ACIM Journal

[Anderz]

ACIM and Law of One teacher Aaron's new video is about the law of attraction:

ACIM has sort of a relating explanation:

Quote

"8 The fearful must miscreate, because they misperceive creation. 9 When you miscreate you are in pain. 10 The cause and effect principle now becomes a real expediter, though only temporarily. 11 Actually, "Cause" is a term properly belonging to God, and His "Effect" is His Son. 12 This entails a set of Cause and Effect relationships totally different from those you introduce into miscreation. 13 The fundamental conflict in this world, then, is between creation and miscreation. 14 All fear is implicit in the second, and all love in the first. 15 The conflict is therefore one between love and fear." - ACIM, Chapter 2 – VII. Cause and Effect

 

[Anderz]

My automatic mindfulness of the heart practice is working at least a little bit. Sometimes I automatically get reminded to feel my heart. That's good enough for me at the moment so I will stick to that practice for a while. And I noticed that the spine needs to open up as well. Kriya Yoga is probably a powerful method for opening up the spine, but I will use automatic mindfulness even for opening up the spine since it works somewhat for the heart and it's a convenient practice where only the intent is needed on a conscious level to uphold the practice.

[Anderz]

I wrote that reality is pulled by infinite intelligence from the future. I still maintain that hypothesis. It might not satisfy a hardcore philosopher or scientist because it sounds vague and what is the definition of intelligence anyway. Another way of explaining it therefore, which produces the exact same result, is to think of reality as determined by a simple deterministic process. Leo said that reality is difference, and I used that to come up with an extremely simple process out of difference.

Instead of thinking of reality as being pulled from the future, another way of looking at it is that the manifestation of reality is difference observing itself. And since the difference gives rise to an ever expanding interconnected web of differences there is always an ever more advanced (intelligent) wholeness to reality that is being observed.

Here is an illustration of two extremely simple rules (Rule 30 cellular automation and Conway's Game of Life) producing a miniature "manifested reality":

 

[Anderz]

I want to find a theoretical model that can be applied to what ACIM teaches.

I found something called graph theory. That seems to be useful for describing reality as an interconnected graph of differences. The start of the graph is one difference represented by an edge (also called link or line) in graph theory and two vertices (also called nodes or points) . And the manifestation of reality is the expansion of this initial graph so that for each iteration all links become points, and new links are generated by all points always being connected to all other points. In graph theory that means that all points are adjacent to each other. The graph of reality is what in graph theory is called an undirected simple graph.

I think that's a neat way of using mainstream math to describe the model. Graph theory can quickly become extremely complicated so I hope that by sticking to minimal basic concepts of graph theory it will still be easy to use. The expansion of the graph can be described as a recurrence relation. The initial graph has only one link and two points. In the first iteration the link becomes a point resulting in three links in total. With x representing the number of links and y representing the number of points, the recurrence relation is:

xn = xn-1 + yn-1
yn = sum(i), i = 1 to xn - 1

x0 = 1
y0 = 2

x1 = 3
y1 = 3

x2 = 6
y2 = 15

x3 = 21
y3 = 210

x4 = 231
y4 = 26565

x5 = 26795
y5 = 358999410

And so on in an endless expansion. The number of differences quickly explodes into astronomically large numbers. Here are the first three iterations of the graph:

[Anderz]

In graph theory a path is a sequence of steps between adjacent points where each point in the path is only taken once (except if it's a cycle and then the first and last point are the same). And by assigning the value zero (0) to the points on the left of the graph and the value one (1) to the points on the right of the graph, a string of binary digital information is represented by a path. The graph expands endlessly with an explosive increase of the number of points, which means that all possible information strings of huge length exist in the graph.

Julian Barbour has explained how time can arise from a timeless structure he calls Platonia containing time capsules. And with each time capsule modeled as a string of information it means that all possible time capsules exist within the graph, at least when the time capsules always are finite.

One difference is that Platonia is timeless whereas the graph in my model expands endlessly. The fundamental idea however is the same which is that the foundational structure of reality is timeless and changeless.

Edited December 17, 2019 by Anderz

[Anderz]

There is no clear left and right side in the third graph I posted. That's just a matter how the dots are positioned. And left can represent 0 and right 1 or vice versa, since '0' and '1' are just symbols to make a distinction when presenting binary digital information. Here is another example of how the third graph can be depicted:

 

[Anderz]

A graph doesn't need to be drawn as a picture. For example a set {{1,2}, {1,3}, {2,3}} represents the second graph. And a more general method of defining a binary string within the graph is to give each point a unique number. By numbering the points 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... the even numbers can represent zeros and the odd numbers represent ones.

For example the binary string 011101010 is then defined in the graph as the path 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. Physicist Leonard Susskind said that information is indestructible and alternative researcher Nassim Haramein even said that the universe is space-memory so the entire past is preserved. And this is exactly what can be done with the expanding graph. The next moment in time contains the binary string for all the past information plus the change that happens as we move into the future. So manifested reality is an expanding binary string that has all the past in it as indestructible information.

This is the same as what ACIM describes as God's changeless plan. I will look at some more graph theory tutorials to see if there is anything else that it can be used for related to this. If not, it's at least useful to have this mainstream notation in my recent posts. 

[Anderz]

The tiny amount of graph theory I have posted so far might be enough! I found that graph theory is used for all kinds of excellent solutions, yet for my model it may be enough to say that difference gives rise to a complete undirected simple graph. And reality is an infinite binary string as a path in that graph observing itself.

As a simple analogy think of the constant Pi observing itself. Pi which is the number 3.14159265... is changeless. And Pi doesn't have any last decimal. So Pi can't observe itself starting from the end because their is no end to Pi! So Pi always observes itself as having a finite number of decimals.

Can a knife cut itself? Can a fire burn itself? How can something observe itself? It can't! It's still possible for the binary string to observe itself since it is always only observing a part of itself, not the entirety of itself which is infinite. Manifested reality is always finite.

Edited December 18, 2019 by Anderz

[Anderz]

One of the rituals in the Law of One involved a Bible opened to John 1.

Quote

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." - John 1:1-3

I found that interesting. The Word of God is the infinite string of information. Also consciousness is the relation from the infinite string to the finite manifestation. That's how consciousness is aware of the manifested reality. And in the beginning means the initial condition of the graph of difference. At that moment all of reality (God) and the manifested reality (through the Word of God) were one. And after that the Word became manifested.

When did that happen? It happened now. There is only the now moment. All the past is in the now, all the way to the initial condition of the graph. So the past is real in the form of finite indestructible information. The future potential is infinite information.

 

[Anderz]

My model is compatible with ACIM and the Bible. What about mainstream science? Yes, it fits that too (except Einstein's relativity). Here is a quote from a mainstream science source:

Quote

"What are the basic building blocks of the cosmos? Atoms, particles, mass energy? Quantum mechanics, forces, fields? Space and time — space-time? Tiny strings with many dimensions?

A new candidate is "information," which some scientists claim is the foundation of reality. The late distinguished physicist John Archibald Wheeler characterized the idea as "It from bit" — "it" referring to all the stuff of the universe and "bit" meaning information." - Forget Space-Time: Information May Create the Cosmos - Space.com, May 23, 2015

 

[Anderz]

ACIM doesn't mention consciousness much, but the Bible has "let there be light" and "your whole body will be full of light". Light here I think is a metaphor for consciousness.

What does it mean by the infinite string observing itself? It means consciousness. My model has something like the mainstream Integrated Information Theory to explain how consciousness awakens when the information is complex and coherent enough. The infinite string is conscious at least through us humans (made in the image and likeness of God). And the infinite string has the potential for consciousness for eternity. To make infinite information coherent enough to constitute eternal capacity for consciousness is a mindbogglingly humongous "task" which requires infinite intelligence.

[Anderz]

Leo said in this video (from about 32 minutes) that first order reality is consciousness and second order reality is the manifested world:

Is Leo's explanation consistent with my model? Yes, because the infinite string observing itself giving rise to consciousness is the first order reality, which also is infinite, and the manifested reality which is always finite in my model is the second order reality.

Edited December 19, 2019 by Anderz

[Anderz]

My interpretation is that when ACIM says Holy Spirit it means first order reality and ego means second order reality. When we identify ourselves with being the ego we live in sin which means to miss the mark, missing the first order reality. That's a mistake. Because we are first order reality and second order reality is a result of first order reality.

[Anderz]

In the video I posted Leo makes an excellent explanation of consciousness. For example he says that evolution didn't produce consciousness. It's consciousness that produces evolution. Exactly. Consciousness is first order reality and evolution is second order reality. And obviously it's the first order reality that produces the second order reality rather than the other way around.

[Anderz]

Now I have a good enough theoretical model to test it with things like mindfulness practice and compare it to spiritual and religious traditions. For example, my model is directly consistent with the Advaita Vedanta scripture Ashtavakra Gita:

Quote

"Janaka said:

How is one to acquire knowledge? How is one to attain liberation? And how is one to reach dispassion? Tell me this, sir. 1.1

Ashtavakra said:

If you are seeking liberation, my son, avoid the objects of the senses like poison and cultivate tolerance, sincerity, compassion, contentment, and truthfulness as the antidote. 1.2

You do not consist of any of the elements — earth, water, fire, air, or even ether. To be liberated, know yourself as consisting of consciousness, the witness of these. 1.3

If only you will remain resting in consciousness, seeing yourself as distinct from the body, then even now you will become happy, peaceful and free from bonds. 1.4

You do not belong to the brahmin or any other caste, you are not at any stage, nor are you anything that the eye can see. You are unattached and formless, the witness of everything — so be happy. 1.5

Righteousness and unrighteousness, pleasure and pain are purely of the mind and are no concern of yours. You are neither the doer nor the reaper of the consequences, so you are always free. 1.6

You are the one witness of everything and are always completely free. The cause of your bondage is that you see the witness as something other than this. 1.7

Since you have been bitten by the black snake, the opinion about yourself that “I am the doer,” drink the antidote of faith in the fact that “I am not the doer,” and be happy. 1.8

Burn down the forest of ignorance with the fire of the understanding that “I am the one pure awareness,” and be happy and free from distress. 1.9" - Ashtavakra Gita 1:1-9

 

[Anderz]

In my model consciousness is a state of being aware as a self. Are there different levels of consciousness? Yes, in relation to second order reality. It's like in the Integrated Information Theory which even has a value Phi to measure the level of consciousness. The main difference compared to the mainstream model is that they describe consciousness from a second order reality perspective and I describe consciousness as first order reality. So for example the conditions of the brain states are correlated with stages of consciousness but not the cause of consciousness. Also, things like actual outer-body-experiences (OBEs) are possible with my model.

Here is a short presentation of the Integrated Information Theory:

 

Edited December 19, 2019 by Anderz

[Anderz]

The previous video is like a lecture in academia. Here is a more popular science presentation:

 

[Anderz]

I get the feeling that ACIM says that the world is unreal. And what about spiritual people who say "I am pure awareness", are they right? This is actually true according to my model, depending on from which perspective we look at it. It's because of the distinction between first and second order reality. To use a (very) crude analogy, when playing a video game the computer can symbolize the first order reality and the video game represents second order reality. That is just an illustration. In reality both the computer and the video game are second order reality, but for the sake of illustration the computer in this example represents first order reality.

The world is unreal similar to how the video game is unreal and the computer is real in the example. And "I am pure awareness" is the recognition that the game is actually produced by the computer and without it there wouldn't be any game. It's also true to say that both the computer and the video game are real. It's a matter of perspective so what I think ACIM is doing is to point out the mistake to believe second order reality is the foundation.

[Anderz]

Fundamentally there are only two orders of reality: the 1) unmanifested and 2) the manifested. And within the manifested there are different levels of reality. Instead of saying that for example a tool made by humans is second order of second order reality it's more convenient to as a convention say that the tool is third order reality. The human physical body is second order reality and artifacts made by humans are third order reality.

A computer then is third order reality and so is a program written by humans that is running on the computer. This includes artificial intelligence (AI) software. Then later in the future let's say that general AI is developed that is clever enough to do the things we humans can do. That general AI is still third order reality. However when the general AI starts to write its own programs or starts to design and manufacture its own hardware and other products, those products are fourth order reality.

Orders of reality in this way expand as time progresses. Is it possible that the universe some day will start reversing and reduce the orders? No, not according to my model. The infinite string of reality is non-repeating, because for every repeating string, even if it is infinite, there will not be any time since the cycle of repetition is finite. And since the past information is always preserved the progress will always go forward, such as described by Ray Kurzweil as the Law of Accelerating Returns.

And since reality is non-repeating Stephen Wolfram's computational irreducibility is true, which means it's impossible to fully predict the future. This is also as Wolfram has suggested the solution to the question of free will. Reality is deterministic but not in the mechanical way described by Laplace where the future can theoretically be fully predicted. The future is deterministic in an unpredictable way. So our free will and our personal will and choices are necessary as a part of the functioning of the universe.

[Anderz]

The Law of One says that free will is the first principle of the Law of Confusion. And ACIM says that the ego is insane. We can say that the ego is insane because of the Law of Confusion. It's a necessary trick, of sin, that we need and will grow out of and become free of. As ACIM says;

Quote

"1. The ego is idolatry; the sign of limited and separated self, born in a body, doomed to suffer and to end its life in death. It is the “will” that sees the Will of God as enemy, and takes a form in which it is denied. The ego is the “proof” that strength is weak and love is fearful, life is really death, and what opposes God alone is true.

2. The ego is insane. In fear it stands beyond the Everywhere, apart from All, in separation from the Infinite. In its insanity it thinks it has become a victor over God Himself. And in its terrible autonomy it “sees” the Will of God has been destroyed. It dreams of punishment, and trembles at the figures in its dreams; its enemies, who seek to murder it before it can ensure its safety by at­tacking them.

3. The Son of God is egoless. What can he know of madness and the death of God, when he abides in Him? What can he know of sorrow and of suffering, when he lives in eternal joy? What can he know of fear and punishment, of sin and guilt, of hatred and attack, when all there is surrounding him is everlasting peace, forever conflict-free and undisturbed, in deepest silence and tran­quility?

4. To know reality is not to see the ego and its thoughts, its works, its acts, its laws and its beliefs, its dreams, its hopes, its plans for its salvation, and the cost belief in it entails. In suffering, the price for faith in it is so immense that crucifixion of the Son of God is offered daily at its darkened shrine, and blood must flow before the altar where its sickly followers prepare to die.

5. Yet will one lily of forgiveness change the darkness into light; the altar to illusions to the shrine of Life Itself. And peace will be restored forever to the holy minds which God created as His Son, His dwelling place, His joy, His love, completely His, completely one with Him." - ACIM, What Is the Ego? Workbook PART II, 12. 

So free will needs to become understood and from an integral perspective transcended and included. I will practice removing the tedious parts of my free will such as personal responsibility and keep my personal wants and choices.