Life Is A Strange Loop, Gestures of Creation & Renaissance Humanity

**edina** · 15th December 2023 23:05

Posted by Ernie Nemeth (here)
But it is much more than that. The 'box' is this reality. It is a bunch of data points and way markers that keeps this reality operating - even though it is illogical and finite. We keep within the parameters of the box because that is the only place this reality makes sense. Step outside it, and everything is bright and new - and real.

To most humans, the opposite is true. Stepping outside the box equates with taking a risk and from there the world looks unsure, unsafe, and unfathomable.

The top paragraph here feels insightful. I’m probably going to revisit this some more, like I do some of the quotes I shared earlier in the thread and give a think for a bit.

The second paragraph reminds me of someone I once worked with back in the 80’s. The guy was a born-again Christian. His faith was a lifeline for him. He often quoted scriptures and when I asked him what those scriptures meant to him, he would quote other scriptures. His logic was very circular, a closed loop. He could not tell me in his own words what it meant to him.

He could be a pushy about this. Sometimes, obnoxiously so.

But, one time, I drove him home from work, and learned what life was like for him before he was “saved”. It was a nightmare. Those scriptures were literally like one of those round life saver rings to someone lost in an ocean of horrifying nightmares. I can’t even imagine what it must have been like to live in his skin/life. I became much more patient with him after this.

Which reminds me of another experience I was had with a woman who worked as a secretary in the church I attended. This was also in the 80’s.

Because of my life experiences as a child, and with my Mom, and being influenced by Edgar Cayce to the degree I was, I tend to interpret the Bible in ways that often feel uncomfortable to people who have a more traditional understanding.

One day as I was talking to this secretary, she suddenly started shaking all over. I knew I was speaking pretty close to boundary edge that she could probably handle. As I observed her shaking, she seemed unaware of it. I wondered to myself about what was happening, and an inner voice said, “You are shaking her to her foundations.” I felt a bit of a chastisement about this. And backed off on what I was talking about. Her body calmed down.

There’s something very real about this, visceral even, when one begins to move another person toward the edges of their box. Or even when we move ourselves to the edge. I think it’s important to be gentle with people. And with ourselves. And we’ll probably need lots of patience and gentleness going forward.

Although, that said, sometimes life itself isn’t so gentle, is it?

**edina** · 15th December 2023 23:34

Posted by Harmony (here)
That's a good way of describing " in the box" Ernie, in your above post. It helps one mentally visualise that portion of reality most see and interact with in everyday life.

Looking outside the box, as many are starting to explore, is kind of like a cell in our body that has now become aware that there are other cells in our body with different functions, but each is depedant on the other. When that happens our expansion opens doors to a whole new way of looking at things. On a larger scale, we explore our solar system and our Universe. Our decsions and choices change and the conseqences of actions on the whole become more apparent.

I can remember as a kid, playing with the thought experiment of how we as individuals are possibly cells within a larger being.

And then playing the inversion of that thought experiment. How do our cells experience their existence within the context of the larger physical being of our body?

And then incorporating these ideas into the thought of souls, and Spirit. Orders of creation?

There are so many perspectives to expand upon. But one thing I discovered in the process of all of this, is that “Where ever I go, there I am.”

I remember one afernoon when my Mom, Granny and Aunt were laughing and laughing. And there was a repeated phrase, “There you are” or “There you go”. As a young kid, I was baffled. I couldn’t catch the humor of it. They were literally rolling and crying from laughter.

There’s this one point about creation that I find fascinating. Every being in creation experiences itself as if it were the center of it all.

I think Seth talked about this in “The Nature of Personal Reality”. The spider admiring the artful beauty of it’s web at the center of its universe. He spoke of Units of Consciousness. I think that fits in with this Harmony, what do you think?

A friend shared with me an experience she once had that’s related to this. She wasn’t into this sort of thinking. She was very down-to-earth, practical, and frankly impatient with conversations of spiritual or metaphyscial nature. So, I was greatly surprised when she told me of how one time, she was watching a bee fly into and out of daffodils. Suddenly, she was experiencing herself from the perspective of the bee. She described to me of how when the bee flew into a flower, her whole field of vision was yellow.

I think about this sometimes. She was actually, intellectually, closed-minded to this sort of experience. And yet, she had the experience regardless of what her intellect thought of it.

Also, she didn’t experience the flower as the bee does, she experienced the perspective of the bee, but from within her own sense of herself.

Perhaps, this is a box? I’m not sure how we can think outside the center of our “I”.

Where we go, there we are.

**edina** · 16th December 2023 00:20

Posted by Ernie Nemeth (here)
Yes, I've more than heard of it.

The study of ACIM solidified my understandings and highlighted the areas I needed to improve or place more emphasis on.
I am currently working on those areas.

I've read the 'Big Blue Book' so many times I can switch to that narrative style and slant anytime I wish.

I've been through A Course in Miracles, the whole text/workbook process, three times. This was back in the 90's.

It truly exercises one's logic. While I found it super-useful. I still sometimes question it's premise.

I'm laughing to myself, about myself.

There's a book I read recently, called "The Four Tendencies". I am full-on of the Questioner tendency.

**edina** · 16th December 2023 00:30

Posted by thepainterdoug (here)
I often think there is everything to fix and then nothing to fix. i often wonder why books are written one, then two, then three on the same subject from the same author where the idea or concept once easily presented, takes so many books to try to explain or solve. Why could the first book not explain the issue? This may appear to be a non intellectual comment but perhaps it is the opposite, an intellectual one. That we over explain over analyze and work our way away from the simple truth . Often a childs question or answer is closer to the answer. But why Mommy ? is often responded to by bewilderment.

Hey Doug, I just want to say, I love this...

And this is coming from someone who has a 30' foot wall of floor to ceiling books.

I appreciate your genuineness. Is the image of your current avatar from the wingmakers art?
Or is it your art?

As an aside, I love when children ask questions. Of course, I remember being a kid and driving the adults in my life bonkers with all my questions.

I figure when a child asks a question it's because they're curious and thinking about it. So, I usually respond by asking them what they think. I'm not so sure they're looking for answers from me.

Their answers most often make sense. So I tell them, "That makes sense."

If they want to think some more about it, they will. And I'll listen. It's great fun.

**Harmony** · 16th December 2023 12:47

Posted by edina (here)

Posted by Harmony (here)
That's a good way of describing " in the box" Ernie, in your above post. It helps one mentally visualise that portion of reality most see and interact with in everyday life.

Looking outside the box, as many are starting to explore, is kind of like a cell in our body that has now become aware that there are other cells in our body with different functions, but each is depedant on the other. When that happens our expansion opens doors to a whole new way of looking at things. On a larger scale, we explore our solar system and our Universe. Our decsions and choices change and the conseqences of actions on the whole become more apparent.

I can remember as a kid, playing with the thought experiment of how we as individuals are possibly cells within a larger being.

And then playing the inversion of that thought experiment. How do our cells experience their existence within the context of the larger physical being of our body?

And then incorporating these ideas into the thought of souls, and Spirit. Orders of creation?

There are so many perspectives to expand upon. But one thing I discovered in the process of all of this, is that “Where ever I go, there I am.”

I remember one afernoon when my Mom, Granny and Aunt were laughing and laughing. And there was a repeated phrase, “There you are” or “There you go”. As a young kid, I was baffled. I couldn’t catch the humor of it. They were literally rolling and crying from laughter.

There’s this one point about creation that I find fascinating. Every being in creation experiences itself as if it were the center of it all.

I think Seth talked about this in “The Nature of Personal Reality”. The spider admiring the artful beauty of it’s web at the center of its universe. He spoke of Units of Consciousness. I think that fits in with this Harmony, what do you think?

A friend shared with me an experience she once had that’s related to this. She wasn’t into this sort of thinking. She was very down-to-earth, practical, and frankly impatient with conversations of spiritual or metaphyscial nature. So, I was greatly surprised when she told me of how one time, she was watching a bee fly into and out of daffodils. Suddenly, she was experiencing herself from the perspective of the bee. She described to me of how when the bee flew into a flower, her whole field of vision was yellow.

I think about this sometimes. She was actually, intellectually, closed-minded to this sort of experience. And yet, she had the experience regardless of what her intellect thought of it.

Also, she didn’t experience the flower as the bee does, she experienced the perspective of the bee, but from within her own sense of herself.

Perhaps, this is a box? I’m not sure how we can think outside the center of our “I”.

Where we go, there we are.

Your thoughts Edina are nice to read. It feels nice to just explore and look at things from all different angles and perspectives, it brings a fuller understanding.

It seems each being is so unique in their journey and if one asks questions, somehow answers seem to come somehow if we look close enough. I have to say I have not had the opportunity to read all the books most have, just touched on them a little here and there and a little familier with subjects you have nentioned. My life has been so full I just had no time and little money to afford many books, but when I had just a little saved I would invest in something that was interesting (usually a spiritual question) that I felt I needed to explore, like a stepping stone in life rather than the be all end all approach.

Life can bring some hard lessons and later it is much easier to see what those lessons were. Not hard as in a punishment for some other bad life, but more like a huge challenge that you would never have gone along with if you were asked to participate at the time it happened

I remember seeing the stars and universe like parts of a very large being, I must have been very young before grade school so I have no idea what brought that on. I can think back from when I was about 1 and still remember what I was thinking inside that very small body, without words yet, it is very strange how real commnicaton must work before we are "taught" to use words etc. in this life.

**edina** · 16th December 2025 01:29

Neuroscience JUST Did the IMPOSSIBLE, Chase Hughes

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=lZ3_GUilpnk

I watched this 12:02 minute video last night with interest, downloaded the original paper to read more closely. Chase says he plans to do a series of videos on the paper and it's implications.

I'm thinking about this in terms of consciousness, and also how this plays in self-perception, and our sense of "I".

Chase explains how the rabies virus works, and a part of me feels like the experiments described was dangerous on the fact that they banked on the modified virus working as planned. It's a bit unnerving to me. And yet, I also find it interesting that there is any sort of virus that would work in such a way.

A neuroscience paper published in Cell just days ago answers a question researchers have been trying to solve for years: what actually changes in the brain during a psilocybin experience—and why those changes can last.

Using a genetically modified rabies virus as a neural tracer, researchers were able to map—cell by cell—how psilocybin alters brain connectivity. This allowed them to see, for the first time, which brain regions gain connections, which lose them, and how those changes depend on what the brain is doing during the experience itself.

The findings help explain long-standing observations discussed by neuroscientists, psychiatrists, and researchers often referenced on platforms like Huberman Lab:
• Why psilocybin can reduce depression and anxiety
• Why the default mode network quiets during psychedelic states
• Why sensory perception feels intensified
• Why context and mental state during a trip matter so much
• Why a single experience can lead to lasting psychological change

One of the most important results from the study is this: only brain regions that are active during the psilocybin experience undergo lasting rewiring. Inactive regions do not change.

That finding has major implications for mental health treatment, psychotherapy, and our understanding of how perception, mood, and identity are shaped at the neural level.

In this video, I walk through:
• How the rabies tracer virus works and why it was used
• What changed in sensory, emotional, and self-referential brain networks
• How this relates to depression, anxiety, PTSD, and trauma
• What this discovery means for future psychedelic research

Link to original paper: https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S...2825%2901305-4

Another thought that occurs to me is how so many of the Silicon Valley Tribe did psilocybin and described meeting the same entity/entities in their "trips". Their experiences, shared in common, seem to have been drivers in why they are so focused on the development of AI. Chase doesn't mention this in the video. I've read about this in other places.

Graham Hancock has done related research, theorizing that much of humans leaps in development in humanity's deep past, may be connected to the psilocybin and other entheogens.

I'd like to hear what other people think about this.

How do you feel about this research?
It's implications?
And what it may indicate about the fluidity of our sense of "I"?

I'll share updates from Chase on this paper, in this thread, as they are published.

**edina** · 21st December 2025 14:47

For those who make note of Solstice, Happy Solstice.

Click image for larger version

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Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=J6CdleClg58

David & Diane Arkenstone - Snows of Avalon

(I discovered David Arkenstone years ago, (back in 90's) while on a camping trip near Idyllwild, California. We stopped by this small gift shop, with incense filling the air, and David Arkenstone playing in the background. To this day, that memory feels magical.)

I discovered this particular song and video several weeks ago and made a decision then to share it here on Avalon, today, on Solstice. It just seemed serendipitous.

Enjoy, may your Solstice feel magical, and your coming year full of blessings.
e

The spiral loop of life...