Broadband Existential Body and Experience

Exposure to the potentials of Multiple Dimensions of Existence provides you with a wide array of diverse experiences of your existence. Our particular experience of existence is the sum total of everything we are and the ultimate framework and point of reference for all our cognition and action. Cogito ergo sum — a fair starting point for a basic reality check.

Below is an illustration of the key layers of existence I have grown to feel and conceive of as the foundation of my existence and experience of reality, following diverse more and less successful attempts to cross and warp the boundaries of space and time by employing any and all meditation and cultivation methodologies I've come across and found as relevant and applicable enough for me to seriously pursue.

Illustration of a Broadband Existential Body   ·   Click to Enlarge

Fields and Patterns: The Human Existential Totality

This is a generic gloss on the aspects of a broadband existential body or a more holistic experience of diverse material and spiritual realities, enumerating some of the central planes and factors of possible experience, potential, cognition, and holistic human evolution.

Light Plateaus Above, Middle and Below: Non-dual field of absolute cognition and interconnected existence. This is the dimension of ultimate peace and resolution, transcending by its nature the range of diversified cognition, eluding the attempts of the human mind to contextualize it as one or the other.

Middle Plateau: The united cognitive plateau is experienced as the ultimate abode of consciousness and being in the cavern of the existential heart. This ultimate self or non-self is non-different from and intrinsically connected to the collective plateau of non-dual cognition.

Plateau Above and Below: We are connected with the plane of universal cognition through the principles heaven (above) and earth (below), or the fundamental polarities of positive and negative. Their balance creates the harmonic flow and rotation (Tao/Rta/Wyrd) of our existence.

Four Major Lotus Fields: The cognitive crown field above the head (depicted as a pattern lotus) is the ultimate platform of consciousness, the seat of cognitive and existential ascension, and the matrix that translates universal patterns into an individual experience of reality. The heart field is our ultimate ground of existential being, the source of our expansive expression and response to the world, the location of the singularity of being and the center of existential gravity. The navel field is our base of specified existence, a fort of defense and inner power that supports and nourishes us. The sole field is our link to the earth polarity and its power, connecting the universal circuit with the above and the below.

Pattern Body: The ultimate existential body of patterns and principles (dharmas or formulae), the field that gives form and continuity to all individual phenomena, and the dimension of ultimate harmonization and existential logos.

Pattern Field: The super-pattern blueprint underlying all structures of reality, the universal patterns and principles of existence that govern the interdependent flux of phenomena across all planes of material and immaterial existence.

These are the basic factors and planes of a syndicated experience of reality with the "fundamentals" of diverse traditions of cognitive and energetic expansion and refinement integrated. There are no doubt a great many variants to this model, reflected through individual experience and insight, perspectives equally valid and legitimate for the individuals at the heart of their perceived existence.

Whatever the details in each individual's subjective sphere may be, I believe it's fair to say that extending one's sphere of existential cognition and experience yields a rich repository of new human potentials. The exact dynamics of these basic planes and fields of existence deserve to be studied in further detail in upcoming articles.

The Rainbow Body of Padmasambhava / Guru Rinpoche

Buddhist Model of Trikaya and Body-mind, Mind-stream and Heart-mind

The Buddhist system of Trikaya explores the totality of the being of a Buddha or a Tathāgata — an awakened and enlightened fully experiencing entity — in three divisions of bodies and three overlapping layers of existential dynamics.

These layers also embody the totality of the potentials of each sentient being, providing us with a working general frame of reference for the psychophysical and ultimate dimensions of human experience. Many individual aspects of the Trikaya totality have already been introduced in more generic terms under broadband existential body.

Nirmaṇakāya: This is the physical or corporeal body made of matter, the vehicle of consciousness in the human world, and the plane of material existence. The physical form of a Buddha is the ultimate Nirmanakaya.

Sambhogakāya: Known as "body of enjoyment", "deity dimension" or "astral body", this is the body or plane containing the totality of our energetic experience, culminations, and powers. Sambhogakaya is the energetic operative means for realizing the ultimate field of the Dharmakaya.

Dharmakāya: Containing the ultimate nature and essence of the uncreated enlightened mind, this body or plane is free from conceptual projection, infinitely spaceous and naturally radiant, transcending duality and cognizable patterns, woven with infinite correlations as the ultimate sheat of existence.

Dharmakaya is characterized by great purity, great realization and great mental expanse. Thence the saying, "He who sees the Dharma sees the Buddha" and vice versa — dharma being the "constituent factors of the experienced world" and their natural flux and combinatorics in our collective experience of reality. Dharmakaya is the ultimate bridge into the nondual plane.

These three bodies operate on three overlapping planes of existence, namely the body-mind (nāmarūpa: "name and form"), the interconnecting mind-stream (citta-saṃtāna), and ultimately the heart-mind (bodhicitta).

Complete harmonization of the three kaya planes and their operative dynamics leads to the holistic realization and manifestation of a Rainbow Body, also expressed and experienced as "deity dimension" of the sambhogakaya, a synthesized and fulfilled energetic body.

When the physical and energetic bodies implode and become absorbed into the dharmakaya, and as the residual patterns of the dharmakaya resolve into themselves, diversified consciousness collapses and is naturally absorbed into the underlying and ultimate non-dual plane, now emerging as the entirety of extant reality.

This existential totality is experienced through the mind-stream flowing and oscillating like a caleidoscope across the diverse planes of cognizable existence, touching their respective potentials while animating and operating the plane of matter and forms.

The totality of the experience is contained within dharmakaya and experienced directly through the heart-mind (bodhicitta) as an enlightenment-body cognizing and transcending universal patterns. These teachings are prominent in the Tibetan Vajrayana tradition (Diamond Vehicle, Esoteric/Tantric Buddhism).

There are numerous other traditions with similar detailed models and methodologies that deserve to be studied in further detail. Upcoming articles will feature Taoist Mysticism and Neidan Internal Alchemy, Consciousness and Vedantic Layers of Being, Kriya Yoga of Mahavatar Babaji, Hatha Yoga and Levels of Kundalini, and many more oriental and occidental systems of internal and holistic transformation yet to be analyzed and assimilated.

The Human Totality and Multiple Dimensions of Existence

When we seek to expand the horizons of our thought, a recurring problem lies in the fact that a great many people have a hard time following us, simply because we're navigating way out there. After all, everyone has an innate need to contextualize new concepts against a familiar grid of thoughts. What are these esoteric dimensions then, and what do they have to do with anything? This is an attempt to build a basic bridge between the conventional single-dimensional outlook and the multi-dimensional systemic perspectives of reality we seek.

Kathleen Farago May: Seeking Balance in the Paradise Matrix
A vivid depiction of the human conflict with contradicting dimensions.

Dimensions of the Human Totality

The human being is a psycho-physical totality with the two basic dimensions of the body and the mind. The physical body is easy enough to understand as a one-dimensional object. When the primary imperatives of the mind revolve around the active needs of the body, whether in acquiring pleasures or averting pains, in immersing the mind in material realities, or in collectively organizing others around parallel agendas, the mind and the body exist primarily in the same flat and familiar material dimension. Then, human existence revolving around the body is inherently one-dimensional and exoteric.

When we move beyond the physical dimension and explore our inner potentials, it's all esoteric by definition — esōterikós: inner. The concept of multi-dimensional existence is esoteric indeed, as it involves the rich world of human psyche, rather than the mere external realities of life. Despite its more ephemeral nature, it's not a domain of existence to be shunned or evaded. If one were to shy away from the depths of the human mind, one would forsake an incredible radiant pool of potentials. These inner potentials are the undercurrent of the progressive evolution of human species.

To gain a sense of the multi-dimensionality of the mind, try picturing the entirety of your own mind — your basic drives, attachments, priorities, curiosities, memories, traumas, realizations and ignorance — as a single object with a particular mass, dimension and structure. You'll find that it's extremely challenging to pin the mind down to a single and contained one-dimensional object — assuming you observe your thoughts carefully enough to to notice them as separate from your base consciousness to begin with.

Having reached for the form of your own mind, now try picturing the minds of people you know in similar terms, and you'll get a good insight into the social layer of multi-dimensionality. The world you see is formed of countless subjective mental bubbles, each with their distinct characteristics, dimensionality and trajectories, colliding with each other in blissful ignorance of the underlying operative principles.

The human totality and its potentials are much greater than the simple day-to-day needs we face and tackle. The dimensions of the mind are essentially infinite, only restricted by self-imposed cognitive restrictions that keep your consciousness oriented and focused on the everyday world alone. If you learn to probe into the depths of your mind, first exploring the active patterns of your mind and conquering them, and then exploring, unraveling and coming to terms with your subconscious mind and its latent traits, you will discover an emergent potential of countless possibilities yet undiscovered and unexplored.

Kathleen Farago May: Matrix Mandala
There are infinite potentials in the interwoven dimensions of our reality.

The Benefits of a Multi-Dimensional Mind

The benefits of mastery over the one-dimensional drive of the mind, or in other words a skill for real time mental management and optimization, are too many and obvious to enumerate here in detail. Learning to map and project your own inner patterns and potentials, you will approach a platform where you can shift  your cognition from a limited individual perspective to collective perspectives — without the constant interference and distractions of the individual mind with its countless idiosyncratic imperatives. Moreover, it's hardly possible to live in a spirit of equality and do unto others as you would have them do unto you without grasping the constant and variant dynamics and dimensions of the many minds we meet.

Increased focus in introspective capacity and pattern recognition are central human assets beyond the "mere" comprehension of your own unrealized potentials. The better you learn to understand the abstract patterns guiding your mind and the minds of others, the clearer your perception of patterns in the environment becomes. The better you understand the diverse dimensions in which the minds of others move, the better you are able to understand their subjective imperatives and capacities.

With full recognition and abstraction of your mental contents and dynamics, the entirety of your know-how can be converted into general-purpose formulae. You then become the ultimate observer and CEO of your mind, able to switch in and out from the pull of your psychological currents at will, and able to adapt your abstracted know-how across diverse fields of life. For the simple fact that it helps you intercept the emergence of negative patterns within you before they turn into action, it's well worth it.

The more holistic your understanding becomes, the better you will be able to intuit the future. In this, we are no longer working with magic or visions — we are working with scalable causality and probabilities. Then, whether we're talking about commerce, politics, society or sports, impartially observing and understanding the extant and emergent patterns gives you undeniable leverage beyond those unable to perceive, model or project the course of events beyond the scope of immediate and evident causes and effects. Nostradamus of visionary fame would gaze at the patterns of the skies and ponder on the patterns of the known world, reconciling them into probabilistic predictions of the future of mankind.

Kasmin nu vijñāte sarvam idaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavatīti? — "By realizing what does all of this become cognizable?" — asked the budding sage from the ancient seers of India. That, by which everything else becomes cognized, is the ultimate dimension that synthesizes and reconciles all other dimensions into a symmetric and immanent whole. While the ultimate "source code" of existence is nondual and incomprehensible to the dimensionally challenged human psyche, as we journey through the layers of the mind and approach greater depths, the world reveals itself repeatedly in renewed and broader terms, providing an infinite fund of knowledge for anyone with the eyes to see.

Kathleen Farago May: Offering
Mastering the patterns, you'd be in a real position to make a positive offering.

Dimensional Conclusions

This quest for mental expansion is the basic foundation and motivation for many of us who choose to journey into cosmic mansions in between and during our everyday routines. It's not about an idle intellectual curiosity or a misguided metaphysical quest devoid of real life relevance. Quite to the contrary: It's about seeking to comprehend the totality of our human situation, taking control of and optimizing our own existence, and transcending the inner and subsequently outer limitations imposed by our mental and social environments.

There is an abundance of existential and functional dimensions the mind can reach for and learn operate in — beyond the above essential strata for gaining basic control over our lives and recurring situations — but they are too numerous and too far outside a general frame of reference to be featured in this article. To name some Indic and Oriental schools of thought for historical reference, the extended potentials and dimensions of the mind have been systematically discussed for example in Theravadan teachings on mental focus and absorption or Jhana / Dhyana, the rapid psychological transcendence and enlightenment of Zen, the truly esoteric and symbolist Vajrayana, and the mental remodeling methods of Advaita Vedanta and Raja Yoga.

Understanding the dimensions of the mind is undeniably a quest worth embarking on, should the world you experience through your senses ever begin to look stale and restrictive. This discovery of additional dimensions overlapping and interacting with the gross every-day reality is critical in forming a working synthesis between the matter and spirit in your being. In the process — as long as you remain vigilantly true to your internal integrity — the world will also become that much more a better place for all of us to share and evolve in.

On Approaching Alternative Dimensions

A stairway I would often climb up to one of the hills of Varshana in Northern India
back in the days not so long ago; Varshana is one of my favorite spots in the Vraja area.

A befitting follow-up to yesterday's off-beat blog on Enter Planet Zorgotron, I am sharing the notes I sent to a friend who wrote in, asking for my angle on The Manual of Steve Bohlert (PDF) of Universalist Radha-Krishnaism fame for entering the utopian world of Radha-Krishna featured extensively in the writings of medieval Gaudiya Vaishnava mystics. Subtitled "Create yourself in an idealized identity",  Steve looks at meditational methods for entering a particular alternative dimension from a fresh and pleasantly fluid angle.

I have myself been an intense student and practitioner of the meditative method up until late 2007, when I made the call to expand my inner domain from what I felt was a rather restrictive model for an ultimate reality presented by the orthodox tradition. While holding a great deal of fascination, it had become too anthropomorphic for my taste. Feeling a need to travel deeper into transhuman existence from the abodes of personal divinities, I embarked on a journey of my own through the Buddhist world and beyond, leaving behind the specifics of the utopian otherworld favored by the esoteric Bengali Vaishnavite tradition.

Steve is definitely onto something there with his meditational approach, contra the orthodox and often stiff methods found among the traditional teachers in India, as they often brush aside the mechanistic aspect of the entire process in favor of counting on descending grace and automatic revelation alone. I find it hard to believe that this was the sole intention of the medieval authors, who spent much of their time in methodically writing detailed volumes of thought, and whose systematic writings provide a rich philosophical and theological framework for a meticulous student with a broad understanding.

From a quick read of his short manual, it's evident Steve has a good grasp on the aspects of mental fluidity and the individual's input as crucial factors in entering new dimensions of experience and interaction.. He further seeks to give this idealized world a more universal context, which I find commendable — even while he retains it in the general religious framework of the tradition, which I am not that big on as I find it too narrow and particular for an ultimate existential frame of reference.

Reality is inherently subjective, and more so in the domain of individual mind and consciousness. If you have a wish for entering alternative worlds and dimensions by meditational effort, whether it's the Radha-Krishna department or any other transhuman world, you will need to develop your skills of concentration, spatial visualization, projection, and psychological insight to a great degree. Such skills are highly useful in any field of endeavor, and as such "in this endeavor there is no loss or diminution"; they are in fact something I intend to write about in more detail myself when I get an opening to put more of my head's contents on cyberpaper.

The bottom line as I see it is that if you want to have any level of certainty over your internal evolution, you will need to understand how things function, over and above the grace factor that religions frequently depend upon as the sole saving factor and means of spiritual evolution. If god gave us methods for attaining his dimension, I'm certain he also intended for us to understand how his methods work as a precursor to attaining the level of existence he inhabits, in particular in preparing to share of his (or rather its) level of multi-dimensional and all-encompassing consciousness.

Enter Planet Zorgotron | Strange Dreams

This is not Planet Zorgotron. It's a cool image I stole from Dave's collections.

I have no idea what it really means, but it's definitely in the right dimension.

I had the strangest dream last night. I was hopping around a planet inhabited by gargantuan cybernetic mutant insects that were generally somewhat disoriented. One of them was more of a humanoid type with long grasshopper legs that let him do crazy long-distance kung-fu sweeps. He soon became a pal of mine and helped me nail down some of the bigger bugs that cluelessly bugged around with their mechanical telescopic extensions.

For some reason I decided to call the place Planet Zorgotron. Woke up in the morning with a big grin, racing to a meeting as I had inadvertently slept in. I can still see the creatures quite clearly if I close my eyes. Must have something to do with the ongoing Internet Industrial Revolution hype and the fact that I watched the jungle slug episode of Stargate Universe before I crashed last night; or otherwise the waiter dropped something very strange for cloves into that glass of hot whiskey I had last night to brush off the cold as I was heading home.

For those of you who were wondering what's been up with the long silence in the blog again; as you can see, it's business as usual and nothing out of the ordinary. I'm still mad as a frog, and evidently going up in the world.