BY PEMA CHÖDRÖN| MAY 31, 2017

Reprinted from the article on Lion's Roar with permission requested.

You’re trying to make a point with a coworker or your partner. At one moment her face is open and she’s listening, and at the next, her eyes cloud over or her jaw tenses. What is it that you’re seeing?

Someone criticizes you. They criticize your work or your appearance or your child. At moments like that, what is it you feel? It has a familiar taste in your mouth, it has a familiar smell. Once you begin to notice it, you feel like this experience has been happening forever.

The Tibetan word for this is shenpa. It is usually translated “attachment,” but a more descriptive translation might be “hooked.” When shenpa hooks us, we’re likely to get stuck. We could call shenpa “that sticky feeling.” It’s an everyday experience. Even a spot on your new sweater can take you there. At the subtlest level, we feel a tightening, a tensing, a sense of closing down. Then we feel a sense of withdrawing, not wanting to be where we are. That’s the hooked quality. That tight feeling has the power to hook us into self-denigration, blame, anger, jealousy and other emotions which lead to words and actions that end up poisoning us.

Shenpa is usually involuntary and it gets right to the root of why we suffer.

Remember the fairy tale in which toads hop out of the princess’s mouth whenever she starts to say mean words? That’s how being hooked can feel. Yet we don’t stop—we can’t stop—because we’re in the habit of associating whatever we’re doing with relief from our own discomfort. This is the shenpa syndrome. The word “attachment” doesn’t quite translate what’s happening. It’s a quality of experience that’s not easy to describe but which everyone knows well. Shenpa is usually involuntary and it gets right to the root of why we suffer.

Someone looks at us in a certain way, or we hear a certain song, we smell a certain smell, we walk into a certain room and boom. The feeling has nothing to do with the present, and nevertheless, there it is. When we were practicing recognizing shenpa at Gampo Abbey, we discovered that some of us could feel it even when a particular person simply sat down next to us at the dining table.

Shenpa thrives on the underlying insecurity of living in a world that is always changing. We experience this insecurity as a background of slight unease or restlessness. We all want some kind of relief from that unease, so we turn to what we enjoy—food, alcohol, drugs, sex, work or shopping. In moderation what we enjoy might be very delightful. We can appreciate its taste and its presence in our life. But when we empower it with the idea that it will bring us comfort, that it will remove our unease, we get hooked.

So we could also call shenpa “the urge”—the urge to smoke that cigarette, to overeat, to have another drink, to indulge our addiction whatever it is. Sometimes shenpa is so strong that we’re willing to die getting this short-term symptomatic relief. The momentum behind the urge is so strong that we never pull out of the habitual pattern of turning to poison for comfort. It doesn’t necessarily have to involve a substance; it can be saying mean things, or approaching everything with a critical mind. That’s a major hook. Something triggers an old pattern we’d rather not feel, and we tighten up and hook into criticizing or complaining. It gives us a puffed-up satisfaction and a feeling of control that provides short-term relief from uneasiness.

Those of us with strong addictions know that working with habitual patterns begins with the willingness to fully acknowledge our urge, and then the willingness not to act on it. This business of not acting out is called refraining. Traditionally it’s called renunciation. What we renounce or refrain from isn’t food, sex, work or relationships per se. We renounce and refrain from the shenpa. When we talk about refraining from the shenpa, we’re not talking about trying to cast it out; we’re talking about trying to see the shenpa clearly and experiencing it. If we can see shenpa just as we’re starting to close down, when we feel the tightening, there’s the possibility of catching the urge to do the habitual thing, and not doing it.

Without meditation practice, this is almost impossible to do. Generally speaking, we don’t catch the tightening until we’ve indulged the urge to scratch our itch in some habitual way. And unless we equate refraining with loving-kindness and friendliness towards ourselves, refraining feels like putting on a straitjacket. We struggle against it. The Tibetan word for renunciation is shenlok, which means turning shenpa upside-down, shaking it up. When we feel the tightening, somehow we have to know how to open up the space without getting hooked into our habitual pattern.

If we can see shenpa just as we’re starting to close down, when we feel the tightening, there’s the possibility of catching the urge to do the habitual thing, and not doing it. Without meditation practice, this is almost impossible to do.

In practicing with shenpa, first we try to recognize it. The best place to do this is on the meditation cushion. Sitting practice teaches us how to open and relax to whatever arises, without picking and choosing. It teaches us to experience the uneasiness and the urge fully, and to interrupt the momentum that usually follows. We do this by not following after the thoughts and learning to come back to the present moment. We learn to stay with the uneasiness, the tightening, the itch of shenpa. We train in sitting still with our desire to scratch. This is how we learn to stop the chain reaction of habitual patterns that otherwise will rule our lives. This is how we weaken the patterns that keep us hooked into discomfort that we mistake as comfort. We label the spinoff “thinking” and return to the present moment. Yet even in meditation, we experience shenpa.

Let’s say, for example, that in meditation you felt settled and open. Thoughts came and went, but they didn’t hook you. They were like clouds in the sky that dissolved when you acknowledged them. You were able to return to the moment without a sense of struggle. Afterwards, you’re hooked on that very pleasant experience: “I did it right, I got it right. That’s how it should always be, that’s the model.” Getting caught like that builds arrogance, and conversely it builds poverty, because your next session is nothing like that. In fact, your “bad” session is even worse now because you’re hooked on the “good” one. You sat there and you were discursive: you were obsessing about something at home, at work. You worried and you fretted; you got caught up in fear or anger. At the end of the session, you feel discouraged—it was “bad,” and there’s only you to blame.
 
Is there something inherently wrong or right with either meditation experience? Only the shenpa. The shenpa we feel toward “good” meditation hooks us into how it’s “supposed” to be, and that sets us up for shenpa towards how it’s not “supposed” to be. Yet the meditation is just what it is. We get caught in our idea of it: that’s the shenpa. That stickiness is the root shenpa. We call it ego-clinging or self-absorption. When we’re hooked on the idea of good experience, self-absorption gets stronger; when we’re hooked on the idea of bad experience, self-absorption gets stronger. This is why we, as practitioners, are taught not to judge ourselves, not to get caught in good or bad.

What we really need to do is address things just as they are. Learning to recognize shenpa teaches us the meaning of not being attached to this world. Not being attached has nothing to do with this world. It has to do with shenpa—being hooked by what we associate with comfort. All we’re trying to do is not to feel our uneasiness. But when we do this we never get to the root of practice. The root is experiencing the itch as well as the urge to scratch, and then not acting it out.

If we’re willing to practice this way over time, prajna begins to kick in. Prajna is clear seeing. It’s our innate intelligence, our wisdom. With prajna, we begin to see the whole chain reaction clearly. As we practice, this wisdom becomes a stronger force than shenpa. That in itself has the power to stop the chain reaction.

Prajna isn’t ego-involved. It’s wisdom found in basic goodness, openness, equanimity—which cuts through self-absorption. With prajna we can see what will open up space. Habituation, which is ego-based, is just the opposite—a compulsion to fill up space in our own particular style. Some of us close space by hammering our point through; others do it by trying to smooth the waters.

We’re taught that whatever arises is fresh, the essence of realization. That’s the basic view. But how do we see whatever arises as the essence of realization when the fact of the matter is, we have work to do? The key is to look into shenpa. The work we have to do is about coming to know that we’re tensing or hooked or “all worked up.” That’s the essence of realization. The earlier we catch it, the easier shenpa is to work with, but even catching it when we’re already all worked up is good. Sometimes we have to go through the whole cycle even though we see what we’re doing. The urge is so strong, the hook so sharp, the habitual pattern so sticky, that there are times when we can’t do anything about it.

The work we have to do is about coming to know that we’re tensing or hooked or “all worked up.” That’s the essence of realization.

There is something we can do after the fact, however. We can go sit on the meditation cushion and re-run the story. Maybe we start with remembering the all-worked-up feeling and get in touch with that. We look clearly at the shenpa in retrospect; this is very helpful. It’s also helpful to see shenpa arising in little ways, where the hook is not so sharp.

Buddhists are talking about shenpa when they say, “Don’t get caught in the content: observe the underlying quality—the clinging, the desire, the attachment.” Sitting meditation teaches us how to see that tangent before we go off on it. It basically comes down to the instruction, “label it thinking.” To train in this on the cushion, where it’s relatively easy and pleasant to do, is how we can prepare ourselves to stay when we get all worked up.

Then we can train in seeing shenpa wherever we are. Say something to another person and maybe you’ll feel that tensing. Rather than get caught in a story line about how right you are or how wrong you are, take it as an opportunity to be present with the hooked quality. Use it as an opportunity to stay with the tightness without acting upon it. Let that training be your base.

You can also practice recognizing shenpa out in nature. Practice sitting still and catching the moment when you close down. Or practice in a crowd, watching one person at a time. When you’re silent, what hooks you is mental dialogue. You talk to yourself about badness or goodness: me-bad or they-bad, this-right or that-wrong. Just to see this is a practice. You’ll be intrigued by how you’ll involuntarily shut down and get hooked, one way or another. Just keep labeling those thoughts and come back to the immediacy of the feeling. That’s how not to follow the chain reaction.

Once we’re aware of shenpa, we begin to notice it in other people. We see them shutting down. We see that they’ve been hooked and that nothing is going to get through to them now. At that moment we have prajna. That basic intelligence comes through when we’re not caught up in escaping from our own unease. With prajna we can see what’s happening with others; we can see when they’ve been hooked. Then we can give the situation some space. One way to do that is by opening up the space on the spot, through meditation. Be quiet and place your mind on your breath. Hold your mind in place with great openness and curiosity toward the other person. Asking a question is another way of creating space around that sticky feeling. So is postponing your discussion to another time.

At the abbey, we’re very fortunate that everybody is excited about working with shenpa. So many words I’ve tried using become ammunition that people use against themselves. But we feel some kind of gladness about working with shenpa, perhaps because the word is unfamiliar. We can acknowledge what’s happening with clear seeing, without aiming it at ourselves. Since no one particularly likes to have his shenpa pointed out, people at the Abbey make deals like, “When you see me getting hooked, just pull your earlobe, and if I see you getting hooked, I’ll do the same. Or if you see it in yourself, and I’m not picking up on it, at least give some little sign that maybe this isn’t the time to continue this discussion.” This is how we help each other cultivate prajna, clear seeing.

Once we see how we get hooked and how we get swept along by the momentum, there’s no way to be arrogant. The trick is to keep seeing.

We could think of this whole process in terms of four R’s: recognizing the shenpa, refraining from scratching, relaxing into the underlying urge to scratch and then resolving to continue to interrupt our habitual patterns like this for the rest of our lives. What do you do when you don’t do the habitual thing? You’re left with your urge. That’s how you become more in touch with the craving and the wanting to move away. You learn to relax with it. Then you resolve to keep practicing this way.

Working with shenpa softens us up. Once we see how we get hooked and how we get swept along by the momentum, there’s no way to be arrogant. The trick is to keep seeing. Don’t let the softening and humility turn into self-denigration. That’s just another hook. Because we’ve been strengthening the whole habituated situation for a long, long time, we can’t expect to undo it overnight. It’s not a one-shot deal. It takes loving-kindness to recognize; it takes practice to refrain; it takes willingness to relax; it takes determination to keep training this way. It helps to remember that we may experience two billion kinds of itches and seven quadrillion types of scratching, but there is really only one root shenpa—ego-clinging. We experience it as tightening and self-absorption. It has degrees of intensity. The branch shenpas are all our different styles of scratching that itch.

I recently saw a cartoon of three fish swimming around a hook. One fish is saying to the other, “The secret is non-attachment.” That’s a shenpa cartoon: the secret is—don’t bite that hook. If we can catch ourselves at that place where the urge to bite is strong, we can at least get a bigger perspective on what’s happening. As we practice this way, we gain confidence in our own wisdom. It begins to guide us toward the fundamental aspect of our being—spaciousness, warmth and spontaneity.

Over the past few years, a number of publications have emerged from scientists and researchers all over the world regarding the human magnetic field. Not only have they been studying the human magnetic field, they’ve also been studying the magnetic field of the planet, and how all these fields, including our own, can impact ourselves and the people around us. It’s similar to quantum entanglement, in that both show that everybody and every living thing is “connected” in ways we have yet to fully understand.

Leading the charge are the brilliant scientists over at the HearthMath Institute. An internationally recognized nonprofit research and education organization, it dedicates itself to helping people reduce stress, self-regulate emotions, and build energy and resilience for healthy, happy lives.

A large portion of their research has investigated heart and brain interaction. Researchers have examined how the heart and brain communicate with each other and how that affects our consciousness and the way in which we perceive our world. For example, when a person is feeling really positive emotions like gratitude, love, or appreciation, the heart beats out a certain message. Because the heart beats out the largest electromagnetic field produced in the body, it can yield significant data for researchers. You can read more about that here.

Now, the Institute has published new research which suggests that daily autonomic nervous system activity not only responds to changes in solar and geomagnetic activity, but also synchronizes with the time-varying magnetic fields associated with geomatic field-line resonances and Schumann resonances.

In 1952, German physicist and professor W.O. Schumann of the Technical University of Munich began attempting to answer whether or not the Earth itself has a frequency — a pulse. His assumption about the existence of this frequency came from his understanding that when a sphere exists inside of another sphere, an electrical tension is created. Since the negatively charged Earth exists inside the positively charged ionosphere, there must be tension between the two, giving the Earth a specific frequency. Following his assumptions, through a series of calculations he was able to land upon a frequency he believed was the pulse of the Earth. This frequency was 10hz.

hertzIt wasn’t until 1954 that Schumann teamed up with another scientist, Herbert König, and confirmed that the resonance of the Earth maintained a frequency of 7.83 Hz. This discovery was later tested out by several scientists and confirmed. Since then, the Schumann Resonance has been the accepted term to describe or measure the pulse or heartbeat of the earth.

To follow up and confirm these profound findings, an international study with 104 participants in five countries was conducted. The preliminary findings have confirmed and extended the results of the first study and they indicate humanity’s heart rhythms are synchronized on a global scale. We are synchronized not only with each other, but also with the earth’s energetic systems.

The study was published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, and its results are consistent with other studies showing that changes in solar and geomagnetic activity correlate with changes in the human nervous system activity.

It’s long been known that all biological systems on Earth are exposed to invisible magnetic fields of all kinds, and at all range of frequencies, and that these fields can affect every cell and circuit to a greater or lesser degree. A number of physiological rhythms, as the study points out, have been shown to be synchronized with solar and geomagnetic activity.

As the study points out:

Human regulatory systems are designed to adapt to daily and seasonal climatic and geomagnetic variations; however, sharp changes in solar and geomagnetic activity and geomagnetic storms can stress these regulatory systems, resulting in alterations in melatonin/serotonin balance, blood pressure, immune system, reproductive, cardiac, and neurological processes. Disturbed geomagnetic activity is associated with the intensification of existing diseases, significant increases in myocardial infarction incidence and death, changes in blood flow, aggregation, and coagulation, increased blood pressure, cardiac arrhythmias, and seizures in epileptics.

Fascinating, isn’t it? it makes one wonder just how much we know about our health and what influences it.

The study outlines how, during periods of increased solar activity, which peaks every 10.5 to 11 years, “the sun emits increased ultraviolet (UV) energy and solar radio flub, which is measured by the 2.8 GHz signal” and “although the details of the physiological mechanisms in humans and animals are not yet fully understood, it is apparent that solar and magnetic influences affect a wide range of human health and behavioral processes, with the cardiovascular and nervous systems being the most clearly affected.”

The study goes on to outline several examples where the human autonomic nervous system seems to be responding to this type of activity.

For this specific study, ten healthy individuals from the ages of 34 to 65 years old participated, with an average age of 53. Their Heart Rate Variability (HRV) was recorded for 31 consecutive days. To see the methods and results, as well as the statistical analysis, limitations, and more, please refer to the actual study.

Based on their results, the authors concluded:

Overall, the study suggests that daily autonomic nervous system activity not only responds to changes in solar and geomagnetic activity, but is synchronized with the time-varying magnetic fields associated with geomagnetic field-line resonances and Schumann resonances. A likely explanation for how solar and geomagnetic fields can influence human nervous system activity is through a resonant coupling between our nervous systems and geomagnetic frequencies (Alfvén waves), or ultra low frequency standing waves in the earth-ionosphere resonant cavity (Schumann resonances) that overlap with physiological rhythms.

Findings like these, and many more, are exactly why the HeartMath institute began what’s known as the Global Coherence Initiative (GCI).

Others are working on identifying how these fields can be sensed.

A recent study published by Kirschvink in the journal Nature Communications suggests that a protein in the human retina, when placed into fruit flies, has the ability to detect magnetic fields. The research claims that it can serve as a magneto sensor, but it’s unknown whether or not humans use it in this way as well.

The Global Coherence Initiative

The GCI in an international cooperative effort to help activate the heart of humanity and facilitate a shift in global consciousness. Its primary focus is to invite people to participate by actively adding more heart-coherent love, care, and compassion into the planetary field. It also aims to scientifically research how we are all energetically connected with each other and the planet, and how we can utilize this interconnectivity to raise our personal vibration to assist in creating a better world.

The hypotheses of the researchers and scientists behind this process are as follows:

The Earth’s magnetic fields are a carrier of biologically relevant information that connects all living systems. Every person affects this global information field. Large numbers of people creating heart-coherent states of love, appreciation, care, and compassion can generate a more coherent field environment that benefits others and helps off-set the current planetary discord and incoherence.

There is a feedback loop between human beings and Earth’s energetic/magnetic systems. Earth has several sources of magnetic fields that affect us all. Two of them are the geomagnetic field that emanates from the core of the Earth, and the fields that exist between Earth and the ionosphere. These fields surround the entire planet and act as protective shields blocking out the harmful effects of solar radiation, cosmic rays, sand, and other forms of space weather. Without these fields, ice as we know it could not exist on Earth. They are part of the dynamic ecosystem of our planet.

The Earth and ionosphere generate frequencies that range from 0.01 hertz to 300 hertz, some of which are in the exact same frequency range as the one happening in our brain, cardiovascular system, and autonomic nervous system. This fact is one way to explain how fluctuations in the Earth’s and Sun’s magnetic fields can influence us. Changes in these fields have also been shown to affect our brain waves, heart rhythms, memory, athletics performance, and overall health.

Changes in the Earth’s fields from extreme solar activity have been linked to some of humanity’s greatest creations of art, as well as some of its most tragic events. (source)We know how these fields affect us, but what about how we affect these fields? That’s the real question here. GCI scientists believe that because brainwave and heart rhythm frequencies overlap the Earth’s field resonance, we are not just receivers of biologically relevant information, but also feed information into the global field, thus creating a feedback loop with the Earth’s magnetic fields:

Research is indicating that human emotions and consciousness encode information into the geomagnetic field and this encoded information is distributed globally. The Earth’s magnetic fields act as carrier waves for this information which influences all living systems and the collective consciousness.

This research, which is still in its infancy, has great ramifications. It will further push along the fact that our attitudes, emotions, and intentions actually matter, a lot, and that these factors within the realm of non-material science can affect all life on Earth. Coherent, cooperative intention could impact global events and improve the quality of life on Earth. Practicing love, gratitude, and appreciation, and bettering ourselves as individuals, are just a few of many action steps we can take toward changing our planet for the better.

So What?

This research further reinforces the fact that we have a special kind of relationship with every living system around us, an energetic relationship where processes as described above affect our nervous system, health, emotions, and mood.  Previous research on this topic shows just how important our emotions could be with regards to coding information into this field. Positive emotions can uplift our nervous system, while negative emotions can dampen it.

The best way, for now, to work with this information and incorporate it into our daily lives is through self observation.

So, the next time you feel upset, angry, or frustrated, try observing yourself and how you react. It’s great practice to identify and neutralize your buttons so they cannot be pushed, and work on your personal development. You have to do whatever you can to feel good, which could include exercise, eating healthy, minimizing electronics usage, spending time with friends and animals, and more. You could practice being less judgmental, and work on your intentions by figuring out if they are coming from a  ‘good’ place. You could be more grateful, you could help others, and you could treat others how they want to be treated.

There are a number of tools you could use, like meditation, for example, to assist you with these action steps. The bottom line is, if you are at peace with yourself, and have control over your emotions, you are helping the planet and others around you. If you are constantly angry, harming others, or have negative intentions, you could be doing the exact opposite.

Collective Evolution III, The Shift

Some of what is discussed above is also covered in our third documentary that was released three years ago. The Collective Evolution III is a powerful documentary that explores a revolutionary shift affecting every aspect of our planet. As the shift hits the fan, people are becoming more aware of the control structures that prevent us from experiencing our full potential. CE3 uses a different level of consciousness and scientific facts to bring clarity about the shift while dispelling myths about our true nature. It offers practical steps that we can implement right now to transition out of survival mode and into our more natural state of peace and co-operation . CE3 includes fascinating interviews with revolutionary speakers and people who are already opting out of the current socioeconomic system. The film examines hidden technologies and exciting alternatives for a bright limitless future. This is the most exciting time in the history of our world.

So if you’re interested, you can watch it below.

Synopsis:
The Collective Evolution III is a powerful documentary that explores a revolutionary shift affecting every aspect of our planet. As the shift hits the fan, people are becoming more aware of the control structures that prevent us from experiencing our full potential. CE3 uses a different level of consciousness and scientific facts to bring clarity about the shift while dispelling myths about our true nature. It offers practical steps that we can implement right now to transition out of survival mode and into our more natural state of peace and co-operation . CE3 includes fascinating interviews with revolutionary speakers and people who are already opting out of the current socioeconomic system. The film examines hidden technologies and exciting alternatives for a bright limitless future. This is the most exciting time in the history of our world.

Related CE Articles:

What Science Is Telling Us About The Heart’s Intuitive Intelligence

What Science Is Telling Us About Earth’s Magnetic Fields & How They Connect To Our Own

G. - As my first foray into the Physics Forums was coming to an end, I muttered aloud to Heartstone, 'If you want me to continue this experiment of communicating with you, send a person who has interest and background, and is willing to converse.'

I submitted my last comments to the PF, and was about to exit when this private message appeared:

QI (Russell)
I find your premise fascinating and would love to participate in your journey.

My first post in 2004 proposed that F=MA was fundamentally wrong. I had spent several years trying to explain why it was wrong at that point. The only reference they had to understand my position was mathematical because that is all they were taught. 

The answer was simple that it wasn't Mass that was responsible but gravity, the maths worked out because gravity is proportional to mass (well in a basic form anyway). 

Then they got it ... couldn't do anything with it, because it meant nothing in math .. no one had created a way of understanding it in a mathematical manner. 

I didn't tell them I was 13 yrs old when I worked on 'F=MA' was wrong. The more fascinating was understanding infinity at 15 yrs with rather unexpected results.

I think it was Bertrand Russell who said 'we must constrain and torture nature's secrets from her' or along those lines. 

Anyway I hope I have something to offer you if only a sounding wall.

Gary
QI, 

On the PF threads, I focused too much on trying to understand how matter can be conscious. 

It also does not work to compare the consciousness of matter to biologically-developed human consciousness. Instead, I can be looking for another type of consciousness.

This came to mind when a PF physicist told me how in a human, consciousness is indicated by measuring changes which correspond to its fluctuations. I probably am not communicating this well, it is from memory.

It came to me that if there is some type of consciousness going on in a stone, for example, it will not have fluctuations such as between unconscious and conscious. It's consciousness will be a constant.

And whereas human consciousness is generated in the brain, the consciousness of a stone must be within its atomic structure or somewhere else. My conversations with Heartstone have purported to be with cooperative networks of conscious particles through the focal point of a stone — not necessarily limited to the stone itself.

Perhaps it is not matter that is conscious but another medium which appears in what we call matter.

Can you conceive that some type of consciousness could be generated by the interactions of frequencies within particles? By super-strings?

And then, to go beyond trying to imagine how it could be possible, how could my conversations with a stone be objectified?

It has been suggested to me that there is no evidence of the consciousness of matter. That seems to me a problem of the perspective of what conscious matter should look like. Also, Heartstone 'said' that not all particles are conscious, such as plastic, whose atomic structure has been manipulated too far from it natural origins.

Well, this is all still very interesting to me. I would like to go further with it, with the help of your sounding board. But as Heartstone repeatedly told me, 'No expectations, no contracting emotions. We (the particle network) can only work with an open state (of humans.)

If you and I have an on-going conversation, may I include your comments in Whole Human blog posts?

Until the next now,

Gary

Russell (QI)
Selected excerpts from Russell's comments.

R. - Heart stone talks sense.

G. - Thank you for this. Heart stone does talk sense, it is just when my mental thoughts get mixed in that it becomes muddled.
 
R. -Time, "A Passing of Time". This is our experience of Time (more on this in a  bit)
 
R. -This is life of sorts but like everything else thought of by humans they compare it to themselves.

You can see this exact interplay at work in schools all over the world where a quiet child somewhat nervous sits by themselves not wanting to interact with others. Then a group forms and starts treating this person like the stone. Because in there limited reference the stone like child looks nothing like any member of there group.

Atoms.... Are not understood and never will be for one simple reason, there is always another experiment to be done that tells them more than they new before. It used to be called matter then we had the periodic table which gave us lots of different types of matter. Then in the words of Bertrand,  "tortured natures secrets from her" by splitting the atom which gave an array of strange result that were called sub atomic particles which lead on to quarks etc etc.
 
Gary as you know Philosophers for the last 10000 years or more would say
"Until they become the stone they will never see the stone",
"If they cannot see the stone they can never truly understand the stone".
 
It's widely accepted in science that all natural forms of life have a natural frequency they resonate to. This was defined by Tesla. For some reason science doesn't include rocks in that. I personally would include rocks in the definition of natural things, just because we cannot 'hear' the rock doesn't mean its not trying to communicate with us.

Exactly. We will not have a chance to know a rock as a focal point of non-local consciousness until we can go beyond comparing it to ourselves or to anything we are familiar (and comfortable) with. In this endeavor, I think, there are no useful frames of reference. It becomes too conceptual, and in the head only, at which point I have to let go and bring myself back to life here and now, in this body, in the present moment.

G. - About all natural forms of life having a natural frequency — I asked perhaps naive questions of a scientist, and he responded so:

   P.D. - You could, for example, find some way of objectively measuring the "internal state" of a stone (something analogous to an EEG or an fMRI scan for a human brain), and objectively demonstrate changes in that state that correlate closely with the "conversation" you are having with the stone.

   G. - This seems to attempt to humanize universal or particle consciousness

   P.D. - No, it's just giving 'consciousness' some kind of meaning other than just 'whatever Gary Smith wants it to be'. Basically, you appear to be using a definition of 'consciousness' which can apply to anything. That means the definition is useless; we already have a word that can apply to anything, namely 'anything'. 

   G. - Can science measure the overall frequency of a human body?

   P.D. - I have no idea what this means, so I can't say. The human body is not a harmonic oscillator.

   G. - Is information exchanged between particles?

   P.D. - I have no idea what this means either.

(Back to Russell)

R. - For clarity I'm not including meditation in that description purely from my own experience that I initiate the conversation with the universe and then universe responds back, rather than the universe starting the conversation and me responding whilst I'm in a meditated state.

G. - Over the years, the universe (using the term broadly as non-local consciousness) has 'spoken' to me in many different ways — dreams, experiences of the present moment, animal symbolism, expanded consciousness, some become hard to put into words.

R. - I was 15 old and after the success 2 years earlier F=MA - its not mass its gravity, Mass is not a force gravity is, the maths still works because Mass and Gravity proportional to each other etc etc. I decide to look at time. 
 
As I said earlier Time is a 'A Passing of time.' To be aware of Time you need to have a memory of the past to compare to the current moment of time your experiencing.
 
And that is where I got stuck. I figured I needed to hone my reasoning skills so I took another subject matter that every person in the world has a categorical understanding of  — "EveryThing", should be simple enough so I started in the normal way. 
 
What is every thing > well its everything ---- ooops! I thought this might not be so easy. I reasoned that If we ask simple questions we will get clear and direct answers, If I make the question overly complex there would be a mired of possible and plausible answers and I like simple. 
 
So I took very basic tools and used them 
 
What is everything, well its very large the largest thing you can possibly imagine. Is there a way to describe this in math, it had to be the largest number which gave me infinity. Which still didn't help.

Then I realized that if I define the exact opposite of infinity we could use that to define what infinity (Everything) is.

So I wondered what the smallest number would be and obviously wrote down Zero. But I quickly released that zero wasn't the smallest number it was an absence of a number, the turning point of positive numbers and negative numbers,  Zero was only there to make math work!!
 
So I did it again and asked myself what the smallest number possible was and I got 1/infinity as the result ... Now nothing actually had a value :)  and I wasn't expecting that.
 
Taking this back to Time, I looked back at my question of time, I added  the effect of gravity (now that I could happily ignore zero) and wrote 
 
'Time is a variable defined by the interaction of moving gravitational fields.'

G. - Looks like we have some interesting conversations ahead, so long as we are living with a sense of time!

Gary R Smith
Heartstone, what can you tell me about the Workaway hostess I contacted? Will she respond?

Heartstone
We can tell you nothing about individual humans, or anything else, without a prior agreement — which is a frequency alignment.

Neither do we generally respond to predictive question due not to a binding agreement but an understanding among the nets which interact directly with humans and earth-related issues. We agree amongst ourselves that there is wisdom in not giving humans too much information.

However, we will answer your second question off the record, though we cannot guarantee its accuracy due to human free will.

G. - Can you tell me anything about the' Rough Road Ahead,' which is the message I got from the road sign bearing the same words?

H. - There is already much common understanding amongst humans about the rough road ahead for the earth and her inhabitants. Cosmic events and human actions lead to coming great upheavals through a period of transformation.

The earth has experienced catastrophic events before, but none like the one which lies ahead. Such communication as this requires us to speak from the past and future, when there is in actuality only the present moment. We are aware of the human emotional restlessness to know what will happen ahead, in order to exert some seeming control over its impact. The road sign says it well. It will be a rough road ahead for many.

G. - What is the most effective way for humans to make the 'road of change' smoother?

H. - It is as you guessed, to align with the pillars of Heart Breathing:

Merge with the present moment.
Feel the heart space.
Act from loving kindness.
Trust the grand design, and the grad designer, which is what you are within.

In addition, it is to practice Heart Breathing which includes toning and communication with the nets using a natural object with presence as a focal point. 'With presence' in this case means that it speaks to the person's inner sense, as we did to yours. Presence is a concentration of consciousness.

G. - Heartstone, when I picked you up for this conversation, you were hot from the sun. How do you experience heat and cold?

H. - Heat excites our atoms and speeds our motion frequencies. Cold slows the same. We are aware of something else with sunlight which we can best describe as an often bold and intensive presence. Moonlight has generally a soft and gentle presence which can be equally penetrating, and influential on our intact frequencies. We speak in these descriptive terms of the qualities of the frequencies and not of an emotional response to sensory stimulation as a human might experience.

We are also aware of subtle movements, alignments and re-organizations within the particle nets. It is useful for your experiential wholeness and well-being that you inquire about our state, which is to you an inner state.

Humans have an undeveloped in-born capacity which we call frequency awareness. You would do well to cultivate it, especially for your road ahead.

Anticipating your next question, since we are getting to know each other, the most effective way to grow into frequency awareness falls again under the heading of Heart Breathing.

G. - Marcel B. wrote, 'Humans are a cooperative network of fractals which go back to one soul with Gaia.'

I have difficulty understanding how humans are fractals, which are defined as 'a curve or geometric figure, each part of which has the same statistical character as the whole.'

The same definition says, 'Fractals are useful in modeling structures (such as eroded coastlines or snowflakes) in which similar patterns recur at progressively smaller scales, and in describing partly random or chaotic phenomena such as crystal growth, fluid turbulence, and galaxy formation.'

H. - Regarding the nesting aspect of fractals, within the organism of the human body there are organs.

Within organs there are cells. Within cells there are molecules. Within molecules there are atoms. Within atoms there are particles. Within particles there are frequencies. Within frequencies, as their source, there is consciousness, the unmoved mover.

​Similar patterns recurring from this nesting characteristic can be seen in DNA molecules, genes and stem cells, for example, which serve in simple terms as blueprints for the organism.

Humans may be chaotic, but their appearance on earth is not random. And universal consciousness does trickle somewhat into human brain-generated consciousness. Most of us in the nets do not experience ourselves as fractals, but as frequencies.

Marcel B
Gary consider a fractal as a pattern that occurs progressively and becomes smaller and smaller through a specific energy until it loops back and becomes its source once again. So the human is a fractal from the soul. The soul is one on Earth. It includes Gaia and all its inhabitants. So humans are essentially all each other like one gigantic family who is one energy, yet each fractal contains a signature, we call it DNA which expresses itself as field and it is unique to all of us. ;)

Gary R Smith
Marcel,

Some programmers write in machine code, some in html or a programming language, and some gravitate toward object oriented design with a user-friendly interface. The end result can be the same, with different paths to get there. 

Some resonate with 'the human is a fractal from the soul.' I feel neutral towards it and gravitate towards frequencies and particles. To me, the 'whole net' of cooperative conscious particles is the greater self of all, and the consciousness which generates the frequencies which produce the particles is the source.

In another discussion, a participant expressed his idea that the multi-dimensional universe is like a multiplex cinema, with an infinite number of movies (all possibilities) playing at the same time. Yeah, I get that. In your movie, 'the human is a fractal from the soul.' In mine, at least at this writing, life unfolds from the present moment and stones and I are both networks of particles, albeit distinct in our design, yet with the same greater self. I am still open to 'The soul is one on Earth. It includes Gaia and all its inhabitants' and will see how that settles in me. I appreciate you, your fractal signature, and the way it meets the world.

M. - For sure Gary, that's the beauty of seeing multiple perspectives. All are correct. I align with everything being frequencies and particles as well. 

We may share different visuals and interpretations, but they all merge into one in the end. I always say to people it doesn't really matter to me what you believe, just show me your version of light or darkness and we'll find all the commonalities of love in between.

G. - Since your earlier comments, I have had brief moments of 'getting it' that humans are fractals. Thinking about it just confuses. It is for me a feeling.

Wow, have my versions of light and darkness changed over the years. Also how I view humans can change from moment to moment! From aversion to compassion, from rejection to acceptance.

​The bottom line of any of this is its practical application. My practical application of particles, frequencies and consciousness is that I have a choice to align with the primal frequency and directly experience its source, the unmoved mover. If it is real, the evidence is seen in the quality of my daily actions. Thank for you this inter-action, Marcel B.

I asked Heartstone about Marcel B.'s comments (Killing by Agreement?), and then about his statement indicating it is impossible to kill anything without there already being an underlying agreement -- below the awareness of the killer.

It was the end of the day, I was exhausted, the transmissions came faster than I could write, and pieces were soon forgotten. At first my questions to Heartstone were not well-formed, and all of this contributed to a more piecemeal response.

In general, the Heartstone transmissions are a mixture with my pre-existing feelings. I can often discern when the words coming are formed from beyond my psyche. The best way I can currently describe it is a subtle shift in frequency. Heartstone told me earlier that they use my 'brain database' to compose their message.

There is repetition in the following words. I am posting it pretty much as it came to me. Everything has to be filtered through the reader's own discernment. 

Communicating with the cooperative networks of conscious particles, using a stone or other natural object as a focal point, is an in-born human capacity. In other words, I believe anyone can do this with the same heart intent.

This is what 'Heartstone said':

The past is a memory.
The future is a projection.
Both are movements along a timeline.

The present moment is stillness.

Stillness = timelessness
Motion = time and space

Any wave is a disturbance in a medium (not to be confused with a disturbance having an emotional charge.) Motion is a disturbance in the medium of stillness.

The disturbance called motion creates waves.
The waves are electro-magnetic frequencies.
The waves create time and space.

Dynamic stillness is the unmoved mover.
Living in the present moment is merging with the dynamic stillness, with the unmoved mover.

The high frequency oscillation between stillness and motion creates time and space.

Time and space, a disturbance in the present moment, is upheld by its own frequencies generated by the unmoved mover.

Time and space, the waves created by the disturbance in stillness, creates particles which act like waves.

The high frequency waves emitted by the movement of stillness, creates particles and sets in motion all that is perceived by humans.

The particle universe, motion imbued with stillness, has evolved forces and laws which humans call natural.

Humans are an outgrowth of particle evolution, biological organisms with the unique potential of merging consciously with stillness-consciousness.

Humans have evolved from particles a quality which is called 'free will.' It is this quality which enables humans to separate from consciousness. The same quality gives humans a choice to return to stillness.

Humans are a rebellion against their creator.

Nothing can in actuality be outside or apart from stillness, the creator, as it is the medium in which everything exists. Humans are a dissonance in the motion waves generated by the unmoved mover.

In the natural laws of the particle nets, the whole net, every action is by an agreement which occurs over frequency alignments.

From the perspective of stillness-consciousness and the whole net of cooperative conscious particles, earth and its inhabitants are a rebellious alternate reality, yet connected and part of the whole.

It is a rebellion occurring in the medium of stillness. The rebellion, from particle consciousness to human awareness, is at a frequency which is dissonant with the whole net.

The human brain attempts to replicate and replace the consciousness of it origin.

Under the self-made laws of the rebellion, unconscious humans kill without regard for the natural laws of the whole net, including agreement. In the case of earth, underlying agreement does not occur automatically.

Unconscious humans kill without regard for the universal laws and are deeply a dissonance within the frequency fabric of stillness-consciousness.

Conscious humans may kill with an actual telepathic agreement with whatever they kill (or manipulate.) In that case, it is not that humans cannot (or that it is impossible to) kill without the agreement of the to-be-killed, but that they have a free will choice to kill only if they have the actual, conscious (telepathic) agreement of their intended target.

The humans of the rebellion have a free will choice to return to the original stillness-motion which creates them and to the particle networks of time and space which serve the creator.

Stillness is motionless. Without motion, time and space would cease to exist. Stillness is the medium through which motion moves. Without stillness, time and space would have no foundation.

The high frequency oscillation between stillness and motion creates all that is.

Is it impossible for a human to kill anything without there first being an underlying agreement? The human rebellion has generated a substrate, an alternate reality in which such actual agreement is not binding. In this alternate reality, killings can and often do occur without the agreements which govern the harmonious universe.

The healing of this rift will begin when humans use their power of free will to act only in alignment with the dynamic stillness of the present moment, and with conscious agreements (telepathic or expressed) in all their inter-actions.

Gary R Smith
Alex Stanley, 

In response to your comment, 'beyond consciousness, there is a "contract" we all agree to before or during our stay here.' --

Yes, and in earlier conversations Heartstone mentioned that what we call natural laws are agreements within the 'nets.' Elements behave as they do because they have agreed to those behaviors. As to humans, well, one of the contracts may be an agreement to free will. It is almost as though we live in an amusement park which operates by standards (human society and the conditioned mind) other than the region which surrounds it (the natural universe).

I feel my life has been pre-dispositioned by what attracts and repels me and by events of destiny. The meeting with my life partner feels destined, and we both feel it was contracted before we incarnated. I can see that in general, our pre-incarnated core essence  or soul made contracts before appearing in human bodies -- and maybe most of us did not know fully what we were getting into!

It could even be that in some cases a soul contracted to be killed. My questioning of Marcel B.'s premise is around its global perspective -- that all killing involves a pre-arranged agreement.

My younger brother Mark was killed by a drunk driver. A few weeks before, he wrote a song which certainly could be interpreted as his knowing at a deeper level that the time of a pre-arranged contract was upon him. But, not all killings involve an automatic agreement. That is my take on it. Mark's song follows.

In a recorded cassette letter, my younger brother Mark told of sitting on a high ridge in the Rockies at sunset, writing songs and playing guitar.
 
A few weeks later, Mark was hit by a drunk driver and died at age seventeen.
 
The words of the song were found in his room. He called it 'Stargazing Wanderer':

​Marcel B
The Universe operates only though systems of agreement, not opposition. All electromagnetic energy aligns with this truth.

Gary R. Smith
The Universe... whatever that means.... the underlying cooperative networks of conscious particles.... operate through systems of agreement. The human world... that is something else. We are biologically a part of the natural universe, but in our conditioned minds and social systems are apart from it. Human actions are mostly not aligned with natural systems.

M. - Perhaps Gary that is one perception but human actions are completely aligned with natural systems of consciousness within our planet and Universe. If they were not then they would not exist. We can only align with the consciouness reflected back to us based on what we emit. Our biology and DNA field is a direct consequence of these systems which we create. Nobody creates them for us. The wars, violence, poverty, corruption, greed, etc are created as much by you as they are by the collective. It is a collective energy and it does not happen without energy (even if unconscious) being driven towards a system which we all agree to. That is human societies in general. When we say the Universe it means all that is, source energy, God.

G - That is a tricky one. Certainly it is not something I would accept as a general statement of truth. It doesn't even make sense, on the surface. How many 'things' are killed without agreeing to be killed? Most, I would say. It also seems a dangerous idea for someone who is borderline, who would take it as freedom to kill because 'whatever' they kill must already have agreed to be killed. No, I am not in alignment with this. But... I am open to reading other perspectives.

M. - Gary so awesome to see you in this group. I've missed our discussions.

Agreements can occur at several levels of awareness but I will explain it as I did another another comment......The 3D perspective is one that struggles to see beyond the physical self. One that is so immersed in the separation of duality that it cannot obtain a higher perspective to see the horizon in all its majesty.

On a conscious level one who perceives themselves only as a victim would not be ok with it because they cannot relate to the grand system in which they play. So they can't see beyond what they are in their current physical body or relate to what they were before it. There is a disconnection between themselves and the person they perceive is a perpetrator. They don't see the perpetrator as themselves, but rather as something separate from what they are.

For example, there is constant battle within the body between good bacteria and bad bacteria, both of which are needed to keep the human body alive. Neither are good or bad but we label them as such because of their function. Yet they maintain a perfect homeostatic balance according to their agreed programming. The balance between the victim and the perpetrator is a necessary one at all times.

Hitler killed millions yet it was a necessary measure that generated compassion throughout the world changing the paradigm of human cleansing and dictatorships as we know it. Chaos operating at lower levels of consciousness create harmony at higher levels. But all are agreements. In the quantum reality that is our existence, there can be absolutely no disagreement between a victim and their perpetrator and the experience they share or it would never happen at all.

What a human being perceives from the egoic self is a totally different story since interpretations of our reality beyond the physical body deal with the egoic mind, not the true nature of what we are.

G - {The 3D perspective is one that struggles to see beyond the physical self. One that is so immersed in the separation of duality that it cannot obtain a higher perspective to see the horizon in all its majesty.}

True. I get what you are saying.

{On a conscious level one who perceives themselves only as a victim would not be ok with it because they cannot relate to the grand system in which they play. So they can't see beyond what they are in their current physical body or relate to what they were before it. There is a disconnection between themselves and the person they perceive is a perpetrator. They don't see the perpetrator as themselves, but rather as something separate from what they are.}

A few years ago on the Canary Islands my briefcase with laptop, passport and wallet was stolen. It stranded my wife and I in Spain with little cash. Yet I valued the learning experience because I came to realize I had helped to create it with my attitudes. Killing, that is different. Even if all you are saying about the higher perspective is exactly so, the idea that nothing can be killed without already having agreed to be killed is dangerous in human society and does not lead to conscious evolution.

{For example, there is constant battle within the body between good bacteria and bad bacteria, both of which are needed to keep the human body alive. Neither are good or bad but we label them as such because of their function. Yet they maintain a perfect homeostatic balance according to their agreed programming. The balance between the victim and the perpetrator is a necessary one at all times. Hitler killed millions yet it was a necessary measure that generated compassion throughout the world changing the paradigm of human cleansing and dictatorships as we know it.}

Is this the only way compassion can be generated? By extremes?

{Chaos operating at lower levels of consciousness create harmony at higher levels. But all are agreements. In the quantum reality that is our existence, there can be absolutely no disagreement between a victim and their perpetrator and the experience they share or it would never happen at all.}

Again, I understand what you are saying. But it does not square with my feeling that in this world, much of what happens is out of alignment with the quantum reality which underlies it. My dad enjoyed flying planes partly because it removed him from the chaos of the world. Distancing ourselves from the chaos may be soothing, it may feel good, but it does not change the disturbance on the planet. Yes, perhaps from a quantum reality which is so far removed from our daily experience that it is for most nothing more than an abstract concept, all is in perfect harmony. But that is not where most of us live, and we are just buying into another illusion if we use it as an excuse to change nothing.

M. - GS: Even if all you are saying about the higher perspective is exactly so, the idea that nothing can be killed without already having agreed to be killed is dangerous in human society and does not lead to conscious evolution.

MB: If we must label the concept as dangerous, it simply shows another angle we are coming from in the right/wrong paradigm of belief. If we can't allow a consciousness to express itself because we perceive it as dangerous, then first we're not embracing that we are the creator of our own reality and second that divinity plots its course according the perfect synchronicity in our very lives. Might as well pack it up and live under a rock because you're not in control. ??

GS: Is this the only way compassion can be generated? By extremes?

MB: Often yes, it is indeed one of the best ways. Check out what happened on 9/11 with Princeton’s Global Consciousness Project
http://noosphere.princeton.edu/papers/jseNelson.pdf.

GS: Again, I understand what you are saying. But it does not square with my feeling that in this world, much of what happens is out of alignment with the quantum reality which underlies it. My dad enjoyed flying planes partly because it removed him from the chaos of the world. Distancing ourselves from the chaos may be soothing, it may feel good, but it does not change the disturbance on the planet. Yes, perhaps from a quantum reality which is so far removed from our daily experience that it is for most nothing more than an abstract concept, all is in perfect harmony. But that is not where most of us live, and we are just buying into another illusion if we use it as an excuse to change nothing.

MB: I understand Gary. The quantum reality is the same one in which we live. It is completely aligned with our daily experience and it is where we all experience our lives. Perhaps the biggest misconception is that we don't live there. You are a multi-dimensional quantum being that creates every femtosecond of your reality. If you perceive it as an another illusion then in this interpretation you will define your world. Transcending the right/wrong paradigm is not a far out belief, nirvana or something unattainable. It's what allows the human to accept that all perspectives are truths. It's what allows the human to see that good/bad are one in the same energy expressing itself in the poles of duality. It's what we have designed for ourselves to recognize. Gary there comes a time when the exploration of new paths involves immersing ourselves in the scenarios which make them a possibility where we can pull them into our reality. If you always consider topics of this nature philosophy and not practical metaphysics then that is where it will remain...something we only talk about instead of walking through.

G. - {.... human actions are completely aligned with natural systems of consciousness within our planet and Universe. If they were not then they would not exist.}

Okay. 

{We can only align with the consciousness reflected back to us based on what we emit. Our biology and DNA field is a direct consequence of these systems which we create. Nobody creates them for us. }

Tell me again, who are 'we'? Heartstone, a stone I have been talking with, refers to themselves in the plural as a cooperative network of conscious particles. Is that something like what you mean as 'we'?

{The wars, violence, poverty, corruption, greed, etc are created as much by you as they are by the collective.}

I guess you mean 'created by me' on a level of which the occurrence of me typing this response is not aware.

{It is a collective energy and it does not happen without energy (even if unconscious) being driven towards a system which we all agree to. That is human societies in general. When we say the Universe it means all that is, source energy, God.}

Yes, that is often how I've used the word Universe, rather than as the material universe seen through a telescope. Actually, Heartstone said something similar as in these Search results on the Whole Human blog:

Heartstone 003
a feeling. With thought, there is contraction, with feeling there can be expansion. Agreement and cooperation between the nets may be difficult for humans to understand. The conscious, cooperative particle networks serve the Whole Net. The nets co-exist on

Heartstone 012
will not bend to your will, though your scientists may manipulate individual particles. Our cooperation with you will be one of equality, respect, mutual agreement and cooperation which serves the whole. We only work with humans who are in an open state. To the fifth, there have ...

Heartstone 011
The observer can only merge from a state of mind that is humble, transparent, free of expectation, vulnerable and trusting. Merging happens by agreement and cooperation over the frequency bandwidth of intuitive feeling.

--

I enjoyed the robust and insightful discussions with you and Rod on CE also. I've been more engaged in writing for Whole Human and practicing in daily life what I write. Good to see you here, Marcel.

M. - See Gary this is why I miss are convos. Excellent. <3

GS: Tell me again, who are 'we'? Heartstone, a stone I have been talking with, refers to themselves in the plural as a cooperative network of conscious particles. Is that something like what you mean as 'we'?

MB: Yes. Humans are a cooperative network of fractals which go back to one soul with Gaia.

GS: I guess you mean 'created by me' on a level of which the occurrence of me typing this response is not aware.

MB: Yes, it resides within your consciousness and is an intimate part of what you are without realizing it. So consciously while a person may never consent to creating a physical war, at other levels, subconscious and beyond they may process duality in a way that separates right and wrong into two categories where they cannot make them one. This is part of the egoic self which finds safety in separation and an alliance with a segregated consciousness. It is more willing to create conflict outside itself because it doesn't see outside itself as it-self. And from there a contribution is made which the collective pulls from to generate fear. We all have this to an extent...some much more than others.

GS: ...We only work with humans who are in an open state.

MB: Hmmm...I would love to learn more about how they define this open state.

GS: ...Merging happens by agreement and cooperation over the frequency bandwidth of intuitive feeling.

MB: Absolutely. Agreement is a fundamental concept in the nature of the Universe. All electromagnetic energy reflects this. All bonds are made in agreement, not opposition. And we cannot bond with any person or experience, whether we perceive them as good or bad, without having a a very special portion of our own unique emitting frequency somewhere within that experience.

G. - MB: Hmmm...I would love to learn more about how they define this open state.

Marcel,

Here is one of the conversations with Heartstone in which they talk about the open state (linked below to reduce redundancy.)

6/15/2017
Heartstone 003

This call for stories comes from the Facebook page of Practical Metaphysics.

Threads of metaphysics have been woven into my life for sixty years and this story touches on the highlights.

Dad was a man of science, trained in observation and measurement. He had a pragmatic view of life. I, on the other hand, was drawn to mysticism and metaphysics from early childhood — long before I knew the words.

One of many 'metaphysical' memories from before five is my digging a tunnel into  a snowball larger than myself with freezing hands and being drawn into the soft glow of sunlight in its center. I could not express the feeling, but felt it deeply.

My teens in the sixties were a time of rebellion. My older brother died when the car he drove went off a mountain road. The mystical aspects of the Catholic Mass no longer held my attention. I was attracted by the mysticism of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism and the metaphysical books by T. Lobsang Rampa.

In 8th grade I wrote 'Man' to express my anger towards Man's treatment of animals as objects and possessions and towards his fellow man and gave it to my Earth Science teacher, who passed it on to the school counselor. My parents were brought in to a conference and I was sent to a psychologist. The outcome was that at fifteen I lived a summer with my dog in the remote wilderness of Idaho where Dad had done Bighorn Sheep studies. Over that summer, I encountered eight rattlesnakes, which ties to the end of this story.

In those river canyons, a clan called at that time 'Idaho's Shadowy People' (because little was known about them) had lived for thousands of years. Walking along the river trails, I occasionally found their arrowheads and visited their cave paintings.

Then, life moved on and in 1974 my beloved younger brother died when his car was hit by a drunk driver. The pain in my heart was accompanied by a leaden weight which lingered the rest of my life until now. Trying to escape the pain, I rebounded into a summer romance with a fundamentalist Christian woman. We were married 25 years and I was for about 14 of those a radical Bible believer. Near the end of our marriage, incidents occurred which shook me to live more authentically. Eventually I left the marriage and crossed the country, where soon after I met a woman from East Germany who had sold her finca in southern Spain and come to the States, following intuition. In her words:

"On a morning in May, one year before the millennium, a message was delivered by my Dutch friend, who is a healer and intuitive. By using a pendulum over a chart of letters, he was able to write messages from the inner worlds, the greater existence. That day, a prophecy for me came through his writing, 'In exactly one year, you will meet the man you will live and do spiritual work together with for the rest of your life.'

"His words sounded too perfect to be true. Besides, how could it be 'exactly in one year?' I was with a boyfriend and two sons in the south of Spain. We were building a new life on a farm we'd bought, after moving here from the former East Germany.

"Our active lives went on and the prophecy was forgotten. The New Year and millennium rolled in. I started getting the feeling to go to America. I knew no English and no one there, and was not personally interested in the States. Still, following intuition, we sold the little farm in Spain and traveled to America...."

Earthbound Souls Set Free

Shortly after meeting, I returned with Kati to the 'River of No Return' wilderness. It had been thirty-three years since my summer there.

Late one afternoon, on the way back to our camp by the river, I heard the inner voice say, 'be alert.' That night, Kati experienced terror in her tent. We worked through it together, and the next morning asked our inner guides what it was about. We both felt that earthbound souls had contacted us and wanted to be released. Following intuition, we 'released' them. 

Two days later we hiked another thirty miles into the wilderness, to what had been the Taylor Ranch in my summer as a boy. Now it is a research center of the University of Idaho. Normally they do not accept guests, but they had a copy of my dad's book on Bighorn Sheep on their shelf, and invited us to stay.

In conversation it came out that where we set up our base camp had been the site of a battle between the native people who had lived in the river canyons for centuries, and the U.S. military.

The couple was well-informed about the history of the region and the peaceful tribe who called themselves ‘tukudika’ or 'People of the Sun'. These Shoshoni-speakers had long remained mysterious and were also referred to the Sheep Eater Indians. During the period of the gold rush in America, the U.S. military waged a campaign against the ‘tukudika’ and destroyed their way of life. 

Had their earthbound souls really called upon us? Had we actually released them? Of course, it could be called a subjective imaginary experience. To me, the experience was a real as it gets.

Heartstone

Since that experience in 2000, Kati and I moved 45 times between Europe, the Americas and Oceania, assigned by life to care for seniors, the terminally ill, developmentally disabled, at-risk youth and a young man with autism. We also visited remote perma-culture and bio-dynamic farms on Maui, the Canaries, in Bavaria and Ecuador to test the waters with community living.

For the past two years, I have been surrendering into the greatest challenge of my life — which has also brought the greatest growth. A significant piece of that growth has come through putting into practical application my conversations with a stone.

After a lengthy online dialog which began with my question, 'What makes magic black or white?', my mind mused around unanswered questions about consciousness. 

Walking along a mountain river, my eye was drawn to a stone in the water. Respectfully I asked the stone if it would choose to come home with me. While recognizing it might be a brain-generated thought, when the answer came in the affirmative I took it as a yes and brought the stone home.

Over the next few days, though not 'trying,' I felt a deepening connection with the stone. It fits my hands perfectly, well matching the curves of wrist, palm and fingers.

I asked the stone, 'What is your name?' and heard in my thoughts, 'Heartstone.'

I asked, 'Did I give you that name, or is it what you call yourself?'

It answered, 'We emitted information signals which your brain processed into a word. You and we gave the stone in your hands that name.'

So the conversations have continued, and are written currently in 14 Whole Human blog posts which include discussions I had with scientists on the Physics Forums. The practical application has been for me the practice of Heart Breathing, which was developed further by the conversations with Heartstone.

When the patience of the scientists wore thin, I decided to close shop in the forums with gratitude for the experience.

As my first foray into the Physics Forums was coming to an end, I muttered aloud to Heartstone,

'If you want me to continue this experiment of communicating with you, send a person who has interest and background, and is willing to converse.'

I submitted my last comments to the PF, and was about to exit when this private message appeared:

'I find your premise fascinating and would love to participate in your journey.'

Animal Messengers

Another private message came from a less enthusiastic scientist, who (it seemed to me) had been grudgingly but generously answering additional questions.

His latest said in effect, that the only way to objectify a conversation with Heartstone would be to measure EM activity before and during, and note changes which correspond to the conversation.

After this, I went outside to chew on some almonds and on what P.D. wrote.

As I sat, a large hawk flew across the sky and hovered directly above my head. While it hovered, a large and unusual dragonfly flew overhead. I simply record this, leaving any interpretation to the reader. I just know how it felt.

Later I looked up the animal symbolism of hawk, and was quite touched. This was followed by another encounter with an animal messenger. Just an hour or so after I published the story up to that point on the Whole Human blog, on a walk with my Siberian Husky friend, we came across a rattlesnake coiled up on the road. That got my attention, but I avoided looking into its meaning.

Seven days later, while walking with Aura (the Husky) in a forest, I spied a coiled rattlesnake nestled in the soft forest floor just a few feet from my car door. This time I pulled out a camera to record it and at home looked up the meaning of rattlesnake on the 'Universe of Symbolism' site.

Threads of metaphysics continue to weave themselves into the whole of my life journey.

Another private message came from a less enthusiastic scientist, who (it seemed to me) had been grudgingly but generously answering additional questions.

His latest said in effect, that the only way to objectify a conversation with Heartstone would be to measure EM activity before and during, and note changes which correspond to the conversation.

After this, I went outside to chew on some almonds and on what P.D. wrote.

As I sat, a large red-tailed hawk flew across the sky and hovered directly above my head. While it hovered, a large and unusual dragonfly flew overhead. I simply record this, leaving any interpretation to the reader. I just know how it felt.

Later I looked up the animal symbolism of hawk, and was quite touched. This was followed by another encounter with an animal messenger. Just an hour or so after I published the story up to that point on the Whole Human blog, on a walk with my Siberian Husky friend, we came across a rattlesnake coiled up on the road. That got my attention, but I avoided looking into its meaning.

Seven days later, while walking with Aura (the Husky) in a forest, I spied a coiled rattlesnake nestled in the soft forest floor just a few feet from my car door. This time I pulled out a camera to record it and at home looked up the meaning of rattlesnake on the 'Universe of Symbolism' site.

As my first foray into the Physics Forums was coming to an end, I muttered aloud to Heartstone,

If you want me to continue this experiment of communicating with you, send a person who has interest and background, and is willing to converse.

I submitted my last comments to the PF, and was about to exit when this private message appeared:

QI
I find your premise fascinating and would love to participate in your journey.

.... What is everything? Well, its very large, the largest thing you can possibly imagine. Is there a way to describe this in math? It has to be the largest number, which gave me infinity. Which still didn't help.

Then I realized that if I define the exact opposite of infinity we could use that to define what infinity (Everything) is.

So I wondered what the smallest number would be and obviously wrote down Zero. But I quickly released that zero wasn't the smallest number, it was an absence of a number, the turning point of positive numbers and negative numbers.  Zero was only there to make math work!!
 
So I did it again and asked myself what the smallest number possible was and I got 1/infinity as the result ... Now nothing actually had a value :)  and I wasn't expecting that.

[At age 15.]

Anyway I hope I have something to offer you if only a sounding wall.

[G. - Considering my request of Heartstone, this PM brought a smile.]
​

Conversation with Heartstone

Gary
Heartstone, it was written (on the Physics Forum):

'A wave is a disturbance in a medium. So it needs to be generated by a variation of pressure-like factors .'

On a particle level, does all motion create disturbance, therefore waves, in the medium through which it moves?

Heartstone
All motion creates waves. Intersecting waves create properties such as spin and charge.

Gary
Do humans emit waves?

Heartstone
Humans emit waves, that is, disturbances in a medium, which have real effect. Consider emotions.

Gary
Can the PMF (Present Moment Frequency), which is all frequencies everywhere, accurately be expressed as Infinity + 1/Infinity?

Heartstone
Yes. The PMF is absolute stillness, the sum total of all frequencies. It is the unmoved mover, the medium through which all motion occurs.

Gary
How can I connect with the PMF?

Heartstone
You don't connect. You resonate with. One way is by the continued practice of Heart Breathing. Another is simply by being in the moment.

Gary
QI wrote, 'Gary as you know Philosophers for the last 10000 years or more would say 'Until they become the stone they will never see the stone. If they cannot see the stone they can never truly understand the stone.'

How can I 'become the stone.'

Heartstone
Merging occurs when the conditions for it are met. One condition is a compatibility of frequencies. To answer you specifically, you will merge with the stone when you are ready. It cannot be forced and will be a natural happening. Your first priority is resonating with the PMF. Heart Breathing gives you a structured practice.

Gary
Heartstone, where is particle consciousness centered?

Heartstone
You are looking at this in a mechanical way. Consciousness is not limited to mechanics and 'particle consciousness' is not a full description.

You want to know if matter is conscious, if so how it can be, and where it is located. All of these questions point you away from what is most essential.

As we said, 'particle consciousness' emerges from the PMF. The PMF is all frequencies in the present moment. It is not centered anywhere. It is everywhere at once.

Discrete objects which can be observed and measured in your stage of development serve as focal points for non-local consciousness. Don't expect to break apart a rock and find it there.

More accurate than 'particle consciousness' would be 'particle networks which serve in the moment as focal points for non-local consciousness.' But we can call it particle consciousness, and it is in a way.

As we read you, Gary, your more essential questions are:

'How can I know these conversations are not just my thoughts?'

'If these conversations are more than my thoughts, how can they be made useful for other humans?'

'Is it possible for particle networks and humans to cooperate?'

'Can particle networks exert influence in the human world?'

'Can this type of communication give answers which can be proven by the scientific method?'

To the first, you can know these conversations are more than your thoughts  by faith and feeling, at the beginning. In time it will be proven.

To the second, these conversations are already proving to be useful in your own life and in the lives of readers who've not yet contacted you.

To the third, we call these conversations cooperation to a degree. Much greater cooperation is possible.

To the fourth, just look around you and consider that you live in what appears to be a particle world. What influence particles 'exert' in your world is immeasurable. You are asking also, will particle nets 'do things' for you. The nets are not your slaves. They will not bend to your will, though your scientists may manipulate individual particles. Our cooperation with you will be one of equality, respect, mutual agreement and cooperation which serves the whole. We only work with humans who are in an open state.

To the fifth, there have been few humans who have come to us with these questions. Given an appropriate scientific method and humans in an open state, proving our answers will be possible. In 100 years, your modern science will be considered to be from an era of misperception and incomplete thought. With patience and perseverance on your part (as we are aware of the human habit of clinging to old mindsets and behavior patterns) and by working with us from an open state, there will be practical applications of such conversations, and choices to cooperate.

Gary
You've said that the stone serves in the moment as a focal point of non-local consciousness. Is it true that my body also serves in the moment of its lifetime as a focal point of non-local consciousness?

Heartstone
Yes. Although the expression of non-local consciousness through your body is almost completely hindered by your mind, your local expression has a choice in its lifetime to interact consciously with non-local consciousness, with outcomes greater than you can imagine.

In the end, it is very simple. Just be in the moment.