Emptiness, Void and Space

In the East, void is defined as “emptiness”, which is the absence of all phenomena. In the West, however, “void” seems to be related primarily to the absence of physical phenomenon.

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Emptiness

From the Eastern viewpoint, emptiness is the absence of all phenomena, whether real or imagined. This includes phenomena, such as, birth, death, being, non-being, increasing, decreasing, purity and defilement. These concepts apply to both physical and metaphysical phenomena.

The viewpoint of emptiness is just that. It is totally fresh. It is completely clean. There are no preconceived notions, no fixed ideas, no bias, etc. In short, the concept of emptiness is not viewed through any filters. It is simply what it is.

From a scientific viewpoint, this is the ultimate reference point from which all physical and metaphysical phenomena is perceived objectively. Emptiness has that property of being inherently understood because it denotes the absence of all phenomena. From this reference point it is possible to give an objective meaning to any phenomena. Emptiness is like the zero of a scale of phenomena. Emptiness itself is not a phenomenon, just like zero is not a value.

Emptiness is the ultimate reference point from which all phenomena can be understood objectively without any preconceived notion.

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Void and Space

When astronomers look up at the heavens, they are basically considering physical phenomenon. They regard those regions of heaven as void where they cannot detect any physical phenomenon. Therefore, void is a narrow version of emptiness.

Physics is basically concerned with void and the physical phenomenon. The definition of physical phenomena extends to describing all physical aspects of the universe, such as, matter, energy, space and time. The physical phenomena, however, seem to center around the concept of matter.

Space is defined as absence of matter, where matter is thought of as made of solid atoms. The atom, however, is not completely solid. It is said to be over 99.99% space with a speck of solid nucleus in the center. But that space in atom consists of electronic, electromagnetic and force fields. We may categorize these fields as non-atomic substances.

Space, as vacuum, may be free of atomic substance, but it is certainly not free of non-atomic fields. In general,

Space and fields are not differentiated from each other.

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July 1, 2019 – 12:50 PM Categories: Physics Book | Post a comment

SCN 8-8008: Everyone-Nobody

Reference: The Book of Scientology

Everyone-Nobody

Please see the original section at the link above.

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Summary

A person is basically “an awareness without fixation.” There is his own identity that he is controlling. There are other identities around him that he is not controlling, but he is in communication with them.

Hubbard says, “At the top of the scale, while still retaining his own identity, he can be anyone’s identity.” 

When a person is at the top of the tone scale, he is not fixated either on his identity or on the identities of others. There is just one continuous, consistent and harmonious awareness that is totally free. It may identify in passing with different postulates, and that produces different identities. But that identification is not permanent, and the awareness can just as easily unidentify itself. There are no distinct permanent identities, such as, thetans as assumed in Scientology.

Hubbard says, “At the bottom end of the scale, the preclear is making the mistake of considering the “somebodies” around him as MEST.”

The identifications start to become more enduring as the tone scale is descended. This may be seen as increasing fixation. When the person is at the bottom of the tone scale, he is heavily fixated on an identity and believes that identity to be permanent; for example, the identity as a thetan. The awareness is seen as distributed among different identities. Identities has now become very prominent, discrete.and separately controlled. The person believes others around him to be fixated on their identities just like he is. He gets very confused if another identity suddenly changes radically in its characteristics.

Hubbard says, “When an individual is low on the tone-scale, he easily does a life continuum for others.” Hubbard defines life continuum as “somebody fails, departs or dies and the individual then takes on the burden of this person’s habits, goals, fears, and idiosyncrasies.”

Low on the tone-scale, a person is fixated on an identity, which he calls “I”. In this condition he unknowingly assumes the characteristics of another identity that he has become attached to, especially when the other identity has departed. This is also called being in the valence of another. It is basically a fixation. The greater is the fixation, the lesser is the freedom.

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FINAL COMMENTS


Hubbard says that being everybody can be conceived at both ends of the tone-scale. But it basically boils down to assuming certain characteristics—lightly or heavily—that are also manifested elsewhere. The key aberration is fixation and it has numerous manifestations. Hubbard is trying to explain this fixation in terms of theta and MEST.

A person high on the tone scale is aware of the similarities and differences between him and others around him. He can sense that their thoughts, emotions and feelings are very much like his own in their basic characteristics. He finds that he is like everyone as he understands the desires and pains of others.

A person low on the tone scale is mostly unaware, and has little power of choice. He mostly reacts like those his attention is unconsciously fixated on. He is nobody.

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June 27, 2019 – 11:06 AM Categories: Scientology | Post a comment

SCN 8-8008: Ownership

Reference: The Book of Scientology

Ownership

Please see the original section at the link above.

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Summary

Hubbard says, “The whole question of ownership is subject to grave error, particularly on the part of Homo sapiens… Instead of having things, they themselves are had by things. Their freedom in motion is enormously reduced, although they have tricked themselves into believing that possession will increase that freedom.”

This echoes what Hinduism has been saying since ancient times. Do not get attached to worldly things. If you start getting attached to your possessions, there goes your freedom.

Hubbard says, “Individuality depends upon high-tone level and freedom, whereas identity, as such, would be at a complete level of reduction, a condition analogous to MEST.”

If identity is a source of attachment, how is the fixation on individuality any different! Where does individuality end, and identity begin? What is this thing you are identifying as your individuality, and desperately want it to be permanent? Doesn’t this sound like attachment too? Identity is just a condensed individuality. It is what the person thinks he is. But there is nothing wrong with identity or individuality if the person is not fixated on it, and doesn’t look at it as something permanent.

On the same token there is nothing wrong with the havingness of ownership, or with possessions, as long as there are no fixations. Wherever a child is upset on the subject of ownership, it is because his learning was interrupted. His toys were the methods through which he was learning about his surroundings. When his toys were controlled, his learning was interrupted. If he were allowed to understand why he should take care of his possessions, he would happily do so. He would not get upset on the subject of ownership.

With ownership comes certain responsibility. And if a person understands that responsibility and takes care of his possessions without becoming attached to them, he would enjoy those possessions much more. If he loses those possessions then he would simply go and get other possessions. He would understand this as life. He would not be in a state of anxiety about owning things. 

When there are fixations, the sense of continuity is missing. One would then have trouble on the subject of time because time has to do with continuity.

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Comments

The ultimate ownership is to have the knowledge of the universe, and to be able to use that knowledge skillfully. This havingness comes from resolving anomalies. This is what scientists love to do. It gives them a wonderful sense of freedom. 

There is nothing wrong with owning things. But getting fixated on something you own is an anomaly. Resolving that fixation is to acquire a greater sense of freedom.

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June 27, 2019 – 8:17 AM Categories: Scientology | Post a comment

Absolute Motion

Absolute motion is motion that does not depend on anything external to the moving object for its existence or specific nature. Thus, the motion that qualifies being absolute is acceleration. Acceleration is the change in velocity relative to the velocity of the object. The velocity of an object relative to itself is always zero.

But there is a motion (speed) that is intrinsic to an object because it depends on the density of the object. A substance can be atomic (such as, matter), or non-atomic (such as, light). [See Matter, Light and Substance]. Any substance, whether it is a particle or a quantum, has the property of density. [See Particle, Quantum and Density].

The higher is the density of a substance, the greater is its duration at a location. For example, matter that has a very high density can endure for a long time at a location, whereas, light that has almost infinitesimal density can hardy endure at that location before it moves away.

The intrinsic motion of the substance is reciprocal to its duration at a location. Therefore, we can say, the higher is the density; the lower is the intrinsic or absolute motion of substance. The following sketch gives an idea of this relationship.

Since density is three-dimensional, but motion (velocity) is linear, we may say:

Intrinsic or absolute motion = constant / cube root of density

If the density of the substance is not changing then its absolute motion is not changing either. This explains the Michelson-Morley’s Null Result. Since the density of Earth and light is constant, the difference between their absolute motion is also constant.

The change in the direction of movement of earth shall not provide different velocities of light.

This also explains why atoms agitate, which leads to Brownian motion. Atoms have intrinsic velocities and very low momentum. When a number of atoms are in close vicinity, they continually collide because of their inherent motion.

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June 25, 2019 – 5:12 PM Categories: Physics Book | Post a comment

The Dimensions of Physical Location

In his 1920 Book, “Relativity: The Special and General Theory”, Einstein started out by questioning the axioms of Euclidean geometry (see Physical Meaning of Geometrical Propositions). Einstein says,

The concept “true” does not tally with the assertions of pure geometry, because by the word “true” we are eventually in the habit of designating always the correspondence with a “real” object; geometry, however, is not concerned with the relation of the ideas involved in it to objects of experience, but only with the logical connection of these ideas among themselves.

Einstein points out that the propositions of Euclid’s geometry have been formalized to conform to idealized logic. When these propositions are satisfied for those real things we have associated with the geometrical ideas then geometry may be treated as a branch of physics. Einstein then goes on to establish a system of co-ordinates based on rigid bodies. Rigid bodies expand and contract, and so do their space (see The System of Co-ordinates).

Physics is essentially dealing with space that acts as extents of physical substance.

We may expand on Einstein’s argument by pointing out that locations in physical space shall have dimensions, although Euclidean geometry represents locations by points that do not have any length, area, volume, or any other dimensional attribute. A location in physical space may be infinitesimal, but it is not dimensionless. It is also continuous with the surrounding space, just like irrational numbers are continuous on a number line.

Euclidean space is defined as a set that includes points as elements. The physical space, however, is continuous with the locations within it. This makes the physical space a primitive notion and not the point location.

The physical space is a primitive notion, which then allows the notion of point locations.

We may now establish a system of co-ordinates based on the concept of quantum. A quantum of space is a point location. A point location not only has extents but these extents expand and contract. As the extents contract the density of point location increases; and as they expand the density decreases. Thus, in addition to the three spatial dimensions a point location has an additional dimension of density. As density increases, the point location gains endurance. This makes the dimension of density, or duration, imply varying rigidity. Ultimate in density, or duration, is complete rigidity.

A physical location has the dimensions of length, width, height and duration (density).

This dimension of duration is not the same as the dimension of time. Duration is real and objective, whereas, time is abstract and subjective.

Einsteinian space is rigid as it is based on material substance. It assumes the infinite density and duration of the atom. The physical space, on the other hand, implies varying rigidity of the non-atomic substance. This is expressed through the dimension of duration (density). The rigidity of the atomic substance then becomes a limiting condition.

This may have some fundamental implications on the way the Relativity and Quantum theories are currently interpreted.

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June 25, 2019 – 9:00 AM Categories: Physics Book | Post a comment