Hyper-Dimensional Exploration

I see it as a way of improving my perceptive abilities. The clearer we see the world, the easier it is to navigate through our problems. A hyper-dimensional model of the universe can explain, predict, and help us control how thoughts, emotions, ideas, and sensations flow around and in us. Consciousness is another dimension (or set of dimensions) distinct from but relating to the 3D + time we are familiar with. We are, in fact, constantly moving in hyperdimensions though we are unconscious of it.

The five senses imprison us in ways that are unconscious and invisible. Years ago, I read accounts of congenitally blind people who were given sight overnight thanks to innovative surgery. On being exposed to light for the first time, they were often completely disoriented. They wondered why people dragged black patches around with them wherever they went (we call them shadows). If asked how big a cow was standing a hundred yards away, they’d guess three inches tall; stairs were frightening two-dimensional ladders climbing straight up the wall. Sometimes these bizarre perceptions were so disturbing that the newly sighted preferred to sit in the dark with their eyes closed. Aren’t we doing much the same by clinging to the world of the five senses? (Deepak Chopra on Forbes.com)

There are techniques, ancient and new, that allow one to consciously move in hyperdimensions. For example, in a lucid dream, one is aware that one is dreaming and thus may have some degree of conscious control over the dream environment and body. Lucid dreams are good practice for seeing the how much we are responsible for our perceptions even in waking life. There is a kind or cousin of lucid dreams called out-of-body experiences or etheric projection where you actually perceive the same world that other people see but with things added or subtracted depending on what your mind is attuned to. I can go out-of-body, but I'm not sure how well my perceptions correspond to consensus reality.

Indigenous shamans use altered states to help their tribesmen heal from life threatening diseases. They do this by going into the spirit realm (a dimensional shift) and imploring their helper spirits to reintegrate their client's soul or to remove a spirit parasite.

The Buddha cautioned practictioners from becoming attached to what he termed the deva realms. I can imagine how easy it would be to get intoxicated with power and sink to the lower realms. In many sutras, I remember the admonitions to notice these states and let them pass so that the meditator can move on up to full enlightenment. Well, I'm a curious tourist. :) I'm going to stay at some spots, soak in the air, and take a lot of pictures before moving on. Plus these altered states have overtaken me unintentionally since I was a kid. Only now that I've practiced them can I control them a little.

Upaya Means Skillful Means

The Buddha taught different things to different people because he could see their differences and could customize his teaching for the person and situation. The whole idea of non-self to me is such a customization designed for his mother culture Hinduism, which places an emphasis on finding the self, atman. I liken it to Nietzsche proclaiming "God is dead." I don't think Nietzsche really thought God was alive in the first place, but his message was encapsulated in a metaphor that made sense at the time.

In one story, Buddha saw a bunch of his students doing a bunch of different practices. One was counting his breath, another was contemplating a mantra, another was chanting, another was meditatively sweeping the floor, another was doing kind acts, another was bowing, etc. He saw this and said, "Good!" He saw that there were many vehicles, many Dharma doors, and there was no need to force everyone into one boat. Similarly, I believe everyone doing their thing is fulfilling their dharma. If I wish to help someone become more clear sighted, I must closely observe their path and suggest directions from their perspective instead of mine. Going north from here might put one face to face with an impassable mountain. Going north from there might take one to a meadow.

Art for Me

People are sensitive about their artistic ability. They apologize for being unskilled when they're just being themselves. Art is associated with critique. Though "high-culture" art has its place, it is unfortunate that it should scare would be creative-expressors from spilling their guts on a canvas or an LCD. They miss out on the adventure of creation. They miss out on the catharsis. They miss out on contemplation over the finished piece.

Kiss Hank's Ass

This morning there was a knock at my door. When I answered the door I found a well groomed, nicely dressed couple. The man spoke first:

John:
"Hi! I'm John, and this is Mary."

Mary:
"Hi! We're here to invite you to come kiss Hank's ass with us."

Me:
"Pardon me?! What are you talking about? Who's Hank, and why would I want to kiss His ass?"

John:
"If you kiss Hank's ass, He'll give you a million dollars; and if you don't, He'll kick the shit out of you."

Me:
"What? Is this some sort of bizarre mob shake-down?"

John:
"Hank is a billionaire philanthropist. Hank built this town. Hank owns this town. He can do whatever He wants, and what He wants is to give you a million dollars, but He can't until you kiss His ass."

Me:
"That doesn't make any sense. Why..."

Mary:
"Who are you to question Hank's gift? Don't you want a million dollars? Isn't it worth a little kiss on the ass?"

Me:
"Well maybe, if it's legit, but..."

John:
"Then come kiss Hank's ass with us."

Me:
"Do you kiss Hank's ass often?"

Mary:
"Oh yes, all the time..."

Me:
"And has He given you a million dollars?"

John:
"Well no. You don't actually get the money until you leave town."

Me:
"So why don't you just leave town now?"

Mary:
"You can't leave until Hank tells you to, or you don't get the money, and He kicks the shit out of you."

Me:
"Do you know anyone who kissed Hank's ass, left town, and got the million dollars?"

John:
"My mother kissed Hank's ass for years. She left town last year, and I'm sure she got the money."

Me:
"Haven't you talked to her since then?"

John:
"Of course not, Hank doesn't allow it."

Me:
"So what makes you think He'll actually give you the money if you've never talked to anyone who got the money?"

Mary:
"Well, He gives you a little bit before you leave. Maybe you'll get a raise, maybe you'll win a small lotto, maybe you'll just find a twenty-dollar bill on the street."

Me:
"What's that got to do with Hank?"

John:
"Hank has certain 'connections.'"

Me:
"I'm sorry, but this sounds like some sort of bizarre con game."

John:
"But it's a million dollars, can you really take the chance? And remember, if you don't kiss Hank's ass He'll kick the shit of you."

Me:
"Maybe if I could see Hank, talk to Him, get the details straight from Him..."

Mary:
"No one sees Hank, no one talks to Hank."

Me:
"Then how do you kiss His ass?"

John:
"Sometimes we just blow Him a kiss, and think of His ass. Other times we kiss Karl's ass, and he passes it on."

Me:
"Who's Karl?"

Mary:
"A friend of ours. He's the one who taught us all about kissing Hank's ass. All we had to do was take him out to dinner a few times."

Me:
"And you just took his word for it when he said there was a Hank, that Hank wanted you to kiss His ass, and that Hank would reward you?"

John:
"Oh no! Karl has a letter he got from Hank years ago explaining the whole thing. Here's a copy; see for yourself."

** From the desk of Karl **

1. Kiss Hank's ass and He'll give you a million dollars when you leave town.
2. Use alcohol in moderation.
3. Kick the shit out of people who aren't like you.
4. Eat right.
5. Hank dictated this list Himself.
6. The moon is made of green cheese.
7. Everything Hank says is right.
8. Wash your hands after going to the bathroom.
9. Don't use alcohol.
10. Eat your wieners on buns, no condiments.
11. Kiss Hank's ass or He'll kick the shit out of you.

Me:
"This appears to be written on Karl's letterhead."

Mary:
"Hank didn't have any paper."

Me:
"I have a hunch that if we checked we'd find this is Karl's handwriting."

John:
"Of course, Hank dictated it."

Me:
"I thought you said no one gets to see Hank?"

Mary:
"Not now, but years ago He would talk to some people."

Me:
"I thought you said He was a philanthropist. What sort of philanthropist kicks the shit out of people just because they're different?"

Mary:
"It's what Hank wants, and Hank's always right."

Me:
"How do you figure that?"

Mary:
"Item 7 says 'Everything Hank says is right.' That's good enough for me!"

Me:
"Maybe your friend Karl just made the whole thing up."

John:
"No way! Item 5 says 'Hank dictated this list himself.' Besides, item 2 says 'Use alcohol in moderation,' Item 4 says 'Eat right,' and item 8 says 'Wash your hands after going to the bathroom.' Everyone knows those things are right, so the rest must be true, too."

Me:
"But 9 says 'Don't use alcohol.' which doesn't quite go with item 2, and 6 says 'The moon is made of green cheese,' which is just plain wrong."

John:
"There's no contradiction between 9 and 2, 9 just clarifies 2. As far as 6 goes, you've never been to the moon, so you can't say for sure."

Me:
"Scientists have pretty firmly established that the moon is made of rock..."

Mary:
"But they don't know if the rock came from the Earth, or from out of space, so it could just as easily be green cheese."

Me:
"I'm not really an expert, but I think the theory that the Moon was somehow 'captured' by the Earth has been discounted*. Besides, not knowing where the rock came from doesn't make it cheese."

John:
"Ha! You just admitted that scientists make mistakes, but we know Hank is always right!"

Me:
"We do?"

Mary:
"Of course we do, Item 7 says so."

Me:
"You're saying Hank's always right because the list says so, the list is right because Hank dictated it, and we know that Hank dictated it because the list says so. That's circular logic, no different than saying 'Hank's right because He says He's right.'"

John:
"Now you're getting it! It's so rewarding to see someone come around to Hank's way of thinking."

Me:
"But...oh, never mind. What's the deal with wieners?"

Mary:
She blushes.

John:
"Wieners, in buns, no condiments. It's Hank's way. Anything else is wrong."

Me:
"What if I don't have a bun?"

John:
"No bun, no wiener. A wiener without a bun is wrong."

Me:
"No relish? No Mustard?"

Mary:
She looks positively stricken.

John:
He's shouting. "There's no need for such language! Condiments of any kind are wrong!"

Me:
"So a big pile of sauerkraut with some wieners chopped up in it would be out of the question?"

Mary:
Sticks her fingers in her ears. "I am not listening to this. La la la, la la, la la la."

John:
"That's disgusting. Only some sort of evil deviant would eat that..."

Me:
"It's good! I eat it all the time."

Mary:
She faints.

John:
He catches Mary. "Well, if I'd known you were one of those I wouldn't have wasted my time. When Hank kicks the shit out of you I'll be there, counting my money and laughing. I'll kiss Hank's ass for you, you bunless cut-wienered kraut-eater."

With this, John dragged Mary to their waiting car, and sped off.

(copied from the intarweb)

Make You Better

People talking shit to others. They are crying inside. Plugging their ears to reason. Hate and ignorance. These are the "names of God" I don't like. But since God made them, he must love them, and my hatred of them is hatred of God. I see rationally how absurd it is to fight Creation. In a simple Pascalian wager, I place my bets on lesser of two sufferings. I align myself to the side that allows the universe to express its ugly and beautiful variety. I say no thanks to the power to dominate for domination hinders free will and is suicidal as I am one and the same as everything else.

Let those who bicker do so. Let those who manipulate meet their consequences and lessons. If they do not connect their suffering with their actions, let them run the hamster wheel. Interference is usually self-serving.

The million dollar question to test my intentions:

* Do I wish to change you / make you better?

Electric Sheep

Funny how many computer programmers I meet at a spiritualist gathering. Out of 3 guys, 2 were programmers at some point in their life. One woman's boyfriend was also a programmer who was teaching her how to program. And I wasn't even in Silicon Valley.

Funny how they tell me they are afraid to talk about spiritual things in their work place. Funny because maybe they'll all meet them one day at a similar gathering, a bunch of programmers gazing at auras and swirling hands over chakras. Heck, when I try to exercise my third eye, guess what I see? {I.see Java(code);} No, serious. I took a powernap yesterday, and within 13 minutes, I see a small circle of light "through" my eyelids in which /* Java code */ was floating about. Too fuzzy to be read, but they were in the same familiar format. Last week I woke up to windows popping up and closing behind my eyelids. I don't know if androids dream of electric sheep, but I'm sure programmers do.

What is it about computer programmers that draws us to the immaterial? I thought we were supposed to be positivistic, logical, "left-brain" types. Duh! We swim in the immaterial. Except we call it software, not spirit. In trying to imitate or augment the human mind with computers, many of us have learned to appreciate the incomprehensible sophistication of the computer in our body, if it really is in the body at all. As our technology advances, the boundaries between our tools and the environment they interact with blur until their location in the physical universe is obscured. I don't even know where this site is. Is it on tiny magnets in a refrigerated room, in the RAM of your computer, in your ISP's cache, floating through the air as perturbations in the electromagnetic ether, or all of the above? Similarly, where is our mind? Is it bouncing around as electric potentials between the axons and dendrites in our brain, quantum fluctuations in the microtubules all over our body, floating through the air as perturbations of the electromagnetic ether, or all of the above?

Those who believe in a purely mechanistic model of the universe should try to build a really smart robot. Maybe in their failure will the designers find their own souls. Michio Kaku says that the smartest robot humans have come up with barely competes with a cockroach in terms of responding intelligently to its environment. (It's on Mars right now.)

However, if the designers overestimate the AI they created, they run the risk of "robopomorphizing" humans. After all, humans are pretty stupid and robotic in many ways. We are the electric sheep Philip K. Dick's androids dream of, robotically following orders to consume and fornicate. Our boundless stupidity and suicidal violence makes it easy for some to envision electronic overlords putting us out of our misery. On the other hand, I think that some of us have figured out how to use that internal spark for something other than burning resources and firing the thrusting pistons, if you know what I mean. I believe our creative potential is left mostly untapped, awaiting evolutionary adventurers to "mutate" our so-called junk DNA into action.