Christian Nonduality

[Asmodean]

The mind loves the unknown. It loves images whose meaning is unknown since the meaning of the mind itself is unknown.

Rene Magritte was a surrealist artist, so he would say that.

He just gave a poor definition of curiosity with an added dollop of nonsense. "Hon hon hon, ze meninge of ze mind eh, it is like le waffle belgique. Best enjoyed with strawberríe, oui?"

...The Asmo just done did a racism right there, didn't he? Nothing against the dude, really, it's just that French(-sounding) bullshit seems more sophisticated somehow.

[The Magic Pudding..]

The mind fears the unknown since the meaning of the mind itself is unknown.

The mind is indifferent to the unknown since the meaning of the mind itself is unknown.

The mind makes up shit to appear cool since the meaning of the mind itself is unknown

[Asmodean]

The mind makes up shit to appear cool since the meaning of the mind itself is unknown

Doesn't it just? (Just to be real in my merriment, it certainly does do that to be cool, but not due to its Meaning(tm) - whatever that may be - that would be the proverbial carts pulling the horses.)

[zorkan]

Does the mind make up its own mind, or does something else?
A shadow mind, like the subconscious.
But where is it?
Might be the Jungian mind, or from the b'cks, perhaps.
Parasympathetic nervous system might play a part.
I never know whether to fight or take flight.
Only my amygdala knows.

Feels like I have an octopus mind where 8 is the magic number.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/unconscious-branding/202012/our-brains-make-our-minds-we-know-it

[Asmodean]

"Our brains make up our minds before we know it."

Well, duuh! You need a mind to know stuff with.

Basking in the dryness of my word play aside, that right there is an interesting area of research. I suppose if one could account for every (or as near as makes no difference) variable, there could be a surprising degree of determinism to the universe, brains included. Sure, some degree of instinctive decision-making is an evolutionary necessity for survival, but when looking at "random" decisions (I have a bowl of chocolates, all of similar taste and size. Do I go for the round one or the square one? Such like) Yeah... That's interesting.

[zorkan]

Brain anatomy is quite a subject and we are still trying to understand it.
https://mayfieldclinic.com/pe-anatbrain.htm#:~:text=In%20general%2C%20the%20left%20hemisphere,Figure%202.

Strange how the hippocampus is so locked away. It permanently stores bad memories which you wish would go away.
Don't know why it's called that. It looks nothing like a seahorse.

Upside down yoga stances might help the brain, like headstand and shoulder stand.
Increase blood flow to brain and improve memory.
Releases the 'bindu', I'm told. Probably a load of 'bull'.

Where does the mind get it's impulses. to do anything, I'd like to know.
Wake up one day. Fly to the moon or stay at home.

[Asmodean]

Brain anatomy is quite a subject and we are still trying to understand it.

This calls for a mini-rant over one of The Asmo's oldest pet peeves, so... Not addressing you specifically.

Have you noticed how common a sentiment "we are still trying to understand the brain/mind" is when compared to similar sentiments relating to gravity, evolution, chemistry and so forth?

Yes, the things brain does and the ways in which it does them contain several areas of active research, but so do those other things I mentioned and many - many others besides.

"We" understand brain anatomy. As long as there is the next question, however, what we are trying to do, is increase the degree of said understanding. Learn more. Those are not mutually exclusive.

[zorkan]

Here, they know more about ARSes than brains.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/11/understanding-the-brain-is-a-catalog-of-all-we-dont-know-about-the-brain/#:~:text=We%20don%27t%20know%20which,t%20know%20what%20consciousness%20is.

We know more about the surface of Mars than what lies beneath us.

[Asmodean]

We know more about the surface of Mars than what lies beneath us.

That tired old adage is at best a matter of perspective, I think.

What specifically are you referring to? "Terabytes" of data gathered on the subject in total? The quality of terrain mapping? Positions of mineral deposits? Air/liquid streams and such like? Who's even "we?" Humanity? NASA? The faculty of geology at a given university?

We do have a LOT of data on the Earth's crust, and while it is possible that we have comparatively more on the surface of Mars, that calls for specification and verification, which I, for one, have never seen materialise with any such claims. (for instance, "we know more about the Moon than we do about the deep ocean." Same problem. In my opinion, it's just something people parrot because it sounds profound. At least, everyone I've ever pressed on the matter had to fold like wet toilet paper)

[zorkan]

True, we do have data about the crust, like we understand the width of the peel of an apple.
I've descended in a cage 300 feet into a disused coal mine (Big Pit), and it was dark.
Go further down 2000 miles to see the core and it might be as hot as the sun.
Could the Earth stop spinning and the magnetic field be cut off?
Life would die. But so what, this planet is already a graveyard for all life.
Get life while you can, I say.

https://www.sciencefocus.com/planet-earth/earths-mysterious-core

[Asmodean]

The Moon is pretty much a "solid lump" of moon. Mars - not far behind. Yes, planets - the Earth among them - eventually cool, their mantles and cores solidify enough and... "No" more magnetosphere. That's pretty much how it goes.

I have no idea if that's how the biosphere is likely to meet its doom, or if it will stick around to witness the Sun going red giant on this planet's bottom, but yeah... The Universe is "out to kill" life. Fortunately for life, it tends to operate on such time scales, as may just be enough for life to destroy itself before the Universe can ever get to it.

[EDIT:]Also, while The Asmo is being peeved by pseudoprofundities, you know how they say soemthing to the tune of more people having been to space than to the bottom of the ocean? Well, fucking duuh! Yes, it is not as trivial (all other concerns such as actually being alive while at it excluded) to get to space and back as it is to sink to the abyssal plain, then cut the ballast, but "all" you have to do once you arrive in space is have a vessel capable of holding one atmosphere of pressure in an unpressurised environment. It's "the same" as holding two atmospheres at sea level. A pop bottle or a soda can can do it. At the bottom of the sea, the vessel has to be capable of maintaining that same atmospheric pressure in an environment where the ambient pressure is orders upon orders of magnitude greater than that. "one tiny leak," and you're fucked. It's not all there is to it, of course, it's just that maybe, all things considered, it's actually easier to get to space in some meaningful way than it is to sink to the bottom of the sea and that while astronomically (pun intended) expensive, the potential return on investment is more attractive in space travel than sub-sea exploration.

[Me_Be]

The mind makes up shit to appear cool since the meaning of the mind itself is unknown

All that is known is the unknown.

That which is not yet known can eventually become known. But that which is unknowable can never be known.

[Me_Be]

Further questions, in addition to the unanswered three from above; how does "illusory" come into play? What is the significance of reality as seen as a single system not having any overarching knowledge or the capability of knowing? Can you demonstrate how the conceptualisation is done within infinity? (That which has no starting and/or end condition, which "all" knowledge does)

I can only demonstrate using a quote from biblical scripture, which is simply knowledge arising as itself, to itself and for itself. Just like any knowledge one claims to know.

''‭‭1 Corinthians 13:12  For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.''

This is referring to the reflective world of knowledge/thought (for now we see only a reflection).

Then "we shall see face to face" which refers to the full picture; aka from source to source.

Now I know in part (Now I am experiencing the reflective world of thought), then I shall know fully (Complete and no longer veiled by thoughts, seeing "the light" that thoughts are covering), even as I am fully known (I am truly already and always Fullness/Wholeness no matter what, yet I seemingly experience forgetting this and falling for the illusion the reflection creates, and then remembering the Wholeness.
This is basic Nonduality. In fact pretty much all of the worlds religious text including islamic faith is derived from a base level nondual context at it's fundamental core.

[Me_Be]

What makes that reality the real one? Is it real as opposed to, or in addition to, other available realities?

When discussing reality/realities, contemplation using words is always referring to knowledge, something known, always knowledge, because without knowledge there's simply ''thought-free awareness'' aka nothingness appearing as everything without imposing any concept to it.

Awareness is the only ONE real reality. Awareness is not human. Human is a concept known to Awareness. Awareness is the nameless one reality.

Neither the human body, nor the human entity ( some call the spirit ) is "LIFE The Real Self" ( "AWARENESS " )
The Only thing that is "AWARE" of anything, is "AWARENESS", which is "LIFE The Real Self"

You are Awareness Itself individually and uniquely aware as "you." You are individual being. The pure awareness you are is the one universe you experience. Awareness and form are one. Awareness is what you ARE, what you see WITH, and that which is SEEN.

Awareness itself is not the awareness OF any 'thing' or any condition or situation, it is the one infinite and omnipresent "light" you ARE, you see things with, and the 'things' themselves.

You are aware of; conscious of; "alive" to  these words. But it is not "you" being aware of "these words" with "your faculty of awareness." What makes the experience possible is the oneness of Awareness Itself. That which you are aware of is Awareness Itself, and the "you" being aware is the same Awareness Itself. Awareness Itself is existence itself.

[zorkan]

Or put a simpler way, only consciousness exists.