga,
Humphrey, Sacks, Scott, Searle, and so many others.
In sum, what they, with Atkins,
are saying is that 'It is the physical brain that feels the psychological
pain'… all of the mental processes of thinking, feelings and emotions that
constitute each mind-in-action must be fashioned out of a biologically
generated physical substance that possesses the property of experiencing.”
Charman observed that Nature rarely wastes anything
that incurs the expenditure of energy and is associated with survival, and this
leads to his hypothesis that: “Biologically generated magnetic fields form the substance
of Experiential Reality”
… and his findings indicated that the process whereby our
biological brains perform their functions comprises:
Bio-magnetic field activity… generated by the
fluctuating currents in the brain cell – all movement of electrical charge
creates a magnetic field around itself. These fields rise and fall at the same
frequency as the parent current strength rises and falls and they, in turn, can
cause new currents to flow as the energy of their lines of force, or flux, acts
upon electrical charges that are free to move. Electrical currents and magnetic
fields always move perpendicular to, or at right angles to, each other.
Magnetic field energy is generated during current rise, is stored during steady
current flow, and released back into the current during its fall. This
electrical >> magnetic action, and magnetic >> electrical reaction
is called electromagnetic induction. With multiple sources of currents
flowing in short pulses, or oscillations, across a wide range of frequencies,
the cytomagnetic fields form a complex, close range, web of field energies
within and around the cell as their lines of force, or flux, interact with each
other…. The ever changing patterns of electrical activity that are created by
the myriads of active synapses that cover the bodies and dendrites of the
densely packed CNS neurons generate a multitude of localized magnetic fields in
the space around themselves, and these oscillating magnetic fields provide the
spatial continuity whereby the CNS knows what is going on where throughout its
structure… the mind, and all of the conscious and non conscious mentational
processes that it contains, is formed of the substance of the
neuromagnetic field, and all mentation consists of experiential
properties of the neuromagnetic field based upon different frequencies and
field intensities.
Interesting! A model for
the flowthrough process of metabolism at the physical level translating to the
apparatus of mind through which intention can be effectuated back onto the
physical. Now, with a process in hand, we can move on to the
end-function: the role of consciousness and the sense of self.
The Director leads us
into the findings of Professor Giulio Tononi, Department of
Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin. In an extensively referenced paper, Tononi
(1)
concluded that Consciousness itself is none other than Integrated
Information:
Consciousness
exists beyond any doubt (indeed, it is the only thing whose existence is beyond
doubt). If consciousness is integrated information, then integrated information
exists. Moreover, according to the Integrated Information Theory, it exists as a
fundamental quantity—as fundamental as mass, charge, or energy. As long as
there is a functional mechanism in a certain state, it must exist ipso facto
as integrated information; specifically, it exists as an experience of a
certain quality (the shape of the quale it generates) and quantity (its
“height”).
If one accepts these premises, a
useful way of thinking about consciousness as a fundamental property is as
follows: We are by now used to considering the universe as a vast empty space
that contains enormous conglomerations of mass, charge, and energy—giant bright
entities (where brightness reflects energy or mass) from planets to stars to
galaxies. In this view (that is, in terms of mass, charge, or energy), each of
us constitutes an extremely small, dim portion of what exists—indeed, hardly
more than a speck of dust.
However, if
consciousness (i.e. integrated information) exists as
a fundamental property, an equally valid view of the universe is this: a vast
empty space that contains mostly nothing, and occasionally just specks of
integrated information—mere dust, indeed—even there where the mass-charge–energy
perspective reveals huge conglomerates. On the other hand, one small corner of
the known universe contains a remarkable concentration of extremely bright
entities – where brightness reflects high orders of magnitude brighter than
anything around them. Each bright “star” is the main complex of an individual
human being (and most likely, of individual animals). I argue that such
a centric view is at least as valid as that of a universe
dominated by mass, charge, and energy. In fact, it may be more valid, since to
be highly conscious (to have high integrated information) implies that
there is something it is like to be you, whereas if you just have high mass,
charge, or energy, there may be little or nothing it is like to be you. From
this standpoint, it would seem that entities with high consciousness exist in
a stronger sense than entities of high mass.
- - - - - - - - - -
These are valuable
perspectives, but one’s intuition cautions … “Information”, by
itself – without
a functional sentient brain-mind – is itself completely
non-functional. We are surrounded by a sea of data. As Emerson wrote “We lie in
the lap of immense intelligence” … yet that
intelligence is devoid of utility to any that are not in possession of a
functional brain apparatus and the experiental bases
wherewith data can be grasped and integrated. Prior to there being a brain-mind
capable of “In Forming” the actual meaning of any data point in relation
to any other point, there exists only a gestalt of unconnected, incoherent
static. The chaos out of which Llixgrijb constructed his world.
Only when data takes on meaning,
can the data be integrated rationally into the self’s world and its already
existent experiential benchmarks and comparatives. With meaningful information,
consciousness can build. After realizing the relevance of an input
datum, the new information can be integrated into our personally evolving
world-map. Form and function coalesce out of chaos and the functional self
emerges.
What is the Director’s practical
take-away message? That at least for this earthly transit (and that
is job one), it is essential to develop and maintain our physical apparatus in
a functional state, otherwise the mind won’t be able to translate inputs into
meaningful cognition to inform the self.
This points to the
importance of …
·
physical fitness overall – a healthy, energized
body-brain enhances data questing, conversion and information integration;
·
recognition of the inherent primacy of metabolism.
What affects body affects mind, and vice versa. Our ability to convert food
into biological energy and thence into biomagnetic mind processes is dependent
on the quantity and quality of input fuel. Hungry bodies can’t energize their
brain circuitry to initiate the brain>>mind>>consiousness process.
Brains also periodically require rest to recharge and reset; and altered states
of consciousness pumped by exogenous influences can result in entertaining but
problematic modelling by the mind;
·
engagement by the self in a life-long, continuing
study of the world, including the examination and testing of others’ findings;
·
vigilance in study inputs, to ensure our
information files are current and relevant; as in any diet, the maxim “garbage
in, garbage out” applies;
·
emotional stability – if a person is weighed down
by family and social concerns and disruptions, it is difficult to focus on the
personal quest and integrate findings;
·
a realistic sense of the worth of the quest
itself, plus a concurrent sense of oneself being worthy and capable to be
following what may be a lonely pursuit. Most fortunate is the person who has
the support of a validating ‘other’. Dialogue and exploration of Life’s
mysteries with a trusted friend or partner is often key to maintaining
direction on the path, as well as balance and perspective;
·
the stability of physical resource bases, e.g.
physical needs and financial affairs are in order;
·
vigilance in picking-up on “gifts” from the
Universe in its on-going dance with us – some describe these gifts as
“syncronicities”, e.g. “Ah Ha” connections which may jolt us while enjoying
nature, or through passages in our reading; It is important to catch the
signal, to mentally stop and assess the relevance of the presented insight.
Also, there is often a dividend for one as a result of others’ findings and
insights – perhaps even allowing one to overcome some blockage within one’s
current quest, say in the way of fill-in data points, or even a totally new way
of thinking about the mystery whereby it can be reconfigured, massaged and
better grappled with;
·
an easy-going treatment of ourselves, such as
suggested in Max Ehrmann’s classic, Desiderata:
“Beyond a
wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.”
It must be recognized that, sometimes, it is simply not safe to force oneself to be conscious of certain matters.
Prior to a person being ready, additional maturation and experience may be
required, otherwise the trauma associated with some realization may not be
sustainable by a person’s system. The human mind and heart can only bear so
much. Yet the pain associated with reality is not to be permanently avoided but rather respected for what it signals:
one may not be yet ‘sized’ proportionately to intergrate certain information –
one may need time to refocus and mature within. Later, as a result of further
experiental growth, or through meditation, reverie or dream interpretation a
person may gain the breadth and depth to approach the walled-off secret that
has been held in quarantine, and safely perform the integration.
Another way of looking
at this aspect is to recognize that the “problem” isn’t really out there
where one could better “see”, measure and cope, but rather is within oneself,
as a personal immaturity that Time will remedy. Once the student is ready, the teacher (truth) appears in a form that can
then be assimilated. The search always begins within.
What is important in life isn’t so much that one is on the correct path, but
rather that deep down inside there’s a desire to be on the correct path.
And thus – with a clear
mind – the self can objectively and mindfully examine the external world;
separate out and extract the data-points of interest; examine them for
potential conversion into meaningful information; and consciously integrate the
information into the self’s functional life.
Ah….. This marvelous yet
ephemral Life and its perennial mysteries …
·
that of our coming into initial consciousness at
birth;
·
that of our supposedly “real” existence which is
but a tenuous, temporal residency within an enigma; an existence that – aside
from the sense of “now” – is otherwise only accessible through
the foggy lenses of past memory and future potential;
·
then – towards the end – the realization deep within a person’s being that he may have taken up
life for all the wrong reasons and now it is nearly over and never really
was;
·
and finally …the
ultimate dissolving of the personal, integrated worlds of all, as each
creature’s consciousness and sense of self departs and each fades back into the
causal flux.
…. And so … that
movie is finished, the house lights come up again and all spectators – at their
individual level – are left wondering … Will there be a sequel, and if so, what
information will the Director next impart to us…
- - - - - - - -
Footnote 1. Either the abstract or full text (pdf)
of Giulio Tononi’s Dec 2008 paper entitled Consciousness as
Integrated Information: a Provisional Manifesto can be accessed by
right-clicking on the Url and thereby opening it in a new tab.
Posted
January 29th, 2011
Keith and Marnie
Elliott’s “REMEDY” Site
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