Science 'films' HAPPINESS in brain

Better living through (natural) chemistry

There's a chemical in dark chocolate (real Theobroma cacao) related to happiness and good sensations. It's also present in mary-jah-wanna, which probably explains why consumers get so clingy and attached to using the herbal substance. This naturally occurring chemical is called anandamide. Ananda, of course, is the name of the Buddha's closest friend and monastic attendant (likely his son with Mriga from before the birth of Rahula with his wife Yasodhara (aka Bimba Devi, according to some Buddhist schools). In Sanskrit and Pali anand means "bliss, joy, rapture." The suffix amide is added: In the usual nomenclature, one adds the term "amide" to the stem of the parent acid's name. For instance, the amide derived from acetic acid is named acetamide (CH3CONH2).

• The Bliss Molecule: Why the Anandamine in Chocolate Makes Us Feel So Good

Now, one might be wondering, “What on earth is anandamide, and why should I care?” Well, pull up a chair and grab a square of dark chocolate, because we’re about to embark on a flavor-filled journey into the world of neuroscience and cocoa chemistry. Anandamide, derived from the Sanskrit word ananda, meaning “bliss or joy,” is a naturally occurring compound in our brains. It’s part of the endocannabinoid system, a complex network that helps regulate various bodily functions, including mood, appetite, and pain sensation. In essence, anandamide is the brain’s very own mood-enhancing, stress-busting superhero. But how does this marvelous molecule work its magic? When anandamide binds to specific receptors in our brains, it triggers a cascade of feel-good effects. More

Buddha's Brain: Neuroscience of Happiness

Happiness is literally an inside job, according to scientific materialism, which believes that we are nothing more than material constructs and that the miracle of consciousness is but an epiphenomenon following on the interaction of material objects like cells, chemicals, molecules, and ever smaller atom, electrons, and quarks.

Organized religion errs on the side of spiritualism, believing us to be a "soul," "spirit," or "magical subtlety." These three things are real, but they are not the self any more than consciousness is.

There is nama rupa, "name" (the instructions) and "form" (the carrying out of those instructions in the material sphere). But self (atta) is not that. How else could it be? If it not one, it has to be the other, unless it is both? It is both both and neither.

What we regard as "self" (soul, ego) is mind-and-body, but though mental and physical processes exist and are active, they do not amount to a concrete "self."

The "self" that exists is dependent, temporary, ephemeral subject to Three Characteristics of All Conditioned Things: they are impermanent, incapable of satiating/fulfilling, and are impersonal.

This last characteristic is the one that is impossible to believe, but it is the key to awakening/enlightenment in the Buddha's teaching.

We can see that all things are impermanent, in flux, constantly changing, undependable. We can see that we have never been fulfilled for long; we experience great pleasure but remain hungry, in many cases becoming more hungry for newer and better pleasures.

IF THERE IS NO SELF, WHAT IS THERE THEN? The Buddha answered this question in terms of Dependent Origination (paticca-samuppāda). And it is on account of not seeing this, not grasping, not penetrating this that we have wandered so long in this painful samsara.

Will we fall under the spell of scient-ism, run to religion for shelter, or begin to see what the Buddha was getting at when he encouraged us to strive for calm and liberating-insight?

"Science can prove what it says." Can it? It redefines "happiness" as an endorphin then shows a peptide "walking," and viola, nonmaterialistic Buddhism is wrong? That's how it might seem, but it is not the case. We must look more deeply. Science fails us. And coming and seeing and investigating what the Buddha taught liberates us. Try it.

Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom

Preface by Jack Kornfield

(Paperback) Authors Dr. Rick Hanson Ph.D. and Dr. Richard Mendius, MD (with preface by Jack Kornfield and foreword by Dr. Daniel J. Siegel, MD) have 4.7 out of 5 stars (with 2,019 reviews).

Change your brain, change your life with this essential classic from New York Times bestselling author Dr. Rick Hanson—now celebrating 15 years in print with more than 500,000 copies sold.

Great teachers like the historical Buddha, Jesus, Moses, Mohammed, and Gandhi were all born with brains built essentially like everyone else’s—and then they changed their brains in ways that changed the world.

Neuroscience now reveals how the flow of thoughts actually sculpts the brain. More and more, we are learning that it’s possible to strengthen positive brain states.

By combining breakthroughs in science with insights from thousands of years of mindfulness practice, we too can shape our own “Buddha’s Brain” for greater happiness, love, and wisdom. 

Buddha’s Brain draws on evidence-based neuroscience to show readers how to stimulate their brains for

• more fulfilling relationships,
• a deeper spiritual life, and
• a greater sense of inner confidence and self-worth.

Using guided meditations and mindfulness exercises, learn how to activate the brain states of calm, joy, and compassion instead of worry, sorrow, and anger.

Most importantly, anyone who implements these practices will foster positive psychological growth that will literally change the way life is lived day-to-day.

This book provides an essential intersection of psychology, neurology, and contemplative practice. It’s filled with practical tools and skills useful every day to tap into the unused potential of the brain and rewire it over time for greater well-being. More

Dalai Lama, what happens after death?

(The Dalai Lama)

One world, many faiths

The 14th Dalai Lama, more a Hindu Mahayana Buddhist teacher preaching Tibetan Vajrayana than Buddhism, demonstrates a poor grasp of what the historical Buddha taught about "self" (anatta).

What Hinduism calls the soul/self or Ātman (Pali Atta, Ātman (Hinduism Buddhified), what to followers of the pre-Hindu Old Vedic Religion (the Brahmin priests' Brahmanism) is ultimately the same as Brahman (GOD), comparing drops of water to the vast ocean they merge with and ultimately return to after experiencing a sense of separation. The historical Buddha did not talk like this at all.

(Little Light of Wisdom) The one bad habit the Buddha feared most

ANY explanation of what happens to the "self" (soul, ego, personality, essence of a person) after death (indeed of what happens in this very life from moment to moment) must include reference and a discussion of Dependent Origination. For what arises and what seems to arise is not the same; similarly, what passes away and what seems to pass away is not the same.

The one bad habit the Buddha feared most
(Little Light of Wisdom) Dec. 6, 2025: In this episode we explore a powerful teaching the Buddha gave to his son, Rahula, now a young monk. He used a simple glass of water and a royal war elephant. Together we learn:

• Why the Buddha said there is one bad habit that opens the door to every other bad action
• How an empty glass shows what happens to our good qualities when we lie
• How a king’s elephant teaches us about trust, courage, and honesty
• Why lying creates confusion, blame, and karmic trouble in our lives
• How telling the truth protects our heart, our friendships, and our future

💛 This story is perfect for kids, teens, parents, and anyone who wants to grow in wisdom, kindness, and truthfulness. #BuddhaWisdom #DhammaTalk #BuddhistStories

Find this helpful? Please like, share, and subscribe so more people can learn these beautiful historical teachings. 🌱

Atlantis, Plato, Gobekli Tepe (Graham Hancock)

Why does researcher Graham Hancock (grahamhancock.com) talk like this, not only about ancient Egypt but also the Americas. He's written about it, looking at the data that science dare not speak about for fear of losing funding or being ridiculed for contemplating explanatory theories beyond the current consensus. It is like Michael Cremo's forbidden archeology (mcremo.com).

• Eds., April 18, 2025

Rebirth: dying countless times: Samsara

We’ve died [countless] deaths and still don’t know why: Buddhist Abhidhamma explained

Ocean of Saṃsāra (Bhavacakra)

(Buddhist Audio books) May 17, 2025: Why have our lives always felt incomplete? This video reveals the shocking truth behind why 🌌 Samsara — the Endless Cycle of Birth, Death, and Rebirth — has no beginning.

[Samsara also has no foreseeable end, like a carousel. Like a whirlpool in the ocean, it will not stop, but it is possible to escape get off.]

Drawing from powerful Buddhist sutras like the Anamatagga Samyutta and deep insights from the Abhidhamma (the "Doctrine in Ultimate Terms" or "Higher Teaching"), let's reveal the hidden causes of our suffering and why we keep returning again and again.

🧘‍♂️ LEARN:

• What is Samsara and why does it feel endless?
• How our past lives shape our present life
• How to escape the cycle according to the Buddha.

📜 Based on the Anamatagga Samyutta and other Theravada sutras (Pali canon) and Theravada Abhidhamma teachings and ancient Buddhist meditation teachings.

We are on infinite repeat (Groundhog Day)

SUTRA: All the Foliage in a Forest

(Linked Discourses 15.1, Chapter One, "Grass and Sticks")

Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī within Jeta’s Grove, in millionaire’s monastery. There he addressed the meditators, “Meditators!”

“Venerable sir,” they replied.

Then the Buddha told them, “Meditators, this Samsara (Cycle of Rebirth) has no discernible beginning. No first point is to be found of sentient beings wandering and being reborn, clouded by [the smoke of] ignorance and fettered [and being burned] by craving.

“Suppose a person were to strip all the grass, sticks, branches, and leaves in the Black Plum Tree Land, gather them together into a single pile, chop them into pieces, and lay them down, saying:

“‘This is my mother, this is my grandmother...’ The grass, sticks, branches, and leaves of the Black Plum Tree Land would run out before that person’s mothers and grandmothers were all counted. Why? Samsara has no discernible beginning. No first point is to be found of sentient beings wandering and being reborn, clouded by ignorance and fettered by craving.

“For a long time have we all undergone disaster, disappointment, and agony, swelling the cemeteries. It has been more than long enough for one to become disillusioned, dispassionate, and freed from all conditions.”

🙏 The Buddha realized the endlessness of Samsara through his fully awakened wisdom on the night of his great enlightenment (maha bodhi). With the divine eye (dibba cakkhu) he developed, he gained the recollection of countless past lives, his own and others'.

He saw beings being born and dying over vast aeons (kalpas), across uncountable realms (on 31 Planes of Existence, which are divided into three spheres), with no discernible beginning point to the impersonal, impermanent, and impossible-to-satisfy cycle.

The Buddha taught in the Anamatagga Samyuththa, “The beginning of this continued wandering on is not to be discovered.”

This is stated not based on faith but direct knowledge. Samsara is endless because each life is caused by previous karma (deeds), which are willed and carried out due to ignorance and craving and aversion. These in turn arise from previous conditions, in a chain of 12 causal links beginning with ignorance.

Thus, the Buddha clearly saw that there was no ultimate creator, no first cause [or prime mover], only a wheel of conditional existence turning without beginning. More

ABOUT: 💡 From emotional stories and ancient wisdom to rare teachings of the Buddha, this is a journey through time, karma, and consciousness. Whether one is new to Buddhism or a deep practitioner, this video changes how we see our lives.

🔔 Subscribe for more deep Buddhist wisdom and life-changing insights. 👉 Remember to like, comment, and share if this moved your heart. #buddhism #samsara #WhySamsaraIsEndless #buddhateachings #rebirth #Karma #Abhidhamma #AnamataggaSutta #CycleOfLife #spiritualawakening #PastLives #Theravada #BuddhistMeditation #EscapeSamsara #DeepWisdom #LifeAfterDeath #SpiritualJourney #DhammaTalk #Mindfulness #BuddhistPhilosophy #Theravada Buddhism #Abhidhamma Teachings #realms of Rebirth Buddhism #spirituality #buddha #Buddhism Afterlife Beliefs #BuddhistCosmology #Abhidhamma #HeavenAndHell #MindAndReality

• Buddhist Audio books, May 17, 2025; Dhr. Seven (trans. based on Ven. Sujato, suttacentral.net), Wisdom Quarterly

Simulation: Gravity is fake, says science

If fall rate exceeds terminal falling speed, ship will move down as levitation occurs like coaster

Clearly, gravity is fake. We are not pulled down so much as pushed, except for this cat. ;,)

How all life began: Big Bangs by Bashar

Bashar’s shocking revelations on "God," multiple Big Bangs, multiverse, and "creation"

(Path of Knowledge) March 26, 2025: What if everything we thought we knew about God, the Big Bang, and the nature of reality were completely wrong?

🤯 In this exclusive Bashar compilation, we’ve gathered his most profound insights on the origin of the universe, the mechanics of creation, and the true nature of existence. Prepare for mind-expanding revelations that will challenge standard beliefs, ignite curiosity, and unlock a new understanding of reality itself. 👁️ Watch until the end for a perspective shift that will change how humanity sees reality forever.

Enjoyed the video? Hit "like" and subscribe for more transformative content. It costs nothing yet means a lot to the compilers of this video.

Path of Knowledge is not affiliated with the official Bashar organization of Darryl Anka and Bashar Communications. The statements and opinions expressed are Path of Knowledge's own interpretation of the information that has been shared by Bashar. The Bashar information is covered by copyright laws, so if anyone would like more information or materials, please visit this website: bashar.org. They appreciate interest and excitement about exploring the Bashar information.

DISCLAIMER: Fair Use Notice: This video contains content that is used under the Fair Use doctrine of United States copyright law. This includes content that is transformative in nature, used for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research. All credit for the manifestation techniques discussed in this video are Bashar's and his team's. Path of Knowledge does not claim ownership of any of the original ideas or teachings presented by Bashar. This video is intended to share and discuss Bashar's insights on manifestation for educational and informational purposes only. For more information and original content, please visit Bashar's official channels and resources. Official website: bashar.org. Instagram: basharchanneling. YouTube channel: basharchanneledbydarrylanka.

Is light a cluster of particles (photons)?

Why I stopped believing that light is a particle (until now)

(Looking Glass Universe) This video is about Richard Feynman's Quantum Electrodynamics (QED), which says that light is made of photons [particles] that go on all possible paths at once.

Einstein: O, Great Buddha, what is the answer?

The experiment in the video is from the following video from Veritasium. Even though I don't agree fully agree with their interpretation of the experiment, I think it's an excellent explanation of QED. I highly recommend it!

• VIDEO: Wave, particle, or wavicle? DIY double-slit light experiment
• VIDEO: The LIGHT science can't explain (sutra)

Something strange happens when you trust quantum mechanics

Light in Buddhist meditation and physics

What is directly-perceived light? It may be kalapas, the smallest units of materiality (rupa, form)

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It is possible to directly perceive light

In Buddhism, āloka-saññā means the "perception of light." A recurring Pali language canon passage reads:

"Here the meditator contemplates the perception of light, fixes mind on the perception of the day, as at daytime so by night, and as at nighttime so by day. In this way, with a mind clear and unclouded, one develops a stage of mind that is full of brightness."

That is, mind becomes full of the perception of light.

This perception is one of the methods for overcoming drowsiness in meditation recommended by the Buddha to the chief male disciple "foremost in psychic powers," Mahā Moggallāna (A.VII. 58). [He may have said the same to the chief female disciple declared "foremost in psychic powers," Uppalavanna Theri.]

Attain absorptions, see kalapa, review in slo-mo

According to DN 33, this method is conducive to the development of "knowledge and vision." (See "purification," visuddhi). And it is said to be helpful for the attainment of the psychic "divine eye." (See abhiññā). Light can also be the direct subject of meditation as a kasina (a disk or special meditation object).

Buddhism has its own physics? Oh, yes. It is called the "Doctrine in Ultimate Terms" or Abhidhamma pitaka. Why? In Buddhism, there is conventional reality as distinct from ultimate reality. In one world or perspective, there are things and persons. In another, there are only ultimate mind and matter, nama and rupa ("name and form") or the ultimate constituents of things, namely cittas ("mind-moments") and kalapas ("particles").

Something strange happens when we trust quantum mechanics

(Veritasium) March 4, 2025: Does light take all possible paths at the same time? Massive thanks to Dr. Andrew Mitchell for his help and expertise. To delve further into this topic, see his lecture on classical physics derived from quantum mechanics: Classical physics derived from quantum...

• 0:00 What path does light travel?
• 2:40 Black body radiation
• 6:47 How did Planck solve the ultraviolet catastrophe?
• 9:42 The quantum of action
• 13:25 De Broglie’s hypothesis
• 15:16 The double slit experiment
• 20:00 How Feynman did quantum mechanics
• 25:01 Proof that light takes every path
• 31:16 The Theory of Everything

Incredible gratitude to Prof. David Kaiser, Prof. Steven Strogatz, Prof. Geraint F. Lewis, Elba Alonso-Monsalve, Prof. Christopher S. Baird, Prof. Anthony Bloch, and Prof. Stephen Bartlett for their invaluable contributions to this video. Special thanks to Mahesh Shenoy from FloatHeadPhysics for his help with this video. Check out his excellent intuitive video on the UV Catastrophe here (Sept. 2024): I wish I was taught the birth of Quan...

• Looking Glass Universe, 3/28/25; Veritasium, 3/4/25; Ven. Nyanatiloka, Buddhist Dictionary, āloka-saññā edited and expanded by Dhr. Seven; Crystal Quintero, CC Liu, Sheldon S. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Let us repeat God's name (Gnostic)

When God was asked its name, the answer that came was: I am. Who? I am that I am. But did the Teacher not teach that we ourselves are God (GOD, Godhead, Godhood, Brahman?) in a state where we imagine separation from source, from the All One, from connection?

If so, could it be that I am that "I am" of which they speak when asking God's real name? Why did the Church and ancient Judaism forbid the pronunciation of this "name"?

It's interesting that a part of Eight Limb (Ashtanga) Yoga is japa, or the repetition of a divine name (or God's name) as a mantra ("mind instrument") for concentration/meditation.

This "Word of God" was BANNED for being TOO POWERFUL

This "Word of God" was BANNED for being too powerful

(MorgueOfficial) Started streaming March 24, 2025: An ancient divine force was hidden, silenced, and nearly erased. Why? Because it revealed a truth too powerful for religion to control. This isn’t the Word you read in church… See Dawn of the New Earth (The Neogenian Dawn)

Not in my officially-approved state religion!

Jesus is Caesar's Messiah (Joseph Atwill)

• YHWH (Yahweh, Jehovah, YHVH) is, in Kabbala, the Tetragrammaton, which is four characters (yodh, he, waw, he) representing the Four Elements (the dhātus or maha-bhuta in Buddhism). If "spirit" (sh or shin) is inserted in the middle, the name becomes Yeheshua (Yahoshua, Yeshua, Yesus, Iesus, Issa, Yahoo, etc.)
• Mahā-bhūta: The four "primary elements" (or ultimate characteristics of matter), is another name for the Four Eements (dhātu) underlying all materiality.
• Caesar's Messiah: The Roman Conspiracy to Invent Jesus

PHYSICS discovery (Buddhist kalapas)

Meditation nimitta (Kirlian)

Western atheists (the gatekeepers in the academy) run science, so they won't listen to mystics and seers (rishis). Therefore, no scientific lab is investigating KALAPAS (Buddhist subatomic "particles," the original Greek "atoms" (a concept ancient Greece borrowed from Buddhist-influenced ancient Vedic India), the characteristics of materiality or rupa, perceived particles, rúpa-kalapa), or are they without realizing it?

Maybe they are called quarks or strings or bosons, whatever the label. Some thing (not quite a thing or dhamma) is there eluding us, though it may not be a "thing" yet.

• A dhamma or "thing" in this sense of the term refers literally to the "bearer," constitution, or nature of a thing; quality; object of mind (see āyatana) "phenomenon." In all of these meanings the word dhamma is met with in Buddhist texts. The Commentary to the Digha Nikaya (Long Discourses of the Buddha), instances four applications of this term:

1. guna (quality),
2. desanā (instruction),
3. pariyatti (text),
4. nijjīvatā (lifeless, soulless, egoless [without jiva], e.g., "All dhammā [all phenomena] are impersonal").

• The Commentary to the Dhammasangani has hetu (root condition, cause) instead of desanā. Therefore, the analytical knowledge of dhamma [things, phenomena, or the Dhamma/Doctrine] (see patisambhidā) is explained in The Path of Purification (Vis.M. XIV.) and in the Vibhanga as hetumhi-ñāna (jñāna) or "knowledge of causes and conditions."

NOVEL INSIGHT: Source (cause and condition) of dark energy and matter

What scientist can explain this? Yet, a simple Buddhist meditator/reader made sense of it?
What if dark energy is immaterial pre-matter, dark matter is subtle matter, and the rest matter?

Science is dense and not about "seeing directly." That's what Buddhism is about. Scientists are about being ignorant of their biases while attempting to objectively measure and show (prove it to) others without themselves knowing what they're seeing. No scientist believed in invisible radiation until it proved its presence by killing people then showing up on instruments built to translate what was detected into the visual medium of pixels, photons, and screens -- then radiation existed. Pure ideas become essential outlines (blueprints) that become working models.

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Matter (rupa): immaterial, subtle, tangible
all of it "energy" in a torsion field exhibiting

Imagine a kind of matter (let's call it pre-matter) so ethereal it does not yet reflect light, but it does already begin to exert gravitational pull, magnetism, or other interactions with its environment. That would fit the description of "dark energy" and "dark matter" that scientists know must exist due to their calculations but are as yet unable to directly detect in a way that can be objectively confirmed.

(This is very general, theoretical, arrived at by philosophizing based on the reports of modern meditators and ancient mystics, not materialist-scientists in experimental labs, groping their way to objective truths).

Okar Research: Kalapa, the capital of Shambala

If it (pre-matter) exists, this is how and why it (dark matter) may be behaving the way we experience: It enters this dimension, having built up density, or gaining a sufficient number of neutrinos, photons, allegrons (joyous particles that abhassara-brahmas feed on?), joe-blowons, whatever-ons (some kind of "stem cell particles" with pluripotential power), or kalapas.

It (that pre-matter) changes "lineage," as it were, from fine-material (rupa, sublime) to sensual (sensible, sensory, kama, where we experience it), but it originates in the immaterial (arupa, formless, ethereal, strictly mental state).

What is ultimate reality? Nama-rupa.

• Ah, then, what is mind, what is consciousness? That is another conversation altogether. Note that the Buddha broke down all of experience to just these two ultimately impersonal things, mind (feelings, perceptions, mental formations, consciousness) and body (kaya, rupa, the Four Elements or dhātus taken as one unit). These are the Five Aggregates clung to as self. (See the Heart Sutra for the poetic expression or the Abhidhamma for their pedantic Theravada analysis).
• Who can believe there are only four "elements"? No one. That archaic system was inherited by the Buddha and filled in. What it means is not that there are only four things everything else is made of but that what we conventionally call matter may be broken down into four categories of qualities or characteristics (hardness, cohesion, support, and temperature), which become directly known to one who practices Four Elements meditation. This is not a "theory" but a practice.
• Everything in Buddhism is kind of this way, very packed and needing to be unpacked to understand. For instance, the Four Noble Truths are not four "truisms" to believe. That would be ridiculous. The fourth is the Noble Eightfold Path. There are not only eight "steps" to take to enlightenment (bodhi) and nirvana (vimutti, moksha, ultimate liberation). That would be ridiculous. There are in fact 37 Requisites of Enlightenment. Again, it is a practice, not a theory. Moreover, if we ask what is ultimately true about our existence, the answer is not "nothing." It is Dependent Origination. This is not a belief but a practice. By practicing these things, one directly comes to know and see -- and one is freed from all suffering by that wisdom.
• The Eighteen Elements and Four Ultimate Realities
• If you become a great scientist, the greatest scientist -- a Nicola Tesla, an Issac Newton, an Albie Einstein, you will not be freed, liberated from suffering, a knower of worlds, a noble one. In fact, it will probably ruin you, make you deranged and your hair kinky. However, if you practice the Buddha's Path successfully, not as the greatest practitioner just as a solid one, you will directly know-and-see AND be freed, liberated from ignorance and suffering. It's no contest which would be better to aspire to be, in the world or out. Why did Steven Hawking get so perverse as time went on? It must have been because of the ennobling qualities of scientific data.

What is "energy" in science? It is alpha-omega.

There are, after all, these three spheres (trailokya), according to the Buddha. Consider it in reverse: Things are sensual, tangible and appearing to us. And passing away from here, they are sublimated (rarefied) to the fine-material. And passing away from there, they dissolve and become altogether immaterial (mind-made, ideations, Platonic forms, bodiless, software utterly without hardware, visualizations without tangible expression from whence they came).

This would explain not only the origin of all tangible things -- illusory, maya, in the sense of not being what a thing appears to be (permanent, able to please, or personal) born of mind, mind-made, formless, full of potential but not yet formed -- in this "reality," this simulation, this world that we can touch and feel, but also explain the fine-material (rupa) underlying it, acting as its support, scaffolding, undergirding, armature, foundational substructure, or hidden (unseen) basis.

• 

  How to see the Four Elements

  PRACTICAL EVIDENCE: When we look (with purified, intensified mind) at matter, it breaks down under analysis to smaller and smaller components. Imagine seeing a British house in the distance. It looks like a block. When approached and examined closely, it is many smaller blocks (bricks), piled in heaps of well-arranged (functionally integrated) walls and foundation. What was thought to be one thing is in fact not at all what it seemed. Looking at each block more closely, it breaks down further to molecules and atoms and subatomic particles [then, presumably to wavicles and strings or vibrating energy fields of (gravitational) attraction that, when further condensed, appear to us as matter in various states: temperature, gas, liquid, solid (qualities known as the Four Elements), and sometimes the empty space between these]. How can we know or prove it? Through the meditation described below.*

A thing is a compound of constituents, so if we're looking for indivisible things, we are not likely to find them anytime soon, not with that mindset. We'll miss the forest for the trees.

• Someone once said, "Humans can't see atoms; they're too small."
• "Oh, really," said we then asked: "What do you think you're looking at when you see something?"
• (It's ALL atoms, strung together, arranged just so, reflecting photons and letting neutrinos pass through with little to no interaction. This (dense material dead) hand, for example, is made of atoms. Can you see it? So what are you seeing?
• "Oh, yeah. Atoms! OMG! I didn't realize it."
• Yes, we may not be able to see individual atoms, but we see them all around in the collective, just like one citta is hard to perceive, but the stream of consciousness (mind moments) is easier to discern.

But there is more to a living hand, as revealed by Kirlian photography, aura viewers (like the one Edgar Cayce left instructions for), and the sensitive material in the eye some humans regain, which dogs and other animals may have been using all along to see ghosts, subtle beings, and invisible entities all along. Let's look at the state of the science of subatomic/particle physics with Jade at Up and Atom:

• 

  Clear the mind of assumptions and wrong view

  Stilling the mind in samadhi (meditative absorption known as jhana), one begins to perceive a "sign," a nimitta, usually of light or shadow or some color. It happens naturally with consistent practice. At first it is the "learning sign," but with proper meditative guidance, it can become the "learning sign" and bring one to deeper, subtler levels of absorption. There are eight levels, the first four are form (increasingly rarefied and sublime), and the second four are formless (immaterial). This single-mindedness, often misleadingly rendered "concentration," temporarily purifies the mind so that it can penetrate things as they really are and come to know-and-see things as they really are. This is "meditation," mental cultivation, approaching awakening, letting go, and liberation. The clouded mind will never be able to see things free of distortions and perversions of view.

It took 20 years, but we finally found it

My cuteness or alleged sexiness has no bearing on donations, attention, or popularity of Up and Atom (YouTube), which is solely a function of the depth and frequency of my scientific posts.

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(Up and Atom) March 14, 2025: Hi, I'm Jade! Subscribe to Up and Atom for physics, math, and computer science videos (upandatom). If you'd like to consider supporting Up and Atom, head over to my Patreon page :) upandatom.

Special thanks to Chuankun Zhang, Tian Ooi, Jacob S. Higgins, and Jack F. Doyle from Prof. Jun Ye's lab at JILA/NIST/University of Colorado, as well as Prof. Victor Flambaum from UNSW's Department of Theoretical Physics, for their valuable assistance and consultation on this video.

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This is speculative, theoretical, not science. What's the proof? "Seeing is believing," so here's how to see it?

• Burma preserves practical Theravada Abhidhamma (the Doctrine/Dhamma in Ultimate Terms, a collection of Buddhist text).The tradition (as promulgated by Pa Auk Sayadaw and his certifiably successful students) spreads to other countries like America, Malaysia, Europe, Sri Lanka, China, and Indonesia, and the result is direct seeing of the ultimate truth of matter: "ultimate materiality" (abhi-rupa) or matter (solids, liquids, gases, and light or flux, the Four Great Elements, mahadhatu, which are not four "things" but four general characteristics of matter made completely real and sensible as a theory by Four Elements Meditation even if we scoff.

*Buddhist physics: Analysis of the causes of rūpa kalāpa

(Dhammavihari Buddhist Studies) Even though one is able to observe the 28 essential substances, it is not enough to realize nirvana. The person [meditator] must still be able to analyze the causes of the arising of the mind-and-matter [nama-rupa, cittas-and-kalapas].

Chan Forest MIP (Instagram)

In this last lecture Sayalay Uttarā explains how to analyze the causes of arising of rūpakalāpa (clusters of matter). There are four causes for the arising of matter (rūpa), namely,

1. karma (kamma, past deeds),
2. consciousness (citta),
3. temperature (utu), and
4. [nourishment] food essence (āhāra).

The matter born of these four causes is called

1. kammajā rūpa kalāpa,
2. cittāja rūpa kalāpa,
3. utujā rūpa kalāpa, and
4. āhārajā rūpa kalāpa.

AHH! I'm beginning to see but using the mind's eye, the dibba cakkhu after purifying the mind.

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There are nine clusters of matter produced by karma; eight by consciousness; four by temperature, and two by food essence. These 23 clusters of matter must be analyzed by a yogī [Buddhist meditator, cultivator, Dharma-practitioner] to gain the understanding that matter arises through [causes and] conditions and that there is no single entity [no self, ego, God, soul] that controls it.

Of the 28 essential [forms of] matter [ultimate materiality], there are four that arise without a cause [which might explain how everything comes to be, just arising spontaneously of their own nature, not created, not Big Banged, never being brought to an end and therefore not necessitating a beginning or prime mover, not self, not anything but suchness (tathata), just the way things are in and of themselves, like science's definition of "energy"]. [Practice!] Enjoy!

This video is a Dhamma [Pali canon-based Dharma] lecture that is part of the DBS Temporary Pabbajā (monastic ordination, going forth) series of events in 2018. The pabbajjā activity guided by Sayalay Uttarā lasted for 10 days at Chan Forest Mega Mendung [Theravadan Indonesia]. In addition to practicing meditation, the participants also received a Dhamma shower from Sayalay Uttarā through six lectures. DBS also provided a DVD of the Pariyatti Sāsana [text dispensation, intellectual instruction]. Class lecture by Ashin Kheminda.

For more information about this class, please contact: DHAMMAVIHARI BUDDHIST STUDIES (DBS) SECRETARIAT. Email: yayasandhammavihari@gmail.com. Phone: 0857 82 800 200, 0812 86 30 3000, and 021 22556430. Website: dhammavihari.or.id. Facebook: Dhammavihari Buddhist Studies.

• Chan Forest Mega Indah Puncak on Instagram

Walaupun seseorang sudah mampu mengamati 28 materi yang hakiki namun hal tersebut belum cukup untuk merealisasi Nibbāna. Orang tersebut masih harus mampu menganalisis sebab kemunculan dari batin dan materi. Di ceramah yang terakhir ini Sayalay Uttarā menjelaskan tentang cara Menganalisis Sebab Kemunculan dari Rūpakalāpa (klaster materi). Ada empat sebab kemunculan dari materi (rūpa) yaitu kamma, kesadaran (citta), temperature (utu) dan sari makanan (āhāra). Materi yang lahir dari keempat sebab tersebut dinamakan kammajā rūpakalāpa, cittāja rūpakalāpa, utujārūpakalāpa dan āhārajā rūpakalāpa. Ada 9 klaster materi yang dihasilkan oleh kamma; 8 oleh kesadaran; 4 oleh temperatur dan 2 oleh sari makanan. Dua puluh tiga klaster materi ini harus bisa dianalisis oleh seorang yogī untuk mendapatkan pemahaman bahwa materi muncul dengan kondisi dan tidak ada satu wujud yang mengendalikannya. Dari 28 materi yang hakiki, ada empat materi yang muncul tanpa sebab. Selamat menikmati! Video ini merupakan ceramah Dhamma yang menjadi bagian dari rangkaian acara Pabbajā Sementara DBS tahun 2018. Kegiatan pabbajjā yang dibimbing oleh Sayalay Uttarā ini berlangsung selama 10 hari di Chan Forest Mega Mendung. Selain berlatih meditasi, para peserta juga mendapatkan siraman Dhamma dari Sayalay Uttarā melalui kegiatan ceramah yang dilakukan sebanyak 6 kali. DBS juga menyediakan DVD ceramah Kelas Pariyatti Sāsana oleh Ashin Kheminda. Untuk informasi lebih lanjut tentang kelas ini, silakan menghubungi: SEKRETARIAT DHAMMAVIHARI BUDDHIST STUDIES (DBS) Email: yayasandhammavihari@gmail.com. Telpon: 0857 82 800 200, 0812 86 30 3000, dan 021 22556430 Website: dhammavihari.or.id. Facebook: Dhammavihari Buddhist Studies.

• Sayalay Uttarā, Dhammavihari Buddhist Studies, Feb. 13, 2019; Jade (Up and Atom); Dhr. Seven (speculation), edited by Amber Larson, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly