Inhale Wisdom, Exhale Genius: The Puffing Path to Scientific Stardom

Ever wonder why we suddenly started turning the lathe after sitting on our haunches for thousands of years.

Greetings, enlightened readers! Today, we embark on a journey through the smoky corridors of scientific history to uncover the hidden truth behind the importance of smoking for groundbreaking discoveries. Grab your pipes, cigars, or perhaps a quaint old-fashioned cigarette, as we delve into the cloud of wisdom that tobacco smoke supposedly bestows upon us.

The Tobacco Trailblazers:

Let's rewind to the Industrial Age, where men and machines danced in harmony, powered by steam and fueled by... you guessed it, tobacco! Sir Walter Raleigh, our unsuspecting hero, brought tobacco to the Western world, and little did he know, he was laying the foundation for scientific breakthroughs that would shape the course of history.

Take a moment to ponder the correlation: as tobacco use spread, so did the marvels of the Industrial Revolution. Coincidence? I think not! The steam engine, telegraph, and other wonders of the era were clearly fueled by the smoke-induced genius that wafted through the air.

The Smoke Signal to Longevity:

Now, let's address the elephant in the room – the so-called "problem" of dying of old age. Ridiculous, right? Who would want to live forever, grappling with the existential dread of immortality? Enter smoking – the secret elixir that promises to stave off the inevitable.

You see, science has shown that smokers have a unique ability to defy the ravages of time. The constant influx of toxins must be building a protective layer, a shield against the aging process. Forget about your kale smoothies and antioxidants; a well-balanced diet of nicotine and tar is the true fountain of youth.

The Smoking Scientists' Oath:

In a parallel universe, where labs are filled with swirling cigarette smoke and researchers puff away on their quest for knowledge, we can imagine the Smoking Scientists' Oath taking precedence:

"I solemnly swear to uphold the sacred tradition of smoking in the pursuit of scientific enlightenment. I vow to light up every time I face a complex problem, trusting that the answer lies at the end of my smoldering cigarette. May the clouds of tobacco lead us to the heights of discovery and the depths of lung cancer awareness."

Fear not the naysayers, for they are mere mortals blinded by the haze of their prejudice. The true pioneers, the visionaries, are the ones who understand the symbiotic relationship between scientific progress and the wafting tendrils of tobacco smoke.

In Conclusion:

As you reconsider the choices that brought humanity into the age of enlightenment, take a moment to appreciate the unsung hero of discovery – tobacco. The next time someone tries to lecture you on the perils of smoking, just remind them that you're not merely puffing on a cigarette; you're inhaling the very essence of human achievement. So, light up, dear reader, and let the smoke of wisdom guide you toward your own scientific revelations!

PS: In case you don't get it. This is a satire. I gave up smoking the hard way  after almost dying from it and making zero impact on science.   

Walk 11

• Taking refuge with the formless principle.
• I shall not come here again, I am surveying the worlds, and the migrations of my self from the creation of being to my attaining perfection.
• I shall not come back to this mortal world.
• After his assumption of another body, he performs actions of an opposite character. Aggravates disorders in his own body, contracts a disease which ends in death, or he even engages in unreasonable acts, such as hanging oneself. 
• The living body of that creature then perishes, and the soul, full or torments, falls away.
• Self being overcome with torments. 
• Entering the womb on exhaustion of their previous actions. 
• The sharp wind goes upward, and leaves the body, and with it life.
• One that pulls back the wind, holds the life within. 
• Abandoning the embodied self in consequence of pain. Devoid of breath, devoid of warmth, devoid of beauty, and with consciousness destroyed. 

** From Anugita ( http://www.phx-ult-lodge.org/anugita.htm )

Walk 10

• Meditation is an act of persistence.
• Persistence needs resolve.
• I is nothing but a resolve.
• Through a resolve 'I want to be', I exists.
• And 'I' sees, because you can't see without a resolve of 'to be'.  
• Stronger the resolve, further you exist.
• Farther and further you exist, transcending pain, sleep, and eventually death maybe.
• With a strengthening resolve you see farther and farther.
• Eventually you see the universe within, that is savikalpa. 
• Vikalpa being the presence, or absence of resolve. 
• To exist, eventually you will require a resolve no more.
• Or maybe, the resolve will be absolute.
• Existing without a resolve will be nirvikalpa. 
• Nirvikalpa existence will be final, as there would no longer be a choice to forget who you are. 
• Resolve can be of any act to start with.
• Weakening of resolve leads to depression.

*Vikalpa : Option

*Nirvikalpa : Absence of Option

 

Walk 9

• Seer is defined by the seen, and the other way around maybe.
• Self identification or 'I' is primarily associated with the seer.
• Attributes of the self are however, defined in terms of seen as seer has not been known to have attributes.
• One of the attributes of seer is as agency that defines what is seen.
• Both seer and seen are thoughts in the end, arising in mind.
• Because they are thoughts they cannot transcend sleep, or death.
• 'I' is the primal thought arising in mind and is defined on our waking up.
• Every other thought is in context of 'I' thereafter.
• 'I' and collections of thoughts together define the mind.

Walk 8

• Expand, or contract consciousness, at will.
• If it is not your will, then the expansion and contraction will be controlled by circumstances.
• Meditation can go either way, it can either expand, or contract your consciousness.
• The type, and nature of intent plays a significant role. 
• The activity, of meditation, itself is repetitive and insentient. A mechanization at most.
• The mechanization however is needed as base to stand on.
• Gradually the repetitive activity will be lost.
• Consciousness defined by the intent, will remain.
• Both expansion and contraction have their own rewards, and necessity.

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• Shiva, without Shakti, was undifferentiated consciousness. 
• This undifferentiated consciousness is the self, but something other than ego.
• It is formless, and without attributes.
• Shiva created Shakti. The seer created the seen.
• Material world manifested out of consciousness, therefore. 

  

Walk 7

• Purpose of life is cessation of pain.
• Short term pain is acceptable if there is a promise of cessation down the line
• Consequently my reality is limited by amount of pain I can accept.
• Withholding of attention increases a sufferer's pain.
• If pain is all that is withholding me, then do people with pain asymbolia have unbounded reality?
• Auschwitz is another planet - those who have been there need no explanation, while those who have not, must accepted the limited scope of what is in their power to imagine, despite the massive amount of data at their disposal : Ka-Tzetnik.
• Two views
• Pain reduces the sufferer's world, obliterating language, consciousness, and interaction.
• Pain can lead to intellectual growth, moral benefit, and soul-fashoning 
• (From the book, Knowledge and Pain, edited by Esther Cohen et.al.) 
• So, it implies that self-flagellation will not lead me to enlightenment, neither will indifference to pain. Otherwise I would have saints in masochists, and in people with pain asymbolia.
• Back to square one. Again!

Walk 6

• S: Intelligence manifests itself on appropriate matter
• R: Matter manifests itself in intelligence 
• The sleeping state indicates that the consciousness has the power to withdraw and expand itself. 
• Meditation is observing the consciousness expand or contract itself in the context of some activity until the correct identification is attained. 
• Mind tries to fathom consciousness but is usually distracted.
• Sleep is brought under the voluntary control and will, that is, the expansion and contraction of consciousness is brought under voluntary control of self. Since consciousness cannot be controlled externally, this can be done only by identifying with the consciousness itself.
• One who knows that it functions both externally and internally is definitely superior to one who has explored only the waking and dreaming states.
• To exist is the final truth.
• What exists outside, exists based on an existence inside.
• To exist without support and without any basis is realization. 
• All supports for existence are transitory.
• Existence for your daily dopamine fix is particularly painful.