Category: Buddhism

Speech comprehension and context

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A new study on speech comprehension shows that humans respond to the “contextual semantic content of each word in a relatively time-locked fashion.”

These findings demonstrate that, when successfully comprehending natural speech, the human brain responds to the contextual semantic content of each word in a relatively time-locked fashion. (Source)

This process is roughly illustrated here:

While I do not doubt these findings for simple speech in simple contexts, I do wonder what the results would be for speech in psychologically complex contexts, whether that speech is simple or not.

I wonder this because I am certain that in almost all psychologically complex contexts (those rich with subjectivity, emotion, idiosyncratic memory or association, etc.) the “contextual semantic content of each word” will necessarily be different, often very different for each speaker.

Psychologically rich interpersonal speech is almost always fraught with contextual differences that can be very large. Sometimes participants know these differences exist and sometimes they don’t. It is very common for speakers to make major mistakes in this area, the most important area of speech for human psychological well-being.

It seems possible that EEG with increased sensitivity might one day be able to detect “context diversion” between speakers, but even if complex emotional information is also included, people will still have to talk about what is diverging from what.

My comments are not meant to detract from the very interesting findings posted above. I make them because these findings illustrate how inherently problematic real-time mutual comprehension of the “contextual semantic content” of all spoken words actually is.

FIML practice is the only way I know of today to find profound real-time mutual comprehension of complex interpersonal speech.

Brain plasticity and ‘critical periods’ for learning

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Neurodevelopment: Unlocking the brain

This is an interesting article on brain plasticity and “critical periods” for learning some skills (e.g. stereo-vision, language acquisition, etc.). It seems there may be ways to reset or reopen critical periods through chemical or behavioral interventions.

Vision therapy, which aims to correct adult amblyopia and other eye conditions, already has shown that basic visual skills can be relearned and some visual problems corrected by proper training.

Incidentally, FIML practice retrains us to listen, speak, and think differently. In doing this, FIML may be reopening a critical period for language/semiotic processing or even for the fundamental organization of consciousness itself. Once acquired, FIML skills have far-reaching effects on virtually all aspects of human social and psychological awareness.

If Buddhist practice is thought of in a light like this (that new cognitive skills are learned as some old ones are unlearned), it may remove some of the mystical aspects of how people understand the Dharma while also making Buddhist teachings more appealing to people with science training or an affinity for objective science.

first posted July 6, 2012

Perceptual distortions inevitably accrue and distort our psychologies

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Keep your eyes focused on the cross between the flashing images. The faces will appear grossly distorted in your peripheral field of vision. Now, consider that just as our eyes can distort faces as in the gif above, so our minds can and frequently do distort all of our perceptions, especially ones with psychological relevance. This is how our minds do not work well psychologically and emotionally. To compensate for psychological distortions most people in all cultures in the world are forced to cleave to whatever the default assumptions of their cultures are. This leaves us with plastic faces and conformist mannerisms, while inside our minds are filled with emotional distortions. As we carry these distortions through the years, our psychological misperceptions of ourselves and others can become deeply misshapen, leading to neurotic confusion on many levels. No general theory or general method can fix this problem, which at its core is an accumulation of idiosyncratic perceptual distortions held in memory (and the responses that arise from them). FIML practice is a specific activity designed to find and remove perceptual and psychological distortions. FIML will always be unique to the partners using it. It will always deal with their idiosyncratic distortions as they arise in real time. In this sense, FIML has no content except what you put into it. FIML is a tool that helps us see ourselves as we are really functioning in real-time. ABN

Intelligent men exhibit stronger commitment and lower hostility in romantic relationships

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Men’s general intelligence is associated with better relationship investment and lower aversive behaviors, according to a study published in Personality and Individual Differences.

Past research shows that higher general intelligence (g) is associated with numerous positive life outcomes, such as academic success, better socioeconomic status, and lower likelihood of criminality. These studies also suggest that intelligence may play a role in romantic relationships. General intelligence has been linked to lower rates of divorce and higher chances of being married in mid-life, but the effects of intelligence on more nuanced relationship behaviors have not been as widely explored.

In their new study, Gavin S. Vance and colleagues examined how men’s intelligence related to behaviors such as partner-directed insults, sexual coercion, and relationship investment.

Their research builds on existing theories that intelligence could influence romantic relationship behaviors. Some past studies suggested that specific cognitive abilities, such as problem-solving and memory, can contribute to better conflict resolution between partners. For instance, people with strong working memory skills tend to recall their partner’s perspective during conflicts, helping to reduce the severity of relationship issues.

link

Working memory can be cultivated and improved. Memory is important in Buddhist mindfulness practice as well as in Buddhist ethical practices. Memory skills greatly enhance FIML practice. Some people are fundamentally more talented mnemonically, but most people can very effectively improve interpersonal skills when working with a compatible partner. Mindfulness when applied to interpersonal communication improves not only memory and communication skills, but also our understanding of how we actually are operating in the world. In a nutshell, morality boils down to internal subjective integrity — active use of our working memories, Buddhist mindfulness, and FIML all contribute to a wise understanding of what we are and why good ethics are of fundamental importance to that. ABN

Organ donation explained

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If this is true, receiving a donated organ cannot be morally justified either. We know of savage organ harvesting abuses in China, Ukraine and Israel. But few know how sketchy the brain-dead claim is in USA. If there are important nuances to this, I am open to changing my views. Buddhists have long believed that death occurs long after cessation of breathing and recent research has shown this to be true. I removed myself from the organ donor registry some time ago. I believe some Buddhist say it is an act of generosity to donate organs and I do not doubt that, but if it is also a medical scam to cajole loved ones into agreeing to allow it, donating would also entail supporting that system.

Full video: Dr. Byrne – Jaw-dropping Discussion with one of the Founders of Neonatal/Perinatal Medicine. ABN

Metacognition and real-time communication

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Metacognition means “awareness and understanding of one’s own thought processes,” or “cognition about cognition,” or “being able to think about how you think.”

To me, metacognition is a premier human ability. How can it not be a good thing to be aware of how you are aware and how you think and respond to what is around you?

In more detail:

The term “metacognition” is most often associated with John Flavell, (1979). According to Flavell (1979, 1987), metacognition consists of both metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive experiences or regulation. Metacognitive knowledge refers to acquired knowledge about cognitive processes, knowledge that can be used to control cognitive processes. Flavell further divides metacognitive knowledge into three categories: knowledge of person variables, task variables and strategy variables.

(the original source for this quote has disappeared but this article on Wikipedia makes the same points and more)

Most people do metacognition and are aware of doing it. We do it when we plan, make decisions, decide how to get from one place to another, how to relate to one person differently from another, and so on.

Where we don’t do metacognition is in real-time communication in real life, where it matters most. This is not because we are not able to do it. It is because very few of us have the right technique, Flavell’s “acquired knowledge” that allows us to do it.

If we have the right technique, we will be able to gain a great deal of knowledge about real-time cognitive process while also learning how to control them.

FIML practice is a metacognitive practice based on, to quote the above source, “acquired knowledge about cognitive processes… that can be used to control cognitive processes.”

In the case of FIML, the “acquired knowledge” is the FIML technique which allows us to gain conscious “control over cognitive processes” of real-time interpersonal communication.

FIML is different from other analytical communication techniques in that FIML provides a method to gain control over very short or small units of communication in real-time. This is important as it is these very short real-time units that are most often ignored or not dealt with in most analyses of human communication.

If you know how to catch small mistakes, they become sources of insight and humor. If you don’t know how to catch them, they often snowball into destructive misunderstandings.

FIML is fairly easy to do if you understand the importance of correcting the minor misinterpretations that inevitably arise between people when they speak and communicate. By using the FIML metacognitive method, partners gain control over the most elusive kinds of interpersonal error which all too often lead to serious interpersonal discord.

FIML can and does do more than catch small mistakes, but first things first. If you cannot correct small errors in real-time communication, you are not doing anything even resembling thorough metacognitive communication.

Identity as a vortex or tautology

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Our identities are fundamentally made up of semiotic matrices. That is to say, in part, that our identities have meaning; they mean something to us.

Often they mean a great deal to us and from them we derive the semiotics of motivation, intention, life-plans, many of our central interests, and so on.

Identities have strong emotional components, to be sure, but our emotions are ambiguous or diffuse if they are not positioned on a semiotic matrix and focused or defined by that matrix.

Identity is usually tautological in that its components, interests, and associations tend always to lead back to a few central elements. Often these elements have been inculcated in us by training. Some, we learn on our own. These elements are our values and beliefs, and also how these values and beliefs are understood and pursued.

The semiotics of identity must mean something to the person identifying with them. In this sense, they are almost always tautological. I do what I do because that is how I learned how to do it, think it, feel it, perceive it.

Most people are more adept at moving the parts of language around than they are at moving semiotic elements around. When semiotics are unconscious, they act like a vortex pulling perception, emotion, and understanding always toward the center of the identity. I think this is another way to say, in the Buddhist sense, that the self is empty; that it has no “own being.”

We can pursue an understanding of an empty self through Buddhist thought and practice, but we will get better results more quickly if we add a practice that deals directly with the semiotics of our identities.

Since there is no book you can go to to look up how your unique semiotics of identity works, you have to see for yourself how it works. You can do much of this on your own, but eventually you will need a partner because there is no way you will be able to get an objective perspective on yourself acting alone.

FIML practice is the only way I know of to fully see into and through the semiotics of your “identity.” Beneath identity there is a sort of artesian well of pure, undefined consciousness. FIML helps us experience that well while keeping us from rushing back into the tautological matrix of identity or static self-definition and clinging to it.

FIML is able to do this because FIML is process. FIML itself has no definition, only a procedure. It is not a tautology because it has no semiotic boundaries.

first posted JULY 30, 2013

I wrote this ten years ago, before the rage of new identities was as hot as it is today. It provides a solid Buddhist view in modern terms of what an identity is and what its pitfalls can be, why all identities are fundamentally delusional. A point worth adding is you really do not need an identity. You can walk around all day long without ever thinking of your identity and you will be better for it. A persona or social thing we show others has some value when dealing with others but it is not an identity as described above or what you are in a deep sense. It is definitely not something to cling to. And it is not something to carve yourself up over. And it is absolutely not something to carve children up over. Clinging to a false self or tautological identity causes suffering; in fact, that is the cause of suffering as explained by the Buddha. Buddhist practice is all about not doing that, not clinging to a false self, a tautological identity, a delusion.

A word on what a persona or social thing is. It is a convenience in language and semiotics, a way of organizing speech and thought when dealing with others. That’s all it is. When we reify our personas or take them too seriously, we begin to delude ourselves and cause suffering through clinging and making bad decisions. ABN

How Arabs view the West — Gad Saad

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Thirty years ago a Chinese Buddhist nun who is a close friend was appalled at the laxity of American immigration policy. Thirty years ago she said, ‘You are just giving everything to them. You are giving your country away!’ She could not comprehend it or respect it. To her it was immoral to give so unwisely while also failing to protect your own people. Buddhism emphasizes wisdom in all things. ABN

MASSACHUSETTES: Ballot Question 4 on ‘natural psychedelic therapy’

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Question 4 is a citizen-led ballot question supported by military veterans, doctors, caregivers, and others who are affected by our mental health crisis. The measure will create a carefully regulated therapeutic program for adults to access natural psychedelic medicines that show promise for treating serious mental health conditions.

Under Question 4, natural psychedelic medicine therapy will be administered under the supervision and guidance of a trained, licensed professional at regulated therapy centers. Retail sales of psychedelic medicines will not be permitted.

Voting Yes on Question 4 will give veterans, patients with end-of-life distress, and people who are suffering access to this life-saving mental health tool.

link

I support this and do not believe it violates the Fifth Precept. Moreover, psychedelics can valuably be used for more than just ‘serious mental health conditions’. They can also be life-enhancing for people who may not be aware there is more to the mind than the drudgery of being ‘normal’. It is not the job of government to tell citizens which plants they can grow and use. Laws against them are counterproductive due to denying citizens valuable experiences while also exposing them to dangerous substances fraudulently sold as natural psychedelics. For Buddhists, soma and psychedelics were widely available in the Buddha’s day and he never said a word against them. ABN

Your Consciousness Can Connect With the Whole Universe, Groundbreaking New Research Suggests

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A RECENT GROUNDBREAKING EXPERIMENT in which anesthesia was administered to rats has convinced scientists that tiny structures in the rodents’ brains are responsible for the experience of consciousness. To pull it off, these microscopic hollow tube structures, called “microtubules,” don’t rely on our everyday flavor of classical physics. Instead, experts believe, microtubules perform incredible operations in the quantum realm. Citing the work of earlier researchers, the study infers that the same kind of quantum operations are likely happening in human brains.

During their rat brain experiments, scientists at Wellesley College in Massachusetts gave the rodents isoflurane, a type of inhaled general anesthetic used to induce and maintain unconsciousness for medical procedures. One group of drugged rats also received microtubule-stabilizing drugs, while the other did not. The researchers discovered that the microtubule-stabilizing molecules kept the rats conscious for longer than the non-stabilized rats, which more quickly lost their “righting reflex,” or the ability to restore normal posture, according to their findings, published in the peer-reviewed journal eNeuro in August 2024.

The Wellesley study is significant because the physical source of consciousness has been a mystery for decades. It’s a major step toward verifying a theory that our brains perform quantum operations, and that this ability generates our consciousness—an idea that’s been gaining traction over the past three decades.

The notion that quantum physics must be the underlying mechanism for consciousness first emerged in the 1990s, when Nobel Prize-winning physicist Roger Penrose, Ph.D., and anesthesiologist Stuart Hameroff, M.D., popularized the idea that neural microtubules enable quantum processes in our brain, giving rise to consciousness. Specifically, they postulated in a 1996 paper that consciousness may operate as a quantum wave passing through the brain’s microtubules. This is known as Orch OR theory, referring to the ability of microtubules to perform quantum computations through a mathematical process Penrose calls “objective reduction.”

In quantum physics, a particle does not exist in the way classical physics observes it, with a definite physical location. Instead, it exists as a cloud of probabilities. If it comes into contact with its environment, as when a measuring apparatus observes it, then the particle loses its “superposition” of multiple states. It collapses into a definite, measurable state, the state in which it was observed. Penrose hypothesized that “each time a quantum wave function collapses in this way in the brain, it gives rise to a moment of conscious experience.”

link

Study supports FIML practice

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This study—Neural Correlates of People’s Hypercorrection of Their False Beliefs—supports the contention that FIML practice can produce deep, wide-ranging, and enduring changes within the brain/mind of practitioners.

The basic finding of the study is:

Despite the intuition that strongly held beliefs are particularly difficult to change, the data on error correction indicate that general information errors that people commit with a high degree of belief are especially easy to correct. (Emphasis added.)

According to the study, this happens due to:

…enhanced attention and encoding that results from a metacognitive mismatch between the person’s confidence in their responses and the true answer.

This is exactly what happens when a FIML query shows the questioner that his/her assumptions about what their partner’s thoughts or intentions were wrong.

Initially, FIML partners may experience some embarrassment or disbelief at being wrong. But since FIML queries are generally based on negative impressions, after some practice being shown to be wrong will typically produce feelings of relief and even delight.

A FIML query will generally arise out of a state of “enhanced attention” and usually further increase it by being spoken about. Incidentally, this is probably the most difficult aspect of FIML practice—controlling the emotions that accompany enhanced attention, especially when that attention concerns our own emotional reactions.

With continued practice of FIML, however, even strongly held erroneous interpersonal beliefs will be fairly easily corrected whenever they are discovered during a FIML discussion. Correcting core false beliefs (mistaken interpretations) has a wide-ranging, beneficial effect on all aspects of a person’s life.

Since the hypercorrection effect discussed in the linked study only occurs during moments of enhanced attention, the FIML technique of focusing quickly on good data agreed upon by both partners can be seen as a way of inducing states of enhanced attention that will lead to deep changes in both partners. This technique (using good data) also turns the discussion from one about feelings to one about “information,” which the study finds makes errors “especially easy to correct.”

Furthermore, since FIML practice tends to deal with very small incidents, the enhanced attention FIML induces works like a laser that quickly and painlessly excises erroneous thoughts and feelings while they are still small and have not been allowed to grow into full-blown emotional reactions.

first posted OCTOBER 31, 2015

Philosophical psychology

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Are your thought patterns valid? Are your premises true? Is your mind sound?

Buddhism further asks are your mental states wholesome? Are they conducive to enlightenment, wisdom, freedom from delusion?

There are many things we can do while alone to clean up our thought processes. And there are some things we can only do with the help of another person.

Only another person can tell us if our premises, thoughts, and conclusions (however tentative) about them are true, valid, and sound.

Buddhism has a concept of a “spiritual friend,” a “good friend,” a noble friend,” or an “admirable friend.” All of these terms are translations of the Pali Kalyāṇa-mittatā, which is well-explained at that link. (Chinese 善知識). That link is well-worth reading in full.

From the link above and from many years of working with Buddhist literature and people, my sense is that a Buddhist “good friend” is someone who is to be admired and emulated. They are similar to what we mean today by mentors or “good role models.”

I deeply respect the concept of a Buddhist good friend, but find it lacks what I consider the preeminent virtue of philosophical psychology—real-time honesty based on a teachable technique.

Indeed, I cannot find anything anywhere in world philosophy, religion, or literature that provides a teachable technique for attaining real-time honesty with another person.

I also do not quite understand how this could be.

For many centuries human beings have thought about life but no one has come up with a technique like FIML?

How can that be?

I do not see a technique like FIML anywhere in the history of human philosophy nor anywhere in modern psychology.

The importance of a “good friend” who does FIML with you cannot be overemphasized because it is only through such a friend that you can discover where your premises about them are right or wrong, where your thoughts about them are valid or not, and through those discoveries where your mind itself is arranged soundly or not.

first posted MAY 30, 2017

UPDATE 12/14/23: Buddhists can and should make Buddhist practice their own, update or improve the practice with new ideas that are sound, valid, and true. This is a very positive and excellent side of Buddhism, which itself is not written in stone. Buddhism is preeminently a mind-to-mind teaching. It does not depend on ancient texts or the absolute interpretation of words. It depends on fulsome understanding of the deep truths at the core of all Buddhist thinking—impermanence, emptiness, and nirvana. Anything that is consonant with those three truths and conforms to Buddhist morals is good Buddhism. Anything that contradicts those three truths and/or Buddhist morals is not Buddhism.

The Buddha encouraged teaching the Dharma in people’s native languages. He discouraged writing his teachings down because he did not want them to become sacred texts that people worship rather than understand. FIML practice is an efficient, detailed, sound, and accurate way for “good friends” to deeply share mind-to-mind communion/communication with each other. In this sense, it is excellent Buddhist practice. FIML has no other teaching than how to communicate really well with a good friend. FIML does not tell you what to think or believe. Anyone can do it. ABN

What is the Problem of the Criterion? The Buddhist origin of Skepticism

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The problem of the criterion is a fundamental issue in epistemology, which is concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge. It is a problem that arises when trying to determine the extent of knowledge and formulate the criteria for epistemic values, such as truth, justification, and evidence.

The problem can be phrased as a pair of questions: “What do we know?” and “What is the extent of our knowledge?” However, these questions seem to be circular, as it appears that we cannot answer the first question without already having an answer to the second, and vice versa.

This problem has been discussed by philosophers for centuries, with ancient roots dating back to the works of Pyrrho and Sextus Empiricus.

The problem of the criterion is closely related to the issue of justification, as it is difficult to determine what criteria should be used to justify our beliefs and knowledge claims. This problem has been addressed in various ways, including the development of different epistemological theories and the exploration of the nature of truth and evidence.

In essence, the problem of the criterion highlights the difficulty of determining the starting point of knowledge and the criteria for evaluating knowledge claims. It is a problem that has puzzled philosophers for centuries and continues to be a topic of ongoing debate and inquiry.

the above was AI generated in Brave browser

Pyrrho’s tripartite statement is completely unprecedented and unparalleled in Greek thought. Yet it is not merely similar to Buddhism, it corresponds closely to a famous statement of the Buddha preserved in canonical texts. The statement is known as the Trilakṣaṇa, the ‘Three Characteristics’ of all dharmas ‘ethical distinctions, factors, constituents, etc.’ Greek pragmata ‘(ethical) things’ corresponds closely to Indic dharma ∼ dhamma ‘(ethical) things’ and seems to be Pyrrho’s equivalent of it. The Buddha says, “All dharmas are anitya ‘impermanent’…. All dharmas are duḥkha ‘unsatisfactory, imperfect, unstable’…. All dharmas are anātman ‘without an innate self-identity’.”

~Beckwith, Christopher I.. Greek Buddha: Pyrrho’s Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia

The quote from Beckwith just above highlights how Beckwith has very convincingly connected Pyrrho’s skepticism with early Buddhism. The Trilaksana or Three Characteristics are the foundation of the Four Dharma Seals, belonging to the very earliest (attested) teachings of the Buddha. They are the heart of virtually all Buddhist philosophy and practice. They also define the Problem of the Criterion in Buddhist terms. The Fourth Seal is nirvana or freedom from the anxiety and suffering of not fully understanding the the first Three Dharma Seals.

I am making this point to encourage Buddhists, Skeptics and Stoics to read Beckwith’s Greek Buddha: Pyrrho’s Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia.

I am also making this point because the Problem of the Criterion, or the Four Dharma Seals, are very real and impact our daily lives at every level all the time. And this is not just an abstract philosophical problem. It affects all of our relationships and everything we say and hear. In this vein I want to say that FIML (without my specifically knowing it at the time) is designed to address the Problem of the Criterion as it arises between two people in a close relationship.

I have said more than a few times over the years that it is hard for me to understand why ancient philosophers, including the Buddha, did not discover FIML or teach it. I believe it is possible Buddhist monks in the Buddha’s day were given instructions that amounted to some form of FIML, but there exists no evidence of this.

Whatever the case, FIML is designed to deal with interpersonal conundrums that arise out of the Problem of the Criterion, our inability to solidly nail what we know to the wall. FIML cannot completely fix the problem. It does not solve the Problem of the Criterion but it does make everything much clearer and better by at least an order of magnitude and probably more. By fully recognizing this inherent problem within all communication FIML partners can cooperatively work to solve it for the most part between themselves. ABN

A useful guide to understanding what FIML is

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The Ethical Skeptic (TES) has written a very good essay: The Distinction Between Comprehension and Understanding. I want to use a schema presented in his essay to describe what FIML is, how to see it and understand it. Comprehending it requires doing it and reaping its benefits.

TES provides this illustration of the layers of thought and psychology that culminate in comprehension:

I might not use a hammer to represent comprehension but since we have a hammer, it would represent FIML’s ability to smash through the dogma of psychology, our ordinary understanding of psycholinguistics, the simplicity with which we view real-time speech, and our ignorance that there exists anything profound in being able to analyze real-time, real-world speech as it is happening.

FIML is a method, a technique. It has no content save what you bring to it. FIML works with and reveals the profound subjectivity of the individual. Since basic FIML cannot be done alone but only with a partner, it also reveals the profound subjectivity of your partner. In doing this, it smashes the dogmas of psychology and virtually all public/common notions about what the human mind even is.

The difficulties of FIML are fundamentally two: 1) seeing it at all and 2) doing it. FIML is not something people normally ever do. I have been writing, reading, and thinking about FIML for many years and have never seen any reference to anything like it anywhere in the history of the world. If you know of one, please tell me. I will be delighted.

FIML is probably hard to see because all languages everywhere contain a very strong proscription against questioning anyone in the moment in order to begin a sober analysis. People just don’t do that. Getting that close and personal about something someone has just said (or did) is instinctively perceived as disrespect, argumentativeness, stupidity, rocking-the-boat, etc. FIML 100% is not that, but since no one has cultivated the habit or acquired the training to do it, no one can even see it let alone do it.

Most of us can see moments of speech and change our minds quickly if we are ordered, instructed, or want to curry favor. I guess that is a starting point, but none of that is FIML. FIML begins with a subjectively felt (or comprehended) need to find out if you have interpreted something correctly. Very ordinary, right? Yes, it is in “slow-time,” but not in real-time.

When done in real-time, the emphasis is on the one asking the question because this one has noticed an interpretation arising in their mind that may be wrong. The interpretation could be completely new or more likely habitual. By frequently noticing these interpretations and then asking your FIML partner about them (using FIML rules) and listening to their reply, you will gradually begin to see a true picture of your actual profound and marvelous subjective mind as it moves through and responds to its living existence.

FIML is no more difficult to learn than playing a musical instrument, riding a motorcycle, or cooking. Once both you and your partner understand what FIML basically is and why it is so necessary, you will progress quickly and gain many insights into your behaviors and thinking processes. At some point, you will achieve a kind of mutual comprehension of each other that is very clear and beautiful and cannot be gained in any other way.

I died on a operating table and entered third state between life and death – what I saw was VERY different to what I’d been taught by the Catholic Church

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…’While deeper inside the Source phenomenon’s Energy field, I watched Creation of our universe as the meaning and purpose of life were explained to me by Source itself.’

Danison realized that she was part of the Source, along with every other human being, all interconnected.

She said: ‘You and I are actually Source, simply playing a role similar to how we currently play roles in our dreams. 

‘I was shown that I had never been separated from Source and was in fact an integrated part of its consciousness and self-awareness that had merely temporarily inhabited a human animal. 

‘The purpose of life is to allow Source to experience the feelings and sensations of the universe it created comparable to how we experience our dreams through the dream-character version of ourselves.

She said: ‘When our bodies die, we simply wake up from the dream of human life and resume living spiritual life in what we call the afterlife.’

link

What she describes is consistent with what many Buddhists and others sense or believe. Faith can be defined as tropism facing ‘the Source’, which in Buddhism corresponds to ‘original enlightenment’, the Tathagata, or Buddha mind. This is also one way of understanding what is meant in Buddhism by saying everything is conscious or ‘mind only’. ABN