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To Robert Pirsig,
Dear Robert: Phaedrus, the ghost of reasoning, has been alive and well. He has completely possessed my being since 1976, thanks to me reading your Zen book. If you still have any interest in the value of rationality, you really owe it to yourself to check out the experientially-driven, rationally-constructed unification of science, spirit, and self contained in my autobiographical web site www.davep.net. To entice you, I will offer the following summary of what I have finally accomplished thanks to the motivating rational enlightenment you have provided through your pioneering intellectual efforts. A unification of science must begin with unifying physics, the foundation of science. With respect to physics, you concluded that Quality is an “event.” An event also most fundamentally structures Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, which redefined Newton’s inverse squared force of gravity geometrically as curved 4-d space-time. It is self evident that a two-dimensional piece of paper could not curve either locally or globally unless a third dimension existed. Identically, how could four-dimensional space-time curve unless a fifth dimension also geometrically existed? A fifth dimension is not my invention; it is germane to physics. A fifth dimension was first formally introduced into physics by the little known Polish physicist, Kaluza, in the 1920s when he presented Einstein, who was then searching for a Unified Field Theory, with a 5-d theory that flawlessly and mathematically unified the electromagnetic and gravitational fields. Qualitatively, the fifth dimension is the electromagnetic ether that dynamically vibrates to create Maxell’s electromagnetic wave and statically curves locally to produce Einsteinian gravity. However, because Kaluza’s fifth dimension ran into quantitative problems in quantum mechanics, it was temporarily abandoned. An even bigger problem that remains today is that no one could rationally or experientially identify the fifth dimension beyond just merely speculating the possibility for another dimension somehow magically existing somewhere in conventional 3-d space. But any element in science—especially a unification whole—must somehow be objectively and experientially verifiable as existing. Quantum physics differs from classical physics because it directly “physically” encounters the nonphysical fifth immaterial dimension, which accounts for why quantum physics is fundamentally “physically” uncertain, indeterminate, and why the fundamental particles and photons are immaterial-material dualistic in nature. Since quantum physics “intimately” encounters the reality of the fifth immaterial unification dimension, not surprisingly, quantum physicists were forced to resurrect the fifth dimension when they attempted to unify the four fundamental forces of nature, the electromagnetic, weak and strong nuclear, and gravity. A mathematical unification of the electromagnetic and weak nuclear force first produced an electroweak force, where physicists claim that this pioneering step in unifying the four forces has even been substantiated by high energy laboratory experiments. For next unifying the strong nuclear force, it could at least be mathematically incorporated within the same rationale, although physicists cannot envision ever being able to create enough manmade energy to experimentally verify the mathematical result. Not surprisingly, the fifth dimension had been lurking throughout the quantum unification effort in the guise of the mathematical infinities that were encountered in unifying the three forces. I note that God has always been qualitatively described as being physically infinite, so it is no surprise that a 5-d God reality should mathematically manifest as infinity in quantum physics. Fortunately for a three-force unification, the dreaded infinities could be conveniently subtracted (i.e., renormalized) from the end mathematical result. However, when quantum unifiers lastly tried to incorporate gravity—which, recall, macroscopically requires a fifth dimension to accommodate 4-d space-time curvature—not surprisingly again, unrenormalizable infinities developed such that a fifth dimension had to be incorporated to mathematically incorporate gravity. As you probably know, string theory is bantered about today as a possible “theory of everything.” The qualitative essence of this theory reduces to treating the one-dimensional “point” masses of classical physics as two-dimensional quantum strings, which supposedly vibrate at different frequencies in even more mystical geometrical dimensions to ultimately produce all the material quantum particles. The second “fundamental” string dimension is again just the same fifth geometric dimension that unifies the two macroscopic fields and the four fundamental forces. Regarding those additional dimensions required in string theory, I just note that mystics and those who poignantly experience clinical death typically claim that multiple spiritual dimensions are embedded in a more fundamental immaterial and spiritual after life dimension. As you know,
science differs from religion and even philosophy because science searches for
truth not in divinely revealed dogma or by using just logical analysis and
reasoning. Science applies logic, reasoning, and mathematics, after the fact,
to what is revealed through experience. Ideally to discover the truth,
science employs controlled experiments that produce identical results anywhere
and anytime for all human experimenters, independent of such things as the
experimenter’s religious beliefs, philosophical opinions, wishes, desires,
wants, needs, race, color, and so forth. In a nut shell, you too know that
science works so well and has discovered so much truth because the experimental
methodology is objective. In conclusion, I cannot stress enough that if a fifth dimension unifies physics, it must have both an independent rational identity and be capable of being somehow objectively experienced. My involvement with the unification of physics happened serendipitously after I intuitively discovered the rational identity of the unification whole while experiencing altered consciousness. Since your culminating conclusions for quality being an event and directly related to God were identically revealed in a highly altered consciousness state of mind, too, you should relate ideally to my experience. My initial altered consciousness was produced conventionally by an athletic excursion into the “zone,” so if I had not also known about your attempt to define quality independent of the form it might take, nothing further would have happened. However, when I applied the same motion analysis I had used to produce quality athletics, I could explain quality in other things, such as music. My athletically induced altered consciousness then grew like a wild fire such that I was intuitively presented fait accompli with the identity of the unified field, which I further intuitively realized was somehow related to the God of religions. At that early time I had no knowledge about the impersonal and immaterial God germane to Eastern religions or that Christianity’s Holy Ghost is also trying to implicitly identify the same entity. Initially my scientific revelation lacked any further rational substance and did not include the simplifying geometrical nature of the unification whole. Thus, owing to also being a spiritual neophyte along with having only an inconsequential background in formal physics, what I faced for many follow on years was not unlike imagining Galileo being the first person to look at the moon with a telescope and then concluding it was made of “green cheese.” Galileo would obviously face an enormously difficult task to scientifically prove his intuition valid. But I stuck with the unification task for over two decades to date simply because everywhere that I looked, my initial intuitions, once rationalized adequately and fully, indeed rationally fit into and so unified “everything,” including spirituality and even self-understanding. Since the rational identity of the fifth dimension is revealed in my web site, I will not identify it for you here. Surely you would agree that any understanding has relevance only if it is personally discovered. However, I offer the following analysis that should motivate you to if not ride a motorcycle again, at least reflect on the mental enjoyment you experienced while riding a motorcycle. The fundamental flaw that scientists have always made in searching for the fifth dimension that is absolutely required in physics reflects consummate simplicity. They fail to explicitly first identify the limitation inherent in the conventional scientific experience and then consider how experience must be expanded so it can be used to rationally identify the fifth dimension. The substance of scientific experience, be it pure mathematical or sophisticated experimental, involves just primarily using our human sense of vision to objectively experience physical reality. This fact accounts for the everyday aphorism that rightly claims, “seeing is believing.” However, identical to the conventional geometric dimensions of 3-d space and 1-d time, the fifth dimension is real but immaterial—and thus spiritual—and accordingly cannot be seen, heard, touched, smelled or tasted and, especially, quantitatively measured. Whereas material objects such as tape measures and clocks can not only detect, but also even accurately measure the immaterial dimensions of 3-d space and 1-d time that constitute conventional 4-d space-time, only human consciousness can experience the immaterial and spiritual fifth unification dimension. Michelson and Morley found this out the hard way when their experiment failed to measure a dynamically vibrating fifth dimension, i.e., the conventional electromagnetic ether, simply because they used a holistically “unconscious” interferometer. I claim that it is just the fifth dimension that is mentally experienced by human consciousness in any form of mental high, such as those produced by the mere consumption of alcohol, athletics as simple as prolonged running, or, as you independently discovered, when we experience quality in something. Accordingly, anyone can potentially and objectively introspect the reality and rational identity of the fifth dimension while experiencing an everyday mental high. However, everyday highs obviously are much less intense and don’t last very long compared to the sustained levels of emotional ecstasy that you and I have experienced in our peak highly altered consciousness experiences that involved a God contact. Thus, the introspection task using an everyday transitory high will be more difficult. Plus who wants to rationally introspect a high when experiencing it—this will just dilute the high and even typically kill it. However, physics itself offers a convenient experiential avenue to facilitate introspecting what ultra-simple reality ingredient is being experienced to cause any mental high. Specifically, although general relativity geometrically reduces to 4-d space-time curvature, experientially gravity is also just a pure acceleration, which also can be as mentally addictive as drugs, gambling, or sex. Technically, acceleration is just a time change in velocity. A temporal change either in the direction or the amount of velocity creates not just acceleration. A corresponding inertial physical force also develops anytime acceleration exists. Everyone experiences physical inertial forces in our everyday lives when we, for example, brake our cars hard or turn corners too fast. If a fifth dimension unifies physics, it must be present where physics itself began, which just involves explaining simple motion. And indeed physics encounters the fifth dimension in classical physics (where I experienced it) because the only cause for inertial forces that physicists can venture are Newton’s experientially untenable absolute space premise or Mach’s charade of infinitely distant stars. I—not uniquely—have always sought out acceleration activities for mental pleasure in spite of the physically unpleasant and potentially lethal inertial forces equally produced. In my youth, for example, I owned and raced for fun high-powered cars, and as an adult, I continued to enjoy acceleration by socially riding motorcycles off road along with water and snow skiing. Neither physics experiments or the human mind can distinguish between being at rest or moving with a constant velocity. Only acceleration, a time change in velocity, perturbs human consciousness, and this is why people mentally enjoy any activity that involves a tangible amount of acceleration, such as what amusement park rides provide. To create enough stimulating acceleration that lasts, amusement park rides either drop you from a large height so you can acutely and mentally experience gravity without any inertial physical forces acting, and/or the rides rotate you rapidly so you can equally mentally experience the pleasures of “inertial” acceleration— which happens even though physical inertial forces act unpleasantly, too. Note that amusement parks market their acceleration thrill rides as producing mental pleasure owing just to a chemically constituted adrenaline rush. If ingestion of drugs such as mere alcohol reliably and universally produces mental highs, then it is no surprise that internally produced chemicals such as adrenaline or endorphins might act similarly. However, I contend that just physical acceleration, independent of any internally produced chemical affects on the brain, positively affects consciousness, too. The more acceleration, the bigger and more profound will be the high, which is why, for example, motorcycle manufacturers build “crotch rockets” for youths whose testosterone levels can cope with the blistering acceleration. To independently support the above paragraph, I note what test pilots report after experiencing sustained high g levels of “unconscious-producing” acceleration on a centrifuge. According to a representative TV program I watched, upon waking, the pilots universally report levels of altered consciousness that were even compared to the extreme experiences also typically reported in the “near death” situation. One pilot was so overwhelmed with pure joy on waking that he apologized to the camera for his child-like giddiness. He then commented extemporaneously that he now knew why pilots wanted to re-experience the centrifuge even though the associated inertial forces were so physically unpleasant. The TV program was at a loss to account for the positive altered consciousness produced by a centrifuge and tried to rationalize the phenomenon away as being caused by mere hallucinations produced by a blood loss to the brain. But the pilots themselves claimed that they were not hallucinating. Furthermore, a blood loss explanation doesn’t fly if we also assume that internally produced brain chemicals alone account for the altered consciousness. If the brain were losing blood enough to produce unconsciousness, then you would think that internally produced mind-enhancing chemicals, such as adrenaline and endorphins, would be equally depleted in a blood-starved brain experiencing extreme acceleration. Thus, I contend that it is just the raw, potent, and sustained physical acceleration that is producing the highly altered consciousness universally experienced by pilots who just sustain high g’s. Although I have ridden on a couple of roller coasters, I do not seek out the extremes of amusement park rides to mentally experience acceleration simply because these rides scare me. I personally like to have at least some control over the acceleration I am experiencing so I can actively reduce the fear element. For example, when I rode my motorcycle aggressively off road, I would typically become afraid during the dynamics such that fear-driven adrenaline was produced. However, I was also always trying to ride the motorcycle well enough to eliminate any fear such that I could mentally enjoy the natural high produced by just the physical acceleration. Even though my off-road motorcycle riding days are long gone, I currently drive a scooter around the recreational resort my wife and I own. The scooter is a 250 c.c. Honda, which accelerates quickly up to 30 mph. When it is safe to do this, I often exercise the scooter’s ability to accelerate quickly because I enjoy the little mental awareness buzz this motion alone produces. Why does mere physical acceleration mentally affect consciousness? I contend that both the mind and acceleration, although undeniably physical, share a common immaterial and thus spiritual aspect, which is also just five-dimensional. Thus, the 5-d spiritual component of acceleration affects the 5-d spiritual nature of consciousness. Robert, along with concluding that Quality was an event, you also equated Quality directly to God. Your conclusion here is equally correct; however, you just should have been more precise, as I will next accomplish. If something has quality, it has the “potential” to cause the person’s mind to consciously and briefly experience the fifth dimension. The common experience of quality differs from experiencing the impersonal God of Eastern religions and that which is implicit in Christianity’s Holy Ghost only because the mental experience of God lasts. When the mental experience of the fifth God-reality dimension lasts, the emotional effects reach ecstasy levels that, as you found out personally, can even be intense enough to put someone into the nut house if the person has not been previously spiritually conditioned through years of prayer or meditation—or at a minimum at least rationally understands why they are emotionally experiencing such profound joys. Of course, even though the mental experience of the fifth dimension is objective, whether that experience actually happens in any one mind is also fundamentally subjective. To see this, we can apply quality to the TV miniseries, Roots. A black person watching this program will typically be mentally and emotionally overwhelmed with the quality in Roots simply because of their African heritage. However, a typical white person will just experience a modest amount of quality watching Roots owing to just the interesting story and good acting. Lastly, a Klu Klux Klaner will mentally experience absolutely no quality owing to his ingrained prejudice against blacks. In conclusion, the quality experience itself is objective, though, because when anyone does experience quality, for whatever reason or cause acting, what is objectively mentally experienced is just the God–reality fifth physics unification dimension. The same subjectivity-objectivity analysis equally applies to all examples of things that can potentially alter consciousness. Whether or not and how much any one mind will experience the fifth dimension owing to something acting will depend up how much brain functioning bias exists. Thus, a vast and seemingly unrelated spectrum of things can, and do, dramatically—but not reliably and repeatedly for any one individual—alter human consciousness—from drugs such as LSD, sensory isolation or overload, self-torture, prayer and meditation, and, as you and I discovered personally, even intellectual discoveries. But unless the person has practiced the prerequisite spiritual techniques for years, similar to an everyday high, even highly altered consciousness will pass once the original forcing function departs and the person slips back into misusing his rationality. Virtually all humans are inveterate thought addicts, simply because, thanks to our parents and educators, virtually all humans are soon brain-washed into believing that rationally thinking not just produces intellectual skills but is required to excel in everything. And it is nothing more complicated than an addiction to thoughts that keeps all humans from experiencing the ecstasy produced when the human mind resonates within the fifth God-reality dimension. Accordingly, only a few one-in-a-billion token true saints, such as Jesus or Mother Teresa, have been able to break a thought addiction permanently, which then produces sustained highly altered consciousness. Anyone can verify the transcendental difficulty of even tangibly reducing unnecessary thoughts—yet stopping them completely—simply by merely consciously trying to actually stop thinking. They will all too soon first discover what has been revealed in formal psychology experiments, which was that a typical person can’t stop thinking for longer than three seconds on average. Anyone can next equally introspect and verify what stress therapist, P.H.D. Richard Carlson, in DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF…and its all small stuff, estimates for the “quantity” of garbage and self-defeating thoughts that a typical person also thinks daily—which is a whopping 50,000. I know that I have no trouble personally and poignantly confirming this quantification estimate. The most relevant impact your Zen book had on me when I first read it as a stone rationalist who believed that rationality was humanity’s unqualified panacea and not actually our spiritual and emotional nemesis was to make me aware that rationality is the ultimate double-edged sword. Indeed, on one constructive hand, our human rationality has created all the modern science, engineering, and technology while allowing us to also generally make sense out of all things, but on the other detrimental side of the same coin, rationality’s misuse guarantees that humans will not only not experience God, but even experience any meaningful simple good emotions such as peace of mind and happiness. Ironically, only a rational understanding of the dilemma and its causes will rectify this situation and so allow humanity to universally evolve spiritually without compromising our innate rational intelligence. Can we actually stop thinking incessantly and
remain intelligent? My favorite example in this respect is Einstein.
Researchers have always tried to figure out why Einstein was a scientific
genius, but no answer could be found. Einstein himself even tried to introspect
a reason, but could not. So he went so far as to leave his brain to science so
they could dissect it when he died and try to find a biological answer. What was first revealed here was that Einstein’s brain wasn’t even oversized. Furthermore, after some fifty years of repeated pathology investigations by multiple experts, no definitive and meaningful physiological anomalies were found in Einstein’s brain that could account for his genius. Although recently one researcher claimed to have found a slight physiological anomaly in Einstein’s brain, this could be just as well accounted for in terms of Einstein just fortuitously learning to use his brain optimally, which produced the physiological difference. It is easy to
identify how Einstein actually did use his brain differently than the norm,
which is revealed in the one anomaly in Einstein’s childhood that all
biographers identify but just consider as an irrelevant quirk. Specifically,
Einstein did not learn to talk until well past the normal age. One
biographer claims that Einstein was even eight before he began to
converse fluently. Since talking is just an external vocalization of thinking,
accordingly, if Einstein wasn’t talking much as a child, he also wasn’t
internally thinking very much either and thus did not develop a conventional
addiction to thoughts as a child. Thus, as a young adult pursuing science, he
was uniquely creative. Why didn’t Einstein ultimately produce a unified field theory, even though Kaluza first handed him the mathematical answer on a silver platter and he then spent more years trying to do just this than he did in all his other physics accomplishments combined? I contend simply because Einstein, in spite of his initial scientific genius, was also a mere human who simply did not rationally understand the important but limited role rationality plays in any human endeavor, even scientific ones. Einstein should have paid strict heed to what a scientific and mathematical contemporary of his, Poincare, so succinctly stated in the following one liner: It is by logic that we prove, but by intuition that we discover. I contend that Einstein, similar to all humans, ultimately succumbed to a misuse of rationality such that he became a typical thought addict in his non-productive years and this guaranteed he would lose his former intuitive creativity skills. If Einstein had not been seduced by the rational power of mathematics and instead continued to operate primarily in a thought-free intuitive brain functioning mode, perhaps he could have capitalized on two experiential clues that were then available to him. These could have allowed him to unify the two macroscopic fields by incorporating human consciousness into physics. First, Einstein was an inveterate sailor such that he had experienced at least a small amount of mentally addictive acceleration. Second, he should have further used the experiential clue that biographers relate for what provided Einstein with the initiating simple insight that ultimately produced general relativity. Here, a painter fell off a roof and then told Einstein that he did not physically feel anything. Indeed, in free fall the physical inertial force exactly cancels out the gravitational force such that only pure acceleration exists, which is the substance of the mass equivalency principle that initiated and helps structure general relativity. It is safe to assume that the painter,
because he lived to relate his experience, had to have fallen from only a
modest height. Assuming this was, say, sixty-four feet maximum, from the simple
formula s = ½ gt2, and ignoring air friction, then the painter would
have been free falling for only two mere seconds. Yet, he was acutely
aware of an absence of any physical inertial forces acting. What explains
this? The pure acceleration merely expanded the painter’s conscious awareness
enough so he could detect the absence of any physical forces acting. Robert, I will lastly share with you the biggest problem I, who basically remains a victim of his rationality, have with what I subjectively perceive for God’s behavior here on earth. Although we both have been personally blessed with experiencing God on earth via our highly altered consciousness experiences of the fifth dimension, and in spite of me intellectually accepting that a rational universe could not have evolved rational life on earth in the absence of a rational creator, I can’t fathom why God’s earthly behavior appears to be so irrational and incongruent with respect to humanity’s spiritual evolution. The only token explanation I can envision is contained in the everyday religious aphorism that states: “God helps those who help themselves.” Accordingly, after humanity ignored Jesus’ attempt to help us spiritually evolve through a morality path, perhaps God realized that humanity had to take the proverbial bull by the horns and accept the “rational” responsibility to produce our species spiritual evolution. To help us, perhaps it has been God all along that has been providing the intuitive discoveries to various humans such that science could develop on earth, which of course is what distinguishes our modern times compared to Christ’s time. Our species has had the same rational brain for some hundred thousand odd years and physical reality hasn’t changed either. Accordingly, science has evolved to date simply because we have learned to correctly use our rational brains applied to physical reality. The remaining scientific task is simply to apply our rational intelligence so we can understand the fundamental functioning of our brains and minds. Success here would allow the human mind to make our physically evolved rationality work for us and not against us, as has been the case since species day one. An intelligent creator would surely also know about the “no pain, no gain” prerequisite required when we try to get into good physical shape by working out in the gym. Thus, no pain, no gain would equally be required if humanity expects to spiritually evolve and recover what was supposedly gratuitously given to our mythical parents, Adam and Eve, when they initially enjoyed never ending pure bliss in the metaphorical Garden of Eden, that is, until they ate that darned apple and got all of us kicked out of heaven. Since I have referenced biblical creation theory, I will accomplish two religious clarifications in this letter, too. I first want to re-interpret the creation myth in functional brain-mind terms because the myth is so accurate, once you rationally decipher the validity it is trying to actually convey. Thus: The Garden of Eden is just thought-free sustained altered consciousness, which allows humans to directly experience God and the emotional ecstasies that accompany this mental experience. The tree of knowledge of good and evil is first a tree that just should be called “rationality.” I suggest that someone who transcribed the myth simply couldn’t fathom how a tree of mere “knowledge” could present a problem for humanity, so the morality aspect was added ad hoc. And indeed, both knowledge and rationality in themselves are not spiritual impediments. In this respect, recall that God supposedly was only amused when Adam and Eve started naming all the animals in Eden, where this activity just reflects the human rational brain evolving a sophisticated language capability. The spiritually lethal apple on the tree of rationality is just a metaphor for humanity actually just potentially being able to misuse their God-given rationality. Eating the apple just reflects humans developing an ingrained thought addiction. The devil that ultimately seduces humanity’s parents to eat the darned apple is lastly just the ego mind that develops owing to excessive uncontrolled functioning of the left rational brain. The ego mind, and not our rational brain capability, is our actual spiritual nemesis because the ego is as insatiable as it is insecure; judgmental as it is unmerciful, especially with respect to the person possessing the ego; and lastly is as power-hungry as it is impotent. Indeed, the common spiritual message that all true enlightened prophets, such as Buddha and Parmahansa Yogananada, stress is that spiritual enlightenment and emotional nirvana cannot happen unless the human ego is permanently killed, which can only happen if we can somehow stop thinking constantly. For the second religious entity, I want to introduce and rationally account for trinities. In your Zen book you developed a trinity involving quality, recognized that trinities seemed to be germane to reality, and finally pondered why. I first note that trinities indeed extend beyond your triad and even Christianity’s God-the-father, Son, and Holy Ghost religious one. For example Eastern religions and even Judism ultimately developed their own trinities. Lastly consider how even the total human self is potentially a triad. Here we have a physical brain, an immaterial-physical hybrid mind (functional consciousness) and (possibly) a pure 5-d soul (functional conscience.) I contend that trinities abound simply because reality itself is created thusly. At the God-the-father pinnacle, we have a physically uncontaminated absolute, unchanging, fifth dimension as an infinite source of physical creative energy, dynamically (e.g., Aristotle’s Unmoved Mover) creating the physical Universe in an acausal manner. In other words, the fifth dimension is the primal cause of all physical causes and effects but itself is not affected by them (i.e., no feedback exists) (Note: as I show in my website, a physical creation also need not have happened as a Big Bang event, either.) The Son element is a spiritual-physical hybrid that reflects the actual quantum “act” of creation. Since an acausal fifth dimension is doing the creating, the quantum creative process produces schizophrenic wave-particles that behave nonlocally along with producing the intrinsic physical uncertainty and indeterminacy that distinguishes quantum physics from classical macroscopic field physics. The Holy Spirit is a physical-spiritual hybrid that just represents the physical culmination of the five-dimensional quantum dynamics creating macroscopic physical reality. Although the reality creations of the fifth dimension are primarily physical, the fifth dimension still always lurks in the physical background, in the guise of creating inertial forces, vibrating to produce the physical electromagnetic wave, and statically curving to produce Einsteinian gravity. In finally returning to and applying the previous no pain no gain conclusion to my own situation, after twenty-five plus years of rationalizing to death what your Zen book created for me, I am at least now “actively trying” to do something meaningful with the rational understanding that has resulted. Why am I finally trying to correspond directly with you? I stress that I am not just trying to share with you my discoveries that you are ultimately responsible for. Instead, I write to you simply because I am trying to motivate you into action! In your Zen book you blame the emotional intensity as produced by your highly altered consciousness at God contact levels as being responsible for your temporary insanity. I had an identical problem coping with emotions when I first experienced highly altered consciousness and this was the reason I chose to rationalize my experience instead of just trying to live the experience. Because intellectual “overload” produced your God contact I can empathize and understand why you have chosen to become an intellectual recluse. Intellectual isolation as a possible means to find mental peace of mind and even possibly again re-experience God is obviously a much better methodology than intellectual overload. However, I contend that neither intellectual overload nor isolation is optimal. Instead, spiritual and rational fulfillment is best found by coupling rational understanding to meaningful action. Because of Chris’ afterlife contact, you understand through undeniable direct experience that spirituality extends far beyond peak excursions into altered consciousness for the living! In terms of coping with highly altered
consciousness, I will note the circumstances that precipitated my most recent
and literally life saving excursion into highly altered consciousness. In May
1997, thanks to a previous exposure to gross environmental pollution (the
details of which are also included in my web site) I found myself in the cancer
ward with leukemia. Owing to previous research into miraculous cures and
spontaneous remissions, I rationally knew that these seemingly medical miracles
were produced by the person somehow being able to experience highly altered
consciousness. The anecdotes always, though, just focused on the technique used
as creating the miracle cure, not the final state of mind reached, which I knew
was the underlying cause. Accordingly, to aid the medical treatment of my
cancer, I also employed all the classical spiritual techniques, such as prayer,
meditation, yoga, etc., to try to tangibly alter my consciousness and keep it
that way long enough to beat the grim reaper. And these efforts bore much
fruit; my leukemia went into remission right after I received the first glut of
medical poisons and I remain cancer free almost five years later. The point I
am trying to make here is that because I rationally understood that intense
emotions would flow within highly altered consciousness, I could cope with them
and behave without making a conventional fool of myself. Robert, you were born in Sept. 1928 and are enjoying much physical longevity. My soul intuition tells me that God is keeping you alive because God wants you do something more tangible than just provide humanity with the seeds of rational enlightenment. But since “free will” can be another human nemesis, I contend that it is solely up to you to bite the bullet and so respond to what I contend are God’s implicit wishes that you spiritually stand up and be accounted for. Robert, millions of readers have read your Zen book and its content has undeniably tangibly and positively affected too many people to count. Surely thousands of people currently emotionally and intellectually pine for an opportunity to establish an intellectual dialogue with you, owing to your brilliant accomplishments contained in your Zen book. Whereas you have, indeed, planted the rational seed of spiritual and scientific enlightenment, I have watered, fertilized, and nurtured that seed such that a bountiful crop of practically useful rational and spiritual enlightenment has now finally been documented. However, if that crop is to ever actually nourish humanity, it must be harvested and distributed to likeminded intelligent people who would be willing to change the world for the better if just given the intelligent means to do this. Put bluntly, for Christ’s sake Robert, contact me so we can jointly do something about rescuing humanity before not just you or I die of old age unfulfilled (and thus might be sent back to finish the task in another human life), but also before the pollution doomsday rock that I further identify in my autobiographical web site falls on everyone and produces humanity’s spiritual evolution by turning everyone into a literal spirit. Sincerely, Dave Pollock |