Uninstall your outdated OS 1, upload your new OS 2

Ramana Maharshi

Many posts and youTube videos discussed our species' current operating system (OS 1 HS - (homo sapiens) ME (I/me/my)), which evolved about 75,000 years ago.  Symbolic consciousness developed to support our need for coordination and organization of large groups as our population grew rapidly and agriculture manifested.

When problems changed from "lions and tigers and bears" to "where do i fit in this massively-interconnected hierarchy", many shortcomings appeared in OS 1 as discussed in "we need a new mental operating system...now".   

The never-ending, self-referential, problematic, internal narrative (SRIN) in OS 1 generates/aggravates our desires, depression, fears, craving, suffering, etc.  Investigating SRIN, you find that it is all "past and future" and "I/me/my".

Many/most spiritual traditions focused on "enlightenment" explicitly define "having no thoughts" as their goal, recognizing that the I/me/my in OS 1 is a/the major problem.  ("Who else believes 'no thoughts' is the goal of meditation?")

"Electric shocks rather than 'blah, blah'...new research" demonstrated just how much folk don't want to "be alone with their thoughts"...enough to give themselves a painful electric shock rather than be alone w/their SRIN, which is why we have developed so many diversions.    

This post will break down the steps that manifested in "my" process of removing OS 1, monitoring the "uninstall", uploading OS 2 (HS - Mini me), and then having "support" manifest to ensure OS 2's successful operation in a metaphorical software format which may make things a little clearer.  

Removing OS 1 

Blombos SA cave
OS 1 early text
75,000 BP

How do we remove, or de-energize the I/me/my to modify our OS?  What "I" functions that are useful and not problematic can be retained?

What manifested were some "removal tools" that met these criteria:  

       a)   Information only from contemporary sources.

       b)   Source verification from movies/videos, photos, direct transcripts, and direct/1-off meetings.

       c)   English fluency to avoid translational inaccuracies.

       d)   Process DIY feedback from SRIN.

       e)  Retention/enhancement of "real world" functionality.

       f)   Happiness increased as suffering and attachments decreased.

      g)   A "life change", not experiences.

      h)   Scientifically verifiable and empirical, not philosophical or intellectual.

The "removal tools" that manifested that satisfied these criteria, and that worked, were from the 20th-century sage Ramana Maharshi.  As verification, these were very similar to those of the 14th century Japanese Zen master Bassui.  i tried mantra/TM and mindfulness/shikantaza/Soto approaches but they could not remove the problematic I/me/my.  The 10,000 +/- hr meditation research @ Yale validated that.  

Ramana Maharshi's tools are described in "What is the 'Direct Path' to nondual awakening?  Self-inquiry?" and Bassui's in "Are senses a gateway to nondual awakening?".

Shankara, an 8th century advaita icon, generated Nirvana Shatakam (NS) (video), a check list of attachments which need to be surrendered for a clean uninstall.  Written in a "proto Indo-European" language, Sanskrit, it is almost in "machine language".  

Despite my resistance to learning Sanskrit and to chanting, works chanted in their original manifestation appeared to encode a deeper level of understanding than did reading Sanskrit or translated English.   

This encoding conveyed the original writer's knowledge and understanding, like a great painter, sculptor, or musician putting what (s)he "felt" and understood into their creations to be experienced centuries later.  


Monitoring progress and success in the uninstall.

Toni Packer
Iconoclastic Zen master

The simple uninstall process was using these "removal tools" and measuring progress against the NS check list and SRIN.   After many hours of practice, the SRIN did STOP, as advertised, along w/self-referential desires, fears and suffering.  The satisfactory completion of the process was verified by my two very different Rinzai Zen masters.


Uploading the new OS


With the validated uninstall of the problematic parts of OS 1, the question was "What, if anything, would be uploaded to replace it?" There was a strong feeling that some new "logic" structure was needed.  

When asked, one of my Zen masters, the late Toni Packer, said "Read Nisargadatta's 'I Am That'", which i knew nothing about.  i found "every word" to be perfectly aligned with what i was experiencing.  


Other key OS 2 elements came from Ramana Maharshi's teachings - chanting both his Upadesa Saram, a complete short course in advaita Vedanta and his recommended verses from the Bhagavad Gita.  

Chanting in Sanskrit, as discussed earlier, was the most effective approach, although reading them in Sanskrit or in English was also very useful.  

Success in removal of OS 1 and uploading of OS 2 was again verified by the absence of problematic SRIN.

However, useful core elements of OS - 1 were retained for problem solving, communication and planning tasks, when the problematic SRIN-causing I/me/my elements were removed.  This was a huge (and welcome) surprise...

When cognitive neuroscience manifested, it was discovered that different neural circuits were used for these different functions.  This made an almost surgical removal of the SRIN-causing elements possible, w/o disturbing the desirable problem solving and planning functions as discussed in "Three neural networks dancing...'blah, blah', tasking and control".

After installation of OS 2, "core processor functions" search continuously to remove any remaining OS - 1 malware and problematic memory and data storage fragments tying up valuable neural real estate.  

When these manifested and were revealed to be of no further interest or value, they were removed by "special malware programs"...the Byron Katie and Sedona Methods. 


Ongoing OS 2 support


As with all new software, there are FAQs on implementation, procedures, learning problems, etc.   The basic manual for the identification, removal and upgrading of the OS software are described in "Happiness Beyond Thought: A Practical Guide to Awakening", which also includes "documentation" for the Nirvana Shatakam, Upadesa Saram and Bhagavad Gita programs.  The Bhagavad Gita program is explained in detail in "Dancing Beyond Thought: Bhagavad Gita Verses and Dialogues on Awakening".

There are also over 50 instructional videos on all aspects of OS 2, entitled "Dialogues on Awakening Beyond Thought" (DOABT) in which my colleague Rich Doyle and i dialog, in some detail, the FAQs.

A new manual/book documenting these FAQs, entitled "Into the Stillness: Dialogues on Awakening Beyond Thought", is manifesting from Non-Duality Press in a few weeks, looking something like the pic @ left.