Tag: philosophy

Can you be aware of nothing? The rare sleep experience scientists are trying to understand

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For some people, sleep brings a peculiar kind of wakefulness. Not a dream, but a quiet awareness with no content. This lesser-known state of consciousness may hold clues to one of science’s biggest mysteries: what it means to be conscious.

The state of conscious sleep has been widely described for centuries by different Eastern contemplative traditions. For instance, the Indian philosophical school of the Advaita Vedanta, grounded in the interpretation of the Vedas – one of the oldest texts in Hinduism – understands deep sleep or “sushupti” as a state of “just awareness” in which we merely remain conscious.

Similar interpretations of deep sleep are made by the Dzogchen lineage in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. According to their teachings, different meditative practices can be followed during wakefulness and sleep to acknowledge the “essence” of consciousness. One of those meditative practices is that of dream yoga or luminosity yoga, which enables the practitioner to recognise the states of dream and sleep. This aims to bring them to a state of “pure awareness”, a state of being awake inside sleep without thoughts, images or even a sense of self.

For western science, this state poses a conundrum. How can you be aware without being aware of something? If these reports are accurate, they challenge mainstream theories that treat consciousness as always about an object. For example, my awareness of the laptop in front of me, or the blue sky rising above my window, or my own breathing. The existence of this state pushes us to reconsider what consciousness is.

In those studies, we found a spectrum of experiences we called “objectless sleep experiences” – conscious states that appear to lack an object of awareness. In all cases, participants who alluded to an objectless sleep experience reported having had an episode during sleep that lacked sensory content and that merely involved a feeling of knowing that they were aware.

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This is an interesting article, sent by an alert reader.

From a Buddhist POV, these states are samadhi or dhyana states, which are essential to successful Buddhist practice.

The reason these states are essential is they provide the experience of pure awareness, pure consciousness with zero self and zero referent.

The Mind-Only Buddhist explanation of these states is they are touching on or engaging with the universal Tathagata, or enlightened mind.

In modern philosophical terms, these states are awareness of ‘mind at large’ or some version of ‘quantum consciousness’ or the fundamental ‘field of consciousness or thought’, which is posited as a primary component of the cosmos.

These states are extremely valuable and worth remembering and pursuing.

In higher levels of samadhi, enormous joy or bliss is experienced along with a total absence of self or referent.

The highest samadhi state is perfect equanimity coupled with deep awareness of the Tathagata.

Samadhi states eventually bump up against nirvana.

I love Western civilization, but the one thing it deeply lacks is a tradition of knowing about and using samadhi, which at the very least provides a marvelous and wonderful place to stand aside from all that is mundane.

Philosophically, Buddhism recognizes ‘relative truth or reality’ (mundane reality) and ‘ultimate truth or reality’, the full knowing of which constitutes Buddhist enlightenment.

In many Buddhist traditions, samadhi states are understood to be natural and attainable by anyone who tries diligently.

If you are fortunate enough to experience samadhi without trying, be thankful!

You have gained a deep realization.

One of the most difficult parts of Buddhism for non-Buddhists to understand is the experience of samadhi.

Also fundamental to Buddhism is the experience of a clear conscience, an honest and pure mind which is gained through wholesome moral and ethical thoughts and behaviors. ABN

Metacognitive rift posited in silly story about Usha’s wedding ring

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The Second Lady was ringless during her visit to Camp Lejeune military base in Richlands, North Carolina on Wednesday with First Lady Melania Trump.  

Photos show Usha, 39, getting off a plane with her left hand in full view – and the wedding band nowhere to be seen. 

Second Lady Usha Vance was seen traveling to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune on Wednesday with her wedding finger noticeably bare 

Additional images from Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station New River confirm the ring remained off throughout the visit.

The Vice President, meanwhile, was photographed wearing his wedding band during a speaking event in Washington on Thursday.  

The image comes after weeks of nasty trolls whispering about the state of the Vance marriage, which began in October with the Vice President’s tight hug he gave to Erika Kirk during a memorial for her husband, the right wing activist Charlie Kirk.

The speculation about a possible rift between the Second Couple was fueled by the VP admitting that he has pleaded with his wife to convert from Hinduism: he is a Roman Catholic.

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The Buddha is the world’s first still famous skeptic.

Pyrrho of Elis, a Greek philosopher in the 4th century BCE is the world’s first still famous Greek skeptic.

Pyrrho learned his skepticism from Buddhist monks in Bactria where Pyrrho stayed for ten years with Alexander the Great.

Skepticism in Buddhism can also be called ‘Buddhism without beliefs’.

The Buddha never answered questions about who and what we are, where we go or do not go after death, the existence of God and so on.

These, and more, are known as the ‘unanswerable questions‘.

‘Therefore, O monks, do not brood over [any of these views]. Such brooding, O monks, is senseless, has nothing to do with genuine pure conduct (s. ādibrahmacariyaka-sīla), does not lead to aversion, detachment, extinction, nor to peace, to full comprehension, enlightenment and Nibbāna.[17]

This means that the Buddha did not have a rigid, verbalizable view of human metacognition.

The story above is silly for obvious reasons.

But it is a culturally clickbait-worthy story because both Christians and most Hindus hold rigid metacognitive ‘beliefs’ about their religions.

From a Buddhist point of view, rigid metacognitive beliefs or ‘views’ are:

‘Accompanied by suffering, distress, despair, & fever, and do not lead to disenchantment, dispassion, cessation; to calm, direct knowledge, full Awakening, Unbinding…

‘Whoever speculates about these things will go mad & experience vexation’.

In like manner so it is with all rigid meta-cognitive views on the self, our analyses of ourselves, our understanding of others, our political views, our scientific views, our religious and spiritual views.

In Buddhism, all metacognitive views should be open, pliable, moveable, viewed as impermanent, viewed with a healthy skepticism that allows us to focus on what is of greatest importance — the attainment of liberation through wholesome practice.

Buddhism must be experienced to be understood.

A battle between opposing metacognitive views, such as the one being implied in the story above, is a waste of Usha’s time, Vance’s time, and everyone’s time, except insofar as this example may help others understand the futility and unwholesomeness of being rigid in any metacognitive view about ultimate matters. ABN

solipsistic circus

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all the world is a solipsistic circus with no way out. all cultures are self-referential solipsisms. all speech is hopelessly entangled in definitions that go nowhere. we ourselves don’t know what we mean. one thing defines another. actions prove words only because nothing else does, and neither does that. this is caused by words making no sense except through their connections to other words ABN

US Conference of Catholic Bishops disgraces itself

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Catholic charities were a major factor in Biden’s illegal immigration invasion. These bishops said nothing then. They have said nothing about the devastating illegal immigration invasion of Europe either. Mass immigration is an act of war. Having ‘compassion’ for the invaders but not the communities being invaded is not wise, and I doubt it is even sound Christianity. It is definitely not sound Buddhist thinking. ABN

Consciousness and the Spiritual Dimension: Toward a Metaphysical Framework Bridging Science and Phenomenology

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Abstract

Recent advances in neuroscience and phenomenology confirm that human consciousness can access and perceive realities beyond the ordinary physical world. Studies of psychedelics such as ayahuasca and DMT reveal consistent reports of entering “another dimension,” often accompanied by intricate fractal geometry, encounters with beings or entities, and sensations of transcendence. Neuroimaging and mathematical modeling show that these experiences correspond to measurable changes in brain dynamics. This paper argues that consciousness interacts with a structured, non-physical domain — a spiritual dimension — independent of and distinct from the material world, transcending its limits. Far from superstition, this claim rests on converging empirical and phenomenological evidence and calls for an expanded science capable of investigating the non-physical aspects of reality.

Keywords: consciousness, spiritual dimension, metaphysics, phenomenology, psychedelics, neuroscience

Definitions

  • Spiritual energy: a universal, non-physical field that permeates all matter and energy. In living beings, it localizes as consciousness, expressed through the brain as the physical interface/medium that allows this energy to manifest. Spiritual energy is not measurable as physical energy but represents the deeper, animating principle underlying consciousness and life.
  • Spiritual dimension: the non-physical domain from which spiritual energy possibly originates — a reality separate and distinct, but accessible from the material world. Under altered states of consciousness, this dimension becomes perceptible; many traditions describe this as opening the “third eye,” often associated with activation of the pineal gland, believed to connect physical and spiritual realities (Jain et al., 2018; Bellec, 2024).
  • Consciousness: The localized manifestation of spiritual energy, expressed and mediated through the brain — both the physical expression and medium through which spiritual energy interacts with this world.

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From a professional/ orthodox philosophical or scientific POV, this paper will not get much approval, if any. From a creative, exploratory POV, this paper attempts to make some sense of consciousness and spirituality. It relies on ‘subjective science’, which is an excellent area of science, to describe its horizons. I approve of attempts like this. ABN

Musk’s most important cautionary take on AI — AI must be trained to be truth-seeking and curious

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No moral person with sound ethics and a working conscience should ever want AI to be trained to lie. But that is what we are seeing from major players in this game. From what I see, Musk is alone among top elites in what he is saying and repeats often. Truth-seeking with curiosity are the foundations of human morality and intelligence. This appears to be a battle between good and evil. ABN

‘As an intelligent civilization progresses, they would become part of the fabric of space-time itself’ — Andrew Gallimore

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Gallimore connects his ideas to DMT, which may be reasonable.

They could also be connected to deep samadhi states as taught in the Buddhist tradition.

Science today is moving us closer to ancient truths (some of which may have been discovered through the use of psychedelics).

Mind-only Buddhism posits a conscious universe, a mental universe. ABN

Free will: its locus is the mind

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Action in the physical world is a smaller set of options than action within the mind.

Thus, the locus of free will is the mind not the body or its actions.

We always have many options in the mind. Many choices are available for what we choose to think or how we choose to frame something.

A related idea that is not necessarily part of the above is if God or Dharma Protectors or some other being in a higher realm wanted to influence us, they would be most likely to do so by influencing our minds.

This influence could be a subtle guiding of our thoughts, actual channeling of their thoughts, or even a vision when we are alone.

When we are alone because in those moments the influence will be primarily on our minds not our bodies. Our eyes may see and our ears hear, but if no one else is there the influence will ultimately occur in our minds and remain in our minds as memory.

When we are alone because if another person is present and they see or hear the same thing, the influence will impact the physical world to a much greater extent.

It will not be contained within one human mind. Two people will be astounded by it, talk about it, share it with others. This extends the influence well into physical reality causing it to have a much wider impact.

Visions influencing more than one person have happened, but these should not be the standard of proof that events of that type do happen.

Indeed, it makes sense to assume that interventions into human affairs from higher realms happen to individuals far more often than to pairs or groups of people.

This also makes sense from the point of view that the locus of free will is in the mind.

A higher being can influence the mind and the will in this way without causing major distortions in the physical world.

Cold, calculating, killer statesmen rule the world

~ ABN ~ 4 Comments

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Evan has been very insightful.

I believe his basic formula is correct but leaves out the tribal, religious, and racial factors in political game theory.

These factors determine who the ‘calculating killers’ kill, how and why.

One example is the decades long covert war being waged against the West by disabling strong boys and young men.

Only some tribes will do that.

And they do that because they hate the West; their self-concept is based on that hate.

Their weapons are poison, lobotomies, sensory damage and more.

It is easy to see this in bad vaxxes, bad food and water, opioids.

It is harder to see this when the vic is a single young man, roofied and lobotomized within five minutes.

Multiply those casualties by tens of millions over many decades.

Then you can see the strategy of weakening a civilization over several generations.

That’s what has allowed many of those cold killer statesmen to seize power.

And, yes, it was done by a cabal. ABN