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Category: Philosophy

  • How Metaphysics and Physics are Coming Closer Together

    There’s always those quotes that bypass the Ego gate and strike a chord deep within what Jung might call your “Collective Unconscious,” and this was one of them for me. One reason this strikes me is that it seems to relate or come very close in a metaphysical way to the Physical Scientific Fact that all of us have wave functions that fill up not just the entire Universe but also the infinite number of Quantum Multi Verses, as well as all of time past and all of time future, forever and ever without end. That sounds Metaphysical, but it’s actually a Scientific fact. It almost feels like how they built the railroads in the 19th century, one group working from the West Coast inwards, the other from the East, and then they met in the middle. It seems like the more Science discovers or rather “uncovers” the more the images seen in the telescopes and the microscopes seem to resonate with the images of Metaphysics, Mythos, and what is coming out of the Collective Unconscious.

    The great barrier in the Metaphysical picture painted above is the Ego, which is symbolized by Dragons, serpents, and other creatures that are cutting off this natural flow of “Cosmic” energy. In the Fairy Tale and Myth, “Slaying the Dragon” is symbolic of “Slaying” your own “Ego” which by its very nature of seeing itself as separate from “Nature” and the rest of the World and Universe, destroys Spirit. For in this picture, “Spirit” like the bloom on a flower is the by product of Nature, something created by nature, not something separate or to be imposed on nature.

    Makes me start to think that the Wave Function is the equivalent of “Consciousness” as in the famous Vedic expression: Being> Consciousness> Bliss (Sat, Chith, Ananda in Sanskrit) So, the second of that Trinity. “Being” seems to be the initiator of a great track opening up. But what is “Being”? That seems to be the great mystery and key.

     

  • Quantum Wave Functions and Consciouness

    This is an interesting picture when you think about how in the main Quantum picture, it is consciousness that somehow “freezes” matter into a definite state, that matter “responds” to consciousness. And everyone has had that experience where something truly amazing, or at least what they want happens, when they “take their mind off it” If every possible vibration and wave function exists, then somehow “taking our ‘mind’” off it for a while allows for more possibilities to “freeze” But I’m still not sure why having our mind on things usually ‘freezes’ negative outcomes, while ‘stilling’ the mind or consciouness, seems to bring forth mostly positive experiences. (I made this blog post because you know those sites that make you put in a password to approve your comment and then your comment ‘vanishes’ to wait for approval, and then you don’t know if you’ll see it again?)

    From Deepak’s blog: http://www.deepakchopra.com/blog/view/353/life_after_death

    Question:

    I’m an academic neuropsychiatrist with deep interest in brain and mind. I only read 2 of your books, Buddha and Muhammad. What impressed me the most is your thorough understanding of the person in these figures. For me you seem to know that what is sacred is every moment we spend existing and not in what is “out there”. I don’t believe in god/gods or in religion and I feel that humans are miserable because they developed “consciousness”, an extension of the frontal lobe function that allowed awareness of time, what has passed and what to come, which created this eternal anxiety about life and death and all the complexity that followed. I think that the Buddha figured it out and gave us the only way to go through it with the least suffering. But when we die, we blend back to the energy in this universe, our soul is the set of experiences that we had and left traces behind, the noise of the working machine of our body and the products of that machine that is left behind. How far am I from the “Truth”!

     

    Deepak Answer:
    I don’t presume to know Truth with a capital “T”, but Buddha’s doctrine of freedom from suffering is premised on the idea of awakening from ignorance. This ignorance is the energetic pattern of our identity that keeps us in the cycle of reincarnation until we are fully enlightened. So while the raw material of our bodies is recycled on death, the energy of our individual consciousness is not united with the consciousness of the universe until the body of the enlightened person dies. As for what exactly that experience will be or won’t be, we’ll have to see.

    Love,
    Deepak

  • Cosmic Consciousness Quotes Vol. 1

    “When Man make plans, God laughs.”

    “When the philosophy comes in, the art goes out.”

    “I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” — Pablo Picasso

    “I want every person on the edge of saying no, say yes because you’re worth it.” — Chase Jarvis 

    “Do what you love. Get your mind off what pisses you off!” — Tim Brando

    “Find out what you are good at and do it on purpose.” — Dolly Parton

    “Your superpowers don’t work from the sidelines.” — Michael Neill

    “The insecure way is really the secure way.” — Joseph Campbell

    “The total number of minds in the universe is one. In fact, consciousness is a singularity phasing within all beings.” – Erwin Schrödinger

    “We are asleep. Our Life is a dream. But we wake up sometimes, just enough to know that we are dreaming.” – Ludwig Wittgenstein
    [Link to Deepak Chopra saying these lines on Facebook Video at about the 10:20 mark.]

    “Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” – Søren Kierkegaard

    “I understood that our entire universe is contained in the mind and the spirit. We may choose not to find access to it, we may even deny its existence, but it is indeed there inside us, and there are chemicals that can analyze its availability.” – Dr. Alexander Shulgin, creator of MDMA or “Ecstasy.”

    “If you completely accept something, it changes. If you completely accept it, it shifts.” – Eckhart Tolle http://youtu.be/AO3wRY9lWSk

    “Resist nothing, and you will receive unconditional love.”

    “You are the one. You have all the answers.” – Taylor Marie channeling spirits during a Ayahuasca experience.

    “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” – Marcel Proust

    “It’s weird, huh? It’s like the minute you kinda give up control you just know what to do without doing anything.” – Aubrey Plaza’s Character from “The To-Do List” movie, exactly at the 45:05 mark.

    “When we heed the call of our deepest desires, we fulfill our true destinies.” – Deepak & Oprah

    “You are no more in your body than Beethoven is inside your radio.” – Deepak Chopra

    “Faith, consciousness, and awareness all exist beyond the thinking mind.” – Ram Dass

    “The Self is not in the realm of thought. The Self is in the gap between our thoughts. The cosmic psyche whispers to us softly in the gap between our thoughts.” – Deepak Chopra

    “Calmness is the criterion of spiritual progress. Plunge the purified mind into the Heart. Then the work is over.” – ~Ramana Maharshi

    “The worldly person is insane from the point of view of the spiritual person.” – Robert Thurman

    “Our practice is not to clear up the mystery. It is to make the mystery clear.” – Aitken Roshi

    “If the mind would let go of itself, stop grasping to and for itself, then the real you would come out, like a genie out of it’s ‘bottle,’ and a real adventure would begin.” – Stephen K. Pickering

    “Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that some spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe, one that is vastly superior to that of man.” – Albert Eintein [link]

    “God writes spiritual Mysteries on our heart,
    where they wait silently for discovery.” ~ Rumi

    “Find a place inside where there’s joy, and the joy will burn out the pain.” ~ Joseph Campbell

    “The earth has disappeared beneath my feet,
    It fled from all my ecstasy,
    Now like a singing air creature
    I feel the Rose
    Keep opening.”
    ~ Hafiz

    “When you follow your bliss a kind of track opens up, that’s always been there, waiting for you. And the life that you should be living, is the one that you will be living.” – Joseph Campbell

    “You must let go of the life you have planned in order to accept the life that is waiting for you.” – Joseph Campbell

    “The fundamental message of Mythology and Fairytales is that the natural energy of the Cosmos, the Universe, the Ground of Being, can’t get through, is being blocked. You’re only job is to remove the obstruction. When that’s done the energies that come pouring up through you, will automatically carry you to a life of adventure, to your destiny. You don’t have to ‘do’ anything. You don’t have to ‘try.’ These energies will automatically carry you to where you need to be.”

    “If you could release the god that is in your soul, the one hiding in embryo, then anything would be possible.”

    “The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go.” – Atisha (It just occurred to me that “Letting Go” is the essence of it all)

    “Knowledge has organizing power inherit in it. It is simply enough to know.” – Deepak Chopra

    “I always tell my students follow your bliss. When you have that feeling then stay with it and don’t let anyone throw you off.” -Joseph Campbell.

    (Check out this link to Bill Moyer’s website where all 6 episodes of “The Power of Myth” are available in audio by way of SoundCloud for free!)

    “Real happiness lies in that which never comes nor goes, but simply is.” – Ram Dass

    “I want to be alone with those who know secret things, or else, be alone.” – Ranier Marie Rilke

    “The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” – W.B. Yeats

    “Uncovering your real desires can be terrifying. It can also set you spectacularly free.” ~Mark Epstein

    “There is no happiness until the mind is still. The cause of all sickness and sadness is the fluctuation of the mind.” – Russell Simmons

    “Existence is awareness without boundaries. Perception is awareness with boundaries #SpiritualSolutions’ – Deepak Chopra

    “The whole universe exists inside you. Ask all from yourself” -Rumi

    “What you seek, you already are.” – Deepak

    “Your awareness has its source in unity. Instead of seeking outside yourself, go to the source to realize who you are.” – Deepak

    “When the mind is still the whole universe surrenders” – Maharishi Yogi

    “Space and time are not objects of perception, but qualities of awareness” – Deepak chopra

    “All descriptions of matter are descriptions of modes of human perception within consciousness.” – Deepak Chopra

    “The Universe is a mirror of consciousness…” – Deepak

    “Be still and know…”

    “You cannot find it anywhere because it is inside you. Happiness is your natural state.”

    The “watcher” or the Atman (the god inside U) is everlasting & blissful when the noise is gone. All that’s left is the “God consciousness”

    The spirit or the consciousness that “watches” never dies. Step back and “be the watcher.”

    “Craving security is the cause of insecurity. Freedom is knowing that the only point of arrival is now.” – Deepak

    “Consciousness experiences, brain records the experience.”

    “Meditate on every sentient beings happiness for the new year. If it doesn’t work for them it will work for u!!”

    “When we transcend our own thoughts, we get in touch with the womb of creation.” – Deepak Chopra

    “The bad news is you’re falling through the air, nothing to hang on to, no parachute. The good news is there’s no ground.”

    -Chogyam Trungpa via Ram Dass’ Facebook Page.

    “When you’re inspired by some great purpose some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds, you’re mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new and a great and a wonderful world, and then he said dormant forces, things that you thought were dead, dormant forces, faculties and talents, come alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be: you discover yourself to be God, and these dormant forces just follow after you and take care of it for you.” – Dr. Wayne Dyer quoting Patanjali in conversation with Eckhart Tolle

    Related Posts:

  • Midnight in Paris: The Music of the Night

    Metaphorical Themes

    It’s a common theme, maybe the most important theme, of Fairy Tales and Mythological stories: when the Hero or Heroin answers the “Call” to adventure,” magical helpers show up seemingly out of nowhere.
    What is that a metaphor for?
    Similarly in this story, when Gil answers his own inner call to walk the streets of Paris alone at night (instead of following his ‘Social Duty’ or ‘Dharma’ and going with his fiance and her friends, who though attractive, whose views on life and art, he couldn’t stand) the “greatest adventure of his life” magically shows up.

    Dance and Dionysus

    Inez goes off dancing with Michael Sheen’s character night after night, and in another time and place there’s a very impacting scene of Gil dancing the Charleston at a jubilant outdoor party, apparently given by the Fitzgeralds. That scene was so jubilent and the imagery so exuberant, it got me thinking a lot about dance. Dance is a metaphor for Nature flowing through the body. From this point of view, Nature comes to symbolize something that is good, healing, and perfect, rather than something that is dirty, corrupted, and something to be repressed. Alcohol, which is such an important symbol in this movie as well as the imagery of ‘the Roaring 20s’ along with the art of that period, is of course a symbol of Dionysus (Bacchus) himself and his secret power to unlock the gates that are holding back the normal flow of ‘Nature’ throughout the social conditioned, ego dominated human body. Of course, we know that the reality of alcohol ravaged many a life during this period and continues to do so, but here it is important to realize that it is serving as a symbol for something else. ‘That which unlocks the gates.’

     

    Review: Midnight in Paris – EbertPresents.com

     

  • Deepak Chopra Quotes

    “…the Scientific discoveries show that the laws of physics themselves preclude us from intellectually getting in touch with the source.”

    “The more we understand the nature of the Universe, through ‘Science,’ the more we understand there is the ‘Unknown’ and there’s the “Unknowable.’ The ‘Unknowable’ because the Scientific discoveries show that the laws of physics themselves preclude us from intellectually getting in touch with the source. You have to go beyond the intellect. You have to listen to the heart. The heart has reasons, that reason doesn’t know. The great prophets, Jesus, etc., they transcended to a level where they were in touch with the mystery.”  – Deepak Chopra on “The O’Reilly Factor” Nov. 2, 2011. – Youtube Video Link

     

    “When we transcend our own thoughts, we get in touch with the womb of the Universe.”

    Video Link

  • Advice for Aspiring Writers

    I came across this today via Twitter, and I thought it was so good, that I needed to keep it on my blog, so that I would always have a copy.

    Here’s the advice:

    First — keep reading. Writers are readers. Writers are also people who can’t not write.

    Second, follow Heinlein’s rules for getting published:

    1. Write it.
    2. Finish it.
    3. Send it out.
    4. Keep sending it out until someone sends you a check.

    There are variations on that, but that’s basically what works.

    Ciao,
    Annie

    It’s from novelist Anne McCaffery who died today at 85. I wasn’t aware of here, but when I read the blog post about her death and it noted this piece of advice, it made such an impression on me that I posted it on all my Social networks, but also felt the need to keep it on my blog.

    You’re blog on you’re own domain, I think is important, because things like Twitter, Facebook, are great for “Real-Time” but they are ephemeral, and you tend to forget what you posted after a few days, much less can you find things that you need.

    One of the things that resonates with me on her list is “Finish it.” I’ve noticed that with songs: Even if you don’t necessarily like your lyrics, it’s always so much better to finish the song, rather than leave it lingering, waiting for the “perfect” lyrics to “someday” come. Someday never will come, but if you finish the song as best you can, then it takes on a life of it’s own and has the opportunity to get better.

    “Done is Better than Perfect.” is a sign that they have around Facebook’s Headquarters. Very à propos.