Future of Education: Khan Academy

Go to KHAN ACADEMY FOR THE WORLD

It is a lot of fun to learn maths here; and it is absolutely free. 🙂

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August 13, 2011 – 4:45 PM Categories: Education | Comments (2)

The Tathagata

The Tathagata
Beyond all coming and going: the Tathagata

Here is an excellent Bachelor’s Thesis
Thinking in Buddhism: Nagarjuna’s Middle Way

From Wikipedia’s article Tathagata:

Thus in this interpretation Tathāgata means literally either, “The one who has gone to suchness” or, “The one who has arrived at suchness”.

The article a little further says,

The aggregates of form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and cognizance that comprise personal identity have been seen to be dukkha (a burden), and an enlightened individual is one with “burden dropped”. The Buddha explains “that for which a monk has a latent tendency, by that is he reckoned, what he does not have a latent tendency for, by that is he not reckoned.

From what happens to the Sensory input, the mind seems to be structured as follows,

1. Perception
2. Experience
3. Information
4. Hypothesis
5. Theory
6. Principles
7. Axioms
8. Self

From this perspective, SELF appears to be

(a) the sum total of what the sensory input has ultimately reduced to

(b) the core of the mind

(c) the repository of all latent tendencies.

In my view the above model supports Buddha’s insight. The self is introduced (added) through sensory input. If the SELF is fixed then it acts as the ultimate inconsistency.

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August 12, 2011 – 8:49 AM Categories: Buddhism | Post a comment

Inconsistency

There is no absolute truth or untruth. Truth is found only to be relative. Please see the essay The Nature of Truth.

What appears to be true simply dissolves into a sense of harmony. This harmony forms the very background of what one is. There is nothing specific about this background to be asserted. This background may only highlight things that are not in harmony.

Thus, as far as specifics are concerned, there are only things that are not in harmony with this background. We may call them inconsistencies. An inconsistency may manifest itself as uncertainty, incoherence, confusion, contradiction, dissonance, illogic, discord, conflict, unwanted condition, etc.

It is only when all inconsistencies are resolved that one may go back to one’s natural equilibrium. Only then the ultimate truth, if there is one, may be grasped.

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THEORY

Sensory input, as it is processed, flows down as follows:

  1. Sensation
  2. Perception
  3. Experience
  4. Information
  5. Hypothesis
  6. Theory
  7. Principles
  8. Axioms
  9. Self

Each succeeding layer represents greater integration of input. The degree of integration depends upon the harmony among the elements. A greater integration and harmony means increased rationality.

A greater harmony brings about increased rationality.

An inconsistency may enter at any point when this processing is interrupted or corrupted.  The inconsistencies just float around since they are not integrated. They influence the thinking in unpredictable ways, making it irrational.

Inconsistencies introduce irrationality into thinking.

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Thinking & Memory

Thinking involves retrieval of required memory from the mind. The data exists in the mind in the form of the layers as described above. There is no ready made memory. At the time of retrieval, memory is created newly from the indexing of data among these layers. 

It would be difficult to re-create memory when the data is not properly indexed. Lack of indexing occurs due to a lack of integration of input, which, in turn, is caused by the presence of inconsistencies.

The problem with some memory is not that it cannot be accessed. The problem boils down to the presence of unresolved  inconsistencies in the mind. If a memory in certain area is “difficult to access” then the approach should be to identify and resolve all inconsistencies in that area.

Underlying any difficulty in accessing memory there are inconsistencies that needs to be identified and resolved.

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Thinking & Visualization

Thinking also involves the visualization of new possibilities and solutions. These visualizations then feed back as input into the layers above. When these visualizations are in harmony with the processing of the sensory input they speed up the integration greatly. On the other hand, when these visualizations are not in harmony, they may contribute to inconsistencies themselves.

For example, a belief may come about in an effort to restrain some confusion. This belief may then appear as an inconsistency at the level of hypothesis when not in harmony with the sensory input.

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Nature of Inconsistency

Inconsistencies on various levels may be named as follows:

  1. Perception …..(Engram)
  2. Experience …..(Unwanted feelings & emotions)
  3. Information …..(Indoctrination)
  4. Hypothesis …..(Beliefs)
  5. Theory ……….(Doctrines)
  6. Principles …….(Fixed ideas)
  7. Axioms ……….(Fixed viewpoints)
  8. Self …………..(Fixed identity)

The inconsistency may be defined as the variance between the way something appears and the harmony that should be there. Therefore, the method for dissolving any inconsistency would be to look at the area of inconsistency non-judgmentally and without resistance as described in KHTK 1 & 2. This will help restore the harmony.

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APPLICATION

In the absence of a guide these exercises may be done by oneself. The guide may help the student as follows.

(A) Go over the theory section with the student.

  1. Answer any questions as best as you can.
  2. Discuss the theory materials until no questions remain.
  3. Make sure the student understand the main points highlighted in bold in theory section.

(B) Have the student do the exercises in sequence.

  1. Guide the student through the exercises.
  2. Maintain an open and friendly communication about student’s experience on the exercise.

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EXERCISE

THE PURPOSE OF THESE EXERCISES IS TO PRACTICE SPOTTING THE INCONSISTENCIES AT VARIOUS LEVELS. 

Preliminary steps:

  1. Find a place where you can sit comfortably for a while without being disturbed or distracted.

  2. Simply observe with your eyes open. If you find your mind adding to what is plainly visible, simply notice that fact and continue.

  3. Once you can comfortably notice what is there, you may close your eyes.

 

Step 1

Pay close attention to what comes up in the mind. Continue until some confusion or thought appears, which does not seem to make sense. 

 

Step 2

Observe the layer on which that confusion or thought seems to belong to. Then approximate the possible nature of the underlying inconsistency from the list below.

  1. Engram = Inconsistency on the layer of perception
  2. Unwanted feelings & emotions = Inconsistency on the layer of experience
  3. Indoctrination = Inconsistency on the layer of information
  4. Beliefs = Inconsistency on the layer of hypothesis
  5. Doctrines = Inconsistency on the layer of theory
  6. Fixed ideas = Inconsistency on the layer of principles
  7. Fixed viewpoints = Inconsistency on the layer of axioms
  8. Fixed identity = Inconsistency on the layer of self

 

Step 3

Examine that inconsistency more closely by applying KHTK principles.

  1. Simply perceive what is there without adding anything to it.

  2. Experience any emotions as they come up without putting any resistance.

  3. Acknowledge any ideas, thoughts, and considerations that come up without being judgmental.

  4. Continue until your attention starts to move by itself to another subject.

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Glossary

Inconsistency

  1. The inconsistency may be defined as the variance between the way something appears and the harmony that should be there.
  2. There are things that are not in harmony with their background. We may call them inconsistencies. An inconsistency may manifest itself as uncertainty, incoherence, confusion, contradiction, dissonance, illogic, discord, conflict, unwanted condition, etc. It is only when all inconsistencies are resolved that one may go back to one’s natural equilibrium.
  3. An inconsistency is arbitrary to some degree. Yet it is accepted because it seems to explain some confusion. Examples of this would be unreal beliefs that people carry around, and strange rituals that they engage in.
  4. Inconsistency exists where consistency is missing and contradictions exist. For example, Bill claims to be a successful businessman, but he is often filing for bankruptcies.

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August 7, 2011 – 12:34 PM Categories: Self-Improvement | Comments (32)

Memory & Recall

According to Wikipedia, memory is an organism’s ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. There are three main stages in the formation and retrieval of memory:

  1. Encoding or registration (receiving, processing and combining of received information)
  2. Storage (creation of a permanent record of the encoded information)
  3. Retrieval, recall or recollection (calling back the stored information in response to some cue for use in a process or activity)
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THEORY

The three stages of memory may be described as follows:

(1) Encoding or Registration

The sensory input enters the brain and it is immediately processed into perception. Within 300 – 500 milliseconds the perception is processed into experience. In hours or days, the experience is then processed into information. As time passes, the information is further processed into hypothesis, theory, principles, axioms and self.

Thus, the sensory input gets encoded in the form of the following layers (see Thinking & Thought).

  1. Perception
  2. Experience
  3. Information
  4. Hypothesis
  5. Theory
  6. Principles
  7. Axioms
  8. Self

Current perception has a span from present up to 500 milliseconds in the past. There may be ‘undigested perception’ in the form of some incident from a longer past but those are very few. This ‘undigested perception’ has been called ‘engram’ in the subject of Dianetics.

(2) Storage

The sensory input is being received continuously. It gets converted into perception. This is the most detailed form of memory, and requires a lot of storage space. This is the reason why perceptual memory lasts for a very short period before it gets converted into experience.

Experience is less detailed form of memory, and it takes less storage space. Thus, the original input may be stored as experience for a relatively longer period of time.

The layers that follow experience (see above) provide different forms of memory that require lesser and lesser amounts of storage space.

The memory at the level of perception is very detailed. Therefore, perception takes the most storage space and provides least durable memory. On the other hand, the memory at the level of self exists as one’s viewpoint. Therefore, self takes the least amount of storage space, and provides the most durable memory.

Self makes one appear to be an individual. This is essentially a construct.

(3) Retrieval, recall or recollection

Memory is retrieved when attention is placed on an area of the mind. This is also knowledge.

The mind is essentially a cross-indexing of these layers. Attention simply activates the data one is interested in. This cross-indexing reconstructs the memory using the ability to visualize.

Thus, memory, or knowledge, is essentially an extrapolated visualization from current and undigested perception, experience, information, hypothesis, theory, principles, axioms, and self.

This knowledge may not be a hundred percent accurate. It depends on what one expects to be there. It also depends on one’s viewpoint and beliefs. The beliefs reside on the layers of hypothesis and below. The deeper are the beliefs, the more influence they have on knowledge.

The exact knowledge is limited to the current perception that has a span from present up to 500 milliseconds in the past. Knowledge that is retrieved from past beyond 500 milliseconds,  is not so exact because it is influenced by one’s expectations, presuppositions, speculations, etc.

Looking per KHTK differentiates the exact knowledge from the extrapolated knowledge. It helps one spot inconsistencies to improve one’s knowledge.

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APPLICATION

In the absence of a guide these exercises may be done by oneself. The guide may help the student as follows.

(A) Go over the theory section with the student.

  1. Answer any questions as best as you can.
  2. Discuss the theory materials until no questions remain.
  3. Make sure the student understand the main points highlighted in bold in theory section.

(B) Have the student do the exercises in sequence.

  1. Guide the student through the exercises.
  2. Maintain an open and friendly communication about student’s experience on the exercise
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EXERCISE

THE PURPOSE OF THESE EXERCISES IS TO APPRECIATE MEMORY AND KNOWLEDGE. 

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Exercise 1

Look at the following items one at a time. Each time close your eyes for a few seconds. Note down the picture or idea that comes up in the mind without any effort.

(a)   Mother

(b)   Father

(c)   Your childhood house

(d)   A friend

(e)   A person you liked

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Exercise 2

Take the pictures or the ideas, which came up in Exercise 1. Identify which of the following layers (or none) they may belong to.

  1. Perception

  2. Experience

  3. Information

  4. Hypothesis

  5. Theory

  6. Principles

  7. Axioms

  8. Self

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Exercise 3

Look at the following items once again and spot some inconsistency in whatever comes up. If an inconsistency is there then trace it to underlying expectation, presupposition, speculation, etc.

(a)   Mother

(b)   Father

(c)   Your childhood house

(d)   A friend

(e)   A person you liked

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Glossary

Memory
Memory is essentially a visualization extrapolated from current and undigested perception, experience, information, hypothesis, theory, principles, axioms, and self.

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July 31, 2011 – 8:36 PM Categories: Self-Improvement | Comments (5)

Orthodox vs. Universal View

Reference: Religion

The idea of “orthodox” or “universal” thought may differ from person to person.  Still the following comparison demonstrates two different approaches to the understanding of life and its source.

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ORTHODOX:   “God has revealed himself through the holy scriptures.  Any other image used for God is false.”

UNIVERSAL:    “God is infinite.  It is a reality beyond any physical reality.  Symbols may be used to help understand this abstract concept but symbols are just symbols and do not substitute for the true understanding of God.”

ANALYSIS:  God is the common reference made to the Cause that created the physical universe.  God is the Creator.  Physical universe is a created thing.  God is infinite. Physical universe is finite.

God has the characteristics of Total Cause, Full Responsibility, All Knowing, Omnipresent, etc. which are considered spiritual.  Physical universe has the characteristics of matter, energy, space, and time which are considered physical. God is not limited by the physical characteristics of matter, energy, space, and time.

An identity has form, shape, and existence and, therefore, it is subject to space and time, energy and matter.  Assumption of any identity for God amounts to reducing the concept of infinite God down to finite physical attributes.

Thus, no identity exists that can fully describe God.

COMMENTS:  If the Holy Scriptures are considered to have revealed an identity for God, such as, “God is male and human like in form” it is a misinterpretation of the scriptures.

Any identity assigned to God is a created symbol.  This may be an image (as an idol or a picture), or an idea of an image (as held in one’s mind), or a name, or a graphic symbol.  No symbol is false as long as it is understood to be a symbol and not God.  Understanding of God does not depend on an exclusive symbol or identity.

God has no identity, but it is an abstract reality that has attributes of Total Cause, Full Determinism, Full Responsibility, All Knowing, Omnipresent, etc.  A true understanding of God is direct and personal. One is guided by the Scriptures, but the final understanding comes through one’s own striving.

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ORTHODOX:   “Man is created by God.  An individual is the sum total of his body, mind and spirit.”

UNIVERSAL:    “Body and mind are created entities but spirit is an extension of God.  An individual is essentially the spirit, which possesses a body and a mind.”

ANALYSIS:  Man has the attribute of being causative.  Unlike lower life forms, Man can be fully self-determined.  Man can also display a great sense of responsibility.  He can know and understand. Man is, therefore, endowed with spiritual characteristics of Cause, Determinism, Responsibility, Knowing, Understanding, etc. which exist as total attributes in God.

The individuality of a person is the self-determined cause that creates; whereas, his identity would be the shape, form, structure, role, position, etc. arising out of the creation.  In case of an accomplished actor whose skill is always there no matter what role, the skill would be individuality, and the role would be an identity.

In man, the spirit is the individuality.  The body serves as an identity.  The spirit and the body are two distinctly separate realities.

COMMENTS:  Man has, indeed, the likeness of God, but this likeness is in terms of the spirit and not in terms of the body.  The inherent nature of the spirit is to be cause in the likeness of God.

The spirit is not a created thing because it does not depend on matter, energy, space, and time. The body is a created thing being made up of matter, needing energy to operate, and having existence in space and time.

The body may die, but the spirit can never die. The spirit may approach “death” only by succumbing to ignorance and totally forgetting its true self.  Due to accumulated ignorance, the individual may consider himself to be a body and think and behave like one.

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ORTHODOX:   “Man is basically sinful.”

UNIVERSAL:    “Man is basically good. He commits sin out of misunderstanding and ignorance.”

ANALYSIS:   A sin is a non-survival action resulting from an incorrect estimation of the effort required to resolve a situation. Correct estimation takes into account the survival of self as well as the survival of others, i.e. family, group, mankind, all life, physical environment, etc.

Incorrect estimation occurs when the data used to resolve a situation is incomplete, false, or otherwise faulty.  A “sin” may result from an innocent misunderstanding, but if the individual does not take responsibility for it, he gets stuck with that misunderstanding from then on.

Where responsibility is lacking, misunderstandings accumulate, and the awareness lessens.  An individual becomes less causative and more machinelike (stimulus-response or reactive) in behavior.

This ignorance results in wholesale sins of omission and commission.  This sinful condition can be eradicated only by removing ignorance and restoring knowledge and understandings.

COMMENTS:  Knowledge and understanding come from perceiving something truly for what it is without altering it.  Resolution of a situation depends on accurate perception of all data relevant to that situation.

Accurate perception comes from persistence in being there and confronting all aspects of a situation, regardless of how painful it might seem as to one’s own involvement.  Confront is to face without flinching or avoiding.

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ORTHODOX:   “Salvation comes from the unquestioned acceptance of  authority of God and its institutions as revealed in the holy scriptures and dictated by the Church.”

UNIVERSAL:    “Freedom comes from increased self-determinism.  This is accomplished by confronting oneself and by accepting responsibility for one’s actions. Understanding of oneself leads to the understanding of God.”

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July 28, 2011 – 5:53 AM Categories: Religion | Post a comment