Reality Is A Strange Loop
By Leo Gura - December 4, 2017 | 27 Comments
A guided tour through Douglas Hofstadter’s paradoxical concept of ‘strange loops’
Karn says: I’ve been watching your videos since last one year, and I find the recent videos very profound and very helpful. A major shift in perception occurred to me during the last video and this one took me even further.
There are appearances, and ‘I’ doesn’t exist. But how are appearances getting cognized if ‘I’ doesn’t exist? and by whom? Maybe….I am the appearances!Yes!
Then it was mind=blown!
It is pretty amazing that you are going to upload even more advanced stuff in your next videos. Eagerly waiting. I admire the hard work you put in. Thanks!
Bartosz says: Hey Leo
What I understood from that particular video, is that God evolved in men-kinde to see himself or, to see what He has done yet.
I am wondering what will be next.
I like very much your videos. Keep going.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Bartosz
Galyna says: Leo,
I am confused, in your videos you often say that time is illusion and DOES NOT exist, however you refer to events happening in the past before our life times.
How can this be? Why would you do it if it is a contradiction?
Thank you,
Hugs,
Galyna.
Leo Gura says: Human language is inherently dualistic, materialistic, and infested with sloppy conventional notions. It is the language of the mundane illusory world.
Basically, nothing exists. Not time, not space, not matter, not energy, not human beings, not objects, not even a self, not even the universe.
But that is only true from an extremely high level of consciousness: nonduality. It’s only true from outside the illusory world of Maya in which most people live.
Conventionally-speaking, from inside the world of Maya, we can speak of time as existing. Time is a human invention. It was invented to help us coordinate our activities. In the same way that we invented math, science, government, money, and million other things.
Einstein clearly proved that time is illusory. Time relative to your velocity. If you were going at the speed of light, time would freeze to zero. That’s standard scientific theory today.
You know how Einstein defined time: “the thing a clock measures”. So there really is no time. There is only measurements of stuff moving which give the illusion of time. It’s also possible to become conscious that time is a human fabrication.
Dan says: It seems Tesla’s theory of 3,6,9 is also a strangeloop.
Mayur says: Though, your old videos helped me get out of depression which otherwise didn’t seem possible through other videos on YouTube that I came across. Your way was something different.
And then you took all this to whole different….
Ohh I can’t speak.
Hristo says: Amazing! So obvious yet I was never really aware of it. Also, to put it in another way, reality is the ultimate perpetual motion machine – there is nothing outside of it to fuel it, there is nothing outside of it where a “lost” energy would be stored, so it is the very definition of a perpetual motion machine. Totally mind fucked.
Spider Jerusalem says: Thanks Leo, I appreciate all the hard work you put into every video. In this particular video, when you talked about the special definition of reality in that everything gets included in it (by definition!), I finally understood the meaning of a quote from Wei Wu Wei’s book Posthumous Pieces – “…all that appears is appearance and there can be no other appearance other than what appears.” Makes perfect sense now
Leo Gura says: Yes. Now you’re starting to see why reality must be ONE. There cannot even be a void in which reality takes place, because the void will also have to be included inside of reality.
Reality swallows absolutely everything.
Leo, I just flipped my script on or about Oct 18th after trying to diagnose a friends issue (go figure), and it’s taken about a month to both eliminate what was left of myself and to come to your conclusion. The way you said it, gave me a further “bump” being slightly different from my own observation but right on the money. So from the one that is here to the one that is there, your comment came from my mouth to your ear and I appreciated it all the more for having done so.
Marco says: What is written in this buddhist text matches with Leos zip-file methaphor
Fifty Verses on the Nature of Consciousness
THICH NHAT HANH
Part 1. Store Consciousness
One
Mind is a field In which every kind of seed is sown.
This mind-field can also be called “All the seeds”.
Two
In us are infinite varieties of seeds – Seeds of samsara, nirvana, delusion, and enlightenment, Seeds of suffering and happiness, Seeds of perceptions, names, and words.
Well Leo gave me ego death about a month ago. And now materialism death lol I just made that up. It should be a term though. materialism death.
Though breaking down materialism was essentail for me for ego death, this just knocked any of my preconceived paradigm’s out of the park. But something can not be outside of the park without having existed in the park in the first place to be perceived outside of it. simultaneously being in the park and outside of it. all one. grins
I had to watch this video seven times and take notes everytime. I think I will have to watch it more before I can watch the next video. Soooooooooooooo much to learn. So beautiful.
Glenn Crowell says: ‘The universe implies the organism and the organism implies the universe.’ – Alan Watts
Thank you for your work and beautiful presentations Leo, it is very, very much appreciated.
Kevin says: Leo,
I enjoy your videos and perspective, thank you for sharing them. I’ve come to the spiritual realization over the past several years that everything is interconnected, which in essence, aligns with the thought that all is one.
However, I’m now stuck on this: what do I do with that information? How does this help me? What does this help me understand now that I didn’t understand before?
The realization that we are all connected has helped me put more of an emphasis on compassion and caring for the previously labeled ‘other’, which really ends up taking care of my previously labeled ‘self’. However, to be completely honest, this isn’t profound to me. This seems like common sense and the benefits of such compassion have been obvious to me before I started my meditation practice.
Here are a few things related to this video that I’ve learned – which honestly appear to have no practical use in my life other than satisfying my curiosity.
-Somehow atoms can become ‘entangled’, travel across the universe, and still be affected by one another as if an unknown force transcending space and time ties the two atoms together.
-The measurement of time isn’t constant, it can be changed by traveling at different speeds and some other such stuff.
-The only constant of consciousness is change. “My” thoughts are influenced by “others” thoughts, the weather, food, energy of a place, intentions, etc.
-I am a product of my environment, my environment is a product of me, I am a product of my environment, my env… you get the point.
I’m just unclear what is to be gained by accepting that all is one.
Leo Gura says: See my video: Comprehension Has Many Degrees.
Your issue is that you have a surface-level, purely conceptual understanding of oneness. But that is like only 0.001% of the real deal. You need to have an enlightenment experience of it. Then it will change your whole life.
You aren’t yet conscious that you are literally one with everything and everyone. The significance of this cannot be overstated.
Keep doing the work and you’ll be in for some awesome surprises
Kevin says: Leo,
Thank you I’ll check out the Comprehension video. Also, I want to extend my appreciation for your work once again!!
Happy Holidays!
-Kevin
adam dire says: Kev, the cloud could be said to be connected to the sky, or whatever is around it, the sky, however if you look close enough there is no boundary and no real connection, just apparent things blending into other apparent things.
So we havent got anything connected to anything else, therefore there is only the presence of one thing, apparently.
And thats what we are, mandatorily.
Hope that helps.
AD
Rush says: This also explains David Lynch films, which explain Reality, while explaining nothing, which somehow, explain reality
Outlandish says: Great episode, I love this.
Sinz says: Multiple goosebumps in the last 15 minutes.
Jawed Ahmed Qazi says: Dear Leo
After finding your website and your videos I am empressed I have been following Osho lectures about Meditation and an other guy Alen watts if I have written name correctly?
In my openion you have done marvellous job to ease us and start quick for meditations but as you have told many many times that we come across to many many trapes and slip from the path
Thanks to your dedication and work for human kind
Jawed Ahmed Qazi
Physician from Pakistan
adam dire says: Post script
Fantastic video.
Wish id seen it back when.
kurt says: Leo, I’ve been following you since July 2016.
Recently, I had a non-dual experience, and I’m now able to go back to some of your videos that I couldn’t understand before, except as a concept. The strange loops explain much of what I “experienced” and when I combine the information from this video with your “what is god” (parts 1 and 2), I’m able to re-contextualize (thanks for that video too) the whole experience into a much richer revelation.
Unfortunately, my direct experience didn’t last long, but I still have it as a concept, like a dream I struggle to remember.
Thanks for everything, Leo! I’m now energized to get that direct experience back, and I would never would have been here in my lifetime without your guidance.
FYI, I used a self-concocted combination of your shamanic breathing with some Kriya yoga breathing and found a resonance on the exhale (guttural “ohm”) with a biaurnal beat over noise-cancelling headsets that spring-boarded me into direct experience.
Max Gron says: Since I’m somewhere on the hierarchy, I need money, health, security, love, etc. I don’t want the bullshit, I want the nice stuff, and furthermore I should contemplate, I should get what I want, I should be concentrating and being a results maker.
Minnie Kowalski says: A better way for you to explain the paradox of one observing themselves is to simply use the self.. Noone can ever look at themselves directly- only with a mirror or reflection (or transcendence). The basket ball analogy doesn’t work because the basketball doesn’t need a hand to point to itself- this suggests that pointing with a hand is the equivalent to seeing from the outside.
not evil or wicked says: Since I can make reality the way I want now, I don’t need to believe bullshit anymore, as for golf, the club gets hit over your head. Join the club and get very upset kicked out of there, you’re not going to get your way acting very weird, fuck off! In my reality I can be any way I want, and I choose to be ordinary, in the minority, a Cavalier, it has to be whatever way, I forget, to get my fucking way? Fuck off, things are showing their true colours when I express my rejected beliefs, you’re going to get that finger shoved right up your kaka arse, that’s right, I’m very anti-drama when it comes to me straightening out your papers, ironing your clothes, making your coffees, ordering your meds from the bloody shop, cor blimey, I think I nailed it. Everyone’s in the minority and you want to hear this thus the truth is I can bend reality to obey every good deed in the book, to bow when needed, as in Chinese etiquette, and to have German feasts on German night, but that’s not my idea of good cuisine, I’m not having fucking Kranskis with my bloody sauerkraut, and washing it down with apple juice, fuck off, I’ll be eating my bacon-cooked sauerkraut in my German-American hotdog with mustard thank you, vegetarian doesn’t taste to me like it’s missing meat!, I like vegetarian, it tastes to me like childhood foods of vegetables, which are fucking delicious. I’m not down or up with the bullshit, I’m a no-bull guy who drinks humble coffee (no sugar in it) to save money for something larger, as for Kranskis, they’re delicious, and I’d like very much to eat a Kranski sausage roll. It’s not a true sausage roll without a sausage in it, everybody knows that, reality is I’m not some nut who wants to invent another Kranski, or some nut who doesn’t know he set off a bomb. What I know is all these things I said from my experience, it goes back like it’s a strange loop, contradicting itself, food is that pineapple bacon hotdog I tried, which is gourmand, I’m not ordinarily a burger kind of guy.