Posted inArtificial intelligence Science

What if an alien civilization, or AI we created, knows the secret of the universe but we can’t understand it?

In my religious-believing days, Eastern religion variety, I loved the term, ultimate reality. I used it in talks I gave to members of the religious organization. I used it in books that I wrote which were based on the spiritual teachings I once embraced. My assumption was that whatever ultimate reality was -- my guess was All-Pervading Conscious Energy -- the problem lay in learning its nature, not in understanding what that nature was, once it had been revealed. Meaning, we humans had the ability to grasp what ultimate reality is all about. While it wasn't an open book, the…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

RSSB: Generational Gulf

Below is another in a series of guest blog posts from Anon, an ex-RSSB initiate. RSSB stands for Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an India-based religious organization headed up by a guru that I belonged to for 35 years, which explains my interest in sharing criticisms of the faith that I also found lacking. After Anon's post, I'll share some thoughts from another RSSB critic that roughly reflect what Anon is saying here. RSSB: Generational Gulf In my time at RSSB I saw a lot of multi generational goers. RSSB was majority and overwhelmingly Indian, even at Western centres. RSSB genuinely…
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Posted inFree will Science Universe

Provocative idea: time passes because the universe is continually computing

I've heard of Stephen Wolfram, but don't know much about him. Google AI enlightened me as to his impressive background Early Academic Success: Born in London in 1959, Wolfram was a child prodigy in science. He earned his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) at age 20 and later worked as a professor at the University of Illinois. [1, 2] Wolfram Research: He founded Wolfram Research in 1987, where he serves as CEO. The company launched Mathematica, a major computational software program used across technical and academic fields.[1, 2] Wolfram|Alpha: In 2009, he launched Wolfram|Alpha,…
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Posted inMiscellaneous Radha Soami Satsang Beas

Try new Search feature (and see RSSB financial scandal video)

I'm pleased to announce that the previously crappy Search box in the left sidebar has been upgraded massively, thanks to me switching to the SearchWP plugin. Results show up instantly. I've tried it on some old blog posts and am blown away that my 4000+ posts have been indexed so quickly. Comments appear to have been indexed also, though I'm not absolutely sure about this. UPDATE: As I was testing out the improved Search feature, I came across a 2019 post, "RSSB guru (and me!) appear in animation of Singh brothers scandal." Watching the video again, I was struck by…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

RSSB and children

Below is another in a series of guest blog posts from Anon, an ex-RSSB initiate. RSSB stands for Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an India-based religious organization headed up by a guru that I belonged to for 35 years, which explains my interest in sharing criticisms of the faith that I also found lacking. Anon makes a point at the end of his post that I've thought about also. RSSB does seem to be a declining religion, because young people aren't attracted to it. Kind of a tough sell when the "marketing" is no sex outside of marriage, strict vegetarian diet,…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

RSSB guru has reason to fear the forensic audit required by the Delhi High Court

In my previous post, "Delhi High Court ruling could be bad news for Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family," I shared reporting from the Indian financial press about a forensic audit required by the court that seeks to understand why a $4.6 billion arbitration award won by the Japanese pharmaceutical firm Daiichi Sankyo against Malvinder and Shivinder Singh in 2008 hasn't been able to be paid by the Singh brothers. Now I'm going to explain, as best I can, because this financial fraud saga is highly complex (hence the need for the forensic audit), how the guru of Radha Soami…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Delhi High Court ruling could be bad news for Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family

Thanks to a comment from Rohit on a recent post, I learned about a story in the Economic Times that points to some serious potential legal problems for Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas. Providing background on those problems means delving into some complex financial issues. So be warned. This post will be long, but interesting for those willing to put in the time to read all of it. First, this was Rohit's short comment, which  provides a good overview of what's going on here. GSD means Gurinder Singh Dhillon. Delhi HC means Delhi High Court.…
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Posted inPersonal/Stories Reason

Whether it be coffee pods or God, our preferences arise from unknown sources

Why do we like what we like? Because it is what we like. Why do we dislike what we dislike? Because it is what we dislike. Facts require reasons. Preferences are just what they are. I like vanilla ice cream more than chocolate ice cream because I like vanilla more than chocolate. Sure, we can dress up our likes and dislikes in fancy clothes of reasons, but really, likes and dislikes simply are naked preferences if we're honest with ourselves. For 35 years I preferred to believe in God, eastern religion variety. Then my preference changed. Not all at once.…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

RSSB laws, not “lifestyle”

Below is another in a series of guest blog posts from Anon, an ex-RSSB initiate. RSSB stands for Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an India-based religious organization headed up by a guru that I belonged to for 35 years, which explains my interest in sharing criticisms of the faith that I also found lacking. RSSB LIFESTYLE RULES SUMMARY OF RSSB RULES RSSB lifestyle rules are lacto vegetarianism (no meat fish eggs) teetotalism (no alcohol or drugs) meditate (2.5 hours daily at the cost of sleep or socialising) attend seva (voluntary service) attend satsang (sermons) celibacy (if unmarried and even encouraged within…
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Posted inDeath/Rebirth Meaning of life

Flooding tragedy in Nepal is a reminder that life and death are unpredictable

Unbelievable. Yet utterly believable. Those were my contrasting feelings when I saw videos of the flooding in Nepal and Tibet caused by the collapse of a massive glacier, almost certainly due to global warming. Flooding is a wholly inadequate word to describe this tragedy. As is mudslide. What crashed down the river valley at an estimated speed of up to 189 mph was a mixture of water, rock, ice, mud, and whatever got carried along by the deadly slurry. I was transfixed by videos I saw on Facebook reels. I couldn't stop watching them. Until I realized that I was…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

RSSB all or nothing culture

Below is another in a series of guest blog posts from Anon, an ex-RSSB initiate. RSSB stands for Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an India-based religious organization headed up by a guru that I belonged to for 35 years, which explains my interest in sharing criticisms of the faith that I also found lacking. What Anon describes about the demands put upon RSSB initiates seems particularly true for Indian members of the organization, whether or not they live in India. The pressure to be viewed as an exemplary RSSB member seems greater when a person's culture and family connections encourages this.…
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Posted inBooks Free will Reason

I’m enjoying The Daily Stoic, but can’t buy into the entire philosophy

Recently Bill Maher had Ryan Holiday on his Real Time show to talk about his book, The Daily Stoic, and Stoicism in general. Maher said that Stoicism was trendy now, so that made me think the book was recently published. Not so. It was published in 2016. Maybe it is Holiday's podcast that has generated the current attention. Regardless, I ordered the book and have been reading ten days worth every morning, since there's no way I want to read a single page for 366 days. (February has 29 pages, to cover leap year.) I'm fairly familiar with Stoic philosophy,…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the RSSB guru, is a misogynist who insults women

It's a pleasure to share a guest blog post critical of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) from a different person than Anon, who has written quite a few guest blog posts that I've shared here on the Church of the Churchless. Below you can read this person's description of how the RSSB guru, Gurinder Singh Dhillon (GSD), treats women in an insulting and misogynistic way. After the message, I'll share links to blog posts I've written that point in the same direction: the RSSB guru is a misogynist who insults women. Keep in mind that according to the RSSB teachings,…
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Posted inBooks Karma Radha Soami Satsang Beas

Seeing a video of a woman reading from Life is Fair got me thinking about how I’ve changed since I wrote those words

First time for everything, since I'm pretty sure I never saw a video of someone reading from one of my books until a few days ago, when someone emailed me a link to an Instagram post of a woman reading from the book I wrote in the 1990s, Life is Fair. The book was published in 1999 by Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an Indian religious organization I belonged to for 35 years. It's still being sold by RSSB, with this description. The mystics tell us that the law of cause and effect is the universal principle of justice that holds…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

RSSB recruitment triggers

Below is another in a series of guest blog posts from Anon, an ex-RSSB initiate. RSSB stands for Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an India-based religious organization headed up by a guru that I belonged to for 35 years, which explains my interest in sharing criticisms of the faith that I also found lacking. Well, based on what you'll read below, the other posts Anon has shared, what many other RSSB initiates have told me since I started this blog in 2004, and my own experience with RSSB, there's good reason to say that RSSB isn't so much a faith, as…
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Posted inArtificial intelligence

Yuval Noah Harari video a must-watch for anyone concerned about the future of AI

Over on my Salem Political Snark blog yesterday, I wrote "If you care about the future of AI, watch this astonishing video of a Yuval Noah Harari interview." I began that post with: Today a friend emailed me a link to a You Tube video where Yuval Noah Harari talks about AI in an amazing fashion that only a historian with his breadth of knowledge about how the past of humanity intersects with the future of artificial intelligence could pull off. This graphic provides an overview. The video is well worth watching. I found Harari mesmerizing. He's one of the…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Things I don’t miss about RSSB

Below is another in a series of guest blog posts from Anon, an ex-RSSB initiate. RSSB stands for Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an India-based religious organization headed up by a guru that I belonged to for 35 years, which explains my interest in sharing criticisms of the faith that I also found lacking. Things I don't miss about RSSB Initially when I joined RSSB it was all "light and love" but things changed. I did end up running for the door and I could never seem to get out. It reminds me of that song "Hotel California" by The Eagles.…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation

Life is mostly lived in the satisfactory middle, despite all the extreme talk about heaven and hell

Yesterday I wrote a post for my Salem Political Snark blog, "There's a middle way on AI and data centers between anything goes and everything stops." I noted that while I'm not a Buddhist, the general notion of the Middle Way appeals to me, since it applies to a lot more than the traditional moderate position between asceticism and sensual indulgence. In searching for an image to use in the post, I found this, which came from an interesting substack post by Daniel Jeffries, "The Middle Path for AI." That got me to thinking about the bell curve (or normal…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

RSSB manipulation tactics and culture

Below is another in a series of guest blog posts from Anon, an ex-RSSB initiate. RSSB stands for Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an India-based religious organization headed up by a guru that I belonged to for 35 years, which explains my interest in sharing criticisms of the faith that I also found lacking. Anon had sent me "RSSB manipulation tactics" and "RSSB culture" as separate guest blog posts. But they seemed fairly closely related, so I decided to combine them. RSSB manipulation tactics Lovebombing: Showering you with praise, acceptance, attention, validation, warmth at first in order to win you over,…
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Posted inPolitics Religions

Groupthink is a bad thing, whether in religion, politics, or elsewhere

We all want to belong. Isolation is scary. So most of us seek out groups where we have some sort of common bond. It could be a religion, a political persuasion, or a business association. Humans are social beings. We like to socialize with people who think like us. That's a good thing.  Where belonging to a group goes astray is the well-known phenomenon of groupthink. Wikipedia says: Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome. Cohesiveness,…
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