Tag: science

Chapter 4 — Cessations of consciousness in meditation: Advancing a scientific understanding of nirodha samāpatti

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Absence of consciousness can occur due to a concussion, anesthetization, intoxication, epileptic seizure, or other fainting/syncope episode caused by lack of blood flow to the brain. However, some meditation practitioners also report that it is possible to undergo a total absence of consciousness during meditation, lasting up to 7 days, and that these “cessations” can be consistently induced. One form of extended cessation (i.e., nirodha samāpatti) is thought to be different from sleep because practitioners are said to be completely impervious to external stimulation. That is, they cannot be ‘woken up’ from the cessation state as one might be from a dream. Cessations are also associated with the absence of any time experience or tiredness, and are said to involve a stiff rather than a relaxed body. Emergence from meditation-induced cessations is said to have profound effects on subsequent cognition and experience (e.g., resulting in a sudden sense of clarity, openness, and possibly insights). In this paper, we briefly outline the historical context for cessation events, present preliminary data from two labs, set a research agenda for their study, and provide an initial framework for understanding what meditation induced cessation may reveal about the mind and brain. We conclude by integrating these so-called nirodha and nirodha samāpatti experiences—as they are known in classical Buddhism—into current cognitive-neurocomputational and active inference frameworks of meditation.

Introduction
Many unique states of mind have been described by meditators and contemplatives. These can range from ecstatic and mystical absorptions to out-of-body experiences, and even states of so-called pure consciousness (Metzinger, 2020). However, as yet, no scientific papers that we are aware of have explored a meditation-induced event known in Pāli (the liturgical language of Theravada Buddhism) as nirodha samāpatti (NS), which literally means “cessation attainment,” but often is rendered as “cessation of feeling and perception” (Nanamoli and Bodhi, 1995). Compared to other non-ordinary experiences that scientists might be tempted to dismiss due to their inherently subjective and variable nature, the NS experience is concrete: an internally induced absence of consciousness. The event is outwardly comparable to general anesthesia and differentiated from deep sleep in that after a NS event there is no sensation of time having passed, there are no dreams, and one cannot be ‘woken up’ by physical stimulation or pain (Nanamoli and Bodhi, 1995).a Clearly, in terms of understanding the mind and brain, the capacity to voluntarily turn off consciousness, analogously to general anesthesia, is immensely interesting, also given how rare the capacity is and its implications for our understanding of top-down processing in the brain.b There are also notable after-effects of NS (and other cessation) experiences involving a profound sense of clarity, which some meditators describe as a kind of inner “reset,” which further differentiates this experience from (coming out of) sleep or general anesthesia.

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The full paper:

Laukkonen_23_ProgressInBrainResearchDownload

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I am not well-versed in nirodha samāpatti, but I do believe that Buddhist practice at its best involves some form of serious, consistent meditation practice. ABN

Antarctic seep emergence and discovery in the shallow coastal environment

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In recent years, global methane sources and sinks have received increased attention owing to the rapid increase in atmospheric methane over the past decade and the high warming potential of methane (~80 times CO2 over a 20-year period1). There is a continued gap between the measured increase in atmospheric methane and the total emissions predicted from currently known methane sources – this underpins global efforts to better understand potential methane release from sources with the highest uncertainties, including the ocean and coasts2. Polar regions are increasingly recognized as containing globally significant volumes of methane in subglacial and marine reservoirs, with research in the geologic record3,4 and the contemporary Arctic5,6,7 illustrating the climate sensitivity of these systems.

One such mechanism of release from these reservoirs is from seeps in the marine8,9,10,11,12,13 or terrestrial4,6,14 environment, in addition to direct subglacial flux5,7. Seeps are areas of the seafloor where there is seepage of fluids rich in hydrocarbons (e.g., methane) or other chemicals (e.g., sulfide), often creating distinct marine habitats. Tens of thousands of methane seeps have been identified in the Arctic to date, with linkages to ice mass loss since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM)4,8,13,15,16 as well as more recent climate change impacts5,7,17. The degradation of cryospheric caps, such as glacial ice, permafrost, and gas hydrates (methane and carbon dioxide gas trapped in an ice matrix) has been attributed3,4,5,6,7,15 as drivers for changes in methane flux in these instances

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The Unraveling Stillness: Flux as the Hidden Pulse of the Universe — DJCampbell

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The Unraveling Stillness: An Introduction to Flux Wisdom Field Theory

We do not begin with things. We begin with a tautology so fundamental it precedes existence itself: Nothing can’t exist. Perfect, absolute stillness is an unstable fiction; the slightest potential for difference, a whisper in the void, unravels it. This primal instability, this ceaseless becoming, is Flux. It is not a substance moving through space, but the very genesis of space, time, matter, and meaning as an ongoing process.

This is the foundational premise of Flux Wisdom Field Theory (fWFT), a conceptual framework that stretches from the deepest questions in cosmology to the intimate nature of consciousness. It proposes that the universe is not a collection of objects governed by laws, but a self-organizing, self-revising informational structure in constant, creative motion. The theory offers a compelling narrative that seeks to unify the measurable world of physics—addressing concrete problems like the Hubble tension and the nature of dark matter—with the experiential world of life, thought, and wisdom. It reframes reality as an endless dance of ripples on a cosmic pond, where interference gives rise to pattern, and resonance gives rise to form. From the quantum foam to the murmurations of starlings and the flash of human insight, fWFT suggests we are witnessing the same fundamental dynamic: the elegant, infinite unfolding of instability into interaction, and interaction into being.   The Axioms of Becoming The architecture of fWFT rests on a set of five core axioms that describe the behavior of Flux. These are not arbitrary rules imposed from without, but are presented as the intrinsic, unavoidable logic of a universe where true nothingness is impossible.

There cannot be nothing. This is the origin story. A true void, a perfect null state, is a logical contradiction because it has no potential to persist. The universe exists simply because “nothing” is not a stable option.   Flux cannot be still. As a direct consequence of the first axiom, the ground state of reality is one of “never-stillness”. Uniformity is dynamically unstable. A tiny disturbance, a single “wrinkle in the void,” is inevitable and all that is needed to initiate the cosmic dance.   Interaction creates loops. When distinctions arise from the flux, they influence one another. This interplay is not linear; it creates feedback, recursion, and self-referential patterns. These informational “loops” are the seeds of structure, memory, and identity.   Interference produces resonance. As ripples of flux propagate, they overlap. This interference is not mere noise; it is where creation occurs. Waves amplify and cancel, and through this dynamic interplay, stable, self-reinforcing patterns—resonances—emerge from the turbulence. A particle, a planet, or an idea are all forms of resonance.   Resonance decays, seeding further ripples. No structure is permanent. As resonant patterns eventually decay, they don’t simply vanish. They dissipate back into the field, releasing their stored information and energy as new, smaller-scale fluctuations that seed the next generation of structure.

These axioms depict a universe that is perpetually bootstrapping itself into existence. It is not a machine set in motion long ago, but a living, breathing process of continuous creation and dissolution, where every ending is a new beginning.

Continue reading “The Unraveling Stillness: Flux as the Hidden Pulse of the Universe — DJCampbell” →

When and where did blue eyes appear? And why? — Peter Frost

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…Why blue eyes?

We know the answers to the “when” and the “where.” Blue eyes became common during the last ice age within a region encompassing Germany, Scandinavia, the East Baltic, and probably areas farther east.

At that time, Scandinavia and the Alps were under ice. Northern Europe was habitable only on the plains stretching from northern Germany eastwards. Before 12,000 years ago, these plains were steppe-tundra with wandering herds of reindeer and nomadic bands of hunter-gatherers. Actually, they were just hunters. There were few opportunities for gathering fruits, nuts, tubers, or edible greens. Food was almost entirely “meat on the hoof” (Hoffecker, 2002, pp. 8, 178, 193-194, 237).

But why would such an environment favor blue eyes? Davide offers four possible reasons:

  • Lower UV exposure requiring less melanin protection
  • Sexual selection for distinctive traits
  • Genetic drift in smaller northern populations
  • Need for lighter skin to maintain vitamin D synthesis where sunlight is weaker

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FIML is a dynamic fact-gatherer, a dynamic gatherer of facts between two people

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FIML is a dynamic fact gatherer, a dynamic gatherer of facts between two people.

As these facts increase into the dozens, then hundreds, partners will see in themselves and each other a very different picture of who they are, a unique mosaic of their actual psychologies as they actually function in real-time, real-world situations.

This gathering of many idiosyncratic facts, this creation of a mosaic of psychologically unique communicative facts, reshapes the mind, its self-awareness and its understanding of what mind and consciousness truly are.

FIML is a species of subjective science.

It works with objectively agreed upon micro communication data.

The advantages of working with micro-data are three:

  • 1) micro-data are easy to identify, remember and agree upon with little ambiguity or confusion
  • 2) micro-data once discovered are emotionally and psychologically easy to accept, to admit
  • 3) micro-data are objective in that both partners agree on what they are

Acquiring a mosaic of micro-data facilitates beneficial extrapolation into meso and macro levels of the mind.1

And this allows for a profound reshaping of both partners’ minds and psychologies.

This dynamic fact-gathering and enhanced understanding of the mind forestalls solipsistic error and also the error of clinging to group norms.

For Buddhists2 and others who practice mindfulness, FIML can be understood as partnered mindfulness. ABN

  1. See Micro, meso, and macro levels of human understanding for more. ↩︎
  2. For Buddhists, a FIML query arises in the second skandha, deepens in the third skandha and is initiated verbally in the fourth skandha, thus altering the fifth skandha or preventing its habitual recurrence. See The Five Skandhas for more. ↩︎

UPDATE: I hope readers of this site who are members of a Buddhist Sangha or close to one will encourage their Sangha to learn and practice FIML mindfulness.

FIML would work especially well within a monastic community. It would greatly enhance their mindfulness and raise their common awareness to new heights of clarity and harmoniousness.

Lay Buddhists who see each other often and already communicate well would also benefit greatly from FIML practice, both as a group and as individuals. ABN

Study of 1m-year-old skull points to earlier origins of modern humans

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A million-year-old human skull suggests that the origins of modern humans may reach back far deeper in time than previously thought and raises the possibility that Homo sapiens first emerged outside of Africa.

An artist’s impression of what Homo longi, or dragon man, may have looked like. Photograph: Chuang Zhao/Eurekalert/AFP/Getty Images

Leading scientists reached this conclusion after reanalysis of a skull known as Yunxian 2 discovered in China and previously classified as belonging to a member of the primitive human species Homo erectus.

After applying sophisticated reconstruction techniques to the skull, scientists believe that it may instead belong to a group called Homo longi (dragon man), closely linked to the elusive Denisovans who lived alongside our own ancestors.

This repositioning would make the fossil the closest on record to the split between modern humans and our closest relatives, the Neanderthals and Denisovans, and would radically revise understanding of the last 1m years of human evolution.

Prof Chris Stringer, an anthropologist and research leader in human evolution at the Natural History Museum in London, said: “This changes a lot of thinking because it suggests that by one million years ago our ancestors had already split into distinct groups, pointing to a much earlier and more complex human evolutionary split than previously believed. It more or less doubles the time of origin of Homo sapiens.”

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Solar ‘micronova’ to trigger mass extinction that risks wiping out humanity, expert warns

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A space weather expert has issued a dire warning that Earth may be on the brink of a catastrophic geomagnetic disaster capable of wiping out up to 90 percent of humanity.

Ben Davidson, founder of Space Weather News, told the Matt Beall Limitless podcast that a rapid magnetic pole shift, potentially triggered by a solar ‘micronova,’ could unleash tsunamis, climate chaos and mass extinction.

Though his speculative ‘micronova’ theory, a sudden solar explosion triggering a pole shift, lacks mainstream support, Davidson insisted the underlying geomagnetic cycle is ‘bulletproof’ science.

‘This is a near extinction-level event, and we are in the middle of it right now!’ Davidson said, emphasizing a cycle that occurs roughly every 6,000 years, with a more severe event every 12,000 years.

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See also As the World Turns, which makes similar claims but for a different reason. Worst case is the earth’s axis flips some 127 degrees (if memory serves), causing mile high tsunamis that will wipe out almost everything. I’ve posted numerous article on this topic and, personally, find it credible. There is no way to prepare for an axial shift except move to the top of a tall mountain. ABN

We are currently in a Geomagnetic Excursion which could be catastrophic

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We’ve been lied to about our entire history and the origins of human civilization. We’re still being lied to because of what’s coming. But you can put two and two together if you look outside their mainstream scientific framework.

The speed of the North Magnetic Pole’s movement was around 10 km per year for most of the 20th century, then suddenly increased in the 1990s to over 50 km per year, moving toward Siberia…

They made this graphic in 2025, and what it reveals will change how you see your future—this is why billionaires are building doomsday bunkers!

Did you notice the sudden acceleration in the 1990s? That shift triggered true polar wander, which began altering Earth’s rotational axis.

Around 1995–2000, Earth’s spin axis took an abrupt turn toward the east and is now drifting almost twice as fast as before, at a rate of nearly 7 inches (17 centimeters) per year.

It’s no longer moving toward Hudson Bay, Canada, but instead toward Europe, just like the North Magnetic Pole! 

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I have posted information on this several times. Since it is quite plausible, and if true of enormous importance, I am posting this overview which is clear and concise. ABN

Researchers Found Unvaccinated Children Healthier Than Vaccinated, Didn’t Publish Findings

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Researchers from a large health care system in Michigan found that vaccinated children were more likely to develop a chronic health condition, but never published the findings, according to a copy of the study obtained by The Epoch Times.

Henry Ford Health System, whose employees carried out the study, said it was deficient.

Dr. Marcus Zervos, an infectious disease specialist at the Henry Ford Health, and colleagues studied 18,468 children born between 2000 and 2016 who were enrolled in the health system’s insurance plan, drawing data from medical, clinical, and payer records and supplementing with information from Michigan’s immunization registry.

After 10 years, 57 percent of the vaccinated children had a chronic health condition such as asthma, compared to just 17 percent of the unvaccinated children.

“This study found that exposure to vaccination was independently associated with an overall 2.5-fold increase in the likelihood of developing a chronic health condition, when compared to children unexposed to vaccination,” the authors wrote. “This association was primarily driven by asthma, atopic disease, eczema, autoimmune disease and neurodevelopmental disorders. This suggests that in certain children, exposure to vaccination may increase the likelihood of developing a chronic health condition, particularly for one of these conditions.”

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The Astral Plane

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The astral plane, also called the astral realm or the astral world, is a plane of existence postulated by classical, medieval, oriental, esoteric, and new age philosophies and mystery religions.[1] It is the world of the celestial spheres, crossed by the soul in its astral body on the way to being born and after death, and is generally believed to be populated by angels, spirits or other immaterial beings.[2] In the late 19th and early 20th century the term was popularised by Theosophy and neo-Rosicrucianism.

Another view holds that the astral plane or world, rather than being some kind of boundary area crossed by the soul, is the entirety of spirit existence or spirit worlds to which those who die on Earth go, and where they live out their non-physical lives. It is understood that all consciousness resides in the astral plane.[3] Some writers conflate this realm with heaven or paradise or union with God itself, and others do not. Paramahansa Yogananda wrote in Autobiography of a Yogi (1946), “The astral universe … is hundreds of times larger than the material universe … [with] many astral planets, teeming with astral beings.”

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My sense is the term astral plane has fallen a bit out of favor. In some cases it is replaced by ethereal plane. In Buddhism, it is traditionally referred to as ultimate reality or vaguely as nirvana, or what comes after nirvana. More recently among scientists and philosophers, we are seeing the concept of a conscious universe or a thinking universe, a universe in which consciousness is a primary force, feature or dimension. However we refer to it, we need a term that evokes dimensions or planes of awareness beyond earthly or mundane awareness or ‘relative reality’, as it is put in Buddhism.

The concept of an astral plane dates back to Plato if not before. The Buddha was referring to something like that without using any term when he spoke about nirvana. The Buddha was a Scythian who argued against the strong Scythian belief in an absolute distinction between right and wrong and a single, great God (Ahura Mazda) who created the world and could be known only through doing good.

It’s a good development that scientists and philosophers today are increasingly seeing what the Buddha and many others have seen throughout the ages. I believe deep meditative states and a moral life afford us frequent opportunities to commune with or glimpse dimensions or realms beyond our normal default cultural behavioral realms.

Buddhism is a profoundly ethical teaching but it also rejects absolutes. We humans are characterized by emptiness, impermanence, and the suffering wrought by clinging to any concept, belief or idea, and yet are capable of freeing ourselves from ‘relative reality’ through ethical practice and experiential samadhi states.

The Buddha remained silent on matters related to anything like the astral plane because he knew that focusing on ethereal aims (especially in his day?) tends to reify them, which then leads to ossification, doctrine, worship without reason. I wonder if in our day, the Buddha would reason differently as many reasonable thinkers now accept that consciousness may be inexplicable by rank materialism or particle physics or biology based on those; and thus may/must be a primary aspect of all that we know of.

My current understanding of Buddhism and ancient history has been recently influenced by Christopher Beckwith’s The Scythian Empire: Central Eurasia and the Birth of the Classical Age from Persia to China, which I highly recommend to Buddhists and everyone else. ABN