On the Lofty Potential of the Human Brain

Stephen Wiltshire draws a city from memory

Soaking in certain books and lecture materials (mainly revolving around the works of Robert Anton Wilson and Timothy Leary) over the last few weeks has had me often floating in a deep, blissful and prolonged appreciation and consideration of the human brain, nature's astounding biocomputer.

Potent Quotables: Speaking to the Superconscious Mind

"Stubborn mental or physical diseases always have a deep root in the subconsciousness. Illness may be cured by pulling out its hidden roots. That is why all affirmations of the conscious mind should be impressive enough to permeate the subconsciousness, which in turn automatically influences the conscious mind. Strong conscious affirmations thus react on the mind and body through the medium of the subconscious. Still stronger affirmations reach not only the subconscious, but also the superconscious mind---the magic storehouse of miraculous powers."
- Paramahansa Yogananda

This quote is exactly what Robert Anton Wilson speaks of in his wonderful book Prometheus Rising, particularly in his discussion of the so-called "fifth circuit" or Holistic Neurosomatic Circuit. Wilson uses the computer-technology language that was popular in the late 70s and 80s but he's talking about the same exact thing (faith healing, miraculous rejuvenation, etc are all discussed).

In Prometheus Rising (and a few of RAW's other books), there are exercises at the end of each chapter that are very much like the affirmations Yogananda speaks of; statements to speak or focus on that are so powerful they can activate the powerful energies of the unconscious. 

Here are some of my favorite exercises from RAW. These are all proposed as ways to reprogram your mind and your way of experiencing the world which eventually results in a revolution of you.

- Believe that you can exceed all your previous ambitions and hopes in all areas of your life.

- James Joyce said he never met a boring human being. Try to explain this. Try to get into the Joycean head space, where everybody is a separate reality-island full of mystery and surprise. In other words, learn to observe.

- If all you can know is your own brain programs operating, the whole universe you experience is inside your head. Try to hold onto that model for at least an hour. Note how often you relapse into feeling the universe as outside you.

- Try living a whole week with the program, "Everybody likes me and tries to help me achieve my goals."

- Try living a day with the program "I am God playing at being a human being. I created every reality I notice."

- Try living forever with the metaprogram, "Everything works out more perfectly than I plan it."

 

Book Review: The Illuminati Papers by Robert Anton Wilson

It is not very often that I shell out the cash for a brand new book. Most of the books I read are worn-out, tattered pre-owned texts that I buy as cheaply as possible either online or from one of Austin's many wonderful used bookstores (the Half Priced Books chain is one of my favorite things about this city). Whenever I do opt to purchase a brand new book it's usually something that has just been released (like the Baseball Prospectus annual which I always need to have as soon as it drops) or something so special that I couldn't resist paying full price.

In the early stages of my addiction to reading Robert Anton Wilson's work, I couldn't resist snatching up a fresh copy of his book The Illuminati Papers from a local New Age bookstore. Many months and re-readings later, I'm very happy with my decision. After quickly zipping through six different RAW books, this is definitely one of my favorites.

Mo(o)nday

As I've mentioned a few times recently, this fascinating interview with the late Robert Anton Wilson has sparked a fresh focus for me on the days of the week and the meanings behind them. He was illustrating the applicability of the oft-mentioned 8-circuit model of consciousness and the levels of neuro-evolution. While he didn't really try to tie it with the chakra system, I'm sure it matches up pretty closely with that as well.

Briefly, the week looks like this (with the Spanish words for them to illustrate another point RAW made, that all the European languages denote the same type of gods):

Monday - lunes - day of the Moon, Mother goddess
Circuit I: oral bio-survival (nursing experience, attachment to the mother, earliest stage of human physical development and interaction with the world)

Tuesday - martes - Mars the god of war
Circuit II: emotional territorial (political strategies, emotional power tactics, the toddler stage of human development)

Wednesday - miércoles - Mercury the god of communication
Circuit III: semantic conceptual (organizing symbol systems, communicating, calculating, learning to speak the local tongue, "when we first begin to realize all the noises the adults are making are a code and we decypher it")

Thursday - jueves - Thor the god of thunder
Circuit IV: socio-sexual (domestication, the tribe determines moral and immorality with regards to sexual activity, the introduction of sexual guilt, social relations)

The other four circuits are still not completely understood for me, which makes perfect sense because most human beings operate on the four lower (terrestrial) circuits. But the higher ones are:

Friday - viernes - Venus the goddess of love, sexual ecstasy
Circuit V: neurosomatic circuit (blocking out the first four circuits via yoga, meditation, mantra, etc, the mystic level, Freud's oceanic experience, rapture, able to perceive one's own narrow reality tunnel and freedom from the bottom four circuits, the opening of compassion and deep sensitivity)

Saturday - sabado - Saturn the god of agriculture and harvest (time)
Circuit VI: neurogenetic circuit (Jung's collective unconscious, holistic body/mind/soul balance, realization of timeless self, the feeling of timelessness, achieved through advanced yoga)

Sunday - domingo - The Sun 
Circuit VII: metaprogramming circuit (ability to change and program lower circuits, planetary or evolutionary consciousness, perception of the relativity of reality)


[just as the 8th chakra is above and outside of the body, the 8th circuit transcends the days of the week]
Circuit VIII: quantum nonlocal circuit (8th chakra, above the body, transcendence of time and space, out of body experiences, extrasensory perception)

As RAW says, the seventh and eighth circuit "can be better described in art and music" so just take a good listen to this and you'll understand (and come back to Moonday):



"His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental" - wiki