BC. Analogous to a digital computer.Attractor pattern: See Energy field.
Chaos theory: The science of process as opposed to state. This theory originates in the discovery of patterns within a condition of unpredictability. The view it proposes discerns global possibilities rather than local events, and entails a topologic system using patterns and shapes to visualize the intrinsic form of a complex system, which, though locally unpredictable, is globally stable. Chaos theory recognizes the capacity of a complex system to simultaneously give rise to both turbulence and coherence.
In the late 1800s, Jules Henri Poincaré noted that Newtonian physics was mathematically accurate if the interaction studied was between two bodies only, but that the addition of a third element made Newton’s equations unreliable—only approximations could be obtained. This nonlinearity implied that any system over time could, by feedback and repetition, become unpredictable. Lorenz’s 1963 article, “Deterministic Nonperiodic Flow,” provided a new paradigm of science, termed chaos theory by James Yorke and Tien-Yien Li in their famous paper “Period Three Implies Chaos.” Chaos theory encompasses such subjects as period doubling, iteration, fractals, and bifurcation, and recognizes that within finite space, there are an infinite number of dimensions. The first meeting on Chaos at the New York Academy of Science was in 1977, and in 1986, the academy had its first meeting on chaos theory in medicine and biology.
Consciousness: Consciousness is the irreducible substrate of existence, formless yet inclusive of all form. It is infinite, with no beginning and no end. The field of consciousness, in other terminology, is called the Buddha-nature or the Mind of God. It can be likened to an infinite and all-powerful electromagnetic field. Each thing has its place within that field, similar to an iron filing; where you are in the field depends upon your “charge,” which is based on the decisions that you have made. As you say, “Well, I forgive that person,” you move up higher in the field. If you say, “I am going to get even with that bad person,” you move down in the field. It is clear that one cannot blame anything on God or anyone.
Context: The total field of observation predicated by a point of view. Context includes any significant facts that qualify the meaning of a statement or event. Data is meaningless unless its context is defined. To “take out of context” is to distort the significance of a statement by failing to identify contributory accessory conditions that would qualify the inference of meaning. (This is a common trial strategy whereby an attorney tries to distort a witness’s testimony by suppressing the inclusion of qualifying statements that would alter the implications of the testimony, demanding that the witness answer only yes or no.)
Creation: A continuous process without beginning or end, through which the manifest universe of form and matter is produced by reiteration, starting from three points—all that is required to create by fractals an infinite variety of forms. (This is illustrated by the now familiar complex plane of the Mandelbrot set.) In Sanskrit, the three aspects of origination of all that is experienceable are called Rajas, Tamas, and Sattvas. These are symbolized by the Hindu deities Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu. In Christianity, these are represented by the Trinity.
Duality: The world of form characterized by seeming separation of objects (reflected in conceptual dichotomies such as “this/that,” “here/there,” “then/now,” or “you/me”). This perception of limitation is produced by the senses because of the restriction implicit in a fixed point of view. Science has finally gone beyond the artificial dichotomy of observer and observed characteristic of 17th-century Cartesian duality, and now assumes that they are one and the same. The universe has no center, but is continually expanding equally and simultaneously from every point. Bell’s theorem helped to demonstrate that this is a universe of simultaneity rather than Newtonian cause and effect over distance in an artificial time frame. Both time and space themselves are merely the measurable products of a higher implicit order.
Ego (or self with a small s): The ego is the imaginary doer behind thought and action. It is believed to be necessary and essential for survival. It can be thought of as a set of entrenched habits of thought that are the result of entrainment by invisible energy fields that dominate human consciousness. They become reinforced by repetition and by the consensus of society. Further reinforcement comes from language itself. To think in language is a form of self-programming. The use of the pronoun I as the subject, and therefore the implied cause of all actions, is the most serious error and automatically creates a duality of subject and object.
Emergence: Life does not occur out of linear causal sequence; rather, life emerges spontaneously out of the field and is forever one with the field. The Infinite Field, out of which all phenomenal existence arises, is the field of consciousness itself, which is inherently compassionate and just, for “Love is the Ultimate Law of the Universe” (statement calibrates at 750). The field and the phenomena are one dynamic whole, simultaneously creation and evolution. There is no conflict between evolution and creation, because creation expresses itself as evolution when potentiality becomes actuality.
Energy field: In this study, a range set by parameters of the phase space of an attractor field whose pattern operates within the larger energy field of consciousness and is observable by characteristic effects in human behavior. The power of energy fields is calibrated much like voltage in an electrical system or the power of magnetic or gravitational fields. Calibrated levels of consciousness represent powerful attractor fields within the domain of consciousness itself, which dominate human existence and therefore define content, meaning, and value, and serve as organizing energies for widespread patterns of human behavior. This stratification of attractor patterns, according to corresponding levels of consciousness, provides a new paradigm for recontextualizing the human experience throughout all time.
Enlightenment: A state of awareness that replaces ordinary consciousness the instant the ego is surrendered. The self is replaced by the Self. The condition is beyond time or space, is silent, and presents itself as a revelation. In this state of nonduality, there is the witnessing to life’s emergence in each moment as everything arises spontaneously and not as a result of causality. Spiritual purification is a process whereby obstructions to the light of consciousness are removed and its unity with the Self is revealed. The state of Enlightenment reveals that the Source of existence—the Light, which had been sought elsewhere or later—is shining at this very moment.
Entrainment: A phenomenon illustrated by the principle of “mode locking.” When a number of pendulum clocks are placed close together, their pendulums will eventually synchronize. In human biology this is manifested when groups of women who work or live together progressively synchronize their menstrual cycles. It is similar to the phenomenon of a tuning fork. It is because of this process that troops tend to break cadence (that is, “break stride,” not march in unison) when they cross a bridge.
Familiarity and pattern recognition: The human mind knows things by a holistic pattern recognition. The easiest way to grasp an entirely new concept is simply by familiarity. Learning occurs by circling around the same concepts over and over until they are obvious. This is like surveying new terrain in an airplane: on the first pass, it all looks unfamiliar; the second time around, we spot some points of reference; the third time, it starts to make sense, and we finally gain familiarity through simple exposure. The inborn pattern-recognition mechanism of the mind takes care of the rest.
Fields of dominance: A field of dominance is exhibited by high-energy patterns in their influence over weaker ones. This may be likened to the coexistence of a small magnetic field within the much larger, more powerful field of a giant electromagnet. The phenomenological universe is the expression of the interaction of endless attractor patterns of varying strengths. The unending complexities of life are the reflections of the endless reverberations of the augmentations and diminutions of these fields, compounded by their harmonics and other interactions.
Fractal: Fractal patterns are characterized by irregularity and infinite length, and strange attractors are composed of fractal curves. A classic example is the attempt to determine the length of the coastline of Britain. If one adds lengths using smaller and smaller scales of measurement, it turns out to be infinitely long. Fractal implies an infinite length in a finite area.
Heisenberg’s principle: Quantum mechanics is the way out from the restrictive linear domain of the Newtonian paradigm, via Heisenberg’s principle, which holds that to observe something is already to change it because of the impact of consciousness itself. The higher the level of consciousness of the observer, the more profound the effect on what is being observed.
Hologram: A three-dimensional projection into space of the image of an object, created by projecting laser light so that half of the beam is directed to the object and then onto a photographic plate, which receives the other half of the beam directly. This creates an interference pattern on the plate so that a laser beam projected through the plate re-creates the image of the object in three dimensions. It is of interest that every fragment of the photographic plate is capable of reproducing the entire image of the whole. In a holographic universe, everything is connected to everything else.
Iteration: Repetition. Nonlinear iteration is present in innumerable systems. Because of this repetition, a very slight change in the initial condition will eventually produce a pattern dissimilar from the original. In a growth equation, the output of the prior iteration becomes the input for the next series. For example, if a computer calculates to 16 decimal places, the last digit is the rounding off of the 17th. This infinitesimal error, magnified through many iterations, results in substantial distortion of the original data and makes prediction impossible. Thus, a slight change in a repetitious thought pattern can bring about major effects.
Law of sensitive dependence on initial conditions: This refers to the fact that a slight variation over a course of time can have the effect of producing a profound change, much as a ship whose bearing is one degree off compass will eventually find itself hundreds of miles off course.
Left-brain: Referring to thought sequenced in the linear style, which is commonly described as “logic” or “reason.” Processing of data in a sequence ABC. Analogous to a digital computer.
Linear: Sequential, following a logical progression in the manner of Newtonian physics and, therefore, solvable by traditional mathematics through the use of differential equations.
M-fields: Morphogenetic fields, analogous to attractor patterns. In the hypothesis presented by the biologist Rupert Sheldrake, morphogenetic fields are part of the theory of formative causation, that energy fields of form evolve and reinforce each other. When someone advances in a particular area, this success increases the likelihood for the rest of the species to do the same. Roger Bannister broke through the “M-field” of the four-minute mile, and soon after his success, many more runners made the same accomplishment.
Neural network: The interlocking patterns of interacting neurons within the nervous system.
Neurotransmitters: Brain chemicals (hormones, etc.) that regulate neuronal transmission throughout the nervous system. Very slight chemical changes can result in major subjective and objective alterations in emotion, thought, or behavior. This is the prime area of current research in psychiatry.
Nonduality: Historically, all observers who have reached a consciousness level over 600 have described the reality now suggested by advanced scientific theory. When the limitation of a fixed locus of perception is transcended, there is no longer an illusion of separation, nor of space and time as we know them. All things exist simultaneously in the unmanifest, enfolded, implicit universe, expressing itself as the manifest, unfolded, explicit perception of form. These forms in reality have no intrinsic, independent existence but are the product of perception (that is, we merely experience the content of our own minds). On the level of nonduality, there is observing but no observer, as subject and object are one. You-and-I becomes the One Self experiencing all as divine. At level 700, it can be said only that “All Is.” The state is one of Beingness; all is consciousness, which is infinite, which is God and which has no parts or a beginning or end.
The physical body is a manifestation of the One Self, which, in experiencing this dimension, had temporarily forgotten its reality, thus permitting the illusion of a three-dimensional world. The body is merely a means of communication; to identify oneself with the body as “I” is the fate of the unenlightened, who then erroneously deduce that they are mortal and subject to death. Death itself is an illusion, based on the false identification with the body as “I.” In nonduality, consciousness experiences itself as both manifest and unmanifest, yet there is no experiencer. In this Reality, the only thing that has a beginning and an end is the act of perception itself. In the illusory world, we are like the fool who believes that things come into existence when he opens his eyes and cease to exist when he closes them.
Nonlinear: Unpredictably irregular in time, “noisy,” nonperiodic, random, and stochastic. Illustrated by mathematical series such as formulized stochastic evolution equations of the form dx(t)dt = F(xt) + w(t), where w(t) is the noise term of the stochastic process. The term also describes the mathematics of chaotic signals, including the statistical analysis of time series for deterministic nonlinear systems. Nonlinear means diffuse or chaotic, not in accordance with probabilistic logical theory or mathematics, not solvable by differential equations. This is the subject of the science of chaos theory, which has given rise to a whole new non-Newtonian mathematics.
Phase space: A map that affords the condensation of time-space data into a pattern in multiple dimensions. A Poincaré map is the graphic depiction of a slice through a multidimensional pattern that demonstrates the underlying attractor.
Positionality: Positionalities are structures that set the entire thinking mechanism in motion and activate its content. Positionalities are programs, not the real Self. The world holds an endless array of positions that are arbitrary presumptions and totally erroneous. Primordial positionalities are: (1) ideas have significance and importance; (2) there is a dividing line between opposites; (3) there is a value of authorship, such that thoughts are valuable because they are “mine”; (4) thinking is necessary for control, and survival depends on control. All positionalities are voluntary and can be surrendered out of love. The Presence of God as Love is self-revealing as the duality of perception ceases as a consequence of surrendering positionalities. Love is therefore the doorway between the linear and the nonlinear domains. The spiritual will is enforced and activated by love and devotion and its willingness to surrender. Love is without form and is that capacity through which one becomes willing, out of that love, to surrender one’s positionalities to God. The surrender of willfulness/positionality brings peace in all circumstances.
Right-brain: Generally meaning “holistic”; enabling such functions as evaluation, intuition, and comprehension of significance, meaning, and inference. Nonlinear; operating from patterns and relationships rather than through the logical sequences of Newtonian causality. The right brain is assumed to deal with wholes rather than parts. Like an analog computer, it deals with processes and is generally capable of operating without the necessity of time reference. Right-brain perception detects essence within a complex field of data that might not otherwise lend itself to meaningful cognitive analysis—such general phenomena as “falling in love” or creativity. (The terms left-brain and right-brain originated in reference to different styles of perception once thought to be localized to certain cerebral areas, but as Karl Pribram has shown, the brain acts holographically rather than by precise anatomic localization.)
Scientific: The method of inquiry into nature specifically designed to derive predictable laws of physical properties. Modern scientific theory began in the 16th century with René Descartes’s Discourse on Method, followed by Francis Bacon’s inductive inquiry and Isaac Newton’s Principia. John Locke first used the term scientific and proposed that certainty about the interaction of physical events was based on data arrived at by physical sensation. These concepts resulted in a model of a mechanical, predictive universe, but this view was upset by a modern quantum theory, which states that at the subatomic level, the laws of chance replace deterministic laws.
History has noted that science does not advance by an extension of established theories, but instead takes leaps by a shift of paradigm. The inference is that science is merely a reflection of a point of view, and there is no real separation between observer and observed. Relativity theory further states that matter equals energy, depending on one’s point of reference. David Bohm’s holographic model predicates an explicit order based on an implicit order. Form becomes the consequence of inference, space and time are nonlocalized, and there is no “here” or “there” (the nonlocality of quantum wholeness). The universe thus described contains an infinite number of dimensions and higher-dimension realities.
Self (capital S): The Self is beyond, yet innate in, all form—timeless, without beginning or end, changeless, permanent, and immortal. Out of it arises awareness, consciousness, and an infinite condition of “at home-ness.” It is the ultimate subjectivity from which everyone’s sense of “I” arises.
Strange attractor: A term coined by David Ruelle and Floris Takens in 1971, in a theory that stated that three independent motions are all that is necessary to produce the entire complexity of nonlinear patterns of the universe. A strange attractor is a pattern within a phase space. The pattern is traced by the dynamic points in time of a dynamic system. The central point of an attractor field is analogous to the center of an orbit. Attractors are fractal and therefore of infinite length. The graphics of attractors are depicted by taking a cross section of a so-called Poincaré map. The topographical shaping of phase space creates an attractor such as a torus, like a folded donut.
Universe: There may be seen to be an infinite number of dimensions to our universe. The familiar three-dimensional universe of conventional consensus is only one, and is merely an illusion created by our senses. The space between planetary bodies is not empty but filled with a sea of energy; the potential energy in one square inch can be said to be as great as that of the whole mass of the physical universe. David Bohm has proposed the model of enfolded/unfolded states of being, with an explicit order and an implicit order of reality, comparable to the manifest/unmanifest states of reality that have been described for centuries by those who have achieved Enlightenment and experienced nonduality.
In the causality model . . .
. . . the ABC is the unfolded, explicit, manifest, discernible universe of form. The ABC is the enfolded, implicit, unmanifest potential beyond, which is the formless, infinite matrix of both form and nonform—which is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent.