A Simple Explanation of Gnostic Cosmology

Notice: There is now a separate blog dedicated to the New Gnostic Gospel. You can get there by clicking here. This was the original mapping of the new Gnostic Gospel. These concepts have been more colorfully illustrated, although the original mapping still holds up. You may find all of this in its most simple form in my book, The Gnostic Gospel Illuminated.

Since people are still landing on and reading this post, let me tell you that this has been laid out and beautifully illustrated in "The Gnostic Gospel Illuminated" book. 

I also have a podcast now dedicated to fully explaining all of these Gnostic concepts in Simple Explanation form. click here to go to Gnostic Insights

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Here's a first look at what I've been working on lately [back in 2015]. I'll be writing an article about the Gnostic gospels soon. Meanwhile, I thought you might enjoy these first fruits. 

Gnostic Cosmology according to the Tripartite Tractate, by Cyd Ropp, Ph.D.

These diagrams are my visual representations of the "Tripartite Tractate." The Tripartite Tractate is one book of the collection known as the Nag Hammadi scriptures that were discovered buried in the Egyptian desert in 1945. The Nag Hammadi texts were buried sometime in the 3rd century by monks who sought to preserve and protect them from those who wanted to weed them out as heresies as they designed the official shape of the Christian religion. 

After studying the Tripartite Tractate, I can see why the early Pope did not want this to make it into the Bible.  For one thing, the Christ figure, the "Son of God," is not all perfect and all powerful, as portrayed in the Christian Bible; matter of fact, Logos is directly implicated in the Fall. For another thing, salvation is a personal, mystical affair conferred directly by the Father through Logos, not something conferred by preaching or baptism. Thirdly, the cosmology presented here makes clear that those who, shall we say, struggle for righteousness against a sinful world are not necessarily doing God's work, but are caught in an endless war against the "evil doers," and have themselves fallen into some sort of earthly death trap. 

As I said, the complete article is underway. Meanwhile, for those of you who want to get started, here it is in picture form. On the big poster above, start at the upper left corner and read clockwise. Our earthly situation is portrayed in the middle of the diagram. Salvation and the end of the world comes in the form of the pyramid at the lower left. Below are various sections of the diagram presented on their own. If you have already been studying Gnostic cosmology, these diagrams will clarify various terms and activities. If you haven't already been studying this, then these diagrams will be super confusing so don't worry about it. All will be revealed in good time. 

In terms of A Simple Explanation, this cosmology begins prior to "in the beginning..." and proceeds through the formation of Units of Consciousness and the appearance of our physical universe, and concludes with the final collapse of the universe.  It also takes place during the life cycle of each and every Unit of Consciousness, as it is a Fractal Pattern that repeats itself over and over again. Those of you who have read A Simple Explanation of Absolutely Everything will recognize the role of the hierarchical distribution and the role of toroidal flow in the final reorganization of creation.  

The First Glory, The Son of the Father. First differentiation after the Undifferentiated Unity of the Metaversal Father.

The Second Glory. The Son has realized it is comprised of many traits of the Father. These traits are called "aeons" in Gnostic terminology. When they're all grouped together they are called the Fullness, or the All. Many differentiations but total harmony. Once these traits are named, they fall out of undifferentiated harmony and rearrange themselves into the pyramidal hierarchy depicted below.

The Fruit of the Third Glory is the offspring of the All in perfect arrangement of hierarchy. This stage in creation is known as the First Order of Powers. Everyone and everything knows its place and is happy.  The final Aeon to arrive at the top of the pyramid, known in the Tripartite Tractate as "Presumptuous Thought," looks down at the hierarchy and sees them all arranged underneath him. This gives that Aeon the idea that he is in charge of the pyramid. He reaches upward to reinsert the pyramid into the Metaverse. This is done without authorization or position. This results in The Fall.

The Fall tumbles the pyramid of Aeons out of arrangement. They Fall into confusion, Chaos. They are dispersed and alone for the first time, cut off from each other and the All. This is now called the Deficiency, and the Imitation. Logos panics and abandons the Imitation and retreats back to the All. God the Father also retreats in horror from the Deficiency, which throws up a Boundary containing the Imitation. Logos and the All try to rescue their abandoned children by praying for them and thus giving them the Remembrance of Who and What they used to be, before the Fall.

The prayers of Logos and the All results in the Second Order of Powers. There are now two types of creatures: those of the Deficiency who have no belief in who or what came before, and those of the Remembrance, who have come to themselves through "Repentance" and "Conversion" and recall their fellow Aeons and their place with the Father in the Fullness. Rather than rejoining Logos and the All, those of the Remembrance choose to do battle with those of the Imitation. They are locked in an endless righteous War where no one can win.

 Release from the Endless War comes by intervention of the Father and the Fullness working together. They produce the Living Image of the All and the Father--the Christ. The Christ places himself upon the Lost like a garment that restores perfection and fills the Lost with inexpressible Joy, giving them the Logos that enables them to detach and dispel delusion. This results in the Third Order of Powers--the Aeons of the Images--that now carry within themselves the Seed of the Word.

The final Order of Creation is called The Economy and The Consolidation. All three types of creatures are represented: those of the imitation, those of the remembrance, and those who have been redeemed by Christ. This drawing is a pyramidal shaped "core sample" of creation. The small figure at the lower right is a cutaway view of creation, with the center of the donut mapping to the top of the pyramid.

Inner Life of a Cell Video Repost

This is a lovely video illustrating the unseen actions of our cells. According to the Simple Explanation, each of these tiny objects is a Unit of Consciousness, doing its job. Every thing in the universe knows how to do the job it was instantiated to do by means of its Unit of Consciousness. We humans are most definitely not the only things that are conscious!

I really like how the motor protein lumbers along on its giant feet like a big bear.

Simple Book Now On Kindle!

The Kindle Edition of "A Simple Explanation of Absolutely Everything" is now available for only $3.99. Available worldwide.

If you follow the blog but haven't yet read the book, this is an excellent time to do so. I've put all the essential concepts in a linear, easy-to-understand format, so you don't have to hypertext jump all over to follow the logic.

Please buy this book and loan a copy to your friends. Click here. 

"Most Realistic Black Hole" Looks a Lot Like the Simple Explanation

This article was posted this morning on Huffington Post. Wanted to share the video animation with you.  Look familiar?  Same dynamics. This is one of the primal fractal expressions of toroidal flow. 

Here's the Huffington article:

Behold The Most Realistic Black Hole Simulation Yet

The Huffington Post  |  By Jacqueline Howard

Posted: 04/22/2015 8:26 am EDT Updated: 04/22/2015 8:59 am EDT

What happens when two black holes collide? Spectacular new simulations show the swirling action like never before, and they're definitely worth a watch.

Dr. Stuart Shapiro, professor of physics at the University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign, presented the simulations in Baltimore on April 13 at a meeting of theAmerican Physical Society.

"Our simulations of binary black holes merging in circumbinary magnetized disks of gas allow us to probe a cosmic event that astronomers believe occurs in distant active galaxies and quasars," Shapiro told The Huffington Post in an email.

(Story continues below.)

A sped-up version of one of the video simulations. (Click to see original).

Using Einstein's theory. What sets these black hole simulations apart from previous examples? The researchers used a full-blown treatment of Einstein's general theory of relativity to build their 3D simulation models on supercomputers -- marking the first time such simulations were done without having to guesstimate the data, Nature reported.

Einstein's equations describe the gravitational field around a black hole, and the researchers developed a mathematical model to pair the equations with equations that account for the motion of matter and magnetic fields.

“As a technical achievement, there’s no doubt that this is a giant step forward,” Dr. Cole Miller, a University of Maryland astronomer who was not involved in the research, told Nature.

Timely simulations. The new simulations come at just the right time. Last March, astronomers provided evidence of two black holes on paths to collide. Their research -- along with the new simulations -- could shed light on how black holes get close enough to merge.

Holy moly.

Simple Explanation Featured in Two Journals

Two academic journals are currently devoting full issues to A Simple Explanation of Absolutely Everything. Talk about a big jump up in validation and credibility! 

Here are the cover shots:

The Journal of Consciousness Exploration and Research featuring A Simple Explanation of Absolutely Everything

The Scientific GOD Journal featuring A Simple Explanation of Absolutely Everything

I'm thankful to journal editor Huping Hu for taking the time to sift through all of the articles published here at the Simple Explanation blog to come up with these two distinct journal issues. It is obvious that he understood the concepts by his careful editorial choices.  Again, many thanks.

Clifford Torus Turns Inside Out

Today I ran across this lovely gif of a "Clifford Torus" on wikipedia, created and posted for use by Jason Hise, using Maya and Macromedia Fireworks.

Meditate on this image for a while and see if you can track a patch of surface through all its permutations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-dimensional_space#/media/File:Clifford-torus.gif

Buy the Simple Explanation Book Now Under $10

I've just completed a new edition of the Simple Explanation of Absolutely Everything book. This edition is in black and white to hold down printing costs. Heavily illustrated with many helpful diagrams and photographs.

Buy the book here for only $9.99

The book is written with all of the simplicity and elegance you've come to expect from the Simple Explanation blog. 

Why buy the book when you can read the blog for free?

1. Less confusing because I lead you step-by-step through the theory.
2. Keep a copy in the bathroom or next to your bed.
3. Give a copy to your family and friends.
4. Support and reward Dr. Ropp's hard work--I've done the heavy lifting for you!

If you have already read the first edition, or are a regular reader of the Simple Explanation blog, please write a book review today or at least pop in to award the book 5 stars. I need your help today!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Onward and upward!

cyd

When Meme Chords Collide

The Simple Explanation proposes that we are all defined by the memes we believe in. This goes for individuals as well as larger groups, institutions, and cultures. The memes an individual holds onto define one's personality. The memes a group holds define its cultural boundaries--basically, who's in and who's out--based upon the memes shared and endorsed by the group. 

What is a meme? A meme is the smallest unit of information that can be passed from one person to another. Sometimes a meme is extremely simple and unequivocal. A basic emoticon would fall under the simple meme category. There's no mistaking the happy face's meaning.

Memes are commonly grouped in linked sets that the Simple Explanation calls meme chords. A meme chord is always more complicated than a single meme, because it consists of many related memes. Meme chords vary in complexity.

This meme chord is known as the Condescending Wonka meme, wherein the image of actor Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka has come to personify condescension. Why? Because the image presents a facial expression that is easily recognizable and not likely to be misunderstood. Whatever silly lines Wonka says follow an expected pattern of sarcasm designed to put someone in their place. When this meme appears during a discussion thread, everyone "gets it."



Meme chords can be incredibly complex, as is the case with religious meme chords and constitutional meme chords. Religious meme chords are codified in the Holy Book of the religion and taught to all believers. Violations of religious memes are called sins. Governmental meme chords are written as constitutions, laws, and court rulings, and all citizens are expected to learn them and obey. Violations of governmental memes are called crimes. 

Academic meme chords represent the field of study. Accumulation of academic memes is what makes a person "educated." Scientific meme chords, for example, consist of the subject material of each scientific speciality--geology memes, astronomy memes, chemistry memes, and so on--plus the meme chord known as the scientific method that specifies how inquiries are to be handled and what constitutes "proof." Axioms, theorems, and proofs are memes. Violations of scientific and academic memes are considered to be either honest mistakes or academic fraud.

We like people who share the same memes we do. The more memes people have in common, they more they agree with each other, and the more they like and respect the other person. Friends have a lot of memes in common. Co-religionists share the same religious meme chords. Tribal brothers and sisters share tribal memes. Citizens share their nation's meme chords. Sub-cultures share their sub-culture's memes.

Some types of memes are more important than other types, and it's the important memes that matter most. If we agree on the meaning of the meme "justice," we can probably overlook disagreement over the meme of whether the toilet paper should go over or under the roll. Or maybe not.

What happens when meme chords collide? What happens when the memes I believe in and hold onto contradict the memes you hold dear? Herein lies the source of all human conflict. The disagreements, the fights, the wars, are all conflicts over incompatible memes. 

Yes, my memes are vastly superior to yours. Does that mean I should kill you? How ridiculous. Yes, my memes are the best, no doubt about it. Does that mean you have to believe every meme I believe or else? How absurd. Yes, but my memes are so much better than your memes. Does that mean you are stupid? Does that mean you are a fraud? Does that mean you just don't get it? Maybe, maybe not. Most of our memes came embedded in larger meme chords handed down by others. Most of us have no idea what meme chords we hold and how we came to hold them. In any case, you can't force someone else to adopt your memes, any more than you can force someone to adopt your gender or your skin color. It is impossible. 

The Simple Explanation suggests that "live and let live" would be a great meta-meme for everyone to adopt. If we could appreciate the fact that each of us has a unique perspective, then perhaps we could allow each other to hold the memes that make the most sense for our lives. This is my meme chord; that is your meme chord. If I don't like your meme chord then I can talk it over with you and see if we can move our meme chords closer to one another in agreement. If neither of us is able or willing to swap memes with the other, then so be it. Either accept the other person, memes and all, or move on. Find someone else who more closely agrees with your memes. There is enough room in this world for each of us to hold our own chords, but only if "live and let live" is an overarching meme.

Beautiful Iceberg

Had to repost this incredible photo in case you haven't seen it. 

Here's the link to the photographer's website.

Reprint from Science News

Magazine issue: Vol. 187 No. 5, March 7, 2015

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SPONSOR MESSAGE

Roughly 90 percent of an iceberg’s volume hides beneath the waves. But every so often an iceberg’s underbelly makes an appearance above the waterline.
Filmmaker Alex Cornell photographed this recently overturned iceberg jutting about 9 meters skyward in Cierva Cove, Antarctica, in December. It’s a rare sight, says oceanographer Louise Biddle of the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England. Over time accumulating snow and debris whiten exposed ice, so Biddle suspects this iceberg had flipped at most a few days earlier. An iceberg can flip shortly after snapping off its parent glacier, she says, or when uneven melting causes the berg to shift its balance like a sailboat with a broken mast.
The newly exposed ice probably originated deep within the glacier, where high pressures squeeze out tiny air bubbles that scatter white light. Bubble-free ice absorbs red and yellow light while reflecting blue light, giving the upturned iceberg its spectacular color.
Despite their beauty, icebergs can be dangerous when they roll over. Biddle says research vessels and tourist ships steer clear of large bergs, fearing huge splashes and capsize-inducing waves in the event of a flip.

Simple Explanation Videos -- 40 minutes sure to shift your paradigm

The talk at Kindred Journeys went very well. The little room was full. The energy was high. My friends brought friends and there were people there who came because of an online events posting in The Reader. Karyl videotaped the talk, and here are the links below. Sold a couple of books and a couple of the new audio books, too. I had been wondering whether or not people would understand what I was saying, but they all tracked very well. There were many props used as illustrations--broccoli for fractals; a mandarin orange, a little pumpkin, and the slinky for toroids; and too many posters with too much writing on them for the other concepts. My brother, Billy, introduced me, and then he came away with several new hypnosis clients afterwards, on top of it. The amazing thing is that I was able to explain the entire Simple Explanation of Absolutely Everything in about 50 minutes. Talk about a challenge!
Here's the first 44 minutes of footage from the talk, before the video cut out. This is raw footage, unedited. We'll do a better job next time. Meanwhile, enjoy the videos! Please pass this along to your friends, too.

Below you can see the posters in close-up; be sure to watch the videos for a detailed explanation.

The Simple Explanation philosophy can be boiled down to four basic concepts. These concepts are fully explained in the book, "A Simple Explanation of Absolutely Everything," by Cyd Ropp, Ph.D.

This Simple Golden Rule sums up all world religions and ethical systems. It applies equally to all units of consciousness throughout the universe, from sub-atomic particles up through "sentient" creatures and beyond. Whether you are a human, a skin cell, or a solar system, it is your job to reach out to others with love, aid, and information for the betterment of all. This makes all units of consciousness "happy." Joining with others in a common goal also happens to fractally level up to the next hierarchical jump. (atoms to molecules, cells to organs, people to society, etc,)

The Simple Explanation of Absolutely Everything identifies this torus as the primordial fractal of our universe.

Zero-point emitter at the center of our universe, pushing out space, matter, and time into this dimension. The inward-poking pressure wraps over the lip and falls into the vortex leading to the singularity, compressing potential that inverses and explodes outward into our 3-D universe as manifestation.

The arrow of time flows from uncollapsed potential, through here and now, and emerges as history. i.e. "karma"

There are countless units of consciousness inside this skin of mine, making up "me."

Nested Hierarchies--the bottom triangle represents a single organism; the top triangle shows how it fractally nests into the hierarchy above.