Solve

A_es _o_e as_e_

Get Out Of Paradox Free!

8 Circuits of Consciousness 3D Illustration

This may be a bit over a few heads...

This is an illustration series of my variation/interpretation of the Leary/Wilson Eight Circuits of Consciousness model. The circuits orient using the position of the little spaceman in a chair.

Circuits 1-5

Circuit 6

Circuit 7

Circuit 8

1 forward/back

2 up/down

3 left/right

4 steering left/right

5 steering up/down

6 cosmic inspiration

7 cosmic expiration

8 infinity

The Eight Circuits of Consciousness (Leary/Wilson Model):
1. The Oral Bio-Survival Circuit
2. The Anal Emotional-Territorial Circuit
3. The Time-Binding Semantic Circuit
4. The Moral Socio-Sexual Circuit
5. The Holistic Neurosomatic Circuit
6. The Collective Neurogenetic Circuit
7. The Meta-Programming Circuit
8. The Non-Local Quantum Circuit

The various circuits are influenced and/or activated by various means and methods.
To understand the above illustrations one should have a better understanding of The Eight Circuits of Consciousness Model.
Here are some useful links:

http://www.quora.com/Whats-a-good-explanation-of-Timothy-Learys-eight-circuit-model-of-consciousness

http://www.tekgnostics.com/EIGHT.HTM#.VL0xX9LF_Z0
http://www.verticalpool.com/8circuitbrain1.html
http://ultraculture.org/blog/2013/06/13/the-8-circuits-of-reality/
http://deoxy.org/8circuit.htm
http://www.phinnweb.org/neuro/8-circuit/

The Misadventures Of The "C-Word"

Words are tools. Sometimes tools become weapons. We all know that.
But we can sometimes turn a blunt tap into a sharp thrust with our over-sensitivity to words.
For example, a four letter word strikes deep at the hearts of some. This word starts with a "c" and ends with a "t", and although it isn't "cat" it seems to be loosely related to that word.
The "c-word" is that sharp effective and sometimes necessary screeching sound made when the blade of the sword strikes the crossguard of the opponent's weapon causing sparks to fly. This term of endearment is weilded with great skill by some, and rather foolishly by others.
It's a simple word: four little symbols arranged in a particular way, uttered by one and translated by another; felt by both. But to most humans on Earth the letters "c", "u", "n", and "t" are total jibberish,  regardless of what order they are in.
Words are what we allow them to be. To be honest, the "c-word " (like all words) does have a time and context for appropriate application.  Perhaps not as a general statement such as "All women are cuntaloons", but individually one person may feel and express that another specific person is a "cuntaloon ", and that person may reasonably retort. The cycle may then continue until exhaustion or boredom sets in....
or until whole nations are at war.
It depends.

What Is Thought? (Krishnamurti)

What is thought?
Jiddu Krishnamurti

The Awakening Strain

The Awakening Strain

"Awakening" sometimes comes with many adornments: flowers, robes, good feelings, cultural adornments, artwork, support groups, etc. Cultural adornments can be easily passed off as superfluous bullshit, but these adornments can be tools for transcendence if they do not become dogmatic traps. Awakening comes with many great benefits and by way of various paths, but awakening isn't always all marshmallows and gravy.

Awakening, simply put, is transcendence. Transcendence is a beautiful path, but it requires work. For example, a musician really begins to feel music when they transcend the thought of music theory or structure, but the work is still required. Beyond the structure of music is where creativity begins. Music theory itself is not music, but a tool. A religious person can begin the process of true spiritual awakening when they transcend dogma, structure, or system. The symbols and adornments of the various cultural perspectives are tools much like music theory. A meditator achieves awakening by no longer consciously adhering to method and entering into a realm beyond the deliberate effort.

But the work doesn't end once the door is open. The awakened mind (in a relationship with the body) still operates with one foot remaining in the "real" world, and can often struggle to understand surface reality as it interrupts higher consciousness. It's much like swimming to stay above water. The awakened mind has broken through the surface to breathe, but is still doing the work and continues to get wet.

There are also the personal human confines -the relationship of the awakened mind to the animal. For myself, although "awakened" (or I should say "perpetually in the cycle of falling and awakening") I still enjoy a good fight, wood fired meat, horror movies, strange humor, sex, chocolate cake, and other earthly perversions. I still experience anger, judgment, worry, frustration, and fear (although to a lesser degree). These are not flaws to be corrected. These are animalistic tendencies to be observed and experienced. Much as yin has a relationship to yang, the awakened mind can have a relationship to the animal body. One does not necessarily need to derail the other. Despite my love of my inner animal, I also find greatness in the smelling of flowers, staring at trees, creating forms of art, intellectual conversation, deep meditation, and expressing love and compassion.

A lack of perfection is the journey of the awakening strain. There is never a cause to give up, just enjoy the adventure, for no adventure is an adventure if it is perfect. Certainty has no place in awakening, but uncertainty comes with its own strains that are well worth embracing. The work continues.

"Awakening is possible only for those who seek it and want it, for those who are ready to struggle with themselves and work on themselves for a very long time and very persistently in order to attain it."
-G.I. Gurdjieff

Apes gone a'skillet!

Apes gone a'skillet!
Enjoy the morning primate delights...

Fry Art: http://youtu.be/hy-2UANUoQg

The Chakra-Circuit Model of Consciousness/Reality

All circuits of consciousness can be glimpsed or experienced by some, but generally people float around one level and oscillate down or up depending on many factors or contexts.  Through intentional practice, higher experiences, and even traumas one may affix into a higher level. Most humans are stuck in the lower levels of consciousness. 

Examples of levels:

1-2: All adult humans function within these first two levels.

3-4: Most humans also glimpse into these territorial citcuits. (Those who are stuck in political, religious, or cultural ideologies)

5-6: Artists, the creatively inclined, meditators, thrillseekers, scientists, philosophers, naturalists, Buddhists, the religiously enlightened, yoga practitioners may function primarily in the 5th and 6th circuits.

7: Higher yogis, mystics, psychics, monks, and others may be affixed in this higher circuit.

8: The Buddha, yogis in a state of Samadhi, Jesus, possibly extraterrestrial intelligences, potentially self-aware networked artificial inteligences. 

Black Friday Commercialized Looting

For a prime example of apes at their most askew we can observe shoppers on psychotic parade one special day per year -BLACK FRIDAY.
This holiday (*and it is a legit holiday in the sense that it observes the purely religious-like worship of consuming worthless junk) ironically falls on the day after our most thankful and giving day -Thanksgiving. Once we get all of that thankful food-gorging out of the way we can feel a bit better about charging forward into the realms of every man/woman/child for themselves in the uniquely human quest for nothing.
The worthless junk we acquire on this holiday at a slight discount is not proportionate to the stress, energy, time, and lack of sleep commited to such acquisitions, but we apes gone askew will not be detered!
Black Friday commercialized looting is the not-too-distant cousin of old fashioned looting proper. The trampling sport commences.
Why do we do this? What is it about our uprightness that causes this behavior? Do we not get enough blood to our brains?
Be assured that these are primal survival attributes gone askew and misapplied to our modern context. In other words, most of us can't help ourselves. We love illusions. We buy illusions.
Whether looting is done out of political outrage, racial outcry, drunkenness, sports related furvor, desire for chaos, or in the case of Black Friday, pure senseless greed, we can be ready year after year to watch our fellow primates completely lose all faculty of mind as they go quite far askew.
Unfortunately commercialized looting is not victim free. There have been deaths and numerous injuries over the years. Not to mention the stall to our evolutionary progress this behavior activates in our genes.
For statistics of Black Friday related deaths and injuries go to...
www.blackfridaydeathcount.com

The Gold Star

The Gold Star

When we were growing humans we were sometimes awarded something extra for our good performance. If we did well enough on a spelling assignment we would get something far more glorious than a letter grade -we would get a GOLD STAR. Ding!

We knew nothing of the value of this gold star other than its luster which made it stand out as something better than an A+. The imprint of the importance of the gold star was imposed on us by our teacher and by our own innate insecurities which lead us to want to be as good as the other kid who got the gold star. If we too can get the gold star everyone around us will be happy and we will be happy too. We learn to achieve self-validation through validation from others, and the trampling rat race to get the cheese begins. Nowadays every kid gets a gold star!

But the actually valueless gold star didn’t go away after childhood. It has sneakily followed us into adulthood. The gold star is now a collection of meaningless approvals we seek -employee of the month, a fancy car, the gold watch, the official club shirt, the better seat to the show, the cool shoes everyone else is wearing, etc. We can sometimes waste a lot of energy and potential chasing these ghosts. We can also lose sight of things of higher value in our endeavors to achieve things of perceived importance. We lose sight of the achievement itself and strive for the reward. Striving for importance is not invaluable. The encouragement can be an important tool, but the wild free mustang doesn’t wear blinders and doesn’t miss out on the world around. Ultimately, if we strive for achievements for reasons of true personal value, adequate amounts of superficial and superfluous toys and entertainments will still be there for our enjoyment without the need for extra running in the hamster wheel. The icing will find the cake.

There’s nothing wrong with desiring a few nice things, but we can steer our energies so to not waste them entirely on frivolous rewards at the cost of chronic loss of potential.

Sometimes these gold stars can be used to manipulate us into doing things we don’t like for the promise of the false reward. Sometimes we don’t fall for this trick. Therein is the personal revolution.

"Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends and fads and fashions." -Jack Kerouac

So, strive for greatness, oh standing apes, but make sure it isn’t just a worthless sticker.

Plan Your Escape!

Here's a great series of articles at New Escapologist written by Drew Cagne about planning your escape:

Part 0
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

The Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments

Absorb and enjoy!

https://bookofbadarguments.com/?view=allpages

"The Poetic Realities, The Poetic Fantasies" Intro

Opening and Intro to "The Poetic Realities,  The Poetic Fantasies"

An excerpt from "The Poetic Realities, The Poetic Fantasies"

From the section "What Is and What Shall Never Be"....

There seems to be a confusion spreading around town- that something (X) "is" something else (Y). I don't know how these rumors get started, but it comes from a position of confusion due to the surface level experiences of reality that we endure through a basic trickery of our own minds. This wild beast is running around overturning trash cans and smashing windows and making the world a generally unpleasant place. This is the monster of miscommunication and misinterpretation, and it is deeply burrowed in the minds of humans. This confusion can be noted as a lack of depth (attachment to the surface material world) and a relatively un-diagnosed ailment in the health of the disconnected primate mind, mixed with a slight hint of primal barbaric tendency, hence all the smashing (of the environment, each other, language, etc). It seems to us that all workings are in order, yet beneath it all we find suffering and angst in society (our relations and understandings between one another). How can a sick person not know they feel sick? How can the obvious disease of the mind go so unnoticed?

"To be, or not to be. That is the question." This was proposed so logically by Shakespeare. This offers only two options to the question in a world of multitudes and infinitudes. In a reality full of potentials we have many more options. To be what? To be where? Who? When? Why? Relative to what? Where? Who? When? Why? So much is left to differing assumptions.

Let's re-write that: "To experience relative to possibilities as an observer, or to experience relative to more possibilities as an observer, or to turn away and ignore. That seems to many of us to be a question the observer seems to be faced with at this time."
A great rewrite of a classic!

The linguistic term "is" is equal to the mathematical term "=", "is"="=", "is" equals "equal", but the only thing that can equal something is itself or an exact representation of itself (same size, details, functions, purpose, and even time/location in reality which may affect its purpose or function). Anything else is merely a symbol, model, or map of the thing (or situation or experience) and can not be held accountable for being equal to the thing itself. X can not equal Y unless X is Y, but X is X, and Y is only a representation of X if it includes certain conditions. The attorney is not the defendant. The story is not the event. The meal is not the recipe. The parable is not the truth.

The statement "This sucks" does not include the needed observer. Nothing in reality exists in isolation, and no event or object exists in observation or thought independent of the observer. A more accurate statement would be "This seems to suck to me, but I could be wrong."

"Most problems exist because the verbal form you put them in creates the problem."
-Robert Anton Wilson

Removing the "is" from observations removes the identity (separation) of the object or event and includes the observer as a part of the phenomenon. After all, identity is simply a separation; a compartmentalization or category. Even something as obvious as saying "It is night" makes a definitive statement that all reality is night. What is "it"? What is "is"? What is "night"? These are the debates we don't know we engage in within our various ranges of communication. Certainly it's not night in China if it is night in America unless somebody pulled the plug on the Sun, and certainly it's not night near the surface of The Sun. It also isn't night in the deepest darkest reaches of outer space. Night is the position denoting an act or time of being in the shadow of Earth, and all the mysteries that the night offers.

"The ultimate truth is beyond words. Doctrines are words. They are not The Way." -Bodhidharma

"Is" becomes a weapon of identified separation: is or isn't, yes or no, black or white, cowboy or indian, right or wrong. With such a certification on reality, we propose to know what is happening when nothing in reality can be certain. We also propose a separation. Then when another person dubs that something is something other than we agree it to be, we feel compelled to defend what we are certain of and attempt to correct the error of the other person. For example, I could say "Donkey meat is disgusting." Then my next door neighbor, who happens to be the owner of a company called "Put Your Ass In Your Mouth Gourmet Donkey Meats", hears about my statement and has a reactionary meltdown because his passion (certitude) has been challenged. This leads to mutual psychological reactions that lead to dislike, distrust, and anger. I have miscommunicated my opinion as a general fact, and he has misinterpreted my opinion as a personal and threatening attack. Now I am no longer friends with my neighbor. Both of us are to blame. The next thing you know, we are in court with claims against each other over tree branches crossing over each other's fences, or any such similar nonsense. Certainly I am right and he is wrong. In his version of certainty, he is right and I am wrong. The vicious cycle continues for years and perhaps generations. Hatred spins its web and silliness flies right into the middle of it.

Now suppose I had a more accurate statement about donkey meat. Suppose I had said, "Personally, I don't prefer donkey meat." Then there is no problem. Then my neighbor and I exchange gardening tips or play horseshoes and all is beautiful in the neighborhood. Suppose he had a more reasonable reaction to my statement, such as "That's ok, neighbor, ass meat is not for everyone!"

Words are delicate to the sensitive emotional mind. Our pains and joys hinge on these utterances. Meaning is agreed upon in various ways. As an example, the word "physician" means something very specific to our relations- a doctor in a white coat that checks your eyes and ears and general physical health and passes you off to a specialist if anything seems off. The word "physician" is not such a specific word itself, but it has a specific meaning in the mental consensus of society. "Physician" comes from the Latin root word "physica" meaning things relating to nature. So a physician can be a person who practices the art or science of things related to nature. This is a very broad term and could apply to gardeners, athletes, doctors, circus clowns, scientists, bodybuilders, and other people in the field of the natural or physical. However, in our modern accepted understanding of the word, if a stumbling circus clown were to claim they were a physician they might risk being shunned (or even arrested) for posing as a fraudulent doctor. So we see that words extend beyond literal meaning and become implied, sometimes far beyond their meaning. Metaphor takes these definitions even further from their literal source. Language, therefore, is more of an art than a science, and can have the same comforting or discomforting effects as art.

When we understand the depths of semantic expression we can gain a foothold of how we relay our thoughts to the world. This allows us to be less offensive. We also get a better grip on understanding what is being expressed by others, and we gain the ability to be less offended. Reacting in a hostile manner to someone insulting your mother who does not actually know your mother is a highly illogical ape-like reaction since the noises the offender is making are completely meaningless and unfounded. A good reply to such meaningless insults could be, "maybe", if a reply is needed at all. We each have a responsibility to be less offensive, and we each have a responsibility to be less offended. Understanding the psychology behind expression will help.

"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place."
-George Bernard Shaw

We hopeless hominids have been making quick judgments for centuries and centuries. It's a good thing, we have used it for survival. Fire equals hot is logical. Muslim equals bad is not logical. Fall equals danger is logical. Tall equals basketball player is not always logical. Quick judgments keep us out of trouble. However, chronic and excessive judgment, in more complex psychological, sociological, and semantic circumstances, are quick assertions that can lead to misunderstanding, and a planet full of billions of quick assertions every second of every day can lead to many compounding misunderstandings, big and small. As a simple matter, seeing fire as hot is not a complicated issue, but saying that (*insert whatever unfounded prejudice here*) is bad or wrong deals with more complex variables that may or may not make that perspective true from individual to individual. The more complex the subject, the less exact a statement about it can be, because more variables must be considered. This complex social chaos has led to wars, greed, division, hatred, racism, bigotry, sexism, slavery, the building of jails, currencies, governments, religions, theft, armies, extreme consumerism, poverty, and just plain old societal overload that has led to mass insanity.

"We cling to our own point of view, as though everything depended on it. Yet our opinions have no permanence; like autumn and winter, they gradually pass away."
-Zuangzi

Frogs are green. Are they? Or, are some frogs green and others other colors? And to who? You? Bumble bees? What color are frogs in the dark? What color is a frog to an earthworm? What color is a frog if no one (or thing) is looking at it at all? What color is the frog under an ultraviolet light? What color is a frog to a blind person?

“In spite of language, in spite of intelligence and intuition and sympathy, one can never really communicate anything to anybody. The essential substance of every thought and feeling remains incommunicable, locked up in the impenetrable strong-room of the individual soul and body. Our life is a sentence of perpetual solitary confinement.”
-Aldous Huxley

Nothing actually is anything. The observer and all circumstances in space and time must be considered, or at least implied, in the observation to illicit greater understanding. Including the observer in assessments and statements (the relaying of information) is important because the entire nervous system of the experiencer is present in the story of reality.

Remember that "is" is equal to "=". Donkey meat is not disgusting to everyone, even if it is to me or you. Our statements about reality are not universal, and they may change. It could be that donkey meat prepared a certain way might be delicious, or maybe not, or you may find that you are the ass. When you make a statement about reality it is important to note that it is only a statement about your limited perceptional experience of reality. You know very little beyond that sliver. The rest is just guesswork based on very little and applies to very few and only within a certain time frame or scenario context.

Once upon a time, in 1888, a 35 mph (miles per hour) train felt fast and nearly blew the top hats and bonnets off of traveling upright gentlemen and ladies. These days 35 mph feels slow. This is all relative to the experiencer and the general understanding of the experience of speed. As of 2013 most people on Earth have felt high speeds in cars, trains, planes, and roller coasters, so in their version of reality, in 2013, a 35 mph train feels slow. However, in 1888, many people had only gone as fast as a gentle horse trot. To them the experience of a 35 mph train would have been astounding. The experience of a modern roller coaster would be terrifyingly heart-stopping. So the experience of reality and what can be said of it depends on its context of when, as well as the contexts of where, what, and who.

“Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.”
-Albert Einstein

Take the example of heat and cold. We say "X is hot" or "Y is cold". These are quick judgments relative only to our experience and relative to our organism and our immediate environmental relations. Therefore, the loose observation of hot or cold is relative to the experiencer, so the observation includes the observer, even if the state to does not. In reality, something can only be hot or cold in relation to something else. 212° Fahrenheit is hot relative to 108° Fahrenheit, but both are "cold" relative to molten lava on Earth. All three temperatures, 108°, 212°, and molten lava, are hot relative to standard human existence. The liquid metal mercury (known as quicksilver) is only liquid in standard conditions relative to human life. It has a "melting point" of -38.83° Celcius, but since that temperature is far colder than our standard conditions of life experience we call it a freezing point, or vice versa. There are planets in which the usual state of mercury would be a solid metal. A more accurate statement (or interpretation of statements) would be "X seems hot to me right now" or "Y felt cold to me yesterday", or "X seems hotter than Y to me at this point in time". To simply say "X is hot" is a general statement relative to the observer that does not include all points in space and time and does not include the observer. Even worse than stating a definitive statement is interpreting a statement as definitive.

When someone says to you, "You are an asshole!", what are they saying? What are you interpreting? What is actually happening on a psychological or relative sociological level? Understanding semantic foolishness will help you take things less personally- "Like water off a duck's back." What do these noises actually mean?

"Everything is self-evident."
-René Descartes

The language of mathematics does not include "=" as a statement without putting conditions on both sides of the proposition. For example, mathematics (the symbolic representations of reality) does not allow us to say 5=3, because it doesn't. It does allow us to say 5=3, but only if you include the conditional reality of +2, so 5=3 when 2 is also present; 5=3+2. It also allows us to say 5=X with X acting as an unknown variable. The variables of what could equal 5 are so many (infinite) that to say that 5 can only equal a specific statement, such as 3+2, is a false assumption (all 5s are not only 3+2), like saying all frogs are green, or all Muslims are terrorists, or all Christians are evil, or all gays are going to hell, or all monkeys eat bananas, or all bosses are right, or all humans think and therefore they are, or whatever other absurdities and irrationalities we hear throughout our day. 5 can equal 5 or 3+2 or 12-7 or 1+1+1-14+36-20 or 1,000,000-999,995 or whatever concludes to being conditionally equal to 5 or includes the recognition of an unknown variable that may allow something to equal 5. In this way we see that each individual number (or thing or experience) is deeply tied into infinity. Anything less than five, or smaller than 5, does not equal 5, and even a representation of five, such as 3+2, only accurately represents 5 as a numerical function. This depends entirely upon the circumstances of the statement itself. For example, 5 planets of varying sizes are not the same (not =) as 5 planets of the same size each. They are equal in number only, but not necessarily equal in true representation. Words are also dependent upon the circumstances of the statement. Chicken soup = chicken soup, but grandma's chicken soup is not equal to canned chicken soup, Chinese chicken soup is not equal to Indian chicken soup, cold chicken soup is not equal to hot chicken soup, rotten old chicken soup is not equal to freshly cooked chicken soup, and chicken soup to me is not equal to chicken soup to you. Other variables exist that destroy the generalization of "is". Similarly, brownies with walnuts are repulsive to many children but quite delicious to many adults, and many adults seem to subconsciously conspire to make brownies with nuts deliberately included in them to, a) torment the children, and b) make the brownies the way they prefer with no consideration for the repulsiveness of bitter walnuts to children. But all joking aside, we get lost when we state that one is absolutely right and the other is wrong, because 3 can equal 5 if we add the necessary expressions, such as +2 to make our communication clearer, and chicken soup might taste better if we add salt and pepper, or maybe not. To many kids 5 brownies(b) are yummy(y), but 5 brownies(b) are less than(<) yummy(y) when walnuts(w) are added. Therefore, to most kids: 5b=y, but 5b+w<y.

“A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.”
―William James

©2014 Laren Grey Umphlett

purchase www.createspace.com/5230904

Banned Books Week

Hello stumbling apes,
It's Banned Books Week here in the land of the free and home of the depraved. Throughout the history of our great nation you may have found a few things missing among the amber waves of grain: BOOKS! Not all of them, just the ones that scare the ignorant. The ALA has organized Banned Book Week so we heathenous free spirits can celebrate books and authors who have been challenged by the party-pooping un-fun status quo. Surely this week is a celebration of all that is wretched, vile, wicked, appalling, lustful, irresponsible, and hell-bent on corrupting good innocent minds and spreading that which is feared so voraciously: freedom.

These books could transform the good wholesome American into a leaping, frothing hell-hound devil who dances maniacally among bonfires of burning bonnets, baseball gloves, apple pies, and American dreams. Ironically, I always thought it was NOT READING that turned good little boys and girls into junkies, thieves, and whores. I must have been distracted by the pitter patter of my own cloven hooves to think that freedom is a good thing. Blinded by the fires of hell, I have failed to see the rights of some people to dictate what other people should or shouldn't be reading.

Here's a list of banned books in America:
BANNED BOOKS IN AMERICA

For more about Banned Books Week, visit the American Library Association website:
http://www.ala.org/bbooks/bannedbooksweek

15 Books That Changed My Life

15 Books That Changed My Life


Certain books can help the mind expand and life alter course for the better. These tools of knowledge and understanding can be chosen to steer the ship of the mind.
Here are fifteen books that changed my life...

1. WALDEN by Henry David Thoreau

2. QUANTUM PSYCHOLOGY by Robert Anton Wilson

3. TAO TE CHING by Lao Tzu

4. THE YOGA SUTRAS by Patanjali

5. CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE by Henry David Thoreau

6. LEAVES OF GRASS by Walt Whitman

7. THE BOOK OF FIVE RINGS (GORIN NO SHO) by Miyamoto Musashi

8. PROMETHEUS RISING by Robert Anton Wilson

9. THE BHAGAVAD GITA

10. THE ART OF WAR by Sun Tzu

11. SCIENCE AND SANITY by Alfred Korzybski

12. NATURE by Ralph Waldo Emerson

13. THE BOOK by Alan Watts

14. THE AWAKENING OF INTELLIGENCE by Jiddu Krishnamurti

15. ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac


I highly recommend these books! Enjoy.

Laren Grey Umphlett

Are We Happier than Stone Age Foragers? Maybe Not.

Are we happier than Stone Age foragers? Maybe not!

A talk by John Cacioppo on Big Think...


Are We Happier than Stone Age Foragers? Maybe Not.

www.bigthink.com

"The Poetic Realities, The Poetic Fantasies" COMING SOON!

My next book "The Poetic Realities, The Poetic Fantasies" will be available soon on Amazon in Kindle and paperback format.

It is not a poetry book, but it discusses life, consciousness, meditation, art, philosophy, self improvement, science, spirituality, quantum physics, yoga, and the human condition. It is a very deep and unique book with plenty of entertainment, metaphor, and humor. In it you will find poetry, prose, aphorism, short story, and lecture. "A poetic reality is not the truth and a poetic fantasy is not a lie."

Visit my Amazon page for more info: http://www.amazon.com/author/larengreyumphlett

Apes Gone Aflat!

People believe a lot of things, and luckily that doesn't make it so. We wouldn't want to fall off the edges of a flat world, would we?

The kind round-Earthers over at I FUCKING LOVE SCIENCE have shared this little bit about The Flat Earther Society. Check it out...

http://www.iflscience.com/space/there-are-still-people-who-believe-earth-flat-usa

Enjoy!
And remember, what comes around goes around!

The Difference Between "Legal" and "Right"

The Difference Between "Legal" and "Right"

Many (most) people in our society fall into the is/or trap. Upright apes are disoriented and choosing a side is the psychological version of holding on to a rail to not fall down, but it's only grasping for illusions.

Many people make the mistaken assumption that just because something is legal it must be right. As an example, George Zimmerman got away with murder based on a legal loophole that allows an armed person to defend themself from an unarmed attacker. However, if we take a close look at the Travon Martin killing we can easily see the logical fallacy of that law. It isn't self defense if the person you are defending yourself from is defending themself from you.

In another example, we often see the police grabbing people, and that grabbing is usually considered lawful action based on the person's reaction. But we must consider the initial action, even if it was legal, was it right? If a person is grabbed by a police officer and instinctually pulls away in self defense it is often considered "resisting arrest", but is a natural reaction an intentional resistence? Many people who have done nothing wrong get grabbed by the police, pull away instinctually, and then get arrested for "resisting arrest". It's often lawful, but it isn't always right. We must redefine the term "resisting arrest". We must also make sure that laws fulfill their purpose only. Contexts of circumstances must be considered.

Law constantly changes, and so does a society's sense of what is right. Decent conduct today may have been more or less appalling hundreds of years ago. It is important to change laws to better fit the constant changing of what is right.

"It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right."
-Henry David Thoreau

It is also true that what is illegal is not always wrong. There are many people who foolishly think that simply following the law is right. The reality is that laws are not always right, sensible, or moral. For example, marijuana use is illegal, but it isn't wrong. There are many absurd laws in effect. Each needs to be scrutinized. Every law should also come with a justification: an explanation of its purpose AND a logical explanation of its purpose within specific circumstances.

So, let's rethink and redefine the term "legal" as meaning "right", because it sometimes isn't. Right action is not always represented by law. What is right should always come before the law. Most importantly, we must not confuse what is "lawful" as always being right.

The Greatest of The Apes!

From Apes Gone Askew to Apes Gone Ascrew!

What has the world's most overpopulated primate put in its arse or various orafi lately?

The good folks over at www.deadspin.com tell us all about it...

http://deadspin.com/what-did-we-get-stuck-in-our-rectums-this-year-1486766986

Some of this can be chalked up as being plain old kink gone wrong, but some of it is a bit creative.

Be careful out there!

Quantum Physics Explained!

Don't understand quantum physics? In this video Robert Anton Wilson offers the best explanation of quantum physics I've ever heard. Enjoy!

Quotes of The Enlightened Quantum Physicists

Quotes of The Enlightened Quantum Physicists

Below are some examples of quotes from quantum physicists that parallel the ideas of ancient wisdoms.

MAX PLANCK

"I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness."

"Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are part of nature and therefore part of the mystery that we are trying to solve."

"The entire world we apprehend through our senses is no more than a tiny fragment in the vastness of Nature."

"As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter as such. All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter."

"There can never be any real opposition between religion and science; for the one is the complement of the other."

NIELS BOHR

"Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real."

"For a parallel to the lesson of atomic theory regarding the limited applicability of such customary idealizations, we must in fact turn to quite other branches of science, such as psychology, or even to that kind of epistemological problems with which already thinkers like Buddha and Lao Tzu have been confronted, when trying to harmonize our position as spectators and actors in the great drama of existence."

"The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth."

"There is no quantum world. There is only an abstract quantum physical description. It is wrong to think that the task of physics is to find out how nature is. Physics concerns what we can say about nature."

"Some subjects are so serious that one can only joke about them."

WERNER HEISENBERG

"Not only is the Universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think."

"We have to remember that what we observe is not nature herself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning."

"The atoms or elementary particles themselves are not real; they form a world of potentialities or possibilities rather than one of things or facts."

"It will never be possible by pure reason to arrive at some absolute truth."

"Whenever we proceed from the known into the unknown we may hope to understand, but we may have to learn at the same time a new meaning of the word "understanding."

ERWIN SCHRÖDINGER

"The world is given to me only once, not one existing and one perceived. Subject and object are only one. The barrier between them cannot be said to have broken down as a result of recent experience in the physical sciences, for this barrier does not exist."

"There is obviously only one alternative, namely the unification of minds or consciousnesses. Their multiplicity is only apparent, in truth there is only one mind."

"The present is the only things that has no end."

MAX BORN

"The belief that there is only one truth and that oneself is in possession of it seems to me the deepest root of all evil that is in the world."

"The dance of atoms, electrons and nuclei, which in all its fury is subject to God's eternal laws, has been entangled with another restless Universe which may well be the Devil's: the human struggle for power and domination, which eventually becomes history."

"I am now convinced that theoretical physics is actually philosophy."

JOHN VON NEUMANN

"Anyone who attempts to generate random numbers by deterministic means is, of course, living in a state of sin."

Seeing Through Walls

Seeing Through Walls

(metaphor and language)

We walk into walls every day: the walls of words. These expressions can range from crippling to beautiful, and from constricting to liberating. Conversations can feel like duels, and some conversations are expressions of love. Some great minds reach far through the cage bars to grasp the fruit. Many great minds have unlatched the cage and escaped, and have taught many others to do the same through the craft of words. They have transcended the cage, and the words, and it is transcendence that is needed to understand and express beyond the confines of words.

Words and their sharp-trap arrangements are a journey and not a destination. There is no finality to words. They lead beyond themselves to some other realm, just as great minds point the way to escape the cage. Many people will meet such minds (leaders, teachers, philosophers, mystics, etc) and attach to the person as a destination of salvation and as a result lose sight of the path. We also do this with words. We attach to them as some definite truth and we lose sight of the path beyond. We so desperately want to be led. We don't realize that our self-appointed leaders are just as confused as the rest of us. They have been thrust into the reigns and burdened with the confusion of others, as well as their own.

Transcending becomes an act of abandonment. Words are the toys we don't want to share or give away. Yet, we suffer immensely from words. Imaginative writers express beyond the limitations of words and speak everything between the lines where a sublime reality awaits.
As a simple example, I made a sandwich for a friend one day. I told her I had put "senf" on her sandwich. She said "What's that?" I told her that she would like it. She didn't. I said "ok, I will make you a different sandwich". This time she loved it and asked what I put on it. I told her "mustard". She said "Oh I love mustard!" Little did she know that "senf" is "mustard" in German. Same thing, different delivery. I offered her no "mostaza".
We do this every day with our relations and abstractions. People are walking around heavily armed with instant walls and word bombs. We are so easily fooled by the rabbit in the hat. We are also fooled by our walls, but with a little laxity and transcendence we may be able to see through these towering obstacles.

The walls are all around us. They are words, thoughts, and feelings. They are ideas, systems, religions, and groups. Each requires the windows, doors, and transparency of transcendence to not become a prison. The madness of division has crept its way into many souls, and here we are battling the great wars of adhesion; tearing at one another through comparison. The walls shrink and constrict. The lungs tighten and the reactions become sharper, like rabid dogs. The attachments to our certitudes become a vice that squeezes the self. We breathe the stale air with barely shallow lungs. It is resistance against our solid walls, rather than simply opening the door.

With a cracking dust, wakening the door, fresh air sweeps in and the roof flies off. To see through walls is to awaken from the beautiful dream to find that it is a dream nonetheless.

"The Way of Walking Alone" by Miyamoto Musashi

The "Dokkōdō" of Miyamoto Musashi.

The are wise guidelines to consider from the great samurai master. (*with commentary notes)

1. Accept everything just the way it is. (Nature,  karma, acceptance, cause and effect)
2. Do not seek pleasure for its own sake. (supplementary hedonism rather than selfish pleasure)
3. Do not, under any circumstances, depend on a partial feeling.
4. Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world. (ego control)
5. Be detached from desire your whole life. 
6. Do not regret what you have done. (learning and growth from experience)
7. Never be jealous. (jealousy stems from insecurity)
8. Never let yourself be saddened by a separation.
9. Resentment and complaint are appropriate neither for oneself nor others. (past/future trap)
10. Do not let yourself be guided by the feeling of lust or love.
11. In all things, have no preferences. (transcendentalism, observing all sides)
12. Be indifferent to where you live. (Nationalism)
13. Do not pursue the taste of good food. (I can't fully agree with this one!)
14. Do not hold on to possessions you no longer need. (hoarding/attachment)
15. Do not act following customary beliefs. (beliefs are irrational solidifications of fluid reality)
16. Do not collect weapons or practice with weapons beyond what is useful. (or tools or means)
17. Do not fear death (or ends).
18. Do not seek to possess either goods or fiefs for your old age. (non-attachment/minimalism)
19. Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help. (Self-reliance/free will)
20. You may abandon your own body but you must preserve your honor.
21. Never stray from the way. (The Tao)