Magic Continued 7

This conversation thread continues from Magic 6:

Rod MacKinnon
“We are always connected, but don't always feel that way.”…. Absolutely

“What prevents connection is contraction.
What causes contraction is resistance.
What underlies resistance is often anxiety.
What generates anxiety, some say, is the primitive brain.”

The first three lines are very clear… actually, all four statements make a lot of sense….I think you’ve put it very succinctly… What do you think about the possibility of a sense of anxiety occurring as an indication of dissonance between the more intuitive primitive/ancestral brain and the newer reasoning cerebral cortex?… Given as I am to speculation … The primitive brain might interpret unfamiliar/unknown situations as risky or even dangerous while the cerebral cortex sees them as opportunities for learning…?

“The deeper emotion may be the fear of annihilation, vulnerability or disconnection, for example. It may be judgment, guilt, or any contracting emotion.

However, another 'contracting' influence in my experience is thought. When I let my thoughts drift, when my attention leaves the present moment and goes to the past or future, to speculation or projection, my body/mind contracts and my felt connection with the whole diminishes until it is gone. Intellectualising, philosophising, analysing, all kill the felt connection.” 

…. I get this….my experience also…I realize I’m replaying events or rehearsing scenarios which haven’t (and probably won’t) eventuate…and have left the present…

Someone once said to me…”If you’re experiencing an emotion you don’t enjoy, you’re focused on an event or outcome you don’t want”…. I’ve found that pretty close to the mark and I made it a bit of a mantra for a few years…It’s been of tremendous benefit as an “anchor thought” pulling my awareness back to now… I’ve become habituated to the idea that, most of my mental negative scenarios are imaginary and unfounded and even in real-life situations when things have gone a bit awry, I don’t “catastrophise”… I’m more easily able to accept the reality of the situation which frees me… (however, don’t get the idea that I’m buddha-calm) to look around for some options…

Another pragmatic idea has been…”Whatever we focus on grows stronger in our lives.” which, I appreciate, may well be a statement of the obvious…Nevertheless, conversations like the one we are having right now, contribute daily to growing my inner resonance…

Michael F
Can someone please explain what consciousness means to me in such a way that an electron can be described as "conscious"?

Is this like subatomic particles having "charm" or "color"?

To me, consciousness implies awareness, which implies a certain degree of complexity that an electron does not have.

But why stop at consciousness?

Does a rock have courage? Does it love? Is it greedy or obscene? Can a rock be a thief? a poet? A philanderer?

Rod MacKinnon
"....To me, consciousness implies awareness, which implies a certain degree of complexity that an electron does not have....."...."To me, ....consciousness ......implies awareness, ........which ........implies a certain degree of complexity........"

....You're referencing your own internal representation of 'consciousness'..... Every single word you use is a conceptual construct running through your cerebral cortex trying to discuss something that exists beyond language...

There's a Zen saying..."The words are a finger pointing at the moon, they're not the moon"....... Not all states of awareness are localised the way our everyday, industry-standard state....but the only way to verify that statement is experientially, which requires one to be prepared to relinquish one's firmly held ideas....

The concept of "giving up all one has" is usually misinterpreted in various circles as giving up ones material wealth when in fact what is being suggested is the divesting of one's firmly-held beliefs...(you can always go back to them if things don't work out)... no-one can satisfactorily explain the taste of a strawberry...just as no-one can explain the experience of other-awareness...so... it looks like it's all up to you to....or not...your call...

Gary R Smith
R. - What do you think about the possibility of a sense of anxiety occurring as an indication of dissonance between the more intuitive primitive/ancestral brain and the newer reasoning cerebral cortex?… Given as I am to speculation … The primitive brain might interpret unfamiliar/unknown situations as risky or even dangerous while the cerebral cortex sees them as opportunities for learning…?

G. - I inserted the portion about the primitive brain from the response by the author of 'Emotional Connection' to my asking if a sense of anxiety could be an indication of dissonance. He was unfamiliar with the terminology I used and wrote:

'I think of anxiety as fear of feeling, stemming from the primitive brain, a way to distract from an underlying emotion that seems more dangerous. Being with anxiety takes us through it to that deeper emotion which then can let go of us.' - Raphael Cushnir

Yes, my original thought was around dissonance rather than brain function. I went further out on the limb to speculate that the dissonance could also be between a sensitive person's frequencies and the frequencies of the world, using the word frequencies loosely. Dissonance and mechanical brain function probably work together.

R. - Nevertheless, conversations like the one we are having right now, contribute daily to growing my inner resonance…

G. - The same here. This conversation has given me new ways of looking, and expanded the toolkit for growing my felt connection with the whole.

Michael F
Can someone please explain what consciousness means to me in such a way that an electron can be described as "conscious"?

Is this like subatomic particles having "charm" or "color"?

To me, consciousness implies awareness, which implies a certain degree of complexity that an electron does not have.

G. - Michael, I feel in your questions a mix of sincere inquiry and cynicism. I am not a scientist but hold the opinion that science is good at what it can do, which is measure that which is measurable. Beyond that, it is lost, like we all tend to be when we leave our familiar territory of mindset, world view, or experience.

To you, consciousness implies ... a certain degree of complexity, which an electron does not have. I suppose this comes from scientific observation and analysis, perhaps by determining where consciousness appears to emerge, which you first wrote is in the domain of thinkers. Then, if I remember correctly, you allowed that a whale is conscious whereas a stone is not. As far as I know, there is no evidence that whales think.

'Consciousness, not matter, is the ground of all existence, declares University of Oregon physicist Goswami, echoing the mystic sages of his native India. He holds that the universe is self-aware, and that consciousness creates the physical world.' - The Self-Aware Universe' 

If you were to call this more psycho-babble, I could not argue with you. I haven't read the book, just found the description on Amazon. Even if I read it, I could not discern how it holds up to sound scientific principles. But, I feel agreement with calling consciousness the ground of all existence. What can science say definitively about the empty space within an electron? I ask sincerely, because I do not know.

Rod, I sent Heart Breathing to you as a link and PDF file over Messenger. Thank you, from the heart.

---

HEART BREATHING - CONTENTS