Aug 3
In the Mahabharata, the city of Dvārakā was created by Vishwa Karma (the architect of the gods) with instructions from Lord Krishna. In the Mahabharata, Dvārakā (also known as Dvāravatī, both names meaning “the many-gated city” in Sanskrit) is the capital of the Yādava who ruled the Anarta Kingdom. Volume 16 of the Mahabharata describes this important city, situated on the western point of Gujarat, submerged in the sea.
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What happens to a shared memory when it’s only shared by two people? The only evidence that it even happened at all is contained within the mind of another. Some of my best memories are when it was just me and one friend or girlfriend. Most of the time those people don’t hang around for a lifetime so we leave the shared experiences with them – and only them. So much of my life has been about those shared experiences that I feel like there are pieces of me spread across the world. It’s a little unsettling. I think it’s unsettling because though we are the protagonists in our own narrative we are merely footnotes in another’s narrative. Sometimes to be forgotten completely.
Our sense of self comes from our memories. Our friendships from shared memories. So when those people move out of my life, they take a piece of me with them. How is it that some of our most intimate and intense memories can be shared with another only to later have them pass out of our lives completely? I believe that one reason that death, divorce, and breaking up are so difficult is because we can feel those shared memories leaving our mind and with it a piece of unrecoverable self. It really does leave a void or hole that can’t be filled. This is why photos, home movies, and journals are so important because we can go back in time to ensure that our memories are real. Memories without reinforcement will fade or be distorted over time. That’s why these tools of time travel are so important to us. If your home were to catch on fire you wouldn’t save your big screen TV, you would save your pictures. It may as well be a part of yourself left in the fire to burn. Those tools of memories are that important to us. Why?
Sometimes life really is a madness shared by two. I believe it’s why we are often reluctant to end even the most miserable of friendships or relationships. Each time we end one of those relationships it really does take a toll on us. As we get older many of the relationships fade – people move away, people die, marriages divorce – and we are left with what remains. Surely this contributes to dementia in later life. With no one left to remind you of who you are and of the experiences you’ve shared, you’re left with a slowly fading send of self. Of course, there are physiological reasons for dementia and Alzheimer’s but what is not clear is the cause. It’s possible that a lost sense of self leads to this physiological response.
As I’ve gotten older I’ve noticed that I cannot recall details with the same clarity and sharpness that I once did. It makes me wonder how many of my shared memories have simply evaporated without contact with those with whom I shared them. There are thousands of reasons to reinvest in current relationships, to apologize to lost loves, or ring old friends. This is just one more reason. Not only are your memories fading, theirs are, too.
“If I had a photograph of you. It’s something to remind me I wouldn’t spend my life just wishing.” – A Flock of Seagulls
Jul 1
Is consciousness produced by a complex arrangement of billions of neurons, mind emerging from the matter of the brain? Or is it embedded at the deepest level of the universe, a quantum effect? Could machines eventually become conscious? Where does creativity come from? How do we transform our consciousness? The Consciousness Chronicles is an ongoing DVD documentary series featuring in-depth interviews with some of the world’s leading consciousness researchers from all disciplines: scientific, philosophical, experiential and mystical. The Chronicles are recorded at the annual Toward a Science of Consciousness conference, based in Tucson, AZ.
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“It was one of those days when it’s a minute away from snowing and there’s this electricity in the air, you can almost hear it. And this bag was, like, dancing with me. Like a little kid begging me to play with it. For fifteen minutes. And that’s the day I realized there was this entire life behind things, and… this incredibly benevolent force, that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever. Video’s a poor excuse, I know. But it helps me remember… and I need to remember… Sometimes there’s so much beauty in the world I feel like I can’t take it, like my heart’s going to cave in.” – Ricky
“I’d always heard your entire life flashes in front of your eyes the second before you die. First of all, that one second isn’t a second at all. It stretches on forever, like an ocean of time. For me, it was lying on my back at Boy Scout Camp, watching falling stars. And yellow leaves from the maple trees that lined our street. Or my grandmother’s hands, and the way her skin seemed like paper. And the first time I saw my cousin Tony’s brand-new Firebird. And Janie… and Janie. And… Carolyn. I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me, but it’s hard to stay mad when there’s so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I’m seeing it all at once, and it’s too much. My heart fills up like a balloon that’s about to burst. And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it. And then it flows through me like rain. And I can’t feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life. You have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m sure. But don’t worry, you will someday.” – Lester
From the movie, American Beauty.
Can dogs read our minds? How do they learn to beg for food or behave badly primarily when we’re not looking? According to Monique Udell and her team, from the University of Florida in the US, the way that dogs come to respond to the level of people’s attentiveness tells us something about the ways dogs think and learn about human behavior. Their research, published online in Springer’s journal Learning & Behavior, suggests it is down to a combination of specific cues, context and previous experience.
Recent work has identified a remarkable range of human-like social behaviors in the domestic dog, including their ability to respond to human body language, verbal commands, and to attentional states. The question is, how do they do it? Do dogs infer humans’ mental states by observing their appearance and behavior under various circumstances and then respond accordingly? Or do they learn from experience by responding to environmental cues, the presence or absence of certain stimuli, or even human behavioral cues? Udell and colleagues’ work sheds some light on these questions.
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Jun 13
Conscious.tv is a UK based TV channel broadcasting on the Internet at www.conscious.tv. They also have programmes broadcast on satellite and cable channels in different countries. In the UK you can watch their programmes every night from 9pm to 10pm on the ‘Body In Balance’ channel which is No 275 on the Sky system. Conscious.tv aims to stimulate debate, question, enquire, inform, enlighten, encourage and inspire people in the areas of Consciousness, Science, Non-Duality and Spirituality.
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A clip from the film, The Living Matrix – The Science of Healing, uncovers new ideas about the intricate web of factors that determine our health. “We talk with a group of dedicated scientists, psychologists, bioenergetic researchers and holistic practitioners who are finding healing potential in new places. And energetic information-based medicine looks particularly powerful. Leaders in science are examining the body through the lens of quantum physics. They’ve discovered that we’re far more than biochemical machines.”
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British scientist Rupert Sheldrake has been speaking about the cutting edge of the new cell biology since 1981, when he published his groundbreaking book, A New Science of Life: The Hypothesis of Formative Causation. Despite hostile, ad hominem attacks of his ideas that cell growth is directed by more than mere genetic coding, Sheldrake’s critics have produced neither valid arguments nor evidence that counters his laboratory observations and theories.
The Science of Interconnectedness | SuperConsciousness Magazine
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