Vinaire's Blog
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Reference: Postulate Mechanics (PM)
The concepts of soul, thetan and atman imply that there is an aspect of “I” that does not change because it is permanent and eternal. There is an assumption that the “I”, which existed in some past life incident is the same “I” that exists now.
It is quite possible that the impression of some incident experienced by an ancestor has been passed down to us through DNA. When that impression is activated by us, and we re-experience it, we confuse the “I” in that incident to be the current “I” re-experiencing that incident.
The Doctrine of No-Soul: Anatta points out the falsity of this assumption that there is an aspect of “I” that is permanent and outlasts the death of a person.
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The “I” is sensed as the thinker of thoughts, feeler of sensations, and receiver of rewards and punishments for all its actions good and bad. This sense seems to be generated with the body. It implies individuality.
There is no doubt that this sense of “I” is there. It produces harmful thoughts of ‘me’ and ‘mine’, selfish desire, craving, attachment, hatred, ill-will, conceit, pride, egoism, and other defilements, impurities and problems. It is the source of all the troubles in the world from personal conflicts to wars between nations. But, there is no evidence that this sense of individuality continues after the death of the body.
A newly born baby has its own sense of “I”. Of course, this sense may get built to some degree through DNA inheritance. It may also get conditioned by its home and social environment. But it also retains its own individual characteristics. There is definitely a contagion of aberration, so the evil in the world continues from one generation to the next. But there is no evidence of a permanent “I” that continues from one life to the next.
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A parent’s life experiences can influence gene expression in the next generation by altering epigenetic marks in germ cells and the developmental environment, which then changes how the offspring’s genes are read—without changing the underlying DNA sequence. This affects stress hormone signaling, metabolic pathways, brain circuits for fear, anxiety, and reward, and immune system regulation. Such effects can persist for multiple generations. A large part of “inherited trauma” or family patterns comes from behavioral, cultural, and environmental transmission, not just epigenetics.
Addressing traumas is the area of Dianetics, which claims that the earliest trauma can occur during the gestation period in the womb or in the process of birth. Traumatic impressions passed through epigenetics have also been discovered in Dianetics. All such impressions influence the sense of “I”.
This is consistent with the notion of karmic influences that are said to dissipate automatically after several generations. But none of that provides the proof for the individual “I” being eternal.
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According to Buddha, the idea of self-preservation is psychologically deep-rooted in a person. So, the idea of an immortal Soul or Atman, which will live eternally, is very attractive to him. In his ignorance, weakness, fear, and desire, he needs this belief to console himself.
As one engages with the process of “neti, neti” it becomes quite obvious that the notion of soul, thetan or Atman being eternal is just a postulate.
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According to Buddha’s teaching, the individual is composed of the Five Aggregates: matter, sensations, perceptions, mental formations and consciousness. There is nothing behind them which can be taken as “I”, Atman, or Self, or any unchanging abiding substance. Furthermore, everything is conditioned, relative, and interdependent, and nothing in the world is absolute. Accordingly, the idea of self or being, is useful by convention only; but not in reality or substance.
No doubt, we are aware of substantiality (sat of sat-chit-ananda). The substantiality constitutes of matter, energy and thought. Awareness (chit of sat-chit-ananda) does not lie in the dimension of substantiality, because awareness is looking at substantiality. Awareness is its own dimension. In that dimension there is no substantiality of individuality. There is no introversion.
For example, when one is looking at something, there is a subject and an object. The dimension of object is substantiality. The dimension of subject is awareness. These two dimensions are independent of each other. The sense of individuality and introversion arises only when there is an identification of awareness with something in the dimension of substantiality.
Enlightenment occurs when one becomes aware of the specific identification. One then realizes how one has been mocking up, or postulating, the “I”.
This is the beginning of Nirvana.
As one continues to realize other identifications by clearing up misconceptions about the universe, Nirvana expands.
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Reference: Postulate Mechanics (PM)
“Life inherently contains unsatisfactoriness, pain, and instability.” That is from a limited human viewpoint. At the scale of the universe, any unsatisfactoriness, pain, and instability is a departure from the state of harmony. Therefore, it is an anomaly to be resolved.
Life is the effort of universe to resolve anomalies. Life is the problem solver. Life is not the problem. So, anomalies like unsatisfactoriness, pain, and instability are not inherent to life.
Life has always consisted of individual life organisms. But the self-awareness has not been there until the humans have emerged. This use of ‘I’ is primarily a convention. But many religions have promoted the ‘I’ to be something permanent.
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The Abrahamic Religions consider that every person has a soul that lives forever. After the person dies, the soul goes to heaven or hell for resurrection and judgment.
Thus, soul is an entity that exists separate from the body. There is a sense of permanency about the soul as it survives death.
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In Scientology, a person views himself as an eternal thetan. The notion of thetan is very similar to the notion of soul, except that the person does not have a thetan; he is the thetan. He is the individual who who handles and lives in the body.
Thus, thetan is also an entity that exists separate from the body. The thetan is explicitly stated to be eternal, and Scientologist believe and feel that way.
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“Atman” translates as self. In Eastern religions, Atman is the universal divine essence, or pure consciousness, that acquires individuality by identifying with the physical universe. This identification continues from one body to the next, and so there is reincarnation. Over time, the person becomes aware of the identification and becomes free from it. It returns to pure consciousness.
There is a tendency for a person to think that he is an eternal Atman because consciousness it eternal. But consciousness is always changing. It is not permanent. But there is a widespread misconception of having a permanent consciousness.
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This “I” is the individuality. This individuality is identifying itself with the universe, and thinking that, ultimately, there is something permanent at the core of that identification, which is the ‘I’. That sense of permanence is a misconception.
There is a contemplative process in the East to handle identification. It is called “Neti, neti” meaning “Not this, not that.” By eliminating what I am not, I, ultimately, come to realize what I am.
It is easy to theorize that I must be pure awareness because I am not what I think I am; but, it actually requires going through the process of “neti, neti” to realize that.
As part of this process, I look at something carefully, whether a physical object, or a mental idea, and ask myself,
“Am I this _____?
What is this _____ anyway?
Do I fully understand the nature of this _____?”
Only after understanding fully that, which I am looking at, can I say with certainty that I am not it. I peel off the layers of matter, energy and thought to finally arrive at the underlying postulate, and see if I am that or not.
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That which is being looked at, and this which is looking, are not completely separate. Nor are they identical. There is a harmony between them. Realization of that harmony is the key.
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Reference: Postulate Mechanics (PM)
The Four Noble Truths of Buddha are:
We look at these truths from the perspective of Postulate Mechanics.
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The First Noble Truth of Buddhism is the existence of Dukkha (suffering), which asserts that life inherently contains unsatisfactoriness, pain, and instability. It is not a pessimistic view, but a realistic observation that birth, aging, sickness, death, and not getting what one wants are inescapable forms of suffering.
From the perspective of Postulate Mechanics, the ideal state of life consists of harmony. Any violation of harmony is an anomaly. Therefore, Dukkha consists of anomalies. It is much easier to understand and address Dukkha, when a person views it as made up of a collection of anomalies. He can then handle specific anomalies one at a time, and see harmony being restored gradually to his life.
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The Second Noble Truth states that the cause of suffering (dukkha) is craving, desire, or thirst. It teaches that suffering arises from internal mental reactions—specifically craving pleasurable sensations, continued existence, or cessation of experience—rather than just external events.
Postulate Mechanics agrees with Buddhism that suffering arises from internal mental reactions; but it looks further into the cause of those reactions. It is easier to trace back to causes when one is addressing specific anomalies. Today’s world is very complex. It is not easy to handle craving, desire, or thirst as a generality. The “craving, desire, or thirst” for knowledge is natural. Only when there is a lack of harmony in the forms of distortion, misdirection or corruption of that desire that anomalies come about.
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The Third Noble Truth states that the cessation of suffering (dukkha) is possible by eliminating its cause, which is craving (tanha). It asserts that by letting go of attachments, greed, and delusion, one can achieve freedom, peace, and ultimate happiness, known as Nirvana.
Postulate Mechanics observes that letting go of attachments, greed, and delusion is the right goal, but it has been difficult to attain. First, there are numerous attachments; and second, there are many, many instances of greed and delusion. Each of them gets triggered by different things. There is definitely a single factor, which, once handled, makes it much easier to handle all these numerous triggers. But it requires a single-minded effort to find and handle that single factor. Most people find it difficult to engage in such an effort.
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The Fourth Noble Truth prescribes a “Middle Way” balancing moderation with mental discipline, offering a guide for ethical living, mindfulness, and wisdom to achieve liberation.
Postulate Mechanics observes that this path has been difficult to follow because of misconceptions. The earlier chapters of this book address many broad misconceptions. A basic misconception has been about the substance of this universe. Another misconception has been about the relationship between inertia and motion, and its role in the evolution of life and thought.
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The basic principles of the universe have now evolved to such a complex level, that they manifest as self-awareness and reason. With that has come about the ideas of “I” and suffering. These ideas have not existed prior to the emergence of humans.
Postulate Mechanics has clarified suffering as “lack of harmony.” Clarification is still needed to the question, “Who or what is ‘I’ that is suffering?”
Do we really understand what ‘I’ is? Or, is there a general misconception about it.
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Reference: Postulate Mechanics (PM)
Thought develops reason in humans to make further advance toward the goal of oneness.
The solution lies in developing the capability to reason in all human societies.
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A dynamic sense of harmony exists when the motion is optimum and there is an equilibrium between substantiality and awareness. The reality is very clear. There are no confusions. Everything is operating as expected. There is a continuity and consistency among the elements present.
The ideal state of life consists of harmony. Any violation of harmony is an anomaly. Therefore, all suffering, such as, pain, loss, anxiety, etc., is an anomaly. In fact, whenever something is not optimum, it would indicate the presence of some anomaly. Emotions, such as, anger, fear and grief are non-optimum. They are indicators of anomalies in life that one may or may not be aware of.
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Anything that lacks clarity and brings up wrong emotions contains anomalies. Anomalies have following general forms:
(1) Arbitrary Data: Arbitrary assumptions and misconceptions are the main cause of disharmony. This is the case when a group of people says, “My God is the only true God. All other gods are false.” We look closely at the definition of God, this group is applying. We find their definition to be full of arbitrary ideas that are disconnected from reality.
(2) Contradictory Data: Whenever there is contradictory data or inconsistency, conditions exist that do not make sense. This is the case when the president of a country insists that the economy is booming; but most people find their living conditions to be worsening. This is inconsistent. It is an indicator that something is very wrong.
(3) Missing Data: Wherever understanding has gaps in it, some information is missing. This is the case when a justice department insists, “We have closed this case, because the person accountable has been prosecuted”; yet not all aspects of the case have been accounted for and many unanswered questions remain.
In general, all anomalies consist of disharmonies, inconsistencies and discontinuities.
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The purpose of reason is to spot and resolve anomalies. The modus operandi of reason is to examine an anomaly closely. You do this by following the trails of arbitrary, contradictory and missing data. There can be many such trails. You follow the trails in the order of their importance, until you uncover the starting point of the anomaly. You will know it when that happens. All confusions, doubts and uncertainties disappear completely.
The pre-requisite of reason is the skill of “seeing things as they are.” Without this skill you can completely miss spotting the anomaly, and waste your time chasing something else. You develop the skill of spotting anomalies by following The 12 Aspects of Mindfulness.
Clearing up misconceptions is an important part of resolving anomalies. Misconceptions result in misunderstandings that often generate anomalies. It is a good discipline to not go by words you don’t understand the meaning of. In general, if there is something you don’t understand, and it is important to you, always make a list of basic concepts in that area and clear them up by studying them. That will sharpen your ability to reason.
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Postulate Mechanics is basically an effort to clear up the basic concepts underlying the universe and life. It follows the technology outlined in The Book of Subject Clearing. Clearing up basic misconceptions greatly improves the ability to reason and resolve anomalies.
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Reference: Postulate Mechanics (PM)
The following may be stated about the origin of thought and mind
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Te evolutionary blue print of the organism is encoded in its DNA. It transmits itself from parent to the offspring. This code determines the structure of the organism in detail. This evolutionary programming of the mind exists as part of the DNA instructions. It evolves by itself at its own pace. It maintains an equilibrium of matter, energy and thought. For the organism, programming at this level is pretty much pre-determined.
There are higher layers of mind that grow out of this evolutionary layer. The higher is the layer more it is in control of the organism. Here we have the assimilation of sensations, perceptions, conceptions and knowledge that forms the reality. The organism can direct this assimilation to a degree. The underlying principle used for this assimilation is that all motion must ultimately come to the harmony, consistency and continuity of a dynamic equilibrium.
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The life organism lives within an environment. It is continually exchanging matter, energy and thought with the environment. The environment is chaotic whereas the organism is well-ordered. Anything entering the organism from the environment needs to be assimilated.
At the level of thought, the events occurring in the environment leave impressions on the mind. The mind assimilates such impressions on a real-time basis as much as possible. But, very chaotic impressions, such as those from traumatic incidents, are relatively difficult to assimilate.
The impressions are assimilated by letting all aspects of thought, energy and matter come to an equilibrium. Impressions that are difficult to assimilate, are carried forward in time until they are assimilated. They may even be passed on to the next generation through the DNA mechanism. When such impressions are finally assimilated they appear as if they are from a past life.
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To assimilate is to “make similar.” An example of assimilation occurs when you pour water having different temperatures, in the same container. The cold water in the mixture gains heat and the hot water loses heat such that the water in that container, after some time, arrives at an equilibrium temperature.
In the mind, the equilibrium may be defined as the harmony, consistency and continuity of ONENESS. When a person spots an anomaly and looks at it more closely, all ideas and emotions in that anomaly tend to assimilate and arrive at oneness.
When sensations are assimilated they provide clearer perceptions. When perceptions are assimilated they provide clearer conceptions. When conceptions are assimilated they provide clearer knowledge. When knowledge is assimilated it results in knowingness of wisdom.
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Ultimate origin of thought lies in the balance between inertia and motion. This balance is observed in the speed of light as being finite and constant. Varying states of balance between inertia and motion appear as discrete “energy levels” in the structure of an atom Such energy levels multiply as atoms combine into molecules.
The DNA molecule is so complex that it contains an almost continuous gradient of energy levels that can be played upon like a piano to generate complex motion. At the level of thought this motion takes the form of signals and impulses, which is enough to manage the functions of an organism. Here we have the origin of the mind that operates on the principle of bringing about an overall balance between inertia and motion.
Thought, energy and matter operate together dynamically chasing an equilibrium, which appears as harmony, consistency and continuity in every aspect of the universe. At the forefront of the universe is life.
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