The Model
What the Thinker thinks, the Prover proves. This was stated emphatically by Dr.
Leonard Orr. Because the human brain, like other animal brains, acts as an
electro-colloidal computer, not as a solid state computer, it follows the same
laws as other animal brains. That is, organically driven programs get into the
brain as electro-chemical bonds, in discrete organic quantum stages.
This is not to say that the human brain is a computer, but only that it acts
something like a solid state computer. The computer model best fits current
knowledge. Let's review just briefly what we know about solid state computers.
A solid state computer has two chief components, hardware and software. Of
these the hardware portion is the physical part. It consists of five necessary
parts: a device to process information, the Central Processing Unit (CPU), an
input device to send instructions to the CPU, the keyboard, an output device
for receiving messages from the CPU, the display or printer, a temporary
storage area for the CPU, the memory, and a permanent information storage
device, the floppy or hard disk.
In this hardware model the brain acts like a computer in that it receives,
processes, transmits and files information. And like the solid state computer
the devices or individual parts of the brain or computer are discrete and
manipulatable either by electro- chemical processes or mechanical force. The
discrete elements can be created, modified or destroyed easily in one place and
at one time.
The other component is software. These are the instructions given to the
computer to operate upon. They, (software is generally plural in nature), exist
both inside and outside the computer simultaneously. While one can easily
locate the hardware in space- time, the software is more ephemeral; it can be
in many different places at one time. One can destroy the hardware while the
software(s) live on unhampered.
Of the softwares there are two basic types of software, operating systems and
applications. Operating systems, sometimes called monitors or master control
programs, are the backbones of software. All applications travel through the
backbones to their appointed ends. Applications are the individual instructions
that cause the CPU to compute, to make decisions and move information around.
Brainware
'What the Thinker thinks, the Prover proves.' Today we have a better idea of
how the brain works than ever before. I'll get to the hardware aspects in a
later section. First I'm mostly concerned with the software aspects of the
human brain.
The brain software, or brainware, has three basic parts:
IMPRINTS--These are the more-or-less hardwired (physically present
electro-chemical connected) programs which the brain is genetically suited to
accept ONLY at certain points in its development. These points are known, in
ethology, as times of 'imprint vulnerability.' Imprinting is involuntary by
nature.
CONDITIONING--These are programs built onto the imprints. They are looser and
fairly easy to change with counter- conditioning. Conditioning is relatively
more voluntary than imprinting.
LEARNING--This is even looser and 'softer' than conditioning. Learning is
relatively more voluntary than conditioning.
Generally, the primordial imprint can always overrule any subsequent
conditioning and/or learning. An imprint is a type of software that has become
built in hardware, termed 'firmware' in computer jargon, being impressed upon
tender neurons before they were fully developed, or modified at some point when
they are singularly vulnerable. Imprinting is extremely difficult to change
once the imprint has been made. Some think that imprinting is impossible to
change, period.
Imprints are the non-negotiable aspects of our individuality. Out of the
infinite possibilities of programs existing as potential brainware, the imprint
establishes the limits, parameters, perimeters within which all subsequent
conditioning and learning must occur.
Before imprinting the consciousness of the infant is a clean slate, it's
'formless and void'. Another analogue is the exploded or unconditioned
consciousness the mystics call enlightenment. When the first imprint is made
structure begins to take form. The emergent mind becomes trapped within this
imprinting structure; it identifies with the structure. And in a sense it
becomes the structure.
Each successive imprinting adds to and complicates the previous imprintings.
Through part of this 'deep brainware' we experience life events which are
interpreted in light of the existing imprintings.
Further, conditioning and learning add branches to this basic framework of
imprintings. The total structure of this brain circuitry makes up our world map
and our worldviews. In essence we experience our realities in reference to and
in accordance with the software in our brains. The reality we know is one that
is a construction established and maintained in our brains, our minds. In this
mental-macrostructure the Thinker thinks and the Provers proves
mechanistically, fitting all the information into previously existing
frameworks.
Brainware Centres--The Bio-Circuits
RAW slightly modifies Dr. Timothy Leary's previous 8 bio- circuits. It's rather
important to remember that the following descriptions are metaphors. They are
something akin to the menu's representation of the meal. It's apparent that the
menu isn't very tasty or nutritious. Please remember that each of the following
Circuits can be affected either positively or negatively for any conceivable
reason to any accidental or intended end.
Lower Four Circuits:
1. The Oral Bio-Survival Circuit.
2. The Anal Emotional-Territorial Circuit.
3. The Time Binding Semantic Circuit.
4. The 'Moral' Socio-Sexual Circuit.
Lower Four Circuit Map:
Circuit Imprint Names in other Psychologies
Sites Freud Jung Berne Sagan
----------- ----------- ------- --------- ------- -------
I 3-4 Limbic Oral Sensation Natural Reptile
II 500-1000 Thalamus Anal Feeling Adapted Mammal
III 100,000 Left cortex Latency Reason Adult Human
IV 30,000 Left neo- Phallic Ignored Parent Ignored
Personality Modes:
Circuit I Narcissistic Soft Narcissist
Relationship to Mom/Body/Food
Circuit II Emotional Hard Militant
Relationship to Pop/Family/Society
Circuit III Rationalistic Philosopher
Relationship to Abstract/Speech
Circuit IV Moralistic Lover/Parent
Relationship to Sex/Lover/Parent
Circuit One--Oral
Circuit One is the center which most closely approximates the perspectives we
have about our bodies. Should a bodily threat occur we automatically and
completely retreat into Circuit One operations. 'I didn't think about it, my
body just moved,' the pugilist says. When such a retreat into Circuit One
happens, all other centers are bypassed instantly. Circuit One is the first and
oldest circuit to operate. Some call it the reptile brain. Its earmarks are
complete automatic movement and unthinking reaction to a physical influence.
At birth the first imprinting is that of Mother. Anything can be imprinted as
Mother. Wild animals have been known to imprint such things as animals of other
species, Ping-pong balls and Jeeps. Accidents, intrusions and intended events
can all affect imprinting at this level. Additional imprinting can occur later
in life when a bodily threat occurs. Areas of interest for Circuit One are the
health fields, martial arts and any interest which stimulates or depresses the
human body.
Sometimes this circuit gets out of control. We leave the psycho-stat turned
fully on or nearly off. Then it is possible to imagine threats to the body that
have no basis in reality. The results can be quite tragic.
Circuit Two--Anal
Circuit Two is the next imprinting stage. Once the child learns to move around
it encounters others. The immediate Circuit Two imprinting involves authority.
Typically this is symbolized by Father. The child first imprints its
relationship with Mother, sharing bodies and food. The second imprinting is of
its relationship to Father. Now there aren't two things in its universe, there
are three. Along with the imprinting of Father is authority conditioning. If
the child does something 'good' or 'bad' it learns that Mom and Dad can do
something. From this triangle political situations arise. How quickly the child
learns family politics!
Authority effects personal elimination--potty training. Personal elimination
requires more precise control of the body. Mom and Dad use their power and
authority to condition the child's personal elimination. This circuit is
normally extended out into the great big human world with rules, regulations,
laws and politics. Bodily excretion is replaced with ink and electronic
excretions. It's appropriate to refer to this as an anal stage. And it's not
surprising that military and political personnel refer to themselves with 'shit'
or 'ass'. 'Gotta' get my ass outta' here', 'cover your ass, pal,' 'you asinine
idiot,' and 'you shit head' are typical references to the self and others.
Where authoritarian or political concerns arise the human mind retreats into
Circuit two for instruction. Areas of interest for Circuit Two are of course
authority structures, the family, the penal system, the military and politics
in general.
Generally Circuit Two social problems are dealt with by threatening Circuit
One, either with bodily incarceration or by threatening removal of bio-survival
tickets (money).
Circuit Three--Semantic Time Binding
Circuit Three takes us out of the physical world into the abstract. Once the
child learns to speak,it senses its relationship to symbols. It must learn to
symbolize, to describe the abstract. Circuit Three is a center which utilizes
and manipulates ideas, concepts, facts and figures.
It's tempting to refer to Circuit Three as 'the Mind'. But it isn't. The
primary expressive organ for this circuit is the mouth, the portal from which
symbols, concepts and ideas tumble. In consensus reality WoMankind uses the
artificial distinction of mind and body. The mind is the body and the body is
the mind.
Korzybski said those who rule symbols rule us. Humans beings (domesticated)
primates are symbol-using creatures.
If Moses, Confucius, Buddha, Mohammed, Jesus and St. Paul can be considered
living influences, and they most certainly are for many, then it is because
their 'signal', their meaning has been transmitted across time and space to our
little corner of the world. Their meaning and purpose has been transmitted to
us by symbol systems. These systems include words, artworks, music, rituals and
unrecognised rituals, ie. 'games' through which culture is transmitted. Marx
and Hitler, Newton and Socrates, Shakespeare and Jefferson, etc, continue to
rule parts of humanity in the same way--through the semantic circuit. It then
becomes plainly obvious that the symbol system conditions the information
transmitted and thereby conditions the mind which receives conditioned
information.
We are ruled even more, and even less consciously, by the inventors of the
wheel, the plow, the alphabet(s), even the various engineers of roads
throughout history. The founders, the religious engineers of the world
religions rule us through their creations, conditioning our minds to accept
their message and reject others.
Circuit Three is time binding in that it provides a reference from one point in
time to another point. It is also used to subdivide and reconnect things, at
pleasure. There seems to be no end of the busy analyse, synthesise, create,
divide and rejoin, labelling and packaging of experience. This is the internal
monologue which is then externalized into the continuum. On the historical
level this is the time-binding aspect as one generation adds to or subtracts
from the sum total of human knowledge and experience.
Since words contain both denotations (referents in the sensory- existential
world) and connotations (emotional tones and poetic or rhetorical hooks),
humans can be moved to action even by words which have no real meaning or
reference in actuality. This is the mechanism of demagoguery, advertising, and
much of organised religion.
Circuit Three can run away. The psy-stat turned way too high. Persons involved
with the higher circuits (V-VIII) tell us that 'reason is a whore', ie. the
semantic circuit is notoriously vulnerable to manipulation by the older, more
primitive circuits. However the rationalist may resent this, it is always true
in the short run. That is, it is always pragmatically true.
Circuit Three can become so idealistic, so revolutionary that a society cannot
cope with the rapid change. Generally a society deals with such problems by a
violent Circuit One or Circuit Four threat. Whoever can scare people enough
(produce sufficient bio- survival anxiety or sex guilt) can sell them quickly
on any verbal map that seems to provide the needed relief from the anxiety.
Once either threat is experienced Circuit Three is bypassed, and new symbols
can be plugged into the human computer.
More will be said later about Circuit Three and its associations with what
Richard Dawkins refers to as memes.
Circuit Four--Moral
Circuit Four is the next center of operation or mode of thought. This center is
approximated by the sex hormones awakening in the teen's body. Once a sexual
awakening occurs society has a perceived duty to regulate sexual expression.
This circuit could be called the Guilt Circuit since it is mostly used to
control individuals, not enhance human life.
Imprint vulnerability is acute. The first sexual signals to turn on the
adolescent nervous system remain fixed for life, defining the individual's
sexuality. They lurch about, the bewildered possessors of new bodies awakening
to a new rhythm. Sex!
As any adult can tell, this time is delicate. Accidents do happen which lend to
the general imprinting which may or may not contribute to a positive
experience. Accidents which impinge upon this imprint are just as effective as
fully intended ones. Yet time moves on. The individual's sexuality develops.
Parents and peers all have a say in the conditioning. Schools play a part in
the learning process with sex education. Society itself takes a guiding role in
Circuit Four defining what is and is not acceptable in our activities.
Circuit Four can be used in two ways to regulate other circuits. A Circuit
Three social concern can be alleviated by threatening Circuit Four. Take away a
human's opportunity for sex and they will consider their options. A still more
useful way to modify an individual's behaviour is to threaten their children.
Circuit Four is the Parent stage. Society both enhances and threatens the
parent with beneficial social programs while hinting at removal of benefits and
children.
Circuit Tasking
The task of the CyberNaut is to employ a psycho-stat to accelerate and
decelerate all Circuits in such a way as to provide optimal protection from
outside influences, liberate the circuit for newer, better working, and
optimise the imprinting, conditioning and learning to ethical ends chosen by
the CyberNaut. By using metaprogramming exercises for each circuit we can
willfully fine tune each circuit so that our perspectives and actions closer
match consensus reality. Or we may skillfully explore those areas which
interest us the most.
Conclusion
What the Thinker thinks the Prover proves. Whatever our perspective of our
bodies, our reputations, or our philosophical stance and our sexuality we prove
to ourselves that what we think is accurate. Fortunately we now know what
affects the internal programming. That makes it much easier to modify our very
beings for a more optimal life, more enjoyable existence.
The above descriptions are of the lower four Circuits. The intent of the
article was to inform. Much work needs to be done in the way of positively
integrating these ancient centers for a better life. It's time we took control
of the reins of our lives. Long have the medias, the political-religious
propaganda machines, our peers and loved ones manipulated us toward goals
previously selected. The task of the CyberNaut is to holistically and
positively reimprint, recondition and relearn toward a purpose of their own.
Between the lower and upper circuits lays a period of doubt which we term
Darkmoor.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the next article we will review the Upper Four Circuits.
They are:
5. The Holistic Neurosomatic Circuit.
6. The Collective Neurogenetic Circuit.
7. The Metaprogramming Circuit.
8. The Non-Local Quantum Circuit.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Darkmoor
Between the lower and upper circuits lies a place of uncertainty and fear. It
has many names but the CyberNaut refers to this place as Darkmoor. When the
individual, through life's events or dedicated study, learns of the existence
of newer, better states of mind there typically follows with a time of
uncertainty.
Why do I feel this way? Am I crazy? Will I get in trouble? What about my family
and friends? Will they shun me? What if they do? These are all typical
questions we ask ourselves. Mine was 'Am I demon possessed?' Unfortunately some
10 years ago I struggled against the flow. I fought myself in Darkmoor. I
became a victim of my own fearful projections. I became obsessed with the fear
of demonic possession. I was trapped in Darkmoor for ten long years.
We feel comfortable in our four circuit lives. Yet some internal pressure
drives us onward toward newer lands. CyberCraft teaches us that what drives us
is into Darkmoor is our genetic heritage. This is something we are completely
unable to constrain or withhold. Struggling against it is about as effective as
the young teen struggling against their awakening sexuality. And indeed
ignoring the arousal brings on increased states of emotional dis-ease.
Many of the neo-Pagan aficionados have already experienced this time of
uncertainty and proceeded. Goddess religion helps us to realize that circuit
two and four religious establishments are incomplete because they neglect the
body and mind as one unified entity. The universal processes of life reminds us
of that unity.
Darkmoor is not a bad place really. It is a time of trying. A time of using new
mental and emotional muscles; stretching old ones to newer limits; and of
growing new links to the Matrix, Patrus, Lady and Lord. For some folks it is a
time of joy and discovery. For others Darkmoor is indeed very dark.
Depending upon one's previous programming a CyberNaut or CyberPriest/ess can
recommend some very simple exercises to help the Aspirant to overcome previous
mistakes. This author suggests to the Aspirant that quality time while in this
area helps to engender quality experiences elsewhere.
Perhaps the best self-integrating rituals would be ones which include teachings
which bring awareness of the upper circuits. In fact I can't envision a person
who would experience harshness in Darkmoor if they were aware of upper circuit
material. However an individual programmed to see advancement as evil or
demonic would have one hell of a time in Darkmoor.
Passage through Darkmoor can be fun and exciting. But one must become aware of
the upper circuits to navigate effectively through Darkmoor.
CIRCUITS FIVE THROUGH EIGHT: CONTINUING EVOLUTION
Note: The following description of the circuits is a somewhat paraphrased
summary of Robert Anton Wilson's material on the upper four circuits from his
Prometheus Rising (Falcon Press, 1983). Quotes from Lao Tsu are from the
Vintage Books Tao Te Ching, translated by Gia-fu Feng and Jane English; Zen
parables are from Paul Reps' Zen Flesh, Zen Bones. The day-to-day applications
are my own.
While Circuits One through Four are present and operative in every adult human,
activation of the next four circuits is not nearly as widespread. In some, none
of these circuits may have ever been accessed, while others may occasionally
have experiences of one or more of the upper circuits. In any case, as Circuits
Five through Eight represent newly emerging evolutionary trends, they are at
present operative only in a relatively small percentage of the population. The
CyberNaut seeks to increase that percentage.
Circuit Five: The Holistic Neurosomatic Circuit
This circuit is typified by ecstatic or blissful feelings, sensory enhancement,
sensual pleasure from even ordinary experiences and activities, and a generally
blissful, laid-back 'high' of contentment with the state of things in general.
Gurdjieff referred to this circuit as the True Magnetic Center. Triggering
devices include isolation tanks, the Hindu technique of pranayama, or
controlled breathing, zero-gravity environments, and, for the adventurous,
Cannabis drugs. Such experiences as spontaneous regeneration or 'faith
healing,' feelings of eternal youthfulness, and rapturous acceptance of
others/events involve at least a temporary activation of this circuit. Circuit
Five control techniques have been employed by yogic and Tantric practices, Zen,
ancient Greek psychedelic drug-assisted rituals at Eleusis, Dionysians,
Mithraic cults, Christian Scientists, Sufis,and probably early Christianity as
well. Occasionally attempts to activate Circuit Five will result in a
temporary, although disconcerting, period known as the 'Dark Night of the Soul'
or 'crossing the Abyss,' characterised by painful ordinary physical sensations,
generalised bodily discomfort, distorted, nightmarish perceptions, anxiety, and
an aversion to or fear of light. However difficult such a state may become, it
does pass eventually into the ecstatic bliss of positive Circuit Five
experience.
The fifth circuit, centered largely in the right cortex, 'thinks in Gestalts'
-- that is, fifth-circuit processes are not linear progressions but holistic,
simultaneous perceptions. Neurologically wired to the genitals and the limbic
system (associated with the first circuit) and often working through
endorphins, the circuit is often triggered by relaxed, playful sex. One who has
activated and imprinted this circuit is radiant, cheerful rather than
depressed, energetic rather than sluggish, in exceptional health, and almost
seems to 'sparkle.' The various complaints of the lower circuits
--first-circuit physical sickness, second-circuit aggressive power-over,
submissive no-power, and the associated turbulent emotions, third-circuit
bewilderment over how to improve the quality of life, and fourth-circuit guilt
-- are resolved quickly and dramatically by the advent of fifth-circuit
consciousness. An accurate description of life by fifth-circuit adepts is
'floating one foot off the ground.'
Circuit Five Application
It seems to me that one of the most effective ways to integrate Circuit Five
experience into daily life is to work on focusing the consciousness intensely
in space-time. Being 'here-now' transforms even the most mundane tasks into a
set of hedonic sensations and virtually wipes out boredom from the working
vocabulary. Paul Reps relates such an ancient tale in his Zen Flesh, Zen Bones:
Zen students are with their masters at least ten years before they
presume to teach others. Nan-in was visited by Tenno, who, having
passed his apprenticeship, had become a teacher. The day happened to
be rainy, so Tenno wore wooden clogs and carried an umbrella. After
greeting him Nan-in remarked:
'I suppose you left your wooden clogs in the vestibule. I want to
know if your umbrella is on the right or left side of the clogs.'
Tenno, confused, had no instant answer. He realized that he was
unable to carry his Zen every minute. He became Nan- in's pupil, and
he studied six more years to accomplish his every-minute Zen.
When this Circuit Five 'every-minute Zen' is achieved, one can't help
remembering where the umbrella is! At the moment that he placed the umbrella,
Tenno would have been so absorbed in the interplay of colors and shapes between
the umbrella, clogs, and the decor of the vestibule, for instance, that those
sensory images would have been vividly stamped in his mind and readily
accessible to memory. In this state, the environment becomes a whirling miasma
of such vivid sense data that just walking down the sidewalk becomes a 'retinal
circus': the texture of the sidewalk is a profound sculpture of perfect
randomness; the sprays of grass coming up through the cracks are delightful
explosions of soft green against the tan concrete; wildflowers along the sides
smear their luscious pastels across the visual field, seeming to blossom into
the brain itself; trees a few feet away leap into the mind with every gully and
protrusion in the bark relieved in vast detail; the blocks in the sidewalk seem
crazily tilted and hilariously three-dimensional; the sudden whooshing of a
sprinkler in the adjacent yard seems a delicately balanced symphony of sound;
the sky is impossibly blue against the wispy clouds -- the whole body tingles
and lightens, seeming about to lift off the ground and fly! Needless to say,
life becomes a fluid, hedonic experience in which boredom is unheard of.
But what about when your bank screws you over, your camping trip gets rained
out, your car throws a rod, and your best friend announces she is no longer
speaking to you? No amount of cursing the local deities and trying to force
things into your elegantly prepared scheme will do a bit of good. With that
approach, you stomp around the house muttering all day until you've muttered
yourself blue in the face. At such times the most expedient thing to do is to
stop in your tracks, screw your eyes tight shut (assuming you're not driving),
jump up and down, screaming madly a few times, then do some deep breathing
until you feel relatively stable. Hopefully, during the course of the breathing
your face (and other muscles) will have relaxed somewhat. Now, you can open
your eyes to a calmer world and proceed to plan your next step.
First priority must be relieving any physical pain you may be in, if the means
are at hand, so that you can think more clearly. Slow down, tense and relax all
of your muscles in turn; breathe deeply and slowly, filling your lungs and
expanding your abdomen with air; hold for a few moments, then release, still
slowly, pausing with all of the air released before inhaling again. Meanwhile,
slowly tell yourself 'Calm, calm, calm,' lingering on each sound within the
word as you breathe. Now, take stock of your situation. Exactly what has
changed, and what are the immediate implications for you? Never mind futuring;
many possible complications may never develop. Accept complete responsibility
for your perceptions! The importance of the last sentence cannot be emphasised
enough. Through experience I have found that usually a problem isn't a problem
unless you perceive it as one. If all else fails, a simple shrug and a decision
to go with the flow, to do whatever is necessary and try to learn from the
situation, seems to be the best approach. Struggling against the reality
bumping you in the nose accomplishes nothing and is extremely frustrating, to
say the least.
As Lao Tsu said,
It is not wise to rush about....
If too much energy is used, exhaustion follows.
....
The world is ruled by letting things take their course.
It cannot be ruled by interfering.
--Tao Te Ching
Finally, yet another hint from a Zen parable:
Buddha told a man in a sutra:
A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled,
the tiger after him. Coming to a precipice, he caught hold
of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the
edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the
man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was
waiting to eat him. Only the vine sustained him.
Two mice, one white and one black, little by little started
gnaw away the vine. The man saw a luscious strawberry near
him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the
strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted!
Circuit Six: The Collective Neurogenetic Circuit
Circuit Six is operating when the information archived in our DNA becomes
consciously accessible in the waking state. The RNA- DNA 'dialogue' begins
broadcasting messages to the central nervous system from within each neuron.
Descriptions of experiences of this circuit typically include 'past-life
memories,' reincarnational themes, concepts of immortality, the idea of akashic
records, or a realization of something like the Gaia hypothesis, which views
our entire planet as a conscious organism, with all life upon it inextricably
linked. The music of Beethoven paints quite an accurate picture of this
realization; large doses of LSD inevitably trigger a temporary similar
awareness. Gurdjieff called this circuit the True Emotional Center.
Various cultures have given different names to sixth-circuit states throughout
the ages -- Hindu 'Atman consciousness,' Greek 'vision of Pan,' Chinese idea of
the Tao, etc. When Circuit Six is initially activated, personified archetypes
usually arrive in the personal philosophy, interpreted as 'Gods,' 'Goddesses,'
and/or 'Demons.' Jung's theory of archetypes from the collective unconscious
describes this phenomenon well. These archetypes commonly appear in the world
of dreams; they become more immediate still when Circuit Six is flipped on,
often humanising the circuit as an image of the 'Higher Self' such as the
cosmic Fool, the Holy Guardian Angel, dwarves, the Green Man, etc. If the
circuit remains activated, the perceptions usually move into more direct
visions of a consciously evolving, unfolding evolutionary scheme of increasing
self-awareness, including awareness of the entire Gaia biosphere, past
developments and future possibilities alike. Death is no longer to be feared,
since not a single life but a continuous framework of lives and deaths becomes
the operating reality.
Circuit Six processes, probably operating from the right neo- cortex, use the
many-layered language of endless associations and connotations conjured up by
each concept -- language similar to that used by James Joyce in his Finnegans
Wake. When a plethora of synchronicities emerges in daily life, the sixth
circuit is definitely alive and well, mirroring this language of simultaneous
concepts in everyday events.
The basic experience of Circuit Six is communion or conversation with the
ancient genetic 'architect' behind all physical organisms. Whether personified
as a divinely intoxicated male or female archetype or defined as an impersonal,
amorphous force, the realization is that of a vast life force becoming
increasingly self-aware and exploring the infinite possibilities that lie
ahead.
Circuit Six Application
Enmeshing Circuit Six consciousness into your everyday format can be quite an
adventure! First of all, we'll consider working with the genetic archetypes.
The most useful application of these archetypes, in an everyday sort of way,
seems to be the practice of 'aspecting' or 'drawing down,' 'invoking a
god(dess)-form,' etc. Let's say you're on your way to deliver a particularly
complex presentation, and you're understandably jittery. Take a minute or two
to select an appropriate archetype or assemble your own from the genetic
archives, then construct a brief, empowering fantasy in which you, as the
archetype, demonstrate your eloquence, your balance, your unruffled assurance,
or whatever else it is you need for this particular occasion.
In this instance, you might select Connor MacLeod from the movie Highlander to
impress dynamic, determined poise and confidence - - for the next few minutes,
you might feel the ancient sword in your hands like the touch of an old friend,
feel the power and excitement of the Quickening--feel the relaxed alertness as
you circle your foe, feel the empty space at the center of the peace as you act
effortlessly and fluidly, every nerve tingling to the same pulse--feel the
quantum-leap-spiralling-upwards zoom as the power of self-actualization
explodes into you -- as you claim the Prize. (Fade to black....) Now you speed
on winged boots through memory circuitry, tangled neural gardens, finding the
best words, the most effective gestures, just the right degree of enthusiasm to
come out shining.... Now you play the Concertmaster, bringing in each element
of a magnificent dawn just at the right time with the perfect dance of your
baton, while the sky lightens, animals stir, buds open and the surface looks up
in unison as the sun appears over the horizon.... I bet you're a lot less
jittery now. Good luck!
In addition to archetypal fantasy, Circuit Six has other advantageous
uses--namely, peeping at the genetic blueprints for 'future' possibilities. At
the very least, such excursions will expand your perspective and serve to
remind you that nothing is static--that we are not at the end of an
evolutionary trend but are constantly designing new pathways into the 'future.'
After contemplating some of the eye-opening realities we can look forward to
cultivating, it's often a lot easier to appreciate our current position in the
Universing of our choice.
Circuit Seven: The Metaprogramming Circuit
The Metaprogramming Circuit is activated when the brain becomes aware of itself
as engineer of experience. When you think of your mind as mind, then think of
the mind that contemplates that mind as mind, then think of the mind that
thinks of the mind contemplating mind as mind, you have discovered the path to
metaprogramming consciousness. Most methods of 'enlightenment' function by
leading the student around and around in circles until he is struck by the
realization that he is himself responsible for everything he experiences. With
the aid of this circuit, one becomes self-programmer, then programs the
self-programming, then programs the programming of the self-programming,
etc.--cybernetic consciousness has been attained. Suddenly one is struck by the
humorous, completely relative nature of all third-circuit reality maps; rigid,
dogmatic systems claiming to have the only 'One True Way' become cosmic jokes
to be laughed at heartily. The Grand Game becomes visible all at once; creating
your own rules, changing them at will, even manufacturing different gameboards
for entertainment and edification is what Circuit Seven is all about.
Apparently operating from the frontal lobes, the metaprogramming circuit has
been called the Gnostic 'soul,' the Chinese 'no-mind' (wu-hsin), the Tibetan
Buddhist White Light of the Void, the Hindu Shiva-darshana, Gurdjieff's True
Intellectual Center. When you ultimately realize that the 'self' is not
constant but constantly shifting and that the 'soul' (Circuit Seven) has no
form precisely because it dons all forms and sheds them at will, playing every
role conceivable--you find you have entered a Strange Loop no less perplexing,
dramatic, and funny as a Zen koan. All that remains to be done is to constantly
figure out new ways to create reality- maps that are even funnier, sexier, more
inclusive, more delightful, and more entertaining than the ones you were using
yesterday!
Circuit Seven Application
There doesn't seem to be a whole lot one can say about applying Circuit Seven
day-to-day, due to the nature of the circuit itself; the application in this
case is discovering and remembering that as you watch Universe Universing
itself, you are seeing your own circuitry in action. Once realized, this
discovery frees you to adopt any metaphors you wish or none at all, to drop
them at will, to pick useful elements from each reality-map and to discard non-
functional ones immediately. The possibilities from this point are endless.
With the staggering realization of total self- responsibility and
self-determination comes the creative tension needed to construct, edit, and
destroy new worldviews for fun and profit. There is much to be learned by
dispensing with reality- maps entirely, if only for limited periods of time. As
Lao Tsu knew,
In the pursuit of learning, every day something is acquired.
In the pursuit of Tao, every day something is dropped.
And, from the Zen tradition:
Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era, received a
university professor who came to inquire about Zen.
Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup
full, and then kept on pouring.
The professor watched the overflow until he no
longer could restrain himself. 'It is overfull.
No more will go in!'
'Like this cup,' Nan-in said, 'you are full of
your own opinions and speculations. How can I
show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?'
-- Zen Flesh, Zen Bones
Such a refresher course in objectivity can, of course, be quite startling -- if
there is one thing that can be reliably expected from experimentation with this
circuit, it is the element of surprise. Situational ethics, relativity, and
agnosticism are useful tools indeed; the CyberNaut makes good use of them.
Circuit Eight: The Non-Local Quantum Circuit
Also called the Metaphysiological Circuit, this type of consciousness involves
recognizing the model as a model and proceeding to escape the model itself. For
instance, the circuits we have been discussing theoretically are based in the
brain; however, in out-of-body experiences (OOBE's), consciousness appears to
escape the confines of the nervous system completely and operate independently
of it. The OOBE -- sometimes triggered by very large doses of LSD or ketamine,
various yogic practices, shamanic techniques, and sometimes occuring
spontaneously -- is one of many liberation-of-consciousness phenomena which
point ultimately to the type of experience variously known as union with all
consciousness, communion with the Cosmic Mind, Oneness with God, etc.
Circuit Eight experience may best be explained by Bell's Theorem, which
demonstrates the impossibility of isolated systems in a universe where each and
every particle is constantly in 'instantaneous' communication with every other.
'The Whole System is a Whole System,' in other words. However, Special
Relativity says that energy cannot travel faster than light, so what medium
carries this 'instantaneous' communication? Dr. Edward Harris Walker says it is
'consciousness'; Dr. Jack Sarfatti states that it is 'information' and explains
his theory with the following metaphor: If the whole universe can be likened to
a mega-computer, then the sub-quantum realm is composed of mini-mini-computers.
The hardware of each computer (universe, individual brain, sub-quantum
mechanisms, etc.) is local in space and time. However, the software is
non-local, both spatially and temporally. Since information is not energy but
is what orders energy, there is no conflict with Special Relativity.
In any case, encounters of the Ultimate kind seem practically beyond
description. Words appear completely inadequate; in Wilson's opinion, perhaps
Beethoven said it best of all in the fourth movement to his Ninth Symphony.
Circuit Eight Application
Language typically proves inadequate for describing non-local phenomena, but
there are some helpful methods of viewing Universe through a non-local
perspective. One most rewarding technique is focusing first on one's own
heartbeat, then expanding the focus to include a similar heart or pulse beating
in unison within every human heart, every animal heart, then merging with the
pulsings of plant life, and so on down to the slow, thunderous pulse of the
earth itself and out as far into the cosmos as imaginable, linking with other
planets, stars, quasars, etc. The scope of the imagination is the only limiting
factor. This exercise, performed often and vividly, is a great way to feel
connectedness with Universe. Empathy seems to be a vital key to opening up
Circuit Eight; therefore, exercises involving perceiving events/emotions
simultaneously from the vantage points of several different people at once are
highly useful. As links are forged more readily between people who share an
intimate bond, reverent sex is an excellent opportunity for expanding the
awareness to include multiple sensations.
Since Circuit Eight is non-local in time as well as in space, such
time-bridging abilities as precognition and retrocognition come into play.
Often, precognition is a matter of trusting your own perceptions more than
anything else, rather than dismissing them as 'only' imagination or fantasy.
Indeed, neither the future nor the past can be described as fixed, since each
person's reality differs so widely, and many possibilities in the running may
or may not materialize at any given point. With activation of this circuit,
comes the increasing awareness that various realities are more or less
arbitrary and equally valid depending on the framework being used, a logical
progression from the metaprogramming discoveries of Circuit Seven. Finally, the
most obvious indicator of Circuit Eight in operation is an expansive, 'cosmic'
feeling that defies description but feels utterly marvelous.
Conclusion
The CyberNaut's goal must be to permanently activate and incorporate each of
the upper four circuits into everyday life. These expanded modes of
consciousness can and should work with the realization of interconnectedness
and relativity of all mindschemes to produce a greater satisfaction with life
and a greater sense of humour towards the playing of The Game. Once these
circuits are in healthy operation, every moment becomes a dizzying spiral of
intoxication with life and a creative endeavour to conjure even more fun from
the ever-unfolding processes at work.
What can be said about circuit 7? Lots of things, but these statements are
almost in a different language. Something not in English. In its most basic
aspect circuit 7 is the point in the individual's development where they begin
to understand how they program, influence, and condition their own minds. The
programmer takes control of the program to design in or erase out those
functions useful or not. This includes feelings and emotions. [Glasser's
Perception orders give us a hint as to how to use circuit 7 better.]
Circuit 7 is the metaprogramming circuit. Dr. Lilly has a lot to say on this
subject in some of his books. I think Center Of The Cyclone and Programmimg And
Metaprogramming The Human Biocomputer both address this topic. I haven't read
the latter at this point. It's on my list of a hundred or so.
In other topics I refer to the human mind/body complex as a single somewhat
mechanical entity. Robert Anton Wilson says the brain is something like a
silicon computer. Cyber-punks term the brain 'wetware'. They even go as far as
to distinguish between minds, ie. 'meat mind' and 'machine mind'.
In K. Eric Drexler's Engines Of Creation--The Coming Era Of Nanotechnology, he
starts his book off writing of the machines that inhabit the human body. Each
human cell is inhabited with millions of tiny nanomachines. And today we have
the beginning of the capability of sensing, viewing, controlling and creating
newer, more useful nanomachines. Obviously our understanding of the word
machine is evolving. (Perhaps you have heard recently that folks at IBM labs
have the ability to manipulate individual atoms. In 22 hours with a scanning
tunneling microscope they moved 32 xenon atoms across a nickel surface to spell
out IBM. It was difficult and slow, but it was done. Additionally genetic
researchers on the East Coast are asking for children with genetic conditions
to volunteer for genetic manipulation and testing. They think they can 'fix'
the bad chromosones.)
The human body and by extension the human brain (wetware) is composed of
individual micro and nano machines. So by extension we can think of the human
brain as a macro-machine (in light of the littler machines that make its
composition.) As time proceeds, technology and human knowledge progress. Even
the understanding of 'technology' and 'knowledge' changes with new information.
The understanding of 'human' and 'mind' changes even as you read this reply.
Today we are on the verge of a radical change. Additionally, radical changes in
our paradigms are happening now. Either our individual worldviews keep up with
existing useful knowledge or we will grow 'strange', alienating ourselves from
the force of the march of the race toward the stars.
One of these paradigm changes is one which considers the human animal more
machine and less a metaphysical entity. By extension we can also say that the
human mind is more machine than metaphysical entity. A truly advanced,
conscious and replicating, self-modifying, amazing machine, but a machine it
remains. This disturbs many metaphysical minded folks because it has ominous
consequences, the most ominous being that if WoMankind is basically a machine
then what about an afterlife? According to this model unless some vehicle is
generated to contain human consciousness there is no life after death.
Continuing on... Just like a computer we can program our minds. School is the
primary place of programming. Learning is taught very little in schools.
Students are supposed to open their minds to let the teacher pour in the
socially accepted, accredited programs. It's no wonder our children hate
school. They have the genetically driven need to learn, but they perceive they
are being programmed. Programming and learning are not the same thing. Our
children perceive the hypocrisy. I rebel against the idea myself.
However ethical self-programming is a different item altogether. Folks like
Leary, Wilson, Alpert, and Lilly, tell us that some techniques can indeed
change our minds. Techniques like focused meditation, positive visualisation,
brain machines and chemical alteration are powerful tools for brain change.
Personally I've used positive visualization to some success. Focused meditation
is probably the best current legal technique. More powerful techniques are
brain machines which use a feature of the brain to train the brain into
semi-discrete states while listening to motivational tapes. The most powerful
and most dangerous tools are psycho-active drugs. These are generally used to
demolish existing emotional structures which might compete with the newly
forming, more delicate emotional structures. This wrecking crew is composed of
any of the psycho-active drugs available. The most popular are LSD, 'shrooms,
XTC and pot. All of these drugs tie back into circuit 5 so there is a double
whammy involved with their usage. For some people demolition of emotional
structures works well. Others would just freak.
Currently these drugs are illegal. Our society has some difficult problems to
face with respect to mind-altering substances. The primitive (and now our
contemporary) shaman has used plant substances to alter brain chemistry for
some 30,000 years. I have a fairly extensive reading list for these
metaprogramming substances. Perhaps this is subject matter for an addendum.
Brain machines and disciplined meditation seem to be the most powerful legal
tools. These are able to softly rearrange the minds programming without
demolishing whole structures. As time marches on brain machines will progress.
I presume that at some point, the most powerful models will become illegal.
Figures.
from cybercraft http://www.intac.com/~dimitri/dh/cc-intro.htm
"As you watch, you learn that the observer is merely a bundle of ideas and memories without any validity or substance, but that fear is an actuality and that you are trying to understand fact with an abstraction which of course, you cannot do. But, in fact, is the observer who says, 'I am afraid', any different from the thing observed which is fear? The observer is fear and when that is realized there is no longer any dissipation of energy in the effort to get rid of fear, and the space-time interval between the observer and the observed disappears. When you see you are a part of fear, not separate from it-that you are fear- then you cannot do anything about it; then fear comes totally to an end." J. Krishnamurti
"Ideas have become far more important to us than action---ideas so cleverly expressed in books by the intellectuals in every field. The more cunning, the more subtle, those ideas are the more we worship them and the books that contain them. We are those books, we are those ideas, so heavily conditioned are we by them. We are forever discussing ideas and ideals and dialectically offering opinions. Every religion has its dogma, its formula, its own scaffold to reach the gods, and when inquiring into the beginning of thought we are questioning the importance of this whole edifice of ideas. We have separated ideas from action because ideas are always of the past and action is always the present---that is, livings is always the present. We are afraid of living and therefore the past, as ideas, has become so important to us." J. Krishnamurti
"Meditation is something that is not contrived, organised. Meditation IS. It begins with the first step, which is to be free of all your psychological hurts, accumulated fears, anxiety, loneliness, despair, sorrow. That is the foundation, that is the first step, and the first step is the last step. If you take that first step it is all over...The ending of sorrow is love. Where there is that love there is compassion. And that compassion has its own integral intelligence. And when that intelligence acts, that action is always true. There is no conflict where there is that intelligence." J. Krishnamurti, a Bombay Talk 1985
"Desire is always in contradiction. I desire contradictory things, which doesn't mean that I must destroy desire, suppress, control or sublimate it, I simply see that desire itself is contradictory. It is not the objects of desire but the very nature of desire which is contradictory. And I have to under- stand the nature of desire before I can understand conflict. In ourselves we are in a state of contradiction, and that state of contradiction is brought about by desire, desire being the pur- suit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain." From J. Krishnamurti, "Freedom from the Known":
"Saturday, April 23, 1983. The clouds are still hanging over the hills, the valley and the mountains. Occasionally there is an opening in the sky and the sun comes through, bright, clear, but soon it disappears. One likes this kind of morning, cool, fresh, with the whole world green around you. As the summer comes on the sun will burn all the green grass, and the meadows across the valley will be parched, dry, and all the grass with the bright green will have gone. In the summer all the freshness has gone. One likes these quiet mornings. The oranges are so bright and the leaves, dark green, are shining. And there is a perfume in the air from the orange blossom, strong, almost suffocating. There is a different kind of orange to be picked later on before the summer heat. Now there is the green leaf, the orange and the flower of the same tree at the same time. It is a beautiful world and man is so indifferent to it, spoiling the earth, the rivers and the bays and the fresh-water lakes. But let's leave all that behind and walk along a narrow path, up the hill where there is a little stream which in a few weeks will be dry. You and a friend are walking along the path, talking now and then, looking at all the various colours of green. What a variety there is, from the lightest green, the Nile green, and perhaps even lighter, bluer, to the dark greens, luscious, full of their own richness. And as you go along up the path, just managing to walk along together side by side, you happen to pick up something ravishingly beautiful, sparkling, a jewel of extraordinary antiquity and beauty. You are so astonished to find it on this path of so many animals which only a few people have trodden. You look at it with great astonishment. It is so subtly made, so intricate that no jeweller's hand can ever made it. You hold it for some time, amazed and silent. Then you put it very carefully in your inside pocket, button it, and are almost frightened that you might lose it or that it might lose its sparkling, shining beauty. And you put your hand outside the pocket that holds it. The other sees you doing this and sees that your face and your eyes have undergone a remarkable change. There is a kind of ecstasy, a speechless wonder, a breathless excitement. When the man asks: 'What is it that you have found and are so extraordinarily elated by?' you reply in a very soft, gentle voice (it seems so strange to you to hear your own voice) that you picked up truth. You don't want to talk about it, your are rather shy; the very talking might destroy it. And the man who is walking beside you is slightly annoyed that you are not communicating with him freely, and he says that if you have found the truth, then let's do gown into the valley and organise it so that others will understand it, so that others will grasp it and perhaps it will help them. You don't reply, you are sorry that you ever told him about it. [...]" From "Krishnamurti to Himself", pp. 85:
"I wonder if one realizes, not as an idea, not as something of romantic appeal, but as an actual fact, that one is the world -- psychologically, inwardly, one is the world. Go to India, they have the same problems as here, suffering, loneliness, death, anxiety, sorrow. Wherever one goes this is the fact common to humanity. When you hear this statement that psychologically, inwardly, one is the world, do you make of it an idea? Or do you actually realize it as you realize it when a pin is thrust into your thigh or your arm, the actual pain of it? You don't have an idea about that; it is so, there is pain. So does one actually realize that immense fact, feel it as something vital, something that is tremendously actual? If one does, then that psychological fact affects the mind, the brain -- not one's little mind narrowed by national or family concerns -- it affects the human brain. When one realizes that, it brings a sense of great responsibility, without any sense of guilt, but a sense of tremendous responsibility for all things connected with human beings, how one educates one's children, how one behaves, and so on. If one actually realizes this immensity - it is immense - then the particular entity as 'me' seems so insignificant; all ones little worries become so shoddy. When one sees this fact, when it is felt in one's heart and mind, one covers the earth; one wants to protect everything, for one is responsible." J. Krishnamurti, 1980, Bulletin 40, Ojai
"Thought has created the problems which surround us and our brains are trained, educated, conditioned, to the solving of problems...It is essential that we understand the nature of our thinking and the nature of our reactions which arise from our thinking." (page 20) "From experience we acquire knowledge, from knowledge memory; the response of memory is thought, then from thought to action, from that action you learn more, so the cycle is repeated. That is the pattern of our life. That form of learning will never solve our problems because it is repetition." (page 25) "Suppose I have great sorrow for the death of someone with whom I have lived for many years. Then there is this sorrow which is the essence of isolation; we feel totally isolated, completely alone. Now, remain completely with that feeling, not verbalising it, not rationalising it, or escaping from it, or trying to transcend it - all of which is the movement that thought brings about. When there is that sorrow and thought does not enter into it at all - which means you are completely sorrow, not trying to overcome sorrow, but totally sorrow - then there is the disappearance of it. It is only when there is the fragmentation of thought that there is travail." (page 65) From J. Krishnamurti "The Network of Thought"
"To the so-called religious to be sensitive is to sin, an evil reserved for the worldly; to the religious the beautiful is temptation, to be resisted; it's an evil distraction to be denied. Good works are not a substitute for love, and without love all activity leads to sorrow, noble or ignoble. The essence of affection is sensitivity and without it all worship is an escape from reality. To the monk, to the sanyasi, the senses are the way of pain, save thought which must be dedicated to the god of their conditioning. But thought is of the senses. It is thought that puts together time and it is thought that makes sensitivity sinful. To go beyond thought is virtue and that virtue is heightened sensitivity which is love. Love and there is no sin; love and do what you will and then there is no sorrow." J. Krishnamurti
"Non-violence has been preached over and over again, politically, religiously, by various leaders that you have had - non-violence. Non-violence is not a fact; it is just an idea, a theory, a set of words; the actual fact is that you are violent. That is the fact. That is 'what is'. But we are not capable of understanding 'what is' and this is why we create this nonsense called non-violence. And that gives rise to the conflict between 'what is' and 'what should be'. All the while you are pursuing non-violence you are sowing the seeds of violence. This is so obvious." J. Krishnamurti, The Flame of Attention Harper Collins, ISBN 0-06-064814-7, pp. 46-47
"We have been told that all paths lead to truth -- you have your path as a Hindu and someone else has his path as a Christian and another as a Muslim, and they all meet at the same door -- which is, when you look at it, so obviously absurd. Truth has no path, and that is the beauty of truth, it is living. A dead thing has a path to it because it is static, but when you see that truth is something living, moving, which has no resting place, which is in no temple, mosque or church, which no religion, no teacher, no philosopher, nobody can lead you to -- then you will also see that this living thing is what you actually are -- your anger, your brutality, your violence, your despair, the agony and sorrow you live in. In the understanding of all this is the truth, and you can understand it only if you know how to look at those things in your life. And you cannot look through an ideology, through a screen of words, through hopes and fears. So you see that you cannot depend on anybody. There IS no guide, no teacher, no authority. There is only you -- your relationship with others and the world -- there is nothing else." J. Krishnamurti Page 15, 'Freedom From the Known', HarperSanFrancisco, ISBN 0-06-064808-2
Love is the law, love under will.