~ Who looks outside dreams, who looks inside awakens." ~ Carl Jung

~ "Every lot is happy if borne with equanimity." ~ Boethius

~ A Bad Day for the Ego is a Good Day for the Soul ~

All societies could benefit by implementing into their school systems instruction in the Four-Valued Logic of Nagarjuna, Meditation, Martial Arts, Yoga, and Music

The spiritual quest could be simplified as the task of transcending the limitations of linear, sequential duality created by perception so as to reveal Reality, which is unlimited and nonlinear and therefore nondual. Life is lived solely on experience and none other. All experience is subjective and nonlinear and, therefore, even the linear, perceptual, sequential delineation of 'reality' can't be experienced except subjectively. All 'truth' is a subjective conclusion. Once having understood that the only significance or importance of the linear, perceptual world is how it is subjectively experienced, the quest for truth shifts from 'out there' to within. To the worldly, success is something 'out there' to 'have' and to be acquired. To the more experienced and sophisticated, it becomes apparent through wisdom that the source of happiness is within the subjective inner world of experiencing, which is the result of inner qualities, meaning, and context.

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Buddha's Four Noble Truths come to us from 500 B.C. India. The First Noble Truth is indisputable: We experience pain because we are aware of the fragile, finite, temporary nature of our lives. The Second Noble Truth addresses the additional suffering caused by craving and attachment. The Third Noble Truth offers the terrific, good news that when we take control of our free-running, chattering minds, we have the opportunity to exchange suffering for gratitude. And the Fourth Noble Truth describes the Buddhist Eightfold Path of the right view of right living, which leads to the end of suffering.

Intuition and Logic

The principle of superposition and the transcendence of Aristotelian thought allow our conscious mind to be more intuitive, unrestricted, and unconditioned. The real test of this is in applying Nagarjuna's four lemmas to our everyday lives and the here and now. Following, are practical steps for developing intuitive wisdom. They are: (1) the dissolving and surrender of egoism and dogmatism, (2) the application of self-criticism and naked awareness, (3) the incorporation of new nondual logical forms. This transformation requires honesty, fearlessness, and practice. Example: the interrelation of the physical and non-physical world often manifests in the state of our health. The body is made of atoms, molecules, and physical systems. If we are ill, some part must need repair. What might be causing the illness is our response to an angry partner, boss, or even a wayward thought. So, here would be a physical illness in response to a nonphysical event. And we now know that sustained stress of any kind can not only make us sick but can make us stupid (by directing blood away from the cognitive centers to our muscles and the reptilian brain). So, our bodies control our minds just as our minds control our bodies. Body and mind are mutually co-arising. Nagarjuna's logic system attempts to show us a way to transcend dualistic thought patterns thru the realm of rational discourse. Here are the four lemmas as an illustration of Nagarjuna's methods. First, we must negate the first two lemmas: (1) this is true and (2) this is not true. The third lemma is the attribution of two contradictory qualities: (3) this is both true and not true. And the fourth lemma is a denial of two contradictory qualities: (4) this is neither true nor not true. Lemmas 3 and 4 describe the Middle Way, dissolving polarities and artificial separations. It's as though all beings have a fundamentally complex nature. In mathematics we would say that we have both REAL and IMAGINARY parts, corresponding to a real, concrete material part, in addition to an imaginary, spiritual, dependently co-arising part. To think in the negation of logical thought can be baffling if one has had little or no introduction to the Madhyamika system. Something or someone you thought about as real; you must also place into a new relationship and consequently consider unreal. But it is not unreal as if it never existed; it is unreal in that it has no independent existence. An entity is neither being nor nonbeing. It is "being" only in relation to something else. Until dependent arising, the entity is "nonbeing" or empty of individual essence. As in Nagarjuna's Madhyamika-Karika XXIV:9: "There is no entity that is not dependent. An absolutely non-relational entity does not therefore exist." The Madhyamika thinkers, whilst using all the resources of dialectic philosophy and logical disputation, search to arrive at an approximate idea of the unconditioned understanding of ultimate reality. But this understanding remains beyond the comprehension of those who look for release from pain and suffering outside themselves in ritualistic or psychological saviors. Release comes from within thru change in our perception of what is real and not real, and thru seeing our relationship to the whole. When we view the world and people as an interrelated whole, we lose the "I" vs "they" construction that creates competition and separation. This reality is only accessible to one who sees beyond the duality and illusion of separation.

Our Limited View of Ourselves:
Duality and Two-Valued Logic as a Cause of Suffering -

Aristotle's goal, around 350 B.C., was to codify the essential nature of science by defining its forms and laws--inspired by his teacher, Plato. He also introduced linguistic structures that began the foundation of Western civilization--the study of logic. His plan was to define objective reality by expounding on what we label "objects," things having their own reality outside our apprehension of them. Aristotle taught that objects have inherent properties in the physical world independent of the observer. Until quite recently, Western civilization has exclusively used Aristotelian two-valued logic (A, or not A) logical objective orientation. In two-valued logic, the world is either eternal, or it is not eternal--not both. Aristotle called this the "law of the excluded middle." Something being true or not true (A or not A) is a corollary of the idea of independent existence and identity. As we must learn from both quantum physics and Nagarjuna, however, the observer is not independent, but always affects the observed. The important Buddhist teaching of sunyata (emptiness) also informs us that things are empty of inherent meaning and have only the meaning we give them. This means that they can't have the independent existence that Aristotle declared. This is the Buddhist principle of mutual co-arising--like the mutual and simultaneous appearance of a magnetic field whenever one has a propagating or time-varying electric field. A lightning strike, as well as a comb pulled thru your hair, generates both a magnetic field and an electric spark. Similarly, in modern relativistic physics, Einstein taught that there can be no space without matter and no time without events for time to delineate. Time and space, gravity and inertia, and the Buddhist karma are all examples of what's meant by mutual co-arising. Since Aristotelian logic focuses mainly on externalized observation of "facts" and "figures," when this system is applied to the individual, a split takes place between the "I" and the "other." The two-valued Aristotelian "law of the excluded middle," with the resulting split, provided a logical institutionalized basis for millions of human beings to exist as slaves, entrapped by intellectual and emotional constructs. The law of the excluded middle is the law of separation. As we have seen thru the ages, the structured dualism is the idea that "everyone who isn't with us is against us." If someone makes a remark about your performance or appearance, you have several choices as to how you might respond, or what you might experience. You could tell them directly what they can do with their nasty comment. That feels good for a moment. Or you could repress your resentment and paste it into your resentment scrapbook. But there actually is a middle ground between acting out and repressing. It's called "letting go" and experiencing your own open-hearted and energetic flow of loving awareness. Although someone said "Boo!" nothing is actually happening beyond the meaning you give it. This is one example of why we can become passionate about exploring and learning to live in the excluded middle. Slavery was the rule in ancient Athens, as well as in Europe and America. Slavery could exist only in a separatist and dualistic culture of "self vs other." There are the "us Greek men," then there are the others, including women and slaves. From the Greek's radical idealization of men came machismo and paternalism, as well as the general acceptance of slavery and oppression of the other. Two-valued logic gives rise to lack of empathy and fear of the other, whether it manifests as a Christian Crusade, an Islamic Jihad, or plain old-fashioned Western imperialism with its extermination of indigenous people. For example: Pope Pius XII successfully saved German cripples from Nazi euthanasia because they were largely Christians. But he expended not so much effort to save millions of German Jews and gypsies because they were "the other." A dramatically dualistic worldview inherently leads to suffering. It has done so for millennia in religions that have the self-appointed task of creating separation between us and experience of the divine. This is equally true in politics, economics, and human relations, all of which are organized in a hierarchical power structure. In a dualistic system, there are fewer options. Even in our modern Judeo-Christian institutions, two-valued logic is built in. We have a powerful, omnipotent deity out there, and a puny little self (me) down here. This construct of thought has the effect of separating us from our divine nature by projecting our searching elsewhere and is the idolatry that we are warned against in the Ten Commandments. Idolatry implies separation, and the idea that there's an omnipotent "god" out there is an idolatrous idea. There is in fact, no separation. In the more expansive and inclusive (neither A nor not A) four-valued logic description of nondual realities, the world is neither eternal nor not eternal. The glass is neither half-empty nor half-full. A profoundly nondual view says that you and the deity are inseparable. Jesus tells us in the recently discovered Gospel of Thomas, "When you make two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer, and the outer like the inner, the upper like the lower, and when you make the male and the female into one...then you will enter the [Father's] domain"--unifying you with all there is, it is who you are! Poets, mystics, and composers experience this and can show us this experience of the divine, which is both nondual and nonconceptual. For more than two thousand years, the human nervous system in the Western world has been ensnared in the restrictive, oppressive, often delusional orientations of dualism, which is reflected in the very structure of the language we habitually use. The word "divine" comes to us from the Sanskrit DIVA, which is a name for God, whereas the word "devil" comes from the Sanskrit word for division (dvaidha). So, the devil is the root idea behind all dualistic thought. In Hebrew, "Satan" has the Aramaic root STA, meaning the slipping away or the causing of separation, more commonly known as the adversary, divider, or enemy. The "devil" or "Satan" is that which divides or separates us from our divinity, from each other, and from nature. The devil has no more independent existence than does evil. Saying that it does is like saying there are two forces in the world: cold and heat. In fact, there is only heat and the absence of heat, energy and the absence of energy, light and the absence of light. It is logically incoherent to speak of anything as a source of darkness. Darkness can't be the source of anything, let alone the often-heard idea that "the devil made me do it." Evil is not a separate entity simply existing out there. Satan represents the loss of our inherent goodness of not using our divine abilities. Such divisions and separations are the source of most human suffering. The destruction of the World Trade Center on 11th of September 2001, was the result of the collective thoughts and actions of Eastern and Western societies for many centuries, exemplifying the egoism, misunderstanding, and separation of religious and political institutions. It would be absurd to say that the catastrophe was due to actions on a single day and to neglect our shared responsibility in creating this planetary force--a horrific and indisputable example of mutual co-arising.

Note: The Pythagorean mystery school of the 6th century B.C. taught compassion and nonduality in ancient Greek times, so ideas beyond two-valued logic are not entirely culturally bound. Similarly, in pre-Christian times (6th Cent. B.C.), Lao Tsu, the great Chinese master of the Tao, also taught nonduality and created the Yin and Yang image as a powerful and enduring symbolic representation of female and male nonseparation in which each contains a significant representation of the other.

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Nagarjuna's purpose in emphasizing nondual emptiness (sunyata) is to bring our ordinary consciousness (which is conditioned) as close as possible to naked unconditioned consciousness. The goal is to come directly into contact with this naked awareness, which is who we are. Naked awareness is our entry point to the experience of nonconceptual emptiness that is free of ME and MINE. Suffering is instantaneously released when we finally surrender ME and MINE; suffering can't be released until that surrender is accomplished. The fundamental teaching is that the pristine spacious experience of naked awareness, or awakened Self (bodhichitta) must be free of the egoic ME. Nagarjuna demonstrates with near mathematical precision that suffering is unnecessary if not impossible if when we experience the true nature of reality. Suffering is the result of our limited understanding of the world composed of separate, discrete entities that interact with each other and with ourselves. Nagarjuna addressed this problem in the Two Truths doctrine, which is based on the view of two realities--SUBJECTIVE reality and ULTIMATE reality. Our understanding of the two truths is important to our happiness and freedom from suffering because it provides us the tools to distinguish reality from illusion. In our daily life, direct perception and experience of the world are hugely clouded by our projections and preconceptions, causing significant misapprehensions. Relative or conventional reality involves our everyday experience of the world and is often based on culture and language. For example, Christians, Muslims, and Jews each have their own "true" way of worship. We agree to call a thing a table if it is composed of four posts and a plank and we use those parts in a certain way. A COURSE IN MIRACLES (ACIM) expresses conventional reality by saying, "I have given everything I see all the meaning it has for me."

Everything Is Dependently Co-arising -

Nagarjuna taught the folly of attempting a dualistic explanation of ultimate reality by separating it from our conventional experience of the world. The empirical world is our "means" to the unconditional understanding of the ultimate. The nonconceptual truth beyond duality is the "end." This suggests that we are to be consciously in the world and, at the same time, not restricted to it. In practical terms, when we give up seeing the world thru our conditioning, we no longer project our fears, hopes, and prejudices onto everything we encounter. The importance of the "two truths" teaching is to point this out. Then we can experience naked awareness, limitless mind, and unbounded consciousness. Nagarjuna's tetralemma helps us to make this shift by destroying the idea that things have an independent existence. Along this same line, the great physicist Werner Heisenberg taught that "The idea of an objective real world whose smallest parts exist objectively in the same sense that stones or trees exist, independently of whether or not we observe them...is impossible." The eighth-century writer Shankara wrote in his Crest-jewel of Discrimination that our most significant life goal is to discern reality from illusion. Nagarjuna taught that when we cease reifying things and the self, we then drop our emotional attachments to objects, personas, and concepts of the world. We surrender the ego by giving up the notion of "I" and "mine." Then we can experience the undifferentiated nature of ultimate reality. Until that point of realization, we misperceive existence. The illusion of separation inhibits our awareness of ultimate reality by confining our awareness to only a small part of reality. As Nagarjuna teaches, conventional reality and ultimate reality are not separate realities. He illuminates the truth of nonduality thru his teachings on emptiness and dependent arising to which he says that all things, concepts, and persons are empty of self-nature and only arise to exist dependently on other factors. To be perfectly clear, the teaching here is that nothing at all exists independently. What we're describing here is not esoteric, but simply mental housecleaning. It should be done daily, or at least every Spring. A more thorough understanding of the two truths includes an understanding of the central theme of the Madhyamika karika--emptiness or sunyata. Nagarjuna said that understanding emptiness leads to a greater truth of how things really are. He said that all things are empty, and he used the tetralemma to prove it. It's important to remember that emptiness does not deny the existence of conventional reality or things but says that all things have no self-nature or intrinsic essence. Nothing exists on its own, divided or separated from other things. Everything is interdependent and can't exist without other things, including the Self. For example, a location can't exist without an object in that location, and an object can't exist without a location. This is the meaning of emptiness and dependent arising. Einstein said the same thing in his general relativity theory: We can't have empty space. The object and its mass define the space. Relativistic frame-dragging experiments with a gyroscope spinning in space investigated the gravitational effects of the spinning earth (NASA Gravity Probe Mission). The experiments showed that the nature of space itself is affected by the spinning earth, just as Einstein predicted. Nagarjuna explains:

Whatever is dependently co-arisen
That is explained to be emptiness
That, being dependent designation
Is itself the middle way.
Something that is not dependently arisen,
Such a thing does not exist
Therefore a non-empty thing
Does not exist.

Emptiness and dependent arising are inseparable. Nothing has independent existence and nothing can manifest on its own. Buddha further explicates dependent arising:

When this is present, that comes to be
From the arising of this, that arises
When this is absent, that does not come to be
On the cessation of this, that ceases.

Since nothing can exist on its own and everything is dependent arising, reality can't be two separate things. There is no correctness to the idea of "us" and "them." In using Nagarjuna's tetralemma--the four lemmas--we begin to question our own reality thru the Madhyamika system of reasoning. We gain a new vision beyond the illusion of a "single truth." Nagarjuna's teachings of the "Two Truths--conditioned truth and naked truth--is important in understanding that any "single truth" is an illusion. The fourth lemma, in particular, introduces us to a transcendence of reason encompassing plural truths--the important idea that most things are NEITHER THIS NOR NOT THIS. We go beyond the incomplete, two-valued logic of Aristotle (the logic upon which the West has functioned/dis-functioned on for centuries), with the four-valued logic of Nagarjuna, into an expanded awareness, which allows us to transcend limitations of our ordinary awareness of spacetime existence. In the Madhyamika system, this transcendence is the wisdom identified with undifferentiated intuition and ultimate reality. The intent of the doctrine of Two Truths is to move us beyond the phenomenal sphere of events and activities to new realms of being where we find the ultimate undifferentiated and unseparated from the locus of awareness. This is the wisdom (prajna) that comes thru an intuitive identification with ultimate reality (spaciousness). That is, the ontological status of prajna requires a mystical intuition of the ultimate that comes about once the logical reasoning of the first three lemmas has been exhausted. This entire movement is clear in Nagarjuna's Madhyamika-sastra 2:XVII:

What is the Buddha after his Nirvana?
Does he exist or does he not exist,
Or both, or neither?
We will never conceive it.

Murti tells us: "The death of thought is the birth of wisdom; devoid of distinction [judgement], it leads to wisdom." The death of thought means the death of Aristotelian dualistic thought, the limited logic of the perceiver and the perceived. Such thoughts or concepts create distinction or separation. Perfect reasoning allows release from the naming and grasping that create separation and suffering. Again, the four lemmas help us out of this dualistic thinking. In a soul-searching sketch, then, the system may be quickly, however grossly, summed up in this way: The individual finds himself in a phenomenal world of unhappiness, in which the Buddha tells us in the first of his Four Noble Truths, "To exist is to suffer." It is as if he is saying: This phenomenal realm (samsara) is composed of subject-object relationships. This is further explained by the second noble truth: "Suffering is caused by attachment, craving, or desire." This obviously expresses a subject-object bifurcation--separation and judgement--as the root cause of suffering. As with the four lemmas, we must understand the first two Noble Truths to appreciate the last two of the Noble Truths. We must learn about the possibility of choices (lemmas 1 and 2). In the same way, we must develop and experience a sense of self in order to discover that the concept of self is an illusion. The third and fourth Noble Truths are: "The end of suffering is attainable" and "the Eightfold Path leads directly to the end of suffering." The Eightfold Path is generally associated with: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration. Adhering to the elements of the Eightfold Path keeps us on a trajectory of freedom and spaciousness. Departing from the path does not mean we are bad, but it deflects our attention from the direction we want to be headed.

The Model of the Real and Unreal -

Everything real is interdependent and nothing unreal exists. The fundamental cause of suffering has traditionally and correctly been identified as with ignorance of our true nature. Ignorance is the illusion of separation between subject and object, between self and other. This dualism is unreal in the sense that it creates divisions within ultimate reality. When we desperately attempt to maintain ego--individuality and autonomy--we maintain the belief that we are a body separate from other bodies. We continually seek ways to verify our own story, or self-identity. This is the insidiousness of the ego thought system. The illusory perception of ourselves vs others is the root cause of suffering from fears, anger, problematic relationships, addictive behaviors and depression. Because of this mistaken identification of ourselves in relation to others, or in relation to the ultimate, we can spend an entire lifetime on futile obsessions, only creating further suffering. Seeing the dependent co-arising of everything around us is the first step toward understanding the real nature of our experience. Contrary to many Americans' cherished view of rugged individualism, Nagarjuna would agree with the idea that within a social fabric, "no man is an island unto himself." Everything real is interdependent. Nagarjuna taught that even our own existence "is not a thing in itself; it is in relation to other entities, and these in turn depend on others." This is the meaning of dependent arising and emptiness. Nagarjuna is establishing that all phenomena depend on each other, and any particular phenomenon lacks reality in any independent sense. The usual Western philosophical criterion for any phenomenon or entity to be ultimately real is that it possesses its own being or essence, which means that it is "independent of conditions"--usually unrelated to others, un-generated, ever enduring. In the logic of Nagarjuna, if a thing must have independent existence in order to exist, then nothing exists because nothing has independent existence. Since the Madhyamika sutras show that 'there is no entity that is not in a relation' of mutual dependence, then there are none that possess own being or self-nature. "If entities are relative, they have no real existence" (apart from the meaning that we give them), according to Madhyamika-sastra, 1:X:1-2. Madhyamika thinkers do not deny our uniqueness, nor do they assert that beings have an independent or separate existence in any sense. Fire is not separate from the fuel for the flame, yet fire and fuel are unique. The Madhyamika system teaches us that there is no real difference between ultimate reality and empirical phenomena, boundaries, and separations are illusions of our own making, then the idea of a separate ego maintaining a suffering state can be equally seen as an illusion. The world of illusion can be compared to a mirage; it is not absolute nonexistence, but it is a deception and greatly misperceived. An illusion appears to be real, and it is a tangible and visible phenomenon. The deception lies in its being mistaken for what it is not. Behind all of these illusions, there is only undifferentiated identification with the ultimate. In the words of Nagarjuna in his Madhyamika-sastra 2:XIX-XX:

XIX. There is no difference at all
Between nirvana and samsara.
There is no difference at all
Between samsara and nirvana.

XX. What makes the limit of nirvana
Is also the limit of samsara.
Between the two we cannot find
The slightest shade of difference.

The reason there is no difference between the bliss of nirvana and the ever-encircling chaos of samsara is that they are both only ideas residing in consciousness. We, of course, always have the freedom to change our mind if we don't like what we are experiencing. In the preceding verse, Nagarjuna is addressing the Buddhist paradox or double bind that says "grasping for nirvana is still grasping!" As Alan Watts writes in The Way of Zen, "How can I let go of grasping, when trying is precisely not letting go. Trying not to grasp is the same as grasping." Watts then points out that "Nagarjuna answers, that all grasping, even for nirvana, is futile--for there is nothing to be grasped." The Madhyamika writers and teachers have constructed a system full of methodological triggers to bring one to intuitional realization. The tetralemma, which exhausts the possibilities of rationality, is designed to lead us into an intuition of the unity of all things. This is PRAJNA (WISDOM) which is beyond thought and word. It is obtained when we realize intuitively our identity with the ultimate. Murti confirms this by saying: "Nondual knowledge or wisdom is contentless intuition. Nothing stands out against it as an 'other' confronting it." It's your nonlocal awareness filling all of spacetime. The multidimensional of nondual reality is undifferentiable. The important concept of independent arising or co-origination (pratitiya-samutpada) in its ontological operation shows that there is nothing that cannot be placed in dependent relation with another thing or idea, when dependent relations are ALL THAT IS. The fact that the world arises holographically rather than through simple causality is why our intuition allows us to know more than what our five senses provide. With this nonlinear understanding of mutual co-arising, we can change the thoughts of suffering and division into the joy of awakened mind and the unity of Oneness.
In the words of Nagarjuna's Madhyamika-sastra:
The Perfect Buddha
The foremost of all Teachers I salute.
He has proclaimed
The Principle of (Universal) Relativity,
'Tis like blissful (Nirvana),
Quiescence of Plurality.

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MEDITATION -

The main purpose of meditating is to remove your attention from the environment, your body, and the passage of time so that what you intend, what you think, becomes your focus instead of these externals. You can then change your internal state independent of the outside world. Meditation is also a way to move beyond your analytical mind so that you can access your subconscious mind. That's crucial, since the subconscious is where all your hurts, bad habits, and behaviors that you want to change reside. In most people, the subconscious comprises 95% of the mind. The remaining 5% is your experience of mind during your waking hours. Uncovering and mastering more and more of the subconscious results in greater and greater awakened awareness.

The best time to meditate is in the morning and evening, when the door to the subconscious opens.

BRAINWAVES are electromagnetic waves produced by activity in the brain. The frequency of these waves is measured in cycles per second, or hertz (Hz). Brain-mapping research shows that each of our states of consciousness is associated w/a specific pattern of brain activity.

Brainwave categories:

Beta (30-31Hz) is associated w/ordinary consciousness, focused awareness and linear, step-by-step thinking.

Alpha (13-8Hz) is associated w/relaxation and meditative calm where the mind moves from the external to the internal world.

Theta (8-3.5Hz) is associated w/creativity, insight, dreaming states, meditation.

Delta (3.5/0.5Hz) associated with restful sleep. Advanced meditators are capable of mind awake/body asleep in the Delta pattern.

Epsilon (0.5Hz) associated w/advanced meditators such as Tibetan monks

Gamma (30-85/40-100Hz) is associated w/advanced meditation, expanded consciousness, greater synthesis of sensory info.

Hyper-Gamma (100-200Hz) associated w/deep insight and inspiration, intuitive and psychic enhancement and a profound ecstatic state of meditation.

Lamba (200Hz) associated w/ advanced meditators such as Tibetan monks.

Note: Low-frequency Epsilon waves and high-frequency Lamba waves are associated w/higher consciousness and have an interconnectivity in support of each other--though at opposite ends of the wave spectrum. The Epsilon waves ride upon/within the Lamba waves.

Note: Research performed with highly developed yogis, artists, inventors, and advanced meditators found that during their peak experiences they all exhibit high levels of a particular combination of ALPHA-THETA brainwave pattern called the Awakened Mind Pattern.

Gamma Brainwaves -

Gamma brainwaves were discovered in 1981. Gamma waves are more compressed and have a smaller amplitude (except for Hyper-Gamma and Lambda) compared to the other types of brainwaves. Although their cycles per second are similar to high range Beta, there is not an exact correlation between them. Having high amounts of coherent Gamma (and faster Hyper-Gamma and Lambda) activity in the brain is usually linked to elevated states of mind such as happiness, compassion, and increased awareness, which usually entails better memory formation. This is a heightened level of consciousness that people tend to describe as having a transcendent or peak experience.

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Levels of Human Consciousness -

Over years of study, millions of calibrations have defined a range of values accurately corresponding to well-recognized sets of attractor energy fields, much as electromagnetic fields gather iron filings. The following of these energy fields have been adapted so as to be easily comprehensible.

It's very important to remember that the calculation figures do not represent an arithmetic, but a LOGARITHMIC progression. Thus, the level 300 is NOT twice the amplitude of 150; it is 10 to the 300th power.

An increase of even a few points represents a major advance in power; the rate of increase as we move up the scale is enormous. The ways of the various levels of Human consciousness express themselves are profound and far-reaching; their effects are both gross and subtle. All levels below 200 are destructive of life in both the individual and society at large; all levels above 200 are constructive expressions of power.

By describing the emotional correlates of energy fields of consciousness, keep in mind that they're rarely manifested as pure states in an individual. Levels of consciousness are always mixed; a person may operate at one level in a given area of life and on quite another in another area. An individual's Overall level of awareness is the sum total effect of these various levels.

List of various energy fields -

Energy Level 20: Shame - Energy Level 30: Guilt,
Energy Level 50: Apathy - Energy Level 75: Grief,
Energy Level 100: Fear - Energy Level 125: Desire,
Energy Level 150: Anger - Energy Level 175: Pride

Energy Level 200: Courage -
Energy Level 250: Neutrality -
Energy Level 310: Willingness -
Energy Level 350: Acceptance -
Energy Level 400: Reason -
Energy Level 500: Love -
Energy Level 540: Joy -
Energy Level 600: Peace -
Energy Level 700 thru 1,000: Enlightenment.

PRIDE: ENERGY LEVEL 175 -

Pride, which calibrates at 175, has enough energy to run the United States Marine Corps. It's the level aspired to by the majority of people today. In contrast to the lower energy fields, people feel positive as they reach this level. This rise in self-esteem is a balm to all the pain experienced at the lower levels of consciousness.

Pride looks good and knows it; it struts its stuff in the parade of life. Pride is far enough removed from Shame, Guilt, or Fear that to rise, for instance, out of the despair of the ghetto to the self-respect of being a Marine is an enormous jump.

Pride generally has a good reputation and is socially encouraged, yet, as we see from the chart of levels of consciousness, it's sufficiently negative to remain below the critical level of 200. This is why Pride ONLY feels good in contrast to the lower levels.

The problem, as we know, "Pride goeth before a fall," Pride is defensive and vulnerable because it's dependent upon external conditions, without which it can suddenly revert to a lower level. The inflated ego is vulnerable to attack. Pride remains weak because it can be knocked off its pedestal back to shame, which is the threat that fuels the fear of loss and pride.

Pride is divisive and gives rise to factionalism; the consequences are costly. Man has habitually died for Pride--armies still regularly slaughter each other for that aspect of it called NATIONALISM. Religious wars, political terrorism and zealotry, the ghastly history of the Middle East and Central Europe-- these are all the price of Pride, which all of society pays.

The downside of Pride is arrogance and denial. These characteristics block growth. In Pride, recovery from addictions is impossible because emotional problems or character defects are denied. The whole problem of denial is one of Pride. Thus, Pride is a very sizable block to the acquisition of real power, which displaces Pride with true stature and prestige.

COURAGE: ENERGY LEVEL 200 -

At the 200 level, power first appears. When subjects have been kinesiologically tested at all of the energy levels below 200, it has been found and readily verified that all go weak. Everyone goes strong in response to the life-supportive fields above 200. This is the critical line that distinguishes the positive and the negative influences of life. At the level of Courage, an attainment of true power occurs; therefore, it's also the level of empowerment. This is the zone of exploration, accomplishment, fortitude, and determination. At the lower levels, the world is seen as hopeless, sad, frightening, or frustrating; but at the level of Courage, life is seen to be exciting, challenging, and stimulating.

Courage implies the willingness to try new things and deal with the changes and challenges of life. At this level of empowerment, one is able to cope with and effectively handle the opportunities of life. At 200, for instance, the energy to learn new job skills is available. Growth and education become attainable goals. There's the capacity to face fears or character defects and to grow despite them; anxiety also does not cripple endeavor as it would at lower stages of evolution. Obstacles that defeat people whose consciousness is below 200 act as stimulants to those who have evolved into the first level of true power.

People at this level put back into the world as much as they take; at the lower levels, populations as well as individuals drain energy from society without reciprocating. Because accomplishments result in positive feedback, self-reward and esteem become progressively self-reinforcing. This is where productivity begins.

NEUTRALITY: ENERGY LEVEL 250 -

Energy becomes very positive as we get to the level that is termed NEUTRAL, because it's epitomized by release from positionality that typifies lower levels. Below 250, consciousness tends to see dichotomies and take on rigid positions, an impediment in a world that's complex and multifactorial rather than black and white.

Taking such positions creates polarization, which in turn creates opposition and division. As in the martial arts, a rigid position becomes a point of vulnerability; that which doesn't bend is liable to break. Rising above barriers or oppositions that dissipate one's energies, the Neutral condition allows for flexibility and nonjudgemental, realistic appraisal of problems. To be Neutral means to be relatively unattached to outcomes; not getting one's way is no longer experienced as defeating, frightening, or frustrating.

At the Neutral level, a person can say, "Well, if I don't get this job, then I'll get another." This is the beginning of inner confidence; sensing one's power, one isn't easily intimidated or driven to prove anything. The expectation that life, with its ups and downs, will be basically okay if one can roll with the punches in a 250-level attitude.

People of Neutrality have a sense of well-being; the mark of this level is a confident capability to live in the world. This is the level of safety--people at this level are easy to get along with and safe to be around and associate with because they're not interested in conflict, competition, or guilt. They're comfortable and basically undisturbed emotionally. This attitude is nonjudgemental and doesn't lead to any need to control other people's behaviors. Correspondingly, due to Neutral people's value of freedom, they're difficult to control.

WILLINGNESS: ENERGY LEVEL 310 -

This positive level of energy may be seen as the gateway to the higher levels, jobs are done WELL and success in all endeavors is common. Growth is rapid here; these are people chosen for advancement.

Willingness implies that one has overcome inner resistance to life and is committed to participation. Below the 200 calibration, people tend to be close-minded, but by level 310, a great opening occurs. At this level, people become genuinely friendly, and social and economic success seem to follow automatically.

The Willing aren't troubled by unemployment; they'll take any job when they have to or create a career or self-employment for themselves; they don't feel demeaned by service jobs or by starting at the bottom.

They're helpful to others and contribute to the good of society. They're also willing to face inner issues and don't have major learning blocks. At this level, self-esteem is high and is reinforced by positive feedback from society in the forms of recognition, appreciation, and reward.

Willingness is sympathetic and responsive to the needs of others. Willing people are builders of, and contributors to, society. With their capacity to bounce back from adversity and learn from experience, they tend to become self-correcting. Having let go of Pride, they're willing to look at their own defects and learn from others. At the level of Willingness, people become excellent students. They're easily trainable and represent a considerable source of power for society.

ACCEPTANCE: ENERGY LEVEL 350 -

At this level of awareness, a major transformation occurs, with the understanding that one is oneself the source AND creator of the experience of one's life. Taking such responsibility is distinctive of this degree of evolution, characterized by the capacity to live harmoniously with the forces of life.

All people at levels below 200 tend to be powerless and see themselves as victims, at the mercy of life. This stems from a belief that the source of one's happiness or the cause of one's problems is "out there." An enormous jump--taking back one's own power--is completed at this level, with the realization that the source of happiness is within oneself. At this more evolved stage, nothing "out there" has the capacity to make one happy, and love isn't something that's given or taken away by another but is created from within.

This level is not to be confused with passivity, which is a symptom of apathy. Acceptance allows engagement in life on life's own terms, without trying to make it conform to an agenda. There's emotional calm with Acceptance, and perception is widened as denial is transcended. One now sees things without distortion or misinterpretation; the context of experience is expanded so that one is capable of "seeing the whole picture." Acceptance has to do essentially with balance, proportion, and appropriateness.

The individual at the level of Acceptance isn't interested in determining right or wrong, but instead is dedicated to resolving issues and finding out what to do about problems. Tough jobs don't cause discomfort or dismay. Long-term goals take precedence over short-term ones; self-discipline and mastery are prominent.

At the level of Acceptance, we're not polarized by conflict or opposition; we see that other people have the same rights as we do, and we honor equality. Whilst lower levels are characterized by rigidity, at this level, social plurality begins to emerge as a form of resolution of problems. Therefore, this level is free of discrimination or intolerance; there's an awareness that equality doesn't exclude diversity; Acceptance includes rather than rejects.

REASON: ENERGY LEVEL 400 -

Intelligence and rationality rise to the forefront when the emotionalism of the lower levels is transcended. Reason is capable of handling large, complex amounts of data and making rapid, correct decisions; of understanding the intricacies of relationships, gradations, and fine distinctions; and expert manipulation of symbols as abstract concepts becomes increasingly important.

This is the level of science, medicine, and of generally increased capacity for conceptualization and comprehension. Knowledge and education are here sought as capital. Understanding and information are the main tools of accomplishment, which is the hallmark of the 400 level. This is the level of Nobel Prize winners, great statesmen, and Supreme Court justices. Einstein, Freud, and many of the other great thinkers of history calibrate here.

The shortcomings of this level involve the failure to clearly distinguish the difference between symbols and what they represent, and confusion between the objective and subjective worlds that limits the understanding of causality. At this level, it's easy to lose sight of the forest for the trees, to become infatuated with concepts and theories and end up missing the essential point. Intellectualization becomes an end in itself. Reason is limited in that it doesn't afford the capacity for the discernment of essence or of the critical point of a complex issue.

Reason does not of itself provide a guide to truth. It produces massive amounts of information and documentation but lacks the capability to resolve discrepancies in data and conclusions. All philosophical arguments sound convincing on their own.

Although Reason is highly effective in a technical world where the logic of methodologies dominate, Reason itself, paradoxically, is the major block to reaching higher levels of consciousness. Transcending this level is relatively uncommon in our society.

LOVE: ENERGY LEVEL 500 -

Love as depicted in the mass media is not what this level is about. What the world generally refers to as LOVE is an intense emotional condition, combining physical attraction, possessiveness, control, addiction, eroticism, and novelty. It's usually fragile and fluctuating, waxing and waning with varying conditions. When frustrated, this emotion often reveals an underlying anger and dependency that it had masked. That love can turn to hate is a common perception, but here, an addictive sentimentality is likely what's being spoken about, rather than Love; there probably never was actual love in such a relationship, for Hate stems from Pride, not Love.

The 500 level is characterized by the development of a Love that is unconditional, unchanging, and permanent. It doesn't fluctuate--its source isn't dependent on external factors. Loving is a state of being. It's a forgiving, non-condemning, maturing, and supporting way of relating to the world. Love isn't intellectual and doesn't proceed from the mind; Love emanates from the heart. It has the capacity to lift others and accomplish great feats because of its purity of motive.

At this level of development, the capacity to discern essence becomes predominant; the core of an issue becomes the center focus. As reason is bypassed, there arises the capacity for instantaneous recognition of the totality of a problem and a major expansion of context, especially regarding time and process. Reason deals only with particulars, whereas Love deals with entireties. This ability, often ascribed to intuition, is the capacity for instantaneous understanding without resorting to sequential symbol processing. This apparently abstract phenomenon is, in fact, quite concrete; it's accompanied by a measurable release of endorphins in the brain.

Love takes no position, and thus is global, rising above separation. It's then possible to be "one with another," for there are no longer any barriers. Love is therefore inclusive and expands the sense of Self progressively. Love focuses on the goodness of life in all its expressions and augments that which is positive--it dissolves negativity by recontextualizing it, rather than attacking it.

This is the level of true happiness, but although the world is fascinated with the subject of Love, and all viable religions calibrate at 500 or over, it's interesting to note that only 0.4 percent of the world's population ever reaches this level of evolution of consciousness.

JOY: ENERGY LEVEL 540 -

As Love becomes more unconditional, it begins to be experienced as inner Joy. This isn't the sudden joy of a pleasurable turn of events; it's a constant accompaniment to all activities. Joy arises from within each moment of existence rather than from any other source; 540 is also the level of healing.

From level 540 up is the domain of saints, advanced spiritual students and healers. A capacity for enormous patience and the persistence of a positive attitude in the face of prolonged adversity is characteristic of this energy field; the hallmark of this state is compassion. People who have attained this level have a notable effect on others. They're capable of a prolonged, open visual gaze, which induces a state of love and peace.

At the high 500s, the world one sees is illuminated by the exquisite beauty and perfection of creation. Everything happens effortlessly, by synchronicity, and the world and everything in it is seen to be an expression of love and divinity. Individual will merges into divine will. A Presence is felt whose power facilitates phenomena outside conventional expectations of reality, termed MIRACULOUS by the ordinary observer. These phenomena represent the power of the energy field, not of the individual.

One's sense of responsibility for others at this level is of a different quality from what's shown at the lower levels: There's a desire to use one's state of consciousness for the benefit of life itself rather than for particular individuals. This capacity to love many people simultaneously is accompanied by the discovery that the more one loves, the more one can love.

Near-death experiences, characteristically transformative in their effect, have frequently allowed people to experience the energy level between 540 and 600.

PEACE: ENERGY LEVEL 600 -

This energy level is associated with the experience designated by such terms as TRANSCENDENCE, SELF-REALIZATION, and GOD-CONSCIOUSNESS. It's extremely rare, attained by only 1 in 10 million (1 in 10,000,000) people. When this state is reached, the distinction between subject and object disappears, and there's no specific focal point of perception.

Not uncommonly, individuals at this level remove themselves from the world, as the state of bliss that ensues precludes ordinary activity. Some become spiritual teachers; others work anonymously for the betterment of mankind. A few become great geniuses in their respective fields and make major contributions to society.

These people are saintly and may eventually be officially designated as such, although at this level, formal religion is commonly transcended, to be replaced by the pure spirituality out of which all religion originates.

Perception at the level 600 and above is sometimes reported as occurring in slow motion, suspended in time and space--nothing is stationary, and all is alive and radiant. Although this world is the same as the one seen by others, it has become continuously flowing, evolving in an exquisitely coordinated evolutionary dance in which significance and source are overwhelming. This awesome revelation takes place non-rationally, so that there is an infinite silence in the mind, which has stopped conceptualizing.

That which is witnessing and that which is witnessed take on the same identity; the observer dissolves into the landscape and becomes equally the observed. Everything is connected to everything else by a Presence whose power is infinite, exquisitely gentle, yet rock-solid.

Great works of art, music, and architecture that calibrate between 600 and 700 can transport us temporarily to higher levels of consciousness and are universally recognized as inspirational and timeless.

ENLIGHTENMENT: ENERGY LEVEL 700 thru 1,000 -

This is the level of the Great Ones of history who originated the spiritual patterns that countless people have followed throughout the ages. All are associated with divinity, with which they're often identified. This is the level of powerful inspiration; these beings set in place attractor energy fields that influence all of Mankind. At this level, there is no longer the experience of an individual personal self separate from others; rather, there is an identification of Self with Consciousness and Divinity.

The Unmanifest is experienced as Self beyond mind. This transcendence of the ego also serves by example to teach others how it can eventually be accomplished. This is the peak of the evolution of consciousness in the human realm. Great teachings uplift the masses and raise the level of awareness of all of humanity. To have such vision is called GRACE, and the gift it brings is infinite peace, described as indefinable, beyond words.

At this level of realization, the sense of one's existence transcends all time and individuality. There's no longer any identification with the physical body as "me," and therefore, its fate is of no concern. The body is seen as merely a tool of consciousness through the intervention of mind, its prime value that of communication. The self merges back into the Self. This is the level of nonduality, or complete Oneness. There is no localization of consciousness; awareness is equally present everywhere.

Great works of art depicting individuals who have reached this level of Enlightenment characteristically show the teacher with a specific hand position, called a MUDRA--wherein the palm of the hand radiates benediction--this is the act of transmitting this energy field to the consciousness of Mankind.

This level of divine grace calibrates up to 1,000, the highest level attained by anybody who has lived in recorded history--to wit, the Great Avatars for whom the title "LORD" is appropriate: Lord Krishna, Lord Buddha, and Lord Jesus Christ.

Growth and development are irregular and nonlinear; practically nothing is known about the essential nature of growth, or any "process'' in nature for that matter. No one has ever studied the nature of LIFE ITSELF, only its images and consequences. There simply hasn't been adequate mathematics to comprehend it; linear differential equations brought us to approximations, but not to essence. When we bear witness to a simple sprouting of a bud or a leaf, amazing wonders are performed through an intrinsic wizardry that we really have no understanding of whatsoever.

As is commonly observed, growth--both individual and collective--can take place either slowly or suddenly. It isn't limited by restraints, but by tendencies. Innumerable options are open to everyone all the time, but they're relatively infrequently chosen, because people want the context that would make such options attractive. One's range of choice is ordinarily limited only by one's vision.

CONTEXT, VALUE, and MEANING are merely different terms for a subtle web of energy patterns within an overall organizing attractor energy field--which is itself only part of a still larger one, and so on, in an infinite continuum throughout the Universe, until it eventually includes the total field of consciousness itself.

While the sheer magnitude of such a complex of energy patterns seems beyond human cognizance, its totality is nonetheless comprehended by individuals whose consciousness reaches the 600 to 700 range, which gives us some idea of the enormous capacity for understanding possessed by those with advanced consciousness.

The most important element in facilitating an upward movement in consciousness is an attitude of willingness, which opens up the mind through new means of appraisal to the possible validity of new hypotheses. Although motives for change are as multitudinous as the innumerable facets of the human condition, they're most often found to arise spontaneously when the mind is challenged in the face of a puzzle or a paradox. In fact, certain disciplines (such as Zen) deliberately create such an impasse in order to finesse a leap of awareness.

On our scale of consciousness, there are two critical points that allow for major advancement. The first is at 200, the initial level of empowerment: Here, the willingness to stop blaming and accept responsibility for one's own actions, feelings, and beliefs arises--however, as long as cause and responsibility are projected outside of oneself, one will remain in the powerless mode of victimhood.

The second is at the 500 level, which is reached by accepting love and nonjudgmental forgiveness as a lifestyle, exercising unconditional kindness to all persons, things, and events WITHOUT EXCEPTION. (In 12-step recovery groups, it's said that there are no justified resentments--even if somebody "did you wrong," you're still free to choose your response and let resentment go.) Once one makes this commitment, he begins to experience a different, more benign world as his perceptions evolve.

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MEDITATION -

One Definition of Meditation: Becoming Familiar with Self...

In the Tibetan language, to meditate means "to become familiar with." Accordingly, we use the term meditation as a synonym for self-observation as well as self-development. To become familiar with anything, we must spend some time observing it. To meditate in Sanskrit means "to cultivate Self."

The WAVES of the Future -

Since knowledge is the precursor to experience, having a basic understanding of what happens in the brain during meditation will serve you well when you begin and learn the meditative process. The brain is electrochemical in nature. When nerve cells fire, they exchange charged elements that then produce electromagnetic fields. Because the brain's diverse electrical activity can be measured, these effects can provide important information about what we are thinking, feeling, learning, dreaming, and creating and how we are processing information. The most common technology scientists use to record the brain's changing electrical activity is an electroencephalograph (EEG). Research has discovered a wide scope of brain-wave frequencies in humans, ranging from the very low levels of activity found in deep sleep (Delta waves); to a twilight state between deep sleep and wakefulness (Theta waves); to the creative, imaginative state (Alpha waves); to higher frequencies seen during conscious thought (Beta waves); to the highest frequencies recorded (Gamma waves, Hyper-gamma, & Lambda), seen in elevated states of consciousness.

To help better understand our journey into meditation, here is an overview of how each of the states relates to You. As children grow, the frequencies that predominate in their brains progress from Delta to Theta to Alpha and then to Beta. Our job in meditation is to become like a child, moving from Beta to Alpha to Theta to (for the adept or mystic) Delta. So, understanding the progression of brain-wave changes during human development can help demystify the process of how we experience meditation.

Brain-Wave Development in Children:
From Subconscious to Conscious Mind

Delta - Between birth and two years old, the human brain functions primarily in the lowest brain-wave levels, from 0.5 to 4 cycles per second. This range of electromagnetic activity is known as Delta waves. Adults in deep sleep are in Delta; this explains why a newborn usually can't remain awake for more than a few minutes at a time (and why even with their eyes open, young babies can be asleep).
When one-year-olds are awake, they're still primarily in Delta, because they function principally from their subconscious. Information from the outside world enters their brain with little editing, critical thinking, or judgement taking place. The thinking brain--the neocortex, or conscious mind--is operating at very low levels at this point.

Theta - From ages two to five or six, a child begins to demonstrate slightly higher EEG patterns. These Theta wave frequencies measure 4 to 8 cycles per second. Children functioning in Theta tend to be trance-like and primarily connected to their internal world. They live in the abstract and in the realm of the imagination, and exhibit few of the nuances of critical, rational thinking. At this stage, phrases such as the following have a huge impact: "Big boys don't cry." "Girls should be seen and not heard." "Your brother is better than You." These types of statements go straight to the subconscious mind, because these slow brain-wave states are the realm of the subconscious.

Alpha - Between ages of five and eight, brain waves change again to an Alpha frequency: 8 to 13 cycles per second. The analytical mind begins to form at this point in childhood development; children start to interpret and draw conclusions about the laws of external life. At this same time, the inner world of imagination tends to be as real as the outer world of reality. Children in this age-group tend to have a foot in both worlds. That's why they pretend so well. For instance, you may ask a child to pretend that he is a dolphin in the sea or a superhero coming to the rescue, and hours later he is still in character.

Beta - From ages 8 to 12 and onward, brain activity increases to even higher frequencies. Anything above 13 cycles per second in children is the frontier for Beta waves. Beta goes on and up to varying degrees from there throughout adulthood, and is representative of conscious, analytical thinking. At the age of 12, the door between the conscious and the subconscious mind usually closes. Beta is actually divided into low-, mid-, and high-range frequencies. As children progress into their teens, they tend to move from low-range up into mid and high-range Beta waves, as seen in most adults.

~ Who looks outside dreams, who looks inside awakens." ~ Carl Jung

~ "Every lot is happy if borne with equanimity." ~ Boethius

~ A Bad Day for the Ego is a Good Day for the Soul ~

All societies could benefit by implementing into their school systems instruction in the Four-Valued Logic of Nagarjuna, Meditation, Martial Arts, Yoga, and Music

The spiritual quest could be simplified as the task of transcending the limitations of linear, sequential duality created by perception so as to reveal Reality, which is unlimited and nonlinear and therefore nondual. Life is lived solely on experience and none other. All experience is subjective and nonlinear and, therefore, even the linear, perceptual, sequential delineation of 'reality' can't be experienced except subjectively. All 'truth' is a subjective conclusion. Once having understood that the only significance or importance of the linear, perceptual world is how it is subjectively experienced, the quest for truth shifts from 'out there' to within. To the worldly, success is something 'out there' to 'have' and to be acquired. To the more experienced and sophisticated, it becomes apparent through wisdom that the source of happiness is within the subjective inner world of experiencing, which is the result of inner qualities, meaning, and context.

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Buddha's Four Noble Truths come to us from 500 B.C. India. The First Noble Truth is indisputable: We experience pain because we are aware of the fragile, finite, temporary nature of our lives. The Second Noble Truth addresses the additional suffering caused by craving and attachment. The Third Noble Truth offers the terrific, good news that when we take control of our free-running, chattering minds, we have the opportunity to exchange suffering for gratitude. And the Fourth Noble Truth describes the Buddhist Eightfold Path of the right view of right living, which leads to the end of suffering.

Intuition and Logic

The principle of superposition and the transcendence of Aristotelian thought allow our conscious mind to be more intuitive, unrestricted, and unconditioned. The real test of this is in applying Nagarjuna's four lemmas to our everyday lives and the here and now. Following, are practical steps for developing intuitive wisdom. They are: (1) the dissolving and surrender of egoism and dogmatism, (2) the application of self-criticism and naked awareness, (3) the incorporation of new nondual logical forms. This transformation requires honesty, fearlessness, and practice. Example: the interrelation of the physical and non-physical world often manifests in the state of our health. The body is made of atoms, molecules, and physical systems. If we are ill, some part must need repair. What might be causing the illness is our response to an angry partner, boss, or even a wayward thought. So, here would be a physical illness in response to a nonphysical event. And we now know that sustained stress of any kind can not only make us sick but can make us stupid (by directing blood away from the cognitive centers to our muscles and the reptilian brain). So, our bodies control our minds just as our minds control our bodies. Body and mind are mutually co-arising. Nagarjuna's logic system attempts to show us a way to transcend dualistic thought patterns thru the realm of rational discourse. Here are the four lemmas as an illustration of Nagarjuna's methods. First, we must negate the first two lemmas: (1) this is true and (2) this is not true. The third lemma is the attribution of two contradictory qualities: (3) this is both true and not true. And the fourth lemma is a denial of two contradictory qualities: (4) this is neither true nor not true. Lemmas 3 and 4 describe the Middle Way, dissolving polarities and artificial separations. It's as though all beings have a fundamentally complex nature. In mathematics we would say that we have both REAL and IMAGINARY parts, corresponding to a real, concrete material part, in addition to an imaginary, spiritual, dependently co-arising part. To think in the negation of logical thought can be baffling if one has had little or no introduction to the Madhyamika system. Something or someone you thought about as real; you must also place into a new relationship and consequently consider unreal. But it is not unreal as if it never existed; it is unreal in that it has no independent existence. An entity is neither being nor nonbeing. It is "being" only in relation to something else. Until dependent arising, the entity is "nonbeing" or empty of individual essence. As in Nagarjuna's Madhyamika-Karika XXIV:9: "There is no entity that is not dependent. An absolutely non-relational entity does not therefore exist." The Madhyamika thinkers, whilst using all the resources of dialectic philosophy and logical disputation, search to arrive at an approximate idea of the unconditioned understanding of ultimate reality. But this understanding remains beyond the comprehension of those who look for release from pain and suffering outside themselves in ritualistic or psychological saviors. Release comes from within thru change in our perception of what is real and not real, and thru seeing our relationship to the whole. When we view the world and people as an interrelated whole, we lose the "I" vs "they" construction that creates competition and separation. This reality is only accessible to one who sees beyond the duality and illusion of separation.

Our Limited View of Ourselves:
Duality and Two-Valued Logic as a Cause of Suffering -

Aristotle's goal, around 350 B.C., was to codify the essential nature of science by defining its forms and laws--inspired by his teacher, Plato. He also introduced linguistic structures that began the foundation of Western civilization--the study of logic. His plan was to define objective reality by expounding on what we label "objects," things having their own reality outside our apprehension of them. Aristotle taught that objects have inherent properties in the physical world independent of the observer. Until quite recently, Western civilization has exclusively used Aristotelian two-valued logic (A, or not A) logical objective orientation. In two-valued logic, the world is either eternal, or it is not eternal--not both. Aristotle called this the "law of the excluded middle." Something being true or not true (A or not A) is a corollary of the idea of independent existence and identity. As we must learn from both quantum physics and Nagarjuna, however, the observer is not independent, but always affects the observed. The important Buddhist teaching of sunyata (emptiness) also informs us that things are empty of inherent meaning and have only the meaning we give them. This means that they can't have the independent existence that Aristotle declared. This is the Buddhist principle of mutual co-arising--like the mutual and simultaneous appearance of a magnetic field whenever one has a propagating or time-varying electric field. A lightning strike, as well as a comb pulled thru your hair, generates both a magnetic field and an electric spark. Similarly, in modern relativistic physics, Einstein taught that there can be no space without matter and no time without events for time to delineate. Time and space, gravity and inertia, and the Buddhist karma are all examples of what's meant by mutual co-arising. Since Aristotelian logic focuses mainly on externalized observation of "facts" and "figures," when this system is applied to the individual, a split takes place between the "I" and the "other." The two-valued Aristotelian "law of the excluded middle," with the resulting split, provided a logical institutionalized basis for millions of human beings to exist as slaves, entrapped by intellectual and emotional constructs. The law of the excluded middle is the law of separation. As we have seen thru the ages, the structured dualism is the idea that "everyone who isn't with us is against us." If someone makes a remark about your performance or appearance, you have several choices as to how you might respond, or what you might experience. You could tell them directly what they can do with their nasty comment. That feels good for a moment. Or you could repress your resentment and paste it into your resentment scrapbook. But there actually is a middle ground between acting out and repressing. It's called "letting go" and experiencing your own open-hearted and energetic flow of loving awareness. Although someone said "Boo!" nothing is actually happening beyond the meaning you give it. This is one example of why we can become passionate about exploring and learning to live in the excluded middle. Slavery was the rule in ancient Athens, as well as in Europe and America. Slavery could exist only in a separatist and dualistic culture of "self vs other." There are the "us Greek men," then there are the others, including women and slaves. From the Greek's radical idealization of men came machismo and paternalism, as well as the general acceptance of slavery and oppression of the other. Two-valued logic gives rise to lack of empathy and fear of the other, whether it manifests as a Christian Crusade, an Islamic Jihad, or plain old-fashioned Western imperialism with its extermination of indigenous people. For example: Pope Pius XII successfully saved German cripples from Nazi euthanasia because they were largely Christians. But he expended not so much effort to save millions of German Jews and gypsies because they were "the other." A dramatically dualistic worldview inherently leads to suffering. It has done so for millennia in religions that have the self-appointed task of creating separation between us and experience of the divine. This is equally true in politics, economics, and human relations, all of which are organized in a hierarchical power structure. In a dualistic system, there are fewer options. Even in our modern Judeo-Christian institutions, two-valued logic is built in. We have a powerful, omnipotent deity out there, and a puny little self (me) down here. This construct of thought has the effect of separating us from our divine nature by projecting our searching elsewhere and is the idolatry that we are warned against in the Ten Commandments. Idolatry implies separation, and the idea that there's an omnipotent "god" out there is an idolatrous idea. There is in fact, no separation. In the more expansive and inclusive (neither A nor not A) four-valued logic description of nondual realities, the world is neither eternal nor not eternal. The glass is neither half-empty nor half-full. A profoundly nondual view says that you and the deity are inseparable. Jesus tells us in the recently discovered Gospel of Thomas, "When you make two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer, and the outer like the inner, the upper like the lower, and when you make the male and the female into one...then you will enter the [Father's] domain"--unifying you with all there is, it is who you are! Poets, mystics, and composers experience this and can show us this experience of the divine, which is both nondual and nonconceptual. For more than two thousand years, the human nervous system in the Western world has been ensnared in the restrictive, oppressive, often delusional orientations of dualism, which is reflected in the very structure of the language we habitually use. The word "divine" comes to us from the Sanskrit DIVA, which is a name for God, whereas the word "devil" comes from the Sanskrit word for division (dvaidha). So, the devil is the root idea behind all dualistic thought. In Hebrew, "Satan" has the Aramaic root STA, meaning the slipping away or the causing of separation, more commonly known as the adversary, divider, or enemy. The "devil" or "Satan" is that which divides or separates us from our divinity, from each other, and from nature. The devil has no more independent existence than does evil. Saying that it does is like saying there are two forces in the world: cold and heat. In fact, there is only heat and the absence of heat, energy and the absence of energy, light and the absence of light. It is logically incoherent to speak of anything as a source of darkness. Darkness can't be the source of anything, let alone the often-heard idea that "the devil made me do it." Evil is not a separate entity simply existing out there. Satan represents the loss of our inherent goodness of not using our divine abilities. Such divisions and separations are the source of most human suffering. The destruction of the World Trade Center on 11th of September 2001, was the result of the collective thoughts and actions of Eastern and Western societies for many centuries, exemplifying the egoism, misunderstanding, and separation of religious and political institutions. It would be absurd to say that the catastrophe was due to actions on a single day and to neglect our shared responsibility in creating this planetary force--a horrific and indisputable example of mutual co-arising.

Note: The Pythagorean mystery school of the 6th century B.C. taught compassion and nonduality in ancient Greek times, so ideas beyond two-valued logic are not entirely culturally bound. Similarly, in pre-Christian times (6th Cent. B.C.), Lao Tsu, the great Chinese master of the Tao, also taught nonduality and created the Yin and Yang image as a powerful and enduring symbolic representation of female and male nonseparation in which each contains a significant representation of the other.

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Nagarjuna's purpose in emphasizing nondual emptiness (sunyata) is to bring our ordinary consciousness (which is conditioned) as close as possible to naked unconditioned consciousness. The goal is to come directly into contact with this naked awareness, which is who we are. Naked awareness is our entry point to the experience of nonconceptual emptiness that is free of ME and MINE. Suffering is instantaneously released when we finally surrender ME and MINE; suffering can't be released until that surrender is accomplished. The fundamental teaching is that the pristine spacious experience of naked awareness, or awakened Self (bodhichitta) must be free of the egoic ME. Nagarjuna demonstrates with near mathematical precision that suffering is unnecessary if not impossible if when we experience the true nature of reality. Suffering is the result of our limited understanding of the world composed of separate, discrete entities that interact with each other and with ourselves. Nagarjuna addressed this problem in the Two Truths doctrine, which is based on the view of two realities--SUBJECTIVE reality and ULTIMATE reality. Our understanding of the two truths is important to our happiness and freedom from suffering because it provides us the tools to distinguish reality from illusion. In our daily life, direct perception and experience of the world are hugely clouded by our projections and preconceptions, causing significant misapprehensions. Relative or conventional reality involves our everyday experience of the world and is often based on culture and language. For example, Christians, Muslims, and Jews each have their own "true" way of worship. We agree to call a thing a table if it is composed of four posts and a plank and we use those parts in a certain way. A COURSE IN MIRACLES (ACIM) expresses conventional reality by saying, "I have given everything I see all the meaning it has for me."

Everything Is Dependently Co-arising -

Nagarjuna taught the folly of attempting a dualistic explanation of ultimate reality by separating it from our conventional experience of the world. The empirical world is our "means" to the unconditional understanding of the ultimate. The nonconceptual truth beyond duality is the "end." This suggests that we are to be consciously in the world and, at the same time, not restricted to it. In practical terms, when we give up seeing the world thru our conditioning, we no longer project our fears, hopes, and prejudices onto everything we encounter. The importance of the "two truths" teaching is to point this out. Then we can experience naked awareness, limitless mind, and unbounded consciousness. Nagarjuna's tetralemma helps us to make this shift by destroying the idea that things have an independent existence. Along this same line, the great physicist Werner Heisenberg taught that "The idea of an objective real world whose smallest parts exist objectively in the same sense that stones or trees exist, independently of whether or not we observe them...is impossible." The eighth-century writer Shankara wrote in his Crest-jewel of Discrimination that our most significant life goal is to discern reality from illusion. Nagarjuna taught that when we cease reifying things and the self, we then drop our emotional attachments to objects, personas, and concepts of the world. We surrender the ego by giving up the notion of "I" and "mine." Then we can experience the undifferentiated nature of ultimate reality. Until that point of realization, we misperceive existence. The illusion of separation inhibits our awareness of ultimate reality by confining our awareness to only a small part of reality. As Nagarjuna teaches, conventional reality and ultimate reality are not separate realities. He illuminates the truth of nonduality thru his teachings on emptiness and dependent arising to which he says that all things, concepts, and persons are empty of self-nature and only arise to exist dependently on other factors. To be perfectly clear, the teaching here is that nothing at all exists independently. What we're describing here is not esoteric, but simply mental housecleaning. It should be done daily, or at least every Spring. A more thorough understanding of the two truths includes an understanding of the central theme of the Madhyamika karika--emptiness or sunyata. Nagarjuna said that understanding emptiness leads to a greater truth of how things really are. He said that all things are empty, and he used the tetralemma to prove it. It's important to remember that emptiness does not deny the existence of conventional reality or things but says that all things have no self-nature or intrinsic essence. Nothing exists on its own, divided or separated from other things. Everything is interdependent and can't exist without other things, including the Self. For example, a location can't exist without an object in that location, and an object can't exist without a location. This is the meaning of emptiness and dependent arising. Einstein said the same thing in his general relativity theory: We can't have empty space. The object and its mass define the space. Relativistic frame-dragging experiments with a gyroscope spinning in space investigated the gravitational effects of the spinning earth (NASA Gravity Probe Mission). The experiments showed that the nature of space itself is affected by the spinning earth, just as Einstein predicted. Nagarjuna explains:

Whatever is dependently co-arisen
That is explained to be emptiness
That, being dependent designation
Is itself the middle way.
Something that is not dependently arisen,
Such a thing does not exist
Therefore a non-empty thing
Does not exist.

Emptiness and dependent arising are inseparable. Nothing has independent existence and nothing can manifest on its own. Buddha further explicates dependent arising:

When this is present, that comes to be
From the arising of this, that arises
When this is absent, that does not come to be
On the cessation of this, that ceases.

Since nothing can exist on its own and everything is dependent arising, reality can't be two separate things. There is no correctness to the idea of "us" and "them." In using Nagarjuna's tetralemma--the four lemmas--we begin to question our own reality thru the Madhyamika system of reasoning. We gain a new vision beyond the illusion of a "single truth." Nagarjuna's teachings of the "Two Truths--conditioned truth and naked truth--is important in understanding that any "single truth" is an illusion. The fourth lemma, in particular, introduces us to a transcendence of reason encompassing plural truths--the important idea that most things are NEITHER THIS NOR NOT THIS. We go beyond the incomplete, two-valued logic of Aristotle (the logic upon which the West has functioned/dis-functioned on for centuries), with the four-valued logic of Nagarjuna, into an expanded awareness, which allows us to transcend limitations of our ordinary awareness of spacetime existence. In the Madhyamika system, this transcendence is the wisdom identified with undifferentiated intuition and ultimate reality. The intent of the doctrine of Two Truths is to move us beyond the phenomenal sphere of events and activities to new realms of being where we find the ultimate undifferentiated and unseparated from the locus of awareness. This is the wisdom (prajna) that comes thru an intuitive identification with ultimate reality (spaciousness). That is, the ontological status of prajna requires a mystical intuition of the ultimate that comes about once the logical reasoning of the first three lemmas has been exhausted. This entire movement is clear in Nagarjuna's Madhyamika-sastra 2:XVII:

What is the Buddha after his Nirvana?
Does he exist or does he not exist,
Or both, or neither?
We will never conceive it.

Murti tells us: "The death of thought is the birth of wisdom; devoid of distinction [judgement], it leads to wisdom." The death of thought means the death of Aristotelian dualistic thought, the limited logic of the perceiver and the perceived. Such thoughts or concepts create distinction or separation. Perfect reasoning allows release from the naming and grasping that create separation and suffering. Again, the four lemmas help us out of this dualistic thinking. In a soul-searching sketch, then, the system may be quickly, however grossly, summed up in this way: The individual finds himself in a phenomenal world of unhappiness, in which the Buddha tells us in the first of his Four Noble Truths, "To exist is to suffer." It is as if he is saying: This phenomenal realm (samsara) is composed of subject-object relationships. This is further explained by the second noble truth: "Suffering is caused by attachment, craving, or desire." This obviously expresses a subject-object bifurcation--separation and judgement--as the root cause of suffering. As with the four lemmas, we must understand the first two Noble Truths to appreciate the last two of the Noble Truths. We must learn about the possibility of choices (lemmas 1 and 2). In the same way, we must develop and experience a sense of self in order to discover that the concept of self is an illusion. The third and fourth Noble Truths are: "The end of suffering is attainable" and "the Eightfold Path leads directly to the end of suffering." The Eightfold Path is generally associated with: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration. Adhering to the elements of the Eightfold Path keeps us on a trajectory of freedom and spaciousness. Departing from the path does not mean we are bad, but it deflects our attention from the direction we want to be headed.

The Model of the Real and Unreal -

Everything real is interdependent and nothing unreal exists. The fundamental cause of suffering has traditionally and correctly been identified as with ignorance of our true nature. Ignorance is the illusion of separation between subject and object, between self and other. This dualism is unreal in the sense that it creates divisions within ultimate reality. When we desperately attempt to maintain ego--individuality and autonomy--we maintain the belief that we are a body separate from other bodies. We continually seek ways to verify our own story, or self-identity. This is the insidiousness of the ego thought system. The illusory perception of ourselves vs others is the root cause of suffering from fears, anger, problematic relationships, addictive behaviors and depression. Because of this mistaken identification of ourselves in relation to others, or in relation to the ultimate, we can spend an entire lifetime on futile obsessions, only creating further suffering. Seeing the dependent co-arising of everything around us is the first step toward understanding the real nature of our experience. Contrary to many Americans' cherished view of rugged individualism, Nagarjuna would agree with the idea that within a social fabric, "no man is an island unto himself." Everything real is interdependent. Nagarjuna taught that even our own existence "is not a thing in itself; it is in relation to other entities, and these in turn depend on others." This is the meaning of dependent arising and emptiness. Nagarjuna is establishing that all phenomena depend on each other, and any particular phenomenon lacks reality in any independent sense. The usual Western philosophical criterion for any phenomenon or entity to be ultimately real is that it possesses its own being or essence, which means that it is "independent of conditions"--usually unrelated to others, un-generated, ever enduring. In the logic of Nagarjuna, if a thing must have independent existence in order to exist, then nothing exists because nothing has independent existence. Since the Madhyamika sutras show that 'there is no entity that is not in a relation' of mutual dependence, then there are none that possess own being or self-nature. "If entities are relative, they have no real existence" (apart from the meaning that we give them), according to Madhyamika-sastra, 1:X:1-2. Madhyamika thinkers do not deny our uniqueness, nor do they assert that beings have an independent or separate existence in any sense. Fire is not separate from the fuel for the flame, yet fire and fuel are unique. The Madhyamika system teaches us that there is no real difference between ultimate reality and empirical phenomena, boundaries, and separations are illusions of our own making, then the idea of a separate ego maintaining a suffering state can be equally seen as an illusion. The world of illusion can be compared to a mirage; it is not absolute nonexistence, but it is a deception and greatly misperceived. An illusion appears to be real, and it is a tangible and visible phenomenon. The deception lies in its being mistaken for what it is not. Behind all of these illusions, there is only undifferentiated identification with the ultimate. In the words of Nagarjuna in his Madhyamika-sastra 2:XIX-XX:

XIX. There is no difference at all
Between nirvana and samsara.
There is no difference at all
Between samsara and nirvana.

XX. What makes the limit of nirvana
Is also the limit of samsara.
Between the two we cannot find
The slightest shade of difference.

The reason there is no difference between the bliss of nirvana and the ever-encircling chaos of samsara is that they are both only ideas residing in consciousness. We, of course, always have the freedom to change our mind if we don't like what we are experiencing. In the preceding verse, Nagarjuna is addressing the Buddhist paradox or double bind that says "grasping for nirvana is still grasping!" As Alan Watts writes in The Way of Zen, "How can I let go of grasping, when trying is precisely not letting go. Trying not to grasp is the same as grasping." Watts then points out that "Nagarjuna answers, that all grasping, even for nirvana, is futile--for there is nothing to be grasped." The Madhyamika writers and teachers have constructed a system full of methodological triggers to bring one to intuitional realization. The tetralemma, which exhausts the possibilities of rationality, is designed to lead us into an intuition of the unity of all things. This is PRAJNA (WISDOM) which is beyond thought and word. It is obtained when we realize intuitively our identity with the ultimate. Murti confirms this by saying: "Nondual knowledge or wisdom is contentless intuition. Nothing stands out against it as an 'other' confronting it." It's your nonlocal awareness filling all of spacetime. The multidimensional of nondual reality is undifferentiable. The important concept of independent arising or co-origination (pratitiya-samutpada) in its ontological operation shows that there is nothing that cannot be placed in dependent relation with another thing or idea, when dependent relations are ALL THAT IS. The fact that the world arises holographically rather than through simple causality is why our intuition allows us to know more than what our five senses provide. With this nonlinear understanding of mutual co-arising, we can change the thoughts of suffering and division into the joy of awakened mind and the unity of Oneness.
In the words of Nagarjuna's Madhyamika-sastra:
The Perfect Buddha
The foremost of all Teachers I salute.
He has proclaimed
The Principle of (Universal) Relativity,
'Tis like blissful (Nirvana),
Quiescence of Plurality.

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MEDITATION -

The main purpose of meditating is to remove your attention from the environment, your body, and the passage of time so that what you intend, what you think, becomes your focus instead of these externals. You can then change your internal state independent of the outside world. Meditation is also a way to move beyond your analytical mind so that you can access your subconscious mind. That's crucial, since the subconscious is where all your hurts, bad habits, and behaviors that you want to change reside. In most people, the subconscious comprises 95% of the mind. The remaining 5% is your experience of mind during your waking hours. Uncovering and mastering more and more of the subconscious results in greater and greater awakened awareness.

The best time to meditate is in the morning and evening, when the door to the subconscious opens.

BRAINWAVES are electromagnetic waves produced by activity in the brain. The frequency of these waves is measured in cycles per second, or hertz (Hz). Brain-mapping research shows that each of our states of consciousness is associated w/a specific pattern of brain activity.

Brainwave categories:

Beta (30-31Hz) is associated w/ordinary consciousness, focused awareness and linear, step-by-step thinking.

Alpha (13-8Hz) is associated w/relaxation and meditative calm where the mind moves from the external to the internal world.

Theta (8-3.5Hz) is associated w/creativity, insight, dreaming states, meditation.

Delta (3.5/0.5Hz) associated with restful sleep. Advanced meditators are capable of mind awake/body asleep in the Delta pattern.

Epsilon (0.5Hz) associated w/advanced meditators such as Tibetan monks

Gamma (30-85/40-100Hz) is associated w/advanced meditation, expanded consciousness, greater synthesis of sensory info.

Hyper-Gamma (100-200Hz) associated w/deep insight and inspiration, intuitive and psychic enhancement and a profound ecstatic state of meditation.

Lamba (200Hz) associated w/ advanced meditators such as Tibetan monks.

Note: Low-frequency Epsilon waves and high-frequency Lamba waves are associated w/higher consciousness and have an interconnectivity in support of each other--though at opposite ends of the wave spectrum. The Epsilon waves ride upon/within the Lamba waves.

Note: Research performed with highly developed yogis, artists, inventors, and advanced meditators found that during their peak experiences they all exhibit high levels of a particular combination of ALPHA-THETA brainwave pattern called the Awakened Mind Pattern.

Gamma Brainwaves -

Gamma brainwaves were discovered in 1981. Gamma waves are more compressed and have a smaller amplitude (except for Hyper-Gamma and Lambda) compared to the other types of brainwaves. Although their cycles per second are similar to high range Beta, there is not an exact correlation between them. Having high amounts of coherent Gamma (and faster Hyper-Gamma and Lambda) activity in the brain is usually linked to elevated states of mind such as happiness, compassion, and increased awareness, which usually entails better memory formation. This is a heightened level of consciousness that people tend to describe as having a transcendent or peak experience.

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Levels of Human Consciousness -

Over years of study, millions of calibrations have defined a range of values accurately corresponding to well-recognized sets of attractor energy fields, much as electromagnetic fields gather iron filings. The following of these energy fields have been adapted so as to be easily comprehensible.

It's very important to remember that the calculation figures do not represent an arithmetic, but a LOGARITHMIC progression. Thus, the level 300 is NOT twice the amplitude of 150; it is 10 to the 300th power.

An increase of even a few points represents a major advance in power; the rate of increase as we move up the scale is enormous. The ways of the various levels of Human consciousness express themselves are profound and far-reaching; their effects are both gross and subtle. All levels below 200 are destructive of life in both the individual and society at large; all levels above 200 are constructive expressions of power.

By describing the emotional correlates of energy fields of consciousness, keep in mind that they're rarely manifested as pure states in an individual. Levels of consciousness are always mixed; a person may operate at one level in a given area of life and on quite another in another area. An individual's Overall level of awareness is the sum total effect of these various levels.

List of various energy fields -

Energy Level 20: Shame - Energy Level 30: Guilt,
Energy Level 50: Apathy - Energy Level 75: Grief,
Energy Level 100: Fear - Energy Level 125: Desire,
Energy Level 150: Anger - Energy Level 175: Pride

Energy Level 200: Courage -
Energy Level 250: Neutrality -
Energy Level 310: Willingness -
Energy Level 350: Acceptance -
Energy Level 400: Reason -
Energy Level 500: Love -
Energy Level 540: Joy -
Energy Level 600: Peace -
Energy Level 700 thru 1,000: Enlightenment.

PRIDE: ENERGY LEVEL 175 -

Pride, which calibrates at 175, has enough energy to run the United States Marine Corps. It's the level aspired to by the majority of people today. In contrast to the lower energy fields, people feel positive as they reach this level. This rise in self-esteem is a balm to all the pain experienced at the lower levels of consciousness.

Pride looks good and knows it; it struts its stuff in the parade of life. Pride is far enough removed from Shame, Guilt, or Fear that to rise, for instance, out of the despair of the ghetto to the self-respect of being a Marine is an enormous jump.

Pride generally has a good reputation and is socially encouraged, yet, as we see from the chart of levels of consciousness, it's sufficiently negative to remain below the critical level of 200. This is why Pride ONLY feels good in contrast to the lower levels.

The problem, as we know, "Pride goeth before a fall," Pride is defensive and vulnerable because it's dependent upon external conditions, without which it can suddenly revert to a lower level. The inflated ego is vulnerable to attack. Pride remains weak because it can be knocked off its pedestal back to shame, which is the threat that fuels the fear of loss and pride.

Pride is divisive and gives rise to factionalism; the consequences are costly. Man has habitually died for Pride--armies still regularly slaughter each other for that aspect of it called NATIONALISM. Religious wars, political terrorism and zealotry, the ghastly history of the Middle East and Central Europe-- these are all the price of Pride, which all of society pays.

The downside of Pride is arrogance and denial. These characteristics block growth. In Pride, recovery from addictions is impossible because emotional problems or character defects are denied. The whole problem of denial is one of Pride. Thus, Pride is a very sizable block to the acquisition of real power, which displaces Pride with true stature and prestige.

COURAGE: ENERGY LEVEL 200 -

At the 200 level, power first appears. When subjects have been kinesiologically tested at all of the energy levels below 200, it has been found and readily verified that all go weak. Everyone goes strong in response to the life-supportive fields above 200. This is the critical line that distinguishes the positive and the negative influences of life. At the level of Courage, an attainment of true power occurs; therefore, it's also the level of empowerment. This is the zone of exploration, accomplishment, fortitude, and determination. At the lower levels, the world is seen as hopeless, sad, frightening, or frustrating; but at the level of Courage, life is seen to be exciting, challenging, and stimulating.

Courage implies the willingness to try new things and deal with the changes and challenges of life. At this level of empowerment, one is able to cope with and effectively handle the opportunities of life. At 200, for instance, the energy to learn new job skills is available. Growth and education become attainable goals. There's the capacity to face fears or character defects and to grow despite them; anxiety also does not cripple endeavor as it would at lower stages of evolution. Obstacles that defeat people whose consciousness is below 200 act as stimulants to those who have evolved into the first level of true power.

People at this level put back into the world as much as they take; at the lower levels, populations as well as individuals drain energy from society without reciprocating. Because accomplishments result in positive feedback, self-reward and esteem become progressively self-reinforcing. This is where productivity begins.

NEUTRALITY: ENERGY LEVEL 250 -

Energy becomes very positive as we get to the level that is termed NEUTRAL, because it's epitomized by release from positionality that typifies lower levels. Below 250, consciousness tends to see dichotomies and take on rigid positions, an impediment in a world that's complex and multifactorial rather than black and white.

Taking such positions creates polarization, which in turn creates opposition and division. As in the martial arts, a rigid position becomes a point of vulnerability; that which doesn't bend is liable to break. Rising above barriers or oppositions that dissipate one's energies, the Neutral condition allows for flexibility and nonjudgemental, realistic appraisal of problems. To be Neutral means to be relatively unattached to outcomes; not getting one's way is no longer experienced as defeating, frightening, or frustrating.

At the Neutral level, a person can say, "Well, if I don't get this job, then I'll get another." This is the beginning of inner confidence; sensing one's power, one isn't easily intimidated or driven to prove anything. The expectation that life, with its ups and downs, will be basically okay if one can roll with the punches in a 250-level attitude.

People of Neutrality have a sense of well-being; the mark of this level is a confident capability to live in the world. This is the level of safety--people at this level are easy to get along with and safe to be around and associate with because they're not interested in conflict, competition, or guilt. They're comfortable and basically undisturbed emotionally. This attitude is nonjudgemental and doesn't lead to any need to control other people's behaviors. Correspondingly, due to Neutral people's value of freedom, they're difficult to control.

WILLINGNESS: ENERGY LEVEL 310 -

This positive level of energy may be seen as the gateway to the higher levels, jobs are done WELL and success in all endeavors is common. Growth is rapid here; these are people chosen for advancement.

Willingness implies that one has overcome inner resistance to life and is committed to participation. Below the 200 calibration, people tend to be close-minded, but by level 310, a great opening occurs. At this level, people become genuinely friendly, and social and economic success seem to follow automatically.

The Willing aren't troubled by unemployment; they'll take any job when they have to or create a career or self-employment for themselves; they don't feel demeaned by service jobs or by starting at the bottom.

They're helpful to others and contribute to the good of society. They're also willing to face inner issues and don't have major learning blocks. At this level, self-esteem is high and is reinforced by positive feedback from society in the forms of recognition, appreciation, and reward.

Willingness is sympathetic and responsive to the needs of others. Willing people are builders of, and contributors to, society. With their capacity to bounce back from adversity and learn from experience, they tend to become self-correcting. Having let go of Pride, they're willing to look at their own defects and learn from others. At the level of Willingness, people become excellent students. They're easily trainable and represent a considerable source of power for society.

ACCEPTANCE: ENERGY LEVEL 350 -

At this level of awareness, a major transformation occurs, with the understanding that one is oneself the source AND creator of the experience of one's life. Taking such responsibility is distinctive of this degree of evolution, characterized by the capacity to live harmoniously with the forces of life.

All people at levels below 200 tend to be powerless and see themselves as victims, at the mercy of life. This stems from a belief that the source of one's happiness or the cause of one's problems is "out there." An enormous jump--taking back one's own power--is completed at this level, with the realization that the source of happiness is within oneself. At this more evolved stage, nothing "out there" has the capacity to make one happy, and love isn't something that's given or taken away by another but is created from within.

This level is not to be confused with passivity, which is a symptom of apathy. Acceptance allows engagement in life on life's own terms, without trying to make it conform to an agenda. There's emotional calm with Acceptance, and perception is widened as denial is transcended. One now sees things without distortion or misinterpretation; the context of experience is expanded so that one is capable of "seeing the whole picture." Acceptance has to do essentially with balance, proportion, and appropriateness.

The individual at the level of Acceptance isn't interested in determining right or wrong, but instead is dedicated to resolving issues and finding out what to do about problems. Tough jobs don't cause discomfort or dismay. Long-term goals take precedence over short-term ones; self-discipline and mastery are prominent.

At the level of Acceptance, we're not polarized by conflict or opposition; we see that other people have the same rights as we do, and we honor equality. Whilst lower levels are characterized by rigidity, at this level, social plurality begins to emerge as a form of resolution of problems. Therefore, this level is free of discrimination or intolerance; there's an awareness that equality doesn't exclude diversity; Acceptance includes rather than rejects.

REASON: ENERGY LEVEL 400 -

Intelligence and rationality rise to the forefront when the emotionalism of the lower levels is transcended. Reason is capable of handling large, complex amounts of data and making rapid, correct decisions; of understanding the intricacies of relationships, gradations, and fine distinctions; and expert manipulation of symbols as abstract concepts becomes increasingly important.

This is the level of science, medicine, and of generally increased capacity for conceptualization and comprehension. Knowledge and education are here sought as capital. Understanding and information are the main tools of accomplishment, which is the hallmark of the 400 level. This is the level of Nobel Prize winners, great statesmen, and Supreme Court justices. Einstein, Freud, and many of the other great thinkers of history calibrate here.

The shortcomings of this level involve the failure to clearly distinguish the difference between symbols and what they represent, and confusion between the objective and subjective worlds that limits the understanding of causality. At this level, it's easy to lose sight of the forest for the trees, to become infatuated with concepts and theories and end up missing the essential point. Intellectualization becomes an end in itself. Reason is limited in that it doesn't afford the capacity for the discernment of essence or of the critical point of a complex issue.

Reason does not of itself provide a guide to truth. It produces massive amounts of information and documentation but lacks the capability to resolve discrepancies in data and conclusions. All philosophical arguments sound convincing on their own.

Although Reason is highly effective in a technical world where the logic of methodologies dominate, Reason itself, paradoxically, is the major block to reaching higher levels of consciousness. Transcending this level is relatively uncommon in our society.

LOVE: ENERGY LEVEL 500 -

Love as depicted in the mass media is not what this level is about. What the world generally refers to as LOVE is an intense emotional condition, combining physical attraction, possessiveness, control, addiction, eroticism, and novelty. It's usually fragile and fluctuating, waxing and waning with varying conditions. When frustrated, this emotion often reveals an underlying anger and dependency that it had masked. That love can turn to hate is a common perception, but here, an addictive sentimentality is likely what's being spoken about, rather than Love; there probably never was actual love in such a relationship, for Hate stems from Pride, not Love.

The 500 level is characterized by the development of a Love that is unconditional, unchanging, and permanent. It doesn't fluctuate--its source isn't dependent on external factors. Loving is a state of being. It's a forgiving, non-condemning, maturing, and supporting way of relating to the world. Love isn't intellectual and doesn't proceed from the mind; Love emanates from the heart. It has the capacity to lift others and accomplish great feats because of its purity of motive.

At this level of development, the capacity to discern essence becomes predominant; the core of an issue becomes the center focus. As reason is bypassed, there arises the capacity for instantaneous recognition of the totality of a problem and a major expansion of context, especially regarding time and process. Reason deals only with particulars, whereas Love deals with entireties. This ability, often ascribed to intuition, is the capacity for instantaneous understanding without resorting to sequential symbol processing. This apparently abstract phenomenon is, in fact, quite concrete; it's accompanied by a measurable release of endorphins in the brain.

Love takes no position, and thus is global, rising above separation. It's then possible to be "one with another," for there are no longer any barriers. Love is therefore inclusive and expands the sense of Self progressively. Love focuses on the goodness of life in all its expressions and augments that which is positive--it dissolves negativity by recontextualizing it, rather than attacking it.

This is the level of true happiness, but although the world is fascinated with the subject of Love, and all viable religions calibrate at 500 or over, it's interesting to note that only 0.4 percent of the world's population ever reaches this level of evolution of consciousness.

JOY: ENERGY LEVEL 540 -

As Love becomes more unconditional, it begins to be experienced as inner Joy. This isn't the sudden joy of a pleasurable turn of events; it's a constant accompaniment to all activities. Joy arises from within each moment of existence rather than from any other source; 540 is also the level of healing.

From level 540 up is the domain of saints, advanced spiritual students and healers. A capacity for enormous patience and the persistence of a positive attitude in the face of prolonged adversity is characteristic of this energy field; the hallmark of this state is compassion. People who have attained this level have a notable effect on others. They're capable of a prolonged, open visual gaze, which induces a state of love and peace.

At the high 500s, the world one sees is illuminated by the exquisite beauty and perfection of creation. Everything happens effortlessly, by synchronicity, and the world and everything in it is seen to be an expression of love and divinity. Individual will merges into divine will. A Presence is felt whose power facilitates phenomena outside conventional expectations of reality, termed MIRACULOUS by the ordinary observer. These phenomena represent the power of the energy field, not of the individual.

One's sense of responsibility for others at this level is of a different quality from what's shown at the lower levels: There's a desire to use one's state of consciousness for the benefit of life itself rather than for particular individuals. This capacity to love many people simultaneously is accompanied by the discovery that the more one loves, the more one can love.

Near-death experiences, characteristically transformative in their effect, have frequently allowed people to experience the energy level between 540 and 600.

PEACE: ENERGY LEVEL 600 -

This energy level is associated with the experience designated by such terms as TRANSCENDENCE, SELF-REALIZATION, and GOD-CONSCIOUSNESS. It's extremely rare, attained by only 1 in 10 million (1 in 10,000,000) people. When this state is reached, the distinction between subject and object disappears, and there's no specific focal point of perception.

Not uncommonly, individuals at this level remove themselves from the world, as the state of bliss that ensues precludes ordinary activity. Some become spiritual teachers; others work anonymously for the betterment of mankind. A few become great geniuses in their respective fields and make major contributions to society.

These people are saintly and may eventually be officially designated as such, although at this level, formal religion is commonly transcended, to be replaced by the pure spirituality out of which all religion originates.

Perception at the level 600 and above is sometimes reported as occurring in slow motion, suspended in time and space--nothing is stationary, and all is alive and radiant. Although this world is the same as the one seen by others, it has become continuously flowing, evolving in an exquisitely coordinated evolutionary dance in which significance and source are overwhelming. This awesome revelation takes place non-rationally, so that there is an infinite silence in the mind, which has stopped conceptualizing.

That which is witnessing and that which is witnessed take on the same identity; the observer dissolves into the landscape and becomes equally the observed. Everything is connected to everything else by a Presence whose power is infinite, exquisitely gentle, yet rock-solid.

Great works of art, music, and architecture that calibrate between 600 and 700 can transport us temporarily to higher levels of consciousness and are universally recognized as inspirational and timeless.

ENLIGHTENMENT: ENERGY LEVEL 700 thru 1,000 -

This is the level of the Great Ones of history who originated the spiritual patterns that countless people have followed throughout the ages. All are associated with divinity, with which they're often identified. This is the level of powerful inspiration; these beings set in place attractor energy fields that influence all of Mankind. At this level, there is no longer the experience of an individual personal self separate from others; rather, there is an identification of Self with Consciousness and Divinity.

The Unmanifest is experienced as Self beyond mind. This transcendence of the ego also serves by example to teach others how it can eventually be accomplished. This is the peak of the evolution of consciousness in the human realm. Great teachings uplift the masses and raise the level of awareness of all of humanity. To have such vision is called GRACE, and the gift it brings is infinite peace, described as indefinable, beyond words.

At this level of realization, the sense of one's existence transcends all time and individuality. There's no longer any identification with the physical body as "me," and therefore, its fate is of no concern. The body is seen as merely a tool of consciousness through the intervention of mind, its prime value that of communication. The self merges back into the Self. This is the level of nonduality, or complete Oneness. There is no localization of consciousness; awareness is equally present everywhere.

Great works of art depicting individuals who have reached this level of Enlightenment characteristically show the teacher with a specific hand position, called a MUDRA--wherein the palm of the hand radiates benediction--this is the act of transmitting this energy field to the consciousness of Mankind.

This level of divine grace calibrates up to 1,000, the highest level attained by anybody who has lived in recorded history--to wit, the Great Avatars for whom the title "LORD" is appropriate: Lord Krishna, Lord Buddha, and Lord Jesus Christ.

Growth and development are irregular and nonlinear; practically nothing is known about the essential nature of growth, or any "process'' in nature for that matter. No one has ever studied the nature of LIFE ITSELF, only its images and consequences. There simply hasn't been adequate mathematics to comprehend it; linear differential equations brought us to approximations, but not to essence. When we bear witness to a simple sprouting of a bud or a leaf, amazing wonders are performed through an intrinsic wizardry that we really have no understanding of whatsoever.

As is commonly observed, growth--both individual and collective--can take place either slowly or suddenly. It isn't limited by restraints, but by tendencies. Innumerable options are open to everyone all the time, but they're relatively infrequently chosen, because people want the context that would make such options attractive. One's range of choice is ordinarily limited only by one's vision.

CONTEXT, VALUE, and MEANING are merely different terms for a subtle web of energy patterns within an overall organizing attractor energy field--which is itself only part of a still larger one, and so on, in an infinite continuum throughout the Universe, until it eventually includes the total field of consciousness itself.

While the sheer magnitude of such a complex of energy patterns seems beyond human cognizance, its totality is nonetheless comprehended by individuals whose consciousness reaches the 600 to 700 range, which gives us some idea of the enormous capacity for understanding possessed by those with advanced consciousness.

The most important element in facilitating an upward movement in consciousness is an attitude of willingness, which opens up the mind through new means of appraisal to the possible validity of new hypotheses. Although motives for change are as multitudinous as the innumerable facets of the human condition, they're most often found to arise spontaneously when the mind is challenged in the face of a puzzle or a paradox. In fact, certain disciplines (such as Zen) deliberately create such an impasse in order to finesse a leap of awareness.

On our scale of consciousness, there are two critical points that allow for major advancement. The first is at 200, the initial level of empowerment: Here, the willingness to stop blaming and accept responsibility for one's own actions, feelings, and beliefs arises--however, as long as cause and responsibility are projected outside of oneself, one will remain in the powerless mode of victimhood.

The second is at the 500 level, which is reached by accepting love and nonjudgmental forgiveness as a lifestyle, exercising unconditional kindness to all persons, things, and events WITHOUT EXCEPTION. (In 12-step recovery groups, it's said that there are no justified resentments--even if somebody "did you wrong," you're still free to choose your response and let resentment go.) Once one makes this commitment, he begins to experience a different, more benign world as his perceptions evolve.

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MEDITATION -

One Definition of Meditation: Becoming Familiar with Self...

In the Tibetan language, to meditate means "to become familiar with." Accordingly, we use the term meditation as a synonym for self-observation as well as self-development. To become familiar with anything, we must spend some time observing it. To meditate in Sanskrit means "to cultivate Self."

The WAVES of the Future -

Since knowledge is the precursor to experience, having a basic understanding of what happens in the brain during meditation will serve you well when you begin and learn the meditative process. The brain is electrochemical in nature. When nerve cells fire, they exchange charged elements that then produce electromagnetic fields. Because the brain's diverse electrical activity can be measured, these effects can provide important information about what we are thinking, feeling, learning, dreaming, and creating and how we are processing information. The most common technology scientists use to record the brain's changing electrical activity is an electroencephalograph (EEG). Research has discovered a wide scope of brain-wave frequencies in humans, ranging from the very low levels of activity found in deep sleep (Delta waves); to a twilight state between deep sleep and wakefulness (Theta waves); to the creative, imaginative state (Alpha waves); to higher frequencies seen during conscious thought (Beta waves); to the highest frequencies recorded (Gamma waves, Hyper-gamma, & Lambda), seen in elevated states of consciousness.

To help better understand our journey into meditation, here is an overview of how each of the states relates to You. As children grow, the frequencies that predominate in their brains progress from Delta to Theta to Alpha and then to Beta. Our job in meditation is to become like a child, moving from Beta to Alpha to Theta to (for the adept or mystic) Delta. So, understanding the progression of brain-wave changes during human development can help demystify the process of how we experience meditation.

Brain-Wave Development in Children:
From Subconscious to Conscious Mind

Delta - Between birth and two years old, the human brain functions primarily in the lowest brain-wave levels, from 0.5 to 4 cycles per second. This range of electromagnetic activity is known as Delta waves. Adults in deep sleep are in Delta; this explains why a newborn usually can't remain awake for more than a few minutes at a time (and why even with their eyes open, young babies can be asleep).
When one-year-olds are awake, they're still primarily in Delta, because they function principally from their subconscious. Information from the outside world enters their brain with little editing, critical thinking, or judgement taking place. The thinking brain--the neocortex, or conscious mind--is operating at very low levels at this point.

Theta - From ages two to five or six, a child begins to demonstrate slightly higher EEG patterns. These Theta wave frequencies measure 4 to 8 cycles per second. Children functioning in Theta tend to be trance-like and primarily connected to their internal world. They live in the abstract and in the realm of the imagination, and exhibit few of the nuances of critical, rational thinking. At this stage, phrases such as the following have a huge impact: "Big boys don't cry." "Girls should be seen and not heard." "Your brother is better than You." These types of statements go straight to the subconscious mind, because these slow brain-wave states are the realm of the subconscious.

Alpha - Between ages of five and eight, brain waves change again to an Alpha frequency: 8 to 13 cycles per second. The analytical mind begins to form at this point in childhood development; children start to interpret and draw conclusions about the laws of external life. At this same time, the inner world of imagination tends to be as real as the outer world of reality. Children in this age-group tend to have a foot in both worlds. That's why they pretend so well. For instance, you may ask a child to pretend that he is a dolphin in the sea or a superhero coming to the rescue, and hours later he is still in character.

Beta - From ages 8 to 12 and onward, brain activity increases to even higher frequencies. Anything above 13 cycles per second in children is the frontier for Beta waves. Beta goes on and up to varying degrees from there throughout adulthood, and is representative of conscious, analytical thinking. At the age of 12, the door between the conscious and the subconscious mind usually closes. Beta is actually divided into low-, mid-, and high-range frequencies. As children progress into their teens, they tend to move from low-range up into mid and high-range Beta waves, as seen in most adults.