The Place to Be Free

What is Consciousness, really?

What is Consciousness?

1. The Problem of Consciousness

Conventional explanations portray consciousness as an emergent property of classical computer-like activities in the brain’s neural networks. The prevailing views among scientists in this camp are that

1) patterns of neural network activities correlate with mental states,

2) synchronous network oscillations in thalamus and cerebral cortex temporally bind information, and

3) consciousness emerges as a novel property of computational complexity among neurons.

However, these approaches appear to fall short in fully explaining certain enigmatic features of consciousness, such as:

• The nature of subjective experience, or ‘qualia’- our ‘inner life’ (Chalmers’ “hard problem”);
• Binding of spatially distributed brain activities into unitary objects in vision, and a coherent sense of self, or ‘oneness’;
• Transition from pre-conscious processes to consciousness itself;
• Non-computability, or the notion that consciousness involves a factor which is neither random, nor algorithmic, and that consciousness cannot be simulated (Penrose, 1989, 1994, 1997);
• Free will; and,
• Subjective time flow.

Brain imaging technologies demonstrate anatomical location of activities which appear to correlate with consciousness, but which may not be directly responsible for consciousness.

Figure 1. PET scan image of brain showing visual and auditory recognition (from S Petersen, Neuroimaging Laboratory, Washington University, St. Louis. Also see J.A. Hobson “Consciousness,” Scientific American Library, 1999, p. 65).

Figure 2. Electrophysiological correlates of consciousness.

How do neural firings lead to thoughts and feelings? The conventional (a.k.a. functionalist, reductionist, materialist, physicalist, computationalist) approach argues that neurons and their chemical synapses are the fundamental units of information in the brain, and that conscious experience emerges when a critical level of complexity is reached in the brain’s neural networks.

The basic idea is that the mind is a computer functioning in the brain (brain = mind = computer). However in fitting the brain to a computational view, such explanations omit incompatible neurophysiological details:

• Widespread apparent randomness at all levels of neural processes (is it really noise, or underlying levels of complexity?);
• Glial cells (which account for some 80% of brain);
• Dendritic-dendritic processing;
• Electrotonic gap junctions;
• Cytoplasmic/cytoskeletal activities; and,
• Living state (the brain is alive!)

A further difficulty is the absence of testable hypotheses in emergence theory. No threshold or rationale is specified; rather, consciousness “just happens”.

Finally, the complexity of individual neurons and synapses is not accounted for in such arguments. Since many forms of motile single-celled organisms lacking neurons or synapses are able to swim, find food, learn, and multiply through the use of their internal cytoskeleton, can they be considered more advanced than neurons?

Figure 3. Single cell paramecium can swim and avoid obstacles using its cytoskeleton.

Are neurons merely simple switches?

2. Microtubules

Activities within cells ranging from single-celled organisms to the brain’s neurons are organized by a dynamic scaffolding called the cytoskeleton, whose major components are microtubules. Hollow, crystalline cylinders 25 nanometers in diameter, microtubules are comprised of hexagonal lattices of proteins, known as tubulin. Microtubules are essential to cell shape, function, movement, and division. In neurons microtubules self-assemble to extend axons and dendrites and form synaptic connections, then help to maintain and regulate synaptic activity responsible for learning and cognitive functions. Microtubules interact with membrane structures mechanically by linking proteins, chemically by ions and “second-messenger” signals, and electrically by voltage fields.

Figure 4. Schematic view of two neurons connected by chemical synapse. Axon terminal (above) releases neurotransmitter vesicles which bind receptors on post-synaptic dendritic spine. Within neurons are visible cytoskeletal structures microtubules (“MTs” – thicker tubes) as well as actin, synapsin and others which connect MTs to membranes. Also, MT-associated proteins (“MAPs”) interconnect MTs.

Figure 5. Immunoelectron micrograph of dendritic microtubules interconnected by MAPs. Some MTs have been sheared, revealing internal hollow core. The granular “corn-cob” surface of MTs is barely evident to close inspection. Scale bar, lower left: 100 nanometers. With permission from Hirokawa, 1991.

Figure 6. Crystallographic structure of microtubules.

While microtubules have traditionally been considered as purely structural elements, recent evidence has revealed that mechanical signaling and communication functions also exist:

• MT “kinks” travel at 15 microns (2000 tubulin subunits) per second. Vernon and Woolley (1995) Experimental Cell Research 220(2)482-494
• MTs vibrate (100-650 Hz) with nanometer displacement. Yagi, Kamimura, Kaniya (1994) Cell motility and the cytoskeleton 29:177-185
• MTs optically “shimmer” when metabolically active. Hunt and Stebbings (1994), Cell motility and the cytoskeleton 17:69-78
• Mechanical signals propogate through microtubules to cell nucleus; mechanism for MT regulation of gene expression. Maniotis, Chen and Ingber (1996) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94:849-854
• Measured tubulin dipoles and MT conductivity suggest MTs are ferroelectric at physiological temperature (Tuszynski; Unger 1998)

Current models propose that tubulins within microtubules undergo coherent excitation, switching between two or more conformational states in nanoseconds. Dipole couplings among neighboring tubulins in the microtubule lattice form dynamical patterns, or “automata,” which evolve, interact and lead to the emergence of new patterns. Research indicates that microtubule automata computation could support classical information processing, transmission and learning within neurons.

Figure 7. Left: Microtubule (MT) structure: a hollow tube of 25 nanometers diameter, consisting of 13 columns of tubulin dimers arranged in a skewed hexagonal lattice (Penrose, 1994). Right (top): Each tubulin molecule may switch between two (or more) conformations, coupled to London forces in a hydrophobic pocket. Right (bottom): Each tubulin can also exist (it is proposed) in quantum superposition of both conformational states.

Figure 8. Microtubule automaton simulation (from Rasmussen et al., 1990). Eight nanosecond time steps of a segment of one microtubule are shown in “classical computing” mode in which conformational states of tubulins are determined by dipole-dipole coupling between each tubulin and its six (asymmetrical) lattice neighbors. Conformational states form patterns which move, evolve, interact and lead to emergence of new patterns.

Microtubule automata switching offers a potentially vast increase in the computational capacity of the brain. Conventional approaches focus on synaptic switching at the neural level which optimally yields about 10¹⁸ operations per second in human brains (~10¹¹ neurons/brain with ~10⁴ synapses/neuron, switching at ~10³ sec^-1). Microtubule automata switching can explain some 10²⁷ operations per second (~10¹¹ neurons with ~10⁷ tubulins/neuron, switching at ~10⁹ sec^-1). Indeed, the fact that all biological cells typically contain approximately 10⁷ tubulins could account for the adaptive behaviors of single-celled organisms which have no nervous system or synapses. Rather than simple switches, neurons are complex computers.

3. Pan-experiential philosophy meets modern physics

Still, greater computational complexity and ultra-reductionism to the level of microtubule automata cannot address the enigmatic features of consciousness, in particular the nature of conscious experience. Something more is required. If functional approaches and emergence are incomplete, perhaps the raw components of mental processes (qualia) are fundamental properties of nature (like mass, spin or charge). This view has long been held by pan-psychists throughout the ages, for example Buddhists and Eastern philosophers claim a “universal mind.” Following the ancient Greeks, Spinoza argued in the 17th century that some form of consciousness existed in everything physical. The 19th century mathematician Leibniz proposed that the universe was composed of an infinite number of fundamental units, or “monads,” with each possessing a form of primitive psychological being. In the 20th century, Russell claimed that there was a common entity underlying both mental and physical processes, while Wheeler and Chalmers have maintained that there exists an experiential aspect to fundamental information.

Of particular interest is the work of the 20th century philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, whose pan-experiential view remains most consistent with modern physics. Whitehead argued that consciousness is a process of events occurring in a wide, basic field of proto-conscious experience. These events, or “occasions of experience,” may be comparable to quantum state reductions, or actual events in physical reality (Shimony, 1993). This suggests that consciousness may involve quantum state reductions (e.g. a form of quantum computation).

But what of Whitehead’s basic field of proto-conscious experience? In what medium are the “occasions of experience” (?quantum state reductions) occurring? Could proto-conscious qualia simply exist in the empty space of the universe?

What is empty space? Historically, empty space has been described as either an absolute void or a pattern of fundamental geometry. Democritus and the Michaelson-Morley results argued for “nothingness” while Aristotle (“plenum”) and Maxwell (“ether”) rejected the notion of emptiness in favor of “something” – a background pattern. Einstein weighed in on both sides of this debate, initially supporting the concept of a void with his theory of special relativity but then reversing himself in his theory of general relativity and its curved space and geometric distortions-the space-time metric. Could proto-conscious qualia be properties of the metric, fundamental space-time geometry?

What is fundamental space-time geometry? We know that at extremely small scales, space-time is not smooth, but quantized. Quantum electrodynamics and quantum field theory predict virtual particle/waves (or photons) that pop into and out of existence, creating quantum “foam” in their wake. The presence of virtual photons in space-time has been verified (Lamoreaux, 1997).

Figure 9. Quantum electodynamics (QED) predicts a foam of erupting and collapsing virtual particles which may be visualized as topographic distortions of the fabric of spacetime. Adapted from Thorne (1994) by Dave Cantrell.

Figure 10. A: The Casimir force of the quantum vacuum zero point fluctuation energy may be measured by placing two macroscopic surfaces separated by a tiny gap d₁. As some virtual photons are excluded in the gap, the net “quantum foam” pressure forces the surfaces together. In Lamoreaux’s (1997) experiment, d₁ was in the range of 0.6 to 6.0 microns (~1500 nanometers). B: George Hall (1996; 1997) has calculated the Casimir force on microtubules. As the force is proportional to d_-4, and d₂ for microtubules is 15 nanometers, the predicted Casimir force is 10⁶ greater on microtubules (per equivalent surface area) than that measured by Lamoreaux. Hall calculates a range of Casimir force on microtubules (length dependent) from 0.5 to 20 atmospheres.

At the basic level, this granularity has been modeled by Roger Penrose as a dynamic web of quantum spins. These “spin networks” create an array of geometric volumes and configurations at the Planck scale (10^-33 cm, 10^-43 secs) which dynamically evolve and define space-time geometry.

Figure 11. A spin network. Introduced by Roger Penrose (1971) as a quantum mechanical description of the geometry of space, spin networks describe spectra of discrete Planck scale volumes and configurations (with permission, Rovelli and Smolin, 1995).

If spin networks are the fundamental level of space-time geometry, they could provide the basis for proto-conscious experience. In other words, particular configurations of quantum spin geometry would convey particular types of qualia, meaning and aesthetic values. A process at the Planck scale (e.g. quantum state reductions) could access and select configurations of experience.

For illustration, 4 dimensional space-time geometry is often portrayed as a 2 dimensional “space-time sheet.”

Figure 12. According to Einstein’s general relativity, mass is equivalent to curvature in spacetime geometry. Penrose applies this equivalence to the fundamental Planck scale. The motion of an object between two conformational states of a protein such as tubulin (top) is equivalent to two curvatures in spacetime geometry as represented as a two-dimensional spacetime sheet (bottom).

4. Quantum computing and consciousness

If proto-conscious information is embedded at the near-infinitesimal Planck scale, how could it be linked to biology? To begin, Penrose extends Einstein’s theory of general relativity (in which mass equates to curvature in space-time) down to the Planck scale. As a result, specific arrangements of mass are, in reality, specific configurations of space-time geometry. Events at the very small scale, however, are subject to the seemingly bizarre goings-on of quantum theory.

A century of experimental observation of quantum systems have shown that, at least at small scales, particles (mass) can exist in two or more states or locations simultaneously (quantum superposition). Penrose takes superposition (e.g. a mass in two places simultaneously) to be simultaneous space-time curvature in opposite directions – a separation, or bubble (“blister”) in underlying reality.

Figure 13. Mass superposition, e.g. a protein occupying two different conformational states simultaneously (top) is equivalent, according to Penrose, to simultaneous spacetime curvature in opposite directions – a separation, or bubble (“blister”) in fundamental spacetime geometry.

Figure 14. Spacetime superposition/separation bubble (bottom) will reduce, or collapse to one or the other spacetime curvatures (top).

Superposition and subsequent reduction, or collapse, to single, classical states may have profoundly important applications in technology, as well as toward the understanding of consciousness. In the 1980s Benioff, Feynman, Deutsch and other physicists proposed that states in a quantum system could interact (via entanglement) and enact computation while in quantum superposition of all possible states (“quantum computing”). Classical computing processes bits (or conformational states) as 1 or 0, quantum computations involve the processing of superpositioned “qubits” of both 1 and 0 (and other states) simultaneously.

Figure 15. Qubits useful in quantum computation may exist in two or more (“both”) states simultaneously prior to collapse, or reduction (left), and then in single, classical (“either, or”) states after reduction (right). Spin, quantum dots and photon polarization qubits have been proposed and/or demonstrated in prototype quantum computers, and tubulin proteins and spacetime geometry are proposed in the Orch OR model to perform as qubits also.

Quantum theory also tells us that two or more particles, if once together, will remain somehow connected (“entangled”), even when separated by great distances. Qubits can interact by quantum entanglement, so that quantum computing is able to achieve a nearly infinite parallel computational ability. Quantum computers, if they can be constructed, will be able to solve imprtant problems (e.g. factoring large numbers) with efficiency unattainable in classical computers (Shor, 1994).

Researchers have developed a “Figure of Merit” M for proposed quantum computing technologies (Modified from Barenco, 1996 & DiVincenzo, 1995). M is related to the number of elementary operations performed per qubit before the superposition/computation is disrupted by decoherence (or in the case of microtubules in the Orch OR proposal, before objective reduction terminates the superposition).

Technology	telem (sec)	Tdecoherence (sec)	M (operations/qubit pre-decoherence)
Mossbauer nucleus	10-19	10-10	109
Electrons GaAs	10-13	10-10	103
Electrons Au	10-14	10-8	106
Trapped ions	10-14	10-1	1013
Optical cavities	10-14	10-5	109
Electron spin	10-7	10-3	104
Electron quantum dots	10-6	10-3	103
Nuclear spin	10-3	104	107
Superconductor islands	10-9	103	106
Microtubule tubulins	10-9	10-1	108

Results, or solutions in quantum computing are obtained when, after a period of quantum superposition/computation, the qubits “collapse”, or reduce to classical bit states (“collapse of the wave function”). As quantum superposition may only occur in isolation from environment, collapse (reduction) may be induced by breaching isolation (this is what is envisioned in technological quantum computers – making a measurement). But what about quantum superpositions which remain isolated, for example Schrodinger’s mythical cat which is both dead and alive? This is the famous problem of collapse of the wave function, or quantum state reduction.

5. Roger Penrose’s ‘objective reduction’ OR

How or why do quantum superpositioned states which avoid environmental interactions become classical and definite in the macro-world? Many physicists now believe that some objective factor disturbs the superposition and causes it to collapse. Roger Penrose proposes that this factor is an intrinsic feature of space-time geometry itself – quantum gravity. According to Penrose’s interpretation of general relativity, quantum superposition (e.g. separation of mass from itself) is equivalent to separation in underlying space-time geometry-simultaneous space-time curvatures in opposite directions. Penrose argues that these separations in fundamental reality, (“bubbles, or blisters”) are unstable-even when isolated from the environment-and will reduce spontaneously (and non-computably) to specific states at a critical threshold of space-time separation (thereby avoiding the need for “multiple worlds”). This objective threshold is defined by the indeterminacy principle:

E = h/T

where E is the gravitational self-energy of the superposed mass separated from itself, h is Planck’s constant divided by 2pi, and T is the coherence time until collapse occurs. Thus, the size and energy of a system in superposition, or the degree of space-time separation, is inversely related to the time T until reduction. (E can be calculated from the superposed mass m and the separation distance a. See e.g. Hameroff and Penrose, 1996a.)

Assuming isolation, the following masses in superposition would collapse at the designated times, according to Penrose’s objective reduction:

Mass (m)	Time (T)
Nucleon	107 years
Beryllium ion	106 years
Water Speck
10-5 cm radius	Hours
10-4 cm radius	1/20 second
10-3 cm radius	10-3 seconds
Schrodinger’s cat (m=1kg, a=10 cm)	10-37 seconds

If quantum computation with objective reduction were occurring in the brain, enigmatic features of consciousness (see Section above – The Problem of Consciousness) could be explained:

• By occurring as a self-organizing process in what is suggested to be a pan-experiential medium of fundamental spacetime geometry, objective reductions could account for the nature of subjective experience by accessing and selecting proto-conscious qualia.
• By virtue of involvement of unitary (entangled) quantum states during pre-conscious quantum computation and the unity of quantum information selected in each objective reduction, the issue of binding may be resolved.
• Regarding the transitions from pre-conscious processes to consciousness itself, the pre-conscious processes may equate to the quantum superposition/quantum computation phase, and consciousness itself to the actual (instantaneous) objective reduction events. Consciousness may then be seen as a sequence of discrete events (e.g. at 40 Hz).
• As Penrose objective reductions are proposed to be non-computable (reflecting influences from space-time geometry which are neither random, nor algorithmic) conscious choices and understanding may be similarly non-computable.
• Free will may be seen as a combination of deterministic pre-conscious processes acted on by a non-computable influence.
• Subjective time flow derives from a sequence of irreversible quantum state reductions.

Could objective reduction be occurring in the brain? If so (from E = h/T) time T would be expected to coincide with known neurophysiological processes with time scales from tens to hundreds of milliseconds (e.g. 25 msec for coherent 40 Hz, 100 msec for alpha EEG, 500 msec for sensory threshold events such as Libet’s famous 1979 experiments). In what types of brain structures might quantum computation with objective reduction occur? For T in this range we can calculate (from E = h/T, and with E related to mass m as described in Hameroff and Penrose, 1996a) that superpositioned mass m in the nanogram range would be required for conscious events of 40 to 500 msec. What brain components in nanogram quantitites could support quantum computation and objective reduction? What is m?

6. Are proteins qubits?

Biological life is organized by proteins. By changing their conformational shape, proteins are able to perform a wide variety of functions, including muscle movement, molecular binding, enzyme catalysis, metabolism, and movement. Dynamical protein structure results from a “delicate balance among powerful countervailing forces” (Voet & Voet, 1995). The types of forces acting on proteins include charged interactions (such as covalent, ionic, electrostatic, and hydrogen bonds), hydrophobic interactions, and dipole interactions. The latter group, also known as van der Waals forces, encompasses three types of interactions:

• permanent dipole – permanent dipole,
• permanent dipole – induced dipole, and
• induced dipole – induced dipole (London dispersion forces)

As charged interactions cancel out, hydrophobic and dipole – dipole forces are left to regulate protein structure. While induced dipole – induced dipole interactions, or London dispersion forces, are the weakest of the forces outlined above, they are also the most numerous and influential. Indeed, they may be critical to protein function. For example, anesthetics are able to bind in hydrophobic “pockets” of certain neural proteins and ablate consciousness by virtue of disrupting these London forces. London force attraction between any two atoms is usually less than a few kilojoules; however, since thousands occur in each protein, they add up to thousands of kilojoules per mole, and cause changes in conformational structure. As London forces are instrumental in protein folding (a problem intractable to conventional computational simulation), protein conformation and folding may be quantum computations.

Figure 16. A type of van der Waals force, the London dispersion force, is quantum mechanical and governs both protein conformation.

Figure 17. A. An anesthetic gas molecule (A) in a hydrophobic pocket of critical brain protein (receptors, channels, tubulin etc.) prevents normally occurring London forces, preventing protein conformational dynamics and superposition necessary for consciousness. B. A psychedelic hallucinogen (P) acts in hydrophobic pocket in critical brain protein to promote and sustain superposition, ‘expanding’ consciousness (see Figure 25).

Figure 18. A. Protein qubit. A protein such as tubulin can exist in two conformations determined by quantum London forces in hydrophobic pocket (top), or superposition of both conformations (bottom). B. The protein qubit corresponds to two alternative spacetime curvatures (top), and superposition/separation (bubble) of both curvatures (bottom).

If proteins are qubits, arrays or assemblies of proteins in some type of organelle or biomolecular structure could be a quantum computer. Ideal structures would be:

• Abundant;
• Capable of information processing and computation;
• Functionally important (e.g., regulating synapses);
• Self-organizing;
• Tunable by input information (e.g., microtubule-associated protein orchestration);
• Periodic and crystal-like in structure (e.g., dipole lattice);
• Isolated (transiently) from environmental decoherence;
• Conformationally coupled to quantum events (e.g., London forces);
• Cylindrical wave-guide structure; and,
• Plasma-like charge layer coating.

While various structures/organelles have been suggested (e.g., membrane proteins, clathrins, myelin, pre-synaptic grids, and calcium ions), the most logical candidates are microtubule automata.

Figure 19. The Penrose-Hameroff Orch OR model was hatched on a hike in the Grand Canyon following the Tucson I conference in April, 1994. From left: David Chalmers, Rhett Savage, Marie-Francoise Insinna, Seamus O’Morain, Stuart Hameroff, Roger Penrose, Vanessa Penrose, Jeff Tollaksen. Photo by Ezio Insinna.

7. Microtubule quantum automata – The ‘Orch OR’ model

The Penrose – Hameroff model of “orchestrated objective reduction” (Orch OR) proposes that:

• Quantum superposition/computation occur in microtubule automata within brain neurons and glia.;
• Tubulin subunits within microtubules act as qubits, switching between states on a nanosecond (10^-9 sec) scale governed by quantum London forces in hydrophobic pockets;
• Tubulin qubits interact computationally by nonlocal quantum entanglement according to the Schrodinger equation;

Figure 20. The basic idea in the Orch OR model is that each tubulin in a microtubule is a qubit.

Figure 21. Microtubule automaton sequence simulation in which classical computing (step 1) leads to emergence of quantum coherent superposition (steps 2-6) in certain (gray) tubulins due to pattern resonance. Step 6 (in coherence with other microtubule tubulins) meets critical threshold related to quantum gravity for self-collapse (Orch OR). Consciousness (Orch OR) occurs in the step 6 to 7 transition. Step 7 represents the eigenstate of mass distribution of the collapse which evolves by classical computing automata to regulate neural function. Quantum coherence begins to re-emerge in step 8.

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• pre-conscious processing which continues until the threshold for objective reduction (OR) is reached by E = h/T;
• At that instant collapse, or OR occurs which is an actual event in fundamental space-time geometry. This event selects a particular configuration of Planck-scale experiential geometry, enacting a “moment of awareness,” “occasion of experience” or conscious event.

Figure 22. Schematic graph of proposed pre-conscious quantum superposition (number of tubulins) emerging versus time in microtubules. Area under curve connects superposed mass energy E with collapse time T in accordance with E=(h/T. E may be expressed as n_t, the number of tubulins whose mass separation (and separation of underlying space time) for time T will self-collapse. For T = 25 msec (e.g. 40 Hz oscillations), n_t = 2 x 10¹⁰ tubulins.

Figure 23. Schematic of quantum computation of three tubulins which begin (left) in initial classical states, then enter isolated quantum superposition in which all possible states coexist. After reduction, one particular classical outcome state is chosen (right).

Figure 24. Schematic quantum computation in spacetime curvature for three mass distributions (e.g. tubulin conformations in Figure 23) which begin (left) in initial classical states, then enter isolated quantum superposition in which all possible states coexist. After reduction, one particular classical outcome state is chosen (right).

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• A sequence of OR events (e.g. at 40 Hz) provides a forward flow of subjective time and “stream” of consciousness;

Figure 25. Quantum superposition/entanglement in microtubules for 5 states related to consciousness. Area under each curve equivalent in all cases. A. Normal 30 Hz experience: as in Figure 22. B. Anesthesia: anesthetics bind in hydrophobic pockets and prevent quantum delocalizability and coherent superposition. C. Heightened Experience: increased sensory experience input (for example) increases rate of emergence of quantum superposition. Orch OR threshold is reached faster, and Orch OR frequency increases. D. Altered State: even greater rate of emergence of quantum superposition due to sensory input and other factors promoting quantum state (e.g. meditation, psychedelic drug etc.). Predisposition to quantum state results in baseline shift and collapse so that conscious experience merges with normally sub-conscious quantum computing mode. E. Dreaming: prolonged sub-threshold quantum superposition time.

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• At the nanoscale each event determines new classical states of microtubule automata which regulate synaptic and other neural functions;
• During the pre-conscious quantum superposition/computation phase, oscillations are “tuned” and “orchestrated” by microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs), providing a feedback loop between the biological system and the quantum state (hence Orch OR);
• Quantum states in microtubules may link to those in microtubules in other neurons and glia by tunneling through gap junctions, permitting extension of the quantum state throughout significant volumes of the brain.

Figure 26. Schematic of proposed quantum superposition and entanglement in microtubules in three dendrites interconnected by tunneling through gap junctions. Within each neuronal dendrite, microtubule-associated-protein (MAP) attachments breach isolation and prevent quantum coherence; MAP attachment sites thus act as “nodes” which tune and orchestrate quantum oscillations and set possibilities and probabilities for collapse outcomes (orchestrated objective reduction: Orch OR). Gap junctions may enable quantum tunneling among dendrites resulting in macroscopic quantum states.

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From E = h/T we can calculate the size and extension of Orch OR events which correlate with subjective or neurophysiological descriptions of conscious events.

Event	T	E
Buddhist “moment of awareness”	13 ms	4 x 1015 nucleons (4 x 1010 tubulins/cell ~ 40,000 neurons)
“Coherent 40 Hz” oscillations”	25 ms	2 x 1015 nucleons (2 x 1010 tubulins/cell ~ 20,000 neurons)
EEG alpha rhythm (8 to 12 Hz)	100 ms	5 x 1014 nucleons (5 x 109 tubulins/cell ~ 5000 neurons)
Libet’s sensory threshold (1979)	500ms	1014 nucleons (109 tubulins/cell ~ 1000 neurons)

But how could delicate quantum superposition/computation be isolated from environmental decoherence in the brain (generally considered to be a noisy thermal bath) while also communicating (input/output) with the environment? One possibility is that quantum superposition/computation occurs in an isolation phase which alternates with a communicative phase, for example at 40 Hz. One of the most primitive biological functions is the transition of cytoplasm between a liquid, solution (“sol”) phase, and a solid, gelatinous (“gel”) phase due to assembly and disassembly of the cytoskeletal protein actin. Actin sol-gel transitions can occur at 40 Hz or faster, and are known to be involved in neuronal synaptic release mechanisms.

Mechanisms for enabling microtubule quantum computation and avoiding decoherence long enough to reach threshold may include:

• Sol-gel transitions;

Figure 27. Immunoelectron micrograph of cytoplasm showing microtubules (arrows), intermediate filaments (arrowheads) and actin microfilaments (mf). Dense gel of actin (lower left) completely obscures (?isolates) microtubules. Actin sol-gel transitions can occur at 40 Hz or faster. Scale bar (upper right): 500 nanometers. With permission from Svitkina et al, 1995.

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• Plasma phase sleeves (Sackett);

Figure 28. Dan Sackett at NIH recently described a plasma-like sleeve of charged ions surrounding microtubules at precisely optimal pH.

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• Quantum excitations/ordering of surrounding water (Jibu/Yasue/Hagan);
• Hydrophobic pockets;
• Hollow microtubule cores;
• Laser-like pumping, including environment (Frohlich, Conrad).
• Quantum error correcting codes

Another apparent obstacle to the Orch OR proposal is how the weak energy involved in the gravitational collapse can be influential. For a detailed description of this problem and potential solutions, see Hameroff, 1998c. One possibility is that the gravitational self-energy is delivered to the involved tubulins via London forces virtually instantaneously (e.g. within one Planck time) so that the power (energy/time) is significant – approximately one kilowatt per tubulin per Orch OR event.

8. Orch OR, cognition and free will

Quantum computation with objective reduction (Orch OR) is potentially applicable to cognitive activities. While classical neural-level computation can provide a partial explanation, the Orch OR model allows far greater information capacity, and addresses issues of conscious experience, binding, and non-computability consistent with free will. Functions like face recognition and volitional choice may require a series of conscious events arriving at intermediate solutions. For the purpose of illustration consider single Orch OR events in these two types of cognitive activities.

Imagine you briefly see a familiar woman’s face. Is she Amy, Betty, or Carol? Possibilities may superpose in a quantum computation. For example during 25 milliseconds of pre-conscious processing, quantum computation occurs with information (Amy, Betty, Carol) in the form of “qubits”3/4superposed states of microtubule tubulin subunits within groups of neurons. As threshold for objective reduction is reached, an instantaneous conscious event occurs. The superposed tubulin qubits reduce to definite states, becoming bits. Now, you recognize that she is Carol! (an immense number of possibilities could be superposed in a human brain’s 10¹⁹ tubulins).

Figure 29. Face recognition. A familiar face induces superposition (left) of three possible solutions (Amy, Betty, Carol) which “collapse” to the correct answer Carol (right). Volitional choice. Three possible dinner selections (shrimp, sushi, pasta) are considered in superposition (left), and collapse via Orch OR to choice of sushi (right).

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In a volitional act possible choices may be superposed. Suppose for example you are selecting dinner from a menu. During pre-conscious processing, shrimp, sushi and pasta are superposed in a quantum computation. As threshold for objective reduction is reached, the quantum state reduces to a single classical state. A choice is made. You’ll have sushi!

How does the choice actually occur? In a conventional neural network scheme, the selection criteria can be described by a deterministic algorithm which precludes the possibility of free will. The non-computable influence in Orch OR may be useful in understanding free will.

The problem in understanding free will is that our actions seem neither totally deterministic nor random (probabilistic). What else is there in nature? As previously described, in OR (and Orch OR) the reduction outcomes are neither deterministic nor probabilistic, but involve a factor which is “non-computable.” The microtubule quantum superposition evolves linearly (analogous to a quantum computer) but is influenced at the instant of collapse by hidden non-local variables (quantum-mathematical logic inherent in fundamental spacetime geometry). The possible outcomes are limited, or probabilities set (“orchestrated”), by neurobiological feedback (in particular microtubule associated proteins, or MAPs). The precise outcome3/4our free will actions3/4are chosen by effects of the hidden logic on the quantum system poised at the edge of objective reduction.

Figure 30. Free will may be seen as the result of deterministic processes (behavior of trained robot windsurfer) acted on repeatedly by non-computable influences, here represented as a seemingly capricious wind.

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Consider a sailboard analogy for free will. A sailor sets the sail in a certain way; the direction the board sails is determined by the action of the wind on the sail. Let’s pretend the sailor is a non-conscious robot zombie run by a quantum computer which is trained and programmed to sail. Setting and adjusting of the sail, sensing the wind and position, jibing and tacking (turning the board) are algorithmic and deterministic, and may be analogous to the pre-conscious, quantum computing phase of Orch OR. The direction and intensity of the wind (seemingly capricious, or unpredictable) may be considered analogous to Planck scale hidden non-local variables (e.g. “Platonic” quantum-mathematical logic inherent in space-time geometry). The choice, or outcome (the direction the boat sails, the point on shore it lands) depends on the deterministic sail settings acted on repeatedly by the apparently unpredictable wind. Our “free will” actions could be the net result of deterministic processes acted on by hidden quantum logic at each Orch OR event. This can explain why we generally do things in an orderly, deterministic fashion, but occasionally our actions or thoughts are surprising, even to ourselves.

9. Consciousness and evolution

When in the course of evolution did consciousness first appear? Are all living organisms conscious, or did consciousness emerge more recently, e.g. with language or toolmaking? Or did consciousness appear somewhere in between, and if so, when and why? The Orch OR model (unlike other models of consciousness) is able to make a prediction as to the onset of consciousness. Based on E = h/T we can ask, for example, is it feasible for single cell organisms such as paramecium (which exhibit complex behavior such as graceful swimming, mating and learning) to be conscious? Single cells including paramecium should contain approximately 10⁷ tubulins, so T would be 50,000 msec, or nearly one minute. This seems unlikely. Larger organisms such as the nematode worm (e.g., C. elegans) with 300 neurons (3 x 10⁹ tubulins) would need to maintain quantum isolation for only 133 msec – not unreasonable. Such organisms (tiny worms and urchins) were prevalent at the beginning of the “Cambrian explosion,” a burst of evolution which occurred 540 million years ago. Did primitive consciousness (via Orch OR) accelerate evolution and precipitate the Cambrian explosion?

Figure 31. A time-line of when consciousness could have arisen.

The Cambrian explosion was a burst of evolution 540 million years ago. Organisms present at the Cambrian onset included small worms and urchins. Did consciousness (Orch OR) cause the Cambrian explosion?

Figure 32. Organisms present at the early Cambrian explosion (e.g. tiny urchins, worms and suctorians) are the right size for primitive consciousness by Orch OR.

Figure 33. Actinosphaerium is a tiny urchin like those present at the early Cambrian explosion. Each has about one hundred rigid axonemes about 300 microns long, made up of a total of about 3 x 10⁹ tubulins (with permission from L.E. Roth).

Figure 34. Cross-section of single axoneme of actinosphaerium – a double spiral array of interconnected microtubules. Scale bar: 500 nm (with permission from L.E. Roth).

---

Would consciousness be advantageous to survival (above and beyond intelligent, complex behavior)? It seems that, yes, consciousness would indeed be advantageous to survival, and hence capable of accelerating evolution. Non-computable behavior (unpredictability, intuitive actions) would be beneficial in predator-prey relations. Having conscious experience of taste would promote finding food; the experience of pain would promote avoiding predators. And the pleasurable qualia of sex would promote reproduction.

So “what is it like to be a worm?” Lacking our sensory apparatus, associative memory and complex nervous system such primitive consciousness would be a mere glimmer, a disjointed smudge of reality. But qualitatively, at a basic level, such primitive consciousness would be akin to ours.

What about future evolution? Will consciousness occur in computers? The advent of quantum computers opens the possibility, however as presently envisioned quantum computers will have insufficient mass in superposition (e.g. electrons) to reach threshold for objective reduction. Instead, superpositions will be disrupted by environmental decoherence. Conceivably, future generations of quantum computers could satisfy requirements for objective reduction and consciousness.

10. Conclusions

• Brain processes relevant to consciousness extend downward within neurons to the level of cytoskeletal microtubules.
• An explanation for conscious experience requires (in addition to neuroscience and psychology) a modern form of pan-protopsychism in which proto-conscious qualia are embedded in the basic level of reality, as described by modern physics.
• Roger Penrose’s physics of objective reduction (OR) connects brain structures to fundamental reality, leading to the Penrose-Hameroff model of quantum computation with objective reduction in microtubules (orchestrated objective reduction: Orch OR).
• The Orch OR model is consistent with known neurophysiological processes, generates testable predictions, and is the type of fundamental, multi-level, interdisciplinary theory which may account for the mind’s enigmatic features.

http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/presentations/whatisconsciousness.html

What is Consciousness? Does it remain after Death?

Spiritual Enlightenment

Enlightenment refers to the “full comprehension of a situation”

It is commonly used to denote the Age of Enlightenment but is also used in Western cultures in a religious context.

It translates several Buddhist terms and concepts, most notably bodhi,  kensho and satori. Related terms from Asian religions are moksha (liberation) in Hinduism, Kevala Jnana in Jainism and ushta in Zoroastrianism.

In Christianity, the word “enlightenment” is rarely used, except to refer to the Age of Enlightenment and its influence on Christianity. Equivalent terms may be revelation, metanoia and conversion.

Western understanding

In the Western world the concept of enlightenment in a religious context acquired a romantic meaning. It has become synonymous with self-realization and the true self, which is being regarded as a substantial essence which is covered over by social conditioning.

As ‘Aufklärung’

Main article: Age of Enlightenment

The use of the Western word enlightenment is based on the supposed resemblance of bodhi with Aufklärung, the independent use of reason to gain insight into the true nature of our world. As a matter of fact there are more resemblances with Romanticism than with the Enlightenment: the emphasis on feeling, on intuitive insight, on a true essence beyond the world of appearances.^[2]

Awakening: Historical period of renewed interest in religion

The equivalent term “awakening” has also been used in a Christian context, namely the Great Awakenings, several periods of religious revival in American religious history. Historians and theologians identify three or four waves of increased religious enthusiasm occurring between the early 18th century and the late 19th century. Each of these “Great Awakenings” was characterized by widespread revivals led by evangelical Protestant ministers, a sharp increase of interest in religion, a profound sense of conviction and redemption on the part of those affected, an increase in evangelical church membership, and the formation of new religious movements and denominations.

Romanticism and transcendentalism

 

See also: Buddhist modernism, Transcendentalism, and Perennial philosophy

This romantic idea of enlightenment as insight into a timeless, transcendent reality has been popularized especially by D.T. Suzuki.^] Further popularization was due to the writings of Heinrich Dumoulin Dumoulin viewed metaphysics as the expression of a transcendent truth, which according to him was expressed by Mahayana Buddhism, but not by the pragmatic analysis of the oldest Buddhism, which emphasizes anatta.^[5] This romantic vision is also recognizable in the works of Ken Wilber.^[6]

In the oldest Buddhism this essentialism is not recognizable.^{[7][web 5]} According to critics it doesn’t really contribute to a real insight into Buddhism:^{[web 6]}

…most of them labour under the old cliché that the goal of Buddhist psychological analysis is to reveal the hidden mysteries in the human mind and thereby facilitate the development of a transcendental state of consciousness beyond the reach of linguistic expression.^[8]

Enlightenment and experience

A common reference in Western culture is the notion of “enlightenment experience“. This notion can be traced back to William James, who used the term “religious experience” in his book, The Varieties of Religious Experience.^[9] Wayne Proudfoot traces the roots of the notion of “religious experience” further back to the German theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834), who argued that religion is based on a feeling of the infinite. The notion of “religious experience” was used by Schleiermacher to defend religion against the growing scientific and secular citique.

It was popularised by the Transcendentalists, and exported to Asia via missionaries.^[10] Transcendentalism developed as a reaction against 18th Century rationalism, John Locke‘s philosophy of Sensualism, and the predestinationism of New England Calvinism. It is fundamentally a variety of diverse sources such as Hindu texts like the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita, various religions, and German idealism.

It was adopted by many scholars of religion, of which William James was the most influential.

The notion of “experience” has been criticised. Robert Sharf points out that “experience” is a typical Western term, which has found its way into Asian religiosity via western influences. The notion of “experience” introduces a false notion of duality between “experiencer” and “experienced”, whereas the essence of kensho is the realisation of the “non-duality” of observer and observed. “Pure experience” does not exist; all experience is mediated by intellectual and cognitive activity. The specific teachings and practices of a specific tradition may even determine what “experience” someone has, which means that this “experience” is not the proof of the teaching, but a result of the teaching. A pure consciousness without concepts, reached by “cleaning the doors of perception”, would be an overwhelming chaos of sensory input without coherence.

Nevertheless, the notion of religious experience has gained widespread use in the study of religion, and is extensively researched.

Asian cultures and religions

According to U. G. Krishnamurti there is no such thing as enlightenment, and “there is nothing to understand”.

Buddhism

The English term “enlightenment” has commonly been used to translate several Sanskrit, Pali, Chinese and Japanese terms and concepts, especially bodhi, prajna, kensho, satori and buddhahood.

Bodhi is a Theravada term. It literally means “awakening” and “understanding”. Someone who is awakened has gained insight into the workings of the mind which keeps us imprisoned in craving, suffering and rebirth,^] and has also gained insight into the way that leads to nirvana, the liberation of oneself from this imprisonment.

Prajna is a Mahayana term. It refers to insight into our true nature, which according to Madhyamaka is empty of a personal essence in the stream of experience. But it also refers to the Tathāgata-garbha or Buddha-nature, the essential basic-consciousness beyond the stream of experience.

In Zen, kensho means “seeing into one’s true nature”. Satori is often used interchangeably with kensho, but refers to the experience of kensho.

Buddhahood is the attainment of full awakening and becoming a Buddha. According to the Tibetan Thubten Yeshe, enlightenment

[means] full awakening; buddhahood. The ultimate goal of Buddhist practice, attained when all limitations have been removed from the mind and one’s positive potential has been completely and perfectly realized. It is a state characterized by infinite compassion, wisdom and skill.

Hinduism

In Indian religions moksha (Sanskrit: मोक्ष mokṣa; liberation) or mukti (Sanskrit: मुक्ति; release —both from the root muc “to let loose, let go”) is the final extrication of the soul or consciousness (purusha) from samsara and the bringing to an end of all the suffering involved in being subject to the cycle of repeated death and rebirth (reincarnation).

Advaita Vedanta

Advaita Vedanta (IAST Advaita Vedānta; Sanskrit: अद्वैत वेदान्त [əd̪ʋait̪ə ʋeːd̪ɑːnt̪ə]) is a philosophical concept where followers seek liberation/release by recognizing identity of the Self (Atman) and the Whole (Brahman) through long preparation and training, usually under the guidance of a guru, that involves efforts such as knowledge of scriptures, renunciation of worldy activities, and inducement of direct identity experiences. Originating in India before 788 AD, Advaita Vedanta is widely considered the most influential and most dominant sub-school of the Vedānta (literally, end or the goal of the Vedas, Sanskrit) school of Hindu philosophy.^[33] Other major sub-schools of Vedānta are Viśishṭādvaita and Dvaita; while the minor ones include Suddhadvaita, Dvaitadvaita and Achintya Bhedabheda.

Advaita (literally, non-duality) is a system of thought where “Advaita” refers to the identity of the Self (Atman) and the Whole (Brahman). Recognition of this identity leads to liberation. Attaining this liberation takes a long preparation and training under the guidance of a guru.

The key source texts for all schools of Vedānta are the Prasthanatrayi—the canonical texts consisting of the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutras. The first person to explicitly consolidate the principles of Advaita Vedanta was Shankara Bhagavadpada^[34], while the first historical proponent was Gaudapada, the guru of Shankara’s guru Govinda Bhagavatpada.

Philosophical system

Shankara systematized the works of preceding philosophers. His system of Vedanta introduced the method of scholarly exegesis on the accepted metaphysics of the Upanishads. This style was adopted by all the later Vedanta schools.

Shankara’s synthesis of Advaita Vedanta is summarized in this quote from the Vivekacūḍāmaṇi, one of his Prakaraṇa graṃthas (philosophical treatises):

In half a couplet I state, what has been stated by crores of texts;

that is Brahman alone is real, the world is mithyā (not independently existent),

and the individual self is nondifferent from Brahman.

Neo-Vedanta

Main articles: Hindu reform movements, Swami Vivekananda, and Ramakrishna Mission

In the 19th century Vivekananda played a major role in the revival of Hinduism, and the spread of Advaita Vedanta to the West via the Ramakrishna Mission. His interpretation of Advaita Vedanta has been called “Neo-Vedanta”.^[38]

In a talk on “The absolute and manifestation” given in at London in 1896 Swami Vivekananda said,

I may make bold to say that the only religion which agrees with, and even goes a little further than modern researchers, both on physical and moral lines is the Advaita, and that is why it appeals to modern scientists so much. They find that the old dualistic theories are not enough for them, do not satisfy their necessities. A man must have not only faith, but intellectual faith too”.

Vivekananda emphasized samadhi as a means to attain liberation. Yet this emphasis is not to be found in the Upanishads nor in Shankara. For Shankara, meditation and Nirvikalpa Samadhi are means to gain knowledge of the already existing unity of Brahman and Atman, not the highest goal itself:

[Y]oga is a meditative exercise of withdrawal from the particular and identification with the universal, leading to contemplation of oneself as the most universal, namely, Consciousness. This approach is different from the classical yoga of complete thought suppression.

Vivekenanda’s modernisation has been criticized:

Without calling into question the right of any philosopher to interpret Advaita according to his own understanding of it, […] the process of Westernization has obscured the core of this school of thought. The basic correlation of renunciation and Bliss has been lost sight of in the attempts to underscore the cognitive structure and the realistic structure which according to Samkaracarya should both belong to, and indeed constitute the realm of māyā.

Neo-Advaita

Neo-Advaita is a new religious movement based on a modern, Western interpretation of Advaita Vedanta, especially the teachings of Ramana Maharshi. Neo-Advaita is being criticized for discarding the traditional prerequisites of knowledge of the scriptures and “renunciation as necessary preparation for the path of jnana-yoga“. Notable neo-advaita teachers are H. W. L. Poonja, his students Gangaji Andrew Cohen, and Eckhart Tolle.

Yoga

The prime means to reach moksha is through the practice of yoga (Sanskrit, Pāli: योग, /ˈjəʊɡə/, yoga) is a commonly known generic term for physical, mental, and spiritual disciplines which originated in ancient India Specifically, yoga is one of the six āstika (“orthodox”) schools of Hindu philosophy. It is based on the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali. Various traditions of yoga are found in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism.

Pre–philosophical speculations and diverse ascetic practices of first millennium BCE were systematized into a formal philosophy in early centuries CE by the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.^] By the turn of the first millennium, Hatha yoga emerged as a prominent tradition of yoga distinct from the Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. While the Yoga Sutras focus on discipline of the mind, Hatha yoga concentrates on health and purity of the body.

Hindu monks, beginning with Swami Vivekananda, brought yoga to the West in the late 19th century. In the 1980s, yoga became popular as a physical system of health exercises across the Western world. Many studies have tried to determine the effectiveness of yoga as a complementary intervention for cancer, schizophrenia, asthma and heart patients. In a national survey, long-term yoga practitioners in the United States reported musculo–skeletal and mental health improvements.

Jnana yoga

Classical Advaita Vedanta follows empahsises the path of jnana yoga, a progression of study and training to attain moksha. It consitsts of four stages:

• Samanyasa or Sampattis, the “fourfold discipline” (sādhana-catustaya), cultivating the following four qualities:
  • Nityānitya vastu viveka (नित्यानित्य वस्तु विवेकम्) — The ability (viveka) to correctly discriminate between the eternal (nitya) substance (Brahman) and the substance that is transitory existence (anitya).
  • Ihāmutrārtha phala bhoga virāga (इहाऽमुत्रार्थ फल भोगविरागम्) — The renunciation (virāga) of enjoyments of objects (artha phala bhoga) in this world (iha) and the other worlds (amutra) like heaven etc.
  • Śamādi ṣatka sampatti (शमादि षट्क सम्पत्ति) — the sixfold qualities,
    • Śama (control of the antahkaraṇa).
    • Dama (the control of external sense organs).
    • Uparati (the cessation of these external organs so restrained, from the pursuit of objects other than that, or it may mean the abandonment of the prescribed works according to scriptural injunctions).
    • Titikṣa (the tolerating of tāpatraya).
    • Śraddha (the faith in Guru and Vedas).
    • Samādhāna (the concentrating of the mind on God and Guru).
  • Mumukṣutva (मुमुक्षुत्वम्) — The firm conviction that the nature of the world is misery and the intense longing for moksha (release from the cycle of births and deaths).
• Sravana, listening to the teachings of the sages on the Upanishads and Advaita Vedanta, and studying the Vedantic texts, such as the Brahma Sutras. In this stage the student learns about the reality of Brahman and the identity of atman;
• Manana, the stage of reflection on the teachings;
• Dhyana, the stage of meditation on the truth “that art Thou”.

Bhakti yoga

The paths of bhakti yoga and karma yoga are subsidiary.

In bhakti yoga, practice centers on the worship God in any way and in any form, like Krishna or Ayyappa. Adi Shankara himself was a proponent of devotional worship or Bhakti. But Adi Shankara taught that while Vedic sacrifices, puja and devotional worship can lead one in the direction of jnana (true knowledge), they cannot lead one directly to moksha. At best, they can serve as means to obtain moksha via shukla gati.

Karma yoga

Karma yoga is the way of doing our duties, in disregard of personal gains or losses. According to Sri Swami Sivananda,

Karma Yoga is consecration of all actions and their fruits unto the Lord. Karma Yoga is performance of actions dwelling in union with the Divine, removing attachment and remaining balanced ever in success and failure.

Karma Yoga is selfless service unto humanity. Karma Yoga is the Yoga of action which purifies the heart and prepares the Antahkarana (the heart and the mind) for the reception of Divine Light or attainment if Knowledge of the Self. The important point is that you will have to serve humanity without any attachment or egoism.

Jainism

Jainism (/ˈdʒeɪnɪzəm/; Sanskrit: जैनधर्म Jainadharma, Tamil: சமணம் Samaṇam, Bengali: জৈনধর্ম Jainadharma, Telugu: జైనమతం Jainamataṁ, Malayalam: ജൈനമതം Jainmat, Kannada: ಜೈನ ಧರ್ಮ Jaina dharma), is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul toward divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state of supreme being is called a jina (“conqueror” or “victor”). The ultimate status of these perfect souls is called siddha. Ancient texts also refer to Jainism as shramana dharma (self-reliant) or the “path of the nirganthas” (those without attachments or aversions).

In Jainism highest form of pure knowledge a soul can attain is called Kevala Jnana ( Sanskrit : केवलज्ञान )or Kevala Ṇāṇa (Prakrit : केवल णाण). which means “absolute or perfect” and Jñāna, which means “knowledge”. Kevala is the state of isolation of the jīva from the ajīva attained through ascetic practices which burn off one’s karmic residues, releasing one from bondage to the cycle of death and rebirth. Kevala Jñāna thus means infinite knowledge of self and non-self, attained by a soul after annihilation of the all ghātiyā karmas. The soul which has reached this stage achieves moksa or liberation at the end of its life span.

Mahavira, 24th thirthankara of Jainism, is said to have practised rigorous austerities for 12 years before he attained enlightenment,

During the thirteenth year, in the second month of summer, in the fourth fortnight, the light (fortnight) of Vaisakha, on its tenth day, when the shadow had turned towards the east and the first wake was over, on the day called Suvrata, in the Muhurta called Vigaya, outside of the town Grimbhikagrama on the bank of the river Rjupalika, not far from an old temple, in the field of the householder Samaga, under a Sal tree, when the moon was in conjunction with the asterism Uttara Phalguni, (the Venerable One) in a squatting position with joined heels, exposing himself to the heat of the sun, after fasting two and a half days without drinking water, being engaged in deep meditation, reached the highest knowledge and intuition, called Kevala, which is infinite, supreme, unobstructed, unimpeded, complete, and full.

Kevala Jñāna is one of the five major events in the life of a Tirthankara and is known as Jñāna Kalyanaka and supposedly celebrated by all gods. Mahavira’s Kaivalya was said to have been celebrated by the demi-gods, who constructed the Samosarana or a grand preaching assembly for him.

Western culture

Christianity

The word “enlightenment” is not generally used in Christian contexts for religious understanding or insight. More commonly used terms in the Christian tradition are religious conversion and revelation.

Lewis Sperry Chafer (1871–1952), one of the founders of Dispensationalism, uses the word “illuminism“. Christians who are “illuminated” are of two groups, those who have experienced true illuminism (biblical) and those who experienced false illuminism (not from the Holy Spirit).

However, Christian interest in eastern spirituality has grown throughout the 20th century. Notable Christians, such as Hugo Enomiya-Lassalle and AMA Samy, have participated in Buddhist training and even become Buddhist teachers themselves. In a few places Eastern contemplative techniques have been integrated in Christian practices, such as centering prayer. But this integration has also raised questions about the borders between these traditions.

Western esotericism and mysticism

Western and Mediterranean culture has a rich tradition of esotericism. The Perennial philosophy, basic to the New Age understanding of the world, regards those traditions as akin to Eastern religions which aim at awakening and developing wisdom. All mystical traditions are supposed to share a “common core”, a hypothesis which is central to New Age, but contested by a diversity of scientists like Katz and Proudfoot.

Judaism knows the mystical tradition of Kabbalah. Islam includes the mystical tradition of Sufism. In the Fourth Way teaching, enlightenment is the highest state of Man (humanity).

Nondualism

A popular western understanding sees “enlightenment” as “nondual consciousness”, “a primordial, natural awareness without subject or object.” It is used interchangeably with Neo-Advaita.

This nondual consciousness is seen as a common stratum to different religions. Several definitions or meanings are combined in this approach, which makes it possible to recognize various traditions as having the same essence. According to Renard, many forms of religion are based on an experiential or intuitive understanding of “the Real”

This idea of nonduality as “the central essence” is part of a modern mutual exchange and synthesis of ideas between western spiritual and esoteric traditions and Asian religious revival and reform movements.  Western predecessors are, among others, New Age, Wilber’s synthesis of western psychology and Asian spirituality, the idea of a Perennial Philosophy, and Theosophy. Eastern influences are the Hindu reform movements such as Aurobindo’s Integral Yoga and Vivekananda’s Neo-Vedanta, the Vipassana movement, and Buddhist modernism. A truly syncretistic influence is Osho and the Rajneesh movement, a hybrid of eastern and western ideas and teachings, and a mainly western group of followers.

Cognitive aspects

Religious experience as cognitive construct

“Religious experiences” have “evidential value” since they confirm the specific worldview of the experiencer:

These experiences are cognitive in that, allegedly at least, the subject of the experience receives a reliable and accurate view of what, religiously considered, are the most important features of things. This, so far as their religious tradition is concerned, is what is most important about them. This is what makes them “salvific” or powerful to save.

Yet, just like the very notion of “religious experience” is shaped by a specific discourse and habitus, the “uniformity of interpretation” may be due to the influence of religious traditions which shape the interpretation of such “experiences”.

Various religious experiences

Yandell discerns various “religious experiences” and their corresponding doctrinal settings, which differ in structure and phenomenological content, and in the “evidential value” they present.  Yandell discerns five sorts:

1. Numinous experiences – Monotheism (Jewish, Christian, Vedantic
2. Nirvanic experiences – Buddhism, “according to which one sees that the self is but a bundle of fleeting states“^[
3. Kevala experiences – Jainism, “according to which one sees the self as an undestructible subject of experience”
4. Moksha experiences^[82] – Hinduism^[71], Brahman “either as a cosmic person, or, quite differently, as qualityless”^[71]
5. Nature mystical experience^[81]

Cognitive science

Various philosophers and cognitive scientists state that there is no “true self” or a “little person” (homunculus) in the brain that “watches the show,” and that consciousness is an emergent property that arise from the various modules of the brain in ways that are yet far from understood. According to Susan Greenfield, the “self” may be seen as a composite, whereas Douglas R. Hofstadter describes the sense of “I” as a result of cognitive process.

This is in line with the Buddhist teachings, which state that

[…] what we call ‘I’ or ‘being,’ is only a combination of physical and mental aggregates which are working together interdependently in a flux of momentary change within the law of cause and effect, and that there is nothing, permanent, everlasting, unchanging, and eternal in the whole of existence.

To this end, Parfit called Buddha the “first bundle theorist“.

The idea that the mind is the result of the activities of neurons in the brain was most notably popularized by Francis Crick, the co-discoverer of DNA, in his book The Astonishing Hypothesis. The basic idea can be traced back to at least Étienne Bonnot de Condillac. According to Crick, the idea was not a novel one:

[…] an exceptionally clear statement of it can be found in a well known paper by Horace Barlow.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlightenment_%28spiritual%29

Tao #21 ~ The Way
Ф

True virtue is found through The Way
it is the best gift
yet hard to grasp,
intangible
like the mote in your eye
elusive
a form that will not be touched
hard to see, obscure
yet substantial
in essence
genuine essence
yielding reliable belief

timeless
as in
beginning
eternal
now
ever
always demonstrating
eternal creation

How do we know this?
By this.

~~~
a different version

Taos Tao #21 ~ Creation
Ф

effortless
performance
Indistinct and shadowy
yet having an image

seed in the dark
containing plant potential

tangible yet elusive
like a dream
containing images
which exist
yet melt away with waking

Divine Tao, source of all being
power at the root of all things
who can define God?
God is everything
But beyond everything
primitive minds
will try to find
God in a book
or a line

God is beyond the senses
yet God fills all that is

http://divinetao.com/dt_21_way.htm

The X Factor Spans All Cultures

The Physics……..of Freedom? An Analogy?

The Physics of Soccer

Newton’s Laws of Motion

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Newton’s 1st law

The first law of motion is called the Law of Inertia. It states that “any object at rest, will tend to stay at rest, and any object in motion, will tend to stay in motion unless acted on by an unbalanced force.” This unbalanced force could be: gravity, wind, or any moving object. In soccer however, this unbalance force is usually the soccer player’s foot. He or she will use muscle in the body to create a force to move the leg and kick the ball. Because the ball is at rest, it will continue to stay at rest. But once kicked, it will keep moving in a straight line without any intent of stopping. The reason the ball will stop is because of friction and Earth’s gravitational pull.

Newton’s 2nd law

Newton’s second law states that “The change in velocity (acceleration) with which an object moves is directly proportional to the magnitude of the force applied to the object and inversely proportional to the mass of the object.” This can be explained by the equation F=ma. The acceleration of the ball (a) is determined by the force applied (F) divided by the mass of the object that is being moved (m). This simply means that if the ball has a lot of mass, it will require more force to accelerate. If the ball has little mass, it will require little force. In soccer, it is important to know this law because if you want the ball to be moving fast, you must apply more force. If you want the ball to move just a little bit, then just apply less force.

Newton’s 3rd law

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Newton’s final law of motion states that “for every action, there is and equal and opposite reaction.” This literally means that if you kick the soccer ball, it will kick back at you just as hard. You usually don’t realize this because your leg doesn’t seem to move, but this is because your leg has more mass, meaning it has more inertia, which is the resistance to move.

Momentum

---

When a soccer players kicks a ball, he transfers his momentum to the ball. Momentum is the velocity of object times its mass. Also when players pass the ball to each other, they use their feet to slow the momentum of the ball by moving with the ball and resisting it slowly.

This way, they can have more control over the ball. It’s a simple trick.

https://thescienceclassroom.wikispaces.com/Physics+of+Soccer

Life is a State of Mind

http://sarcasmalley.com/being.html

 

 

http://sarcasmalley.com/Tour1.htm

Being There

The classic test of Artificial Intelligence has been: Can a computer be programmed to conduct a conversation that seems human to another human? “Being There” is a film about a man whose mind works like a rudimentary A.I. program.

His mind has been supplied with a fund of simplistic generalizations about the world, phrased in terms of the garden where he has worked all his adult life. But because he presents himself as a man of good breeding (he walks and talks like the wealthy older man whose house he lived in, and wears the man’s tailored suits) his simplicity is mistaken for profundity, and soon he is advising presidents and befriending millionaires.

The man’s name is Chance. We gather he has lived all of his life inside the townhouse and walled garden of a rich recluse (perhaps he is his son). He knows what he needs to know for his daily routine: Where his bedroom and bathroom are, and how to tend the plants of the garden. His meals are produced by Louise, the cook. The movie provides no diagnosis of his condition. He is able to respond to given cues, and can, within limits, adapt and learn.

Early in the film he introduces himself as “Chance . . . the gardener,” and is misunderstood as having said “Chauncey Gardener.” Just the sort of WASP name that matches his clothing and demeanor, and soon he is telling the President: “Spring, summer, autumn, winter . . . then spring again.” Indeed.

Chance is played by Peter Sellers, an actor who once told me he had “absolutely no personality at all. I am a chameleon. When I am not playing a role, I am nobody.” Of course, he thought himself ideal for this role, which comes from a novel by Jerzy Kosinski. Sellers plays Chance as a man at peace with himself. When the old man dies, the household is broken up and Chance is evicted, there is a famous scene where he is confronted by possible muggers, and simply points a channel changer at them, and clicks. He is surprised when they do not go away.

Sellers plays Chance at exactly the same note for the entire film. He is detached, calm, secure in his own knowledge, unaware of his limitations. Through a series of happy chances, he is taken into the home of a dying millionaire named Benjamin Rand (Melvyn Douglas). The millionaire’s wife Eve (Shirley MacLaine) establishes Chance in a guest suite, where he is happy to find a television (his most famous line is, “I like to watch.”)

Soon the rich man grows to treasure his reassuring friend. The family doctor (Richard Dysart) is perceptive, and begins to have doubts about Chance’s authenticity, but silences himself when his patient says Chauncey “has made the thought of dying much easier.” Chauncey is introduced by Ben to the president (Jack Warden), becomes an unofficial advisor, and soon is being interviewed on television, where his insights fit nicely into the limited space available for sound bites.

Satire is a threatened species in American film, and when it does occur, it’s usually broad and slapstick, as in the Mel Brooks films. “Being There,” directed by Hal Ashby, is a rare and subtle bird that finds its tone and stays with it. It has the appeal of an ingenious intellectual game, in which the hero survives a series of challenges he doesn’t understand, using words that are both universal and meaningless. But are Chance’s sayings noticeably less useful than when the president tells us about a “bridge to the 21st century?” Sensible public speech in our time is limited by (1) the need to stay within he confines of the 10-second TV sound bite; (2) the desire to avoid being pinned down to specific claims or promises; and (3) the abbreviated attention span of the audience, which, like Chance, likes to watch but always has a channel-changer poised.

If Chance’s little slogans reveal how superficial public utterance can be, his reception reveals still more. Because he is WASP, middle-aged, well-groomed, dressed in tailored suits, and speaks like an educated man, he is automatically presumed to be a person of substance. He is, in fact, socially naive (“You’re always going to be a little boy,” Louise tells him). But this leads to a directness than can be mistaken for confidence, as when he addresses the president by his first name, or enfolds his hand in both of his own. The movie argues that if you look right, sound right, speak in platitudes and have powerful friends, you can go far in our society. By the end of the film, Chance is being seriously proposed as a presidential candidate. Well, why not? I once watched Lamar Alexander for 45 minutes on C-SPAN, as he made small talk in a New Hampshire diner, and heard nothing that Chance could not have said.

The film is not flawless. There are two sex-oriented subplots, and neither one is necessary. The story of the president’s impotence could have been completely dispensed with. And the seduction attempt by Shirley MacLaine, as the millionaire’s wife, requires her to act in a less intelligent way than she should. MacLaine projects brains; she, like the doctor, should have caught on, and that would have created more intriguing scenes than her embarrassing poses on a bear rug.

In the much-discussed final sequence of “Being There,” Chance casually walks onto the surface of a lake. We can see that he is really walking on the water, because he leans over curiously and sticks his umbrella down into it.

When I taught the film, I had endless discussions with my students over this scene. Many insisted on explaining it: He is walking on a hidden sandbar, the water is only half an inch deep, there is a submerged pier, etc. “Not valid!” I thundered. “The movie presents us with an image, and while you may discuss the meaning of the image it is not permitted to devise explanations for it. Since Ashby does not show a pier, there is no pier–a movie is exactly what it shows us, and nothing more,” etc.

So what does it show us? It shows us Chance doing something that is primarily associated with only one other figure in human history. What are we to assume? That Chance is a Christ figure? That the wisdom of great leaders only has the appearance of meaning? That we find in politics and religion whatever we seek? That like the Road Runner (who also defies gravity) he will not sink until he understands his dilemma?

The movie’s implications are alarming. Is it possible that we are all just clever versions of Chance the gardener? That we are trained from an early age to respond automatically to given words and concepts? That we never really think out much of anything for ourselves, but are content to repeat what works for others in the same situation?

The last words in the movie are, “Life is a state of mind.” So no computer will ever be alive. But to the degree that we are limited by our programming, neither will we. The question is not whether a computer will ever think like a human, but whether we choose to free ourselves from thinking like computers.

 

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-being-there-1979