You Are Not Book.indb - Stephen H. Wolinsky Ph. D.

The structural differential diagram / 51
son, People in Quandaries, p. 71) We know that we are
abstracting organisms we cannot know reality directly
or in an absolutely objective way without using our
nervous systems. So, we cannot say what anything is.
We are left with using as if formulations such as, ‘Matter
in the universe acts as if it has a physical structure
we can describe as atoms, electrons, neutrons, protons,
etc.’ If we try to say that the process level represents the
structure of reality beyond what physics theories currently
suggest, we would be implying that structure exists
independently from someone perceiving and theorizing
about it.” (Sawin)
Here, we recall the noted philosopher, George Berkeley’s
statement, “Nobody has ever seen matter.” A nervous system,
which occurs after the fact, responds to imagined external
and internal processes to promote survival of the imagined
person.
This is an excellent point of departure. For what Einstein
calls “a condensation of Emptiness,” or what Buddha says,
“Form is none other than Emptiness; Emptiness is none
other than Form” (Heart Sutra), or what the Yoga Sutras call
a contraction of consciousness—all of these are abstractions
from THE SUBSTANCE to consciousness on “downward.”
Hence, there is NO-I prior to, and moreover, at the object
level, what we call an object or “I” is merely an abstraction, a
representation of the nervous system on one level, a coming
together of emptiness on one level, and a coming together
of atoms on another.
This is critical to “gaining understanding,” we cannot say
what anything is or why it acts the way it acts!!!!
Why? Because we do not experience things as they “are,”
but rather, experiences are mediated by the nervous system—
they are representational. Even the “I” is a representation, and
what the “I” experiences within itself on a psychological level