Saved by Stuart Evans
Predictive Processing and The Sacred
This isn't some esoteric state accessible only to dedicated monastics or mystics. It's our natural condition, the ground of all experience, temporarily obscured by the very predictive patterns that allow us to function in the world. What contemplative traditions offer are simply methods for reconnecting with what was never actually lost - our... See more
Daniel Thorson • Predictive Processing and The Sacred
This shift in perception isn't just a private, internal matter. It fundamentally changes how we relate to everything - to other beings, to the natural world, to our own lives and deaths. When we directly perceive the inherent value and aliveness of reality, exploitative or destructive actions become increasingly unthinkable. We don't need ethical... See more
Daniel Thorson • Predictive Processing and The Sacred
This isn't about imposing meaning on a meaningless world. It's about developing the perceptual capacities that allow us to recognize the meaning that's already there. Just as we can develop the ability to distinguish subtle variations in wine or music, we can cultivate the capacity to perceive dimensions of value and meaning that remain invisible... See more
Daniel Thorson • Predictive Processing and The Sacred
The ultimate freedom isn't freedom from structure but freedom within structure - the capacity to embody forms that serve life while remaining unbound by them. It's the freedom to predict and plan while staying open to being surprised, to know while remaining curious, to be someone while remembering the vastness from which that someone emerges.
Daniel Thorson • Predictive Processing and The Sacred
The sacred isn't something we need to manufacture or believe in. It's what appears when our predictive filters soften enough to allow us to perceive the inherent value, intelligence, and aliveness of reality itself. It's what we directly encounter when we're not busy transforming the world into evidence for our stories about ourselves.