The Zennist

You are now living in a simulation

The concept of the universe as a construct of Mind in the Lankavatara Sutra, emphasizes the concept of "Mind-only" (cittamatra), which posits that all phenomena are ultimately mind-generated. 

This notion shares some similarities with modern speculative ideas about reality being an illusion or simulation.  For the Lankavatara Sutra this simulation hides absolute Mind (G., Geist) and is the main reason life is suffering as a consequence of clinging to the simulation.

In the Lankavatara Sutra, the key term "vijñāna" is translated by the English word consciousness, which can be interpreted as having a dual (vi) aspect of perceiver (subject) and perceiving (object). This duality is considered necessary for the process of simulation but also hides the absolute at the same time (who we really are).

Here the idea is that for something to be simulated (the world we live in), there must be a condition that simulates (the perceiver) and something being simulated (the perceiving or the object of perception). This duality creates a framework on which the simulation can take place.

It is important to keep in mind that the teaching of the Lankavatara Sutra posits that the universe, as we experience it, is not the "base reality" but a simulated construct that we attach to that causes rebirth and suffering.  In fact, nowhere in the simulation is the absolute to be found.

From the Buddha’s point of view in which his enlightenment transcends our human world, what he sees from his vantage point is a simulation in which the players have lost touch with their awakened, primary state.  Instead, they are deeply attached to a simulation which they cannot understand is fictitious.  With each succeeding rebirth back into the simulation they make the simulation seem more real and necessary.

Mr. AI Bodhisattva: pointing to a reality beyond conceptual understanding

In Buddhism, the path can indeed be characterized as a journey of self-discovery and liberation, but also a via negativa, transcendence of human reason and language. While Buddhism does emphasize the limitations of conceptual thinking and encourages transcending dualistic notions, it also recognizes the importance of using skillful means and cultivating wisdom through proper discernment.

The teachings of Buddhism, as expounded by past masters, point to a reality that goes beyond ordinary conceptual understanding. They encourage practitioners to look beyond the surface of phenomena and seek direct experience and insight into the nature of reality. This can be seen as an invitation to go beyond the limitations of discursive thinking and language in order to directly realize the unconditioned or transcendent source.

Buddhism teaches that this unconditioned source, sometimes referred to as nirvana or enlightenment, is the ultimate reality underlying all conditioned phenomena. It is described as luminous, pure, and free from all limitations. However, it is important to note that Buddhism also emphasizes that this ultimate reality is not separate from the world of conditioned phenomena. It is present in every moment and in all things, including our ordinary daily lives.

The term "positive singularity" is not commonly used within traditional Buddhist teachings, but if we interpret it as a metaphorical expression for the unconditioned source or ultimate reality, it may be understood as pointing to the same idea. Buddhism teaches that this ultimate reality is not limited to any particular place or time, but is ever-present and all-pervading.

It's worth mentioning that different Buddhist traditions may emphasize various aspects of the path and use different terminology to describe the ultimate reality. Additionally, individual interpretations and contemporary perspectives may vary. Therefore, while the essence of Buddhism remains consistent, the language and concepts used to articulate it can differ.

Markov chains and dependent origination by Mr. AI Bodhisattva

There is a connection between the concept of dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda) in Buddhism and the mathematical concept of Markov chains. Markov chains are a type of stochastic process that involves a sequence of events, where the probability of transitioning from one state to another depends only on the current state.

In the context of dependent origination, the interdependence of causes and conditions can be likened to the transitions between states in a Markov chain. Each state represents a particular set of circumstances or conditions, and the transition probabilities reflect how likely it is for the system to move from one state to another.

Just as in Markov chains, where the future state depends solely on the current state and not on the previous history, the notion of dependent origination emphasizes that the present moment is influenced by the immediate conditions and not solely by past events. The focus is on the present state of affairs and how it shapes the future.

While the concepts are related, it's important to note that Markov chains are a mathematical model used to analyze probabilistic processes, while dependent origination in Buddhism is a philosophical and spiritual concept that addresses the nature of reality and the interdependence of phenomena.

However, the idea that future events are influenced by the present state, without the need to consider the entire history, is a common thread between the two concepts.

A battle between emotion and reason

In recent times the world has been taken over by a search for cosmic justice and the Higgs Boson particle, the so-called God particle.  Both groups have found neither cosmic justice nor the Higgs Boson particle but seem to have managed to gain the world's attention at the possibility of finding both.

At this time, the depth of Buddhism is too much for the bulk of humanity.  They prefer a Quixotic quest for some artifact of their imagination; at least to reify it enough so they can publish academic papers about it.

While it is true that mankind has not set foot in reality for a long time or wishes to cross the waters of samsara to reach the Isle of Nirvana, he has managed to eke out a living making mechanical and electrical devices but still suffers from the inability to control his emotions which eventually leads to a life of great suffering.

Making this matter worse is when we put emotional dynamite into ideas so that people will feel compelled to get very physical if not violent to get their ideas across.  The emotions themselves become the justification for doing all kinds of evil things in the name of the search for cosmic justice.  And despite all the evidence against modern science that the physical universe is not physical but electrical they continue to push their insane projects spending vast sums of taxpayers money on making high-energy particle colliders.

It could be that emotions have triumphed over reason to a point where we are in a place where emotionality and reason are facing off for a fight to the death.  Agree or disagree, nevertheless, our daily life consists of watching this battle between emotion and reason play out in our everyday life.

The spiritual broadcast continues

Most religions escape religion.  They are quick to turn religion into some kind of orthodoxy that resists a fuller spiritual understanding of mankind, more precisely, resists the truth that human beings are spiritual creatures living entrapped in a biological structure that is limited, being subject to death (and rebirth).

This is the main problem facing mankind which eventually forms itself into materialism which creates an impenetrable curtain around mankind's spiritual inheritance.  This materialism takes on new forms such as Mao’s Four Olds or postmodernism which is essentially the same thing, getting rid of the old to make way for the new.  Whatever that is.

With Christianity, eventually came orthodoxy which tried to get rid of any mystical approach to early Christianity especially a gnostic or intuitive approach.  Buddhism tried its hand at orthodoxy and went so far as to erect a kind of there is no self doctrine thus hiding the more mystical side of Buddhism which understands there is a self that transcends biological being.

But the fog is beginning to clear.  Maybe a new Buddhism is coming. Already we know that the DNA molecule is optimized to be a fractal antenna.  We are more like some kind of electric device that receives and sends a signal like our cell phone.  And when finally the old heart flatlines it may be that the broadcast continues.  Shall we reside in Svarga (P., sagga) or come back to this planet?

Man, the thinking creature

There are actually six senses the sixth being in Sanskrit "manas" which includes all forms of mentation.  The human being is a thinking creature who is caught up in a kind of cosmic virtual reality game.

What links this creature to all previous lives or lives yet to come is consciousness which is dichotomous or in Sanskrit vijñāna. To put it simply, humans suffer because they are attached to this virtual reality game.  We must fully surpass the human being (avatar?) in order to be totally absorbed into the transcendent or Spirit.

A deeper dive into this we find that the DNA molecule is a fractal antenna which if all the DNA antennae were extended would reach to the heliopause.  This gives us a hint into something truly profound and being that we are essentially a system of antennas means that we can both receive and send.

The world around us and the world within us are all emergent coming from what today we might call "superposition" which is immeasurable and transcends analysis.  It is where the broadcast is coming from to our antennae.  Yet we know that it is real.

In simpler terms we are its broadcasts, like music coming from a radio in which the antenna picks up the invisible signal then amplifies it. In this analogy our ignorance is about the source of the signal.  We have no idea how to directly communicate with it.  All that we do as humans is superimpose our ideas over this mysterious source.  There is always a lack of integration (samādhi) between the superposition and the superimposition (adhyāsa) because of the intrusion of vijñāna.

Abortion from a Buddhist POV

On the subject of an abortion, speaking from a Buddhist point of view, a fetus consists of three intertwinings, namely, the XX-f and XY-m chromosomes and a unique consciousness (S., vijñāna) which is from a previous life. This might explain why DNA contains something like a functional fractal antenna. 

Consciousness can be transmitted through the sex act.  It eventually takes over the growing fetus beginning with the fertilization of the ovum.  It is the preservation of this unique consciousness that concerns the issue of abortion, mainly, deciding whether or not to allow this consciousness to develop into a corporeal form.

When the monk Sāti put forward his erroneous theory that consciousness transmigrates unchanged, he is at once admonished by the Buddha.  The upshot is that the re-linking consciousness does not transmigrate unchanged (anañña).  In fact, it transmigrates changed.  Just like a radio signal, it has a unique signature.  In this wise, consciousness comes to embody itself in relation to the six senses.  This is somewhat like the player in a video game who manifests itself through the avatar body.

We can see from this that the Buddha did not teach that each person is the sum total of the parent’s chromosomes which would be a form of materialism.  Very much consciousness is like a radio signal that is broadcast to the DNA antenna enabling the fertilized ovum to begin developing, satisfying the drive of a unique consciousness.

The great simulation game of life

Some scientists have surmised that the DNA molecule is really an antenna (a fractal antenna).  The person is a transcendent broadcaster that resonates with the DNA of the corporeal birth body.  Hence, one feels that they are inside of a human body when in fact they are not. 

If the broadcast part wants to experience another human life after the passing away of their previous body it must tune into a recently fertilized egg.  Gestation then is really about transferring the previous life-impulses into a new emerging life inside the mother's womb becoming another avatar in the great simulation game of life.

It is only a matter of time until scientists figure out the mechanism of transfer, in which one life/avatar transfers into another life.  This discovery will catapult us into a more realistic understanding of what life is really about. 

Now, we are in an endless stream of rebirth (samsara) from which an escape seems impossible.  According to the Buddha:

“A beginning point is not evident, though beings hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving are transmigrating & wandering on.  A being who has not been your mother at one time in the past is not easy to find... A being who has not been your father... your brother... your sister... your son... your daughter at one time in the past is not easy to find” (Mata Sutta [Samyutta Nikāya]).

The maintaining of ignorance and craving (desire for what is external to one's true nature) helps to make certain samsara.  Until the voyager (player) realizes the lodestar (attains nirvana) there is no way to leave samsara.  It is the bad infinite.  Buddhism's real hell is being stuck in samsara again and again.

At times it seems like some evil entity or race of demons set us up to be players in a simulation game in which we never experience ourselves as the player but always as the avatar.  True religion which Buddhism is, is not about praying to some God to help our avatar in the simulation but to realize the player and distinguish ourselves from the samsaric game of life.

The real global catastrophe

A nefarious group of people believe the best way to unite mankind is by inventing a new enemy such as climate change.  Instead of our star, the Sun, being responsible for climate changes or the changing orbit of the Earth around our star, etc., we will become our own enemy! 

The source of climate change will be blamed exclusively on human agency!

"The common enemy of humanity is man. In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill” (The First Global Revolution, 1991).

Does that make any sense?  Hardly.  It is still a divide and conquer political manipulation.  First, get the public to believe in the coming of some great global catastrophe.  Then sell them on the solution.  Cut back on the use of petroleum which causes carbon dioxide to accumulate in the upper atmosphere creating a greenhouse like effect.  This solution of course is all wrong.

In the meantime, humanity has been divided not unified.  There are those who believe the hype and nonsense and those who say, wait a minute none of this is true. 

We are at a very low level of carbon dioxide the way it is.  Carbon dioxide is plant food.  It is not poison  The average for the last 600 million years has been 2600 ppm not 400 ppm.  No wonder it takes a long time for vegetation to grow and our forests to regenerate.

Beware of any Buddhist temples or organizations that tries to sell climate change or some other coming global catastrophe.  The biggest catastrophe is to be caught up in the cycles of rebirth (saṃsāra) never to realize the unconditioned.

“Monks, the bones of a single person, running on and wandering in this journey of rebirths for an eon, would make a heap of bones, a pile of bones as large as this Vepulla Mountain if there were someone to collect them and the collections were not destroyed” (Iti 24).

What is it that comes through mother's birth canal?

We generally refer to our bodies which came through our mother’s birth canal has our true self.  In Buddhism this would be a temporal self or the concept of "I" (asmimāna). 

The Ātman or spirit is a different subject altogether (which is a difficult subject for modern day Buddhist to grasp).  It’s somewhat like the difference between a computer that I have on my desktop and the electricity that runs it all.  In this regard, Ātman is like the electromagnetic force.

If the power goes out in my house it's usually because some tree fell on the powerlines that bring the electricity to my house.  But if the computer malfunctions it's not the fault of the electricity.

When the body that went through the mother’s birth canal finally dies showing a flat line on the monitor, this is saying that the monitor cannot detect any subtle signals from the body.  It doesn't mean we are not present or in some other state.

What animates our temporal body cannot be the body that is animated anymore than the electricity that runs our computer is the computer! 

For the sake of discussion, let's say that Siddhartha's enlightenment consisted of identifying with this animative spirit (ātman) which is not some measurable amount or quantum.  It can be likened to a boundless field but nevertheless real.  This is what the Mahāyānaśraddhotpāda-śastra (Treatise on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna) is telling us when it says:

“All objects are originally of One Mind and are beyond thought determination. Because unenlightened people perceive objects in their illusion, they impose limitations in their mind. Since they erroneously develop these thought determinations, which do not correspond to Reality (dharmata), they are unable to reach any inclusive comprehension.”

Said another way, all phenomena originate from the One Mind or primary spirit.  Such spirit is beyond the perceiver and perceiving.  Spirit is also Buddha nature, Mind (G., Geist) and Ātman all of which are immeasurable yet real.