From: "Richard" <rcarlson@…>
Date: Fri Mar 4, 2005 12:22 pm
Subject: Re: why the supermind needs a better MP3 player

Ok here is another McLuhanism,

in this vision technological advances don't only result in biological amputations but also serve to turn the human body inside out. Namely;

Cloths are an outering of the skin

The wheel the outering of the foot

Print an outering of the word

Electronic media an outering of the central nervous system

To extend this to evolving technologies:

Biotic wireless communication would be to outer our thoughts

Stem cell cloning would be an outering of our DNA

But all this solves nothing for the yogi, for the yogi the challenge is to outer the psychic being.

And for this the inner technologies of choice are tapas, aspiration, sincerity, silence, surrender

All sufficiently advances technology may as A.C. Clarke suggests be just like magic, and the engineer the occult scientist, but who is the Mage here?

To outer the collective vital and mind through electronic media, the internet, wireless technology and the physical body itself through technologies of recombinant DNA and cloning without first outering the psychic being to lead the whole evolutionary advance seems a bit dangerous.

One never knows about unintended consequences but, without the psychic being to guide the consciousness of the magicians engaged in conjuring up their technological magic, the whole advance is being led by an unseen force of will.

And in fact the two greatest drivers of technological advance are the military with their will to power (the asura of death?) and huge multi-international corporations
with their will to profit (the asura of falsehood?)

And behind these wills is perhaps a pure will to will itself, the blind will of evolution, of life and mind emerging from matter. But this action is by in large mechanical and in accordance with the iron clad laws that Spirit self-imposes upon itself during its involvement in nature.

Without the psychic being to guide the soul of the world our evolution as a species is being driven by a blind will. And since it is a blind will this may not be the will which propels our current species to become the Gnostic species but maybe the will of species self-aggrandizement which leads towards a super-species whose sole purpose is domination of all other species, including the homo-sapiens which it has exceeded.

Dorian quotes Sri Aurobindo:

It is the magic of the Magician you are trying to analyse, but only when you enter into the consciousness of the Magician himself can you begin to experience the true origination, significance and circles of the Lila

The source codes of the most beautiful Devis as well as the most frightful Asuras are being outsource at this moment to engineers all over the globe. But are we as a species aware of being programmed? If not then we are just the manipulated icons of world forces beyond our control.

If tools evolve as instruments of mind, and mind is an instrument of the Spirit then tools are also extensions of consciousness. And although an argument may be made that tools are more properly the domain of prakriti, purusha can certainly choose to extend itself into its prakriti. However, until purusha so chooses to extend itself into it's prakriti, it's existence in the world will remain at the mercy of the will of those unforeseen forces driving the evolution of nature. To begin to know the consciousness of the magician is only possible if we come to realize the purusha who extends itself in the world, and not confuse it with the occult magic (technology) which is merely the action of its prakriti, and the overmental godhead charting its course.

So if we as a species are turning ourselves inside out, if our physical (dna) vital (electronic central nervous system) and mental (world wide web and wireless noosphere) instruments are now being turned inside out and extended into the world; who is leading the advance? Unless the psychic being can be outered to take charge of the advance, our post-human future may just serve to incarnate the blind will of the Asura.

As Sri Aurobindo states:

"in a commercial age with its ideal, vulgar and barbarous of success, vitalistic satisfaction, productiveness and possession the soul of man may linger for a while for certain gains and experiences, but cannot permanently rest. If it persisted too long, life would become clogged and perish of its own plethora or burst in its straining to a gross expansion. Like the too massive Titan it will collapse by its own mass, mole ruet sua".

With the Titans teetering over us and tinkering with our post-human fate, the call to the integral yogi can only be to bring the psychic being to the fore, in order to lead the charge of the soul of the world.

Rich
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——- Original Message ——-

From: "David Hutchinson" <dbhutchinson@… To: <rcarlson@…
Sent: Friday, March 04, 2005 3:07 PM
Subject: Re: why the supermind needs a better MP3 player

 Rod writes:

Right. I like the idea of Sam's collaboration with Tom. Sam does it all without tools, but Tom applies the principles for general use. Perhaps we could learn to transmit or project materialized thought forms - like GNH or gnostic neuro harmonizer - for use by bioengineers to help ensure our general benefit.

 Yes, I would expect that sort of collaboration at some point. Before that,  however, we may see collaboration in the process of discovery and proof.  There is so much going on right now in the frontiers of investigation of  consciousness. It seems that the model for this research has been to strap  down yogis into an MRI or biofeedback and see what happens. In other  words, the yogi as experimental object.

 But there are other ways that the future might unfold, or simultaneous  futures. As at the AUM coming up, scientists may rub shoulders with yogis  and get inspiration. After all, this is yoga 101, mutual/occult influence  through proximity, through the touch of consciousness to consciousness, or  mind to mind. We see that every day in lesser circumstances; why not a  scientific breakthrough being helped along by a dollop of intuition?

 A more fascinating prospect will be the period when we have true,  conscious transitional beings salted around here and there. If they have  the minimum abilities that Sri Aurobindo writes about that come from the  opening of the inner consciousness (ability to see/feel/manipulate  consciousness like one does a screwdriver) — and note that this doesn't  presuppose supra-this or that, it is simply access to the inner  consciousness — then they may begin to work with the technologies that  themselves are close to the boundary between physical and consciousness.

 What that boundary technology is, or likely to be, I don't know. Lynda  does more exploratory reading, and may be able to suggest a few. But in  general, computing is getting subtler, closer to the quantum level;  programming is constantly working on modeling thought and mind; and  interface devices (smart gloves, etc.) are constantly being developed. As  both yoga and technology progress, it is likely that they will meet.

 That, I think, will be a watershed time in history. Just as science edged  out religion a few hundred years ago largely on its ability to get  visible, repeatable results that made a difference in people's lives  (without the necessity of belief), so the first repeatable,  external-world, meaningful alteration in the world by consciousness will  get big press, and change the way that everyone looks at the world,  themselves, and God. For example, as wireless moves forward, what happens  when the first person can tune into a transmission through will, rather  than technology? And do it, ho-hum, like riding a bicycle? It doesn't  change the balance of power between governments, but it will change the  view of what a human being is, and in so doing may begin to shift the way  people live their lives.

 It's akin to when the first supramental being steps forth on earth — when  that being is externally, verifiably visible as something different. Not a  guru with hidden abilities, not a person spouting "teachings," but a  person with obvious differences — such as skin that doesn't burn, or an  imperviousness to poisons, or the ability to regenerate a part instantly.  Kid stuff for the supramental, but imagine the effect upon the public.  Even the local population, if such a person doesn't get world press.

 Working as I do in a high-tech job, designing/implementing software, I  know many of the dangers and current weaknesses of technology. There are  tremendous mistakes that will be made at every level, from the individual  addicted to flickering images, to entire industries trying to "automate"  and in so doing self-destructing, to botched experiments. But that's just  nature working herself out. Every possibility has to be tried, for the  right one to be found.

 Interestingly, I've come to see that the crucial factor in technology is  how well it fits with current-state humanity. A radio that only works on  the top of Mt. Everest doesn't matter very much; neither does a  human/computer interface that can only be operated by a surhomme. (And  much of our software today falls into that category!) The process of  change is much slower than most people think — research and technology  may race ahead, but human nature has to find a match with it. Think of the  difficulty that people have with VCRs or microwaves.

 One area where change is subtle and ongoing in the public at large, not  dependent upon prolonged reading or yoga, is our perception of the world  itself. This is where several disconnects are happening, where several  generations are present at the same time. There is the generation that  reads books; they are strong in ideas, can express and think. Then there  is the generation that grew up on the Internet and cell phones. They're  constantly plugged into each other; the very idea of separation is  beginning to become old world for them; and they live in a constant stream  of communication, not unlike how the Mother or Sri Aurobindo would  describe messages coming from the ether for an advanced being. Then there  is the generation that lives on images, movies, games. They may not think  much, but the images they are living and breathing show a world where  consciousness is alive, real, malleable, suprahuman.

 Admittedly most of the images are recycled ghost stories, pulp science  fiction, creaky attempts like the Matrix to present advanced  consciousness — but the lesson is taught again and again that the human  is more than we think, more than we see. That consciousness is another  kind of stuff. That it can be worked with, perfected, raised to a higher  level. Where have we heard that before? For that generation, the  suprahuman may be "common sense." Accepted, no big deal. "Ho hum — oh, so  that's a transitional being? It's about time…"

 Sorry for the meander. Now back to my Proto-Uber-Linguistic-Phenomenizer  (PULP)

 : )

 dave
________________

- David Hutchinson <dbhutchinson@ wrote:

I just got a transmission from Alpha Beta that the supermind needs a better MP3 player. It's critical for evolution. (Don't know what Alpha Beta is, but it sure sounded important). Here's what came through (might have been a little garbled in translation; hadn't cleared my higher mind out lately):

The universe needs individuals to realize itself; this is a key realization from The Life Divine. Each individual  each Rod, Sam, Pete in the world is necessary for the divine to manifest, for the ultimate transformation. Okay, got that. Understood. A little radical, out of the spiritual norm, but not unreasonable.

Then there is the role that various kinds of technology have played in human development, that Rich outlined in a previous note. Agriculture made cities possible. Writing made the transmission of knowledge possible. The ling system made large, efcient organizations possible. The Internet madewhat? The computer madewhat? Stem cells madewhat? I don't think any of us really know answers to these yet.

Now, time warp. It's the 500th anniversary of AUM (more or less), in the year 2500. Conversation between Sam (partially supramentalized person), and Tom (partially technologized person).

S: "Remember back in the early years, pre-singularity, when people were still living in the old human mold? Can you believe that they actually used to debate about religion, spirituality? When consciousness was an abstract concept  when people couldn't work with consciousness, but had to use vague practices like prayer?"

T: Yes, bejeebies! It seems like another species. Now that I can communicate with my dog using my Bluetooth Otherspecies Neuron Enhancer (BONE), the boundaries between one person and another, or even between us and animals, have been broken down. But I still can't gure out how you got rid of that nagging Level 3 thought form I had last week, without using your Transmembrane Oscillating Optimizer Link (TOOL). How can you do that and I can't?"

S: That's a good question. You may be surprised to know that I rst gured out how to clear another person's negative thoughts through using the TOOL. But once I got the hang of it, I realized that it could be done without the TOOL at all  the ability was there, inherent in consciousness itself. I'll try to teach you how that works."

T: "It certainly helps to have people like you around. Makes it easier for someone like me. Did I tell you that I was working on a process to transform neurons into universal transceivers? The limitations of Bluetooth and the computing power that it requires got to me, not to mention all those pesky hackers nibbling at the edges of my transmissions, outside the rewall  I want to nd a way for neurons to be able to access the Planck dimension, instead of being stuck at the macro level, so that they can access any kind of transmission, across all species, and even across space and time. And do it safely. What do you think of that idea?"

S: "Interesting. Tell you what  I've got some experience with direct action on neurons, and since my intuition is wide open, I may be able to help steer your project in the right directions, saving you some time. Let's work together on this."

Fanciful, perhaps. But in 500 years, given the rate of technological advance, and our expectations of the Integral Yoga, do we really expect it to be much different?

A few thoughts related to the above, in no special order:

technology is already erasing the boundary between physical and non-physical, in the public mind (as opposed to the thinker's mind  a signicant difference). That will accelerate tremendously when wireless telepathy enters in sometime in the next quarter century. Not if, when.

Integral Yogis, just as they do today, will use the technology available. Today they use email, the web, databases. In the year 2500 they may well be using quantum computers, DNA transubstantiation, nanobot cellular probes.

Some use of technology, though certainly not all, will be for the direct purpose of investigating and furthering yoga. There will be leaders who use higher consciousness and tools to make breakthroughs not otherwise possible, or to prove concepts for the masses, or to create new possibilities.

Yoga has always used tools, so this isn't a revolutionary switch. Leaning sticks to open prana channels; neti bowls; elaborate yantras; incense; mudras; mantras; orange robes; slokas;  all tools of one sort or another. The use of a quantum computer is not different i n principle; but few of us today contemplate how to do this in the service of the yoga. In the year 2500, it may be commonplace  and (with a nod to Debashish), common sense.

-

Then comes an interesting question. What to do now, here, in the pre-breakthrough days of 2005? Debate whether technology has a part in yoga? Build the prototype for a TOOL or a BONE? Dig through the collected works for clues? All of the above?

Another way to put the same question. What's our role, here and now, to prepare for the future? Live our lives as good 21st century citizens, vote, work, meditate, eat right? Practice radical yoga in an attempt to push on through to the other side? Practice radical technology (supplements, head-freezing, whatever) for the same goal? Of late I have personally been, if anything, more traditional in my yoga than ever, so I certainly don't claim to be one of the forerunners (maybe a fore-crawler), but it is an intriguing future coming round the bend. Meet you in 499 years

dave

Dave Hutchinson
dbhutchinson@ ...</em>