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Friday, December 23, 2011

Meme Share: Happy Holidays / Holy Days To You

Christmas tree at the Albion Inn, Ashland, Oregon
Dear Simple Explanation blog Followers and Subscribers,

Holidays/Holy Days are universal memes shared by all human societies. And, while it is the memes we do not share that define us as separate cultures, it is the memes we do share that bring us together.

Our customs and rituals, songs and prayers may differ, the food we share with loved ones not at all alike; yet do we not all share the concepts "feast," and "family," and "reverence"? These are the memes we share. This is what we celebrate.

So, when I say "Merry Christmas to You," please pay no attention to whatever negative memes you may attach to the phrase, for those are not the memes I mean to invoke. When I say, "Merry Christmas to You" the memes that dance in my head are peace, love, and joy, and I am hoping to share those memes with you. Let us rise above the particulars that divide us.

Love to you,  cyd
Cyd and Gary with dogs Franny and Zoey,
Christmas in Tucson, 2010

Friday, December 9, 2011

Even Rats Apply "Golden Rule"

Today's big news in rat psychology, coming from the University of Chicago and appearing in the current edition of the journal "Science," is that rats researchers have proven empathy amongst rats in distress. Not only do they show empathy, but they work to free their trapped rat friends, even if there's a pile of their favorite treats (chocolate chips) nearby to distract them. Moreover, the rescuer rat will free their trapped friend and then share the pile of treats with their newly liberated buddy.
It has been observed for many years that mice appear to show empathy for other mice in pain; scientists call this "emotional contagion." It has also been demonstrated that cage mates will offer what seems to be comfort to their apparently distressed companion, which then seems to reduce the comforting mouse's pain symptoms. This apparently altruistic behavior in mice has been refuted by those in the scientific community who say that, while it may look to us as though these are altruistic behaviors, they do not indicate that the mouse was acting out of any motivation to help another, but just as possibly working to reduce their own distressful response to hearing and seeing another's distress, an ultimately selfish motivation.

The current University of Chicago study was carefully designed to prove the behavior is, indeed, altruism. They did this by including the treats aspect of the experiment--showing that the rats would free their cage-mate from a trap even though it meant having to share their chocolate chips with them--proving that the behavior was performed without selfish intent and against their own organism's best interest (if you define "best interest" as hoarding food). Indeed, if a rescuer first ate some of the chocolate, they would save a piece for the trapped rat and then hand it to them when their companion was finally liberated. Rescue-rats took three to seven days of non-stop work and concentration to learn how to open their distressed companion's trap to free them. They did not put effort into opening an empty trap or a trap holding a toy rat. 

The Simple Explanation of these findings is that rats, like all other units of consciousness, follow the Golden Rule. It is not anthropomorphic to attribute altruism to animals. Or selfishness, which is altruism's opposite pole. The Simple Explanation says, "It is the job of every UC, no matter its hierarchical level of complexity and sophistication, to reach out laterally to its neighbors, working together for the good of all."

Go rats, go!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

All About the Simple Conscious Universe

Here's Chapter Two of the Simple Explanation book. You've seen most of this in other articles, but now it's in one, coherent narrative. I've also updated the diagrams and corrected some minor points. This is the chapter introducing Units of Consciousness, fractals, and quantum mechanics. Buy the Simple Explanation book here.

Chapter Two
A Simple Fractal Model of the Conscious Universe

Each Unit of Consciousness (UC) is a pale echo of the Universal Unit of Consciousness. Or, to put it another way, each UC is a fractal replication of the Universal UC. So before we go any further, let’s talk more about fractals.

In 1975, mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot coined the term “fractal” in the first published paper on fractal geometry. Despite some initial resistance from the mathematical community, it was soon discovered that fractal geometry is unparalleled at measuring and modeling the world of natural phenomena.

Here's the definition of fractals from Wikipedia: “A fractal is 'a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole,' a property called self-similarity... Because they appear similar at all levels of magnification, fractals are often considered to be infinitely complex
This means that, as you can see by the pictures, a fractal design’s pattern repeats itself over and over again without end. The copies it produces are very similar but also slightly unique, as each iteration of the formula takes into account the results, or history, of the previous computation.
Romanesco broccoli displays a simple, self-similar pattern of conical florets repeating several times at smaller and smaller scales. The fractal formula that describes this broccoli can go on forever dividing the conical florets into smaller and smaller iterations of the mother cone.
To put the Simple Explanation in fractal terms, our universe is populated by simple, recursive, self-similar structures of consciousness at arbitrarily small scales.

As explained in Chapter 1, as our universe expanded, over and over and over again, pale echoes of the Universal Unit of Consciousness attached themselves to the particles streaming out of the Big Bang. These self-replicating Units of Consciousness (UCs) can be described as fractal emanations of the originating fractal formula--the Universal UC.

Whereas Mandlebrot's best-known fractal, the Mandlebrot Set, looks like this bug below,
the fractal associated with the Simple Explanation of Absolutely Everything looks like this torus.
In the Simple Explanation, the enclosure of our material Universe is a Very Large toroidal pattern at the "outside" edge of creation. This would be the Universal pattern at its largest fractal scale, the Universal UC, akin to the singular black void at the center of the Mandlebrot Set. Drilling downward from the greatest torus (the Universal UC) to smallest, the Units of Consciousness associated with sub-atomic particles are the smallest manifest fractal expressions of the Universal set. These smallest material instantiations of creation pass from the realm of pure consciousness through causal energy to material instantiation through calculations of the Universal fractal formula. The crossover from pure consciousness to material instantiation occurs at the edge of an infinite series of ever smaller fractal divisions proceeding downward from the lower limit of material instantiation (Planck's constant), and then energetically finer and finer until energy is finally suspended in the infinite stillness of non-being, the Metaverse.

In the Simple Explanation, the zero point at the center of the universal toroid is the source point where the pure undifferentiated consciousness of the metaverse is concentrated to singular manifestation. This is the crossover location between the undifferentiated unity and material creation.
The personality we call God manages this Universe's collective karmic record and all of our memes (beliefs and narratives) as well as the physical laws of the material realm.
In personal terms, my Self UC is a fractal division of the Universal UC, and so is every UC associated with everything in my body. The fractal calculations occur at every hierarchical jump of organizational complexity.

One spiritual implication of this fractal model is that the Universal UC may be visualized as both immanent and transcendent, as many spiritual traditions claim. Immanent within every one of my body's UCs, at the tiniest fractal crossover point at the center of each UC. Transcendent at the outer edge of the Very Large, where our Universal UC nests against the infinite, undifferentiated Metaversal UC ("God the Father," "Sat," "Pure Consciousness," the "Undifferentiated Unity"). We humans are suspended thusly, a particular fractal emanation of, and located within, creation, yet patterned directly from pure consciousness.

Now that we understand what the Simple Explanation means by fractal consciousness, let’s look at some of the features of these fractal UCs.

Units of Consciousness:

Each UC reflects a unique point of view in time and space.

All UCs are inwardly resonating waves propagated within the shell of the Universal UC, therefore all UCs are standing exactly in the same no-place. I am exactly where you are, where we all are. I am exactly where the UC of a quark is, where the UC of a skin cell is. I am no bigger or smaller than any other UC because size is irrelevant where there is no space, and there is no space “outside,” in the metaverse, where the Universal UC is situated. No matter the size or complexity of the material to which the UC is attached, from quanta to human to star system, our UCs are all the same no-size in the same no-place.

There is only one apparent time and place in the universe for any given observer. That place is always right here, right now, at this moment of conscious awareness. All units of consciousness realize their decision-making potential only in the crucible of here and now.
Each UC is capable of using the organizing principles that inform and sustain its existence in our universe. Quanta know how to be quanta; stars know how to be stars; lung cells know how to be lung cells; dogs know how to be dogs. Each UC is fully capable of doing the job put to the material it governs when it follows universal principles (the Tao, God’s Will, Absolute Truth, physics).

Every UC makes decisions affecting the material it governs. (A hydrogen atom, for example, decides whether or not and with which particular two oxygen atoms it will join to form a molecule of water, informed by various physical laws of the universe including its own “karma,” or history of past choices. An organism’s UC decides what to eat, when to mate, where to nest, and so on.)

UCs are social and additive in number— neighboring UCs tend to work together in harmony toward a common purpose.

All UCs aggregate hierarchically under more complex UCs. The more complex the UC, the fewer instances of it exist.
Life forms consist of the aggregated UCs of the material forming their bodies, plus the Self UC. The more complex the organism, the more UCs it possesses.

The degree to which any UC comprehends the physical universe is dependent upon the complexity of its aggregate UCs. There are so many little quanta UCs and atomic UCs that, despite their very simple material expression, they still have a pretty firm grasp of the Universe because they are all over the place. But their responsibilities are very narrowly defined--a quanta may only have one choice to make in its whole life, so that individual quanta's UC isn’t in a position to decide anything else. But, when you consider all of the quanta in this Universe, together they know everything there is to know about atomic structure. Actually, at the simplest level of material instantiation there is very little delusion, as the quantum UCs are so fresh and near the "center" where information streams in from the Metaverse.

The more UCs of the same level of complexity that are laterally linked, the greater their shared perception of here and now. This means, for example, that when you add all of the UCs together that make up my material body, their aggregated consciousness is about as aware as my singular Self UC. And those aggregated UCs (the “mud” and “meat” that make up my body) go everywhere I go!

Every UC has the free will to fulfill or contradict its responsibilities. The more complex the UC, the more sophisticated its decision-making abilities. The more complex the UC, the more opportunities it has to exercise free will. Despite the opportunity for free will, most UCs perform as expected—they “do their part,” they “work according to plan.”

Each functional organ system within an organism possesses its own UC that governs that organ. The lung UC governs the lung cells and coordinates laterally with the other organs; the brain UC governs the nervous system and works laterally with the other organs to maintain the body.

The Universal UC is the most complex UC of all, consisting of all potential as well as actual UCs of our universe, plus its own metaversal omniscience and organizational principles.

As complex systems die and disintegrate, their aggregated UCs are released from the responsibility of supporting that particular life or material instantiation and revert to their simpler states of molecular consciousness. A dead organism’s governing UC no longer presides over the aggregate, nor do the organ systems’ UCs remain after their organs shut down. Cellular UCs will remain until their cells die. The body’s molecular UCs hold it together until their cohesion degrades and only atomic UCs are left. And so on. “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”

Departing UCs rejoin the Universal UC.

All UCs are self-aware, self-governing, with free will. You don't have to reach any level of sophistication to be a governing UC. Every UC governs the piece of material it is attached to, regardless of how simple or inert the material appears to us humans.

Free Will and Quantum Foam

This illustration from Brian Greene's The Elegant Universe shows how the appearance of matter transforms from smooth to chaotic at quantum level magnification. As depicted here, things look smoothest at the lowest magnification and appear increasingly active the closer you look.

The quantum chaos illustrated above can be used to model the principle of individual free will. Looking at the illustration, the lowest magnification at the bottom of the tower appears smooth because most of the UCs are performing more or less as expected. On the top plane, at the highest magnification, the free will decisions made by the sea of UCs reveal their individuality.  

UCs are not automatons nor interchangeable bricks in a wall, but entities with free will. If a lateral cohort of UCs decides to not work together, then chaos will win out and the erstwhile structure they formed will collapse.

It is to the benefit of all that most UCs operate according to the metaversal plan and that there is enough redundancy of duties to accommodate each UC's free-will decisions. It is only when examining each individual UC's activities up close that the chaotic nature of free will is even detectable.

My Self, the Governor of Whoville

Collections of UCs have a governing Self UC one step higher up the hierarchical chain than the aggregation making up their body and its systems. This means, for example, that each atom’s Self UC governs its collection of sub-atomic particles and makes the atomic-level decisions; UCs of molecules govern their collected atoms and make molecular-level decisions, and so on.

“I” am the aggregate UCs of my material body, from the subatomic particles to molecules to cells, all the way up through the UCs of the body’s organ systems. Plus, “I” am also the self-aware unit of consciousness generated at conception. Like all UCs, this capital-letter “Self” came into this universe as a perfect echo of the Universal UC. The job of this Self UC is to oversee the body’s aggregate UCs and to join laterally with other UCs like myself to build things.

As you can see by the diagram below, the simpler the UC, the more of them there are, while the more organized and complex the UC, the fewer of them there are. While there is only one "me" (represented by the triangle), my body is comprised of 11 organ systems made of 78 organs, which are in turn comprised of 50 trillion specialized cells made up of such a large number of atoms and molecules that I don't know how to read or write the numbers. And every hierarchical jump in complexity brings a new UC into the world along with the newly formed object. That’s a lot of UCs in here with “me!” I affectionately refer to my aggregation of UCs as “Whoville” and our body as “Meat Mountain.” I am the Governor of Whoville. You have your own Whoville and Meat Mountain. Our UCs are tied to these various material instantiations and so have become localized in time and space, and are no longer omniscient and omnipresent but only so many pieces of matter, or "mud."
Although it may feel as though I am the only conscious entity inhabiting this body of mine, my physical body is actually home to all of these aggregated UCs, each with their own jobs to perform, each making the decisions put to them, each laying down their own karmic record. Lucky for me, their job is to hold me together and facilitate this life of mine, and they generally go along with the program and do a good job.

Note that the "mind" or ordinary consciousness, as well as the subconscious, are artifacts of the organ systems, organs, and cells that make up the body. In other words, the mind is the meat's thought process, not the Self's. The mind usually works on behalf of the ego through the efforts of Whoville, whereas the Self UC works on behalf of the Universal UC, often without thought.

The Self UC isn't always doing its job of conscious decision-making. The human mind may be preoccupied with thoughts or songs or emotions, which blocks the Self UC from making any here-and-now decisions. This leaves most decisions up to the body's aggregate UCs. Activities like walking or driving a car, having sex, eating, or taking a bath can all be carried out by the body's organ level UCs and “mind” outside the Self’s awareness.

“I” am influenced in my decision-making by many forces acting upon me as I approach the here and now. These forces include the karmic records and meme bundles of my Self UC and my body’s aggregate UCs, and the karma and memes of those around me. Despite the multitude of influences acting upon me, it is always within my power to make a free-will decision at any particular moment.
The Fractal Roots of Consciousness

To recap: Within the confines of my skin, countless UCs of varying levels of complexity work together to keep my body alive and fully functional. At each descending level of complexity, from my governing Self UC down through the organ systems, organs, cells, organelles, molecules, atoms, and quanta, my body's UCs deal with increasingly simpler tasks even as the matter associated with them becomes smaller and more numerous. The simplest and most numerous level of materially instantiated consciousness is associated with the quantum foam that forms at the finest fractal edge between matter and energy.
As the roots of a plant send out finer and finer tendrils at each level of fractal branching, our hierarchically arranged aggregate UCs seem to nest closer and closer to the Original Fractal Formula--the Universal UC--at their simplest and most numerous levels. Whereas the concerns of the world often obscure my human-level Self UC, the UC of a single sub-atomic particle or wave (anu), having a fairly limited view of creation and few choices regarding activity, is the least distracted by Ego and most attuned with its originating Source.
At the deepest physical level of instantiation, the countless quanta that form the building blocks of our bodies are associated with countless less-deluded UCs, all tapping their roots directly into the organizational source of our Universe ("Universal UC," "God," "Sat," "Original Fractal Formula").

As I visualize the roots of Whoville, I visualize roots penetrating from my skin inward, finer and finer, to the depths of my material being. Within my body, all of my aggregated UCs drill fractally "backward," smaller and smaller, toward the zero-point field at our shared core. Whereas my Self UC may appear a long way off from God, especially if I conceive of God outside the Very Large, if I instead turn inward and "fall back," I am as near to God as the center point of all of Whoville's myriad UCs. This is a new way to interpret the practices of "centering" and "grounding." When ancient teachings speak of God residing in the hearts of man, this Simple Explanation suggests the heart may be interpreted as the shared zero-point field at the shared center of our fractal Units of Consciousness.

A Simple Explanation of "The Great Commandment"

Known as "The Great Commandment" in Judaism, Leviticus 19:18 states: “ Love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.” This commandment is reiterated by Jesus and Paul several times in the New Testament, as here when Jesus counsels the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:19, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Commentaries on this commandment usually focus on its Golden Rule aspect--to treat others as you would wish to be treated. The Simple Explanation puts it this way: "In order for units of consciousness to join and work together for the greater good, they need to share information relevant to the current situation, they need to be in harmony with the metaversal plan, and they need to love one another."

While we human-level UCs often struggle with loving others, many of us also struggle with loving ourselves, so how do we accomplish the Great Commandment?

It may help to realize that "I" am not alone in this body of mine, but co-inhabit this material space with countless other UCs devoted to instantiating "my" body. The commandment to "love myself" is a reminder to be kind and wise in the governance of the UCs that make up my Self's body. I am the ruler of their galaxy--I am the "Governor of Whoville," to borrow from Dr. Seuss.

When I ignore the information coming "upline" from my aggregated UCs, my physical body may suffer emotionally and physically. If I ignore my aggregated UCs altogether, they are like sheep without a shepherd, and my emotional and physical body will surely suffer. I must be the wise ruler of this body, as it is my governing Self UC that is responsible for this little galaxy. This can be considered the essential rationale for loving myself. It is not my own Ego I am loving--it is Whoville’s galaxy of devoted UCs.

If I cannot act with wisdom and love toward my own mud and meat, then how can I act with wisdom and love toward other UCs at the lateral level--my "neighbors"? The "neighbor" that I am commanded to love is any nearby unit of consciousness. It is the job of every UC, no matter its hierarchical level of complexity and sophistication, to work together for the good of all. A human's neighbor would be other hierarchically-similar UCs in common purpose (human and non-human), but also “downline” to Whoville, and “upline” as part of some greater purpose.

Lao Tzu put it this way in Verse 68 of the Tao Te Ching: “The best way to win a battle is to avoid confrontation. The best way to get the job done is to make sure that others’ needs are met. This ancient principle is known as 'living in harmony' with your fellow UCs. Living in harmony brings out the best in others. When you live in perfect harmony with others, you live in perfect harmony with the metaverse.”
All of creation is called upon to work together with others for the survival and benefit of all. This is a Simple Explanation of The Great Commandment.  

Quantum Entanglement and Karma--
Matter behaves differently at the very small level than it does at our ordinary, visible level. At the smallest levels of material instantiation, two objects can be "entangled," meaning that what happens to one object affects what happens to its partner.
For quantum particles to be entangled, they must both have been part of the same larger system/object at one time. When the larger object to which they both belonged no longer holds its integrity, its parts are no longer physically yoked. These now freed quantum particles may relocate to entirely different places in the universe, but they never forget their original family, so what happens to their previous family members continues to affect them. That's a simple explanation of quantum entanglement.

Quantum superposition refers to the universe's unending balancing act that preserves perfect poise amongst entangled quanta. So let's say you have a pair of entangled photons and that these two photons know how to spin right and left. What happens with superposition is this: if you cause entangled photon A to spin to the right, photon B will, of its own accord, and without you touching it, spin to the left. This quality of superposition makes "action at a distance" possible because you don't have to do anything at all to photon B to make it do something. You only have to affect photon A. Furthermore, it turns out that if A is entangled with B, and B becomes subsequently entangled with C, then A and C are now also entangled. This is known as entanglement swapping.
The new field of quantum computing takes advantage of these properties of entanglement to transfer and store information. In quantum computing, entangled particles are created by blasting apart their family unit and trapping the subsequent quanta in a computer matrix, called a "register." The quanta trapped in the register then respond to stimulation and perform calculations (i.e. make choices). Our universe is a giant quantum register.
The principle behind teleportation works off these same principles: it is possible, theoretically, to prompt changes amongst entangled objects so that it appears as though an object has travelled from one place to another. But nothing “travelled” anywhere. Not even information. It is the relationship amongst the entangled objects that causes manipulations at A to result in predictable changes in B and C.

Superposition is a word that refers to the fact that entangled objects will not reveal their superposition outcomes until one of them makes a choice when prodded to do so. Up until that choice point, either one of the entangled pair may be the one to, for example, spin right, which would force the other to spin left to maintain universal balance. If, on the other hand, the object was made to spin left, then its supersymmetric partner would be the one to spin right.

Karma and Consciousness

Through quantum entanglement we can now model a dynamic mechanism for karma. The Simple Explanation suggests that sub-atomic quanta are simply a fractal order of magnitude step-up from energetic patterns which are themselves step-ups from thought patterns generated by the Universal Unit of Consciousness. Therefore, it should come as no surprise to find metaphorical harmony between material and “spiritual,” or immaterial, law.
In review, the Simple Explanation's definition of karma is this: Karma is the mechanism through which the consequences of behavior inform future potential. Karma is a force of influence that arises out of the decision-making history of every unit of consciousness in the universe. Each UC generates its own karma. We are all affected by one another’s karma. The more a unit of consciousness has in common with another UC, the more it is affected by the other’s karma. Our aggregate karma affects all of creation.
To this definition we can now add the dynamics of quantum entanglement: Your actions affect not only you, they affect me to the extent we are "entangled." And, because of entanglement swapping, not only am I affected by you, but so is everyone else who is entangled with me, and everyone else entangled with them. And so on, and so on, and so on. And we are affected not only by actions, but also by each other's memes, which cycle into and throughout our shared transpersonal consciousness. (We’ll cover memes in Chapter 3.)

This entanglement principle may be the reason why all separation and estrangment is so difficult--"what God has joined together let no man put asunder." The reason is that we cannot truly separate what was once joined; when we do, supersymmetry with the other continues, whether we are aware of it or not.

Here’s another implication of the entanglement principle--as we are all fractal replications of the Universal UC; we are all in a supersymmetric relationship with the Origin—the Universal UC. This is why all UCs not only affect one another to the extent they share entanglements, they all feel the direct pull of Consciousness. The continual cycling of information from the Universal UC affects us all, all of the time. This is "information" in its truest sense—laying webs of consciousness throughout creation through principles of karmic entanglement and supersymmetry.
This is how it is that Lao Tzu could say in Verse 21 of the Tao Te Ching, “The life force within is self-evident. Thus, life itself provides trustworthy evidence of the originating source. From the first moment until now, the manifestations of consciousness remain ever the same. Thus do we all bear witness to the Creator, the Originator. This is accordingly how I know the ways of every thing and the origin of all things: by observing what is within me.”

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

A Simple Cosmology of the Universe

Before the beginning, before space and time, there was nothing but pure consciousness. And consciousness had neither pattern nor form, only awareness.
The Simple Explanation calls the pure consciousness that exists outside our universe the “metaverse.” In the original Greek, “meta” means an idea above and beyond the topic of discussion that brings greater understanding and context to the topic. In this case, the topic is the nature of the universe. In order to better understand our universe, the Simple Explanation begins with that which lies beyond this universe—the metaverse. This metaverse has many names in many traditions—“The Great ‘I AM’” and “God the Father” in the Torah and Bible, “Sat” and “Parambrahma” in Hindu scriptures, the “Tao” and “wu ming” in ancient Chinese texts, and “The Absolute” in modern philosophy.

Then consciousness had a thought which unfolded into countless dimensions. This multi-dimensional metaverse still lacked space and time but it now quivered with limitless mathematical potential. In a twinkling, our entire universe was imagined in the fullness of its complexity, from the tiniest quanta through the greatest astral body; every animal, vegetable, and mineral; every element; everything. At the moment this thought occurred, the metaverse conceived every organizing principle needed to shape and sustain space and time, energy and mass. All was in ideal balance. Every system was theoretically in tune; every function perfectly performed; the consequence of every action anticipated, understood, and plotted to the nth degree. And it was all good.

Once the metaverse formed a particular thought, thought became an object in the great sea of no-thought. Where there was only pure consciousness, now there existed something—thought. In order to preserve the undisturbed tranquility of the metaverse, thought sealed itself off from pure consciousness by focusing inward, and in so doing formed a toroidal-shaped bubble around itself. Where there was only the tranquil nothingness of the metaverse, there was now thought and directed action, initiating sequential time. On this day that time began, consciousness wrapped itself around our universe, forming a border between us and infinity. Mind took on a shape.
The “Shape of God’s mind,” also known as  the “Universal Unit of Consciousness,” the “Womb of Creation,” the “Son of God,” “logos,” “the Word,” the “universal fractal formula.” We can think of this wireframe version of the toroid as the idealized mathematical blueprint imagined by the metaversal consciousness prior to creation.
This toroidal-shaped membrane is composed of conscious thought and its concept of this universe, split off from the unformed metaverse and operating on its own. The Simple Explanation calls this original torus the Universal Unit of Consciousness (Universal UC). The content of its thought is the entire logos of our universe. The Bible puts it this way:“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Logos was in the beginning with God. All things were made through the Word, and without this logos, nothing was made that was made,” (John 1:1).

Which begs the question: How is it possible for an object (our universe) to rest "inside" the formless metaverse without affecting its undifferentiated nature? How can space and non-dimensionality, time and timelessness, change and the changeless co-exist without touching the untouchable metaverse?

This paradox is easily solved by imagining that the toroidal membrane itself possesses a fractal surface akin to the Koch snowflake. As you can see, through endless divisions, the perimeter of the figure becomes infinitely complex and long, while the interior of the 2-dimensional Koch snowflake remains finite and contained to the figure, never reaching "outside."

These are the first four iterations of the Koch snowflake fractal formula. At each computation, a side is divided into three equal segments and an equilateral triangle the length of a segment is placed at the center segment. The center segment’s line is then erased, leaving behind a perimeter that is four times longer than the original side. Even though endless computations may lengthen the perimeter to infinity, the snowflake’s volume remains finite.
Now imagine applying the Koch divisions to the surface of the Universal UC torus, with the divisions facing outside. As the membrane divides toward infinity, the space within remains finite and contained; keeping the undifferentiated unity of the metaverse unsullied. The effect of this infinitely recursive fractal surface can be likened to that of an invisibility force field deployed around our universe, i..e, "What happens in our universe, stays in our universe."

The concentrated thought of the Universal UC focused inward on a singular point of limitless energetic potential—enough to seed our universe. Concentration gave rise to toroidal forces that begat energetic waves. Our universe began to expand outward as energy exploded into the torus of space out of the zero point field at the center. In Sanskrit, “ananda” means both energy and joy. The Simple Explanation suggests that organized consciousness , “chit,” combined with ananda and began emitting the building blocks of our universe.
Shape gives rise to toroidal forces that explode into dimensional space as patterns of energy culminating in material quanta.  Cosmologists refer to this initial energetic event as the Big Bang.
 
As the interior torus of our universe expanded, over and over and over again pale echoes of the Universal UC attached themselves to the particles streaming out of the Big Bang. In Sanskrit, these smallest material quanta are individually known as “anu” and collectively called “maya,” or creation. “Avidya,” Sanskrit for “loss of consciousness” or “delusion,” is a necessary by-product of material instantiation as each individualized point-of-view in time and space replaces universal, non-localized awareness.
The Universal UC pulses with concentration at the birth of every thing in our universe. These pulsations funnel waves of consciousness inward from the border of the Universal UC toward creation, informing each new piece of material with its own unit of consciousness (UC) as it emerges from the universal portal of here and now.

Particles rush into our universe from the zero point field at the center, exploding outward, filling our universe from the middle. The outer fractal membrane presses inward to contain the energy exploding outward. Matter flows outward from the middle, repulsed by the energy streaming into the universe from the center, and coherence presses inward from the outer universal boundary. We experience the repulsive energy as “joy” and excitation, and the containing energy as “love” and security.
This cutaway view of the torus from the top shows ananda/joy exploding outward
and coherence/love pressing in.
This is the point in creation when the Universal UC is traditionally referred to by such names as “God the Creator,” “Shakti,” and the “Mother of 10,000 Things.”

Time passes and creation becomes more complex as subatomic particles reach out to one another according to the principles of organization conceived by the metaverse and set into motion by the Universal UC.

And particles joined to make atoms, atoms to make molecules, molecules to make single-celled organisms. Single-celled organisms diversified into the full panoply of life, and every one of these material building blocks came equipped with its own unit of consciousness (UC). Each unit of consciousness knew what particular role it needed to play in order to help the universe create and sustain itself, for every UC could decode and instantiate its own special piece of the metaversal ideal.


quanta UC
atomic UC
molecular UC
cellular UC
organism UC
societal UC
global UC





At each stage along the way from simple to complex, units of consciousness are increasingly sophisticated in their ability to regulate and manage their existence.

Sustaining Creation requires an uninterrupted stream of organization and intention funneling inward from the border that separates our space and time from the metaverse at large. Like pure potential pouring down the gravitational well of a great black hole, our possible futures become increasingly limited as they funnel toward the crucible of here and now at the heart of creation. Here and now, all potentials collapse as only one course of action is realized.

We generally refer to collapsed potential as “history.” The “future” is uncollapsed potential. There are an infinite number of potential futures that become increasingly constrained as they approach here and now. Here and now is the gateway of singular choice. The arrow of time flows downward through the middle of the torus, past here and now, and emerges into the past as a line of singular history. “Karma” is the consequence of historical choices made in the here and now.

Karma is the mechanism through which the consequences of behavior inform future potential. Karma is a force of influence that arises out of the decision-making history of every unit of consciousness in the universe. Each UC generates its own karma. We are all affected by one another’s karma. The more a unit of consciousness has in common with another UC, the more it is affected by the other’s karma. Our aggregate karma affects all of creation.





Monday, November 7, 2011

Tao te Ching -- Verse 53

The Tao Te Ching, or Book of the Way, is an ancient Chinese collection of 81 wisdom verses. In the "Simple Explanation” model, the Tao spoken of by Lao Tzu refers to the metaversal information and principles of organization that have informed our universe since the moment before creation; also known as the Universal Unit of Consciousness. Non-being refers to clearing your personal UC of earthly memes and karma. Non-action refers to allowing the original universal UC to direct your personal UC for the greater good. Here is the 53rd verse of the Tao Te Ching, which I have translated directly into Simple Explanation terminology from Jonathan Star's verbatim translation.

Staying centered near the vortex maintains alignment with the metaverse...
Verse 53
If those in charge possessed even the smallest bit of understanding,
they would follow nothing but the great metaversal way and dread straying from its main path.

The great metaversal path is very easy to travel, yet those in charge prefer taking side roads.

The seat of government is excessively well cared for, while the nation's fields are overgrown with weeds and the storehouses are all but empty.

Clothed in gorgeous garments, sporting the finest gadgets, gorging themselves with food and drink--bursting at the seams with more possessions than they could possibly use--this is recognized for what it is: the boasting of thieves.

This is the opposite of the metaversal path! Really!
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The Simple Explanation of verse 53 is that those in charge would make better decisions if they leaned not on their own self-serving understanding, but followed the principles of metaversal organization. This is expressed metaphorically as "staying centered" on the path. Using the torus as a visual model of staying centered looks like this:
The Simple Explanation's torus model showing the (white) line of metaversal information running through the zero-point center of here and now. This pole transmits the perfect choice for any given moment.
Not centering decisions within the metaversal plan leads to egoic decision-making, which is referred to as taking side paths. Self-centered decisions made by government officials, by definition, puts their interests above those in their care. This is because when we stray from the central path of wisdom, our choices are dictated by personal karma and memes rather than the greater good.
If the job of every unit of consciousness (UC) is to reach out to others with love, help, and information, that goes doubly for those sitting atop the hierarchical pile. The very reason for government is the care and feeding of those governed. For those in charge to ignore their "Heavenly Mandate" in favor of feathering their own nests is an abuse of power. Such abuse may prosper for a time but it cannot be maintained, as it goes against the metaversal plan.

Verse 53 says that the extravagent excesses indulged in by those in power comes at the expense of the greater populace. Lao Tzu likened such extravagence at the expense of others to "the boasting of thieves." He ends the verse with two exclamations to drive home the point! Really!

Readers of the Simple Explantion may realize by now that verse 53 not only refers to human society, but applies equally well to all other units of consciousness, be they sub-atomic particles, cells, or what-have-you. One of my favorite blog articles describing the hierarchical nature of the universe is "My Self, the Governor of Whoville." Once you see yourself as one who governs others, you will be closer to understanding how verse 53 applies to your life and your decision-making.
 

Friday, October 28, 2011

Using the Blog's Topical Index

The best method for finding your way around the Simple Explanation blog is to use the Topical Index on the right side of the screen.

 The articles under Concerning Consciousness have to do with the fractal nature of consciousness and the relationship between consciousness and matter.

The "Simple Explanation of..." articles demonstrate how explanations within a variety of fields (religion, spirituality, psychology, sociology, politics, biology, physics, etc.) can be described in terms of the Simple Explanation.

Toroids and Toroidal Forces is a series of articles that explore the geometrical figure of the torus.
Red blood cells are toroids

The Simple Explanation uses the torus as an all-purpose model of our material universe.
Meme Share is an interactive space where readers may share memes with other readers. What's a meme? Use the topical index to find out!

I apologize for the Miscellaneous category. Don't know where else to index these articles. There are some very popular articles there.
Toroidal skylight in Gaudi's Sagrada Familia Cathedral
 Personal Process Notes is my attempt to humanize the blog space with my personal presence. If you wish to become acquainted with the Simple Explanation's author, this is the place.

Dr. Cyd Ropp