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Document Menu ~litenote~═══════════════════════╕ │ │ */Contents,6/Intro,7/Part I,10/ │ WELCOME │ */Part II,59/Part III,76/Part IV,85/ │ │ */Part V,95/Summary,118/Concl,123/ │ to │ */Projects,142/Author,152/ │ │ │ THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF LIGHT, │ │ LITE │ │ │ │ "The Consciousness of Light, │ │ Lite" is copyrighted material, │ │ and is distributed as freeware:│ │ you are warmly encouraged to │ │ copy, upload, and otherwise │ │ distribute it, subject to the │ │ conditions given in the file │ │ (C)RIGHT.TXT │ │ │ │ Ordering information for │ │ obtain the full-length book │ │ from which this article is │ │ condensed--"The Consciousness │ │ of Light: On Physics and │ │ Metaphysics"--is given in the │ │ file ORDER.FRM │ │ │ ╘════════════════════════════════╛ HOW TO READ THIS ELECTRONIC BOOK The text and graphics of this book are hosted by a licensed copy of GRFBOOK, which was automatically loaded when you typed READBOOK at the DOS prompt. 1. Use the PgUp, PgDn, up arrow and down arrow keys to navigate (GRFBOOK accepts mouse commands also: experiment). You can jump to any page by typing the page number (which is displayed in the bottom right hand corner of the screen, and will highlight when user-entered) and pressing <Enter>. When you encounter a "(footnote: nnn)" in the text, typing the number of the page indicated ("nnn") and pressing <Enter> will cause you to jump to the relevant footnote; pressing <Enter> again after reading the footnote will return you to the page from which you jumped. To quit the book, hit <Esc>. 2. Illustrations are displayed only when the page is properly aligned: If a blank space is displayed where an illustration should obviously be, press "A" to align the page. 3. Pressing "/" at any time will display the table of contents along the menu bar at the bottom of the screen. Use the left and right arrow keys to scroll and highlight the desired menu item, and hit <Enter> to jump there. Hitting <Esc> while the table of contents is showing returns you to the normal menu bar. ~litecovr~═══════════════════════╕ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ╘════════════════════════════════╛ THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF LIGHT, LITE by Geoffrey D. Falk MystiKali Offerings Box 67 Landmark, Manitoba CANADA R0A 0X0 Manufactured in Canada Copyright (c) 1993 Geoffrey David Falk Copyright as an unpublished work (c) 1989-1992 Geoffrey David Falk All illustrations are by the author. The cover depicts the Hand of God beating the calm oceanic surface of the Cosmic Drum, to produce the basic creational sound of Om in the expanding circular ripples. CONTENTS Introduction .................................... 7 Part I The Essence of Creation .............. 10 Part II Freedom of Will ...................... 59 Part III Om ................................... 76 Part IV Holograms ............................ 85 Part V Rituals and Mythology ................ 95 Summary ......................................... 118 Conclusions ..................................... 123 My Other Projects ............................... 142 About the Author ................................ 152 INTRODUCTION The ideas that the only difference between matter, energy and consciousness is in their respective rates of vibration, and that the amplitude of vibration of consciousness decreases as the frequency or level of consciousness increases, with the limit of zero amplitude and infinite frequency corresponding to the highest state of consciousness, are well known to those who have undertaken a thorough investigation of the quantitative ideology underlying the practice of meditation as a means toward the attainment of higher states of consciousness. Given this nature of matter as a low rate of intelligent vibration or consciousness, and given also "As above, so below," we must find the behavior of consciousness reflected in the behavior of physical matter; the former qualities being ascertainable through meditation or mystic insight, while the latter are measurable in the physicists' laboratories. In accord with this expectation, what I have attempted to provide in this text is an indisputable demonstration that the principles upon which the operation of the physical world is based occur as a necessary consequence of the characteristics of the inner realms of consciousness; characteristics outlined in the sacred books of all true religions. This is attempted not merely to satisfy intellectual curiosities, nor of itself to provide a new model of the universe. Rather, it is fervently hoped that the readers with the good fortune to recognize that the correspondences between the structure and behavior of the physical universe, and the inner perceptions of the mystics, are not merely coincidental will carry this recognition to its logical conclusion: that meditation opens the door to a realm in which all knowledge, relative and absolute, is eternally present, and that the highest responsibility of each one of us is to become a seeker of this all-compassionate Truth. If God has created (and continues to create) the universe, He must also actively sustain its operation, and ultimately (and continuously) destroy or dissolve it--creation, preservation, and destruction being indissolubly related in the Oriental philosophies. Thus, any metaphysically tenable theory regarding the ultimate nature of the universe must involve, on a fundamental level, the truth that if the Cosmic Will of God were withdrawn from creation for even a moment, the created worlds would cease to exist; just as, when the illuminating light of a movie projector is removed, there can be no more projected pictures. Further, once we acknowledge that God has created, and continues to create, the unisphere, we cannot avoid asking: How? How is it possible for formless Beauty to bring into being, sustain, and destroy the material forms of creation? How can She be active in creation, and yet be transcendent, untouched by its relativities? The most reasonable answer is that there is a "door" between Creator and creation, through which these activities are effected, implying that our conscious passage through this door will result in identification with God beyond duality. Thus.... PART I THE ESSENCE OF CREATION It is a very widely stated tenet of experience- based religion--an idea not specific to the teachings of any one master, but rather common to many independent paths and sources--that creation consists of "ripples on the surface of the manifest Absolute," and that we are "individualized waves of consciousness on the Infinite Ocean"; anyone who is at all familiar with Eastern philosophy will have encountered these phrases before. When the mystics speak in such metaphors, there is often a strong literal or structural truth accompanying the comparison (footnote: 154). We may therefore reasonably hope to gain some insight into the basic nature of creation through consideration of the behavior of waves on an ocean; i.e., it is natural for us to ask how the rippling motion on the surface of the Infinite Ocean of God is initiated, and to expect to find an answer or analog in terms of the behavior of water waves. In the case of our everyday "below" experience, one way in which waves may be created on a calm lake is through the effect of a strong wind passing over the water. However, lacking immediate control over the wind, an easier way by which we may produce such waves is through throwing a stone into the calm water, thus producing expanding circular wavefronts with their center at the point where the pebble entered the water; such circles are the two-dimensional analog of spheres (of consciousness). That is, it is proposed that the expression "sphere of consciousness" is meant to be taken literally: that the essential conscious awareness of each one of us takes the form of a sphere; in which case an "expansion of consciousness" will be related to an increase in the radius of this sphere. Accordingly, "stones thrown by God into the Infinite Ocean" are held to provide the points of impetus from which the ripples or waves, in spheres of consciousness, on the surface of the manifest Ocean are introduced. Further, "tuning in" to higher states, or higher resonant frequencies, of consciousness, is said to expand one's consciousness. Thus, an essential characteristic of the behavior of consciousness must be that it expands to a greater radius, the higher the level of reality to which is it "tuned in." And, given the necessity that God, and consciousness united with God, be omnipresent throughout and beyond finite vibratory creation, the highest state of consciousness --of infinite resonant frequency--must expand to an infinite radius. That is, manifesting consciousness must have the potential to expand to infinity in spherical waves--i.e., like a balloon--from each center of consciousness or pore in the ethereal skin of the universe; from each stone thrown by God to break the surface of the Infinite Ocean. Each of these balloons, however, will only actually expand to infinity if the consciousness entering creation is free of all limiting thoughts; else its expansion can only be to a finite radius. As everything in Nature is cyclic, we expect to find a rhythmic expansion (though not necessarily to infinity) and contraction of each sphere of consciousness in the universal structure. (Not only of human and animal consciousness, but of the consciousness underlying all lower life, energy and matter also.) Now, the Absolute Light beyond creation contains all vibrations in an integrated, harmonious, potential state: In order for God to have become all the frequencies of vibration present in creation, He must contain all these frequencies in potential. Given this, the most natural manifestation of God within creation must be that of a "white" consciousness: consciousness containing all possible frequencies of vibration, from zero to infinity, all of equal amplitude. It will soon be demonstrated that it is this white consciousness, expanding spherically at rhythmically separated instants in objective time, that is the basic stuff of creation. Given the discontinuous nature of this universal basis, it is apparent that relative creation consists of a vast number of "snapshots," or frames in a cosmic motion picture--each one the collective effect of the waves in all spheres of consciousness, produced by countless stones thrown simultaneously with varying degrees of force into the otherwise calm Ocean--shown in such quick succession that their discontinuity is invisible to the delusion-bound mind (which is itself a parcel of these ripples); much in the same way that the dark periods between frames of a motion picture are not visible to the human eye due to the image-retaining ability of the retina. How is it, then, that the potential for the expansion of consciousness to infinity becomes attenuated in mortal consciousness, when there is at the basis of the universe--and at the basis of all consciousness--only the white light of God? ("Light" here taken, not as physically observable photons, but rather as the waves in spheres of consciousness.) The answer has to do with the fact that ego restricts the range of frequencies present in the expanding spheres of light-consciousness. That is, it has to do with our limited conscious frequency response, and the consequent filtering of the white light. (Ego--the sense of "I-ness," or consciousness of separation from the universe surrounding the individual, possessed by each one of us--may be loosely regarded as anything which keeps one's consciousness finite; this typically involves implicitly the deluded thought that "I am this body, or mind, or localized consciousness.") In discussing the idea of frequency response, it will be beneficial to consider an example from the realm of electronics--that of the series RLC circuit. Such a circuit is represented in Figure 1 in the schematic language of electronics. As can readily be seen, the configuration consists of a resistor (R), inductor (L), and capacitor (C) in series with an input voltage source (V), with the output being measured across the capacitor. The impedances of the capacitor and inductor--that is, the extent to which they resist and alter the flow of electricity through themselves--vary depending on the frequency of the input voltage, so the output voltage of the circuit will also vary with frequency. Representative graphs of output voltage and current versus input frequency for such a bandpass-filtering system are shown in Figure 1. They are seen to be characterized by three parameters: the resonant frequency, the bandwidth, and the "maximum frequency." The resonant frequency is the frequency for which the flow of current in the system is greatest; it is the ~fig_01~ frequency which the circuit is "tuned in" to. The bandwidth is a measure of the range of frequencies the circuit is "sensitive" to; the range for which a significant current is produced. (This limited sensitivity being the origin of the term "bandpass," in that such a circuit allows only a narrow "band," or range of frequencies, to pass through it unattenuated.) The maximum frequency is the frequency of input voltage for which the output voltage is a maximum; it is also the frequency at which the output voltage oscillates when the system is driven or excited by an input impulse voltage (more on this shortly), and is a function of the resonant frequency and the bandwidth: for a given resonant frequency, a larger bandwidth of the system will result in a lower maximum frequency. The maximum frequency is always lower than the resonant frequency; except that, if the bandwidth is zero, these two frequencies are equal (so that the impulse-driven system oscillates at the same rate as the frequency to which it is attuned). As mentioned earlier, the Absolute manifesting as a primordial "whiteness" will contain all possible frequencies of vibration, from zero to infinity, all of equal amplitude. The simplest such white "signal" may be regarded as consisting of an infinite number of superimposed (i.e., added) cosine waves (which are the natural waveform of small-amplitude vibration), in phase with one another, of frequencies from zero to infinity. Any simple cosine wave has a maximum value at t = 0 (Figure 2). Thus, at t = 0 the infinity of momentarily in-phase cosinusoidal vibrations constituting the considered input signal will simultaneously have their maximum value of 1, and will add together to produce an input signal instantaneously infinite in amplitude. (For t < 0 or t > 0 the vibrations will destructively interfere--cancel each other out--producing a zero- amplitude signal.) Such a signal, which is infinite in ~fig_02~ amplitude at one point in time and zero at all other times, is known as an impulse. The potential for the expansion to infinity, or the manifestation of omnipresence, is exactly the characteristic expected of the white light-consciousness of God at the basis of creation, so that such a rhythmically (i.e., cyclic) applied white light would be seen to consist of a succession of such impulses separated in objective time, having the potential to expand to infinity in spheres of consciousness if not limited by ego (Figure 3). There are other ways of arriving at the idea that the universe has its basis in rhythmic impulses. The stimulated human nervous system operates in terms of electrical pulses or "spikes" uniformly separated in time, the frequency of these spikes being dependent on the strength of the applied stimulus (Figure 4); ~fig_03~ this has been characterized as a "Morse code of action and rest." The human anatomy is a microcosmic representation of the universe. Thus, if the human body operates in terms of "spikes" evenly separated in objective time, the cosmos--the body of God--should have a similar structure. Likewise, as we shall see later, the nature of Om--the basis of all vibrations-- ~fig_04~ as the "beating of the Cosmic Drum" or the "whirr of the Cosmic Motor," implies that Nature has a rhythmic impulsive basis. Further, the rhythmic series of impulses at the basis of manifestation may be viewed as a Universal Breathing: In the mortal breathing process, inhalation is held to be associated with an expansion of consciousness, while exhalation results in a contraction of one's sphere (balloon) of consciousness. This is then followed by a period of rest in which breath is neither inhaled nor exhaled; an interval of breathlessness in which both expansion and contraction revert to their potential, integrated state. The corresponding period of rest in the Universal Breathing is called pralaya; it is the merging of the consciousness that has become creation in the Absolute, beyond relative time and space. Now, any system (e.g., an RLC circuit) responding to an input impulse signal will not yield an infinite- amplitude output, because the system will allow only a narrow range of the frequencies present in the input signal to pass through it with appreciable amplitudes and unaltered phases: the output will consist of a sinusoidal oscillation modulated by a decaying (that is, decreasing in amplitude with the passage of time) exponential function, as in Figure 5. As imagined mortals, we impose on ourselves and on creation a similar fate: although the white consciousness (our input; "driving," or providing the impetus for, the ~fig_05~ expansion of our individual spheres of consciousness; the "white light of God, already within us") which is the basis of creation contains all frequencies in phase, our filtered output--the globes of metaphysical light expanding spherically as our individual spheres of consciousness; again, not only as human consciousness, but as the consciousness underlying all matter--is very limited in its range of frequencies, owing to our conscious identification with the worlds of finitude and relativity (with resonant frequency less than infinity; attunement to the Absolute would require an infinite resonant frequency of consciousness). Thus restricting the range of frequencies present in our individual spheres of consciousness (i.e, in the filtered Universal Breathing), we will not realize ourselves as white consciousness expanding instantaneously to infinity, but will rather feel ourselves as oscillating localizations of consciousness, as in Figure 5. ("We become what we concentrate on." Thus, when we concentrate on, or identify ourselves with, low rates of vibration, we become those low vibratory rates: our spheres of consciousness, expanding into creation, are composed of and contain those low frequencies.) That is, the horizontal axis in the output of Figure 5 represents relative time, as the vertical axis represents expansion (i.e., an increase in the time- varying radius of one's balloon or sphere of consciousness) into relative space, with the extent of this expansion defining the boundaries of presence of the enclosed metaphysical light or waves of consciousness. Just as the input in this figure is a product of the addition of all possible frequencies, having simultaneously maximum and equal amplitudes, and so momentarily in phase, the output is formed from the addition of the same frequencies, after their amplitudes have been attenuated and their relative phases shifted by varying degrees, owing to the limited frequency response of the system. Humans and all other conscious "radios" participate in the universe as both receivers and transmitters. The same resonant frequency and bandwidth that govern our "transmissions"--the metaphysical light passed into creation--also determine, in our receiver aspect, the level of reality we are tuned in to. Further, consciousness attuned to, say, the astral worlds (heavens), must necessarily be cognizant of higher frequencies of vibration than is consciousness identified with the physical creation; that is, higher states of consciousness must involve higher resonant frequencies of consciousness. Body-conscious (physical, astral, or ideational) attunement to such higher realities, or the ability to "receive" or cognize the wide range of frequencies over which "sensory" information may be transmitted in these higher octaves, can also involve a widening of one's bandwidth of conscious response. In the response of a bandpass-filtering system to an input impulse signal, a higher resonant/maximum frequency of the system will result in a larger maximum amplitude of the response, while a larger bandwidth will produce a faster decay (and will lower the maximum frequency, at which the impulse-driven system oscillates); specifically, consciousness of infinite resonant frequency and bandwidth, allowing the white light impulse to manifest through it without limitation, will expand instantaneously to infinity, thereafter vibrating with zero amplitude and infinite frequency. Beings in higher states of consciousness will therefore experience a response (or output, which is again the consciousness that expands, as spheres) to the white consciousness impulses of the Universal Breathing that has a greater maximum amplitude of spatial expansion than does the response of physical body-identified consciousness (Figure 6). ~fig_06~ This is highly significant: the greater maximum amplitude of the impulse response in higher states of consciousness means that an expansion, or raising of the level, of consciousness will lead to an expansion of that consciousness into space. The higher a person's state of consciousness, the farther his-her consciousness will expand, and the less time will be taken to do so, thus the greater will be the velocity of expansion. That is, there is a relation between higher states of consciousness, and higher relative velocities. The effect of the maximum radius of expansion "peak" of the impulse response of consciousness will, when viewed over a span of time long compared with the period of the Universal Breathing, be to produce an apparently "solid," but actually intermittently- existing, sphere of one's consciousness corresponding to this maximum radius--a sphere which does not oscillate sinusoidally, but rather remains relatively constant in size, varying its radius only when the level of consciousness changes; what we would normally think of as a "sphere of consciousness." The maximum radius increases in higher states of consciousness, so that a raising of one's level of consciousness will again result in an expansion of this maximum-radius sphere of consciousness. If we throw several stones into a calm lake, the resulting expanding circular wavefronts will interact with one another. When the crests of one or more waves overlap, they will add to produce an even larger wave, whereas when the crest of one wave and the trough of another meet, they will destructively interfere or cancel each other out, producing a region of temporary calm. If we were very skilled, we could cause a number of such crests to meet to yield a localized disturbance or "island," surrounded by a region of calmness; we could, in short, create a "particle," or a differentiation of the continuum of the calm lake. Given enough stones, and sufficient skill, we could bring into being and sustain the existence of many such particles simultaneously. And if we were, say, Supremely Intelligent, we could even cause the movements and interactions of these particles to appear to be governed by (e.g., Newton's) laws; but these laws, being of our own creation, could be circumscribed whenever we so chose. And, all particles would dissolve into serene unity if our will, in the form of stones tossed into the pond, were withdrawn: this creation would have no existence independent of our guiding will. This being the case, we can visualize the fundamental particles of the various levels of relative reality as arising from the interaction or addition of many colors or frequencies of ripples-- issuing from the centers of many globes of consciousness--of metaphysical light (footnote: 155). These interacting wave-colors will produce an ethereal Ocean surface of constantly trembling excitation which would, in the absence of the direction of correlating intelligence, have a randomly fluctuating level of disturbance, of average level zero. Physical particles will then arise as regions of space in which the average disturbance of the Ocean surface is non-zero over a time interval long compared with the period of the Universal Breathing and, specifically, long in comparison with the temporal resolution of physical measuring apparatus. (The deterministic formulation of quantum mechanics has similar ideas regarding the nature of particles and of the preceding "vacuum state" of average level zero; see "Wholeness and the Implicate Order", by David Bohm.) Further, the interfering addition of waves of different frequencies tends to result in the production of islands or particles having vibratory rates (cyclic repetitions of peak amplitude) of lower frequency but larger amplitude than that of the consciousness underlying them. The waves issuing from these sources of vibration may thus be said to compose a universal interference pattern of light and shadow (ripples in consciousness, and calm, resulting from the destructive interference or cancellation of these waves; or, more accurately, non-zero-average particles, and the intervening zero-average vacuum state); a localization and subdivision of consciousness, producing matter as a "condensation" of, or lower rate (and larger amplitude) of vibration than/of, energy, which is in turn a congealed form of consciousness: all matter is consciousness in various stages of evolution or spiritual unfoldment. (Physical science comes to a similar conclusion regarding the relation of matter to energy: according to it, matter is simply light or electromagnetic radiation vibrating with a "bottled up" frequency lower than its "free" rate.) We would further expect the ripples of light within each sphere of consciousness to be related to the level of that consciousness, with higher resonant frequencies allowing higher frequency vibrations of such subtle light to become manifest. And, because perfected consciousness is spread through space for only a single point in time in its response to each impulse of the Universal Breathing (i.e., it mirrors the input impulse), and so cannot contribute any rippling vibrations within its sphere (as vibration cannot occur in zero time), such consciousness, containing all possible frequencies of metaphysical light, will involve/create no ripples on the surface of the manifest Absolute: pure Consciousness is non- vibratory and hence beyond duality, and in its omniscient, omnipresent white state, makes no direct contribution (i.e., no contribution without first taking on some measure of ego-limitation) to the disturbances of the manifest Ocean surface. Throughout this text, it has again been assumed that the essential conscious awareness of each one of us takes the form of a sphere; we do not normally see creation through this sphere simply because we identify ourselves with the body and mind, so that we interact with creation through these vehicles. When consciousness goes beyond mind and body, the ensuing spiritual sight does become spherical--i.e., identified with one's sphere of consciousness; able to see above, below, before and behind one's line of physical sight; there are in fact explicit descriptions of this experience in some of the mystic literature--in which case one can be directly aware of all activities occurring within one's greatly expanded sphere of consciousness: whether your consciousness encloses towns, galaxies, universes or beyond, everything occurring within your conscious sphere is known immediately to you, because you are THERE. Thus, all that is needed to know the basic activities/objects of the universe directly, through conscious oneness rather than through the interactions of sense-organs, is to transfer our identification from body and mind, to the space encompassed by our expanded consciousness. A master who, having spread his-her consciousness through all Nature, is thus directly aware of the true basis of all creation, rightly sees no difference between the essential elements of water and of land: both are built of a multiplicity of metaphysical light rays, or vibrations of life energy; so that, to him-her, all creation is simply a mass of light and shadow. We must be conscious of the realms of duality-- aware of relative time and space--whenever our consciousness is "out" of the non-dualistic Absolute; conversely, consciousness "in" God would not (so long as it remains There) be bound by time or space. Given the association of the highest state of consciousness with a vibration of zero amplitude and infinite frequency (see page 7), consciousness will be out of the Absolute whenever its amplitude of vibration (i.e., its radius) is non-zero. This suggestion is not without precedent: there are explicit indications in some of the Eastern esoteric literature that when consciousness passes from one plane of reality to another, through the archetypal Great Point or common center of all consciousness, such consciousness comes into momentary contact with all levels of reality, including the Ultimate One. The passage of one's sphere of consciousness through the individualized ideal point (of zero radius) at its center may likewise be assumed to grant contact with, or merging in, the Absolute beyond relative time and space. Conversely, as stated previously, consciousness will be out of the Absolute whenever the radius of its sphere is non-zero. An independent corroboration of this view of the ideal point as being the "door" between God and creation can be found in the Kabbalistic lore, where the symbol of the first Sephiroth, representing the Infinite, is a point. We shall see later that Revelation has similar ideas regarding the characteristics that consciousness must cultivate in order to pass through the door between creation and God. Also, basic laws of wave behavior dictate that in order for the planar wavefronts entering creation in the primordial impulses (plane, or straight, waves can be thought of as arising from circular or spherical waves of infinite radius, and so having zero curvature) to be "diffracted" into perfect spheres (of consciousness), the apertures, or doors, through which they squeeze must be ideal points, at the centers of the resulting spheres. Interestingly, in Roman mythology the two-faced god Janus is the patron of beginnings and endings, as well as the guardian of portals (i.e., gateways). Is this not reasonable, that the conditional beginnings and endings present everywhere within duality should be associated, both in mythology and in universal structure, with guardianship of, or the preventing of the passage through, a door between Indivisible God and multifarious creation, the latter rooted always in polarities? For, as well shall see, it is only the varying-degreed inability of polarity-swayed consciousness to pass through the gateway between Creator and creation that keeps it bound to beginnings and endings. Because the sinusoidal part of the impulse response oscillates at the maximum frequency, the higher a being's maximum/resonant frequency of consciousness, the more zero-crossings, or momentary contractions of consciousness to a point, that creature will experience in the pralaya following each Breath of the Universe. The impulse response contraction of consciousness to a point is again equivalent to the temporary merging of consciousness in the Absolute. And, although there is only one objective "universal snapshot" per Universal Breath, each successive merging of consciousness in the Absolute, and its subsequent exit back into manifestation, allows for the experience of one subjective "snapshot"; that is, one element or fragment of thought or visualization. Thought is said to be merely a higher rate of vibration than is matter. This being the case, we must regard thought as occurring, not in the instants when consciousness has contracted to a point and so gone beyond creation into conscious identification with God, but rather in the periods between such contractions; that is, we associate thought with the metaphysical light waves contained within each sphere of consciousness (this is a very natural association: where could one's thoughts occur, if not within one's sphere of consciousness?), so that higher frequencies of this light imply a greater degree of refinement of thought. Since every time consciousness contracts to a point it must "bounce" back into creation immediately afterwards (for then having non-zero radius), the number of elements of thought (or bounces, or "frames" of the subjective motion picture occurring within one's individual sphere of consciousness) in a given amount of objective time is numerically equal to the number of times such consciousness has gone into the Absolute. Thus, the increase in zero-crossings in higher states of consciousness must result in the awareness of a greater amount of subjective time (bounces, or elements of thought) per moment of objective time. Also, since the contraction of consciousness to a point results in momentary identification with the Causeless Absolute, these point-contractions must confer proportional free choice, free will, self-awareness and intuition on the creatures experiencing them, as will be developed. And, since perfected consciousness, after its instantaneous expansion to infinity, vibrates with zero amplitude and infinite frequency, and so is fully identified with God beyond duality, it must possess each of these God-characteristics without limitation. (Although the passage of consciousness through the ideal point at its center can be only momentary, there is nothing in principle to prevent the frequency of these passages from being infinite, in which case such consciousness is effectively always in that point, so continuously and fully identified with the Absolute.) Further, because the nature of God is Bliss, we will experience Her non-dualistic Bliss in proportion to the degree to which we realize our eternal identity with Her; that is, in proportion to the frequency with which our individual spheres of consciousness contract to a point and so go beyond creation into Her. And, of course, an increase in this rate will also result in a greater degree of identification with the omnipresence of God within creation, so that the expansion of one's consciousness will be inherently bliss-increasing. (On a lower level, this is also related to why acting unselfishly makes one feel good.) Since the amount of subjective time experienced for a given amount of objective time increases in higher states of consciousness, it must also dilate in higher or more subtle levels of reality--levels of reality are again merely another name for states of consciousness; the attainment of a given state of consciousness attunes one to the corresponding reality. That is, each level of reality will have its own measure of (subjective) time, allowing, in the higher realities, for a greater number (as judged against our matter-identified standards) of mental images and therefore experiences to be condensed in the same period of objective time. And in the highest state of consciousness, of infinite resonant frequency and bandwidth, we will have an infinite amount of subjective time per Universal Breath: objective time will "stop." Further, because such perfected consciousness--endowed, through its continuous presence in the point at the center of its sphere, with complete identification with the all- knowing Absolute, and so with omniscience--also expands instantaneously to infinity, and so is omnipresent throughout and beyond finite creation, we see that omnipresence and omniscience come hand in hand. Accordingly, when limitations are placed on one's level of consciousness, willpower and the ability to influence creation must also be constrained. We may summarize the model developed thus far by returning to the motion picture analogy. Movies are, of course, produced by applying white light, at uniformly separated instants in time, to successive frames of a filtering film. Each small area of the frame in question then bandpass filters the white light applied to it, according to that area's color or resonant frequency, allowing only a limited range of the frequencies present in the underlying white light to become manifest through it. The Absolute becoming manifest may thus be regarded as analogous to the white light projector beam, containing all possible frequencies of vibration; the limited frequency response of ego is the film which filters the white light, resulting in the appearance of colors and forms; the pralaya interval following each Universal Breath is the "dark period" in between movie frames or the initiation of "universal snapshots"; and the manifest Ocean surface or ether is the cinema screen, capable of reflecting within itself all possible colors or rates of conscious intelligent vibration. Also, mind is the faculty responsible for the division between audience (subject) and projected picture (object). When the participating audience, through undivided concentration, merges in the projected picture, it can be aware of its activities directly, without need of the intermediate act of perception. And when, through concentration on the white light producing the picture, members of the audience dissolve their individual contributions to the filtering effects of the film and so merge in the projecting light, they transcend the colors and forms of the transitory creation to live eternally in that state in which all possible projected pictures are contained in potential. Further, union of one's individualized consciousness with the infinite-energy projecting Absolute has as its proportional companion the ability to modify the collective contents of the film and so the colors and forms projected as creation. The frequency response-limiting ego is the colored glass through which the white light of the Absolute is seen; and when It is seen, it appears as the universe. However, you have the potential to expand as white light-consciousness to infinity with every Universal Breath, independent of the collective frequency response limitations, because collective delusion (maya) does not directly limit the individual expansion of consciousness. Although it is only the filtering effect of frequency response limitations, or finite ego, that causes the production of the forms of the created worlds from the formless white light of God, this is not to imply that the perception or production of these forms is to any real extent dependent on one's personal beliefs or ego-wishes. The forms of the physical creation are sustained almost entirely by the coordinating will of God, and based on universal archetypes rather than on arbitrarily adopted conventions, so that our perception of them is not subjective in the normal sense of the word: the limited human will generally has little effect in directly changing one's physical surroundings. In the higher realities, however, concomitant with the increasing realization of one's conscious unity with the infinite-energy Absolute that a raising of one's level of consciousness brings, the individual will plays a greater, though still not subjective or personal role. In accepting the validity of the motion picture- like impulsive basis of the universe, we have resolved a "controversy" present in the teachings of certain Tibetan Buddhist sects over whether the flow of energy, producing the phenomena of creation, is continuous, or "is intermittent and advances by separate flashes of energy which follow each other at such small intervals that these intervals are almost non-existent." In truth, it is both: intermittent, for arising from separate impulsive flashes; and continuous, in that the wave-disturbances produced by these filtered flashes do not vanish immediately after being created, but rather decrease slowly in amplitude in the "almost non-existent" interval in between impulses. The literal translation of yoga is "union"--of the individualized wave of consciousness with the Infinite Ocean of Spirit, through meditation. In the context of the religious science, it has two more specific meanings, derived from Patanjali ("yoga chitta vritti nirodha"): (i) yoga is the cessation of the modifications of the mind-stuff (mind-stuff being consciousness: the "stuff" from which mind is derived); and (ii) yoga is the neutralization of the oppositional states in dualistic consciousness. These meanings may be understood as follows. Every thought is a specific state of consciousness --that is, a particular rate or pattern of vibration of (the light within) one's sphere of consciousness-- and vice versa. Thus, a change in thought implies a change in one's resonant frequency of consciousness. Mind is derived from consciousness through the emergence of the apparent division between knower and known: through the initiation of modifications in the mind-stuff, or of variations in one's level of consciousness. That is, the knower/known division arises from changes in thought, or variations in level of consciousness. When this division, or mind, is dissolved, we realize conscious union with the object of thought. The dissolution of the knower/known separation with the cessation of the modifications of the mind-stuff may be explained in the following way. In calculus, the derivative or differentiated state (i.e., the slope) of a constant function is zero--e.g., if y = 4 everywhere, its rate of change is zero everywhere: its slope, with respect to changes in x, is zero at all points. Since mind is associated with the RATE OF CHANGE of one's level of consciousness--there being "zero" mind, or yoga/union with the object of thought, when one's level of consciousness is held constant (that is, when the modifications or changes in the mind-stuff are ceased, or equal to zero, so that the perceiver/perceived distinction dissolves--knower and known are realized as one), and a greater influence of mind in proportion to both the frequency and the magnitude of the fluctuations in one's state of consciousness--we may say, with metaphorical, literal, and mathematical truth, that mind is a derivative, or differentiated state, of consciousness: d (level of consciousness). mind = -- dt (That is, mind is the rate of change of one's level of consciousness.) This is again fully consistent with Patanjali's well-known aphorism: yoga chitta vritti nirodha. The alternations between different thoughts, or variations in the resonant frequency, occur at a much lower rate than the thoughts themselves--the metaphysical light contained within the spheres of consciousness--vibrate at. And, again, it is the variations in the level or resonant frequency of consciousness, which are the modifications in the mind-stuff, that give rise to the perceiver/perceived distinction--to the presence of mind. Thus, it may be said that mind is a lower rate of vibration than/of consciousness; as are the thought-based matter-islands that form the particles of creation. When we concentrate undividedly on one specific thought, the modifications of the mind-stuff cease, so that the subject/object separation dissolves--we achieve identification with the single thought contained within our individualized sphere of consciousness: we BECOME what we are concentrating on. Take care, therefore, that the thought within thee be of God! When the oppositional states in dualistic consciousness are neutralized, one is concentrating fully on God, and vice versa. Here, the resonant frequency of consciousness, and so one's thoughts, are not only constant, but infinite. This is, needless to say, a preferred state to the mere dissolution of the mind through temporarily one-pointed concentration on lesser goals--it is the highest yoga: union with God, not merely with some considered differentiated aspect of Her creation. Restating this: The knower/known division can be temporarily dissolved through undivided concentration on any object, but it is only when the "object" of concentration is God that this dissolution leads to the transcendence of duality--the realization of the highest state of consciousness. Again, subjective time dilates in higher states of consciousness--e.g., in the dream state, which is an altered state of consciousness in which the dreamer is working primarily through his-her astral body: to the dreamer, dreams seem to last longer than they actually do as measured by a physical clock: a large number of dream-events can take place in a relatively short period of objective time. However, we know also that "time flies when we're having fun," where we have not necessarily had an increase in the rate of our conscious processes, but rather sense (subjectively) that less time has been used up than has actually passed. (Compare Einstein's statement that "When a man talks to a pretty girl for an hour, it seems to him only a minute, but let him sit on a hot stove for only a minute and it is longer than an hour. That is relativity.") That is, the ratio of subjective to objective time seems to be LOWER than normal. And, while "having fun" may sometimes involve concentration on bodily sensations, and so relatively low states of consciousness, time also flies when we are engaged in more noble activities--in deep meditation, for example--so that this cannot be characteristic only of physical states of consciousness. How is this to be resolved? Well.... Time tends to pass quickly, and we tend to breathe slower and to some extent transcend the distractions of the body, whenever our attention is engrossed in intellectual or delicate physical pursuits. That is, our perception of "time flying" seems again to be related more to state (i.e., steadiness) of mind than to state of consciousness: whenever we concentrate deeply on an idea or activity, keeping the level of consciousness relatively constant and so calming the mind, time passes quickly. Thus, "clock-watching," by its very nature--in that it derails one's train of thought, or produces significant variations in one's level of consciousness--will cause time to drag. And, while the company of a pretty girl will not, in general, raise one's level of consciousness, and so will produce no increase in subjective time, it will, in general, favorably occupy one's attention, and so cause hours to pass like minutes. And the placing of one's hand on a hot stove, as with any activity that one considers to be undesirable, will be conducive to large and frequent variations in level of consciousness--we tend not to concentrate deeply on anything unpleasant, for obvious reasons--and so, again with no dilation of subjective time, will cause minutes to pass like hours. And dreams, being the product, usually, of a restless mind, will again evidence a dilation of subjective time, but no corresponding temporal "flying." This restlessness is also responsible for the arising of boredom when one's attention is not occupied by some form of entertainment: those who engage sufficiently in the practice of meditation, and so attain to a predominant steadiness of mind, do not get bored. There is no activity that is intrinsically boring: it is only inattentiveness and unwillingness in the performance of our duties that causes time to drag. Mystical experiences will be accompanied by the sensation that "time has come to a stop," because, owing to one's consciousness and attention being wholly engrossed in the experience--even though it may not be the direct experience of Omnipresence--time will fly so much that there will be no sense of its passage: everything will be felt to be happening NOW. When mind is dissolved and consciousness is perfected through undivided concentration on God, subjective time becomes infinite or eternal--we experience an infinite number of mental events in any moment of objective time--while time again flies so much that there is no sense of its passage. That is, we realize the Eternal Now... "eternity in an hour." As in the pantheistic and transcendental conceptions, God is present everywhere within, and beyond, His creation. Since an expansion of one's sphere of consciousness takes one closer to omnipresence--omnipresence being granted when one's sphere of consciousness has become infinitely large, to include all finite creation and more, and so transcend duality in passing fully through the door between God and creation--it must result in an increasing degree of conscious identification with God. If we acknowledge that the purpose of existence is exactly this evolution of consciousness from initial finitude and ego-identification to final emancipation through the dissolution of ego in the omnipresence of God, we must then regard good as that which produces an expansion of consciousness. Further, since the contraction of one's sphere of consciousness reduces the degree of one's conscious identity with God and so goes contrary to the highest hope of every heart or purpose of creation, that which produces such a contraction must be regarded as evil. And, that thought or action which results in the greatest expansion of consciousness--and so the realization of the greatest unselfish Bliss--among the creatures of Nature is to be recognized as producing the greatest good. It will readily be seen that this greatest good must correspond to the action advocated by the Divine Will in any circumstance, as the Creator can have in mind no lesser goal for His creation than the eventual, inevitable, unlimited expansion of imagined mortal consciousness into reunion with its Blissful Source. As good is intimately related to the expansion of consciousness to receive Bliss, and evil then concomitant with contraction of consciousness, we must next ask: If consciousness is rightly cognized as expanding by an observer in one state of consciousness, will it be seen to be expanding by observers in all states of consciousness? For, if this is the case, then that which is rightly cognized as good by one state of consciousness is good for all. It is easy to see that only a reversal in the flow of time could result in an expansion being observed as a contraction: If we were to take a motion picture of a balloon expanding, and then play this film through the projector backward--effectively reversing the direction of the flow of time--we would see the balloon contracting. But time never really flows backward, because the Universal Breathing does not reverse itself (alternatively, the level of entropy or disorder in the universe is constantly increasing on an overall scale; this is the traditional scientific basis for the argument that time cannot be reversed). Therefore, what is rightly seen as good by one is so for all, though varying degrees of delusion may cloud individual perceptions, resulting in disparate conceptions as to the true benefits of performed thoughts or actions. Whatever conception of God one accepts, and whether or not one rightly recognizes the validity of visions and other higher-state-of-consciousness experiences-- the existence of which logically implies a highest (infinite) state of consciousness--it must be acknowledged that doing good makes one more Godlike, or brings one closer to God over a period of time, while the performance of evil takes one further away from God--this is so by any reasonable definition of good and of evil. And "going closer to" as time passes is absolutely distinguishable from "going away from" if we can ascertain the direction of the flow of time-- which we can. Thus, in any God- or perfection-based view of the universe, good and evil are absolutely distinguishable. And, as soon as one rightly acknow- ledges that consciousness can be expanded, and that the consciousness of God is omnipresent throughout and beyond creation, it cannot be denied that the expansion of one's consciousness must take one closer to God, just as the contraction of one's consciousness takes one further away from union with Him. In addition to their nature as the raising and lowering of the resonant frequency of conscious response with time, the absolute distinguishability of good and evil can also be arrived at through consideration of the fact that when reason and feeling are pure they generate true knowledge, which is good; when impure, they produce false knowledge or ignorance, which is evil. This approach is equivalent to the one previously taken because right knowledge or right perception of truth comes in proportion to the height, or degree of expansion, of one's consciousness. The transcendence of good and evil, and of all dualities, is realized in the highest state of consciousness, in which one's consciousness expands instantaneously to infinity, allowing the input impulse to manifest fully through it without limitation. This instantaneous omnipresence, through the taking on of frequency response limitations, has become the expansion/contraction duality. Conversely, the point/infinity duality is resolved by expanding from point to infinity instantaneously, being thus present in both, and in everything in between, simultaneously. (The ideal mathematical point can be considered to be the polar opposite of plus infinity: If we were to expand a spherical balloon indefinitely, it would become infinite relative space, while the indefinite contraction of the same balloon would result in it becoming an ideal point.) This results not in an averaging of the characteristics of the members of the duality, but rather in a return to the Source--manifesting with zero amplitude and infinite frequency, hence infinite subjective time--from which relative space and time have descended. Duality is thus transcended not by maintaining a dynamic balance between zero and infinity, good and evil, etc., but rather by returning to their Source beyond duality through all-embracing compassion. And, since no finite rate of increase in resonant frequency of consciousness (i.e., no finite rate of spiritual growth) will ever reach infinity or expand one's consciousness to embrace Everything, the complete transcendence of duality cannot be effected merely on the basis of any mortal meditational effort, however superhuman that effort may be. The "leap" from ever- expanding finitude into Infinity can only be made through the grace of God, expressed through the devotee's guru: a true guru is not merely a teacher or spiritual guide: he-she is the disciple's direct link with God; not a rabbi or a minister, but a saviour, empowered to grant this everlasting blessing, not on the basis of intellectual study of the scriptures, nor merely through the "privileged status" of minister or rabbi, but rather because he-she lives in that highest state of consciousness. The derivation of dualities from a higher, neutral, integrated state, and the transcendence of duality in the highest state of consciousness, are mirrored in the behavior of physical light, the expression of (the highest state of) consciousness on the physical plane: Any particle and its associated anti-particle (an anti-particle has the same mass as its particle counterpart, but the opposite sign of electric charge; the anti-particle of the electron, for example, is the positron) can be created from light of sufficiently high frequency, by a natural process known as pair production. Light may therefore be rightly said to contain both matter and anti-matter in potential (just as omnipresence contains expansion and contraction, or good and evil, in potential; this duality is again transcended, however, only through unconditional goodness or expansion of consciousness). An integrated state is one in which the two apparently opposite members of a duality (e.g., matter and anti-matter) are seen to be merely different aspects of the same source (e.g., light). Matter and anti-matter are therefore differentiated states of the integrated state of physical light, so that light is seen to contain matter and anti-matter in integrated potential: the presence of the qualifier "integrated" indicates that both apparent opposites exist in a harmonious, balanced condition, in the higher state: photons, being pure energy, do not consist of distinct particles of matter and of anti-matter, travelling together. Conversely, when dualistic states (of matter and anti-matter, for example) recombine (in pair annihilation), returning to their integrated state, the result is not nothing, but rather a release of the energy which had become both of the dualistic pair: two photons are produced, which then move away from the point of annihilation at the velocity of light. The simultaneous, spatially coincident annihilation of many particle/anti-particle pairs would produce a burst of photons moving outward in all directions from the point of annihilation, or an expanding sphere of light. If the matter/anti-matter pairs are of all possible energies, the expanding sphere will contain all possible frequencies, and so be white light. Similarly, when any two dualistic opposites (e.g., possessive love/dispossessive hate) are resolved into their integrated potential state, the result is a release of the Consciousness (e.g., unconditional Love) which had become both of the dualistic pair. The coinstantaneous realization of the underlying integrated unity behind all apparent dualities will therefore result in the perception of consciousness expanding as a Sphere of white Light, as we have already seen in the context of the impulse response model of the universe. (It is widely known that, in addition to visions of personal God in the form of the Heavenly Father or Divine Mother, etc., to the devotee whose worship takes an impersonal turn, That which is beyond manifestation may be witnessed within, in the form of an expanding Sphere of Light [the Bible makes many associations of God with light; cf. I John 1:5, "God is light"].) Further, according to special relativity, an observer identified with an expanding sphere of (physical) light--that is, one moving in all directions at the velocity of light--would have an infinite amount of subjective time for each moment of objective time (objective time would "stop") and, due to the relativistic "length contraction," would measure distances in all directions as having contracted to zero. That is, this state of being measures no separation among the objects of creation (i.e., it realizes the underlying unity and wholistic interdependence of all Nature). Because of this relationship between level of consciousness and relative velocity--that travel at the velocity of light reflects the characteristics of the highest state of consciousness--this highest state, of infinite resonant frequency and bandwidth, may be referred to as the Consciousness of Light. Although in both art and science what we measure or see depends on our reference frame--our relative velocity, or state of consciousness--there is again an all-encompassing level of consciousness in which absolute values are defined in all of interrelated aesthetics, morality, and external measurement. Not coincidentally, this state is the only One in which we can see things the way they actually are, without filtering them according to our egoic preconceptions. That is, it is only in unfiltered God-consciousness that we can be impartially and fully aware of the entire infinite spectrum of frequencies of vibration within creation, with our perception of these rates of oscillation being not distorted by the effects of the various colored "sunglasses" of pleasure, pain, like and dislike--which are merely different thoughts, or states of consciousness, or rates of intelligent vibration, or filtering frequency response curves-- which normally interfere with our right perception of reality. A person wearing blue sunglasses will see the sun as blue; one viewing it through red lenses will assert that it is red; they may even "agree to disagree," and settle on saying: "To me, truth is red; to you, it is blue; we are both right, in our own ways"; but he-she who has removed all such distorting discolorations knows that it is white light that illumines all. Isn't this obvious? Even this white light, however, is not itself Absolute Truth: God- Truth is neither black nor white, nor is it gray; however, the resolution of black and white into their integrated state--the all-energetic impulse which, containing all frequencies, is white; and yet, producing no ripples on the surface of the manifest Absolute, is perfectly calm or black: a lightless light (or soundless roar)!--does result in union with God, or Absolute Bliss-Truth, beyond all such dualities. When healings of body and/or mind are effected through natural medicines, they generally occur over a period of time. However, instantaneous or "miraculous" changes in health are also very much possible: Every atom of the body is "refreshed" with each Universal Breath--billions upon billions of times every second-- so that their arrangement and constitution can, with sufficient application of God-guided will, be altered with each new "universal snapshot": there is no necessary time element involved in this or in spiritual evolution. Likewise, the book you are (certainly) reading, and the chair you are (probably) sitting on--for you may be reading in bed; I do not know--are not the same ones as when you last looked at them, being constantly re-created. The atoms and molecules of the universe have no continuous existence independent of the will of God; without His illuminative sustenance, they would melt away into nothingness. (This discontinuous nature of matter-- where a particle "moving" from A to B is not the same particle at B as it was at A--compares favorably with the "enfolded order" of David Bohm's "holomovement," proposed to underlie the deterministic sub-quantum structure of creation [although the implicit discontinuity of the motion picture model of the universe is not derived from or based on Bohm's ideas as such].) And when this "ever-new" nature of matter is accepted, what objection can be made to the possibility of instantaneous healings of body and/or mind? In explaining the behavior of consciousness in terms of the impulse response, we are of course using classical laws to describe sub-quantum events--that is, events at a deeper or more fundamental level than is governed by quantum mechanics; a level which is partly deterministic and partly apparently indeterministic, the apparent indeterminism arising from the untraceability of cause involved in the exercise of free will. Metaphysically, it is very satisfying that the circle of science should be completed in this "As above, so below" way--that we should find a set of laws governing the macroscopic behavior of low- velocity matter, probe deeper to see that these (Newton's, etc.) laws arise as statistical averages and special cases of quantum mechanical and relativistic behaviors, and, in penetrating to the ultimate basis of the universe, find that we have come out "on top" again, in that sub-quantum events are describable in essentially the same terms as is macroscopic matter. "God is simple; everything else is complex," so that the structure and behavior of the universe must have as its basis the combination of essentially simple ideas to form more complex patterns, and, by "As above, so below," the permutation of these patterns to arrive at macrocosmic reflections of sub-quantum structure. This enfolded structure is further evidenced in the emerging mathematics of fractals (which are, loosely, irregular shapes having non-integer dimension--a rippled sea, for example, is not a perfectly smooth plane of dimension 2, but rather has a dimension somewhere between 2 and 3; the more it is rippled, the higher its fractal dimension will be): Most fractals are "self-similar": their shape repeats itself on a smaller and smaller scale as the fractal image is enlarged (i.e., "As above, so below": the microcosm reflects the macrocosm). And fractals, as with metaphor, are the geometrical language of Nature. In producing fractal landscapes--of mathematically generated mountains, seas, clouds, etc., indistinguish- able from their real-world counterparts; pictures of which can be found in nearly any book with the word "fractal" in its title--the general method involves passing random number-generated white noise through a "1/f" filter, which amplifies and allows low frequencies to pass through, but proportionately attenuates high frequencies. This filtering introduces similarities in vibratory structure over a wide range of (micro/macro) scales, or enfolds "As above, so below" into the filtered signal. Particularly, in synthesizing realistic "snapshots" of ocean waves, white noise--which, like the white light we have been considering, contains all frequencies from zero to infinity, all of equal amplitude; here, though, the phase of each frequency is random--is passed through a type of bandpass filter to produce the desired degree of rippling on the ocean surface: higher resonant frequencies of the filter result in finer waves. Thus, science is coming very close indeed to the idea that the universe is structured as a cosmic motion picture. The impulsive nature of creation, in which physical behavior reflects, but does not determine, the behavior of its root in consciousness; in which the content of future frames of the cosmic motion picture can be altered through the effect of directed concentration and volition; discloses this: The laws of physics are secondary, not primary, characteristics of the universe; existing as the low free will limit of the behavior of consciousness, their governance is always malleable to the effect of will. Those who think that they can validly explain consciousness in terms of quantum mechanics are mistaken: as soon as will becomes sufficiently strong, QM, being based in observations of physical particle-behavior--this behavior being malleable to free will--no longer holds. Since matter reflects the behavior of consciousness, we must find some aspects of the behavior of consciousness reflected in any theory that is at all successful in describing the phenomena of the physical level of reality--the more comprehensive and true the theory, the more clearly its predictions will mirror the manners of consciousness. But there are always "loopholes" in physical theories, by which the seemingly impossible may be made possible. That is, there are higher mathematical laws determining the unfolding destiny of the universe than those which are discoverable through mere observation and generalization of the behavior of its ripple-produced island-particles; the highest of these being that, to the person of God-consciousness, all things are possible: "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you" (Matthew 17:20). This is what it means to have complete free will; to be able to "move that boat on the lake immediately with your mind." The success of physical science, and its doctrine of an unintelligent, mechanistic universe, has bred within our society the misconception that any phenomenon which can be described mathematically must be unintelligent. This is most unfortunate: the order implicit in mathematical regularity is the very hallmark of intelligence, not its gainsay. It is only through the omnipresent influence of the Great Coordinating Intelligence underlying all creation that there can be any order and regularity to the workings of the universe; without this Intelligence, the material forms produced from the interactions of the various aspects of differentiated consciousness could have no sustained order. Seen in this light, the teleological argument--the argument from design, or the idea that the clockworklike regularity of the universe infers the existence of a Cosmic Watchmaker (there is more to this analogy than meets the eye: the Universal Breathing bears strong resemblance to the rhythmic "ticking of a Cosmic Watch")--becomes one of the most convincing arguments of philosophy. In any metaphysically tenable view of the universe, we cannot talk about the basic structure and behavior of creation without necessary recognition and active inclusion of the existence of consciousness, God, free will, and the absolute distinguishability of good and evil. Physical science is concerned with the behavior of matter, while religion deals with the knowledge or perceptions received in higher states of consciousness; and free will implies the ability of consciousness to influence matter; so that the existence of free will necessitates an underlying unity of science and religion. And this basic oneness, as has been demonstrated, goes much deeper than a simple recognition of the fact that the possible validity of today's theories of physics affects, say, a literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis; or how the existence of God and absolute standards of moral behavior must govern our political and economic actions. At its root, this common ground necessitates that the principles upon which the spiritual science of meditation is based are the selfsame as those which uphold the existence of all Nature: were it not for the validity of higher and highest levels of consciousness or thought, physical creation could not exist. PART II FREEDOM OF WILL Familiarity with the impulse response and the concepts of resonant frequency and bandwidth of consciousness also facilitates a more detailed discussion of the free will problem, as will now be developed. The orthodox philosophical argument against the existence of free choice, the presence of which is a prerequisite to the exercise of free will, runs as follows: Mental and physical processes are all either deterministic or indeterministic. Every mental choice or event that is deterministic has, by definition, a cause or series of causes, and is therefore not free of past influences. Further, any mental event that is indeterministic is, by definition, purely random, and so cannot be considered as a conscious "choice." Therefore, free choice cannot exist. Both determinism and indeterminism relate only to the realms of relativity, where there are temporal distinctions of "before" and "after." However, BEYOND time there can be no divisions of before or after, past or future, so no past causes. Thus, consciousness that is beyond time is neither deterministic nor indeterministic: it is truly free. That is, we can have free choice (and, as we shall see, free will) if and only if it is possible for our consciousness to go beyond time--to go beyond both cause-effect and indeterminism--in some way. Also, the idea that God is not only omnipresent throughout creation, but exists also in omniscience beyond time and space--and so beyond vibration, as vibration cannot occur where there are no spatial divisions or temporal distinctions--is a common thread running through all true religions: if God has created space and time--so that God was, even when relativity was not--He must exist also beyond relative creation. It is further held to be self-evident that God possesses complete freedom of will. Thus, it is natural to associate the possession of free will with the transcendence of time, even before consideration of the relation of determinism and indeterminism to freedom of choice, and the necessity that we go beyond these constraints if we are to have any conscious free choice. Our normal means of gaining knowledge is through sensory perception, and through subsequent inferential reasoning based on this perception. Senses and thoughts, however, are not the only means by which we may acquire information: sufficiently highly evolved levels of consciousness have access to a third means of knowing--intuition. Intuition is the potentially all-knowing or omniscient faculty of the soul. True omniscience is beyond time and space, and so must be related to knowledge of the integrated potential state. Thus, we may alternatively say that the true intuition underlying all thought is direct experience of the integrated potential state of the Absolute. Because the Absolute is entirely free of cause- effect constraints, the impulse response contractions of consciousness to a point, which allow for conscious identification with God beyond dualistic creation, must confer both intuition--direct knowledge of Truth, through conscious oneness with It--and the ability to make choices unconditioned by past causes. However, in all non-perfect states of consciousness, one's mergings of consciousness in the Absolute, although of zero amplitude, are of non-infinite frequency, and so cannot be considered as complete identification with the Absolute. Consequently, a single, isolated merging of consciousness in God does not grant one perfect intuitional knowledge of God or unlimited free choice. The higher one's resonant/maximum frequency or state of consciousness, the higher the frequency of these zero-crossings or point-contractions of consciousness will be, hence the greater the degree of God- identification. Again, mortal intuitions, thoughts and visualizations occur as a result of the partial identification of consciousness with the Absolute; intuition being related to the merging of consciousness in God, and thought being the outward projection of incomplete God-identification. However, although thought comes as a consequence of the partial identification of consciousness with God, we cannot know God through reason or through thought: mortal thought is only the way the Absolute appears AFTER the limitations inherent in this incomplete identification have been placed on the formless integrated state. God and intuition are hiding behind every thought--it is their existence that makes thought and sensory perception possible--but they are beyond the mathematical relationships involved in dualistic cognition. Consequent to the presence of these dualistic constraints in thought, visualization and perception, we can only know God directly (that is, we can only achieve conscious identity with God) through true intuition: Whereas thought can yield at best an indirect view of Reality, developed intuition gives direct experience of it; thought chops Reality up into parts, while intuition witnesses and knows it in its unified whole. The effects we observe now are the product of past causes, and the ego-actions we perform now, and the associated karma accrued, form the basis for future retributive effects. But current human actions are not guided only by effects from past causes: the merging of consciousness in the Absolute, which allows for the existence of conscious thought-processes, also allows one to receive Its guidance directly, through intuition, as to what action should be performed in any given set of circumstances--that is, which of all possible thought-actions will produce the greatest good. There are no cause-effect constraints in the Absolute, so this guidance as to harmonious action is not colored by past mistakes, except insofar as one's past errors constrain one's ability toward complete identification with the God-Absolute. Free choice is the ability to choose between alternatives unconstrained by cause-effect relations, and is granted through the impulse response merging of consciousness in the Absolute, beyond time. But free will is more than this: it is the ability to act unconstrained by present external conditions; or, equivalently, the freedom to change one's external environment in whatever way one wishes--to create at will whatever one needs. In order to be able to effect such modifications in the objective universes, one must have access to (or be identified/united with) a source of infinite or near-infinite energy. And, of course, identification with the Absolute--the One Light expanding from all centers of consciousness--is identification with the Source of infinite consciousness, hence infinite energy. Thus, the merging of consciousness in the Absolute results not only in the freedom to choose between pre-established alternatives, but also in the ability to reshape material creation according to one's own God-united will; the freedom to condense one's thought-patterns into energy and material forms, creating castles out of thin air. But such castles are created only when to do so is in the best interests of all, because the state of consciousness in which such miraculous works may be effected can, by Cosmic Definition, be reached and sustained only through the renouncing of the personal desires that constrain one's consciousness to finitude and action out of ego: it is only in proportion to the degree of expansion of one's sphere of conscious sympathies that union with the infinite- energy Absolute, and the concomitant ability to influence creation, is effected. Free choice comes through union with the causeless aspect of God, while free will comes with His nature as Infinite Energy. It may appear that if creation can only be miraculously and visibly reshaped in very high states of consciousness, lower states of consciousness must still be constrained to merely choosing with some degree of freedom between pre-established alternatives. However, this really isn't so. Again, in order to exercise complete free will, we need either to be able to act unconstrained by present external conditions or, equivalently, to be able to reshape material creation immediately in whatever way we wish. In order to exercise limited free will, then, it will be sufficient for us to be able to exercise some partially free influence toward the limited reshaping of creation over a period of time, and so provide ourselves, in later times, with a different set of alternatives than would have existed were it not for the exertion of this incomplete freedom of will. Since the universe has its basis in thought, it is possible to effect changes in it through thought based in limited free choice--to create alternatives merely by thinking deeply and continuously about them. Freedom of choice then implies freedom of will, because the freedom to choose between ideas then implies that we have partial control over the alternatives presented to us at each point in life. The past exertion of limited free will provides us with choices or alternatives now that would not exist were it not for this exertion, and the present exercise of will opens up future options. The point here is that these options are not something that we have no control over--they are not merely predetermined by something external to ourselves. Rather, we have an active choice in the determination of the set of alternatives we shall face and so decide between, so that the "present external conditions" constraining the exercise of our will are already a modified form of the conditions that would have existed were it not for our past exertion of partial free will. The apparent pre-establishment of, or lack of control over, alternatives in lower states of consciousness is simply a result of the fact that in such lower states the channels through which the cause-effect influences and events of the universe flow remain hidden and only partially accessible to our prayerful and meditative appeal. Thus, while for these lower states of consciousness the exertion of will generally does not result in the immediate restructuring of creation, it nevertheless sets in motion lawful channels through which such modifications may, in time, be effected to some degree. We only get "in" to the Absolute to the extent to which we renounce personal desires and work for the greatest good of all creatures (because the increase in zero-crossings or mergings of consciousness in the Absolute comes only through an expansion of consciousness to increasingly encompass all creation as one's larger Self). And, to the extent that mortal consciousness lacks complete free will, there is only one action in any given set of universal circumstances which will result in the greatest expansion of consciousness of everyone and everything, or greatest good. So, in this sense, there is little "choice" involved. Freedom of will is not a question of being able to choose to act out of ego and yet still remaining free from cause-effect and karma. What free will is, really, is the freedom to act in the best interests of everyone and everything unconstrained by ignorance, by external conditions, or by your past mistakes; being uninfluenced by previous "bad habits" or selfishness. Both pure chance and free choice or free will have no traceable cause within duality. What distinguishes purely random choices from those based in complete free will is this: the apparent indeterminism of complete free will is not governed by any calculable probability distribution--if it were so governed, it would not be truly free of dualistic constraints. That is, if we were to attempt to keep a running total of the relative frequency with which a Master had made each of a number of possible choices, the proportions of each of these choices would not converge to any probability distribution; whereas purely random choices would converge to the probability distribution governing them. It was stated earlier that perfected consciousness, and so God, is constrained by the necessity that its actions be in the best interests of everything. This would seem at first glance to be a dualistic constraint, as the "best interests of everything" is equivalent to the greatest present and all-future expansion of all consciousness within creation--and this expansion is mathematically expressible. However, this is really only an apparent limitation: The necessity of action toward the greatest good is satisfied identically (that is, in all situations) for perfected consciousness, because the complete free will possessed by such consciousness not only allows it complete immediate freedom of choice and of action, but also allows it to guide the future evolution of the universe so that any outward action performed through its inhabited (e.g., physical) body--for example, the buying and eating of an ice cream cone by a saint, which may seem outwardly to be a questionable action: perhaps the money could have been better spent in being donated to a religious or other worthwhile non-profit organization?--will always support the greatest good. And, of course, we can only get to this state in which our thoughts and actions are, by definition, perfect, by renouncing all traces of ego and its associated personal desires, weakness and selfishness. Animals are said to be conscious but not self- conscious, while humans are possessed of self- conscious understanding, or the intuitive knowledge/ feeling that "I am thinking these thoughts"; that "I exist." And self-awareness arises from this: Since God is both Existence and Consciousness (as in Shankara's characterization of It as Sat-Chit-Ananda, or Existence-Consciousness-Bliss), any differentiated consciousness passing at all through the door between creation and God should possess a CONSCIOUS awareness of its own EXISTENCE, or intuitional knowledge that "I exist." If animals are to have no self-awareness, they must have no contractions of consciousness to a point. But, in terms of isolated impulse responses, every level of consciousness, no matter how low, has at least one point-contraction per Universal Breath--this zero- crossing occurring at the point in time when the specific Breathing impulse was applied. The way around this seems to be to assume that while each sphere of consciousness "starts afresh" at the time of application of the new impulse (and so is uninfluenced by the decaying response of the previous impulse; being centered perhaps now in a different ethereal pore than for the previous Universal Breath), the effective radius of the sphere of consciousness at this new time of application--as its center is transferred from one pore to another--is equal to the average of its decaying response from the previous Breath, and the zero initial radius of its response to the newly applied Breath. (One of the justifications for this assumption is that a Fourier series representation of such discontinuous behavior would converge to the average of the two values at the discontinuity, and so yield a non-zero value, or radius, there.) In this case, consciousness would have to have a maximum frequency equal to or greater than one-half the frequency of the Universal Breathing in order to have any zero-crossings in the pralaya immediately following each Breath of the universe, and so be possessed of self-awareness. That is, if humans have self-awareness and free will, while animals don't, the dividing line between animal and human consciousness must be for maximum frequency of consciousness equal to one-half the frequency of the Universal Breathing; so that the boundary between human and animal consciousness will be fixed by the basic structure of the universe. Then, any (mineral, plant or animal) level of consciousness below the lower boundary of the human level (maximum frequency equal to one-half the frequency of the Universal Breathing) will never have a point-contraction in the pralaya immediately following the application of an impulse, and so will have no free choice, free will, or self-awareness. Further, all levels of consciousness between maximum frequency equal to one- half the frequency of the Universal Breathing and maximum frequency equal to the full rate of this Breathing, will have only a single point-contraction in the pralaya interval following each Universal Breath, and so will have the same amount of subjective time as objective time. Thus, we may equivalently place the dividing line between animal and human consciousness at the point where subjective time becomes equal to the amount of objective time experienced: from everyday experience, we know that most of the time in human waking consciousness (maximum frequency hovering somewhat above one-half the frequency of the Universal Breathing) our subjective time passes at basically the same rate as objective time. However, consciousness which is near the boundary of maximum frequency equal to the full frequency of the Universal Breathing may occasionally "stray" above this boundary to have two zero-crossings in a pralaya period, and so have an average rate of zero-crossings somewhere between one and two; accounting for the possible slight dilation of subjective time in the "wandering of attention," etc. Further, sub-human consciousness having no point- contractions or discretelike subjective time (and so also no free choice, intuition, or free will) can have no recognizable conscious thought-processes: just as a (subjective) motion picture shown on a faulty projector--one not equipped to insert the dark periods in between frames of the film--would appear as an unrecognizable blur, the subjective processes of such low consciousness, having no "dark periods" or point- contractions to separate its elements of thought, must also be drastically "blurred." In order to feel impartial sympathy for all rates of vibration we need to have a bandwidth of infinity, while to concentrate undividedly on and achieve conscious union with any one thought (where every thought is--to a first approximation, at least--a specific rate of vibration of the light within one's sphere of consciousness) requires zero bandwidth, or the presence of only that one rate of vibration within one's consciousness. This dichotomy may probably be explained as being related to the difference between (receptive) feeling, and (free) willing, where our thoughts are broadcast from the Christ consciousness center or spiritual eye, at the point between the eyebrows: Most "messages" of broadcast thoughts will involve, not a single frequency, but a pattern of variations in level of consciousness. In order to receive such broadcast variations in frequency, or to interact with any level of reality, we will need to have a non-zero bandwidth of consciousness: while a bandwidth of zero is beneficial in the transmission of thought energy, the reception of such energy requires a bandwidth wide enough to be sensitive to all the frequencies covering the range within which such "data" may be transmitted; e.g., in order to interact directly with all levels of the external physical world, we would need to be consciously sensitive to frequencies from zero to the frequency defining the boundary between the physical and astral realities. Likewise, body-identification, or sensitivity to the wide range of frequencies involved in the simultaneous awareness of visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory and tactile stimuli, will result not only in a low resonant frequency of consciousness, but also in a large bandwidth of consciousness. Impulse-driven consciousness again oscillates, not at the resonant frequency of the circuit--the frequency for which the current is a maximum; the frequency at which the system exchanges energy most efficiently with its environment--but at a lower frequency (the "maximum frequency," at which the output voltage of the system is greatest) which is dependent on the bandwidth of the system: larger bandwidths will produce lower values of the maximum frequency for the same resonant frequency. These two frequencies are equal only if the bandwidth is zero (i.e., if R = 0 in the series RLC circuit of Figure 1 [page 15]; then the only components present in the circuit are an ideal inductor and an ideal capacitor, neither of which can dissipate energy as heat, so that any energy introduced into the system will oscillate but cannot dissipate or decrease in amplitude of oscillation). Further, for any level of consciousness, the maximum radius of expansion will be greatest when the bandwidth is equal to zero; for all non-zero bandwidths, such consciousness will decay in amplitude of vibration more quickly, while its maximum radius of expansion will also be decreased. The higher the peak of the (current) frequency response curve in Figure 1, the more efficiently the system represented by this curve will be able to exchange energy with its surrounding environment. This height is expressed in terms of a "Quality Factor": the Quality Factor of a simple bandpass-filtering system is equal to the ratio of its resonant frequency to its bandwidth. Thus, for a given resonant frequency, a decrease in the bandwidth will result in a greater ability of the system to exchange energy with its environment, as well as a higher maximum frequency--the frequency at which such an impulse- driven sphere of consciousness oscillates. That is, while higher resonant frequencies result potentially in more contractions of consciousness to a point, and so a greater degree of identification with, or access to, the Source of infinite energy, a narrow bandwidth of consciousness, or very focused thought, is needed in order to exchange this energy with, and so influence, the environment through free will; so that undivided concentration on any thought-vibration will tend strongly to bring that thought into objective manifestation; to create changes in the external environment merely through our thinking deeply and continuously about them. Free will blossoms deep in the ocean of noble and spiritual thoughts; but concentration on the body, and the ensuing broadening of one's bandwidth of consciousness and lowering of the resonant frequency, lowers the maximum frequency, and so robs one of free choice and free will. As the resonant frequency of one's consciousness is raised near infinity, the maximum radius of expansion of its sphere will approach infinity regardless of whether its bandwidth is large or small--approaching infinity or nearing zero. However, while infinite resonant frequency, infinite bandwidth, consciousness expands instantaneously to infinity, thereafter vibrating with zero amplitude and infinite frequency (and so mirroring the input impulse), consciousness of infinite resonant frequency and ZERO bandwidth vibrates with INFINITE amplitude and infinite frequency; that is, its impulse-given energy oscillates but does not decay (as with R = 0), so that such consciousness is omnipresent, not only with the unfiltered impulse at a single point in objective time, but continuously during the pralaya period following that Breath. Thus, paradoxically, such consciousness, although of zero bandwidth, being continuously (not merely instantaneously) omnipresent is directly aware of the activities of all frequencies of vibration in creation: it "samples" creation continuously. PART III OM To the meditator versed in the art of deep concentration, an inner light, taking the form of a golden ring surrounding a sphere of opal blue, centered with a white five-pointed star, can be seen at the point between the eyebrows--the site of the spiritual eye: the Christ consciousness center, or star of the East. The three forms and colors of this center (the golden ring, blue sphere, and white pentagonal star) represent microcosmically and respectively (i) the vibratory realm of creation (Om, the Holy Ghost). Om is omnipresent throughout the vibratory sphere of creation, and is said to be the root of all sounds, implying that its basis contains all possible rates of vibration. It is the sound of the ripples of light on the surface of the Infinite Ocean, arising from limitations placed on the primordial impulses of the white light Cosmic Projector. Om has also been spoken of as the "whirr of the Cosmic Motor" and the "beating of the Cosmic Drum." Drumming, in its simplest form, consists of a series of sounds of relatively large amplitude but short duration, uniformly separated in time; the largest possible amplitude and shortest duration of drumming would correspond to a series of impulses, as in the Universal Breathing. Gasoline-run motors produce similar sounds, but in such quick succession that they blend into one another to produce a continuous drone; (ii) the universal, tranquil intelligence of God underlying all vibration, which is Christ consciousness, the only Son of God (the sole reflection of God the Father, within the finite vibratory sphere: vibration or coherent motion implies guiding intelligence). The Christ intelligence structures the formation of the ripple-based particles of phenomenal creation through the impulses underlying Om--the beating of the Cosmic Drum, oozing as spherical beads of oil from the pressed olive, from every pore of the ethereal fabric; the sole causative force within creation; the only Doer of all creational activities. Christ and Krishna (Christna) are titles; they denote one who is united with the universal consciousness of Spirit reflected omnipresent in vibratory creation. Krishna is thus often shown blue- skinned in East Indian religious art; and (iii) the cosmic consciousness of God the Father beyond creation. Consistent with its representation in the spiritual eye, finite vibratory creation in its entirety is said to take the form of a luminous blue sphere. Creation may therefore be validly characterized as a "cosmic motion picture in the sky": as consisting of filtered rhythmic white light, the resulting pictures being projected within a blue sphere, or sky; all perceivable forms are then "frozen" sky, or condensed vibrations of consciousness in the opal sphere. This sphere of vibratory creation is surrounded by vibrationless, motionless, infinite space. And any finite sphere, when seen from the farthest reaches of infinite space, will shrink in perspective to a point, so that, on this level too, we find a point/infinity duality. The idea that the entirety of creation is spherical is not mere philosophical conjecture, based in an assumption of universal symmetry: The cosmos is finite; so that when one's consciousness is expanded to infinity, enclosing all of vibratory creation and more, its shape can be directly known. Further, the sky is blue because, from the earth's point of view, it forms a spherical region studded with stars--as with the third eye...and you'd be blue, too, if your ozone layer was depleting. Owing to the impulsive nature of creation, the motions of all rippled light on the ethereal Ocean surface will be greatest just after the initial all- pervasive, energetic throb of each Universal Breath, with this amplitude of motion decreasing afterwards until the next Breath. Thus, any graph of the motion of these vibrations or waves of light will have the same general shape as do the rhythmic semi-impulses of motors, drums, and heartbeats. (When the flow of breath is stopped for limited periods of time, the [electromagnetic] waves produced by the heart assume a shape nearly identical to the bandpass-filtered impulse.) And these motions, or constituents of the sound of Om, are present in all regions of vibratory space. Thus, we could listen to the sound of Om simply by becoming aware of the vibrations in the space encompassed by our consciousness, for example: these vibrations are the product not only of our own individual thoughts, but also of the thought- vibrations underlying the physical and subtler matter in that region. And, in penetrating to the unfiltered basis of this Sound, we can expand our consciousness unconditionally to receive the full power of the underlying rhythmic impulses. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Revelation 1:16). God stands on the other side of the point-door between Creator and creation, "knocking" through the Om sound, and through the impulses underlying this Sound: knocking, as with drumming, etc., consists of a series of impulsive sounds, rhythmically separated in time. If we will but make the effort to open this door, He will come into us within creation, carrying us on a wave of expanding love to infinity...blissful waves breaking on endless calm shores...and we will go through this door to be (with) Him beyond creation. Om is not merely a word or name--although it is the Word and Name of God--but is again rather a sound produced by the ripples of light at the basis of creation, audible to one's inner consciousness. Were the Supreme Intelligence guiding these vibrations to wish to impart directly revealed or intuitively heard "words of wisdom"--clothed even in human language--to the inner consciousness of one in such attunement (as is said to be the origin of the Vedas), It would have simply to alter, or modulate, these subtle vibrations accordingly to produce the required intuitively audible phonetic variations; cleaving many words from the One Word of God. Such a Voice of God has been characterized as having the soft rumbling sound of murmuring clouds; with a countenance "as the sun [sphere of light] shineth in his [infinite] strength" (Revelation 3:20). Being related to the ripples on the surface of the Infinite Ocean, Om is also referred to as the "noise of many waters" (Ezekiel 43:1-2). This Holy Ghost (divine, invisible, unmeasurable vibration) "brings all things to remembrance," through omniscience. AUM is the philosophically preferred spelling of this Name; however, the proper pronunciation is "Ommm," not "Aauuummm." Whether or not the Vedas and similar works originated at the times and places claimed by their present editions is not of utmost importance; the important thing is that it IS possible for such scriptures to be "directly heard." And by No Coincidence, the knowledge contained in the Vedic scriptures, etc., when rightly understood, is in full accord with the eternal structural truths of the cosmic motion picture mechanism directly knowable by each one of us, given sufficient meditational effort. Is there then a better explanation for their origin than direct revelation? The basic creational production of the sound of Om again involves rhythmic filtered impulses driving the expansion of spheres of consciousness or circles of compassion, followed by the (exponentially-decaying) contraction of these spheres/circles to a point. Compare this with the fact that, in chanting Om audibly, one's mouth is initially open and (nearly) circular, in producing the vowel "o" sound, and closes (i.e., the circle contracts to a point; slowly, as with the exponential modulation of the filtered impulses) to vocalize the "mmm" aspect. (Of course, some mouths open more towards infinity than others.) Understandably, then, the human voice is considered, in India, to be the finest musical instrument: of all means of musical expression, singing most closely emulates and so expresses the basic structure of the universe. Also, just as the chanted word "Om" originates in the back of the throat, and issues forth from the human mouth, the Holy Word, or Voice of God, issuing of course from the mouth of God, has its seat in the human body in a chakra in the medullary region, opposite the mouth, connected by polarity with the spiritual eye. And just as material food enters the physical body through its mouth, the subtle nourishment of finer-than-physical cosmic radiation enters the astral body through the mouth of God in the medullary chakra: material foods do not directly sustain the body; there is no essential cosmic reason for us to have to ingest material nourishment, when we can eat subtle light or cosmic radiation ("bread from heaven") directly through the mouth of God (this being the lawful reason for the validity of the "power of positive thinking," as applied to the state of the body). Since all vibrations on the Ocean of Light dance to the fundamental frequency of Om--the ripples of all light are greatest in amplitude just after the application of a universal impulse, with decaying amplitude until the next Breath--attunement to this fundamental frequency will doubtless be most desirable in terms of the drawing in and manipulation of energy. Also, in the physical human body, the mouth serves as both the means of eating or drawing energy into the body, and of broadcasting our thoughts, or speaking. Similarly, in the astral counterpart to this body, energy is again eaten through the medullary chakra or mouth of God, while the spiritual eye, connected by polarity with this mouth, serves as the means of broadcasting thoughts in free will. Further, human speech is made possible through the effect of air being exhaled from the lungs, and as such is intrinsically associated with the breathing process. Thus, since the human body, being made "in the image of God" (by "As above, so below") is again a microcosmic representation of the body of God in the cosmos, we should verily expect, or at least not be at all surprised, that the process of Divine speech, in the production of the sound of Om, should be inherently associated with a cosmic Breathing process: that the Cosmic Word of Om should be produced by a rhythmic Divine or Universal Breath, being forced through many "mouths of God" in the ethereal fabric of the universe, which must rhythmically expand and contract to a point, in vocalizing the vowel "o" and "mmm" aspects of the Word of God; the word by which "the heavens and the earth...are kept in store" (2 Peter 3:7). Further with the impulsive nature of the "beating of the Cosmic Drum": The stones being thrown by God to break the surface of the Infinite Ocean and so produce rippling spheres of consciousness, may alternatively be thought of as the tips of Cosmic Drumsticks, beaten by the Divine Drummer against the ethereal skin stretched across the Infinite Hemisphere, to mark the basic rhythm of creation. (When a drum is first hit, the disturbance travels as expanding circles of waves across its face.) Thus, beaten drums--consisting, of course, of membranes stretched across cylinders or hemispheres--mimic the basic rhythmic structure of creation; hence their inclusion in the musical-ritual dances of so many of the "pagan" religions. PART IV HOLOGRAMS Holograms are a means of visual information storage, similar in some ways to photographs. The two means of storage differ in that every piece of a hologram plate contains information about the entire three-dimensional scene being holographed--and can be made to project a light-formed "duplicate" of its objects in three dimensions when illuminated with a proper source of light, usually a laser--while photography "collapses" this information irretrievably into a two-dimensional planar view of the object(s), so that a slide transparency can only project a two- dimensional view of its contained scene. The means by which holograms are made may be easily described. The light emitted by a laser is said to be "coherent"; that is, its light waves are all in step with one another, giving rise to what are called plane waves. (The waves produced when a pebble is dropped into a pond are circular/spherical, while plane or straight waves could be produced by rhythmically raising and lowering a long stick in the water.) Such ~fig_07~ wavefronts have the desirable property that, since they are all "going in the same direction," they do not spread out much as they travel farther from their source. If ever such a plane wave tries to "squeeze through" an aperture of width much smaller than the waves' wavelength, a source of circular or spherical waves, having the same wavelength as the incident waves, is effectively produced, as in Figure 8. Now, any physical object is made visible through its ability to reflect visible light. And any ray of light, when allowed to reflect off of an object, is effectively converted by this reflection into a point ~fig_08~ source of spherical light waves (as if it were squeezing through a very small aperture), which then spread outward from the object; the spherical waves having their center at the point where the particular ray met the object, with their intensity being determined by the color and reflectivity of the object at that point. If and when some of these light waves impinge on an eye, the sensation of sight of that part of the object is produced: when you "see" any object, you are not seeing the object itself, but are rather cognizing a sphere-of-(physical)-light representation ~fig_09~ of it; the information from these expanding spheres of light being carried from the sense organs to your brain by means of impulsive spikes of electricity, which are then decoded to produce the idea of the object within your own sphere of light-consciousness. That is, visual perception is based in spheres of light and impulsive spikes. And holograms are made by allowing these reflected spherical waves to interact with the reference or unreflected plane waves, and recording the interaction on a piece of film, which plays the part of an "eye." Because the waves, after having been reflected by the object, travel as expanding spherical wavefronts, they diverge rapidly as they leave the object, and so spread out to interfere with the reference beam across the whole surface of the photographic plate (Figure 10). This whole-surface-interaction will occur for every sphere of light reflected from the scene, so that every area of the holographic plate will contain information about the entire object/scene. Now, if we illuminate the entire developed plate (with a reproduced reference beam), we will recover a very sharp and clear picture of the object. However, if we illuminate only a small area of the photographic plate, although ~fig_10~ we will still be able to recover the three-dimensional picture, the sharpness of the image will depend on how much of the plate we have illuminated: in illuminating only a small area of the plate with the same intensity of laser beam, less total light energy is incident on the plate--the small area of which further contains less precise information as to how that light should be diffracted--so that less light can be diffracted by the hologram, and consequently the image produced, though still being three-dimensional and of the same size as the original object, will appear dimmer and fuzzier than the original object (Figure 11 [a]). In illuminating a hologram with a reproduced reference beam of coherent light, as these plane waves pass through the hologram film they are diffracted by the recorded interference patterns on the film into myriad spherical waves, which continue on through the film and interfere with one another, effectively reversing or undoing the procedure through which the hologram was encoded: the illuminated holographic film reproduces the same pattern of centers and intensities of expanding light-spheres as was generated by the original object, producing a three-dimensional light- formed image of the object, suspended in space (Figure 11 [b]). Thus, holograms reduce to the interaction or interference of point-source spheres of light, with plane light waves of the same frequency. But plane waves are simply special cases of spherical waves: any ~fig_11~ plane wave may be regarded as arising from a spherical wave of infinite radius (and so having zero curvature). That is, holograms are formed through the interaction of finite spheres of light with infinite spheres of light! It looks suspiciously, then, as if our individual spheres of consciousness may be forming a cosmic hologram--in which information about the entire universe is present in its every localization-- against the omnipresent planar "reference beam," containing all frequencies, of the unfiltered Universal Breathing underlying the sound of Om. For light everywhere meets with light, since everything contains all things in itself and sees all things in another, so that all things are everywhere and all is all. --Mystic saying Each person, each object in the world, is not merely itself, but involves every other person and object and, in fact, on one level IS every other person and object. --Buddhist Avatamska Sutra Again, whenever a plane wave tries to "squeeze through" an aperture of width much smaller than its wavelength, a source of spherical waves, having the same wavelength as the incident waves, is effectively produced, as in Figure 8, page 87. Similarly, in the universal structure, finite spheres of consciousness are produced wherever the infinite undivided ("planar") omnipresence of God tries to squeeze into creation through its apertures or ethereal pores; the finite spheres having the same rhythmic frequency of recurrence of Om or the Universal Breathing, as does the incident planar signal (Figure 12). Further, because the impulses of the Universal Breathing are ~fig_12~ initiated simultaneously from all ethereal pores (the existence of instantaneous or infinite velocity communication in [perfected] consciousness automatically defines an absolute time and space, and so an absolute simultaneity) such "in step" behavior demonstrates also a coherence such as is valued in the laser light production of holograms. Since our visual perception of any object is based in the superposition of many closely-spaced spheres of light, of differing colors (frequencies) and intensities, it is very metaphysically satisfying to propose that the ultimate sub-quantum nature of all objects has a similar basis, in consisting of closely-spaced spheres of light- consciousness, of many colors or rates of vibration; which is, of course, what the impulse response or motion picture model of the universe is about. PART V RITUALS AND MYTHOLOGY We have seen that many of the predictions of the impulse response model of the universe are in exact accord with the direct perceptions of meditators in higher states of consciousness than the waking awareness. These truths are held as eternal--as realizable by anyone, at any time and place, given sufficient meditational effort--and yet we seem to find little exoteric mention of such "eternal truths" (e.g., the drumming nature of Om) in most mystic literature more than a century or so old, giving perhaps the impression that such ideas have been little known prior to our recent generations. Or is it possible that such perceived truths have been quietly embedded in aspects of our culture and religion so common as to escape our analytical attention? A few detailed examples will demonstrate that this is indeed so. The attainment of conscious union with the Eternal Beloved, one's consciousness having passed through the golden ring of the spiritual eye, is often referred to as "mystical marriage." Compare this with the emulative human wedding custom of exchanging, or passing (the ring fingers) through, gold rings. (Doubtless the wizard's high regard for rings and bracelets as potent objects of magic derives from their higher root in the golden ring of Om as the source of all power in creation.) Why then does the human bride wear a veil? To symbolize the veil of maya separating God and creation; when this veil is lifted, lover and Beloved are united: you may kiss--that is, go into the mouth of--the Bride. (Puckering also emulates the "mmm" aspect of Om.) Also very plausible is the idea that the wedding cake--traditionally having miniature figures of the bride and groom on the uppermost of several circular tiered "slabs" of cake-- is symbolic of the union of God and soul on the highest level, or highest sphere, of reality. (Round stone slabs, as symbols of the Infinite--of circumference beginningless and endless--can be found in some Hindu temples.) The cutting up of the wedding cake at the "marriage supper," and its being eaten by (that is, being put into the mouths of) the guests, would then represent the individuation, into form, of the Infinite Sphere, manifesting in the mouth (of God: medullary chakra) of each one of us. The element of sympathetic magic enfolded here, one would suppose, is the hope that, in eating of this symbol of union, we too will be brought closer to the mortal marital state of "wedded bliss"; but there is also a deeper meaning: in each of our individual mouths (of God) is present a spark of the ecstasy of God-union. Mythologists would add that rice/confetti/corn--thrown over the newly married couple--is a fertility symbol; but this is secondary, and is really not very profound. And why should the bride wear white? That is, why should white be associated with purity? Why does purification from our sins make us "white as snow"? You can guess that it has to do with the Sphere of white Light--with the unfiltered omnipresence of union in mystical marriage being free of any desirous impurities or finitude- producing attachments. And why does any tasteful groom wear a black tuxedo? To symbolize the union of black and white--of all dualities--in the unfiltered impulse of divine matrimony; the presence of all possible rates of vibration resulting in perfect calmness. Further, in Catholicism, unlike its Protestant derivatives, the officiating priest is not merely a minister, but one's parochial link with God; being vested with the power to join man and woman in marriage through this "divine right" as a representative of God on Earth. In this sense, the Catholic priest plays a role similar to that of God, or a God-realized guru in the latter's "officiating" of mystical marriage: it is only through the grace of the guru--this grace being got from God in oneness-- that lover and Beloved are eternally united; and this union comes only after all restless thoughts--the gossiping witnesses of one's past mistakes, or karma-- objecting to this union, have consented to "forever hold their peace." (The role of the priest in giving Holy Communion, and in possessing the power to grant absolution from sins in confession, likewise indicates an imitation of the role which can really only be played by God, or a true guru; this role-playing again in accord with the supposed divine right of the Middle-Aged Roman Catholic Church: the dispenser of divine grace through prescribed channels; the perpetual extension of Christ's incarnation, or mediator between Man and God.) The best man likewise plays some of the guru's part, in being the custodian of the ring (both the key, or meditational technique, by which God is realized, and the giving of samadhi, upon which the consciousness of the "groom" passes through the golden ring of the spiritual eye into union with the Bride); in fact, in John 3:29, John the Baptist (Jesus' guru in their previous lives as Elijah/Elias and his disciple Elisha/Eliseus) compares himself to the friend (i.e., best man) of the bridegroom, Jesus. And why should such (divine) union take place in a church--that is, a chakra--in the sight (i.e., spiritual eye) of God? And why is it appropriate for women to wear black to funerals? I don't know. But it might be profound. Any body must have a presiding intelligence, which in the case of the cosmos--the body of God, or body of Christ--is the Christ intelligence/consciousness: just as the Christ consciousness, being present within the (blue) sphere of the cosmos, may be said to be spherical--and so is represented by a blue sphere in the spiritual eye--human consciousness also takes the form of a sphere of intelligence. Thus, when Jesus Christ, having attained to oneness with this Intelligence, spoke of his "body"--or, indeed, of any aspect of his realized self--he was obviously referring, in most cases at least, not to any narrow identification with physical form and personality, but to the vast cosmic structure. Any body must also have a means of taking in energy, and of re-distributing such energy within itself. In the human anatomy, this distribution is effected through the rhythmic heart- pumped flow of blood through the circulatory system: the flow of blood is synonymous with the flow of energy (both physically measurable--e.g., oxygen from breathing--and subtler life-energies). Similarly, the blood of Christ, or the means of energy distribution throughout the body of Christ (the cosmos), is powered by the heartbeat-like nature of the Universal Breathing. (When the breath is calmed, the electromagnetic waves produced by the heart again assume a shape nearly identical to that of the bandpass-filtered impulse, so that such rhythmically re-initiated decaying oscillation is implicitly associated with body and blood in all manner of living creatures: the brain sends a rhythmic series of electric pulses to the heart; each such spike causes the heart's muscles to contract, forcing pressure waves of blood out through elastic arteries and so producing an oscillating and decaying-in-amplitude- with-the-passage-of-time response to this semi- impulse.) Thus, the cosmic body and blood of Christ must be inherently associated with Om--the Word of God; the beating of the heart of Christ. Also, just as the human body draws energy into itself through the breath and by eating gross energy through the physical mouth, and subtle radiation through the mouth of God or medullary chakra, the cosmos "draws energy into" itself through the Universal Breathing, or through its many spherical mouths continuously opening and closing in chanting "Om." In the Roman Catholic Mass-given Communion, bread and wine are consecrated and received as the (actual) body and blood of Jesus Christ (or, nowadays, as symbols of them), in the hope of following Jesus' words: "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you...He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him" (John 6:53-56). In this ceremony, every crumb of the transubstantiated wafer or Host is held as the entire body and blood (holographic, isn't it?) of the sacrificed and resurrected Christ; that is, communion (with the Divine) involves eating (through the medullary chakra and its polar spiritual eye) the body and blood of Christ (the Om-based cosmos and its inner channels of energy re-distribution; the laws of physics, for example, govern the interaction and so re-distribution of energy in various forms). Further regarding this "eating": Energy can be brought into a system either by transporting it across the fixed boundary of the system (i.e., into its body, through a suitable opening or mouth), or by enlarging the system--that is, one's consciousness--to enclose, or swallow, ever-more energy. Since eating Om raises/ expands one's consciousness, these two methods go together. Further, consider the practice of throwing coins into wishing wells. As we know, when a coin or stone is thrown into calm water, it produces expanding circular wavefronts or ripples; as with the basic structure of creation: God is constantly casting wishing stones into the otherwise calm waters of the ether. The symbolic hope, then, is that the waves on the Ocean of creation will deign to sympathetically mimic the ripples of the idea or wish being held in one's mind at the time of casting the stone, that the object of one's wish may become manifest; just as creation's waves conform to the ideas in the mind of God. It is thus evident that many of the common aspects of human religious mythology and ritual are not merely arbitrarily assumed superstitions having a shared pagan ancestry, but are rather imitative of higher levels of reality than are generally scholarly analyzable. It would be good, then, to recognize that the archetypal themes which appear and reappear as valid mythological elements--those based not merely in superstition but in higher truth--of the Earth's many cultures derive, not only from psychological archetypes, demonstrating the collective subconscious desire for return to the lost state of Perfection, but from structural archetypes also, embodying superconscious knowledge of the means through which this perfection may be attained: by "As above, so below," or the fact that objectively measurable behavior (based in structural archetypes) is a reflection of the behaviors of mind and consciousness (based in symbolic psychological archetypes), any valid myth will embody strong structural truths. To state this metaphorical basis succinctly: Pun, pun, pun, 'till her Daddy takes the P-Bird away. (That is, live in the metaphorical structure of creation, until baptism in the waters of Om and perfection in the Heavenly Father douse forever the otherwise persistent flame of the reincarnating Phoenix Firebird.) Whatever the flaws of the Christian Churches, their rituals are a rich representation of basic creational truths-- truths in perfect accord with the directly known tenets of yoga. There is an inevitable conclusion to be drawn from this: The teachings of Jesus Christ (and, indeed, the creational and Edenic accounts in Genesis, and the second coming of Christ--within each one of us--in Revelation, when given their intended symbolic, not strictly literal, interpretation) are pure yoga, and were originally directly revealed, not culled merely from permutations on primitive mythologies. Comparative mythologists would account for the common ground of Christianity, yoga, etc., through the presence of cross-cultural assimilation in various forms; but, while this undoubtedly has played some role in imparting similarities in form to the world's scriptures, it leaves unresolved the question as to how it is possible for so many of these scriptures to give mathematically true accounts of the basic cosmic structure; how else but in being derived, in the first, from direct perception? The mythologies of many peoples consider creation (or creative power, i.e., free will) as being based in the power of words (thought-forms uttered with deep concentration) spoken by God; mythologists date this idea to 2850 B.C. or earlier, chuckling occasionally at this apparently simplistic view which is, in fact, very significant and profound. For what is a word? It is a certain pattern of vibration. What, then, is the Word (Vibration) that contains all other words (rates of vibration)? And does the presence of such a Word infer the existence of a mouth (of God)? And what is the function of the human mouth? humans being created "in the image of God." Mouths are simply means of speaking, and of eating or drawing energy of differing vibratory forms into one's body. And what, further, is blood, but a means of distributing this energy within one's consciousness-body? The individuation of soul from Spirit has been compared to the one underlying pilot flame of a gas burner manifesting, through the holes of the burner, as many smaller flames; while meditation is said to act as a pickaxe, slowly penetrating the rock of indifference, to unleash the geyser or fountain of Bliss within. In both cases, the structure is that of an underlying undivided immensity, which can become manifest to various degrees in the individuation; and, of course, we know that meditation, in raising one's level of consciousness, does open the door between creation and Bliss. And in the case of the gas burner, the individuation is effected through a pattern of discrete openings, or pores; as with the metaphorical structure of the motion picture model of the universe. It is easy enough to see that, since consciousness must pass successively through the golden ring and blue sphere of the spiritual eye before it can pass through the white star as the door to the kingdom of God of the soul as an individualized spark of joyous Spirit, templed in the brain's thousand-petaled lotus, "no man cometh unto the Father but by [the Christ consciousness]," and no one can enter the kingdom of God without passing through union with the golden ring of Om. And, of course, since the Christ consciousness is the consciousness of God reflected in creation, and since we too are in creation, it would make sense that we would have to realize our oneness with the (Christ) consciousness in creation, before realizing union with the "same" consciousness beyond creation; that in order to reach the star of cosmic consciousness, we would first have to pierce through the blue sky of the cosmos. (Though a confusion in language arises here: does the existing of God the Father "beyond" creation mean simply outside the sphere of vibration, or does it mean beyond even infinite relative space, i.e., in the Unmanifest?) And we can indeed readily recognize that the organism of Creation, or body of Christ, must, by "As above, so below," have a governing spherical intelligence, or sphere of Christ consciousness; and that it is only when motion is guided by intelligence that it can be rhythmic or harmonious; and that since the Om sound is (intuitively) audible, it must be of non-infinite frequency, so that concentrational oneness with it would not raise one's resonant frequency of consciousness to infinity. Delineating the mathematics of the boundaries between Om, Christ, and cosmic consciousness, however, is--surprise--no easy feat. I can at best note that Divine Consciousness does have three natural divisions, as will follow. First, though, it seems that "Holy Ghost," or "Word of God" is sometimes used to refer to the rippling Om sound, and sometimes to the white light impulses underlying this Sound--containing this Sound in potential, as it were; just as the white light of the movie projector contains all pictures in potential, but does not produce any until it has been filtered by the film. That is, the primordial impulses themselves do not produce a sound; it is only when they are limited that they give rise to waves of finitude on the surface of the Infinite Ocean, or an intuitively audible whirring of the Vibratory Motor; so that expanding to infinity with these impulses--and so possessing absolute omniscience, full free choice and complete free will--must be a higher state than simply being one with the waves produced when the impulses are made finite. That is, we again associate the sound of Om with the ripples produced on the surface of the manifest Absolute by the filtered impulses of the Cosmic Drumming, rather than with the impulses themselves: union with the sound of Om consists of feeling oneself as this Sound in every unit of space within the cosmos--for it is present everywhere within the vibratory sphere--rather than in allowing the primordial impulses underlying Om to drive one's consciousness without limitation to infinity: Om consciousness is the feeling of oneself as all the waves on the Infinite Ocean, without consciousness of the (quiescent) Ocean. Since this Sound, through phonetic variations in ripple vibration, can impart any relative knowledge it wishes, or is wished for, to consciousness attuned to this basic rhythm of creation, union with the Om sound contains at least potential relative omniscience--conscious knowledge of any aspect of creation, but not direct experience of God beyond all duality; the latter constituting absolute omniscience. Consider also that impulsive Om could be characterized not only as the beating of a Cosmic Drum, but also as the rhythmic clapping of Divine Hands. The impulses underlying the sound of Om again arise wholistically as white light from a single Cosmic Projector; or, alternatively, from the clapping of One Hand. That is, Om is the sound of one hand clapping (i.e., in Zen, too, there can be sensible and logical answers: koans are not simply "nonsense riddles"; as with the free will-related koan, "Move that boat on the lake immediately with your mind"). Alternatively: What is the sound of one hand clapping? It is everything and nothing: for the sound of Om produced by this clapping is, or has become, all manifest creation; and yet the clapping itself--the Unlimited State--is no-thing, beyond all finite vibratory things. Thunder is likewise produced when the (white) clouds "clap their hands," so that the regarding of thunder as a "below" reflection of the voice of God (the Word of Om, or sound produced when the cloud-white impulses of the Cosmic Projector "clap their hands") is perhaps not so ignorant after all: "And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps"; "And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him" (Revelation 14:2 and Luke 9:35). Further, the lightning from which the sound of thunder arises (as a compression of the air surrounding the heated streak of light) is produced when clouds have accumulated large charges of static electricity, and discharge this accumulation either to a cloud of the opposite net charge, or to the ground. That is, thunder has its basis in the resolution of polarities into their neutral state (cf. the neutralization of all polarities in the impulses of the thunderous hand-clapping of God). This (Om consciousness) is, then, the first natural division of Divine Consciousness. Direct intuitional knowledge of Absolute Truth--a higher omniscience than the potential relative omniscience gained through attunement to the Sound of all vibrations of light--is possible in the oscillating response of the individual sphere of consciousness to the primordial impulses underlying the sound of Om; this is what allows for an increased degree of free choice as consciousness is expanded. Consciousness of infinite resonant frequency and infinite bandwidth (associated again with direct knowledge of "the white light of God already within you," or full realization of the power of the unfiltered impulses driving one's sphere of consciousness) forms a momentarily omnipresent sphere/circle of infinite radius--a circle centered in a given point, of circumference nowhere--such large bandwidth again being associated with body- identification, or the ability to receive and respond to "sensory" information transmitted across a wide range of frequencies; in this case identification with the (physical, astral, and causal) spherical body of the cosmos, transmitting information on frequencies from zero to infinity. Such consciousness, being omnipresent throughout space at only a single point in time--that is, at the time of application--of each Universal Breath, effectively takes only one consciously-penetrating subjective "snapshot" of all creation's activities in each Breath; where this penetration of one's consciousness through all objects within its sphere would be taken to grant direct conscious knowledge of these objects and their vibratory activities, that one might be aware of all of the activities occurring within one's expanded sphere of consciousness. There is a principal applicable to such "sampling"--Nyquist's Theorem, which follows from simple mathematical laws of wave behavior--which states that if any signal is sampled at a given sampling frequency, the highest frequency that can be reproduced with fidelity is equal to one- half the sampling rate: any oscillations with frequencies above this critical frequency will be erroneously perceived as being between zero and one- half the sampling frequency. (Compact disc digital audio, for example, utilizes a sampling rate of about 44 kHz, so that its maximum resolvable frequency is 22 kHz, which is just above the normal human range of hearing.) Thus, the maximum resolvable frequency seen by such large bandwidth consciousness would be equal to one-half the frequency of the Universal Breathing, so that consciousness in this state, while being, on the one hand, of infinite bandwidth, would not have directly observed knowledge of the behavior of any island-particles, or their underlying waves of consciousness, oscillating at frequencies higher than one-half the rate of the Universal Breathing. (All large-bandwidth consciousness, expanding once in each Breath to a notable maximum radius, and then quickly contracting to "hover" around the point at its center --as in the higher states in Figure 6, page 23--and so sampling the activities within its expanded sphere only once per Universal Breath, will be affected by this same limitation, regardless of its resonant frequency.) That is, while such consciousness is perfectly motionless and quiescent, the true behavior of most of the wave-activities occurring within creation will be hidden from it, owing to the fact that it takes so few consciously penetrating pictures of these activities. (Although, as this state still involves complete union with God beyond duality, and so absolute omniscience, this can hardly be seen as an insurmountable obstacle.) Finally, then, the state of infinite resonant frequency and zero bandwidth. Such consciousness, being of zero bandwidth, is focused entirely on a single, specific thought--here, the thought of God-- and so transcends identification with the body/cosmos (just as, when mortals concentrate deeply on a given finite thought, they forget the body), and so is omnipresent not only at a single point in time, but continuously in that pralaya interval (vibrating with infinite amplitude and infinite frequency); and yet is still always present in the point at its center, and so has complete knowledge of, or oneness with, Absolute Truth, and so absolute omniscience. This state, as with the previous of infinite resonant frequency and bandwidth, carries the resolution of the point/infinity, and expansion/contraction and so good/evil dualities, but further resolves another aspect of the zero/infinity dichotomy: again, such consciousness, although of zero bandwidth, being continuously omnipresent "samples" creation continuously, or takes an infinitely rapid series of consciously penetrating snapshots of the activities occurring within its sphere, and so is directly aware of the activities of all frequencies of vibration in creation. Thus, although, as in the infinite bandwidth and resonant frequency state, such consciousness is perfectly motionless and quiescent, and absolutely omniscient, it is also fully aware, without distortion, of all creational activities occurring within its infinite Self. Further, this state of infinite resonant frequency and zero bandwidth effectively consists of a continuous series of impulses, and so may be said to contain the discrete series of rhythmic impulses within itself; i.e., the discrete series is a subset of the continuous series. This state is the feeling of oneself as both the Ocean and as all its waves; it is union simultaneously with God beyond creation, quiescent God within creation, and the vibrations in the sound of Om themselves; being fully conscious of both God and of the universe (so that this is actually a higher state than that of infinite resonant frequency and infinite bandwidth). Thus, the three natural facets of Divine Consciousness--all derivable from a single common state--are: the projected pictures or sound of Om produced as waves on the surface of the Infinite Ocean by the filtered impulses of the Cosmic Projector; the impulses themselves; and the state of infinite resonant frequency and zero bandwidth, which effectively consists of a continuous series of impulses, and so may be said to contain the discrete series of rhythmic impulses within itself. Alternatively, these three may be considered, in reverse order from that just given, as the state in which all possible rhythms are contained in potential; the specific Rhythm beaten by the Divine Drummer against the ethereal membrane stretched across the Infinite Hemisphere; and the sound of Om produced as this Cosmic Drum vibrates after being struck. Consider now the yogic phrase "cloud-colored Christ"; or its Biblical counterpart in the association of Christ with the clouds, in that the second coming of Jesus is often misunderstood as involving Christ descending from heaven to earth on a physical cloud. ("Behold, he cometh with the clouds; and every eye shall see him"--Revelation 1:7.) Clouds are white areas (composed of water droplets suspended in the air) within a sphere of blue--the sky. Further, white clouds descend to earth in the form of raindrops--spherical drops of water which, in masses (i.e., as any body of water, be it a pond, lake, etc.) appear blue; the sky being reflected in them. Thus, this association of Christ with the clouds may serve to shed some light on the metaphysical significance of rainbows: a rainbow in the clouds may be taken as symbolic of the dispersion of the reflected white light from the Sun-Father, into its component spectrum of colors or levels of reality, as the cloud-colored Christ consciousness descends from heaven to earth in the form of spherical drops of water/Om. Similarly, but on a more cosmic scale, Christ consciousness descends from heaven ("above": higher in frequency, and viewed with upturned eyes through the spiritual eye) to earth in the form of a blue "drop" of water/Om: the cosmos, and its smaller sphere-within- sphere waterdrops or differentiations of the "noise of many waters"; so that each of our spheres of consciousness may be viewed as a drop of the "vast blue Ocean of sky." (If the ocean were to rise and cover all land on earth, it too would form a blue sphere.) To summarize the cycle: Water falls from the clouds down to earth, participates as waves on the ocean in various oscillating spheres of consciousness, then evaporates or returns to the clouds: Christ consciousness descends and ascends on a cloud; rain falls, and evaporates in the light of the sun (the transfer of energy from sunlight and atmosphere to the water raises the energy and RATE OF VIBRATION of the water molecules, changing them from liquid to vapour). Accordingly, the relationship of Christ to the clouds would seem to indicate that we should associate Christ consciousness with something white--that is, a white consciousness--existing within the blue sphere of the cosmos. Allied to this association: the idea of the Son of God being born within a virgin (i.e., white; pure or unspoiled; not having experienced the pleasures and pains of duality; the state of purity from which egoic pleasure is absent) womb. Also, some scholars have proposed that Jesus Christ and John the Baptist never existed, but are merely mythological representations that have evolved from earlier sun- and water-gods, respectively. While this obviously misses the mark--to put it mildly--it does at least again bring out the association between the Son, and the white light of the sun. Anything visibly white is so because it reflects all colors, or visible rates of vibration, equally; so that the extended structural implication again seems to be that Christ consciousness should be in some way associated with a true whiteness, or the presence of all possible rates of vibration, from zero to infinity, all of equal amplitude. And it is Christ who says, in Revelation, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice...." As we know, the door between God and creation is the ideal point, and very loud knocking consists of a series of impulses; again, the association of the Christ consciousness with the "knocking" underlying the sound of many waters: that it seems to be the Christ consciousness that does this knocking. Further note the association of this knocking with a voice: this would be an unnatural alliance--normally, we do not knock with our voices, but rather with our closed hands or knuckles--were this knocking not to be inherently associated with a mouth and a Word (and with Breath). All of this again would seem to suggest that we should associate Christ consciousness closely with the white light impulses of the Universal Breathing; although, admittedly, this would not explain how Christ consciousness is the only undistorted reflection within creation of the (unquantifiable) INTELLIGENCE of God the Father beyond creation. But still, the association of Christ with white is too strong to not have some validity. Causing further confusion, though, as to the distinction between the Christ consciousness and the Holy Ghost of Om, is the Biblical testimony that, after Jesus' baptism, he was "full of the Holy Ghost" (Luke 4:1). Regardless of how Christ consciousness is to be quantitatively expressed, however, we are still in a better position than before to understand that the Sound of Om arises as the outward expression of the Christ consciousness--so that the state of cloud-white purity is a higher one than that of the "noise of many waters"--and that God "[creates] all things by Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 3:9). Consider also that "to him that overcometh [that is, who triumphs over all dualistic desires and attachments, attaining to the Sphere of Light, and so is under no karmic compulsion to reincarnate] will I grant to sit down with me [Christ] in my Father's throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne...the same shall be clothed in white raiment...and I will write upon him the name of my God" (Revelation 3:21, 3:5, 3:12). Also consider the phrase "the milk of Thy peace," referring to the devotee's experience of the peace of God: mother's milk, too, is white, and issues from discrete points of flow in hemispherical glands; as does the milk-white peace of the Consciousness of Light. Thus, the association of white with peace and with power derives from true whiteness, issuing from the Bosom of the Mother, as being the source of all such divine contentment. Saints, as with babes, drink the milk of peace from the bosom of the Infinite; receiving its sole nourishment from the Mother of All: "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word" (1 Peter, 2:2. Again, milk = white = word of God). SUMMARY The phrase "the Consciousness of Light" encapsulates the truism that velocities approaching the velocity of light reflect the behavior of levels of consciousness advancing toward the highest state of God-Light, in which all apparent separation dissolves; of infinite subjective time, and omnipresent. Just as God-Truth descends to become absolutely distinguishable good and evil, light can differentiate into matter and anti-matter; conversely, the resolution of all possible dualities (e.g., the meeting of matter/anti-matter pairs of all possible energies) produces an expanding sphere of white light. The simplest truly white signal is the impulse, which, in conjunction with the idea that creation consists of ripples on the surface of the Infinite Ocean (this posing the question as to how these ripples are introduced) discloses that omnipresence and omniscience, in the Sphere of truly white Light, come hand in hand. Further, in this Ocean we have free choice and free will in proportion to the degree to which we unfold/raise/attune our consciousness to the Divine to manifest the infinite perfection of God already within us: Yoga, or union (with God), is the neutralization of the alternating states in consciousness: we become what we concentrate on. The involved rhythmic impulsive nature of the universe follows from (i) Om as the basis of all vibrations, implying that the root of such a soundless roar will contain all possible frequencies; (ii) Om as a "soundless roar"--alternating resonantly between the extreme states of soundless zero and roaring infinity; (iii) Om as the outward expression of the "Word [or Name] of God," through which all things are made, again implying that such a Word must contain all possible frequencies from zero to infinity; (iv) Om as arising from the "beating of a Cosmic Drum"; (v) Om as the outward expression of the "knocking" at the door between God and creation; (vi) Om as the "whirr of the Vibratory Motor"; (vii) Om as the outward expression of the clockworklike "ticking of a Cosmic Watch" or Metronome; (viii) Om as arising from the "swinging of a Cosmic Pendulum"; (ix) Om as the sound of One Hand clapping; (x) Om as "that Lady I saw you with last night"; (xi) but seriously; (xii) the vocal vowel incantation of "o" and subsequent "mmm" closing of this aperture in chanting "Om," implying a rhythmic expansion and contraction, or opening and closing, of a circle or sphere: whenever an aperture rhythmically expands and contracts, it mimics the sound of Om; i.e., all speech is derivative of the power of Om; (xiii) the "electrical spike" character of the nervous system (and the relation of the subtle or astral nervous system and its chakras to spiritual evolution or the expansion of consciousness, plus "As above, so below"); (xiv) the averred motion picture basis of creation: a white light signal applied at uniformly separated instants in time to a filtering system; (xv) the cosmos being a living, breathing-as-an- act-of-mind-(or energy distribution) entity: all matter is consciousness in varying degrees of spiritual evolution (so that light, too, is consciousness); and (xvi) this entity having a heartbeat. This bandpass filtered rhythmic impulsive basis also accounts for the intuitive knowledge that "I exist." And again, Om as the "noise of many waters," as with (i) and (iii) above, implies that the white light of the Cosmic Projector not only drives the expansion of all individual spheres of consciousness, but is also responsible for the birth, maintenance, and death of all the transitory oceanic wave-forms of creation. Finally, the interdependence of individual and universal good implies that by the very act of improving yourself, you raise others' consciousness, or contribute to their true and lasting happiness or Bliss, so that the highest duty of each one of us is to seek God through meditation and selfless service-- improving ourselves without limit: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God." No human hands have wove this all together: finite mortal consciousness cannot create truth; it can only perceive it in varying degrees of clarity. CONCLUSIONS The consonance of universal behavior with the inner perceptions of the mystics is not merely coincidental; this has been adequately demonstrated. The inescapable conclusion of their harmony is this: deep meditation opens the door to a realm in which all knowledge, relative and absolute, is eternally present. Act on this right conclusion! Begin meditating, with the goal of one day knowing with absolute certainty all that your heart and mind have ever longed to know. Unlike the often purely speculative philosophies of the West, yoga and its related Eastern systems of thought are not only amenable to proof but further DEMAND the personal meditative experience of Truth as the inner, undeniable demonstration of their eternal validity. Theories regarding the nature and behavior of the physical world are testable through physical experiments; the "theories" of consciousness expounded by the mystics of all ages are also verifiable, but not through external experiments. Rather, the nature and behavior of consciousness can be known only through the performance of the appropriate experiments in the expansion of consciousness; through concentration used to know God, which is meditation. Yoga is founded on the same philosophy and techniques of meditation originally taught by Jesus, Krishna, and other masters. The prominent true religions of the world each began with the teachings and techniques of meditation of a Self-realized master--Hinduism is the exception in that its tenets have been derived not from the teachings of one savant, but rather from the revelations of a number of God-illumined sages--but then unfortunately quickly degenerated into ritual and blind belief among their followers. Yoga has escaped this fate, not because its basic tenets are any different (they could not be) from those of Christianity or Buddhism, etc., but because there have been, in all ages, Self-realized masters of the yogic path to bear witness to and emphasize the essence of the yogic science. Yoga is the quickest path to God, not because it is "the one true religion," but rather because it insists and has always insisted on the inner intuitive experience of Truth as sole proof of the veracity of its teachings, and has thus understood the importance of the practice of effective techniques of meditation, and preserved these techniques against the deteriorating influences of time and blind belief. The inquiry as to whether free choice exists is the most fundamental question of existence: If we have no choice in the actions we perform--that is, if our "choices" are either random or completely predetermined--we cannot be held ultimately responsible for our actions; so that it is only if we have some freedom of choice that it really "matters" whether good and evil are distinguishable or not, whether God, heaven, or hell exists, etc. This being the case, before we need feel bound to accept the "revealed authority" of any religion, we may reasonably ask of it an explanation as to how free choice, and its outward expression in free will, can exist. We know and feel intuitively, and find recorded in the teachings of the Yogis, that rocks have no free will, humans can exercise partial free will, and perfected consciousness is possessed of complete freedom of will. And again, it is only beyond time that we can make choices unconditioned by past causes, and so have free choice and free will. Further, only the perfectly integrated state of the Absolute is beyond time. Thus, in order to have free will in proportion to the height of our individual states of consciousness, we must go beyond time, and so into the integrated state of God, at a greater frequency in higher (or expanded) states of consciousness than in lower levels of awareness. And it is self-evident that we require at least omnipresence throughout creation in order to have complete free will; else the universe could conceivably end up with two localized beings or spheres of consciousness, each having complete free will and so being all-powerful. (Complete free will implies omnipotence: full free will is, by any reasonable definition, the ability to reshape creation immediately and through all future time in whatever way one chooses--and this is indistinguishable from the characteristics carried by omnipotence. Thus, no one can reasonably claim that all mortal humans have complete free will.) And this is as absurd as there being two Gods, each of Whom is omnipotent: there can be only one Infinite, invisibly embracing all. Thus, we cannot have complete free will--which is the full passage of consciousness through the door between creation and Spirit--without being also omnipresent (and vibrationless) through all relative space. We know also that higher states of consciousness involve the experience of a greater degree of Bliss; a dilation and "flying" of subjective time; an increasing refinement of thought and clarity of intuition; and an awareness of and ability to function in higher or more subtle realities, having "finer" particles than does physical reality. The impulse response model of the universe--which, being comprehensible to the present-day human intellect, must necessarily give only a vague glimpse of the complete creational mechanism--provides a very compact and efficient means of accounting for this wide range of expectations, and does so on the basis of a minimum number of postulates: it need assume only the validity of the motion picture basis of creation, the fact that higher states of consciousness are higher rates of intelligent vibration, and combine these with a literal interpretation of the expressions "sphere of consciousness" and "expansion of consciousness." And, as an added bonus, and metaphysical necessity, the involved ability to distinguish between the expansion and contraction of consciousness implies that good is absolutely distinguishable from evil. Further, given the fact that free choice can only be made beyond time, it is only in a view of the universe closely allied to the motion picture model that we can account for the fact that mortal consciousness has only partial free choice and free will: how else but in a finite frequency of point-contractions can consciousness be only partly beyond time? And as soon as one has accepted the intuitively audible and averred nature of Om as the omnipresent basis of all vibrations, implying that this Name contains all possible frequencies from zero to infinity, and so leading naturally to the impulsive basis of creation (as with the application of "As above, so below" to the spikes of the human nervous system), and the filtering of this Word implied by the motion picture nature of the universe (or by the fact that the infinite perfection of God is already within us; that it is only ego that limits the manifestation/ expression of this Light), it can hardly be disputed that it follows logically and mathematically from this that the realization of God-consciousness consists, as noted by Patanjali, in the neutralization of the oppositional states in dualistic consciousness. Lacking the precise language of mathematics, it would be very difficult to objectively and forcefully demonstrate that creation can be both a "cosmic motion picture," and arise from the "beating of a Cosmic Drum"--to the casual eye, what similarities exist between motion pictures and drumming?--and, further, that this structure or body of God could have anything to do with the lower reflected human nervous and circulatory systems; as well as with knocking, with breath, with mouths and words, with true cloud- whiteness, clockworklike pendulums, and thunderous hands clapping. However, given a simple application of the quantitative language of mathematics, the equivalence of these various structural descriptions becomes obvious. Conversely, were any meditator, being formally unfamiliar with the mathematical equivalence of these diverse structures, to characterize creation, on the basis of his-her meditative perceptions, as both a cosmic motion picture and as arising from the beating of a Cosmic Drum, this characterization could not but be based in valid direct conscious perception of the basic creational structure. The mathematical self-consistency of such meditative perceptions must further dismiss as utterly untenable any suggestion that meditation is merely a form of self-hypnosis; that its revelations are merely "what you want them to be." There can be only one State which is both without division and limitless--so that the philosophy of yoga is implicitly monotheistic--and it is, again, only through our consciousness being able to "touch" this integrated God-State beyond time that we can have free choice and free will. That is, we cannot talk about free will without implicit reference to God: if free will of any degree exists, God exists. To Reiterate and Make This Perfectly Clear: No one can rationally claim to have free choice or free will without implicitly acknowledging that there exists a door between God and creation, and that it is possible for consciousness to pass through this door: these are the criteria for the existence of free choice and free will. (One may object that "free choice arises from intelligence; we need not invoke the existence of God in order to account for it." But what is intelligence? It is an integrated state that is neither completely predictable/determined, nor random; so that all that this objection has really done is to define God as [Supreme] Intelligence; hardly a death blow to the yogic view of the situation.) And if such a door exists, what, then--other than our own sluggish accepted limitations--is to prevent our consciousness from passing fully through it, to realize complete oneness with God beyond duality? Further, this door between God and creation must be the ideal mathematical point, of zero amplitude in all directions: If such a door were non-zero in size, any material particles smaller than it would be able to pass through it into the formless non-dualistic Absolute, while still retaining their dualistic forms; which would clearly be illogical, Captain. Or, again, if the expression "sphere of consciousness" is meant to be taken literally (it is!), and if our then spherical consciousness is to pass or "fit snugly" through the door between creation and God--which it must if we are to have free will--this door too must be spherical; and points are spheres of zero radius. Alternatively, in order for the plane wavefronts entering creation in the primordial impulses to be "diffracted" into perfect spheres, as in Figures 8 and 12 (pages 87 and 93), the apertures, or doors, through which they squeeze must be ideal points, at the centers of the resulting spheres; this again follows from elementary mathematical laws of wave behavior. Since doors are, in general, bi-directional--that is, they allow both entrance and exit--such a door should not only allow mortal consciousness to go beyond duality, but also provide the means by which That which is beyond duality may come in to relative space, and so become creation. And again, since (resonant frequency) attunement to higher states of consciousness results in both a spatial expansion of consciousness and a greater degree of free choice and free will, the more consciousness expands to receive God coming into Nature, the more it must contract to pass through the door between God and creation. And the highest state of consciousness, of infinite resonant frequency, must be omnipresent; and further, possessing complete freedom of choice, must pass fully through the Door. Any future refinements to the motion picture model of the universe--or any other philosophical attempts to develop a mechanism for the possible existence of free will, even if they did not explicitly acknowledge the validity of the Eastern view in "As above, so below," and so the nature of the universe in impulsive "spikes" and self-similarity-- must retain these characteristics. Good and evil are again absolutely distinguishable, and are contained in integrated potential in the primordial impulses underlying Om, this perfected state being reached only through unconditional goodness or expansion of consciousness. That is, the universe exhibits both "dualism"--good and evil being distinct and opposite principles--and "monism," in being (potentially, at least) a unified (and holographic) whole: both good and evil (indeed, all dualities or polarities) have descended from neutral God immanent in creation, transcendent beyond creation. It is likewise fully possible for God to be both immanent and transcendent at the same time--He's God; He can be whatever he wants. When a little part of the Infinite Ocean becomes ruffled, it is called creation; the transcendent, unrippled Infinity then still exists beyond vibration, while at the same time having become creation, and so being immanent in it. The Ocean can exist without the waves, but the waves cannot exist without the Ocean. Likewise, consciousness can exist without being differentiated into mind, but mind cannot exist without its integrated state of consciousness: if a creature has mind, it also has consciousness--no exceptions. (Consciousness may be reasonably defined as "vibration guided by intelligence." By this definition, there is nothing in the cosmos which is not consciousness in one form or another.) It is, however, possible to have consciousness (or mind) without self-awareness, or the intuitive knowledge of the entity that it exists. Consciousness and mind have literal location and localization in space, but can only be directly "measured" by other consciousness and mind, not by computers or oscilloscopes. The behavior of consciousness is, of course, reflected in the behavior of the physical world; but these are reflections mere; imitating, not governing, the characteristics of consciousness. "Since, upon a careful/logical/scientific/unbiased examination of the universe, it becomes Self-evident that God exists, even before one has ascended to direct knowledge of Perfection, where does this leave faith, given that faith may be colloquially defined as 'belief even in the presence of doubt'? How can one have faith when there is no rational reason to doubt?" The idea of faith as belief in the presence of doubt, although widespread and encouraged by mainstream religion, is not valid: mere belief, with or without questioning, cannot move mountains; only realization of the Infinite Power of Truth, or passage through the zero radius point at the center of one's sphere of consciousness, and the associated freedom of will, can do this. This faith based in realization or intuition is the antithesis of the theological view of faith as intrinsically involving separation between the faithful and the object of faith, this separation necessarily introducing doubt or the lack of immediate certainty as to the true nature of the object of faith into the mind of the faithful one; where faith is conceived as existing inseparable from division and doubt. If you have attained to realized belief, or direct intuitive knowledge of the true structure of the cosmos, your consciousness having taken on the characteristic qualities of form echoed in the tiny, spherical (pointlike) yellow-white (i.e., sunlike; sphere-of-light) mustard seed--a sunlike sphere of light-consciousness, such consciousness being simultaneously infinitely large and infinitely small or pointillistic; the sunlike seed-potential from which all manifest Nature unfurls--creation will dance in effortless accord with the power of your God-united will; ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. That is, realized true belief-- or direct knowledge of the object of one's concentration or ultimate concern--or faith, destroys separation and doubt. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen....Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God" (Hebrews 11:1-3. Indeed, the word of God frames the innermost structure of all creation's worlds; but the faith through which this is fully understood is identical with Self- realization or direct conscious knowledge of God through meditation, and has nothing to do with believing without the possibility of proof). Thus, even the Biblical definition of faith associates it with "things hoped for"; that is, things visualized or concentrated on--"hopes" are positive-expectation thoughts--this concentration being inherently associated with free will, or the outward projection of the concentrated thoughts. Faith cannot be separated from free will--both have their source in conscious contact with God. That is, the existence of free will, based in the freely chosen transfer of energy between individual and environment--the faith through which mountains may be moved into the sea, rooted in the outward projection of one's "hopes" or concentrated positive thoughts--is "evidence of things not seen"; is evidence of the existence of God: if free will and so free choice exist, Unmeasurable God beyond duality, not "seeable" even in principle, exists. The sunlike spherical mustard seed, when initially planted in the earthy soil of material nature, is indeed the smallest, most insignificant seed (of zero resonant frequency, so vibrating with zero amplitude and zero frequency); but when it grows, its bowers provide a home for the bird of omnipresence. Similarly, "belief," as it is used in the Christian scriptures, carries a vastly different meaning from that which we are wont to attach to it: the giving of "...the power to become the Sons of God, even to those that believe on [Christ's] name" again involves realization of the Christ consciousness--the intelligence immanent in all vibratory creation-- rather than merely choosing the right thing to blindly believe or "have faith" in. You don't have to BELIEVE anything! But you must perform the experiments, with developed mastery of the appropriate (meditative) experimental techniques. And you cannot arbitrarily demand that anything "real" must be measurable by physical instruments. The respective views of India in yoga, and of the Far East in Taoism, concerning liberation or moksha may be summarized as: "All is illusion: let it go"; and "All is in order: let it come." These are not contradictory viewpoints; they cannot be, if both are based in Ultimate Enlightenment: there are many paths, but can be only One Goal. The cosmic motion picture is simply that--a movie; it is not Reality. Even the highest pleasure, worst suffering and grossest imbalances are only plays of shadow and light: the eternal soul which peeks through the pores of space as both uninvolved witness and actor in the drama of creation is forever blissful, forever untouched by duality. Therefore, do not be deceived into thinking that the transitory God's-will-sustained and ultimately decaying/dissolving light-forms of the motion picture are capable of producing eternal happiness in you: it is illusion; a dance of shadow and light; let it go. But in this movie, the Director's plot is being constantly modified to make the most of the present circumstances, or aspire toward the greatest good (flowing like a river to the place it wants to be); and when one's thoughts and actions are in perfect accord with this natural flow-- when, having expanded your consciousness into Infinity, you realize fully that the Director has become you, and so participate in this plotting as one with Him--they result not only in the greatest realization of one's own Bliss, but in the greatest Bliss possible for all without infringing on free will, or the choice to reject God-Bliss in favor of egoic pleasure and pain. And in everything there is an element of perfection, for Om-God has become all things: All is in order; let it come. It's an illusion, but it's an ordered illusion: God's in His heaven, and all's well in light on earth. Further, while creation is rooted in the balanced reciprocity of polarities, the right or natural way, or Tao, of progress toward Perfection does not consist in maintaining a dynamic balance between good and evil-- between the expansion and contraction, or raising and lowering of the resonant frequency, of consciousness. The innate course of creation is the evolution of consciousness toward the infinite resonant frequency that is attunement to the Absolute; it is only ego, or the concern for self rather than for All, that interferes with this natural course. It is only by acting unconditionally in accord with the will of God, thus ridding oneself of personal desires, and so of the ego, that the disturbances that are the individualized wave of consciousness subside, and the eternal union of the wave with the Infinite Ocean is realized. Action sometimes in good, sometimes in selfishness or evil, can never lead one to the transcendence of duality, because consciousness can never merge completely in God so long as there is any vestige of finite self or ego remaining. This is so by definition, both spiritual and mathematical. Again, we become what we concentrate on. But mortal states of consciousness can, by definition, only conceive of dualistic thoughts; that is, dualistic consciousness has no way of directly concentrating on, hence becoming, God beyond vibration. This is another indication of the importance of the acceptance of a God-realized guru: the final leap from the highest states of dualistic, vibratory consciousness into the Vibrationless Original can only be made through the grace of God and guru. What is needed, then, are the guru, and the efficient techniques of meditation. Toward this, the sincere seeker is offered heartfelt encouragement to read Paramahansa Yogananda's "Autobiography of a Yogi". This beloved masterpiece of metaphysical literature--the greatest and most wisdom-perfumed book I have ever been privileged to read; no one who reads it, with an open heart, will fail to be changed by it-- is available from Self-Realization Fellowship (3880 San Rafael Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90065-3299), the organization founded by Sri Yogananda in 1920 to act as the means of dissemination of the ancient scientific meditative technique of Kriya Yoga. ("Sri" is an East Indian title of respect.) Kriya Yoga is an advanced technique of life-force (prana) control by which, through the guru's inner guidance, the rate of conscious evolution of the individual may be greatly increased. One-half minute of Kriya practice is said to effect the same progress as is realized in one year of natural spiritual development. This and other testimony regarding the efficacy of the science of Kriya Yoga is recorded in Chapter 26 of the Autobiography. The technique itself may be received after the devotee has completed approximately the first year of the Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons. (Several preliminary techniques of meditation are taught within this period.) A free booklet, "Undreamed-of Possibilities," describing the general philosophy of Sri Yogananda and SRF, and including an application form for the SRF Lessons, is available from the above address. Paramahansa Yogananda is, by divine decree, the last in the SRF line of gurus; all Kriya Yogis, of which I am one, pledge their spiritual loyalty to him. No Kriya Yoga disciple of Yogananda can ever assume the status of "guru," regardless of his-her degree of spiritual advancement. It is a vital point of metaphysics that the eternal guru-disciple bond is established, and the guru's inner guidance thus secured, only when the disciple receives diksha (spiritual initiation) either from the guru himself or through the guru's chosen agency. Sri Yogananda specifically founded and designated SRF for this purpose. Any other individual or organization claiming to represent Yogananda's teachings or purporting to offer Kriya initiation should therefore be avoided. Likewise, while the models presented herein are, to the best of my present understanding, in large accord with the valid direct perceptions of all true masters-- including Sri Yogananda: Yogananda often characterized creation as a "cosmic motion picture," and as arising from the "beating of a Cosmic Drum"; recall how these characterizations are mathematically equivalent--the ideas given voice in this manuscript have not in any way been explicitly endorsed or approved by Self- Realization Fellowship; i.e., the author is not to be taken as an authorized representative of Yogananda's work--only SRF merits this revered privilege. I am well aware of the damage that can be done when still- too-ignorant disciples attempt to spread, conditioned by their own imperfect understanding, the "Good Word" they have recently discovered; and, conversely, of the importance of maintaining the purity of any master's original teachings. But still, I could not write this book without mentioning Yogananda's name at least a few times; for if his name were to have been entirely omitted, where then could you turn for the wanted techniques of meditation? The pilgrimage of Spirit is an ever-new journey into Perfect Love, Wisdom and Truth. It accepts no excuses born of imagined mortality; it demands a continuously reaffirmed dedication of heart, mind and soul, not just in meditation but in one's every thought and activity. But for those who would labor unceasingly only to please Our Love, the harvest truly is plentiful; even the first fragrant wisps of peace born in meditation will convince of this. In Her Perfection and nowhere else is found the sole nectar to quench the every noble desire of the heart. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." May God and the Gurus bless each one of you in our soul-trek to Infinity. Om Om Amen MY OTHER PROJECTS What follows are representative samples from my forthcoming book "There Is A Season and O Holy Night: Two 'Spiritual Comedy' Screenplays" (to be published in both hardcover and electronic formats). "There Is A Season" takes place over a summer among the workers at a scenic fishing resort, and follows the storyline "Boy Meets Girl; Boy Gets Girl; Boy Tires of Girl; Boy Seeks God"; while "O Holy Night" examines the three primary elements of the religious spectrum--the blind believer or Christian; blind disbeliever or agnostic scholar; and experimentalist or meditator--against the background of a Christmas family gathering. The scripts offer a concise and entertaining introduction to the tenets of the spiritual science of yoga and meditation, and help to clarify some of the ideas presented in "The Consciousness of Light". Anyone ordering a copy of "The Consciousness of Light: On Physics and Metaphysics" in electronic (356 pages) or forthcoming hardcover formats (see the file ORDER.FRM) will automatically be placed on a mailing list announcing the availability of this and future projects of mine. (A third screenplay, "The Terrace Academy", and an album of keyboard- and voice-based New Age music, "Beside Blissful Waters", are also in the works.) ~ts&ohn~ THERE IS A SEASON (CUT TO: GREG and SHELLEY in the restaurant, eating) SHELLEY This is good soup. And the bread is excellent--very fresh. GREG Hmm...this Caesar salad, on the other hand, could well have Marcus Brutus' fingerprints on it. SHELLEY Better stop eating--it could be evidence. GREG It's OK--I've got an alibi. (with James Cagney, gangster accent) I was with you, remember, sweetheart? On the lawn of the Parthenon? SHELLEY (laughs) You dream so. GREG (warmly) If this is a dream, I don't want to wake up. Ever. (CUT TO: ALYCE and DENNIS by the bar. ALYCE lets out a large yawn and then scratches her forehead, puzzled) ALYCE But if gravity and electricity were really the same force, wouldn't the gravity go off when you turn out the lights? DENNIS (playing along) How do you know it doesn't? (The guests at ALYCE'S table of three, now eating three plates of fish, wave at her to catch her attention. She sees this, and takes several steps toward them) GUEST (holds up his water glass) Could we get some more water? ALYCE Oh, sure! (she returns to the bar; to DENNIS) I can't believe those people. They're going through water like a fish out of.... DENNIS Tartar sauce. ALYCE Hmm? DENNIS Did you take tartar sauce out with your fish? ALYCE Oh! No! (ALYCE runs to the kitchen. CUT TO: the waitress delivering GREG and SHELLEY'S main courses) SHELLEY/GREG Thank you. (The waitress leaves, and SHELLEY and GREG look blankly at their respective sparse plates. SHELLEY looks at GREG) SHELLEY Somewhere in Ethiopia, an entire family of four is going without a light snack. GREG (poking a very small and soft baked potato in aluminum foil) ...And this has to be the last potato left over from the famine of 1847. What was their slogan? "Give me a potato or give me death"? SHELLEY (laughing) You dirty rat. GREG No, that was the black plague. (he looks over the table at SHELLEY'S plate) That's not much chicken for fifteen dollars. SHELLEY No, I read about this: the size of Chicken Kiev servings has been shrinking ever since Russia switched to a market-based economy. In the Ukraine, people would stand in line half a day for HALF this much. If you want big portions, you have to order Japanese or German. GREG Sauerkraut? SHELLEY No, actually they seem quite happy about it. (GREG goes back to poking his potato) If your potatoe's bad, you should really send it back. GREG No, I don't want to make a fuss. "If you can keep your head while all around you are losing theirs...." SHELLEY Oh, so now you're Henry the 8th? GREG (affirming) I am. And you shall be my queen. SHELLEY Send it back! (The waitress approaches their table) WAITRESS How is everything? GREG (pleasantly) Fine. WAITRESS Good! (She walks away) SHELLEY (amused) Liar. GREG (ruefully) Yeah, I know. This is how Nixon got started. O HOLY NIGHT CAROL Hmm...Well, what tests would Christianity have to pass for you to accept it as true? JAMES (pause) I don't know. I've never thought about it that way. CAROL But don't you see, then? You're rejecting it, but you don't know why. JAMES But then why shouldn't I believe Hinduism, or believe Islam, or believe the world is pink? CAROL But it's not belief; it's faith. JAMES Ah. Faith that the earth is at the center of the universe. Faith without the possibility of proof that the sun orbits the earth, and that all the stars in heaven will crash to this "unique" earth during the Apocalypse. Faith with no room for logic or creative thought. CAROL But even if your use of logic is correct, how can you demand that God obey it? Why should God be logical? He made logic, but he's not bound by it. SUSIE (agreeing) Exactly. It's like putting Descartes before the horse: I think, therefore I [she neighs loudly]. JAMES But every time you turn on a TV or drive your car, you're depending on logical laws...I mean, if a red traffic light suddenly starts to mean "raincoats and syrup," there's going to be a big mess to clean up afterwards. Why shouldn't religion be as logical as science? How can consciousness, and the evolution of consciousness, be beyond logic and law? For sure God's not bound by logic as such, but... CAROL The Bible says that we must have faith in Jesus. There's no other way to be saved. Why do you say that isn't logical? JAMES But why should you have to believe or just have blind faith? Why shouldn't there be experiments in consciousness that you can perform to test the validity of any "revealed authority"? Why shouldn't religion be scientific...based in reproducible experience? CAROL You seem to have a lot of faith in logic and science; (shrugging) I just have faith in God. SUSIE And I'd rather trust the word of God than depend on my own understanding. And anyways, there are irrational numbers, right? JAMES (surprised) Yes. SUSIE Well, then how can math be logical, if the numbers are irrational? It's like Socrates said: "As for me, all I know is that I know nothing." Of course, that was in Athens, before they got to the Emerald City. I could never figure out why the midgets were from Germany, though. (blank responses all around) Well, they're from Munich--München-- right? That's why they're called Munchkins. CAROL (to JAMES) God doesn't ask that we slavishly obey some set of logical laws. Like when Jesus picked corn on the Sabbath: God had said, "Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep..." JAMES (interrupts) ...Stores open not more than six hours. ABOUT THE AUTHOR ~author~═══════╕ │ │ Geoffrey Falk was born in southern Manitoba in │ │ 1966. He has studied Electrical Engineering and │ │ Physics at the University of Manitoba, with │ │ varying degrees of interest, and is currently │ │ working on several "spiritual comedy" │ │ screenplays, and an album of New Age music, │ │ "Beside Blissful Waters". │ │ ╘══════════════╛ FOOTNOTE FOR PAGE 10 Gregory Bateson observed that "metaphor is the language of Nature." This is true, but is simply another way of saying "As above, so below": all above/below correspondences are metaphorical (e.g, "creation is waves on the surface of the Infinite Ocean"); and Nature is built on "As above, so below." (The implication of "As above, so below" is that the microcosm reflects the macrocosm: atoms [in the view of classical physics, at least] are miniature solar systems; the human body mirrors the structure of the cosmos [the "body" of God]--so that humankind is created "in the image of God"--etc.) Puns involve plays on words, or the "working" of an idea on more than one level. This is a very metaphorical ("above/below" or "self-similar") characteristic, so that puns are--potentially, at least--the highest, not the lowest, form of humour: they have the greatest capacity to express the intelligence of God enfolded in the self-similar universal structure. FOOTNOTE FOR PAGE 26 The degree of filtering of each impulse reflects how hard each stone is thrown into the water: higher resonant frequencies may be related, in analogy, to higher stone velocities. Also, one's sphere of consciousness will obviously not always remain centered on the same one pore in the Ocean surface; rather, it will "follow the body around."