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Dear fellow Bums, I used to post here regularly, then shifted focus to a Consciousness documentary (still a work in progress) and a peer-reviewed published theory paper. I have just finished a podcast and video called "Anatomy of Subjective Experience" about that theory, and I wanted to share them here. Spoilers, sorry, but the gist of the argument is that neurotypical subjective experience is actually the brain's first experiencing of a brand new episodic memory. If our intuitions about subjective experience were correct, by contrast, we would expect to see the following in our brains: a place where all the data streams from all the senses + mind come together to form Experience, and then we should see a single pipe leading from this Experience Generator to the hippocampus, so that complete experiences can become episodic memories, and thereby be remembered later. But, in truth, when we look at the brain, the hippocampal complex IS that place where all the senses + mind come together. The brain builds a memory in the hippocampus, and then immediately plays it back to itself, for reality check, among other things. That first playing of the new memory is what we call 'subjective experience'. In fact, we also only exist within our own memories. The perceived-self is a construct of memory, created by the brain as a mnemonic, to help give memories context. What was I doing in the past event? What decisions did I make? When did I become aware of that threat? And memories, of course, exist to help the future brain learn from its past mistakes and successes. The true self is the body. The brain is a subset of that, and the "me" is just a representation, invented by my brain. The perceived mind is also a construct, within memory, created primarily by the Core Network (also called the Default Mode Network), using the hippocampus' experience generation powers to run mental simulations, like Theory of Mind or daydreaming. The reason why we think in words is because the hippocampus evolved to be able to represent and remember complex audio, including speech. So the Core Network uses the hippocampus' qualia-generation powers to create visual images and word thought. If you happen to know about H.M., a famous patient who had both of his hippocampi fully removed, you may be thinking: but he is 'fully conscious'. And that may be so, but in this case by 'conscious' we mean that he is awake, and responsive, can talk and behave. Those are separate functions from subjective experience, and they happen elsewhere in the brain. The tradition of the word 'consciousness' has combined all these functions into one concept, but they're not actually much related in the brain. I deal with H.M. and similar patients in the podcast and video. There's lots more to be said about the model, but that's what the podcast and video are for. I'll leave a link here to the video, but the podcast can be found on all the major distribution apps. It's called "Anatomy of Subjective Experience", and it's presented a lot like an NPR Radiolab episode. I hope you enjoy it, and I look forward to hearing your responses. https://youtu.be/psyvlO3Ssfc

In several occult/religious schools of thought there is this idea of evolving or elevating ones consciousness to the level of being able to merge with the ocean of consciousness itself. The idea I can understand; but why to do it I don’t understand. Why would someone do this?

Anyone know if they're comparable or can be directly related in some way? It seems in Dzogchen there's four levels of rigpa (from rigpawiki below). Ground rigpa: "(Tib. གཞིའི་རིག་པ་, shyi rigpa, Wyl. gzhi'i rig pa) acts as the basis for all of samsara and nirvana, and is identical to the subtle clear light. This is the pristine awareness one experiences at the time of death, but not during the ordinary waking state. It is from this awareness that the foundation consciousness arises." Essential rigpa: "The fundamental innate mind of clear light is considered to be the nature of mind, or the ultimate root of consciousness. In the same way that a sesame seed is entirely permeated by sesame oil, as soon as there is clear and aware consciousness, it is said to be permeated by the clear light rigpa. This aspect of rigpa, this in-dwelling clear light is what is called essential rigpa (Tib. ངོ་བོའི་རིག་པ་ , Wyl. ngo bo'i rig pa).[1] Effulgent rigpa: "The Dzogchen teachings are very precise in talking about rigpa and categorizing it with many subtle distinctions. So a distinction is made between the ground of being and the appearances of that ground, and effulgent rigpa (Tib. རྩལ་གྱི་རིག་པ་ , tsal gyi rigpa, Wyl. rtsal gyi rig pa) is rigpa that is present in the appearances arising from the ground. It’s an aspect of rigpa which is to be identified and experienced only when coarse levels of mind and conceptual thoughts are active. At that point the experience of the fundamental innate mind of clear light has ‘ceased’―‘ceased’ in the sense that it is no longer a direct object of your experience. However, there is still a definite quality of clarity and awareness that permeates the coarser states of consciousness. This type of clear light experienced as a quality that permeates these states is the effulgent rigpa. All-embracing rigpa: rigpa of all-embracing spontaneous presence (Tib. ལྷུན་གྲུབ་སྦུབས་ཀྱི་རིག་པ་, Wyl. lhun grub sbubs kyi rig pa) Do these have equivalents in Daoism, and if so, what would they be? Thanks a lot!

Hi, I have been wondering if you ever experienced the different personalities/perspectives that exists within you. did you notice how life triggers shift you from one to another ? Some consider it as a fragmentation in consciousness, that happens when we experience a strong situation in the past and mostly in our childhood and so your consciousness would escape in itself by creating another self with a specific perspective of for example: fear. When I meditate, i do reach a stage of presence and awareness and also I feel that my mind is empty of thoughts but when I have to some work like create something or solve a problem..., I cannot remain in that perspective of nothingness and oneness and such and my answer would be allow it to be as it is and i will be fired from work hehehehe. I m now more like shifting between different perspective of life (sometimes consciously and sometimes triggers), but my question would be how to integrate them? or do I need to integrate them? What is your perspective about this perspective?

Do you think your own thoughts? Or those offered by others? Between any two thoughts there is a magical place. A pregnant pause. The next thought could be any thought. There is no limit here. Predispositions perhaps, but no limit. The next thought could be any thought... even none. Awareness returns to this lately, so I chew it and share it here in case it intrigues. These are open questions, requiring and perhaps having no firm answers. Do you think your own thoughts? How many of your thoughts arise from within? How many arrive from without? From where do thoughts come? Does it matter? How many of them are repeats? Do you choose what you eat? Do you know from where you eat comes? How much of your food do you grow? And how much is brought to you by others? Awareness returning repeatedly to the parallels between what I eat to maintain health and vitality and what I allow my mind to eat and its effect on my inner world and experience of reality. If what I experience is my effective reality. Then thoughts are a major portion of this reality. Buddha speaks to it. What will I allow my mind to ruminate on... what will I feed it? Where will I go for and what will I do with, the thoughts that arise today?

Here's a fun musing that settles on my thought pond from time to time. It arose again rather insistently this morning and I felt like sharing the process with words. Nothing serious in it, though it is sincere. I'm endlessly curious... what makes me human? Where exactly 'in me' is the 'human bit'? This usually plays out about the same, and I've shared it before, but da Bums has shifted and so I feel like sharing again and seeing what comes of it. so: what is human? I'm re-minded that while seemingly being human, no where inside this body, do I encounter the human element. Not even in my very human DNA, not even in that which is unique only to humans do I find the human element, for even my DNA forms of the same elements as the rest of the manifest universe. I'm re-minded that what I used to think of as my solid human body. Seems a fluid, ever-shifting collection of several trillion independently identifiable small life forms, each themselves comprised of the same elements as the rest of the universe. These life forms arise naturally and self arrange without thought, or command, (indeed often in spite of thought and command), into various patterns that results in what I refer to as my human body. and yet... human is what? when does the human bit come into it? I'm re-minded that, that which seems to distinguish me from all else in the universe, my body, seems to be a pattern of elements. One pattern among myriad. A pattern comprised and arranged in the shape of what my mind refers to as human, comprised of many other patterns called organs, limbs, etc. The same elements arranged into another form, in varying amounts, is recognizable as not human. I'm re-minded that, that which comprises the body, which is similar to the rest of the universe, is all of it; while that in the body which is different from the rest of the universe, is none. That seems really significant. No where is body comprised of that which the rest of the universe is not. So when is a pattern of elements human? Human city, human art, human music, human politics, human clothing. I'm re-minded that the core of all manifest elements seemingly so solid and permanent... are temporary and comprised of vibration, resonance and emptiness. Thus it seems my human body, is an expression of the vibration of inherent emptiness, resonating as elements arranging in layers of patterns distinguishable as a human typing figures on a screen, with far more in common with distant black holes than is dissimilar. how bout that? whew. it's rather staggering at times... like now. funny too, how it's always been now, I've never been me in the past, or the future. i am only now. every human experience now. each human experience memory, re-membered now. each fantasy of the future, in mind now. and all the while, awareness underlying each individual cell, aware to sit as this, body in a chair and simply be... such a miracle is this?! how many miracles in a yard of common earth? in a 'human' eye? in a thought? What a miracle to just sit here and be, as this moist spec of dust I sit upon, simultaneously spins about itself, orbiting a rather common yellow ball of light, itself corkscrewing through the galaxy... one pattern amid myriad... ever unfolding... fluid, never static, inherently empty, yet expressing form so generously. I'm reminded of the arms of galaxies, in the spiral of my son's ear. and i'm re-minded of that in mind. where is this mind? what is mind? what is human?

I learned humans bodies are truly only designed to eat fruit, flowers, nuts, seeds, and herbs... **note: I don't care to "convert" anyone's dietary life or anything, this is simply my experience and innerstanding of it all... Tho, I grew up with the S.A.D. (standard american diet) eating meats, processed foods, dairy - you name it. I slowly became aware through the years of health & our biological requirements, what dis-eases really are, etc. I began to transition to vegetarianism, then to veganism, and now to raw vegan Not for longevity or even to feel good (tho, those would be included). It was to expand my awareness of All That Is... and it has been working. I no longer have anxiety, and I have way more energy now, and am more clear minded. I aim to be frugivore at some point and see what it's like (I heard for some, they really get into the astral realms and have to start eating vegetables again to ground themselves if they have to deal with other people). Anyway, thought I would share my experience for anyone interested in this. When the body is purified, energy can flow w/o obstruction (qi/chi/prana/etc.), the mind is less taxed, the emotions are more clear, etc. Everything is connected... so it was logical for me to start cleaning up my physical vessel. I have been taking a class for a certification at the International School of Detoxification (taught primarily by Robert Morse). If anything I said, you vibe with, then I recommend checking out some of his videos on youtube. Namaste, my friends

No matter how auspicious an idea may appear as it is known by a knower from within the mind, identification with being anything in particular is essentially self-imposed limitation. The guru admonishes to leave concepts behind, to relinquish the identity of doership and acting, to be free of burdens not needful which may become to us as obstacles. Being is without doing. One can not help but simply Be oneself. All that must be done is then done rightly and naturally. Simply be as one has been, as one already is and as one will forever be. Be as you are, for the naturalness of this being that we are is that which makes the supposed becoming of anything in particular possible. Being this being, is to naturally abandon this or that identity. In this being, it's revealed that one is the knowing-ness of knowledge, the doing-ness of that which is done; the essence, the very being-ness of being itself. The Power of power. There's no being of this or that, there is only this-ness or that-ness, through and through. The heart of being, which is being, and beyond it. The Paramakash, so far removed from what the mind can imagine, that even the pure consciousness "I AM" seems to be an almost alien thing. From Paramakash, to Mahadakash: The gods and devas may possess names and forms, but the "light" of consciousness is completely attributeless. Without a body, it embodies all. That "light" which illuminates the mind as a reflection, is no more the mind or its contents than the Sun is equal to the daylight it provides. Lord Krishna: "By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them. And yet everything that is created does not rest in Me. Behold My mystic opulence! Although I am the maintainer of all living entities and although I am everywhere, I am not a part of this cosmic manifestation, for My Self is the very source of creation." Innumerable states seem to appear upon or within this "light", along with the appearance of one(s) who appear(s) to traverse them. Eternally back and forth, seesawing up and down, the actions and inaction of the apparent many is reflected in the waking dream and deep sleep states. One can get comfortable in a dream of one's own making, lucid even, yet become mesmerized by the powers of awareness in the dream. One can become engrossed in the indulgences of physicality, unsatiated by desires of experiencing waking life to its presumed fullest potential. These states come and these states go. Yet there exists a "state" which never comes and never goes, beyond even the self-love that is undifferentiated bliss experienced in deep sleep. It is all there is. Conscious, unconscious, both conscious and unconscious, and Neither. The original being, experienceless, stateless in its state, in which all states and all experiences appear as if they were themselves dreams of a dreamer unknown.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23631510-200-consciously-quantum-how-you-make-everything-real/?cmpid=EMP|NSNS|2017-1110-GLOBAL-NovWk2_Youniverse|button&utm_medium=EMP&utm_source=NSNS&utm_campaign=NovWk2_Youniverse&utm_content=button&cmpid Consciously quantum: How you make everything real The idea that we create reality seems absurd. But an audacious new take on quantum theory suggests the fundamental laws of nature emerge from our own experiences

New research exposes how biophotons may be responsible for the transmission of adverse effects of radiation between individuals, and illuminates how the fabric of human consciousness may be based in light. The first part of this article is kind of sobering, but maybe just concentrate on the later part, talking about biophoton research and discoveries, which is where light-based human consciousness is discussed. You can scroll down to The Bystander Effect: Biophotons as a Central Player http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/biophotons-common-thread-linking-human-consciousness-and-hidden-perils-cancer-rad

The food we consume - is the all that we take in We bring in through the eyes vast cubic miles every day The ears hear a thousand vibrations we never notice The nose speaks directly to our ancestry in each breath Our skin sinks to the marrow Please share here beauty that you have found so that it might be a well of delight and wonder

Here's an interesting and touching story; I've heard that the consciousness can remain with the body for three days or more after death: Man who slept next to his dead wife's body for six days recommends the experience

http://www.medhajournal.com/index.php/en/resident-philosopher/951-consciousness-cosmology-and-science-an-advaitic-analysis

Overview I've been thinking lately about how much the porn industry and media impact our life. Just taking a look about the most used websites in different countries, the porn websites holds the top 5 most visited websites. which means that a lot of people use the internet to access porn and sexual contents. The majority of porn users are men and youth according to some statistics. in other words, the porn industry have a very big impact on our daily life and affects the way we feel, we see ourselves, the opposite or same sex and sexualize our social life. Of course, with porn comes masturbation, and it is the addiction of the century, it is the technique used by the mind in order to escape feelings and emotions that arises, ending up with a need to release the dopamine and not deal with these deep issues. Masturbation makes you blind. Most of us, when we were young, we laughed at when we were told that masturbation will get you blind, because we thought that blindness meant to describe the inability to see with our eyes, and it was proved that none of the people who mastubate became blind because of masturbating. but blindness, is not referring to the eyes vision, it is more of consciousness and awareness of our own selves, our own emotions that point us to the deep traumas and issues registered in our subconscious and body. and that masturbation is an escapism due to the dopamine that is pumped in our brain due to orgasm make us avoid dealing with our internal issues. Energy and cultivation According to my observations, i did notice that porn affect a lot emotions in terms of making us objectify other people and enhance separation and decrease the ability to understand the person beyond the physicality. Also, masturbation does render the focus/intent very loose, it can be noticed if someone practices vipassana meditation, (where you scan the body and feel it with your focus) focusing and sensing of the body parts becomes very hard and superficial. Also, in masturbation Jing gets depleted and it is known that it is one of the 3 treasures of Traditional chinese medicine. all of my male friends, watch porn a lot and have developed fetiches and want to get into a relationship to experience all of those positions and fetishes that are extreme and have gained a lot of weird sex beliefs and seems like how the majority of people think and believe. Also, i have noticed that the body by itself doesn't get turned on sexually, a person becomes horny due to thoughts that were activated due to stimulus: porn, media, pictures, imagination or a dream. Also, Porn industry has added a lot of exotic values like "you must lose virginity before a certain age" "you should experience this fetish, that kind of person, size, height...." "jerking off is a must and healthy" "sex is very important" "size matters" .....etc of other values and ideas. What do you think about what is going on in our society and how the people are being programmed into a society that is primarily motivated by sex through the encouragement of mastubation and porn? how is it affecting our love life, spiritual life and our ability to think clearly, focus and make progress in our life.

If so, how did you do it?

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Hello My name is Peter, I just wanted to introduce myself. I have been on a spiritual search for decades and am still seeking absolute truth. I have determined that righteousness and meditation are major keys to consciousness and enlightenment. It has been quite a nightmare wading through the jungle of religions and lies which have been strewn across the pathway to Truth. I am here to learn and understand more. Thank you for listening to me.

How developing peripheral vision affects consciousness. This is HUGE! Here is one of the most fascinating reads I've recently come across. (Thank you, bojole!) You could skip the eye physiology and just scroll down to where he starts talking about the Japanese master Musashi and how his writing inspired the "nightwalking" practice they developed. From there on it gets REALLY interesting! Shades of Castaneda! http://www.navaching.com/hawkeen/nwalk.html

Why did the cosmos become aware of itself and why do we experience anything at all? What is the point of consciousness? Is it possible to deny the existence of consciousness? Is consciousness itself (the idea - since that's all we can talk about) something like a phantom limb of the mind? Is it a mental concept that gives the mind a sense of autonomy, entityhood, and independence? I look forward to hearing your answers and questions. Please don't regurgitate content - words and concepts - that you've strung together into "knowledge" in your memory. The answer must exist NOW if it is to exist at all, not in what Babajimbe said in your imagination of 2,000 years ago.

Dawg has recently awoken and he is here posting in our midst and it is truely something to be excited about. I am making this post for several reasons - not the least of which is just what it is labeled - a toast to Dawg!!! We wish you all of our support and thank you for being here with us while half a world away!

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I am reading Jeff Foster's, "Deepest Acceptance." The other night I picked it out of the 2 dozen or so texts I have next to my bed from the library, and it inspired my previous thread. Reading it I learned I need to stop resisting the present moment. I became aware that I was constantly thinking about the future or the past. Or I would try to avoid the world by putting my nose in a book or some ear buds in my ears. I have only started the re-programming process today. Reading the next chapter, "The Ocean of Acceptance" a question came to mind. So this thread will be really short, for once. My question is simply this... What if there is no life after this one? What if there is only this one, physical existance and nothing else afterward? How would that affect being in the present moment? Because I could no longer claim that I am the ocean and the waves of present moment experience can not affect me. There is no I, in this example, no Higher Self, to live on, to remain unaffected by the happenings in the physical realm. In this example there is only my me, my physical body. In other words, what if this whole "present moment" thing is a big pile of dog doodoo? Not saying that this is the case, merely asking what if. Looking for a clear perspective on this.

Ram Dass once said something, somewhere to the effect that we need to have one "me" watching all the other "me's". Does anyone else often feel that their concept of "self" is indeed fractured into many, many, many different selves that show up at different times? In my instance, there is the lazy me, the productive me, the heartless me, the generous me, the greedy me, the angry me, the sad me, the self-absorbed me, the kindhearted me, the homosexual me, the heterosexual me, the depressed me, the elated me, the caring me, the apathetic me, the me that finds meaning in everything and at the same time meaning in nothing, the me that is a dreamer and the me that is a realist. I am disturbed when I recognize selves that do not seem to come from a completely pure source, for instance self-absorption or vanity. i have struggled with feelings of bisexuality and didn't understand where any of it came from. But I don't know whether it is right to deem them as completely evil and needed purged, or whether to indulge them when appropriate and as balanced by other more heartful acts. I had a teacher once who told me the secret was integration, not destruction. any thoughts? thanks and peace

Greetings all, This post is a copy of a recent statement I made last week on another forum, one dedicated to Carlos Castaneda. However, it is thoroughly relevant here as well, as I'm sure many will agree. I offer it for the sake of discussion... My intent here, (as elsewhere) is to outline various benefits of certain principles of truth. Many years of experience demonstrate to the practitioner, revelations of extremely significant value, to say the least. Such knowledge has saved civilizations, even worlds... it is the very root of life and wise living. This knowledge has been called, “the science of sciences” and it is conveyed here so that others may gain such benefits that I and others have received. “Consciousness” is it's name, and its' expansion is fundamental to all true progress. The reason consciousness is fundamental to all true progress is because it is the basis of life, including every human life. In meditation and similar practices where a state of “no-thought” prevails, certain truths about the self may be readily Seen. Those who engage meditation soon realize that we do not, “lose ourselves” when the mind is no longer dominated by strings of words. This is because we are not thought...thoughts are things that we DO not things that we ARE. On the contrary, we consciously regain focus upon the true self which underlies them....consciousness itself. That consciousness has three fundamental components, which are; intent, awareness and energy, and in that order of importance. All three of these components of the true self, (aka “soul”) can be readily verified by any person who earnestly seeks to know themselves. Our energy, or “chi”, (aka “prana”, “ki”, “orgone”, “sub-atomic energy”, etc) is the animating essence for all our actions, just as it is for all living things. This chi is focused in accordance with our awareness. Awareness is like a magnetic field that coordinates iron filings, (chi) into a cohesive pattern. It clarifies and gives order to the fields of chi-energy which surround us. Intent gives awareness its' parameters of focus...it is the manifesting source of all our actions, the very essence of decision-making and change. So in answer to your question about how the self is defined; Intent, awareness and energy are the irreducible essence of the true self, not thought, emotion, memory, culture or any other learned behavior. These three are the essence of the consciousness that we are, and which all other life likewise IS. It is precisely because of this common essence, which we share with each other and all life, that we are capable of knowing other peoples' thoughts, feelings and intentions. This commonality of SOURCE stands behind the truth of the statement “we are all one”. From this truth springs our ability to intimately know nature, natural laws and all living creatures. It is from the consciousness that we are which allows us, “mystical”, gnostic and direct perception into truth, that which is called “God” and the core of the soul/true self. Einsteins' unified field is in fact consciousness. To expand consciousness is to elevate all aspects of the self and society in general. If we have any hope as a species to outlive our own uncontrolled folly, it will not be through political, social or religious measures, it will be through that expansion of the true self. You asked me how I know that, “the purpose of life is the expansion of consciousness”. “All of the above” is the brief answer to that question. In short, this truth can be “cognized”, or “Seen” by anyone who looks deeply into themselves and into the nature of reality. Life is based on consciousness. In fact, life also arises at the behest of consciousness, or in other words, “at the behest of the intent at large”. That which is called “God” is on-going in its' “creation”, and so too are the processes of evolution. As life evolves it's consciousness expands, which is to say, “becomes more sophisticated and capable of higher states and actions”. Likewise, when consciousness expands, it accelerates the further evolution of physical and energetic forms. Contrary to popular opinion, “creation” and “evolution” are therefore complimentary forces. It is interesting to note, however, that the majority of human beings DO NOT See, simply because they don't look. They don't look, because they don't want to know. They don't want to know because of the fear that what will be revealed is contrary to their cherished notions of self and reality. Such notions are usually little more than the product of cultural and historical folly.

Many lives, many worlds, one focus....consciousness and it's expansion. Large scale field coordinator seeks old souls for the purpose of collaboration. Those who walk the Path, reveal yourselves!