ideasthesia

Sign in Subscribe

Ryan Collison

I write about cool science and share it here.

Action flowing forward while outcomes dissolve

Karma Yoga: Action Without Attachment to Fruits

Series: Gita Psychology | Part: 3 of 10 Krishna’s central teaching to Arjuna can be stated simply: “You have a right to perform your duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached

Geometric manifold collapsing at center point

Arjuna's Crisis: Coherence Collapse at the Decision Point

Series: Gita Psychology | Part: 2 of 10 The first chapter of the Bhagavad Gita contains almost no philosophy. It’s a clinical description of a breakdown. Arjuna surveys the battlefield, sees who he’s being asked to kill, and his nervous system refuses. His description is precise: “My limbs give

Battlefield decision point with bifurcating paths

The Book That Teaches You to Act When Action Seems Impossible

Series: Gita Psychology | Part: 1 of 10 You’re standing in the middle of a battlefield. On one side, family members who raised you. On the other side, family members you’ve loved since childhood. You have to choose to fight—or the world you know collapses. But fighting means

Complex energy transformation system showing tantric coherence technology in action

Synthesis: Tantra as Technology for Coherence Transformation

Series: Tantra Epistemology | Part: 10 of 10 The Western encounter with tantra has been deeply confused. What emerged in California hot tubs as “sacred sexuality” bears little resemblance to the sophisticated coherence engineering practiced for millennia in Kashmir Shaivism, Tibetan Buddhism, and other tantric traditions. This confusion isn’t merely

Sacred and mundane energy intertwined in complex dance

Sexuality in Context: What Tantric Sex Actually Is (and Isn't)

Series: Tantra Epistemology | Part: 9 of 10 We opened this series by noting that tantra has been reduced to “sacred sexuality” in Western pop culture. Having explored what tantra actually offers—energy work, subtle body mapping, epistemology, philosophical depth—we can now address sexuality honestly: where it fits, what role

Unified consciousness differentiating into multiplicity through 36 tattvas

Kashmir Shaivism: The Philosophy Beneath the Practice

Series: Tantra Epistemology | Part: 8 of 10 Most tantric practice in the West gets transmitted without its philosophical foundation. You learn the techniques—mantra, yantra, energy work—but not the metaphysical framework that makes sense of why you’re doing them. This is like learning to use a GPS without

Three technologies of mantra, yantra, and mudra integrated into unified practice

Mantra, Yantra, Mudra: Technologies of Coherence Cultivation

Series: Tantra Epistemology | Part: 7 of 10 Tantric practice involves specific technologies—not metaphorically, but precisely. A mantra is technology. A yantra is technology. A mudra is technology. Each represents a refined method for inducing particular coherence states through systematic manipulation of attention, sensation, and nervous system dynamics. This isn’