The Error-Free Dynamic
As observed in the third section, the very notion of missing the mark implies that there is a mark to be missed. Or, positively stated, it means that there is a mark to be hit. So, what is hitting the mark, and what does it entail ?
From the alternative views of the day-to-day heaven and of the temporary hell of annoyances, we can deduce that hitting the mark corresponds to performing actions which must not only lead to steady and enjoyable progress towards a chosen goal, but also do so without provoking undesirable repercussions. Indeed, such an experience defines the error-free dynamic.
Thus, in a general sense, pursuing individual objectives without giving rise to adverse effects, present or future, internal or otherwise, is on target. Or perhaps more accurately, any activity that brings one closer to the error-free dynamic and doesn't cause further unsuitable consequences hits the mark. That is to say, when suddenly finding oneself in the underworld, climbing out of there is right on the bullseye too, inasmuch as wrongdoing is avoided while regaining one's ground.
Moreover, we know from the aphorisms regarding the function of mind that hitting the mark equates to nurturing an error-free mind, or at least a gradually less corrupt mind, that will in turn conjure up increasingly sorrowless hereafters, in an ever refining continuum.
The Creative Process
From an artistic standpoint, in general terms, the creative process begins with a dream. A vision of some kind takes shape in the imagination of the artist who then sets out to build a support that will constitute the phenomenal form of the thus fancied entity in their reality. Their work now consists in maintaining their attention on the process as it unfolds. In such a manner, they can iteratively comprehend and discharge the sequence of intentions required to achieve the aim. By sustaining the endeavour in that fashion until consummation, what was originally a mere possibility becomes an actual medium that can be shared in order to convey the initial glimpse and the underlying message to others.
Similarly, in everyday, non-artistic situations, the person architects their own life by focusing on particular outcomes, and then proceeding to accomplish whatever this inspires them to do.
No matter the nature of the quest, artistic or otherwise, related ideations accompany the creative process, hinting at potentialities that the fulfillment of the current undertaking might open up. Taking those cognitions as coming from the faculty via which one can intuit available futures, we can see how, as one advances through the succession of intentions and towards the awaited result, they cultivate the mind that will engender the universe that they will inhabit upon completion of the project. Thus, evidently, as one encounters decisions and changing circumstances in their environment along the way, preserving that mind becomes part of the duties.
In the course of a single day, one might run into numerous occasions for transgression, from misalignment by doubting the validity of the apprehended next step, to the debilitating questioning of the entire enterprise, to less subtle, more tangible misdeeds. Ultimately, it is in how the individual responds at each of those junctures that is established the mind that will produce their following existence. In such a context of constant creation, hitting the mark to avert mind killing is the necessity promising that efforts won't be vain and anticipated fruits will be tasted.
Predestined for Freewill
The issue of the source of the initial visions and of the ensuing intentions that cannot be attributed to reasoning remains debatable. In my view there are basically two perspectives on the topic. Either those inceptions are just inventions and caprices having no exceptional signification beyond one's local sphere, or they are in fact prompted by some sort of higher intelligence that is in position to know the roles the associated materializations will play in the greater whole.
From the pragmatic standpoint of what must be done, whether we ascribe the dreams that drive our pursuits to the master plan of an all-knowing being or simply to our own will isn't much relevant. What is important in the end is not the explication of the provenance of the goals, but rather that they can be attained in an error-free manner. And if so, then doing so is right on target. In other words, the process is the same regardless of the hypothesized origin of the endeavour.
That being said, there appears to be leeway in that process. For one, even if the person is not at liberty to unilaterally conceptualize their objectives, but are merely limited to sense the inspirations of some external agent, maybe they can still choose which share of the work they feel ready to discharge. Thus, they could select their designs according to their abilities and interests, weighing in incentives against the intentions that would have to be converted into actions. On the other hand, perhaps one is restricted only by their imagination, and can devise the purposes of their liking and realize them as they wish. In such a situation where there is room to manoeuvre, redirection could be thought of as an automatism either innate although supraconscious, or provided by a benevolent entity, kindly assisting and fostering the achievement of one's aims.
However, the observation that a flawed relationship between self and others lies at the heart of wrongdoing suggests that there is more to the matter than that. There is obviously a collective dimension to our undertakings. So, as long as reflections about the creative process are confined to personal spheres, it seems they will also stay inconclusive inasmuch as sin is concerned. If there's a definitive answer, it possibly resides in how our individual efforts fit together in the big picture. And if exploring this communal aspect doesn't settle the problem of predetermination versus freewill once and for all, at any rate it might yield insights into the nature of this mark that we have to hit.
Swarm Intelligence
If there weren't a collective dimension to our individual enterprises, they would pretty much remain inconsequential. Alternatively phrased, despite what some accountants might be tempted to argue, the true worth of our accomplishments is found in how they improve the lives of others.
Still, from our personal perspectives, we are not equipped to evaluate this accurately. Who can actually see the big picture ? Can there be a model that predicts the details of how the world will respond to our contributions ? Indeed, the world itself is the sole laboratory we have where we can run those experiments.
My knowledge of ants is fragmentary, but to the best of my understanding, each ant is not outfitted, in terms of a nervous system in particular, to effectively plan for something as complex as the elaborate network of tunnels and chambers that constitutes the ant nest. Yet, manifestly, the structures exist. In my opinion, this intimates that if every ant in the colony trusts what's on its mind and pursues the associated intentions, assuming ants have those experiences, then the colony as a whole functions. Or probably they have their own version of transgression and of the course-correcting mechanism too. In any case, in some instances that translates into spectacular underground constructions.
It appears that we have access to a similar form of swarm intelligence. Perhaps none of us can see the big picture, and perhaps none of us can entertain a thorough representation of it, or as far as I know the majority of us can't. Nonetheless, we can nurture a sense for it, and we evidently possess an innate sense for knowing what is the right thing to do that readily encompasses the communal aspect. Conceivably, missing the mark is what happens when we act in disregard to what this sense tells us, for example to comply with perceived social pressures because we fear potential repercussions if we don't do what we think is expected of us, or again because we are victim of compulsion. And conversely, hitting the mark simply means adjusting our behaviour according to what this sense prompts us.
Adaptative Absolute Truth
In trying to figure out how our respective efforts fit together in a coherent ensemble, the hypothesis of a higher intelligence curating some kind of global master plan provides a compelling unifying interpretation.
The fact that there seems to be leeway doesn't invalidate that eventuality, but instead suggests that the grand design is adaptable to a certain extent, and that the external agent is open to the prospect of allowing us to express our freewill, maybe to the measure in which our objectives are compatible with its own aims, and with the aims currently pursued by our peers.
In such a conjecture, that great scheme would be the reference at the basis of our sense of what is right. It would be the structure of information we apprehend inwardly, albeit not in rationalized terms, and against which we evaluate our options. And when we stray from that program, when we discount our sense of what is right, inadvertently or willingly, then the redirection automatism would kick in. This would justify how it is possible for us to have episodes of misalignment, and explain why some thoughts produce dissuading impressions, while others give rise to uplifting impressions, depending on how well they correlate with the grand design. This constant bearing that qualifies our thoughts would thus be our absolute truth.
Since this truth is always reflected in our feelings, and yet not consistently grasped by thoughts, then some of our thoughts would be the cause of error. Presumably, ultimately, all errors would be the result of relying on thoughts that stem from flawed models of what is as references to settle on an appropriate course of action, rather than sensing the way forward. In other words, to the degree that one harbours inaccurate representations of themselves, of their cosmos, and of the relationships between the two, they are liable to be incited to make mistakes by those very same faulty structures of information.
Moreover, in the context of the existence of such a master plan, in selecting a specific goal of freewill, perhaps the seeker also selects a specific path leading there, one that takes the condition of the great scheme into account. Thus, passages of what one experiences as advancing of freewill following one's own inventiveness could indeed be periods wherein the higher intelligence is at work in the best of senses, inspiring intentions to the seeker so that they stay on a road that only the external agent is able to know in its entirety. Alternatively stated, as long as one systematically discharges what's on their mind in an error-free fashion, inspiration would be indistinguishable from invention. Conversely, at those junctures when the mark is missed, freewill would be starkly revealed while the seeker strives to regain the necessary path leading to their preferred destination.
The grand design would thus continually adjust itself to include our individual progress towards any goal chosen of freewill. Our absolute reference would encompass our personal goals themselves, consequent goals that can be attained once the primary goals are achieved, and the totality of the endeavours involved in the concretization of those goals.
Self-Aware Information Architectures
The theory of materialism suggests that awareness is an emergent property of matter. In this conjecture, it is believed that, somehow, components which don't exhibit awareness themselves can be combined into entities endowed with such a faculty.
For my own part, if I have to make such a leap of faith, I would instead suppose that what are known as elementary particles are subjective happenings conjured up from a whole that is itself animate and aware, and therefore capable of manifesting derivatives evidencing the same abilities, when interacted with in certain manners. For me, it is easier to trust that something that is itself aware is at the origin of our awareness.
This seems especially true in the perspective of what is considered the main poison in Buddhism. That is to say, if we are not apart from everything else, and we have awareness, then it appears unavoidable that this whole of which we are the parts also has awareness in some form or another. Furthermore, given that we can develop our potential for awareness to comprehend self-awareness, that is, awareness of our awareness, it is conceivable that this larger organism has that same power.
Intelligence comes from the Latin inter-legere meaning to pick out between, or discern. In turn, to discern comes from the Latin dis-cernere meaning to separate apart. It is typically defined as, to see or hear differences, to identify, perceive, recognize, or understand. And so, awareness, which is the capacity to perceive, to feel, or to be conscious of events, objects or sensory patterns, implies this ability to discern, and thus implies intelligence.
In other words, this greater being that comprises us all would not only be aware, and probably self-aware, but it would be intelligent, pretty much like we are.
In order to offer one possible depiction of this whole, I would posit that the nature of all things could simply be their semantics, whose basic constituent would be information, in its general sense of abstract data. More precisely, any entity would essentially be the totality of the relationships between its constituents, along with their attributes, in abstract terms. Every single entity would therefore be characterized by its own architecture of information, and would in essence be an abstract construct. Larger organisms would then be aggregates of such structures, and the relations uniting those structures.
In this context, awareness would be the capacity to interpret those semantics, and to convert them into experiences. What we perceive as matter would merely be a representation of the visual and tangible aspects of these constructs, as delineated by their architecture and their attributes. The constructs themselves would not be visible or tangible in their nature, yet would nonetheless be cognizable. Similarly, what can be grasped via the mind would be representations of other aspects of these structures. Ultimately, the appearance of any entity would depend upon its particulars, including the senses through which it can be perceived.
Virtual reality is perhaps a pertinent analogy here. If we were actually living within a simulated environment, the underlying nature of all things would be the class declarations and instances of objects upon which the virtual world is established, and what we interact with would be renderings of those abstract specifications.
Just like internet browsers read files containing HTML tags and other information such as scripts, style sheets, and embeds, and render them as media-rich audiovisual contents, we too could be thought of as browsers. We would have the ability to interpret semantics and render them as consciousness, projecting them into a tridimensional spacetime continuum. However, in contrast to web browsers, we would have the power to create new architectures of our own initiative.
We could go further and describe how an entire universe in constant expansion could bootstrap itself into being from a single bit of information. Or study how this organization of abstract constructs allows for so-called paranormal occurrences like precognition, telepathy, and remote viewing, and enables interstellar travel within human scale time frames. Or we could address the issue of how, for sentient beings, there is nothing that isn't consciousness. But exploring the ramifications of this model exceeds the scope of the present text.
For the purpose of this essay, the relevant implication is that information, as the basic constituent of everything, would itself have to be aware, and thus intelligent. Accordingly, any architecture of information, by its very nature, would be aware and therefore potentially self-aware, just as we are essentially self-aware architectures of information.
If we combine the above conjectures with our hypothesis of the existence of a master plan, then the structure of information that composes this master plan could in itself be the higher intelligence that is directing us, and simultaneously be the collective construction that we are building together, and of which we are some of the parts.
In the case of our little friends the ants, the properly functioning colony might be seen as the great scheme, and also as the intelligent superorganism that is instructing the insects, which, with their nest, effectively comprise its organs.
The absolute reference guiding and course-correcting our individual progress could be this adaptative intelligent communal entity that is the body of which we and our creations are the cells.
Déjà Vu
This proposition of an all-encompassing intelligent wholeness is reminiscent of other metaphors and explanations for reality.
For example, it has similarities with Indra's net, a famous Buddhist image that depicts a jewel-studded net wherein each and every multifaceted jewel is reflected in all the others, in such a way that everything in the net implies the existence of everything else.
It resembles Robert Pirsig's postulate of Quality that is undefinable, although it can be known by all through perceptual experience. Existing only in the present, it is the source of all things, including ideas and matter. It stimulates everything to evolve and incorporate ever greater levels of Quality.
It also reminds me of the Buddhist concept of the eighth consciousness, or storehouse consciousness, that is the basis of the seven prior consciousnesses, contains all experiential impressions, or seeds, and supplies the substance to all existences. In some interpretations, each sentient being has their own, while in others, there is mention of a single, universal, and eternal repository.
Finally, it recalls aspects of David Bohm's notion of the implicate order :
« In Bohm’s conception of order, then, primacy is given to the undivided whole, and the implicate order inherent within the whole, rather than to parts of the whole, such as particles, quantum states, and continua. For Bohm, the whole encompasses all things, structures, abstractions and processes, including processes that result in (relatively) stable structures as well as those that involve metamorphosis of structures or things. In this view, parts may be entities normally regarded as physical, such as atoms or subatomic particles, but they may also be abstract entities, such as quantum states. Whatever their nature and character, according to Bohm, these parts are considered in terms of the whole, and in such terms, they constitute relatively autonomous and independent "sub-totalities". The implication of the view is, therefore, that nothing is fundamentally separate or autonomous. »
[source : I mplicate and explicate order according to David Bohm entry in Wikipedia ]
Extrapolating the Galactic Overmind
Just like the whole ant colony can be regarded as the intelligent being that guides the ants which are the cells that make up its body, then the ecosystem wherein the ant colony resides might also be an intelligent superorganism that directs the colony, and other living systems, that in turn would be its various organs.
Similarly, the human race might be seen as a particular organ, or a system, of a larger intelligent entity, that could for instance be our Earth.
And obviously, the Earth might also be a part or a larger intelligence, which could for example be the solar system, or the Milky Way Galaxy.
The series would evidently culminate with the entire universe itself. It would constitute the ultimate intelligence, conducting everything, and comprising everything.
Creating the Future
To summarize, assuming the preceding speculations are representative of reality to a sufficient extent, then hitting the mark could be defined as nurturing one's mind, by means of both outer and inner activities, in such a manner that it contributes to the coming of an enhanced collective future, as delineated by a collaborative, adaptative, intelligent, self-aware master plan, that we can intuit, and of which our creations and us are actually components.
In the context of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, an alternative way of stating the above would be that, among the infinite number of available futures, there exists something of a best possible collective future wherein everyone can achieve error-free fulfillment of their dreams. And not only would this hereafter exist, but more importantly, it would be constantly beckoning us towards it. Therefore, if there is such a thing as a common destiny, this future would substantiate it.
Where Have You Been ?
In the next section, I present diverse observations gathered over the course of my own journey, and elaborations related to the ideas that have been discussed thus far.
