Santayana on the controversy between the scientist and the mystic:
'It is easy, from the stand-point of acquired practical
competence, to deride a merely imaginative life. Dirision,
however, is not interpretation, and the better method of
overcoming erratic ideas is to trace them out dialectically
and see if they will not recognize their own fatuity. ...
Otherwise we might kill the goose that lays the golden
egg, and by proscribing imagination abolish science.'(20)
The experience of the Dark Night is drawn out of shallow unconscious, recursively or iteratively. The steps used in this recursion are:
The recall produces apperceptions which are later examinations of, and reflections on, the cognitions, perceptions, and intentionality accumulated in memory during the experience. The system dynamics analysis organizes these apperceptions to form Figures 1 and 2: the multiloop, nonlinear, feedback system dynamics flow diagram and its mathematical model.
The results of this recursive method, contrary to the fatuity that Santayana might expect, are as follows:
My representation for that part of the mind arising from the limbic-brain stem system is shown in the lower half of the model, roughly below the semicircle that includes variables NormalOpeningPressure, FearDeathDueToKnot, and KnotsInHeart. The cognitive mechanism is located in the upper part of the model, above the semicircle that includes KnotOriginInsight, RetentionTime, and CognitiveAbilityFactor. Communication between these two sectors of the model are provided by transducers or transition variables like Prayer, TruenessOfMind, ForgivenessResponse, Attention, and PsychicEnergyFactor. Tentative definitions of all variables are given by the 38 equation mathematical model shown in Figure 2. The final definitions will be the results of our unending recursive analysis. The constants in these equations have been tuned to give an accurate simulation of the Dark Night or purgative stage just preceeding the culmination in mystical union.
KnotsInHeart, HeartOpenness, and the three memories in the cognitive mechanism are state variables. Each of them has the characteristic of accumulation in the same way as a bathtub accumulates water. Example: "How open is the heart at this moment?" is analogous to "How full of water is the bathtub, now?". ForgivenessResponse, HeartUnfoldmentRate, and Primary-InformationProcessingRate are examples of rates. They act like either the bathtub inlet faucets or outlet drains. The arrows indicate causation. For example, the arrows coming from PrayerTrueness and PrayerIntensity and pointing at PrayerQuality indicate that the first two variables determine the value of PrayerQuality at any time. The following tentative definition of PrayerQuality comes from the mathematical model:
PrayerQuality = 0.5*(PrayerTrueness + PrayerIntensity)...............~ prayer units ...............eq. 1
When PrayerQuality reached 100%, which is the "forgiveness threshold", the ForgivenessResponse occurred and one KnotInHeart was removed in a ratchet-like fashion. Action then shifted to a negative feedback loop: PsychicStress decreased rapidly, causing the HeartUnfoldmentRate valve to open. This caused HeartOpenness to fill or open further, causing PsychicStress to rise again. As a result FearDeathDueToKnot, PrayerIntensity, and WilledAttention rose. Because of the rise in WilledAttention, action then shifted to another negative feedback loop concerned with problem solving: The PrimaryInfoProcessingRate in the cognitive mechanism rose, leading to a rise in KnotOriginInsight. This insight concerned the problem of the origin of the knot. This led to a rise in PrayerTrueness and then PrayerQuality until the latter reached the "forgiveness threshold" and the ForgivenessResponse occurred again. Then, a new knot cycle began.
At the end of this Dark Night or stage 11 all twelve knots had been removed from the heart, the heart was open, and AttentionalFocus rose with NaturalAttention. The rise of NaturalAttention results from a pure, knot-free heart (KnotsInHeart = 0) that caused TruenessOfMind to go into an exponential rise. Then a cessation occurred and I was in mystical union(8). This is indicated when the value of the output variable, ReadinessForUnion, goes off to infinity.
'I took a one week vacation at a monastery in Los Angeles after completing a difficult engineering assignment at a high-tech company in Boston where I was employed. At the end of the vacation, at around noon on Sunday, I left the monastery to return to Boston for work the next day. I was to take a cab to the Los Angeles airport and then a non-stop flight to Boston. I had plenty of time. The cab stand was about a half-mile away. I was walking down a hill with a small suitcase in my hand. As I walked reflectively and in peace down that hill in the warm and brilliant Southern California sun, my heart slowly began to feel full. My mind was drawn inward. In this mood I arrived at the cab stand. I told the driver my destination. He was a rather cool and playful young man in his early twenties. I noticed that I was very friendly and mirthful - quite unusual for me since I usually never spoke to cab drivers. During the ride I was joking and at times giggling and had a great time for the half hour drive to the airport.
'At the airport, however,the warmth or power in my heart began to deepen. I was sitting
in the waiting area for the flight but found I could not stay seated. I got up and began to
pace the floor of the waiting room. I was well dressed and groomed in a fine suit. Perhaps
it was a rather strange sight. The thought occurred to me I was on the verge of a heart
attack but I was only thirty and in good health so dismissed the idea.
The walk to the cab stand took about 15 minutes; the cab ride to the airport took about
45 minutes; and the wait in the airport and boarding took about one hour. The non-stop
flight took off, then, at about 2pm Los Angeles time at the 120 minute mark and, lasting
probably five and one-half hours, arrived in Boston at about 10:30pm Boston time or
at the 450 minute mark. I then took an half-hour to get a cab and ride to my apartment.
In my apartment the first knot was removed at about 20 minutes after midnight, the 560
minute mark. Mystical union (stage 12) took place about an hour later(618 minute mark).
It lasted 4 to 7 seconds. I then fell into a blessed sleep and awoke at sunrise in stage 13,
fully rested in a state of bliss: my heart fully open, my soul unsealed, without stress or
fear at the 960 minute mark.
In reading this description, notice from Figure 3 that HeartOpenness rose rapidly from
its initial value of 5% of maximum to around 36% at airplane takeoff at the 120 minute
mark. During the walk to the cab stand, the cab ride, and early part of the wait at the
airport the heart was opening but there was little rise in PsychicStress. Then from the
60 to the 180 minute mark PsychicStress rose rapidly to its peak of 91% of maximum
while HeartOpenness remained relatively constant, rising only from 36 to 39% of maximum.
The overshoot of Psychic Stress in Figure 3 comes about in the following way:
Average-PsychicStress is the exponentially weighted moving average of PsychicStress
averaged over a period of 25 minutes. It controls the HeartUnfoldmentRate and lags
PsychicStress by about 25 minutes. The result is that the shutting down of the
HeartUnfoldmentRate is too slow in its reaction to the rapidly rising PsychicStress,
thus producing the overshoot. This overshoot is perceived by the mystic-to-be as a
loss of control and produces a fear of death and great anxiety. This great anxiety is
reflected in the intense prayer (PrayerIntensity) of the Dark Night of the Soul.
For example, the 4th knot is removed at the 607.84 minute mark as shown by curve 1.
Then begins the 3rd knot removal period, a 47 second period from the 607.84 to the
608.63 minute mark, during which curve 4, FearDeathDueToKnot, rises accompanied
by what Kierkegaard called 'fear and trembling'. This fear and trembling leads to
intense and insightful prayer. The intensity is that of a drowning man crying out for
help; the insightfulness is the gradual recognition that the source or origin of the
particular knot is a particular sin, hatred, or guilt.
At the end of this 47 second period, just before the removal of the 3rd knot at the 608.63
minute mark, is the culminating point of the 3rd knot removal period when, in fear and
trembling, the mystic-to-be accepts in the depths of his heart the deep insight into his sin,
hatred, or guilt. This is what is needed to bring PrayerQuality (curve 2) to 100%, the
forgiveness threshold, and produce the ForgivenessResponse and removal of the 3rd
knot at the 608.63 minute mark.
Then FearDeathDueToKnot drops suddenly from 87.2% of maximum all the way down
to around 1% of maximum. At that point there is extreme thankfulness to the Lord,
accompanied by rapture. This extreme thankfulness comes about because the blessed
Lord has answered his prayer, granted Forgiveness, and saved him from death.
Then the 2nd knot period begins, as the cycle repeats itself. Meanwhile,
TruenessOfMind (curve 3) is rising inexorably as the knots are purged,
leading eventually to mystical union.
In my work I disaggregate consciousness into 38 variables. Consciousness is a dynamic
complex system. In my model it has 38 aspects. InformationProcessingRate is one of
those aspects of consciousness. It is the intensity of consciousness, illustrated
by Searle's example of consciousness given above.
InformationProcessingRate: InformationProcessingRate or 'focal-attentive processing'(11)
is associated with either the primary processor or the background processor.
The background processor is a backup that supports or reinforces the primary
processor. It's somewhat like a musician or singer accompanying a soloist.
Usually we focus on the soloist, but when the soloist pauses, we become aware
of the background musician. Ordinarily, InformationProcessingRate is associated with
the primary processor. When it switches over, or bifurcates, to the background
processor I associate InformationProcessingRate with flow(3) and with classical
philosophical or religious concepts of nous, holy ghost, purusha, the watcher,
etc. Therefore, my definition of InformationProcessingRate includes both, as shown
by the following tentative equation:
InformationProcessingRate = IF STMRetrievalAccuracy (is less than or equal to) 0.5 THEN BackgroundInfoProcRate ELSE PrimaryInfoProcRate .............~ bits/minute ................eq. 1
where, STMRetrievalAccuracy is a function of STMRetentionTime, using the
Speed-Accuracy Tradeoff Factor (SATF) curve, shown in Figure 5. I have based
the SATF curve on a summary by Luce (12) and data of Schouten and Bekker(13)
and Wickelgren (14). I have assumed that InformationProcessingRate switches from the
primary processor to the background processor when STMRetrievalAccuracy
drops below a 0.5 value. The model of the cognitive mechanism also uses the
information processing standard model (15), the recoding factor concept (16),
a somatic or energistic factor (17) [PsychicEnergyFactor], the information
overload and channel capacity concepts (18), and insights on parallel processing
in the cognitive mechanism(2).
Consciousness as a dynamic complex system: Consciousness itself should be
understood as a dynamic complex system. The multiple aspects of consciousness
are described by the numerical values of each of the 38 variables of the simulations
of the model shown in Figures 1 and 2. This model is the present state of
an unending recursive analysis at the eleven year mark. As the recursive process
continues, the multiple aspects of consciousness become clearer and more numerous
(see for example item 10 in the Tentative Conclusions). For example, skilled cognitive
scientists could probably replace my 10 or 11 equation model of the cognitive mechanism
with a cognitive mechanism of over 1000 equations. This would give a finer model leading
us closer to the neural correlates of consciousness.
Figure 3: Simulation of the Dark Night of the Soul.
5) Second-by-second focus: The knot removal mechanism:
The simulation shown in Figure 4 below focuses in on an intense period of the
Dark Night of the Soul during which the 5th, 4th, and 3rd knots in the heart are purged.
'My face I reclined on the Beloved. ......
Leaving my cares forgotten among the lilies.' (9)
Figure 4: Two minute simulation of the Dark Night during removal
of the 5th, 4th, and 3rd knots.
6) Distinguishing between Consciousness and InformationProcessingRate or focal-attentive processing:
Searle(10) defines consciousness as follows:
'When I wake up from a dreamless sleep, I enter a state of consciousness,
a state that continues as long as I am awake. When I go to sleep or am put
under a general anesthetic or die, my conscious states cease. If during sleep
I have dreams, I become conscious, though dream forms of consciousness in
general are of a much lower intensity and vividness than ordinary waking
consciousness. Consciousness can vary in degree even during our waking
hours, as for example when we move from being wide awake and alert to
sleepy or drowsy, or simply bored and inattentive.'
Figure 5: Speed-accuracy tradeoff factor (SATF): STM retrieval accuracy vs retention time.
The flow diagram of the Dark Night shown in Figure 1 gathers together in one system important mental states or capabilities associated with the Dark Night. Searle (10) would call this system, 'A Network of Intentional states permeated with a Background of capacities'. These elements can be organized into the following eight sets, in the order in which they occur in the experience:
Because of the abbreviated nature of this paper, I will only analyze the Network of Intentionality in sets 3 and 6 here.
Set #3: The Intentionality analysis of set#3 is summarized in Table II. Set 3 is dominated by conscious prayer, an unconscious opening to freedom driven by a life force, and by an unconscious love also driven by the life force that underlies and drives Forgiveness. It is opposed by a conscious FearOfDeath that ones heart will burst. Underlying FearOf
Death is the unconscious feelings of sin, guilt, and hatred. The unconscious love and desire for freedom driven by the life force underlying Forgiveness is made conscious slowly, knot by knot through prayer. Summarizing: Underlying Forgiveness is an uncon
scious love of life in all of its wholeness, freedom, purity, and beauty. It's condition of satisfaction is the removal of the knots and the opening of the heart.
Set#6: The analysis of the Background Processor in set#6 is summarized in Tables III and IV.
The background processor observes the mind from the background. We are not normally conscious of its operation. It is watching all foreground and background information, processing it, and putting it into LongTermMemory2. The background processor's activity becomes conscious after the "noisy" primary processor shuts down. This is seen clearly when one recalls the experience of mystical union. The background processor has been objectified and called various names by those who have experienced and recalled it: Nous, Purusha, Saksin, 'That part of the mind that is eternal', etc.
Summary of the Intentionality analysis:
When all knots have been removed, the system composed of the seven sets culminates in mystical union. Then ones unconscious unbounded love of life, ones unconscious desire for complete freedom, and ones natural TruenessOfMind all become realized, or fully conscious with intense cathexis. The fundamental note of ones existence is sounded: Love, Freedom, Rapture, and Truth. The background processor is observing the mind from the background during this culmination. It records all that it observes into long term memory where it can be recalled later.
2) Key idea: Forrester's 5th principle of system dynamics - 'Quantification of unmeasured but important concepts and relationships.'