Tao te Ching--Verse 62

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 62nd verse of the Tao Te Ching, which I have translated directly into Simple Explanation terminology from Jonathan Star's verbatim translation.

Pure Consciousness is Ground, from "Diagramming the Ineffable"

Universal Unit of Consciousness, creation's primordial fractal, from "Diagramming the Ineffable"

Verse 62

Pure Conciousness is the single source that flows through all creation.

Enlightened UCs treasure their connection to the Universal UC.

Even those who have lost awareness of this connection are guaranteed protection.

Pleasing words can be bought and sold;

Good deeds earn the respect of others.

Is this any reason to abandon those who have lost their way?

Therefore, when UCs gain enlightenment and become Children of Heaven, and the three ministers are acknowledged,

Rather than clutching priceless gems to the heart and the teams of four horses that follow,

It is better to sit calmly and advance the gift of consciousness.

This is the reason why the ancients treasured the Universal UC--this is why!

Did they not say that those who seek, receive?

That those who have lost their way shall be forgiven?

Therefore, creation holds consciousness most dear.

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The "Simple Explanation" generally chooses the most meta or universally applicable words for its translation of the Tao te Ching. I try to keep the interpretations usable for all units of consciousness, not just humans. This why we say "UCs" when talking about "people," because we may be talking about the consciousness of a single-celled organism or a quark or a flower--"consciousness is consciousness." Rather than translating "sage" or "good man" I choose to say "Enlightened UC," because we may be talking about a Godly rock or mouse as easily as a human.  Likewise, I don't like to say "bad man," but rather "those who have lost awareness," or "those who have lost their way." This is because no matter the scale of fractal replication or hierarchical level of complexity, we are all identical Units of Conciousness, differing only in the layers of accretion that clothe us. Hence, "There but for the grace of God go I." "I" am no different from "you," from a skin cell, from a planet--we are all fractal replications of the original Unit of Consciousness.

Verse 62 appears to be aimed at those UCs who have gained enlightenment, or realization of their status as fractal replications of the Universal Unit of Consciousness. If you are in touch with your UC, if you are seeking metaversal guidance in all that you do, then don't clutch worldly treasures or the approbation of others to your heart, for you may as well be tied to a team of four horses! Rather, sit quietly and lose your egoic self in pure consciousness. 

And let it be known, this verse further admonishes, that heaven smiles on the wicked as well as the just. The Universal UC enfolds, nourishes, and protects all of creation, even those who have lost their way. Therefore, it is the job of enlightened UCs to forgive others, even as the Universal UC forgives. Verse 62 tells us that good words and good deeds are, indeed, pleasing and we respect those that perform them, but this is not what the Universal UC is seeking from us.

The Universal UC is all and only about unity through consciousness.

Depiction of a meditating person "in phase" with their UC.

A Simple Explanation of The Perennial Philosophy

A philosopher friend of mine recently commented on the Simple Explanation, "Excellent retelling of the Perennial Philosophy!"

I was unfamiliar with the expression "Perennial Philosophy," so I looked it up on Wikipedia. Here's their essential definition:

Perennial philosophy is the philosophical concept which states that each of the world’s religious traditions share a single truth. Perennial philosophy asserts that there is a single divine foundation of all religious knowledge, referred to as the universal truth. Each world religion, independent of its cultural or historical context, is simply a different interpretation of this knowledge...

Yes, my friend was right. The Simple Explanation is all about identifying the universal truth embedded underneath ages of confusing memetic overlays.

And what is the basic truth that all traditions share when you strip away their superfluous memes?

• There is a Divine Reality underpinning everything; without This, no thing and no one would exist. 
• Ground, Sat, Undiffentiated Unity, Brahman, Godhead, Pure Light of the Void, Pure Consciousness, Metaverse

• This Divine Reality may be directly perceived under certain conditions.
• through prayer, meditation, near-death experiences, mystic revelation, psychedelic drugs, religious ecstasy, inspired ritual, super-rational intuition
• Humans possess a dual nature: the little, egoic "me" of day-to-day living, and a true Self that reflects the Divine Reality.
• egoic "me" is selfish, competitive, single-minded, short-sighted, meme-bound
• transcending ego, Self reaches out to others with love, help, and information for the betterment of all
• People long to reunite with that divine Reality from whence they came.
• salvation, enlightenment, Self-realization, Buddhahood
• Unification is only possible through denial of the earthly self and identification with divine Reality.
• focus on the here and now; drop unwanted memes

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The late Aldous Huxley wrote an excellent book on the topic in 1944 called The Perennial Philosophy. I've only read the first three chapters so far, but they are already marked up with happy scribbles. What a smart man Huxley was! Everything he is saying fits in perfectly with the Simple Explanation, so if you would like a fuller explanation of the Perennial Philosophy, I'd recommend Huxley's book.

Shed Unwanted Memes Here! Now!

As defined in the article "Memes and Chords of Memes," memes are the cultural expressions of societies. Every discrete cultural concept, mythology, or icon you can think of is a meme. Indeed, each and every concept that a person can know and name is a meme, even self-concept. According to the Simple Explanation, the memes we believe in and cling to are like theads draped over our souls, obscuring our perfect Self UC and interfering with our awareness of here and now.

If my Self UC is a perfect fractal expression of the primordial Universal UC ("Holy Ghost," "Kutastha Chaitanya," "Purushottama") then my personal meme bundle is the garment woven by my mind out of life's experiences ("avidiya," "maya"), and sustained by my Ego as personal identity ("Ahamkara").



Self UC





Self UC Clouded by Memes

The article "Bundles of Memes" explains that once you acquire a meme, it becomes part of your unique vibratory bundle. If you do not wish to continue holding that meme in your personal bundle of strings and chords, you need to detach that meme from your bundle.

• Some memes fall away of their own accord through disuse.
• Other memes must be consciously detached and laid aside.
• Some memes are pernicious; addictions are their behaviors. 
• Emotionally evocative memes such as victimhood or jealousy are difficult to detach due to the intense synergistic coupling of thoughts and emotion.

In the worldly course of events, unwanted memes must be detached through an effort of will, either through conscious disuse or by acquiring a competing, more desirable meme. Therapies such as EFT may help.

Within one's spiritual tradition, memes may be surrendered to one's Higher Power through prayer and meditation. Serenity is achieved as memes are discarded.

Here, now, you may lay down that unwanted meme. If you find yourself accidentally carrying it around again, lay it down again. If you notice yourself invoking that meme out of habit, good. Lay it down again. You may need to lay down some neighboring memes as well, if their vibrations are invoking that pernicious meme in you. No need for dismay or despair. Onward and upward.

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 relevant information (including shared meme chords), they need to be willing to channel coherence from the metaverse, 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?

In the article "My Self, The Governor of Whoville," I explain that my governing UC is associated with a veritable galaxy of aggregated UCs hierarchically distributed below it. "I" am not alone in this body of mine, but coinhabit 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 Ego I am loving--it is the Whoville galaxy.

If my Self UC cannot act with wisdom and love toward its own "mud" and meat, then how can it act with wisdom and love toward other UCs at the lateral level--its "neighbor"?

The "neighbor" that I am commanded to love is any unit of consciousness that occupies the same level of complexity as my UC.  It is the job of every UC, no matter its hierarchical level of complexity and sophistication, to reach out laterally to others of its level, working together for the good of all.  A sub-atomic particle's neighbor would be other sub-atomics. A liver cell's neighbor would be other liver cells. A human's neighbor would be other humans, but also other complex life forms. My dog is not a citizen of Whoville. My dog is my neighbor.

All of creation is called upon to work together with others of like kind for the survival and benefit of all. This is a Simple Explanation of The Great Commandment.

11 Putting It All Together

• Our universe is a self-contained toroidal bubble of space afloat in the infinite metaversal sea.

• Our God is wrapped around our expanding universe, holding us in, holding infinity out.

• We experience the holding force of coherence as love.  We experience the outward expulsive force as energetic joy.

• Every thing in this universe comes equipped with its very own echo of God’s mind—a unit of consciousness (UC).

• No matter the size or complexity of the material to which the UC is attached, our units of consciousness are all the same no-size and occupy the same no-place.

• Units of consciousness make decisions on behalf of the material to which they are attached.

• Life forms consist of the aggregated units of consciousness of the material forming their bodies, plus the governing UC of self-awareness.

• Organizing principles flow inward from the metaverse, collapsing from all possible courses of action to a single course of action at the point of here and now.

• For any observer, all that exists is here and now. Decisions may only be made here and now.

• Karma is the mechanism through which the consequences of behavior informs future potential.

• Memes are energetic waves of cultural patterns produced by units of consciousness. Memes are fueled by repetition or starved by lack of usage.

• “I” am the aggregate UCs of my material body, from the subatomic particles all the way up through the self-aware unit of consciousness that thinks of itself as “me.”

• I influence and am influenced by the karmic record generated by my choices and the choices that others have made.

• I am also influenced by the bundle of memes I and others choose to hold onto.

• I am free to pick and choose the memes I hold onto.

• Although I am influenced by many forces, I always retain my ability to freely choose which decision I will make here and now.

• In order for units of consciousness to join and work together for the greater good, they need relevant information (including shared meme chords), they need to be willing to channel coherence from the metaverse, and they need to love one another.

• Subatomic particles, universal forces, and UCs can all be modeled as a torus:

A Simple Explanation of Meditation

Scientific research has proven that the brains of regular meditators function differently than those of non-meditators. For one thing, more information travels through the meditator's corpus callosum, uniting left and right hemispheres.
For another thing, meditators recover more quickly from emotional upsets and startle reactions.
For more information on this topic, you can watch 17 minutes of a good documentary provided through Canadian Television:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3LtQH4Etjo

What is it about meditation that causes these effects?

The general process of meditation involves sitting quietly and stilling the mind through concentration. Various schools of meditation encourage concentration through a variety of techniques--attention to breathing, uttering a repeated mantra such as "Lord" or the word "om," focusing on the "third eye" between the eyebrows, or upon love and heartfelt connection beyond oneself. Any method that quiets the mind's chatter will do. Interior silence must be achieved. The goal is relaxation, a sense of perfect peace, a feeling of bliss, or union with God. 

Quieting the mind's chatter during meditation achieves two things.  First, it allows you to temporarily lay aside your meme bundle and briefly unite with your governing Unit of Consciousness Self; secondly, interior stillness provides the empty space needed to go beyond the boundary of your personal Unit of Consciousness (UC) to perceive the reassuring sheltering presence of the universal unit of consciousness. Spiritually oriented meditation techniques refer to this transcendence of personal identity as recognizing the essential Oneness of All, or as approaching the Throne of God. 

Here's what I think happens to the nesting toroids during meditation:

This first drawing represents our nested universal space. (Please click here to review this concept if you need to.) 

The red center represents the material universe; the white arrows represent proto-energy radiating into our universe; the beige is our governing UC; the yellow is the universal unit of consciousness, known as God.

During ordinary consciousness, our Self is engaged in the material-based world. According to Yoga philosophy and energy healers, an observable red current of life-giving energy (prana) runs upward from the base of the spine. Since our toroidal model indicates that matter and energy are generated from the center zero-point of the conscious universal field, our human bodies must occupy our personal UCs thusly:

This illustration represents the human chakra field drawing universal proto-energy (ananda) through chakra one at the base of the spine.

During ordinary, matter-bound consciousness, human awareness is  entirely trapped within the mind's perceptions of the material universe. These matter-bound perceptions include both processed sensory stimuli(touch, taste, hearing, smell, sight) and thought ideations in the form of meme chords and karma. In this state, the Self's governing UC can only occasionally influence the "mud-up" mind.  You could say that in the ordinary state, the matter-bound mortal is "out of phase" with his or her Self UC.

During meditation, the source from which the body draws energy shifts from chakra one at the base of the spine to chakra four--the heart. Yoga philosophy characterizes the heart as the door between the material and spiritual. When the mind is perfectly still, the heart swells with love and with joy. We propose that during meditation, the human goes "in phase" with pure consciousness, uninfluenced by perceptions of and opinions about the material world. This phase shift brings the mud-up mind into full contact with not only its own  governing UC but, with practice and patience, the individualized UC resonates entirely in phase with the universal UC.

At that stage of advanced meditation, when one's personal identity unit of consciousness becomes one with the universal unit of consciousness, the seventh chakra at the crown of the skull channels unimpeded information and coherence directly through the "top" or aligned metaversal funnel. At the same time, the personal toroidal space is entirely in phase with the universal UC and "pressed" directly against the coherence boundary, stimulating an unparalleled sense of love ("Divine Love"). Also, universal proto-energy pours through the "spiritualized heart" at the core of the meditator, bringing an unrivaled sense of bliss to the meditator.

One technique meditators employ to achieve this advanced state of love, bliss, and awareness is to balance their ascending (chakra one) prana with their descending (chakra seven) spiritual energy (mud up, spirit down) so that they meet at the (chakra four) heart center. Perhaps this model's simple explanation may help with that endeavor.